_Penitential Office for Ash-Wednesday_.
This is the English Commination Office, with the introductory
portion omitted. It would add to the merit of the formulary,
especially when used as a separate office, were it to be prefaced
by the versicle and response, similarly employed in the Hereford
Breviary:
_V_. Let us confess unto the Lord, for he is gracious.
_R_. And his mercy endureth forever.
In view of the great length of the Morning Service on Ash-Wednesday,
and the close similarity between the closing portion of the Litany
and the intermediate portion of this Office, the following emendation
of the first Rubric is suggested, a change which would carry with
it the omission of the Rubric after psalm li. a little further on.
_On the_ First Day of Lent, _at_ Morning Prayer, _the Office
ensuing shall be read immediately after the words_, Have mercy
upon us, _in the Litany, and in place of what there followeth_.
In the third Rubric it might be well to add to "_shall be said_"
the words, "_or sung_."
The blessing at the end of the office should stand, as in the
English Book, in the precatory form; otherwise we might have the
anomaly of a benediction pronounced before the end of the service.