occasions, and are clearly distinct from the notice of Communion
directed, in the rubric after the creed, to be given before the
sermon, since they must come after the sermon. It is very difficult
to say whether they should be read before or after the offertory and
prayer for the Church Militant. Probably it was intended to group
them generally with the sermon, without disturbing the offertory
and prayer for the Church Militant.
We have here an example of inconsistency in the rubrics of our
Communion Office referred to in the comment on the last rubric,
and which is caused by successive attempts at patching (instead of
revoking) the alterations made at the revision of 1552.
These two exhortations, with the third, which is appointed for use
on the occasion of Communion, form a great feature of the English
rite, but are more appropriate when Communions are rare, than when
they are frequent. It is, indeed, somewhat inconsistent to use a
prospective exhortation on the occasion of the Communion. It is
possible that the expression 'warning' may be taken to except cases
where the Minister does not consider unusual mention to be
imperatively necessary, and at any rate to apply only where notice
is given before the sermon.
107. At the time of the celebration of the Communion, the
Communicants being conveniently placed for the receiving of the
holy Sacrament, the Priest shall say this Exhortation, Dearly
beloved in the Lord, &c.
The rubric seems to direct a change of place to be made by the
communicants, and indicates, not the general withdrawal of the
rest of the congregation, but the separation of the intending
communicants into a part of the church by themselves, after the
precedent of the Prayer-Book of 1549, which appoints that 'they
shall tarry still in the quire, or in some other convenient place
nigh to the quire.'
Such a re-disposition of the congregation requires time, and would
be the opportunity for the retirement of children, or other persons,
who may be unable (especially when a sermon has been preached) to
stay for the whole service.
The neglect of this change of place of intending communicants has
introduced many difficulties connected with the attendance of those
who are not prepared to communicate on the occasion, and with the
orderly reception of the Communion.
This exhortation gives opportunity for intending communicants to
reconsider their 'mind to come' on that occasion: it throws upon
their consciences with accumulated force the individual responsibility
of coming to the Lord's Table, which the relaxation of discipline,
and the removal of compulsory confession, had rendered doubly
important: and it being impossible that a person inadequately
prepared can fulfil on the moment the requisites here enumerated
for coming duly to the Lord's Table, they have no alternative but
to abstain.
108. Then shall the Priest say to them that come to receive the
holy Communion, Ye that do truly, &c.
The limitation of this invitation 'to those that come to receive
the Holy Communion,' is consistent with the presence of others,
and the possible retirement of some of those who (previously to
hearing the exhortation) were minded to come, to a part of the
church not occupied by communicants.
109. Then shall this general Confession be made, in the name of
all those that are minded to receive the holy Communion, by one
of the Ministers; both he and all the people kneeling humbly upon
their knees, and saying, Almighty God, &c.
This rubric makes it clear that the Confession is primarily intended
for those who are about to communicate, though it does not exclude
others from joining in it.
With regard to the manner of making the confession, it must be
remembered that the direction that it should be made in the name
of all those that are minded to come to the Holy Communion, was
worded at a time when a considerable proportion of the communicants
were too illiterate to follow such a piece of devotion by the use
of a book. It was therefore essential that their leader should say
it slowly and audibly, if they were to join in it at all. It cannot
be said that this reason has wholly disappeared now; while even for
persons of high education, so solemn and suggestive a devotion
requires all the assistance of ample time, and facility of hearing,
that they may join in it devoutly and deliberately.
The retaining the words 'one of the Ministers,' from the older
form of the rubric, implies that if the celebrant have assistants
one of them may lead the confession. And though it may no longer
be read by one of the communicant congregation (as it formerly might)
still a lay-clerk at the altar is not absolutely excluded. In any case
the celebrant, even though not leading the confession, is to kneel.
110. Then shall the Priest (or the Bishop, being present,) stand
up, and turning himself to the people, pronounce this Absolution,
Almighty God, &c.
'The Bishop' means the bishop of the diocese, or other bishop
acting in his stead. The words 'stand up,' imply that the celebrant
has been kneeling for the confession.
111. Then shall the Priest say. Hear what, &c.
112. After which the Priest shall proceed, saying, Lift up, &c.
There is authority of ancient custom (though there is no direction
for so doing in the rubric) for the Priest to open his arms, and
raise his hands, while pronouncing the words 'Lift up your hearts,'
which are to be said facing the people.
113. Then shall the Priest turn to the Lord's Table, and say, It is
very, &c.
The Priest up to this point has been 'turning to the people' in
accordance with the rubric of the Absolution. He must now turn to
the Lord's Table.
114. These words [_Holy Father_] must be omitted on _Trinity-Sunday_.
115. Here shall follow the Proper Preface, according to the time,
if there be any specially appointed: or else immediately shall
follow, Therefore, &c.
116. After each of which Prefaces shall immediately be sung or
said. Therefore, &c.
A comparison with the Books of 1549 and 1552 shews that the time
at which the people should join in is at the words 'Holy, &c.'
117. Then shall the Priest, kneeling down at the Lord's Table,
say in the name of all them that shall receive the Communion this
Prayer following, We do not presume, &c.
The Priest is assumed to be _at_ the Lord's Table, _to_ which he
had previously turned, and is merely directed to kneel down where
he is.
118. When the Priest, standing before the Table, hath so ordered
the Bread and Wine, that he may with the more readiness and decency
break the Bread before the people, and take the Cup into his hands,
he shall say the Prayer of Consecration, as followeth, Almighty God,
&c.
The expression 'standing before the Table,' is to be rightly
understood by observing that the emphatic word in it is 'standing.'
The intention of the framers of this direction was to put an end to
the previous posture of kneeling directed in the preceding rubric,
and to direct the priest to stand during the consecration. The word
'before' evidently implies a position in front of the Table, and
excludes the end, whichever way the Table might be placed.
The ordering the Bread and Wine for the manual acts of consecration,
might include the pouring of some of the wine from the flagon into
the chalice (if not previously done); also the separation of a part
of the bread from the remainder which the Priest does not now intend
to consecrate, and pre-eminently the arranging conveniently the
individual piece to be broken during the consecration.
The expression 'before the people' in this rubric, means simply in
the presence of the people.
It was proposed by Baxter, at the Savoy Conference, to direct the
Bread to be broken in the sight of the people. The framers of the
rubric seem to have rejected the latter part of this proposal, and
to have thought it sufficient to direct it to be done in the
presence of the people, irrespective of their being able actually
to see it. Any breaking the Bread at this period of the service was
then a novelty, and is now peculiar to the English Liturgy. The
object of the Puritans probably was to bring the ceremonial acts
of the Priest in the Consecration into closer harmony with the order
of our Lord's own acts and words in the Institution itself, as
recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, and this part of their proposal
was conceded by the bishops and the revisers, as not inconsistent
with the ancient usage of _touching_ the Bread at this period of
the service _as if_ breaking it.
The acts of reverence of the Priest, during and after consecration,
according to the old English use (as may be plainly seen in the
rubrics of the Sarum Missal) consisted not in bending the knee, but
in bowing the head and body.
The custom of elevating the consecrated Elements was probably
connected with the Jewish heave-offering, and its idea of heavenward
oblation. It was directed by the most ancient Liturgies, but was
expressly prohibited in the Prayer-Book of 1549. This prohibition,
however, was withdrawn in 1552. The elevation cannot therefore be
unlawful, though certainly it is not obligatory. The ancient rubric
of Sarum gives, as a first alternative respecting the height of
elevation of the chalice, that it should be raised to the height
of the breast. And this, therefore, would be a sufficient compliance
with ancient custom.
There seems to be no reason for pronouncing the words of Institution
in a different voice from the rest of the Prayer. See note e, p. 28.
119. * Here the Priest is to take the Paten into his hands:
120. + And here to break the Bread:
121. ++ And here to lay his hand upon all the Bread.
122. +++ Here he is to take the Cup into his hand:
123. ++++ And here to lay his hand upon every vessel (be it Chalice
or Flagon) in which there is any Wine to be consecrated.
The direction of the Priest to 'lay his hand upon all the Bread and
every vessel,' indicates the extreme care of the Church that none
of the Bread and Wine intended for the Communicants should be
overlooked in the performance of the manual acts.
It is better not to consecrate wine in the flagon (though the rubric
permits it) except in the emergency of having only one chalice, and
a very large number of communicants. Even in that case, a second
consecration in the chalice would perhaps be preferable.
124. Then shall the Minister first receive the Communion in both
kinds himself, and then proceed to deliver the same to the Bishops,
Priests, and Deacons, in like manner, (if any be present,) and
after that to the people also in order, into their hands, all meekly
kneeling. And, when he delivereth the Bread to any one he shall
say, The Body, &c.
This rubric, with the Twenty-first Canon, obliges the celebrant to
receive the Communion every time that he celebrates, even if he
shall do so more than once in the same day. He does so as a part
of the sacrificial action, which is not complete unless a portion
of the sacrifice is consumed by the offering Priest. For this reason
he communicates himself, standing, as distinct from the congregation,
and completing the essentials of the Sacrifice in his priestly
character.
As he is not ministering to others when communicating himself, he
should not speak audibly in so doing.
He is to deliver the Sacrament first of all to the Clergy assisting
in the service, beginning with the Gospeller and Epistoler, in
accordance with the reason assigned in the rubric of 1549 for so
doing, viz. that they may be ready to help the chief minister.
The order of communicating the rest of the Clergy, and the lay
congregation, would be as follows:--1. To the Metropolitan of the
Province (if present). 2. To the Bishop of the Diocese (if present).
3. To other Metropolitans and Bishops (if present), in the order of
their seniority of consecration respectively. 4. Priests or Deacons.
5. Lay choristers, and 6. The rest of the laity.
'In like manner' means 'in both kinds.'
'In order.' These words may refer to the distinction of sexes,
as in the Clementine Liturgy,[f] or more generally to the usage
of taking the Sacrament to the people in their places in the
choir, in contrast with the present usage of coming up to the
altar-step. At all events, here is no recognition of the practice
of communicating by railsful.
'Into their hands.' It was prescribed in the Prayer-Book of 1549,
"that, although it be read in ancient writers that the people, many
years past, received at the Priest's hands the Sacrament of the
Body of Christ in their own hands, and no commandment of Christ to
the contrary: yet for as much as they many times conveyed the same
secretly away, kept it with them, and diversely abused it to
superstition and wickedness: lest any such thing hereafter should
be attempted, and that a uniformity might be used throughout the
whole realm, it is thought convenient the people commonly receive
the Sacrament of Christ's body in their mouths at the Priest's
hand." In 1552, the manner of receiving was again put back to the
use of the hands, and this has been continued since, so that the
receiving in the mouth is unrubrical now.[g]
Whatever be the manner of holding out the hands for the purpose of
reception, the Sacrament should, in order to avoid the possibility
of accident, be placed firmly and safely in the hands of the
recipient, and not merely offered to be accepted with the fingers.
The words 'meekly kneeling' in this rubric exclude prostration,
which is not kneeling.
The expression 'to anyone,' coupled with the use of the singular
number in the address to the recipient, obliges the Priest to repeat
the words of administration in delivering the Sacrament to each
communicant separately.
The rubric is not clear on the point, whether the Priest should
give the Sacrament of the Body as soon as he has pronounced the
words 'The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ,' (when the communicant
may be supposed to have made an act of faith in the mystery of the
Sacrament,) or whether he should give it at the end of the whole of
the first sentence of administration, as he says the word 'Take.'
At all events, he should not wait until he has completed the second
sentence.
The words of administration should be distinctly pronounced, so as
to be audible to the communicant. See note e, p. 28.
125. And the Minister that delivereth the Cup to any one shall say,
The Blood, &c.
Although the word 'Minister' is used for priest in the preceding
rubric and elsewhere, yet in this place it implies an important
distinction between a Priest and a Deacon, the latter being forbidden
by ancient Canons of the Church to deliver the Bread. And when it
is declared in the Ordination of Deacons that it appertaineth to
the office of a Deacon to help the Priest in the distribution of
the Holy Communion, this help must be confined to the distribution
of the Wine.
The rubric for the delivery of the species of Bread (directing it
to be given into the hands of the communicants), seems to govern
generally the administration of the Cup, though the words 'into
their hands' do not occur in this rubric. Thus, the omission of
these words leaves it open to the discretion of the Minister to
retain his hold of the Cup while the communicant uses his hands for
the purpose of guiding it. But in no case should the communicant
abstain from using the hands at all, unless absolutely disabled
from doing so.
It is to be noted that the directions of the rubrics on the subject
of the administration of the Sacrament, are intended for the
guidance of the Priest. No similar details are specified for the
acts of the communicants. Hence the celebrant will use a wise
discretion in not enforcing exact uniformity in the mode of reception
adopted by individuals, provided it be reverent, and does not
endanger the safety of the Sacrament.
There seems to be no warrant, in the English use, for making the
sign of the cross with the consecrated species, paten, or chalice,
in front of the communicant, at the moment of administration. At
the end of the words of administration provided for the celebrant
at the moment of his own Communion, in the old Sarum rite, occurs
the formula '+ In Nomine Patris,' &c., and the sign of the Cross
was directed to be made with the Body of the Lord. A similar
direction was given for the chalice, which the Priest was at that
moment holding in his hands. But this formula does not seem to
have been used in communicating the people. If the sign of the
cross had been intended to be used in the Order of Communion of
1548 (the first formula of administration in English), we may
certainly presume that it would have been notified or printed
as a guide, as it is in the Book of 1549, in the Prayer of
Consecration, and in the Blessing of the Marriage Service. But
no such guide is to be found, either there, or in any subsequent
formula of administration; nor does there seem to be any ancient
precedent or tradition for its use in that place. Moreover, there
is a risk attending the practice, especially in the case of a large
chalice nearly full of wine.
126. If the consecrated Bread or Wine be all spent before all have
communicated, the Priest is to consecrate more according to the
Form before prescribed: beginning at [_Our Saviour Christ in the
same night_, &c.] for the blessing of the Bread; and at [_Likewise
after Supper_, &c.] for the blessing of the Cup.
The necessity for consecrating more of the species of Bread can
almost invariably be avoided by subdividing what is already
consecrated.
127. When all have communicated, the Minister shall return to the
Lord's Table, and reverently place upon it what remaineth of the
consecrated Elements, covering the same with a fair linen cloth.
The direction is express to place 'what remaineth of the consecrated
elements' upon the Lord's Table. The Priest is, therefore, not at
liberty to consume what remains at this period of the service.
In arranging 'what remaineth of the consecrated elements,' the
cover previously used, and not the paten, should be placed upon
the chalice. The fair linen cloth, or veil, should be large enough
to cover thoroughly the whole of both chalice and paten, when the
paten is placed in front of the chalice. It should be observed,
that the employment of the word 'linen' excludes a fabric of other
material, such as silk or cotton.
128. Then shall the Priest say the Lord's Prayer, the people
repeating after him every Petition.
129. After shall be said as followeth, O Lord and, &c.
130. Or this, Almighty and, &c.
131. Then shall be said or sung, Glory be to God, &c.
The Gloria in Excelsis, as it originally stood at the beginning of
the office, in the Prayer-Book of 1549, being an opening Act of
Praise, was sung by the Priest and Clerks while the people were
standing. In its altered position, it may be regarded rather as a
prayer. It seems reasonable that when it is sung in a choral
celebration, the people should stand, as for an Act of Praise; and
that when it is said without music, and in a plain celebration, the
people may treat it chiefly as a prayer, and so kneel.
132. Then the Priest (or Bishop if he be present) shall let them
depart with this Blessing.
For the meaning of the expression 'or bishop if he be present,' see
the note on rubric No. 110, p. 35.
The words 'let them depart' imply that the congregation are not
to dismiss themselves previously. Archbishop Grindal, in his
injunctions to the Province of York in 1571, forbad the Minister
to pause or stay between the Morning Prayer, Litany, and Communion,
and directed him "to continue and say them, &c., without any
intermission, to the intent that the people may continue together
in prayer and hearing the word of God, and not depart out of the
Church during all the time of the whole Divine Service."
The whole of the Blessing, including 'The peace of God,' &c., should
be pronounced turning to the people.
The custom of reading St. John i. 1-13 aloud at the altar after the
service is ended, adopted from the Roman Missal, has lately been
introduced in some churches. Such public use of this Scripture has
no authority, and is in direct opposition to the ancient English
custom of the Priest reciting it privately, on his way to the
sacristy.
133. Collects to be said after the Offertory, when there is no
Communion, every such day one or more; and the same may be said
also, as often as occasion shall serve, after the Collects either
of Morning or Evening Prayer, Communion, or Litany, by the
discretion of the Minister.
134. Upon the Sundays and other Holy-days (if there be no Communion)
shall be said all that is appointed at the Communion, until the end
of the general Prayer [_For the whole state of Christ's Church
militant here in earth_] together with one or more of these
Collects last before rehearsed, concluding with the Blessing.
135. And there shall be no celebration of the Lord's Supper, except
there be a convenient number to communicate with the Priest,
according to his discretion.
136. And if there be not above twenty persons in the Parish
of discretion to receive the Communion; yet there shall be no
Communion, except four (or three at the least) communicate with
the Priest.
In considering the operation of the two last rubrics, it must be
remembered--I. That the Prayer-Book gives the Curate no authority
to dismiss non-communicants.--2. That the system of separating the
communicants from the rest of the congregation, which underlies
the rubrics in the earlier part of the office, has generally ceased
to be observed.--3. That the order for signifying the names of
intending communicants, at least some time the day before, has
fallen into abeyance.--4. That the Curate has no opportunity of
interrupting the Service for the purpose of making inquiry among
the congregation of their individual intentions in this respect.
The Curate, therefore, has no means of obtaining information whereon
to exercise the discretion to which this rubric refers. It may
happen that there being more than three or four in the church when
he begins the Service, some may depart before Communion. If
there be fewer, some may arrive later with the intention of
communicating. In short, he cannot be certain whether or not
the number of communicants be below the minimum until he has
communicated himself.[h]
It seems then that the utmost he can do, in order to comply with
this part of the rubric, is to avoid any deliberate promoting of
Solitary Communion, or nearly Solitary Communion.
In accordance with the general protest of this rubric against
Solitary Communion of the Priest, he should, at all celebrations,
be very careful to allow ample time for the people to present
themselves for Communion, not beginning the Lord's Prayer until
it is quite evident that none who intend to communicate remain
without having done so.
137. And in Cathedral and Collegiate Churches, and Colleges, where
there are many Priests and Deacons, they shall all receive the
Communion with the Priest every Sunday at the least, except they
have a reasonable cause to the contrary.
This rubric affords no ground for the opinion that Communions
should not be more frequent than weekly. The direction that the
Clergy when numerous should all receive the Communion every Sunday
at the least, so far from debarring them or any one else from the
privilege of more frequent Communions, implies that a weekly
Communion is the lowest standard in such cases. Any other principle
of interpreting the words 'at the least,' in this and in the
later paragraph of this rubric (where the laity are required to
receive three times in the year at the least), would involve a
prohibition to the laity against receiving more than three times
in the year.
Bishop Cosin was of opinion that when the Church enjoined her
Priests and Deacons to communicate every Sunday at least, she
supposed it "ought and should be done by them oftener. And from
hence was it that the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels were appointed
upon the Sundays and Holy-days, and a rubric made at the beginning
of the Service Book for the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels to
serve all the week-days, that were used on the Sunday--that is, at
any time when there is a Communion on the week-day. And, certainly,
though it be no fault to read the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels
either upon Sundays or week-days; yet to read them, and not to go
on with the Communion, is contrary to the intent of our Church,
that, if there were any company, intended a Communion every day,
for the continuing of the daily sacrifice in the Church, ever used
till Calvinism sprung up, and leaped over into England."[i]