such things as are requisite, may do it with such steadfastness of faith, and such seriousness, affection, and devotion of mind, that thou mayest accept their bounden duty and service, &c. O most blessed Saviour.. be present at this time with us also by thy Holy Spirit; and because holiness becometh thine house for ever, sanctify us, we pray thee, that we may be a living temple, holy and acceptable unto thee; and so dwell in our hearts by faith, and possess our souls by thy grace, that nothing which defileth may enter into us, &c. Blessed be thy name, O Lord, that it hath pleased thee to put it into the hearts of thy servants to erect this house... Bless, O Lord, them, their families, and substance, and accept the work of their hand, &c. offerant; hic fidelis populus vota persolvat; hic peccatorum onera deponantur hic fides lapsa reparetur, &c.s men Habitator sanctarum tium Deus, cui anima fidelis hospitium, cui mens pia templum est, tibi preces effundimus, tibi supplicamus, ut hanc domum tuam quam per invocationem nominis tui pio sanctificamus officio, misericordia tua et protectione custodias. Dona habitatoribus illius, sacerdotibus, clero, atque omni plebi, bonæ voluntatis studium, et pii operis effectum . . . . Hanc igitur oblationem famuli tui vel famulæ tuæ ill. quam tibi offerunt, hanc dedicantes ecclesiam, quæsumus Domine, placatus accipias ". At the end of this office, which is accompanied by the morning prayer, the holy eucharist is celebrated. This is also prescribed in the Ordo Romanus, and S Sacramentarium Gallic. Missa in Dedicatione. Muratori, Liturgia Romana Vetus, tom. ii. p. 900. t Ordo Romanus, p. 129. u Sacramentarium 1000 annorum, Martene, De Antiquis Ecclesiæ Ritibus, tom. iii. p. 249. (Missa Dedicationis.) V "Celebretur solemniter missa, sicut in sacramentario continetur." Ordo Romanus, p. 139. W we find it also in the Gallican missal ". It is not necessary to offer any further remarks on this part of the service, which includes a proper collect, epistle, and gospel. In connexion with this subject, it may added, that in the Ordo Romanus and other ancient formularies, we find an office on laying the foundation of a new church. It has also been customary for some time in the English Church to make this a religious rite, of which psalmody, prayers, and sometimes appropriate addresses, form the constituent parts. The sacred vessels for the sacrament of the eucharist have been occasionally consecrated separately by our bishops, but this rite is disused. CONSECRATION OF CEMETERIES. THE Consecration of cemeteries is mentioned by Gregory of Tours in the sixth century; it may probably have been customary in former ages, though not mentioned as distinct from the consecration of churches. There is a form in the ancient Pontifical of Egbert, archbishop of York, which is more than 1000 years old. In the tenth and following centuries this rite is frequently mentioned". Many ancient forms of consecrating cemeteries have been published by Martene. These forms differ mate rially from each other. In all, however, psalms are sung in procession around the cemetery, and appropriate prayers conclude the office, as in the form which is generally used in England; in which Psalms xlix. and cxiv. are sung in procession, and are succeeded by collects. CHAPTER XXIII. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PENITENCE, ABSOLUTION, AND EXCOMMUNICATION. ACCORDING to the form of penance laid before the synod by Edmond Archbishop of Canterbury, A. D. 1580, the rite began with a sermon referring to the occasion, during which the offender was to stand on a raised platform in a sheet. The preacher was to interrogate the offender whether he confessed his fault, and implored forgiveness with promise of amendment. And in fine he desired the prayers of the people for the penitent ". This form comprises several features of the old rites of public penance on Ash Wednesday, when the bishop, after the penitents had been brought into the church, made a sermon. The penitents were clad in sackcloth, which had been customary from the times of Cyprian and Tertullian. The public confession of the penitents formed part of the rites from the earliest period ". Prayers for the penitents followed in all the ancient rituals, according to some of which, the penitents were ejected from the church at this time, and were only admitted again on Holy Thursday, or Coena Domini, when they were publicly reconciled. As to the reconciliation of those who have performed penance, it does not seem that there is any special form provided; but that they are to be admitted to the holy communion. This was originally the only mode of reconciling penitents. With reference to private confession and absolution, we find them recommended previously to reception of the eucharist, to persons, whose consciences are burdened with grievous sins, and to sick persons. They are also sanctioned by the Canons of 1603 h. The form of confession and absolution is comprised in the Office for the Visitation of the Sick, where it is united with prayer and other forms peculiar to that office. According to the old rituals published by Morinus and Martene, the form of private confession included a profession of faith, of contrition, of forgiveness, with an imposition of some penance; and this was followed in due time by absolution. In later ages absolution was given before the penance was accomplished. The English Church does not compel her children to private confession of sins to a priest; and leaves them at liberty as to the choice of the minister to whom they may wish to "open their grief." e Martene, 1. i. c. vi. art. vii. f See the first Exhortation in the Communion Office. g Office for Visitation of the Sick. h Canon cxiii., Wilkins, Con cilia, tom. iv. p. 400. i Martene, De Antiquis Ecclesiæ Ritibus, lib. i. cap. vi. k First Exhortation in Communion Office. |