peculiarly adapted to the five principal festivals of the year, and prefixed, as the name imports, to the great Hallelujah or Seraphic Hymn. They are of great antiquity, and commemorative of God's especial mercy on each particular festival; but our Reformers deemed it necessary both to curtail the number, and revise the form, of those contained in the earlier offices.

43. Why is there no proper preface for Good Friday?

As Good Friday is a fast, not a feast, the Eucharist cannot be properly celebrated, and it has therefore no Proper Preface; not to mention that the entire service of the day is a commemoration of the benefits procured to us by the death of Christ.

44. What is the Tersanctus, and why so called; and is it to be repeated wholly, or in part only, by the people?

The Tersanctus, or, in Greek, the rpioάytov, is little more than the Seraph's hymn described by Isaiah (vi. 3.). It is so called from the word HOLY, thrice repeated in honour of the ever-blessed Trinity. In the absence of any express rubrical direction, it is a common practice for the people to repeat not only the hymn itself, but a portion of the Preface also, beginning at the words Therefore with angels, &c. This was never the custom of the primitive Church, nor the intention of those who revised the Liturgy; nor is it warranted by the nature of the Preface itself. The hymn only, "Holy, Holy, &c," is to be repeated by the people.

45. How does the Prayer of Consecration divide itself; and upon what principle is it constructed?

The Prayer of Consecration divides itself into two parts ;-the Prayer itself or éπikλŋois, and the commemoration of the words employed by our Lord at the institution of the Sacrament. The repetition of these words has always been deemed essential to the Sacrament, and are supposed to have been used in the early Church, from the Apostles downwards, introduced by a suitable petition that God would confer on the congregation those benefits, which the Sacrament was peculiarly designed to convey.

46. What was the form of the iπíkλŋσis in the early offices, and in the first Liturgy of Edward VI.; how, and why, was it modified; does the change affect the validity of the consecration; and is there any corresponding clause in the office of Baptism?

In the primitive forms, and in the first Liturgy of Edward VI., the drikλnois was a direct supplication to almighty God, to send down his Holy Spirit upon the bread and wine, that they may be unto us as the body and blood of Christ. With a view to avoid any misapprehension as to a change of substance in the consecrated elements, a petition was substituted to the effect that in "receiving God's creatures of bread and wine, we may be partakers of Christ's most blessed body and blood, according to his holy institution, in remembrance of his death and passion;" nor is the omission of a prayer for the descent of the Holy Ghost at all detrimental to the validity of the form, inasmuch as a request for consecration necessarily involves the gift of the means of consecration. In like manner the consecration of the water in Baptism is attributed by our Church to the words of Institution, and the prayers of the faithful.

47. What inference has been drawn from the quality of the bread and wine used by our Lord at the institution of the Eucharist; what was the primitive custom with respect to the mixture of water with the wine; and does the practice of the English Church invalidate the nature of the Sacrament?

There is little doubt that our Lord instituted the Eucharist with unleavened bread and wine mixed with water, since none other was used at the feast of the Passover; but the use of neither the one or the other are essential to the integrity and efficacy of the Sacrament. Our Church therefore simply enjoins "that the bread be such as is usual to be eaten ;" and neither prohibits nor requires the mingling of water with the wine. In the early Church indeed the custom universally prevailed, and the mixture was called кpâμa and temperamentum calicis (Just. M. Apol. 1. c. 65. Iren. Hær. V. 2.); but its revival would be at least injudicious at the present

day by any Clergyman of the Church of England. As unleavened bread is regarded by St. Paul as the emblem of Christian sincerity, so may pure wine inculcate the same lesson, when the bread is fermented.

48. What does the bread, before and after consecration, typify; and is not the breaking of the bread an important part of the act of consecration?

From the unity of the Bread before consecration, St. Paul infers the unity of the Church (1 Cor. x. 17.); and therefore, though it is not inconsistent with canonical usage to prepare the bread by partial incisions, it should not be so entirely divided as to destroy its unity. After blessing the bread, Christ "break it, and gave it to his disciples;" and it is plain that he intended in the breaking of it a typical allusion to his sacrifice on the cross; for he gave it to them saying, "This is my body which is broken for you." Hence the breaking of the bread, if not positively essential to the sacrament, has always been retained in the Church in imitation of our Saviour's act, and as a fit representation of his sufferings.

49. Mention an early custom which prevailed about this period of the Service; and state the reasons of its gradual decline, and total abolition at the Refor

mation.

Some time before the distribution of the Elements, it was customary with the primitive Christians to testify their mutual love by the kiss of peace; and when this practice was laid aside, as unsuited to the change of habits in common life, a relic, called the osculatorium, was passed from one person to another, and was not only kissed, but worshipped. Our reformers therefore omitted the practice altogether; and supplied its place by exhortation to that charity, which the Apostolical salutation was intended to promote.

50. In what order and form does the Priest distribute the consecrated Elements ; is the mode of distribution sanctioned by our Lord's example, and

by primitive usage; and what is the object and import of the words appointed for the solemnity?

66

After the consecration of the Elements, the minister first receives the Communion himself, “ in both kinds;" then he delivers it to any of the Clergy who may be present; and lastly "to the people also in order;" repeating in every instance, the forms appointed. It cannot be positively ascertained whether our Lord, having broken the bread, gave a portion to each of his disciples, or whether they passed it from one to another; but the former mode seems to be implied in the Gospel accounts of the transaction (Matt. xxvi. 26. Mark xiv. 22. Luke xxii. 19. 1 Cor. xi. 24.) Certain it is that the English Church has adopted the primitive rule both in the order of distribution, and delivering to all the people both kinds separately; and, with this intent, the appointed form of words are as brief and concise as possible. Yet brief as they are, each of them contains a declaration of the purposes of Christ's death almost in his own words, a prayer for the preservation of the receiver's body and soul thereby, and an admonition to a faithful, devout, and thankful receiving of the bread and wine, in remembrance of his death and passion.

51. What is the most becoming deportment of the communicant in the act of receiving the bread and wine?

Perhaps a fixed and silent attention is the most becoming deportment of the communicant during his reception of the elements; and a mental Amen at the end of each form will evince his heartfelt concurrence in the prayer of the minister. There is no sanction however, but that of tradition, for this practice (Apost. Const. VIII. 13.), which many adopt as most expressive and appropriate.

52. How may the time be appropriately occupied while the congregation are communicating; and what was the practice in early times.

While the congregation were communicating, it was an early practice to fill up the time by singing a Psalm, which must have tended in some degree to distract the attention from the devotions more immediately suitable to the occasion. Such are thanksgivings

from those who have already partaken, and prayers for those who are about to partake of the benefits promised to the devout communicant.

53. How does the Service conclude after all have communicated?

When all have received in both kinds, the prayers of the congregation are resumed in the Post-communion, consisting of the Lord's Prayer, an appropriate form of Thanksgiving, and the Gloria in excelsis. According to the primitive practice of dismissing all religious assemblies with a blessing, the service then concludes with the usual benediction, preceded, at the discretion of the minister, by a collect, as when there is no communion.

54. Why is the Lord's Prayer introduced at the beginning of the Post-communion; and why is the doxology appended?

In no part of the public Service can the Lord's Prayer be out of place; but it must be especially convenient to follow up the commemoration of the Saviour's death and passion by that comprehensive form in which he taught us himself to pray; and, this part of the service being essentially Eucharistical, the prayer itself properly concludes with the doxology.

55. What is the general import of the two Thanksgivings which follow the Lord's Prayer; and in what do they differ from each other?

Of the two forms of Post-communion thanksgiving, both are adapted to express our gratitude to God for the "spiritual food with which he has vouchsafed to feed us;" and while the former beseeches him to accept our peace-offering of praise and thanksgiving for the remission of our sins through faith in the atoning blood of Christ, the latter prays for the assistance of his grace, that we may "continue in the fellowship of his religion, and do all such good works as we are thereby directed to walk in." This last is most in accordance with the primitive forms; but the first is equally Scriptural and appropriate.

M