SECTION XX.

It is impossible to deny that the English liturgy prescribes a mode of communion perfectly conformable to the practice of the primitive church. Here the bishops, priests, and deacons receive the sacrament in both kinds first, and then the people are communicated in like manner. No one denies that this is the primitive order of delivering the elements. It is also indisputable, that the English custom of delivering to all the people both kinds separately, and not united, is the apostolic method. The same may be said of our custom of delivering the sacrament of the body, which we give into the hands of the faithful. In all this the English church preserves customs whose apostolical antiquity it is in vain to dispute¹. In all the eastern churches the sacrament has been given to the laity in both kinds, even to the present day. It is true that they are not given separately, but at the same moment, by means of a particle of bread dipped in the Cup²; but this is merely a variety of discipline, which does not in the slightest degree affect the verity of the communion [152] in both kinds. The same custom formerly prevailed all through the western churches³, but in later times the laity were in most places entirely deprived of the sacrament of Christ’s blood; in order to obviate inconveniences which some persons thought might follow from an obedience to Christ’s commands, and the practice of the catholic church.

It was not remembered that God could prevent his sacraments from real profanation; and that proper instruction might suffice, as it had done in primitive times, to teach the people their duty. It became necessary in after-times to defend this practice, and then it was heard for the first time that the sacrament of Christ’s body or flesh was also the sacrament of his blood.

The Church of England does not prohibit the laity from coming to the chancel, or bema, and receiving at the rails of the holy table. In different churches different rules have been adopted, as to the place of lay-communion. According to the eastern canons, the people may not approach the table⁴. The same rule was made by the fourth council of Toledo in Spain⁵. In the church of Gaul, as now in England, the laity, both men and women, were allowed to approach the holy table, and receive the sacrament in their hands⁶.

It was the custom of the primitive church to fill up the time during which the people communicated [153] by singing a psalm. We find from Cyril, Chrysostom, and Jerome, that in the churches of Antioch and Jerusalem, "O taste and see," &c. was sung during the communion in the fourth century. In the west we find numerous traces of the same custom. Augustine expressly mentions it⁷, and it appears to have prevailed in Gaul and Italy. In after-times it was generally adopted in the west, and the anthem was called communio⁸. With regard to any words used at the delivery of the elements, we know not when they began to be used. Our Lord made use of expressions in the delivery of the sacrament which the apostles commemorated in their thanksgiving and consecration; but there is not the slightest reason to think that these expressions were ever in any way used at the delivery of the elements in the primitive church. However, in the second and third centuries it appears that a certain form was used in many, if not all, churches. The minister, in presenting the bread to every communicant, said, "The body of Christ," and the communicant, to signify his faith, said, "Amen⁹." It appears that in the time of Gregory the Great, the ancient form of delivery had been changed into a prayer. "The body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy soul;" to which the party receiving answered, "Amen¹⁰;" but this was not the original design of the form.

[154]

 During all the primitive ages, the whole body of the faithful communicated at each celebration of the liturgy, and the sacrament was never distributed to those who were in health, except at this time¹¹. But as charity grew chill, the number of communicants became less, until there were scarcely any. In order to preserve a semblance of the communion, bread was blessed by the priest and distributed to the people at the close of the liturgy. However. in after-times even the custom of giving "eulogiæ," or blessed bread, as a substitute for the sacrament became extinct; and now in a large part of the west the people never receive the communion, or even a semblance of it, at the celebration of the liturgy¹².

SECTION XXI.

The Lord’s Prayer cannot be inappropriate in any part of the liturgy. It must be acknowledged, however, that we have no certain instance in the liturgies of the primitive church of its use in this place, immediately after communion. The Ethiopic liturgy, indeed, appears either to prescribe the prayer itself, [155] or a part of it, after communion¹³; but no such thing appears in the Alexandrian, the Oriental, Roman, Italian, Gallican, or Spanish liturgies. Nor do we find any traces of such a custom amongst the writings of the Fathers. The use of the Lord’s Prayer therefore in this place cannot be traced to any very great antiquity, though certainly in the fifth century it was a general custom to use it before communion, and in some churches it may have been used there even from the apostolic age. When the Lord’s Prayer was repeated before communion, it was repeated by all the people, as well in the Gallican church, as in all the churches of the east¹⁴. At Rome it was only repeated by the priest, according to Gregory the Great¹⁵.’

SECTION XXII.

In all churches it was anciently customary to return thanks to God after receiving the sacrament, and to implore his grace for the future. The second form, which the church of England has appointed for this occasion, (though it would be presumptuous to say that it is more appropriate than the first,) may be fairly said to accord most with the thanksgivings which the primitive church used at this place. Let us, then, regard the second form of thanksgiving and prayer prescribed in this place by the English liturgy, and trace its analogy with ancient liturgies.

It would be useless to cite the prayers in the ancient Gallican, Roman, and Italic sacramentaries, which correspond to this form, because they do not resemble it more than the oriental forms already [157] cited and alluded to; and also because it is impossible to ascertain which of the numerous "missae" in each sacramentary is the oldest. The form transcribed from the liturgy of Cæsarea is perhaps fifteen hundred years old, or even more ancient.

With regard to the first prayer after communion, it is impossible not to admire the excellence of its composition, but I do not think that we find the topics to which it alludes mentioned in this part of ancient liturgies; however, the expressions of which it makes use are truly orthodox and pious, and may very properly be employed on the present occasion.

SECTION XXIII.

We read in the holy gospel, that after the sacrament the Lord and his disciples sang an hymn before they went to the mount of Olives¹⁸. Whether the apostles and the church during the most primitive ages followed this example, I am not able positively to decide. It would appear probable that the liturgy terminated with a thanksgiving during the earliest ages, and not with a hymn; yet in aftertimes there were few liturgies which did not use a psalm, anthem, or hymn, after communion. Thus in the liturgy of Constantinople the twenty-second psalm, eulogêsô ton kurion en panti kairô, is sung by the choir¹⁹. After the end of the Roman liturgy, the hymn of "the Three Children," or Te Deum, is sung²⁰. Amongst the Syrian monophysites, who use the ancient liturgy of Antioch, the psalm Dominus [158] pascuit me et nihil mihi deerit, is said by the priest after the communion²¹. In a very ancient liturgy of the western church, which is supposed to be as old as the seventh century, and which belonged to the Irish monks of Luxovium in Gaul, the hymn Gloria in excelsis is found exactly in the position which the English liturgy assigns to it, namely, amongst the thanksgivings after communion²². This celebrated hymn owes its origin to the eastern church, where it was used in the time of Athanasius, in the beginning of the fourth century²³. In the churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, and the rest of the east, it has never been used in any part of the liturgy, but it is still used as it was in the time of Athanasius, as part of the morning service for every day²⁴.

Western liturgical writers have ascribed this hymn to various authors: some have given it to Telesphorus, bishop of Rome, A.D. 150; others to Symmachus, bishop of the same see, A.D. 500; others to Hilary, bishop of Poictiers in the fourth century. None of these conjectures have any sufficient foundation²⁵. As to the Liber Pontificalis, [159] which ascribes it to Telesphorus, no reliance can be placed on it in a matter of such antiquity. No trace of the authorship of Hilary appears in the writings of the Fathers for four hundred years after his time and, in fact, we know that it was used in the east before the time of Hilary and Symmachus. It appears probable, however, that Symmachus appointed this hymn to be sung on every Sunday and holyday at the beginning of the Roman liturgy, and from thence it came gradually to be used very generally in the west in a similar position. In the Roman liturgy it was only said when a litany was not repeated before the office, according to the direction of Gregory, or some other bishop²⁶. This hymn is more than fifteen hundred years old in the eastern church, and the church of England has used it either at the beginning or end of the liturgy for above twelve hundred years.

SECTION XXIV.

There are two places in which chiefly we find the benedictions of the people to have occurred in primitive liturgies: first, before communion ; secondly, after it. The former 1 have already considered in section xii. in treating of the absolution. It remains now to consider the latter. In the ancient [161] liturgies of the east we generally find the benedictions by the bishops and presbyters to have been more long and comprehensive than those of the west. In the Gallican and Spanish liturgies, however, which appear to have been imitated by the ancient English church during the time of the Saxon monarchs, blessings of considerable length are also found²⁹. Long prayers of benediction occur in the Alexandrian liturgies, like our own, after thanksgiving³⁰. A benediction of the same sort occurs in the Constantinopolitan liturgy, and in that of Cæsarea: the same may be said of that of Antioch³¹. In the Roman liturgy also a benediction has been used in latter times, which Bona does not consider to be of any considerable antiquity³². The formulary which we use is more comprehensive than many benedictions that have been used in the west, and seems to be a judicious enlargement of benedictions which were used in the English church perhaps before the year 600.

SECTION XXV.

Three of these collects have been used by the English church from the sixth century to the present time. The others I have not yet been able to trace in any very ancient formularies, though their spirit and composition are truly primitive.

O Almighty Lord, and everlasting God, vouchsafe, we beseech thee, to direct, sanctify, and govern, both our hearts and bodies, in the ways of thy laws, and in the works of thy commandments; that through [163] thy most mighty protection, both now and ever, we may be preserved in body and soul; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings with thy most gracious favour, and further us with thy continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorify thy holy name, and finally by thy mercy obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Adesto Domine supplicationibus nostris: et viam famulorum tuorum in salutis tuæ prosperitate dispone: ut inter omnes viæ et vitæ hujus varietates, tuo semper protegantur auxilio, per Dominum³⁵.

Dirigere et sanctificare et regere dignare Domine Deus, quæsumus, corda et corpora nostra in lege tua, et in operibus mandatorum tuorum: ut hic et in æternum te auxiliante sani et salvi esse mereamur per Dominum nostrum Jesum, qui tecum vivit &c.³⁶

Actiones nostras, quæsumus Domine, et aspirando præveni et adjuvando prosequere: ut cuncta nostra operatio et a te semper incipiat, et per te cœpta finiatur. Per &c.³⁷

SECTION XXVI.

This rubric directs that on "Sundays and other holydays (if there be no communion) shall be said all that is appointed at the communion, until the end of the general prayer, (For the whole state of Christ’s church militant here in earth,) together with one or more of these collects last before rehearsed, concluding with the blessing."

Lestrange, in his Alliance of Divine Offices, has very justly remarked, that the practice here inculcated resembles that which was known in the middle ages under the appellation of the missa sicca, or missa nautica. The earliest notice of this practice, according to Bona, is in the writings of Petrus [164] Cantor, who flourished A.D. 1200; and it seems to have prevailed extensively in the west for some centuries afterwards³⁸. The missa sicca, or "dry service" as it was called. consisted of a repetition of all the preparatory and concluding parts of the liturgy, omitting the canon. No elements were laid on the table and there was neither consecration nor communion. As the canons forbid priests to celebrate the liturgy more than once in the day, except in cases of urgent necessity; and as some covetous and wicked priests were desirous of celebrating more frequently, with the object of receiving oblations from the people; they availed themselves of the missa sicca, and thus deceived the people, who intended to offer their prayers and alms at a real commemoration of the sacrifice of Christ. This evil practice rendered it necessary for several councils to interpose their prohibitions; and thence the sicca missa, though an innocent and laudable service in itself, and though approved of by many pious and learned divines, gradually fell into disuse. Genebrardus, in his book of the Apostolical Liturgy, cap. 20, after recommending the custom, observes, that it still prevailed at Turin A.D. 1587, when it was solemnly celebrated with two assistant ministers at the funeral of a nobleman, who was buried in the evening, at which time the real liturgy could [165] not canonically have been performed. And, according to Martene, the Carthusians still occasionally perform it. Durandus approved of the sicca missa, and in his Rationale gives directions for celebrating it. If the priest from devotion, but not from superstition, desired to perform the whole office of the liturgy, without the oblation and consecration, he is directed to put on the usual dress, and proceed with the service to the end of the offertory. He might repeat the preface, though it seemed better not to do so. The canon, or prayer of consecration, was to be omitted. Afterwards he was to repeat the Lord’s Prayer, and a concluding collect and benediction³⁹.

This certainly approaches very nearly to the office enjoined by the church of England when there is no communion. In like manner we read all the liturgy to the end of the offertory, adding the prayers for all men; then, passing over the preface and consecration, we conclude with one or more collects and a benediction.

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25 Bona, Rer. Liturg. lib. iii. c. 4. §. 4.

26 Sacramentar. Gregorii Menard. p. i. "Item dicitur Gloria in excelsis Deo, si Episcopus fuerit, tantummodo die Dominico, sive diebus festis. A Presbyteris autem minime dicitur, nisi solo in Pascha."

27 From the Alexandrian MS. copied by Dr. Smith, Account of the Greek Church, &c. p. 295. In this MS. it is entitled, Humnos heôthinos.

28 Mabillon, Museum Italicum, tom. i. p. 281. Muratori Liturg. Rom. tom. ii. p. 780. Miss. Sarisb. fol. lxxii. Miss. Ebor. et Herefordens.

29 Mabillon de Liturgia Gallicana. Missale Gothicum, p. 189, &c. and p. 451. The MS. sacramentary of the Anglo-Saxon church of the ninth or tenth century, given by Leofricus to the church of Exeter, now in the Bodleian library, contains long benedictions of the same kind, as does also the ancient sacramentary of the English Benedictines, published by Schultingius, tom. iv. Biblioth. Eccl. pars iii. p. 177.

30 Liturgia Basilii Renaudot, tom. i. p. 25. Cyrilli, p. 51.

31 Liturgia Chrysost; Goar, p. 85. Basilii ibid. p. 175. Liturgia Jacobi Syr. Renaud. tom. ii. p. 42. Jacobi Græc. Assemani Codex Liturg. tom. v. p. 62. Apost. Const. lib. c. 15. p. 406. ed. Clerici.

32 Bona, Rer. Liturg. lib. ii. c. 20. N^o. 4. p. 515.

33 Saxon Office in Appendix to Dr. Hickes’s Letters to a Popish Priest, London, 1705, ad finem Completorii.

34 Benedictiones in quotidianis diebus MS. Leofric. Exon. fo1. 332.

35 Sacramentarium Gelasii Muratori Lit. Rom. tom. i. p. 703. MS. Leofr. Exon. Episc. fo1. 222. Missale Sarisb. fol. 30. commune.

36 Gregorii Liber Sacramentor. Menard. p. 213. Brev. Sarisb. fo1. 13. Psalt. pars hyemalis. Appendix to Hickes’s Letters, &c. at the end of prime.

37 Gregorii Liber Sacramentorum Menard. p. 41. Pamelli Liturgica Latin. tom. i. p. 370.

38 See Ducange’s Glossary; Bona, Rer. Liturg. lib. i. cap. 15. §. 6; Bingham’s Antiquities, book xv. chap. 4. §. 5. Bingham seems to have suffered his judgment to be prejudiced against the missa sicca by the representations of Bona. The custom was in itself quite harmless, though it was abused to the worst and most unprincipled ends; and under proper regulation might, with great propriety, be adopted in circumstances where it was inexpedient or impossible to celebrate the actual liturgy.

39 Durandi Rationale, lib. iv. c. 1. num. 23.

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