tany was concluded, the hymn Gloria in excelsis was sung, and the collect read. At Rome the same rite prevailed, except that the Gloria in excelsis was not sung when the litany was said. In the patriarchate of Constantinople, the introduction to the lessons contained a litany, (which was probably the original of the western litanies just alluded too,) three anthems, and the celebrated hymn Trisagios, which was introduced into that liturgy in the time of the emperor Theodosius the younger, when Proclus was patriarch of Constantinople.

In the churches of Gaul and Spain the liturgy commenced with an anthem, followed by the hymn Trisagios, in imitation of the eastern rite; after which the "Song of the Prophet Zacharias," beginning Benedictus, was sung, and a collect was repeated by the priest before the lesson from the Old Testament¶.

It thus appears that a very great variety prevailed in the introductory part of the ancient liturgies during the ages which followed the council of Chalcedon, A. D. 451; and that the Roman introduction was used in comparatively a small portion of the world.

In point of brevity, our own introduction to the reading of scripture in the communion-service may be regarded as approaching nearer to the primitive customs than perhaps that of any other liturgy now

Chrysost. p. 123; see also p. 46. 64. Bona, Rer. Liturg. P. 337, &c.

o Goar, Liturg. Chrysostom. p. 64.

p Ibid. p. 68. et not. 80.

q Germanus, de Missa, ap.

Martene, Thesaurus Anecdotorum, tom. v. p. 92. Martene's Introduction, p. 85, &c. Le Brun, Explication de la Messe, &c. tom. iii. See Dissertation on primitive Liturgies, vol. i. p. 159.

used. This introduction consists of the Lord's Prayer and collect for purity; to which, in places where they sing, an anthem is prefixed.

A custom prevails in the cathedral church of Worcester which is worthy of remark. There, the morning prayer being concluded at an early hour, after an interval of time the communion-service or liturgy begins with the litany. We have already seen, that the same order prevailed anciently in Italy, Germany, and Ireland; and that it derived its origin from the churches of the patriarchate of Constantinople. In the Roman liturgy this custom has long been relinquished; at Milan only is the litany repeated at the beginning of the liturgy during Lent. Goar and Bona agree that the litany continued to be used in this place till the ninth century in the west г.

The Lord's Prayer and collect for purity had been long used by the English church in their present position, when the revision and reform of our offices took place in the reign of Edward the Sixth. They were found in the liturgy of Salisbury, which was revised and corrected by Osmund, bishop of that see about 1080. Whether they formed part of the liturgy in the time of that prelate we cannot determine, but certainly they had been long used before the time of Edward the Sixth. It was from the offices of the English church therefore, and not from any foreign source, that these prayers were derived. With regard to the antiquity of the collect for purity, we know that it is at least 900 years old; for it appears in a manuscript sacramentary of

r Goar, Rituale Græc. p. 123. Bona, Rer. Lit. p. 338.

lib. ii. c. 4.

s Fol. 71. Miss. Sarisb.

the tenth century, which was used in England. The same collect appears in the sacramentary ascribed to Alcuin, a doctor of the Anglo-Saxon church, who was the friend of the emperor Charlemagne about the end of the eighth century.

We have no means of ascertaining the period at which the Lord's Prayer was first introduced into this part of the English liturgy. Certainly in primitive times, while the ancient discipline of the church with regard to catechumens existed, the Lord's Prayer could not have been recited at the beginning of the liturgy. The catechumens were those converts from heathenism who were under a course of discipline and instruction preparatory to the reception of the sacrament of baptism. The substance of the Christian faith was only communicated gradually to these persons, in proportion as they were found fit to receive it. It was only after they had been for some time under instruction, when they had attained to the highest class, known by the name of "competentes," and were then immediately to be baptized, that they were for the first time taught the Lord's Prayer ". The reason of this was, that the Lord's Prayer was looked on by the primitive Christians as peculiarly their own';

t I allude to the sacramentary of Leofric, bishop of Exe

ter.

- Προσευχῆς δὲ τύπον τοῖς μαθηταῖς, δεδωκώς, προσέταξε λέγειν ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν, ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀφίεμεν τοῖς ὀφειλέταις ἡμῶν. ταύτην δὲ τὴν προσευχὴν, οὐ τοὺς ἀμυήτους, ἀλλὰ τοὺς μυ σταγωγουμένους διδάσκομεν. οὐδεὶς γὰρ τῶν ἀμυήτων λέγειν τολμᾷ, πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς,

μήπω δεξάμενος τῆς υἱοθεσίας τὸ χάρισμα, κ. τ. λ. Theodoret. Hæretic. Fabular. lib. v. c. 28. p. 316. tom. iv. Oper. edit. Sirmond. Paris, 1642. See Bingham, Antiq. b. x. c. 5. §. 9.

ν Ὅτι γὰρ πιστοῖς αὕτη ἡ προσευχὴ προσήκει, καὶ οἱ νόμοι τῆς ἐκκλησίας διδάσκουσι, καὶ τὸ προοίμιον τῆς εὐχῆς. ὁ γὰρ ἀμύητος οὐκ ἂν δύναιτο πατέρα καλεῖν· τὸν Θεόν. Chrysostom. Hom.

and it could only be used with propriety by those, who, by admission into the church by the sacrament of baptism, were entitled to call God their Father. It was termed "the prayer of the faithful," and regarded as the most sacred and precious of all prayers. To have recited it therefore in any part of the service when the catechumens and heathen were present, would have been to make public a prayer which was purposely kept secret. But while the lessons were read, and the sermon delivered, the catechumens, and even heathens, were allowed to remain in church ". The Lord's Prayer could not therefore have been recited before the lessons in the primitive church.

W

But when Christianity had prevailed, and infidelity had by the grace of God become extinct within the limits of the Christian churches, the necessity of adhering to the discipline which supposed the existence of heathens and of heathen converts ceased. Hence we find, that in the eighth and ninth centuries many prayers were brought into the introductory part of the liturgy, which could not have been placed there in primitive times; and here in England, at length, even the Lord's Prayer came to be repeated in this part of the service.

At the first revision of the English liturgy in the reign of Edward the Sixth, a form of introduction somewhat similar to the Roman was retained. After the Lord's Prayer and collect for purity, the

xix. al. xx. in Matthæum, p. 252. tom. vii. ed. Benedict.

66

w Concil. Carthagin. iv. c. 84. Ut episcopus nullum prohibeat ingredi ecclesiam et au

dire verbum Dei, sive Gentilem, sive hæreticum, sive Judæum, usque ad missam catechumenorum."

form of "Lord have mercy upon us," &c., or Kyrie eleison, was repeated; and then followed the hymn Gloria in excelsis. At the next revision these last forms were omitted; and there is now no resemblance between the Roman introduction and our own. The custom of the church of Worcester, already alluded to, resembles that of the eastern church during the fifth or sixth century, and was anciently used in many churches of the west.

y Ibid. MS. Leofr. fol. 213. Alcuin. Liber Sacrament. c. 1.