The Prayer Book Explained Part 23

Pothinus, Bp of Lyons and Vienne, had come probably from Asia Minor.

When, at the age of more than 90, he was martyred (A.D. 177), his successor as Bishop was Irenaeus, who received part of his early education in Asia Minor from Polycarp, a disciple of S. John the Evangelist. Other martyrs, at Vienne and Lyons, in that year (A.D.

177), had come from Asia Minor. A map will show that Vienne is about 16 miles south of Lyons. Thus from the first days of the Church in France, a close connection existed between it and the Church in Asia Minor.

About A.D. 467[2], Mamertus, Archbishop of Vienne, ordered Litanies to be said in procession on the three days before Ascension Day; being moved thereto by a succession of calamities--earthquake, war, wild beasts invading the city itself--followed shortly by the destruction of the royal palace in Vienne by lightning. The practice spread to neighbouring dioceses, and was confirmed by the Council of Orleans (A.D. 511). The three days before Ascension Day are thence called 'Rogation Days'; and processions for purposes of prayer are called Rogations, or Litanies.

The Rogation Litanies were not adopted at Rome {155} until the time of Leo III. (795-816): but in a time of pestilence at Rome, Gregory the Great, A.D. 590, inst.i.tuted the Sevenfold Litany of S. Mark's Day.

Gregory the Great has been called the Apostle of the English, because he intended to come as a missionary to convert the English; and, when prevented from so doing by his election as Bishop of Rome, sent Augustine in his stead A.D. 596. The yearly Synod of the English Church was appointed in 673 to be held at Cloveshoo--a place probably near London but in the kingdom of Mercia. In 747 at a great council held at Cloveshoo, March 12 was appointed as S. Gregory's Day; May 26 as the day of S. Augustine Archbishop of Canterbury[3]; and Gregory's Sevenfold Litany, together with the Rogation Services, was sanctioned for use in England, with a phrase which implies that custom had already introduced them.

The 2nd Book of Homilies (1562. See Art. x.x.xv). contains a Homily for Rogation Week in four parts--three of which appear to be designed for the three Rogation Days, and the fourth for The Perambulation of the Parish, or Beating of the Bounds--a custom which has survived into our own time. The paris.h.i.+oners walked along the outline of the parish, taking {156} care that at least one of them pa.s.sed through any obstruction which was built, or erected, across the boundary. Thus, if a cottage were so built, a boy would be pa.s.sed though the door and window of it. Trees at corners were marked with a hatchet: a note book was preserved as a guide for the next perambulation. From this useful and ancient ceremony, Rogation Days were called by the Anglo-Saxons Beddagas=Prayer-days, or Gang-dagas=perambulation-days. Boundary stones, dated May 4, 1837, are to be seen in the thickets of Buckland Woods, Devon, showing that Ascension Day was chosen in that year for the perambulation of Ashburton. More recently the perambulation of Exeter has been performed on Ascension Day. The steps by which the religious dedication of the year's work, at each centre of agricultural industry, pa.s.sed into a munic.i.p.al ceremony accompanied by social amenities, may be conjectured. It was still a religious service--partly in the church and partly in the fields, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, and much later.

Litanies, however, have ceased to be processions. They are not said walking, but kneeling. The Litany is to be said at some different place from the Morning Prayer: for, in the Commination it is ordered, that part shall be said by the Minister in the Reading Pew, or Pulpit, and the rest "in the place where they are accustomed to say the Litany." Since this recognises an accustomed place, the kneeling desk or fald-stool[4], placed "in front of the chancel door," or "in {157} the midst of the Church" (Injunctions of Edw. VI.), appears to be intended.

For the order to kneel to say the Litany, we must refer back to the rubric at the head of the Collects in Morning Prayer, where the words, _all kneeling_, were added in 1662 (see p. 130).

The place of the Faldstool may have been suggested by Joel ii. 17, _Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar_.

Structure of the Litany.

The Litany is a series of prayers addressed mainly to G.o.d the Son. It has two breaks, or interruptions, which consist of prayers addressed to G.o.d the Father. Thus there are five sections.

Section i. from the beginning, to _O Christ, hear us_.

Thirty pet.i.tions to Jesus under the t.i.tle _Good Lord_, with invocation of Holy Trinity at the beginning, and urgent entreaty at the end.

Section ii. from _Lord, have mercy upon us_, to _world without end_.

Amen.

Earnest appeal to the Father, with _Lesser Litany_ as preface to the Lord's Prayer.

Section iii. _From our enemies_, to _O Lord Christ_.

Eight Antiphonal prayers to Christ.

{158}

Section iv. _O Lord, let thy mercy_, to end of occasional prayers and thanksgivings.

One fixed, and other variable, prayers for urgent needs.

Section v. The Prayer of S. Chrysostom, addressed to Christ, and the Benediction 2 Cor. xiii.

NOTES.

i. The Invocation of the Holy Trinity in the 1st Section is very full, and should be compared with the Invocation which is used in Section ii.

as a preface to the Lord's Prayer.

The words, _Good Lord_, are spoken to Jesus: as we may easily infer from the words, _whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood_; and from, _By the mystery of thy holy Incarnation, By thine Agony and b.l.o.o.d.y Sweat_ &c. _Son of G.o.d, O Lamb of G.o.d, O Christ_.

ii. The Lesser Litany is to be repeated, verse by verse, by the congregation; copying, in this respect, the setting of the Invocation at the beginning of Section i. The beginning of the Section being thus marked, the end of it is marked by the _Gloria Patri_.

iii. We shall show that these eight verses are probably intended for Antiphonal singing.

iii. and iv. The Sarum Litany had here 10 couplets of versicles and seven collects. Of these seven collects we may mention, _O G.o.d, whose nature and property_ &c., _the Prayer for Clergy and People_, and the 2nd Evening Collect, _O G.o.d, from whom_ &c.

The subst.i.tution of the two sections, as they now stand, may be quoted as an example of the improvements which were effected in the Revision period.

{159}

iv. The 4th Section includes various prayers of the _Amen_ form. The first of these may be known as the Collect of Complete Confidence. It is made up of two older prayers, and the couplet which precedes it expresses each of those two older prayers in a brief sentence. Thus the couplet antic.i.p.ates the Collect. [See also p. 128.]

The other prayers of this Section usually have equivalents in the first Section. The repet.i.tion is made because of some urgency due to the circ.u.mstances of the time. Thus, we have prayed for the Clergy already, but in Ember Weeks we add, in the 4th Section, a Collect for the Candidates for Ordination. Or again, we have prayed for sick people, but at this point we may add a Collect for the time of any common Plague or Sickness. Similarly, we have prayed for the preservation of the fruits of the Earth, but may add a prayer here for Rain, or Fair weather, or for cheapness and plenty.

Section i. Our cry to Christ.

The distinguis.h.i.+ng feature of the Litany is that it uses a wors.h.i.+p-form which is not used elsewhere in the Prayer Book. The Minister dictates briefly the subject of the Prayer, which is then made by the voices of the People. These are called Suffrages (from _suffragium_, Latin for a vote in favour, or approbation). That part of the Litany which is made in this way is very full and detailed. Students should also notice the variety of its phrases, and the beauty of its rhythm.

The use of such a form is ancient, and the Revisers in 1549 had the substance ready to their hand. Comparing the older Litany with that which we use, we note that the Revisers have frequently combined several suffrages to make one suffrage, as in the following instance:

{160}

By thine Agony and b.l.o.o.d.y By thy Pa.s.sion and Cross: Sweat; by thy Cross and deliver us, O Lord.

Pa.s.sion; by thy precious Death By thy precious Death: and Burial; by thy glorious deliver us, O Lord.

Resurrection and Ascension; By thy glorious Resurrection: and by the coming of the Holy deliver us, O Lord.

Ghost: By thy marvellous Ascension: deliver us, O Lord.

Good Lord, deliver us. By the grace of the Holy Spirit the Comforter: deliver us, O Lord.

Here five suffrages are grouped into one. In like manner four are grouped in the suffrage, _From all evil and mischief_ &c.

The number of pet.i.tions was further reduced by the omission of all the prayers to the Saints, entreating them to pray for us. These were very numerous--28 fixed; and 40 more, which varied according to the week-day.

The pet.i.tions which were then introduced present two features which should be carefully studied--_Duplication_ and _Wreathing_[5].

_Duplication_ has been already explained (see p. 33), and is here of the Progressive sort. We give numerous instances below. _Wreathing_ is when two phrases have two members each, and are united by taking the two first members together, and the two second members together.

A simple instance of this is found in the union of the phrases,

_by their preaching they may set forth,_ _and by their living they may shew accordingly_

{161} the Word of G.o.d. These, being wreathed together, become _that by their preaching and living they may set it forth and shew it accordingly_.

In such combinations it is necessary that the ideas shall be in harmony with one another. G.o.d's truth is set forth in sermons, and shewn in the preacher's life: with rather less exactness, but with sufficient truth, and with admirable suggestion, we may say that G.o.d's truth is set forth in the good life of a preacher, and shewn in his sermons.

One of the best instances of Wreathing is in the combination of the three phrases

_succour all that are in danger,_ _help all that are in necessity,_ _comfort all that are in tribulation._