The Church: Her Books and Her Sacraments

by E. E. Holmes

Now, in reviewing a book, the reviewer will probably look at three things: the title, the preface, the contents.

(I) THE TITLE.

"The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, according to the Use of the Church of England."

Here are three clear statements: (1) it is "The Book of Common Prayer "; (2) it is the local "directory" for the "Administration of the Sacraments of the Church," i.e. of the Universal Church; (3) this directory is called the "Use of the Church of England". Think of each statement in turn.

(1) It is "The Book of Common Prayer".—"Common Prayer"[[4]] was the name given to public worship in the middle of the sixteenth century. The Book of Common Prayer is the volume in which the various services were gathered together for common use. It is many books in one book. As the Bible is one book made up of sixty-six books, so the Prayer Book is one book made up of six books. These books, revised and abbreviated for English "Use," were:—

(1) The Pontifical.
(2) The Missal.
(3) The Gospels.
(4) The Gradual.
(5) The Breviary.
(6) The Manual.

Before the invention of printing, these books were written in manuscript, and were too heavy to carry about bound together in one volume. Each, therefore, was carried by the user separately. Thus, when the Bishop, or Pontifex, was ordaining or confirming, he carried with him a separate book containing the offices for Ordination and Confirmation; and, because it contained the offices used by the Bishop, or Pontiff, it was called the Pontifical. When a priest wished to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, he used a separate book called "The Missal" (from the Latin Missa, a Mass[[5]]). When, in the Eucharist, the deacon read the Gospel for the day, he read it from a separate book called "The Gospels". When he went in procession to read it, the choir sang scriptural phrases out of a separate book called "The Gradual" (from the Latin gradus, a step), because they were sung in gradibus, i.e. upon the steps of the pulpit, or rood-loft, from which the Gospel was read. When the clergy said their offices at certain fixed "Hours," they used a separate book called "The Breviary" (from the Latin brevis, short), because it contained the brief, or short, writings which constituted the office, out of which our English Matins and Evensong were practically formed. When services for such as needed Baptism, Matrimony, Unction, Burial, were required, some light book that could easily be carried in the hand was used, and this was called "The Manual" (from the Latin manus, a hand).

These six books, written in Latin, were, in 1549, shortened, and, with various alterations, translated into English, bound in one volume, which is called "The Book of Common Prayer".