is, therefore, rightly used only as an occasional variation from the far grander and more apposite Te Deum.

For notes on the CREED, see the corresponding place in the EVENING SERVICE.

The BENEDICTUS, or Song of Zacharias (Luke i. 68), was originally the only Canticle provided to follow the Second Lesson. It would be difficult to find any which could better sum up the messages of both Testaments. For in its first part (vs. 1-8), it is a thanksgiving to the "God of Israel" for the fulfilment in the Redemption of Christ of the promise to David, as drawn out by the Prophets, and of the Covenant with Abraham; in the latter (vs. 9-12), by the prophetic charge to Our Lord's forerunner, it sets forth the essence of the salvation of the Gospel in its two-fold gift of light and peace.

The JUBILATE-added in 1552 as an occasional variation from the Benedictus-is simply a Psalm of Praise, inviting all lands to the worship of God, as the Creator and Shepherd of His people, everlasting in mercy from generation to generation. But (unlike the Benedictus) it has, from the nature of the case, no Christian reference; and it should not be made, as it often is made, the Canticle of regular

use.

III. The third part of the Service, the HEARING THE WORD OF GOD, includes the LESSONS, and the answer of Faith in the CREED. On the LESSONS, both Proper and Common, see above, pp. 12-14. The preface, "Concerning the Service of the Church" declares emphatically the paramount importance attached by the Church of England to the orderly public reading of Holy Scripture; and this is implied also in the very careful directions for audibility and distinctness of reading given here in the Rubric.

IV. THE SERVICE OF
PRAYER.

After the mutual blessing of the Dominus vobiscum, and the threefold Kyrie eleeson (which is an Invocation of the Holy Trinity), this part of the Service opens with the Lord's Prayer.

The LORD'S PRAYER is given us as the universal prayer of all humanity and of every day. Our Lord has left us the types of more exceptional utterances in the Prayer of the Agony (Matt. xxvi. 39-42), and the great Intercession (John xvii.)

In the fact of its appointment we have our Lord's sanction, in spite of all mystery, of the natural instinct and general scope of human prayer; and also His sanction for the continual repetition of set forms of Prayer.

In the PETITIONS we are taught the true order of the objects of our desires, and therefore of our life. First, before all thought of self, that acknowledgment of the glory of God, which is necessarily the highest blessing of man-by devotion of spirit, by loyalty of heart, by active and unwearied obedience-all done "on earth, as in heaven," that is, "all for love, and nothing for reward (comp. Matt. vi. 33). Next, our own needs; and here we note that prayer for temporal blessings is expressly sanctioned, but strictly confined to the simple and modest desire for "daily bread," while the prayer for spiritual blessings expands into definiteness and earnestness. In God's forgiveness we have the beginning, in His sup port through temptation the continuance, and in deliverance from the evil the triumphant close, of spiritual life. To one

the Lord praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Whales, and all that move in the Waters, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him for

ever.

O all ye Fowls of the Air, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O all ye Beasts and Cattle, bless ye the Lord praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Children of Men, bless ye the Lord praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O let Israel bless the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for

ever.

O ye Priests of the Lord, bless ye the Lord praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Servants of the Lord, bless ye the Lord praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Spirits and Souls of the Righteous, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for

ever.

O ye holy and humble Men of heart, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, bless ye the Lord praise him, and magnify him for ever.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end. Amen.

Then shall be read in like manner the Second Lesson, taken out of the New Testament. And after that, the Hymn following; except when that shall happen to be read in the Chupter for the Day, or for the Gospel on Saint John Baptist's Day.

salvation for us: in the house of his servant David;

As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets which have been since the world began ;

That we should be saved from our enemies: and from the hands of all that hate us;

To perform the mercy promised to our forefathers and to remember his holy Covenant;

To perform the oath which he sware to our forefather Abraham: that he would give us ;

That we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies: might serve him without fear;

In holiness and righteousness before him: all the days of our life.

And thou, Child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest : for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;

To give knowledge of salvation unto his people for the remission of their sins,

Through the tender mercy of our God: whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us;

To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end. Amen.

petition alone-the prayer for forgiveness-is a condition attached, viz., that of showing forgiveness; because (we may suppose) that duty is at once the hardest to the natural man, and the most characteristic of "the mind of Christ Jesus" (see Matt. xviii. 21-35).

The Lord's Prayer is followed by the VERSICLES, anticipating in brief the Collects (e.g. for Peace and Grace, for the Queen, the Clergy, and the People) which are to follow. These Versicles are old, taken from the Festal and Ferial (common) Preces of the Sarum Breviary, an antiphon to the Collect for Peace, and the 51st Psalm, which followed the Preces.

As usual they are taken largely from the Psalms (see Ps. lxxxv. 7; xx. 9; cxxxii. 9; xxviii. 10; li. 10, 11).

The standing up" of the Priest, which is exceptional, is apparently borrowed from the practice in the old Service of his rising up after the 51st Psalm, with the words, "Exsurgat Deus," and proceeding to the steps of the Altar to say the rest of the Prayers.

These petitions are drawn out in the COLLECTS. The word "Collect" is variously derived; by some from being said "ad Collectam, i.e. at the assembly of public worship; by others from being a condensation of Scriptural truth; or from being the collective prayer of the congregation, offered by one voice. The last derivation seems the best.

For the character and principle of arrangement of the COLLECTS OF THE DAY, see pp. 57 a and 576.

The two Collects following are, with a special emphasis, ordered to be used unceasingly, because they ask for the two blessingsGod's peace (passively received)

and His grace (used for action), without which life is not worth living.

The COLLECT FOR PEACE is a free translation from an old Latin Collect, found in the Sacramentary of Gelasius (A.D. 494), used at Lauds and in the Post Communion Service of the Sarum Use. The preamble addresses God, as He is especially known in Christ, to be the God of Peace (Luke ii. 14; Isa. lvii. 19); and then, first looking to the life of thought, declares that "in the knowledge of God standeth" (consists) 66 our eternal life" (John xvii. 3); next, looking to the life of action, declares service to Him to be perfect freedom (John viii. 31-36; Rom. vi. 15-23). The prayer itself is both for safety from all adversaries (objective), and for the knowledge of that safety, casting out anxiety and fear (subjective).

The COLLECT FOR GRACE is again an old Collect, found in the Sacramentary of Gregory (A.D. 600), and used in the Service of Prime in the Sarum Breviary. By the clause "who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day," we see that it is especially appropriate to an early Service. The prayer still, like the former, asks for God's defence, although now from sin, as well as danger; but it goes on to ask for grace, both of obedience to God's sovereignty("Thy kingdom come"), and of active service ("Thy will be done").

For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth from generation to generation.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Then shall be sung or said the Apostles' Creed by the Minister and the people, standing: except only such days as the Creed of Saint Athanasius is appointed to be read. BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:

I

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried, He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead, He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

Answer. And grant us thy salvation.

Priest. O Lord, save the Queen. Answer. And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.

Priest. Endue thy Ministers with righteousness.

Answer. And make thy chosen people joyful.

Priest. O Lord, save thy people. Answer. And bless thine inheritance.

Priest. Give peace in our time, O Lord.

Answer. Because there is none other that fighteth for us, but only thou, O God.

Priest. O God, make clean our hearts within us.

Answer. And take not thy holy Spirit from us.

And after that, these Prayers following, all devoutly kneeling; the Minister first pronouncing with a loud voice,

The Lord be with you.
Answer. And with thy spirit.
Minister. Let us pray.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord have mercy upon us.

first of the Day, which shall be the same that is appointed at the Communion; the second for Peace; the third for Grace to live well. And the two last Collects shall never alter, but daily be said at Morning Prayer throughout all the Year, as followeth; all kneeling.

The second Collect, for Peace.

GOD, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is

these, mostly struck out (see Preface to Prayer Book), we have still survivals in the musical responds before and after the Gospel, and in the "O Lord, arise and help us," &c., of the Litany. The name clearly implies that our modern Anthem has grown out of the old Antiphon. But it has generally lost the old responsive idea, and has, moreover, allowed itself much freedom and extension-often being even dramatic or descriptive, instead of simply an utterance of Prayer or Praise, and now representing in our Service the element of the higher non-congregational music.

It is notable that this is the only place in which the Prayer Book itself gives direct authority for the use of that variable utterance of Praise, which has now been so largely developed in Hymnody, and has been formally legalized in the Amended Act of Uniformity (1879).

The COLLECT FOR THE QUEEN is of unknown authorship, but belongs to the 16th century. It is first found appended to a Selection of Psalms printed by authority from 1545 to 1548. Originally it was of greater length, and addressed, as the title "King of kings" (see Rev. xix. 16) shows, to Our Lord Himself. It is a fine specimen of the more flowing rhetorical style of the later Collectspraying for the Sovereign, both personally and officially, with all the fervent loyalty of that century, and asking for her present grace, prosperity, and victory, and future felicity in heaven.

The PRAYER FOR THE ROYAL FAMILY is first found in 1604 (in the Litany), and was probably composed by Archbishop Whitgift. Originally it ran, O God, who hast promised to be a father to thine elect and their seed for ever;" and was altered and realtered, till it was fixed at

last to its present form by Laud (1633). It is (as is natural) a fainter copy of the prayer for the Queen.

The PRAYER FOR CLERGY AND PEOPLE is old, from the Sacramentary of Gelasius, used after the Litany in the Sarum Breviary. The allusion in the Preamble, "Who alone workest great marvels," is, no doubt, to the supernatural gift of Pentecost. The prayer is twofold, for "preventing and "following' grace (see Collect for 17th Sunday after Trinity); first, for "healthful" renewal of the soul diseased, and next, for the continual refreshment-the daily "dew"-of God's blessing.

The PRAYER OF ST. CHRYSOSTOм is a free translation from a Greek Collect found in the Liturgies of St. Basil and St. Chrysostom. It is a concluding petition for the acceptance of all our prayers, offered by the grace of God, in virtue of the promised Presence of Christ in the midst of us (Matt. xviii. 19, 20); and (again alluding to John xvii. 3) it asks for the one great object of all prayer-the knowledge of God, which is the "life eternal" even now, and shall bear the fruit of the "life everlasting" in the world to come.

The BENEDICTION (2 Cor. xiii. 13) is the fullest expression by St. Paul of the blessing which was his "token in every Epistle" (see 2 Thess. iii. 17). ↑ It begins with Our Lord's Mediation ("the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ"), and through it passes to the Love of God the Father, to which He restores us, and the Communion of the Holy Spirit, which is His gift to us (see John xv. 26; xvi. 7). In it, as in the Baptismal formula. we have a clear implication of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.