Ambulatory.--The name given to the passageway running around and
back of the Altar, being a continuation of the aisles of the church.
Generally used for processionals to and from the choir.
Amen.--A Hebrew word meaning "so be it," or "so it is," as it is
used at the end of prayers, hymns or Creed. It signifies approval
of, or assent to, what has gone before. The use of the "Amen" in
Public Worship emphasizes the Priesthood of the Laity, as for
example, in the consecration of the elements in the Holy Communion,
while the celebrating Priest stands before God offering to Him this
holy Oblation, he does it in company with all the faithful, and to
signify their cooperation with him in this great act they say
"Amen," adopting his words and acts as their own. In the early
Church the "Amen" was said with such heartiness, an ancient writer
describes it as sounding "like a clap of thunder." (See RESPONSIVE
SERVICE).
American Church, The.--The name, and one that is growing in
popularity, that is generally given to the body legally known as
"The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America."
The term "American Church" is descriptive of "The Holy Catholic
Church" having this land and people as the field of its operations.
When our Lord commanded His Apostles to go forth and make disciples
of all nations, and they went forth to carry out this command,
they gave to every nation to which they came the Church in its
completeness with powers of perpetuity. To every nation were given
the Christian Faith, the Apostolic Ministry, the Sacraments and the
Christian Worship or Liturgy. Hence there {14} sprung up national
Churches, all equal and having union with one another in these
four essentials of Christian Truth and Order. The Episcopal Church
in the United States by reason of its origin, history and character
is to be regarded as one of these national churches and the name
which is to embody this idea will no doubt be found and set forth
by the proper ecclesiastical authority in due time. It is difficult
to say just how the name "Protestant Episcopal" came into use, but
it has always been a hindrance to our growth because it requires
so much to be said in explanation, which is always a disadvantage.
Meantime the name "American Church" is coming more and more into
general use, as it is clear, definite and historic, following the
analogy of the naming of the ancient national churches.
The Episcopal Church in the United States is the daughter of the
ancient, historic. Catholic and Apostolic Church of England, is
partaker of the same life and the inheritor with the mother Church
of the same worship, rites, customs, doctrines and traditions, and,
therefore, its position, likewise, is ancient and historic, Catholic
and Apostolic. (See ANGLICAN CHURCH, also ANGLICAN COMMUNION).
The history of the Church in America covers a period of more than
three hundred years, and its first beginnings on these shores are
full of interest. We refer to a few of them. From an old chronicle
it is learned that in the year 1578, on the shores of Frobisher's
Straits, "Master Walfall celebrated a Communion upon land, at the
partaking whereof were the Captain and many others with him. The
celebration {15} of the Divine Mystery was the first signs, seals
and confirmation of Christ's Passion and Death ever known in these
quarters."
It is a remarkable and interesting fact that the Book of Common
Prayer was first used in the territory now covered by the United
States, not on the Atlantic coast as one would naturally suppose,
but on the Pacific coast, on the shores of Drake's Bay, California.
This took place on St. John Baptist's Day, June 24th, 1579, the
officiating minister having been the Rev. Francis Fletcher, chaplain
to Francis Drake. The place where this service was held has been
marked by a handsome cross, known as the "Prayer Book Cross,"
erected by Bishop Nichols through the munificence of the late Geo.
W. Childs, of Philadelphia.
In the course of time, settlements were made along the Atlantic
coast and evidence is given of the Church's services being held at
very early dates. In A.D. 1607, the first permanent settlement was
effected in Virginia. In May of that year, under the Rev. Robert
Hunt, a Priest of the Church of England, services began to be held
regularly and a church building was erected at Jamestown. This was
thirteen years before the "Pilgrim Fathers" landed on Plymouth Rock.
The Church was planted in all the colonies and included a greater
portion of the population. But in time other religious bodies were
also established and as these organizations had everything necessary
for their growth and development they grew and prospered. With the {16}
Church it was far different. For more than one hundred and fifty
years it existed on these shores an Episcopal Church without an
Episcopate. There could be no confirmations and no ordinations to
the ministry unless candidates were willing to take the long and
perilous voyage to England. The result was the supply of clergy fell
off, and children, although baptized, yet because they could not be
confirmed, finally wandered away to other folds.
Repeated efforts were made to secure the consecration of a Bishop
for the Church in America, but owing to political and ecclesiastical
complications this was not possible until after the Revolutionary
War. In A.D. 1784, on November 14th, the Rev. Samuel Seabury, D.D.,
was consecrated in Aberdeen, Scotland, by the Scottish Bishops,
for the Church in Connecticut and as the first Bishop in America.
On February 4th, 1787, the Rev. William White, D.D., of Pennsylvania,
and the Rev. Samuel Provoost, D.D., of New York, were consecrated
Bishops by the two Archbishops of the Church of England and the
Bishop of Bath and Wells, and Peterborough, in Lambeth Palace,
London. A few years later, viz., on September 19th, 1790, the Rev.
James Madison, D.D., of Virginia, was consecrated in England by
the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London and the Bishop
of Rochester. By the consecration of these four Bishops abroad the
American Church secured the Episcopate from the ancient and
Apostolic sources, and thus gained the power of perpetuating itself.
The significance of this may be seen when we reflect that the
ancient canons of the Church require that not less than three
Bishops shall unite in the consecration of a Bishop. This enactment
is designed to provide against any possible defect in the succession
of any one of the {17} consecrating Bishops. We thus see how careful
the Church has always been in conferring this great office, and how
particular the American Church was to meet every ecclesiastical
requirement according to the ancient order and traditions.
It may be interesting to note that the first Bishop consecrated on
American soil was the Rt. Rev. Thomas John Claggett, the first
Bishop of Maryland, in whose consecration all four of the American
Bishops united. This took place in Trinity Church, New York,
September 17th, 1792. From that time to the present, the American
Episcopate has increased greatly by reason of the growing needs of
the Church in this rapidly developing country. More than two hundred
Bishops have been consecrated for the work of the Church in the
United States and for its missions in the foreign field.
The growth of the Church itself, likewise, has been remarkable when
we consider the disadvantages under which it labored in those early
days and the bitter prejudice against it which even yet is not
wholly done away. To-day there is not a State or a Territory which
is not under the pastoral care of a Bishop, many of the states
having several Dioceses each with its Bishop at its head. The quiet,
persistent loyalty to the Truth "as this Church hath received the
same," the reasonable terms of admission to her fold, the missionary
zeal and enterprise, the practical work enlisting so largely the
labors and cooperation of the laity, the far-reaching influence
on the religious thought of the day, the proposal of the terms
for Christian Unity, the multiplying of services and the more {18}
frequent communions, all manifest her inner and outward growth and
demonstrate the reality and high purpose of her Mission to this
land and nation. (See GROWTH OF THE CHURCH.)
Amice.--One of the Eucharistic Vestments. (See VESTMENTS).
Anaphora.--The Greek name for the Offering or, Oblation in the Holy
Eucharist and is usually applied to that portion of the Office
beginning with "Lift up your hearts" and including the Prayer of
Consecration. All that precedes this is called the PROANAPHORA
(which see).
Andrew, Feast of Saint.--A Holy Day of the Church observed on
November 30, and is of very ancient date. It is known to have been
observed since A.D. 360. St. Andrew was of Bethsaida in Galilee
and the brother of St. Peter. He was the first who found the Messiah
and brought others to Him. It was this fact in his life that
suggested to the young men of the American Church the organization
of "THE BROTHERHOOD OF ST. ANDREW" (which see). St. Andrew
was the first called to be a disciple and Apostle, with St. Peter.
After the dispersion of the Apostles, St. Andrew is said to have
carried the Gospel to what is now called Turkey in Asia and also
to Russia and was the first founder of the Russian Church, as St.
Paul was of the English Church. After laboring in Turkey in Europe,
he suffered martyrdom at Patras, A.D. 70, being crucified on a
cross the shape of the letter X, to which his name has been given.
As St. Andrew is greatly reverenced in Scotland, the St. Andrew's
cross was made a part of the national banner {19} of Great Britain
on the union of Scotland with England in 1707. The St. Andrew's
cross (Scotland) with the cross of St. Patrick (Ireland) and the
cross of St. George (England) were made in 1801 to form the present
_Union Jack_ so dear to the English nation. In ecclesiastical art
St. Andrew is represented holding in his hand a cross saltire, or
else leaning upon it.
Angels.--(See HOLY ANGELS.) It is also to be noted that the term
"Angels" is used in the New Testament for the Bishops of the Church,
as in the Epistles to the seven Churches of Asia (Rev. 2 and 3)
which are addressed, "unto the angel of the Church of------",
_i.e_., the Bishop.
Anglican Church, The.--The name given to the Church of England as
being the Church of the Anglo-Saxon race. The Church was introduced
into Britain as early as A.D. 61, probably by St. Paul and it has
continued there the same organization ever since, and the Church
of the whole English nation until within the last 300 years, when
divers and sundry religious bodies have sprung up. Thus the English
nation from that early period of the Church's first introduction
into Britain down to the present time, has never been without the
Orthodox _Faith_; the _Apostolic Ministry_ in three orders--Bishops,
Priests and Deacons; the _Sacraments_ and the ancient _Liturgy_.
Moreover, the Church of England has always affirmed her own national
integrity and independence and although overcome and brought into
subjection to a foreign power, and finally regained her former
independence--yet throughout all she has ever retained the four
essentials of Christian Truth and Order mentioned, and thus {20}
demonstrates that she is a true branch of the Church founded by
Christ, and as such Catholic and Apostolic. For one to say that the
Church of England was founded by Henry VIII, or to say that it is
a "schism from the Roman Church" shows great ignorance of even
the plainest facts of history. The following statement, from a
secular paper, the _Providence_ (R. I.) _Journal_ is worth
reprinting: "It is still quite usual even for intelligent persons
to misunderstand the purposes of the English Reformers, and the
result of the English Reformation. . . . The supremacy of Rome has
never been borne patiently by the English people, whose church
organization was established long before Rome took the trouble to
interfere with it; and several English kings had quarreled before
Henry the Eighth's time with the Holy See. What the English
Reformers wanted, and what they accomplished under Elizabeth,
was Reform _within the Church_. It was on the continent that
Protestantism _without the Church_, built up a new ecclesiastical
organization. All this, it may be, is a matter only of historical
value to the busy nineteenth century. But even if facts in a
historical aspect are of small importance to an intensely practical
generation, it is as well to have these facts right as wrong."
(See UNDIVIDED CHURCH).
Anglican Communion, The.--The term used to designate the churches
that are in communion with the Church of England and hold the same
Faith, Order and Worship. Under this term are included the Church
of England, the Church of Ireland, the Church of Scotland, the
Churches in British North America, the West Indies, Australia, South
Africa and in all the English colonies {21} throughout the world
wherever established. The Episcopal Church in the United States is
also included in the Anglican Communion, being identical with the
Church of England as is set forth in the Preface to the Prayer
Book, in which it is declared, "This Church is far from intending
to depart from the Church of England in any essential point of
doctrine, discipline and worship; or further than local circumstances
require." The Anglican Communion is one of the most powerful
forces in our modern religious world. From statistics we learn
that it has a larger membership than any other religious body
among English-speaking people. The following Table taken from the
New York _World_ Almanac for 1901 gives some idea of