The Prayer Book Explained Part 25

When therefore we use this pet.i.tion, we may think rather of the members of the Cabinet than of those whom the King has honoured with the t.i.tle of Privy Councillor. A pet.i.tion for the House of Commons might with advantage be introduced into the Litany.

17. _to execute justice_, in the case which is being tried, is the first duty of a magistrate; _to maintain truth_ is also his duty, for he must have regard to other cases which will come before the Court.

18. This concludes the pet.i.tions for our own nation. We now go on to things which affect all nations alike.

19. _Unity, peace, and concord_. The general meaning of these words is the same, but there may {168} be unity without peace, and peace without concord: therefore we pray for all the three; and concord is placed last as being the inward temper which gives reality to unity and peace.

20. Here the order is reversed--proceeding from love which is the highest kind of bond, to _dread_ which should keep us from disobedience, and coming finally to the outward result viz. _a diligent life of obedience to the commandments_.

21. Takes up the last thought of the previous suffrage.

The life of obedience is here traced from hearing to receiving, and so, _to the fruits of the Spirit_ (see Gal. V. 22-24).

22. _Erred_ is when the fault is in ourselves only; _deceived_ is when we give way to the evil guidance of others.

23. Those who _stand_ need strength: those who are _weak-hearted_ need comfort and help: those who _fall_, restoration.

24. See p. 161.

25. Emigration has become more common since this pet.i.tion was prepared: those who settle in foreign lands should here be remembered.

_Captives_ are war-prisoners.

26. We may mentally supply the thought of _motherless_ children.

Widows may be supposed to include widowers. Both s.e.xes are described as widows in some parts of England. All kinds of bereavement are of course included in _desolate and oppressed_.

27. Just as 19 concluded a section of pet.i.tions {169} for our own nation, so 27 concludes a section about the people of all nations. 28 adds a pet.i.tion which the Lord particularly enjoined (S. Matth. v. 44).

28. _enemies, persecutors_, and _slanderers_--in ascending order of malignity. Similarly in the Commandments, where the worst sin of each sort is the one mentioned, we find false witness, or slander, named, in the Commandment which forbids all falsehood.

_and to turn their hearts_--a n.o.bler prayer even than asking G.o.d to forgive them: for when we have asked Him for their forgiveness, we may still long to overcome their hostility, rather than to see it withdrawn. As Christ's disciples we here desire to forego our triumph, and to rejoice over their conversion from evil.

29. Kindly fruits of the earth. 'Kindly' means 'natural'; from an Old English word 'cynd' or 'gecynd,' meaning _nature, kind, manner, condition_. (Cf. Gen. i. 11, 12, 21, 24, 25.)[7]

30. Although forgiveness is granted through the death of our Lord, repentance is that condition of our souls wherein the forgiveness cleanses them. _Repentance_ is therefore asked for first, then _Forgiveness, Grace_, and _Amendment_.

_Sins, negligences, and ignorances_: cf. General Confession, 'left undone'=negligence; 'done'=sins; 'no health in us' supplying the other defects, which are here set down to ignorance. We are called to a holy life, and therefore faults due to ignorance need {170} amendment and pardon, as well as faults which come of conscious disobedience to G.o.d's commands.

At the close of these pet.i.tions, the cry becomes more urgent. Our Lord warned us against vain repet.i.tions--repet.i.tions without meaning. The repet.i.tions here are not vain--they express deep feelings, and anxious entreaty.

Section ii. Our cry to the Father in Heaven.

The couplet

_O Lord, deal not with us_, &c.

_Neither reward us_, &c.

belongs to the _Prayer of the Contrite Heart_, and is a summary of it.

It is taken from Psalm ciii. 10. It offers no excuse but owns that we have sinned and are in wretched plight, as does the prayer which follows. This prayer was taken from the Sarum Missal, where it stands in a Ma.s.s for Tribulation of heart.

Ps. li. 17 supplies the thought of, that _despisest not--the contrite heart_, which is interwoven with, _sorrowful sighing_, from Psalm lxxix. 12.

We base our claim upon our forlorn condition, and appeal to G.o.d's mercy.

Note the repet.i.tion _merciful--mercifully--graciously--goodness_. The temper of the prayer is of kin to Psalm lxix. which--especially in verses 13 to 21, and in its final thankfulness, as sure of G.o.d's help--may have inspired its words and thoughts.

_Psalm xliv_. _1st and last verses_. Doubtless an abbreviation of the whole psalm, which stood at the beginning of the 3rd Rogation Litany.

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If it be thought that the Gloria Patri occurs as a surprise in the midst of these entreaties, we may notice (1) that all entreaties are more real when they recognise truly the Majesty of G.o.d; and (2) that S.

Augustine's processional Litany when he came to Canterbury (A.D. 596) concluded with Alleluia. "We beseech thee, O Lord, in all Thy mercy, that Thy wrath and Thine anger may be removed from this city and from Thy holy house, for we have sinned. Alleluia." (Taken from the 2nd Rogation Litany), (3) the _Gloria Patri_ is always said after a Psalm in the Services, and sometimes after parts of a Psalm.

Section iii. Appeal for help.

The eight versicles which follow next are addressed to Christ, and in most editions of the Prayer Book are separated by a small s.p.a.ce from the Verse and Respond,

_Priest_. O Lord, let thy mercy, &c.

_Answer_. As we do put, &c.

These eight versicles were, even in 1544, distinguished from those two, although they were then all marked to be said responsorially. In 1549 the direction for responsorial use was omitted for the eight verses, and retained for the couplet which antic.i.p.ates the next collect. We may infer from this that it is intended that the eight verses should be said, or sung, antiphonally. In the Sarum Use (3rd Litany for S.

Mark's Day), they were all to be said, first by the Minister, and repeated by the People.

The eight versicles form a section by themselves, and have a different setting from the sections which {172} precede and follow them. It was, no doubt, intended to make this 3rd Section a very solemn appeal to Christ, for help in all those difficulties and anxieties which have been recited in Section i.; and to make this appeal more earnest, _because_ of the evil plight which is acknowledged in Section ii.

The phrases are freely translated from the Latin of the Sarum Use, suggested by a thorough knowledge of the Psalms, but not, we believe, to be regarded as quotations therefrom. _O Son of David_ was subst.i.tuted for _Fili Dei vivi_, in making the translation. There is not sufficient ground for supposing that it was done by accident. In the appeal for a merciful hearing, it is right to ground it first upon His Human Nature as Son of Man, and then upon His Divine Nature as Christ, and Lord.

Section iv. The pressing anxieties of the moment.

The _Collect of Complete Confidence_, with its Verse and Respond, is placed here to strike the keynote of the Section: and the Section is filled up from the Occasional Prayers, or from the Collects after the Communion Service.

This is obviously the place where other prayers may be introduced, when urgent needs require them.

The _Verse and Respond_: Psalm x.x.xiii. 22. The first half of the Collect was formerly a complete prayer, separated from the other half, in the Litany of 1544, by _O G.o.d whose nature_, &c., the prayer _for {173} Clergy and People_, and another prayer. The Verse contains the thought of the first half, the Respond has the thought of the second half.

Since the special prayers which are used in this Section are only occasional, and rarely more than one or two at a time, they were all placed (1662) in a chapter by themselves, after the end of the Litany.

Section v. _The final commendation of our prayers to Christ, who makes them acceptable_: See Morning and Evening Prayer.

[1] Lightfoot, _Apost. Fathers_, Pt. II. vol. 1. p. 446.

[2] This date is variously stated. Hotham in _Dict. Chr. Ant._ vol.

11. says 477; Scudamore in the same vol. 452; Hooker 'about 450'; Burbidge 450; Maclear (S.P.C.K.) and Prayer Book Interleaved 460; Proctor 'about 460'; Daniel, J. H. Blunt, and Barry 467. The dates _known_ of Mamertus are between 463 and 474. (Professor Collins tells me no others are known.)