The Banns. From a barbarous Latin word meaning an edict or proclamation. In 1661 the rubric directed them to be published immediately before the offertory sentences. The marriage Acts of the Georges are supposed to set aside this rubric, and to order them to be published after the Second Lesson. It is doubtful whether this does not apply to the Evening Service only, in places where there is no Morning Service.
The Licence of the Bishop makes the publication of Banns unnecessary. Without a Special Licence, Marriage can be solemnized only between the hours of 8 and 12 in the forenoon.
(a) The Marriage Service proper should be performed in "the body of the church" (see rubric, 1661) the place selected being generally the Chancel steps.
The Exhortation, 1549, from the "Consultation" chiefly; it rests on the following passages of Holy Scripture:—Gen. ii. 24; Matt. xix. 5; Eph. v. 22-33; John ii. 1-11; Heb. xiii. 4. No impediment being alleged, the Espousal or Betrothal follows. The joining of hands is from time immemorial the pledge of covenant, and is here an essential part of the Marriage Ceremony. The words of the betrothal are agreeable to the following passages: 1 Cor. xi. 1-12; Eph. v. 22-33; Col. iii. 18, 19; 1 Tim. ii. 10-14; 1 Peter iii. 1-7.
The Marriage Rite itself. The use of the ring is probably of pre-Christian antiquity. The old Service directed it to be worn on the fourth finger because "there is a vein leading direct to the heart."
Gold and Silver was also given the bride in 1549, but omitted in 1552. The word "worship" means "honour," as in Wycliffe's Testament, Matt. xix. 19, "Worship thy father and thy mother."
(b) The Post-Matrimonial Service. The rubric directs only the "minister or clerks" to go to the Lord's Table, but the practice is to carry out the older rubric, 1549, "Then shall they"—the whole marriage party—"go into the Quire." A second Psalm is added for use in cases when the language of the first would be unsuitable. The following rubric is almost unique, in directing the Priest to turn his face to the people. The Versicles are substantially the same as those used at the Visitation of the Sick and in the Churching of Women. The concluding rubric dates from 1661; the rubric in 1549 definitely ordered the reception of Holy Communion.
MATTHEW'S (St.) DAY. Sept. 21st. This Apostle and Evangelist, before his call to the apostleship, was known as Levi, the publican, or tax-gatherer. He may possibly have been the brother of St. James the Less, and of St. Thomas also. He was the first to write a Gospel, which he addressed to the Jews, his aim being to show that Jesus was the Messiah. It is probable that he alone, of all the New Testament writers, wrote in Hebrew. His symbol is the Lion, according to St. Augustine.
MATTHIAS'S (St.) DAY. Feb. 24th. Of St. Matthias we know simply
nothing, except that he was elected to the vacant place in the
Apostolic College, caused by the desertion and death of the traitor
Judas; Acts i. 15 to end.
MAUNDY THURSDAY. The Thursday before Easter, being the day on which our Lord instituted the Holy Sacrament of His Body and Blood. The name is a corruption of the Latin word mandatum, meaning a command, in allusion to the "New Commandment" of mutual love.