The Church Handy Dictionary Part 6

A child naturally _intones_ or _monotones_ if set to read or recite.

And where a congregation have to repeat the same words together, it is absolutely necessary that they should do it on some given note, or the result would be Babel. Children in school, of their own accord, say their lessons together in a monotone. The practice of doing so in the Church dates from the very earliest times.

CHURCH PARTIES. There always have been, and probably always will be, in every religious community different schools of thought. Truth is many-sided, and while men may agree in prescribing a certain limit, outside which is error, yet within the boundary there may be room for many different views of central truths. In the Church of England the views held by different parties are generally reckoned under three heads,--(1) _High Church_, a section of which party are Ritualists; (2) _Low Church_, or _Evangelicals_; (3) _Broad Church_.

Roughly speaking their influence may be thus described: The High Church party has deepened the sense of the Church's corporate life and work, and added to the reverence, the order, the beauty of holy worship. The Low Church party has done much to awaken a spirit of vital personal religion. The Broad Church party has done much to co-ordinate the truths of religion with the certain results of science. The members of this party hold views more or less lat.i.tudinarian. The teaching of these three parties will best be seen by an enumeration of the names most favoured by each; thus High Churchmen appeal to Laud, Hammond, Sancroft, Hooker, Andrewes, Cosin, Pearson, Ken, Wilson, Robert Nelson, George Herbert, John Keble, and Pusey. Low Churchmen delight in Melanchthon, Zwingli, Cranmer, Hooper, Ridley, Jewel, Bunyan, Whitfield, Cowper, Scott, Cecil, John Newton, Romaine, Venn, Wilberforce, Simeon, and Henry Martyn. The Broad Church School contains such names as Bacon, Milton, Hales, Jeremy Taylor, Tillotson, Locke, Isaac Newton, Coleridge, Arnold, Maurice, Hare, Robertson, Kingsley, Thirlwall, and Stanley.

CHURCH RATE. A rate which the Churchwardens and Vestry had the right to levy on ratepayers for the repairs of the Church, and for the expenses connected with Divine Service. Ina, king of Wess.e.x, drew up a code of Ecclesiastical Laws, which were accepted in a National Council in A.D. 690. Among these laws was that--"The _Church Scot_ (or Rate) for the repair of Churches, and supply of all things necessary for Divine Worship, was to be paid by every house before Martinmas, according to a valuation made at Christmas."

This right of the Church to levy compulsory Church Rates was only taken from her by an Act pa.s.sed in the present reign, in consequence of the opposition raised by Dissenters.

CHURCH WARDENS. The Office of Church Warden dates from very early times in England, but we have no clear account of its origin. The Church Wardens, of whom there are two in most Parishes, are appointed at a meeting of parishioners held at Easter. The Inc.u.mbent has the power of appointing one, the other is elected by the vote of the parishioners. The Church Wardens were originally mere ecclesiastical officers; the State then added various civil functions to the office, such as levying rates, &c., but a good deal of this civil power has now been withdrawn. Their business has become in substance that of a.s.sisting in the finances, repairs, warming, &c., of the Church. It is also their duty to complain to the Bishop or Archdeacon if the Inc.u.mbent be neglectful or irregular in the conduct of Divine Service.

When Church Wardens have been chosen, they are admitted to their office by the Archdeacon. The office is of one year's duration only.

In many larger parishes they are a.s.sisted by Synodmen, or Sidesmen.

A Church Warden should be a resident rate-payer; but non-residence is not always a disqualification. The following are certainly disqualified to hold office,--all aliens born, as well as aliens naturalized; all Jews; all children under 10 years of age; all persons convicted of felony; all idiots and insane persons.

CHURCH YARD. The ground adjoining the Church, in which the dead are buried. It is the freehold of the parson, but inasmuch as it was the common burial place, it was fenced and cared for at the charge of the parishioners, who could be rated for it. Recent _Burial Acts_ (which see) have lately given power to laymen to conduct funeral services even in the consecrated Churchyard. Rates have also been done away with, and thus we find the parson burdened with the charge of a Churchyard in which any man, woman, or child, may hold funeral services. The Church of England is the only religious body in England which may not have a distinct burial ground for her dead!

CHURCHING OF WOMEN. From the earliest times it has been usual for a woman after child-birth to come to G.o.d's house to offer thanks. It was so among the Jews, although with them the idea of purification is involved as well as of thanksgiving, as it is in the Eastern Church at the present day. In some country places there is an idea that a woman can be "_Churched_" at home, which is a contradiction in terms.

CIRc.u.mCISION OF CHRIST. A feast dating from before the 6th century, when a special service was already in use for it. The collect--a translation from an ancient Latin one--sums up well the teaching of the day.

CLERGY. A general name for ecclesiastics of all orders (see _Orders_), as distinguished from the laity. The word is from a Greek one, meaning a _portion_.

CLERK. The legal designation of a clergyman is "_Clerk in Holy Orders_." The _Parish Clerk_ was formerly a person in Holy Orders, but his office, as defined in our Prayer Book, is usually discharged by a layman. The appointment of a Parish Clerk is in the hands of the inc.u.mbent, by whom also he may be dismissed; but in some parishes the office is a freehold. The almost universal use of choirs in churches has nearly done away with that strange mode of public worship which consisted of a duet between the parson and clerk. The clerk has certain stated fees for his a.s.sistance at marriages and funerals.

CLOISTER. A covered walk attached to monastic and collegiate buildings and Cathedrals.

COLLATION. The appointment to a benefice by a Bishop is called a _collation_.

COLLECT. A short concentrated prayer. The derivation of the word is doubtful. The greater part of our Collects are found in the Sacramentaries of St. Leo (A.D. 420), Gelasius (A.D. 494), and Gregory the Great (A.D. 590.) Fifty-seven out of tie existing eighty-two Prayer Book Collects are thus translations from the Latin. The later Collects may sometimes be distinguished from these ancient ones by their lack of terseness, and by their greater use of scriptural language.

COLLEGE. A corporation or community. The Colleges of our Universities are independent societies, governed by their own statutes and officers. Still, they are connected in certain ways with the greater Corporation, called the _University_ (which see.)

COLLEGIATE CHURCHES. Churches with a _College_, or body of Canons or Prebendaries attached, such as Westminster Abbey, and St. George's, Windsor. The only others remaining now are Wolverhampton, Middleham, and Brecon.

COMMANDMENTS, The TEN. The recital of the Decalogue is peculiar to our English Communion Service. It was ordered in 1552, possibly to counteract the growth of Antinomianism (which see.) While other parts of the Levitical Law relating to _ceremonies_ and the like are not binding on Christians, the Commandments are so, because they embody the _Moral_ Law, which is for all time and all people.

For the sense in which the Commandments are to be understood, see the explanation of them in the Catechism. The reason of their being placed in the Communion Service is to remind us of the duty of self-examination before we "presume to eat of that bread and drink of that cup," and to give us a standard whereby we may measure ourselves. For the alteration from the _seventh_ day to the _first_, see _Sunday_.

COMMENDATORY PRAYER. One of the four extra prayers added to the Office for the Visitation of the Sick in 1662. It is a most beautiful commendation of a "sick person at the point of departure"

to G.o.d's gracious mercy.

COMMINATION. The word means a _threat_, or _denunciation of vengeance_. The Service, so-called in our Prayer Book, took its present shape in 1549. It is, as the first exhortation states, an imperfect subst.i.tute for the primitive practice of open penance.

Notice that in using this Service we do not invoke the wrath of G.o.d on sinners, but merely declare that a curse must rest on sin. The Service is used on Ash Wednesday, although, if ordered, it may be used at other times. The first seven sentences are from Deut.

xxvii.15-26; the eighth is from Jer. xvii.5; the ninth is an agglomeration of sins condemned in Scripture. The _Amen_ here means not _So be it_, but _So it is_. The exhortation which follows is a succession of quotations from Scripture. The Rubric mentions the "place where they are accustomed to say the Litany," which place is neither the _pulpit_ nor _reading pew_ mentioned in the first Rubric in the Office, but is a desk placed "in the midst of the church" (Injunctions of 1549). Following the Lord's Prayer, Versicles, and Collects, comes a most forcible confession couched in the words of Scripture, but less comprehensive than those of the Morning and Communion Services. The Blessing, added in 1662, is a shortened form of the old Jewish Blessing (Num. vi.24-26), but here it is precatory not declaratory.

COMMITTAL PRAYER. That prayer in the Burial Service in which the minister _commits_ the body to the ground, "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." (See _Burial Service_.)

COMMON PRAYER, _see_ Liturgy.

COMMUNION, THE HOLY. Variously called the _Lord's Supper_ and the _Eucharist_. This Service, formerly exclusively called the _Liturgy_ is the highest act of Christian worship. We will consider it under four heads,--(1) History; (2) Rubrics; (3) Service; (4) Views.

(1) _History_. The two Sacraments--Holy Communion, and Holy Baptism--differ from all other Christian observances in that they are the only two expressly ordained by our Lord. We have four records of the inst.i.tution of the Lord's Supper in the New Testament, viz., Matt, xxvi.26-28; Mark xiv.22-24; Luke xxii.19-20; 1 Cor. xi.23-25. In obedience to our Lord's command, "This do in remembrance of Me," we find the Apostles constantly celebrated the Holy Communion; Acts ii.46; xx.7; &c. This was always accompanied by a set form of prayer, traces of which we may even find in the New Testament--Acts ii.42; 1 Cor. x.16; 1 Cor. xiv.16. Justin Martyr, who wrote A.D. 140, gives an account of a Sunday Service.

Almsgiving usually, if not always, accompanied a celebration of the Holy Communion. As the number of Christians increased, the various Churches throughout Europe compiled for their own use forms of prayer for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist; the form most used in England was known by the name of the "Sarum, or Salisbury, Use." The Communion Service in our Prayer Book is based upon, and translated from, this "Sarum Use," with considerable modifications and adaptations. The first reformed Office appeared in 1548; the first full English Office was put forth in 1549; the present Office is substantially that in the second Prayer Book of Edward VI., 1552.

A great deal of it is from Hermann's "Consultation," a Liturgy drawn up in 1543 by Melanchthon and Bucer.

(2) _Rubrics_. The first, inserted in 1661, has become virtually obsolete. The "Ordinary," mentioned in the third, is the Bishop, and the "Canon" referred to is the 109th. For first part of fourth rubric, see _Altar_. For the latter part of this rubric, see _Eastward Position_. This rubric was added in 1552.

The rubric before the Commandments was inserted in 1552, but the words "turning to the people," were added in 1661. The next was inserted in 1549. In the next rubric, the alternate form of giving out the Epistle is for use when the pa.s.sage selected as the Epistle is not really from the Epistles, but is some other "portion of Scripture;" the "sung or said" refers, possibly, to the Cathedral and Parochial modes of conducting Service. (See _Church Music_.)

Three rubrics follow the Nicene Creed; in the first, 1662, the word "Curate," there and elsewhere in the Prayer Book, means the minister in charge of the parish, having "cure of souls," not the a.s.sistant minister generally so denominated now. The direction that notice of Holy Communion is to be given at this part of the service is quite contradictory to the rubric following the Prayer for the Church Militant, which should be altered. The word "Homily," in the second of these rubrics, means "a plain sermon." Two books of Homilies have been put forth, one in 1547, by Archbp. Cranmer and others, and the second in 1562, by Bishop Jewel. There is no authority in this, or any other rubric, for changing the surplice for a black gown, neither is there any direction for a prayer before the sermon, although a form is given in the 55th Canon. (See _Bidding Prayer_.)

For the next rubric see _Offertory_.

The first rubric after the Offertory Sentences was inserted in 1661; in 1552 the alms were to be put in the poor box, and not presented.

The next rubric orders the bread and wine to be placed on the Holy Table, thus implying the existence of some shelf or table, called the Credence Table, on which they had been previously placed. This rubric was omitted from 1552 to 1661, which perhaps accounts for the custom existing in some churches of not placing the elements on the altar till the time of consecration. The rubrics before the two exhortations giving notice of Holy Communion, were inserted in 1661, but now they have fallen into disuse. The next rubric, inserted in 1552, refers to the custom, almost obsolete now, of intending communicants taking places in the chancel for the rest of the service.

The rubric before the Confession is ambiguous in language, and may mean that the Confession is to be said by the minister alone. The next rubric, directing the Bishop, if present, to p.r.o.nounce the Absolution, is from the Scottish Office, and was introduced here in 1661. For the rubric before the Consecration prayer, see _Eastward Position_. The "fair linen cloth," ordered to be thrown over what remains of the consecrated elements, is by some thought to represent the linen clothes in which the Saviour's body was wrapped when placed in the tomb.

Of the nine rubrics at the close of the service, the second, third, and fourth are directed against the practice obtaining in the Roman Catholic Church of solitary ma.s.ses. The fifth is stated by Archbishop Parker and Bishop Cosin not to forbid the use of wafer-bread, but merely to legalize the use of ordinary bread. The rubric in the Scottish Liturgy expresses this more clearly,--"Though it be lawful to have wafer-bread, it shall suffice that the bread be such as is usual." The sixth rubric exhibits the Church's careful and reverent treatment of the remains of the consecrated elements; but its main office was to forbid the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament for the use of invalids and others. This was allowed in the primitive Church, and is now by the Scottish Episcopal Church; but the superst.i.tions which grew up around the custom seemed to make the present rule necessary. The next rubric has been required since offerings in kind were discontinued.

In the next rubric the Lateran Council (1215) enjoined one communion yearly, at Easter-tide only; but the present rule is more in accordance with the custom of the ancient Church, and encourages lay communions.

The last rubric only provides for the distribution of alms when there is an offertory, _i.e._ the reading of the offertory sentences. Other collections are in the hands of the inc.u.mbent only. The Ordinary is the Bishop.

The "declaration" is a protest against certain low and gross notions of a carnal presence, as taught in the Roman Church. The "_kneeling_" here, and the "_meekly kneeling_" in the rubric after the Consecration Prayer, exclude prostration, which is not kneeling.

(3) _The Service_. As was said in the paragraph on the _History_ of the Communion Service, it is chiefly taken from the "Sarum Use."

When there is no celebration, the Service concludes with a Collect and the Benediction, said immediately after the Prayer for the Church Militant; and this is called the Ante-Communion Office. The Lord's Prayer is said by the Priest alone, notwithstanding the general rubric to the contrary; that, and the Collect following, being taken from an Office which was repeated by the Priest alone, in preparation for Ma.s.s. The Decalogue was inserted in 1552 (see _Commandments_.) In the Collects following, the Mediaeval Offices coupled the Pope, King, and Bishop of Diocese together.

It is an ancient custom to sit during the reading of the Epistle, and to stand during the reading of the Gospel, out of reverence for the repet.i.tion of the words or acts of Christ. The Doxology "Glory be to Thee, O Lord" has, from a very early period, followed the announcement of the Gospel; but the "Thanks be to Thee, O Lord,"

afterwards, is a comparatively late custom. For the Nicene Creed, see _Creed_. In the Prayer Book of 1662, the Banns of Marriage were ordered to be published after the Nicene Creed. For the Sermon see article _Sermon_. The sentences following are called the "Offertory Sentences;" formerly a verse was sung before the oblation of the elements. The next prayer, called the _Prayer for the Church Militant_, has, in some form or other, formed part of every known Liturgy. It is divided into three main parts--(1) The Oblation; (2) Commemoration of the living; (3) Commemoration of the faithful departed. The oblation is twofold, firstly of the alms which have been collected, and, secondly, of the elements, the bread and wine for Holy Communion. The Exhortations, here and elsewhere in the Prayer Book, are sixteenth century compositions. The first is from Hermann's "Consultation" (which see); the close of this exhortation is important as shewing that in certain cases the Reformers allowed auricular confession. The parts of this Service following the Exhortations are respectively called the Invitation, Confession, Absolution, and the "Comfortable Words," and are very characteristic of the Anglican Liturgy. After the "Comfortable Words" begins the most solemn part of the Office, anciently called the Canon. The versicles, called, after the Latin for the first, the "Sarsum Corda," are found in all Liturgies; and the "Holy, Holy, Holy,"--the Ter-sanctus,--is probably from Apostolic times. The "Proper Prefaces" are five out of the ten found in English and Roman Missals; the first is an old form, re-modelled in 1549; the second remains as it was in 494; the third dates from 590; the fourth seems to be a new composition in 1549; the fifth, like the second, dates from 494. Next follows a very beautiful prayer, called the "Prayer of Humble Access," which is peculiar to the Anglican Liturgy. After this comes the "Prayer of Consecration." The recital of the words and actions used by our blessed Lord at the Inst.i.tution of this Holy Feast has always formed an essential feature in every Liturgy. The form of words to be used at the Reception has varied. Originally, the words used were, "The Body of Christ," "The Blood of Christ."

Of the form in use now, the first clause only was ordered in 1549, the second only in 1552, and both were combined in 1559. The Lord's Prayer, following, formerly was part of the Consecration Prayer; and the next prayer, called the "Oblation," was the conclusion of the Consecration Prayer in 1549. After the alternate prayer, composed in 1549, comes the ancient hymn known as the "Gloria in Excelsis,"

or "Angelic Hymn," or the "Great Doxology." It is of Eastern origin, and in the time of Athanasius was said, together with certain Psalms, at dawn. The "Benediction" is a Scriptural composition of the Reformed Church, the latter part being from Hermann's Consultation. Of the collects concluding the service, the first, second, and fourth are from ancient Offices, the others being composed in 1549.

(4) _Views_, _or Doctrine_. In nothing does the belief of men so differ as in this matter of Holy Communion. There may be said to be three views existing among members of the Church of England relative to that which all allow to be the greatest ordinance of religion.

This difference of belief in this matter is the real foundation of party spirit in the Church.

(_a_) The _Symbolic_: viz., that consecration simply implies a setting apart for a holy use of certain elements by a Minister authorised to do so; that the Bread and Wine thus set apart are symbols of Christ's Body, which was broken, and of His blood, which was shed; and that the partic.i.p.ation of them is, on the one hand, a sign of the fellowship of love binding all true hearts together; and, on the other, a sign of the nourishment and growth of the soul, as fed by Christ Himself. This is the doctrine of Zuinglius, the Swiss Reformer. It is adverse to the doctrine of the whole primitive Church, which, says Bishop H. Browne, "unquestionably believed in a _presence_ of Christ in the Eucharist." (Art. xxviii. Sec. I.)

(_b_) The _Receptionist_; viz., that after consecration the elements become in such a sense changed that they become the channels through which the Body and Blood of Christ are subsequently conveyed to those who receive them with certain dispositions of mind. The Presence of Christ in the elements is potential, not actual; that is, the elements have the power of conveying the Presence of Christ to only a properly qualified receiver.

(_c_) The _Objective_; viz., that after the consecration the elements receive not potentially, but actually, the Present Body and Blood of Christ, and that therefore, the Presence does not depend, as in the view above, upon faithful partic.i.p.ation, but upon the act of consecration.

More briefly, the Holy Communion is considered as (1) a memorial feast of love; (2) the actual Presence of Christ in the heart of the faithful recipient; this might also be called the Subjective view of the Real Presence; and (3) the Real Presence of Christ in the consecrated elements themselves, or the Objective view.

There is also the _Sacrificial_ view of the Eucharist, which is held, in a greater or less degree, by all schools of thought.

Sadler, in "Church Doctrine,--Bible Truth," thus states what he believes to be the Church of England view--"The Eucharist is the solemn ecclesiastical memorial of the Sacrifice of the Death of Christ. It is the Saviour's own ordained means of showing forth before G.o.d, men, and angels. His love in His Death. Just as the Old Law sacrifices were antic.i.p.atory showings forth of the One Atoning Death which was to be, so this Communion is a memorial, or commemorative showing forth, of the One Atoning Death which has been."