Produced by Al Haines
THE PRAYER BOOK EXPLAINED
BY THE
REV. PERCIVAL JACKSON, M.A.,
JESUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
PART I.
THE DAILY OFFICES AND THE LITANY.
CAMBRIDGE:
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
1901
"_The book requireth but orderly reading._"
HOOKER, v. xxxi. 3.
{v}
PREFACE.
To those who believe in One Holy Catholic Church wherein dwelleth the
Holy Spirit, it will always be difficult to distrust the Service Book
of any Branch of it. The old claim made at Jerusalem with regard to
the vexed questions of the Church's infancy, _It seemed good to the
Holy Ghost, and to us_ (Acts xv. 28), rested not on the presence there
of the good and wise, on the prudence or self-sacrifice of those who
had hazarded their lives for the Name, but on the reality of the Lord's
promised Presence. Not because there were Apostles there, but because
those there were the Catholic and Apostolic Church, they asked and
received the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
It was a living and lasting Presence, touching with saving grace the
treatment of such questions as the observance of Mosaic precepts, {vi}
the eating of bought meat, as well as Purity of Life. We cannot doubt,
then, that many Services which have been criticised on afterthoughts
were essentially constructed in accordance with the Faith once for all
delivered to the Church.
To renounce this conviction with regard to our own Church of England is
to surrender its inheritance. Men of various tastes may prefer diverse
rites: reasonable sequence may suggest one method, and glowing impulse
another, fear of misunderstanding a third; but that which has seemed
good to the Holy Ghost and His Temple, the Church, demands that we
shall endeavour to believe it to be good, and use it in the temper of
faith.
The critical spirit, as we now use criticism, is not the spirit of
worship. For the spirit of worship is moved by Faith--Faith supremely
in God, but also faith in the words which we use, and in the people
with whom we use them.
Thus the truest cure for Doubt is Worship. If my faith in a friend
weakens I must go to see him, to speak with him, to restore our mutual
{vii} confidence and love. In like manner, if my faith in God through
Christ weakens, I must go to Him, speak with Him, seek a return of the
old confidence and love.
In the belief that God is calling us to know Him more perfectly by the
Worship which we offer in heart and life, and in the confidence that
our Branch of the Church has the guidance of the Indwelling Spirit,
this book is dedicated to His glory.
P. J.
May 1901.
{ix}
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Extempore Worship and Forms of Worship . . . . . . . . . . 1
Variations of words and phrases:
_a._ Variety of Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
_b._ Variety in Singing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . --
_c._ Variations in the component parts . . . . . . . . 4