Though this discipline was severe, yet the many good consequences of it showed it worthy the imitation of the Church in succeeding ages; so that it was anciently exercised in our own, as well as in foreign churches. But in latter ages, during the corruption of the Church of Rome, this godly discipline degenerated into a formal and customary confession upon Ash Wednesdays, used by all persons indifferently, whether penitents or not, from whom no other testimony of their repentance was required, than that they should submit to the empty ceremony of sprinkling ashes upon their heads. But this our wise reformers prudently laid aside as a mere shadow and show; and not without hearty grief and concern, that the long continuance of the abominable corruptions of the Romish Church, in their formal confessions and pretended absolutions, in their sale of indulgences, and their sordid commutations of penance for money, had let the people loose from those primitive bands of discipline, which tended really to their amendment, but to which, through the rigour and severity it enjoins, they found it impracticable to reduce them again. However, since they could not do what they desired, they desired to do as much as they could; and therefore, till the said discipline may be restored again, (which is rather to be wished than expected in these licentious times,) they have endeavouredto supply it as well as they were able, by appointing an office to be used at this season, called “A Commination, or denouncing ofGod’sAnger and Judgments against Sinners;” that so the people, being apprized ofGod’swrath and indignation against their wickedness and sins, may not be encouraged, through the want of discipline in the Church, to follow and pursue them; but be moved, by the terror of the dreadful judgments ofGod, to supply that discipline to themselves, by severely judging and condemning themselves, and so to avoid being judged and condemned at the tribunal ofGod.
2. But, besides “the first day of Lent,” on which it is expressly enjoined, it is also supposed, in the title of it, to be used “at other times, as the ordinary shall direct.” This was occasioned by the observation of Bucer; for it was originally ordered upon Ash Wednesdays only, and therefore in the first Common Prayer Book, it had no other title, but “The First Day of Lent, commonly called Ash Wednesday.” But Bucer approving of the office, and not seeing reason why it should be confined to one day, and not used oftener, at least four times a year, the title of it was altered when it came to be reviewed; from which time it was called, “A Commination against Sinners, with certain Prayers to be used at divers times in the Year.” How often, or at what particular times, we do not find prescribed; except that Bishop Cosin informs us from the Visitation Articles of Archbishop Grindal for the province of Canterbury, in the year 1576, that it was appointed three times a year; namely, on one of the three Sundays next before Easter, on one of the two Sundays next before Pentecost, and on one of the two Sundays next before Christmas; that is, I suppose the office was appointed yearly to be used on these three days, as well as on Ash Wednesday. For that Ash Wednesday was then the solemn day of all, and on which this office was never to be omitted, may be gathered from the preface, which is drawn up for the peculiar use of that day. And accordingly we find, that, in the Scotch Common Prayer, a clause was added, that it was to be used “especially on the first day of Lent, commonly called Ash Wednesday.” However, in our own liturgy, the title stood as above, till the last review, when a clause was added for the sake of explaining the word commination; and the appointing of the times on which it should be used was left to the discretion of the bishop, or the ordinary. So that the whole title, as it stands now, runs thus: “A Commination, or denouncing ofGod’sAnger and Judgments against Sinners, with certain Prayers to be used on the first Day in Lent, and at other Times, as the Ordinary shall appoint.” The ordinaries, indeed, seldom or never make use of the power here given them, except that sometimes they appoint part of the office, namely, from the fifty-first Psalm to the end, to be used upon solemn days of fasting and humiliation. But as to the whole office, it is never used entirely but upon the day mentioned in the title of it, namely, “the first day of Lent.”—Wheatly.
The Commination properly means that part of the special service which precedes the Psalm; the rest coming under the title of “certain prayers;” and it would seem that the latter are alone to be used at other times that the ordinary shall appoint.—Jebb.
COMMISSARY, is a title of jurisdiction, appertaining to him that exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction, in places so far distant from the chief city, that the chancellor cannot call the people to the bishop’s principal consistory court without great trouble to them.
Chancellors, or bishops’ lawyers, were first introduced into the Church by the 2nd canon of the Council of Chalcedon, and were men trained up in the civil and canon law, to direct bishops in matters of judgment relating to ecclesiastical affairs.
Whatever the extent of the chancellor’s authority as a judge may be, throughout the diocese, with relation to the bishop’s, it is quite clear that the commissary’s authority extends only to such particular causes, in such parts of the diocese, for which he holds the bishop’s commission to act.
In the Clementine constitutions this officer is termedofficialis foraneus. By the 21st of Henry VIII. c. 13, he shall not be within the statute of non-residence; he may grant licences; he may excommunicate, and prove a last will and testament; but that shall be in the name of the ordinary; and a grant of such power does not hold good beyond the life of the ordinary, and does not bind his successor: where, by prescription or by composition, there are archdeacons, who have jurisdiction in their archdeaconries, as in most places they have, there the office of commissary is superfluous.—SeeGibson’s Codex, vol. i. Introductory Discourse, p. 25.
COMMON PRAYER. (SeeLiturgy.) By Common Prayer we are to understand a form of prayer adapted and enjoined for common or universal use: in the vernacularlanguage, such as may be understood of people, and in which they are required to join with one heart and voice. It is contrasted with those services which have either actually or virtually become exclusive, or confined to but a few: such as the forms of matins in the Roman breviary, which from its extreme length, and from the inconvenience of the hour when it is prescribed to be recited, are impracticable to the people, to all in fact but the inmates of monasteries or collegiate churches. Such, indeed, are all those services which are written in a language which is no longer vernacular.
Bishop Sparrow observes, that the Common Prayer contains in it many holy offices of the Church; as prayers, confessions of faith, holy hymns, divine lessons, priestly absolutions, and benedictions; all which are set and prescribed, not left to private men’s fancies to make or alter. So it was of old ordained.Conc. Carthag.can. 106, “It is ordained, that the prayers, prefaces, and impositions of hands, which are confirmed by the Synod, be observed and used by all men: these, and no other.” So is our 14th English Canon.... “And as these offices are set and prescribed, so are they moreover appointed to be one and the same throughout the whole national Church.”
By Canon 4. “Whosoever shall affirm that the form ofGod’sworship in the Church of England, established by law, and contained in the Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, is a corrupt, superstitious, or unlawful worship ofGod, or containeth anything in it that is repugnant to the Scriptures, let him be excommunicatedipso facto, and not restored but by the bishop of the place, or archbishop, after his repentance and public revocation of such his wicked errors.”
By Canon 38. “If any minister, after he has subscribed to the Book of Common Prayer, shall omit to use the form of prayer, or any of the orders or ceremonies prescribed in the Communion Book, let him be suspended; and if after a month he does not reform and submit himself, let him be excommunicated; and then, if he shall not submit himself within the space of another month, let him be deposed from the ministry.”
And by Canon 98. “After any judge ecclesiastical has pronounced judicially against contemners of ceremonies, for not observing the rites and orders of the Church of England, or for contempt of public prayer, no judgead quemshall allow of his appeal, unless the party appellant do first personally promise and avow, that he will faithfully keep and observe all the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, as also the prescribed form of Common Prayer, and do likewise subscribe to the same.
COMMUNION. This is one of the names given to the sacrament of the eucharist, and was undoubtedly taken from St. Paul’s account of that sacrament, where he teaches, as the learned Dr. Waterland observes, that the effect of this service is the communion of the body and blood ofChrist. (1 Cor. x. 16.) He does not, indeed, call the sacrament by thatname, as others have done since. He was signifying what the thing is, or what it does, rather than how it was thencalled. (SeeEucharist,Lord’s Supper, andConsecration of the Elements.)
The office for the Holy Communion is a distinct office, and there is no direction at what time of the day it shall be used, only custom, in accordance with the almost invariable usage of Christendom, has determined that it shall be used in the forenoon. The communion is appointed foreverySunday, only the Church has ordered that there shall be no communion except four (or three at least) communicate with the priest. The absence of the weekly eucharist therefore proves one of two things; either that the sin of the people is so great that even in large parishes three such persons ready to communicate are not to be found every Sunday, and so only part of the service can be used; or else if three communicants can be found, the sin of the clergy is great in not having weekly communion. “In cathedral and collegiate churches, where there are many priests and deacons, they shall all receive the communion with the priest every Sunday at the least.” We here subjoin the directions of the canons and rubric.
The rubric decrees, there shall none be admitted to the holy communion until such time as he be confirmed, or be ready and desirous to be confirmed.
By the canons of Archbishop Peckham, 1279, it is ruled that none shall give the communion to the parishioner of another priest, without his manifest licence; which ordinance shall not extend to travellers, or to persons in danger, nor to cases of necessity.
And by Canon 28. “The churchwardens or questmen, and their assistants, shall mark, as well as the minister, whether any strangers come often and commonly from other parishes to their church, andshow their minister of them, lest perhaps they be admitted to theLord’stable amongst others; which they shall forbid, and remit such home to their own parish churches and ministers, there to receive the communion with the rest of their own neighbours.”
Rubric. “And if any be an open and notorious evil liver, or have done any wrong to his neighbours by word or deed, so that the congregation be thereby offended, the curate, having knowledge thereof, shall call him and advertise him, that in anywise he presume not to come to theLord’stable until he has openly declared himself to have truly repented and amended his former naughty life, that the congregation may thereby be satisfied, which before were offended; and that he has recompensed the parties to whom he has done wrong; or at least declare himself to be in full purpose so to do, as soon as he conveniently may.”
Rubric. “The same order shall the curate use with those between whom he perceiveth malice and hatred to reign, not suffering them to be partakers of theLord’stable until he know them to be reconciled. And if one of the parties so at variance be content to forgive, from the bottom of his heart, all that the other has trespassed against him, and to make amends for that he himself has offended, and the other party will not be persuaded to a godly unity, but remain still in his frowardness and malice, the minister in that case ought to admit the penitent person to the holy communion, and not him that is obstinate. Provided that every minister so repelling any, as is specified in this or the next preceding paragraph of this rubric, shall be obliged to give an account of the same to the ordinary, within fourteen days after at the farthest; and the ordinary shall proceed against the offending person according to the canon.”
By Canon 26. “No minister shall in anywise admit to the receiving of the holy communion any of his cure or flock, which be openly known to live in sin notorious without repentance; nor any who have maliciously and openly contended with their neighbours; nor any churchwardens or sidesmen who refuse or neglect to make presentment of offences according to their oaths.”
By Canon 27. “No minister, when he celebrateth the communion, shall wittingly administer the same to any but to such as kneel, under pain of suspension; nor, under the like pain, to any that refuse to be present at public prayers, according to the order of the Church of England; nor to any that are common and notorious depravers of the Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, and of the orders, rites, and ceremonies therein prescribed; or of anything that is contained in the book of ordering priests and bishops; or to any that have spoken against and depraved his Majesty’s sovereign authority in causes ecclesiastical; except every such person shall first acknowledge to the minister before the churchwardens his repentance for the same, and promise by word (if he cannot write) that he will do so no more; and except (if he can write) he shall first do the same under his handwriting, to be delivered to the minister, and by him sent to the bishop of the diocese, or ordinary of the place. Provided that every minister so repelling any (as is specified either in this or the next preceding constitution) shall upon complaint, or being required by the ordinary, signify the cause thereof unto him, and therein obey his order and direction.”
By Canon 109. “If any offend their brethren, either by adultery, whoredom, incest, or drunkenness, or by swearing, ribaldry, usury, or any other uncleanness, or wickedness of life, such notorious offenders shall not be admitted to the holy communion till they be reformed.”
Canon 71. “No minister shall administer the holy communion in any private house, except it be in times of necessity, when any being either so impotent as he cannot go to the church, or very dangerously sick, are desirous to be partakers of this holy sacrament, upon pain of suspension for the first offence, and excommunication for the second. Provided that houses are here reputed for private houses, wherein are no chapels dedicated and allowed by the ecclesiastical laws of this realm. And provided also, under the pains before expressed, that no chaplains do administer the communion in any other places, but in the chapels of the said houses; and that also they do the same very seldom upon Sundays and holy-days; so that both the lords and masters of the said houses and their families shall at other times resort to their own parish churches, and there receive the holy communion at least once every year.”
Canon 22. “We do require every minister to give warning to his parishioners publicly in the church at morning prayer, the Sunday before every time of his administering that holy sacrament, for their better preparation of themselves; which said warning we enjoin the said parishionersto accept and obey, under the penalty and danger of the law.”
And by the rubric. “The minister shall always give warning for the celebration of the holy communion upon the Sunday or some holy-day immediately preceding.”
Rubric. “So many as intend to be partakers of the holy communion shall signify their names to the curate, at least some time the day before.”
Rubric. “There shall be no celebration of theLord’ssupper, except there be a convenient number to communicate with the priest, according to his discretion. 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. And in cathedral and collegiate churches and colleges, where there are many priests and deacons, they shallallreceive the communion with the priest every Sunday at the least, except they have reasonable cause to the contrary.” The rubricimpliesdaily communion. “The Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, appointed for the Sunday, shall serveall the week after, when it is not in this book otherwise ordered.” In the First Book of King Edward, daily communion is expressly mentioned. “Upon Wednesdays and Fridays ... though there be none to communicate with the priest, yet these days, after the Litany ended, the priest shall ... say all things at the altar, appointed to be said at the celebration of theLord’ssupper, until after the offertory.” “In cathedral churches, or other places,where there is daily communion,” &c. From thePietas Londinensisit appears that in some London churches at the beginning of the last century, the communion was celebrated daily in the octaves of the great festivals. And a remembrance of this daily communion was formerly kept up at Durham, where, in Bishop Cosin’s time, the ante-communion was daily performed, as it still is at St. Patrick’s, on Wednesdays and Fridays in Lent.
Canon 82. “Whereas we have no doubt but that in all churches convenient and decent tables are provided and placed for the celebration of the holy communion, we appoint that the same tables shall from time to time be kept and repaired in sufficient and seemly manner, and covered in time of Divine service with a carpet of silk or other decent stuff, thought meet by the ordinary of the place, if any question be made of it, and with a fair linen cloth at the time of the ministration as becometh that table; and so stand, saving when the holy communion is to be administered, at which time the same shall be placed in so good sort within the church or chancel, as thereby the minister may be more conveniently heard of the communicants in his prayer and ministration, and the communicants also more conveniently and in more number may communicate with the said minister.”
By Canon 20. “The churchwardens, against the time of every communion, shall, at the charge of the parish, with the advice and direction of the minister, provide a sufficient quantity of fine white bread, and of good and wholesome wine, for the number of communicants that shall receive there; which wine shall be brought to the communion table in a clean and sweet standing pot or stoop of pewter, if not of purer metal.”
And by the rubric. “The bread and wine for the communion shall be provided by the curate and churchwardens at the charge of the parish. And to take away all occasion of dissension and superstition, which any person has or might have concerning the bread and wine, it shall suffice that the bread be such as is usual to be eaten, but the best and purest wheat bread that conveniently may be gotten.”
In the rubric, in the communion service of the Second Edward VI., it was ordained, that, “whyles the clearkes do syng the offertory, so many as are disposed shall offer to the poore mennes boxe, every one accordinge to his habilitie and charitable mynde.”
And by the present rubric, “whilst the sentences of the offertory are in reading, the deacons, churchwardens, or other fit person appointed for that purpose, shall receive the alms for the poor, and other devotions of the people, in a decent basin, to be provided by the parish for that purpose, and reverently bring it to the priest, who shall humbly present and place it upon the holy table.” And “after the Divine service ended, the money given at the offertory shall be disposed of to such pious and charitable uses as the minister and churchwardens shall think fit; wherein if they disagree, it shall be disposed of as the ordinary shall appoint.”
Rubric. “Such ornaments of the church, and of the ministers thereof, at all times of their ministration, shall be retained and be in use as were in this Church of England by the authority of parliament, in the second year of the reign of King Edward VI.” And by the rubric of 2 Edward VI., which had this authority of parliament, it is ordained, that “upon theday, and at the time appointed for the ministration of the holy communion, the priest that shall execute the holy ministry shall put upon him the vesture appointed for that ministration; that is to say, a white albe plain, with a vestment or cope: and where there be many priests or deacons, then so many shall be ready to help the priest in the ministrations as shall be requisite, and shall have upon them likewise the vestures appointed for their ministry, that is to say, albes with tunicles. And whensoever the bishop shall celebrate the holy communion in the church, or execute any other public ministration, he shall have upon him, besides his rochet, a surplice or albe,and a cope or vestment, and also his pastoral staff in his hand, or else borne or holden by his chaplain.”
And by Canon 24. “In all cathedral churches, the holy communion shall be administered upon principal feast days, sometimes by the bishop, if he be present, and at sometimes by a canon or prebendary, the principal minister using a decent cope, and being assisted with the Gospeller and Epistler agreeably, according to the advertisements publishedanno 7 Eliz.”
Art. 28. “Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of bread and wine) in the supper of theLordcannot be proved by Holy Writ; but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions.”
Art. 30. “The cup of theLordis not to be denied to the lay people; for both the parts of theLord’ssacrament, byChrist’sordinance and commandment, ought to be ministered to all Christian men alike.”
And by the statute of the 1 Edward VI. c. 1. “Forasmuch as it is more agreeable to the first institution of the said sacrament, and more conformable to the common use and practice of the apostles and of the primitive Church, for above 500 years afterChrist’sascension, that the same should be administered under both the kinds, of bread and wine, than under the form of bread only; and also it is more agreeable to the first institution ofChrist, and to the usage of the apostles and the primitive Church, that the people should receive the same with the priest, than that the priest should receive it alone; it is enacted that the said most blessed sacrament be commonly delivered and ministered unto the people, under both the kinds, that is to say, of bread and wine, except necessity otherwise require. And also that the priest which shall minister the same shall, at the least one day before, exhort all persons which shall be present likewise to resort and prepare themselves to receive the same. And when the day prefixed cometh, after godly exhortation by the minister made, (wherein shall be further expressed the benefit and comfort promised to them which worthily receive the holy sacrament, and danger and indignation ofGodthreatened to them which shall presume to receive the same unworthily, to the end that every man may try and examine his own conscience before he shall receive the same,) the said minister shall not, without a lawful cause, deny the same to any person that will devoutly and humbly desire it; not condemning hereby the usage of any Church out of the king’s dominions.”
Rubric. “If any of the bread and wine remain unconsecrated, the curate shall have it to his own use; but if any remain of that which was consecrated, it shall not be carried out of the church, but the priest, and such other of the communicants as he shall then call unto him, shall immediately after the blessing reverently eat and drink the same.”
By a constitution of Archbishop Langton it is enjoined, that no sacrament of the Church shall be denied to any one, upon the account of any sum of money; but if anything hath been accustomed to be given by the pious devotion of the faithful, justice shall be done thereupon to the churches by the ordinary of the place afterwards.
And by the rubric. “Yearly at Easter, every parishioner shall reckon with the parson, vicar, or curate, or his or their deputy or deputies, and pay to them or him all ecclesiastical duties, accustomably due, then and at that time to be paid.”
By the ancient canon law, every layman (not prohibited by crimes of a heinous nature) was required to communicate at least thrice in the year, namely, at Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas; and the Council of Agdæ,A. D.500, enacted that the secular clergy not communicating at those times were not to be reckoned amongst the Catholics. The fourth Council of Lateran,A. D.1215, reduced the necessary number of times to one, and the Council of Trent has sanctioned this as the rule for the Romish Church. Our reformers laudably reverted to the earlier order, directing by the rubric in the Book of Common Prayer, that “every parishioner shall communicate at least three times in one year, of which Easter to be one.”
And by Canon 21. “In every parish church and chapel where sacraments are to be administered, the holy communionshall be administered by the parson, vicar, or minister, so often, and at such times, as every parishioner may communicate at the least three times in the year, whereof the feast of Easter to be one; according as they are appointed by the Book of Common Prayer. And the churchwardens or questmen, and their assistants, shall mark, (as well as the minister,) whether all and every of the parishioners comes so often every year to the holy communion as the laws and constitutions do require.” Canon 28. “And shall yearly, within forty days after Easter, exhibit to the bishop or his chancellor, the names and surnames of all the parishioners, as well men as women, which being of the age of sixteen years received not the communion at Easter before.”
By Canon 24. “All deans, wardens, masters, or heads of cathedral and collegiate churches, prebendaries, canons, vicars, petty canons, singing men, and all others of the foundation, shall receive the communion four times yearly at the least.” And by Canon 23. “In all colleges and halls, within both the universities, the masters and fellows, such especially as have any pupils, shall be careful that all their said pupils, and the rest that remain among them, do diligently frequent public service and sermons, and receive the holy communion, which we ordain to be administered in all such colleges and halls the first and second Sunday of every month; requiring all the said masters, fellows, and scholars, and all the rest of the students, officers, and all other the servants there, so to be ordered, that every one of them shall communicate four times in the year at the least, kneeling reverently and decently upon their knees, according to the order of the communion book prescribed in that behalf.”
By the 1 Edward VI. c. 1. “Whosoever shall deprave, despise, or contemn the most blessed sacrament of the body and blood of ourSaviour Jesus Christ, commonly called the sacrament of the altar, and in Scripture, the supper and table of theLord, the communion and partaking of the body and blood ofChrist, in contempt thereof, by any contemptuous words or by any words of depraving, despising, or reviling; or whosoever shall advisedly in any other wise contemn, despise, or revile the said most blessed sacrament, contrary to the effects and declaration above-said, shall suffer imprisonment of his body, and make fine and ransom at the king’s will.”
Rubric. “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 ofChrist’sChurch militant here in earth, together with one or more of the collects last before rehearsed, concluding with the blessing.”
Since the death ofChristhath reconciledGodto mankind, and his intercession alone obtains all good things for us, we are enjoined to make all our prayers in his name; and, as a more powerful way of interceding, to commemorate his passion by celebrating the holy eucharist, which in the purest ages was always joined to their public and common prayers. (Acts ii. 42.) And as evidence that our Church wishes it were so still, she appoints a great part of this office to be used on all Sundays and holy-days, and orders the priest to say it at the altar, the place where all the prayers of the Church of old were wont to be made, because there was the proper place to commemorateJesusour only Mediator, by whom all our prayers become accepted. And hence the ancients call this office “the service of the altar,” which in the time of celebration was then also, as our rubric now enjoins, covered with a fair linen cloth. As for the primitive and original form of administration, sinceChristdid not institute any one method, it was various in divers churches, only all agreed in using theLord’sPrayer, and reciting the words of institution, which therefore some think was all the apostles used; but their successors in several churches added several devout forms thereunto, which being joined to the original order used by the founder of each church, was for greater honour called by the name of that first author; and hence we have now the liturgy used at Jerusalem, called “The Liturgy of St. James;” that of Alexandria, called “The Liturgy of St. Mark;” that of Rome, called “The Liturgy of St. Clement;” with others of lesser value: which, by the fancy of adding to them in every age, have contracted many superstitions of later times, and yet do still contain many genuine and substantial pieces of true primitive devotion, easily distinguished from the modern and corrupt additions. But since none of these apostolical liturgies were believed of Divine institution, St. Basil and St. Chrysostom made new forms for their own churches, now generally used in the East; and St. Ambrose and St. Gregory the Great composed sacramentaries for their several churches; and the Christians in Spain had a peculiar order for this office, called the Mazarabic form; the Gallican Church had another distinct from all these;so had the Irish Church, and St. Gregory was so far from imposing the Roman missal on this Church of England, that he advises Augustine the monk to review all liturgies, and take out of them what was best, and so to compose a form for this nation. And when the Roman missal (afterward imposed here) was shamefully corrupted, our judicious reformers made use of this ancient and just liberty; and, comparing all liturgies, they have out of them all extracted what is most pure and primitive, and so composed this admirable office, which, as Bishop Jewel affirms, “comes as nigh as can be to the apostolic and ancient Catholic Church,” and indeed is the most exact now extant in the Christian world, the explaining whereof will effectually serve to assist the communicant in order to a worthy preparation before the receiving, devout affections in receiving, and the confirming of his holy purposes afterwards: for it doth instruct us in all that is necessary to be known and to be done in this sacred and sublime duty, and is contrived in this curious method. (SeeLiturgy.)
The whole communion office consists of four parts. First, a more general preparation to the communion, and as either common to the whole congregation in the exercise of, 1. Repentance, by theLord’sPrayer, the collect for Purity, and the ten commandments. 2. Holy desires, by the collects for the King and the Day. 3. Of obedience, by the hearing of the Epistle and Gospel. 4. Of faith, by repeating the Creed. 5. Of charity, by the Offertory and the prayer for the holy Catholic Church: or else this general preparation is proper to those who ought to communicate, namely, the warning before the communion, and the exhortation to it. Secondly, there is the more immediate preparation, contained in, 1. The proper instructions, in the exhortation at the communion, and the immediate invitation. 2. The form of acknowledging our offences, in the confession. 3. The means of insuring our pardon, by the absolution, and the sentences. 4. The exciting our love and gratitude, in the preface, and the hymn calledTrisagium. Thirdly, there is the celebration of the mystery, consisting of, 1. The communicant’s humble approach, in the address. 2. The minister’s blessing the elements, in the prayer of consecration. 3. His distributing them according to the form of administration. Lastly, there is the post-communion, containing, 1. Prayers and vows, in theLord’sPrayer, the first and second prayers after the Communion. 2. Praises and thanksgiving, in theGloria in excelsis. 3. The dismission by the final blessing.—Dean Comber.
This service is called “The Communion Service” in the liturgy; and well it were that the piety of the people were such as to make it always acommunion. The Church, as appears by her pathetical exhortation before the communion, and the rubric after it, labours to bring men oftener to communicate than she usually obtains. Private and solitary communions, of the priest alone, she allows not; and therefore, when others cannot be had, she appoints only so much of the service as relates not of necessity to a present communion, and that to be said at the holy table: and upon good reason; the Church thereby keeping, as it were, her ground, visibly minding us of what she desires and labours towards, our more frequent access to that holy table: and in the mean while, that part of the service, which she uses, may perhaps more fitly be called “the second service” than “the communion.” And so it is often called, though not in the rubric of the liturgy, yet in divers fast-books, and the like, set out by authority. If any should think, that it cannot properly be called thesecondservice, because the morning service and Litany go before it, which indeed are two distinct services,—whereby this should seem to be the third, rather than the second service,—it is answered, that sometimes the communion service is used upon such days as the Litany is not; and then it may, without question, be called the second service. Nay, even then, when the Litany and all is used, the communion service may be very fitly called the second service; for though, in strictness of speech, the Litany is a service distinct, yet in our usual acceptation of the wordservice,—namely, for a complete service with all the several parts of it, psalms, readings, creeds, thanksgivings, and prayers,—so the Litany is not a service, nor so esteemed, but called “theLitany,” orsupplications; and looked upon sometimes, when other offices follow, as a kind of preparative, though a distinct form, to them, as to the Communion, Commination, &c. And therefore it was a custom in some churches, that a bell was tolled while the Litany was saying, to give notice to the people that the communion service was now coming on.—Bp. Sparrow.
Of the many compellations given to this sacrament in former ages, our Church has very wisely thought fit to retain these two (namely, the exhortation before andthe rubric after the communion service) in her public service, as those which are most ancient and scriptural. As for the name of “theLord’ssupper,” which name the Papists cannot endure to have this sacrament called by, because it destroys their notion of a sacrifice, and their use of private mass, we find this given to it, as its proper name in the apostles’ time, by St. Paul himself, “when ye come together into one place, this is not to eat theLord’ssupper.” (1 Cor. xi. 20.) And this name is frequently given to it by ancient writers. So for “the communion;” this is plainly another scriptural name of the same holy sacrament. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood ofChrist?” (1 Cor. x. 16.) Which name is given to it, partly, because by this we testify our communion withChristour Head; partly, because it unites us together with all our fellow-Christians; partly, because all good Christians have a right to partake of it; hence, with St. Chrysostom and St. Basil, “to communicate” is the common word to express the participation of this sacrament.—Dr. Nicholls.
The reason why it is enjoined that notice shall be given to the minister when we intend to communicate is, that the minister of the parish may have time to inform himself of the parties who design to receive: so that, if there be any among them who are not duly qualified, he may persuade them to abstain for some time; or, in case of their refusal, repel them. Now, in several cases, persons may be unqualified to partake of this sacrament, either by the prescript ofGod’sword, or by the canons of the Church.
1. A want or a contempt of the rite of confirmation unqualifies persons to receive; for the rubric of the Common Prayer, which is confirmed by the Act of Uniformity, says, “No one shall be admitted to the holy communion, until such time as he be confirmed, or be ready and desirous to be confirmed.” This is agreeable to the provisions of the ancient Church; and the only reasonable impediment to confirmation is the want of a bishop near the place.
2. Persons excommunicate, or who are doing penance by church censure for any notorious fault, are unqualified to receive; for such persons are shut out from the communion, and therefore calledexcommunicate.
3. Persons under phrensy are unqualified to partake of the holy communion. And all persons, under the foregoing want of qualification, may lawfully be refused admission to the communion by the minister; for the ecclesiastical law imposes great penalties upon the minister, who shall give them the communion in such cases.
4. A person may be unqualified by notorious wickedness, or flagitiousness of life. But of this more in the next note.—Dr. Nicholls.
In the primitive times, when discipline was strictly maintained, all such persons, as soon as known, were put under censure; but if, before censure, they offered themselves at the communion, they were repelled. And indeed such severe discipline might not be amiss, whilst it was grounded only upon piety and zeal forGod’shonour, as it was in those devout times. But, afterwards, some persons being debarred from the communion out of private pique and resentment, an imperial injunction prohibited all, both bishops and presbyters, from shutting out any one from the communion, before just cause be shown that the holy canons do give them power so to do. And the canon law did not allow a discretionary power to the priest to thrust away every ill person from the sacrament: “a vicious person, offering himself to receive the communion, is not to be expelled, but is to be carried privately aside, and to be exhorted not to receive the communion.” Indeed the later canonists did interpret this only of occult crimes, and such as were not generally known; allowing only persons “notoriously guilty” to be expelled; and of this opinion were the compilers of our rubrics in Edward the Sixth’s time, as appears from their wording this rubric, “If any be an open and notorious evil liver,” &c. But, however, they limited this discretionary power of the minister, obliging him, even in “notorious” crimes, to “admonish” such persons first to abstain, and only upon obstinacy to repel. But, nevertheless, this formerly gave occasion to several exceptions and disputes; and therefore, in the last revision of the Common Prayer, repulsion was not left to the absolute power of the minister, but he was obliged to give notice thereof to the diocesan, and to take his advice therein. And still it remains so uncertain, what is “notoriety,” both in presumption, law, and fact, that a minister is not out of danger of transgressing his rule, if, before judicial conviction of a crime, he goes further than admonishing any person to abstain.—Dr. Nicholls.Our law in England will not suffer the minister to judge any man as a notorious offender, but him who is convicted by some legal sentence.—Bp. Andrewes.
Notoriety in fact is one thing, and notoriety in presumption is another. And in either case it should be a notoriety in law too, to indemnify the minister for proceeding upon the rubric, or to render him safe, in point of law, for repelling any person from the communion.
Upon the whole of the matter, however, though this rubric may “require some explanation,” as Bishop Cosin remarks, “for the avoiding of disputes and doubts between the communicants and curates;” yet, if it be taken in all its parts, namely, that no person, however “notoriously wicked,” shall be withheld from the communion, till he be admonished to withdraw himself; and that when he is repelled upon his obstinacy, it is only till such time as the advice of the ordinary can be had therein, to whom the curate is obliged to give early notice of such his act; it seems in this view the best, and I think the only ecclesiastical, rule we have to go by in such case; nor doth it appear liable to exceptions, unless it be in that particular, of how far we are safe in acting according to it.
But, as this is properly a point of law, it is not so fit for me to undertake any determination of it; it must be left to the gentlemen of that profession. Only thus much I would put in, that, if a clergyman’s conduct in this matter shall appear to be upright, dispassionate, and disinterested, (and I wish it may never appear otherwise,) so as to gain the approbation of reasonable and indifferent persons,—which I think it would gain in all notorious and flagrant cases, which are those mentioned in the rubric,—it is to be hoped and presumed, that the interpreters of the law would, in their turn too, show him all the favour and regard they could.—Archdeacon Sharp.
COMMUNION OF THE SICK. In this office we have an example of the benevolent care exhibited by the Church towards her suffering members. As all mortal men be subject to many sudden perils, diseases, and sicknesses, and ever uncertain what time they shall depart out of this life, the Church has not only provided for their baptism, and for the visitations of the pastor, but has authorized and directed the administration to them of “the most comfortable sacrament of the body and blood ofChrist.”
Although the Church maintains that the eucharist, as a general rule, is to be publicly administered in the consecrated house ofGod, and has signified her disapproval ofsolitarycommunion in all cases; yet, when by sickness her members are incapable of presenting themselves at the altar, there is a wise and tender relaxation of her usages, corresponding with the peculiar necessity of the case. This too “is exactly conformable to the most early practice of the primitive Church; for there is nothing more frequently mentioned by the ancient writers, than the care of the Church to distribute the eucharist to all dying persons that were capable of receiving it.”
“There are many instances,” says Palmer, “in antiquity, of the celebration of the eucharist in private for the sick. Thus Paulinus, bishop of Nola, caused the eucharist to be celebrated in his own chamber, not many hours before his death. Gregory Nazianzen informs us, that his father communicated in his own chamber, and that his sister had an altar at home; and Ambrose is said to have administered the sacrament in a private house at Rome. The Church is therefore justified in directing the eucharist to be consecrated in private houses, for the benefit of the sick; and she has taken care, in the rubric immediately preceding the office, that the sacrament shall be decorously and reverently administered.”
In the distribution of the elements, the rubric orders that the sick person shall receive last. This is done, “because those who communicate with him, through fear of some contagion, or the noisomeness of his disease, may be afraid to drink out of the same cup after him.”
By a constitution of Archbishop Peckham, the sacrament of the eucharist shall be carried with due reverence to the sick, the priest having on at least a surplice or stole, with a light carried before him in a lantern, with a bell, that the people may be excited to due reverence; who by the minister’s direction shall be taught to prostrate themselves, or at least to make humble adoration, wheresoever theKing of Gloryshall happen to be carried under the cover of bread.
But by the rubric of the 2 Edward VI. it was ordered, that there shall be no elevation of the host, or showing the sacrament to the people.
By the present rubric, before the office for the Communion of the Sick, it is ordered as follows: “Forasmuch as all mortal men be subject to many sudden perils, diseases, and sicknesses, and ever uncertain what time they shall depart out of this life; therefore, to the intent they may be always in a readiness to die whensoever it shall please AlmightyGodto call them, curates shall diligently from time to time (butespecially in the time of pestilence or other infectious sickness) exhort their parishioners to the often receiving of the holy communion of the body and blood of ourSaviour Christ, when it shall be publicly administered in the church; that, so doing, they may, in case of sudden visitation, have the less cause to be disquieted for lack of the same. But if the sick person be not able to come to the church, and yet is desirous to receive the communion in his house, then he must give timely notice to the curate, signifying also how many there are to communicate with him, (which shall be three, or two at the least,) and having a convenient place in the sick man’s house, with all things necessary so prepared, that the curate may reverently minister, he shall there celebrate the holy communion.
“But if a man, either by reason of extremity of sickness, or for want of warning in due time to the curate, or for lack of company to receive with him, or by any other just impediment, do not receive the sacrament ofChrist’sbody and blood, the curate shall instruct him, that if he do truly repent him of his sins, and stedfastly believe thatJesus Christhath suffered death upon the cross for him, and shed his blood for his redemption; earnestly remembering the benefits he hath thereby, and giving him hearty thanks therefore; he doth eat and drink the body and blood of ourSaviour Christprofitably to his soul’s health, although he do not receive the sacrament with his mouth.
“In the time of plague, sweat, or other such like contagious times of sickness or diseases, when none of the parish can be gotten to communicate with the sick in their houses, for fear of infection, upon special request of the deceased, the minister may only communicate with him.”
It has been the constant usage of the Church, in all probability derived from the apostolical times, for persons dangerously sick to receive the holy sacrament of theLord’ssupper for their spiritual comfort and assistance. Hence this private communion obtained the name ofviaticumamong the Latins, and a correspondent name among the Greeks; that is,provision, as it were, laid in to sustain them in their journey to the other world. Our Church follows this example of the primitive ages. And rather than the sick man should want so necessary a comfort, we are allowed to dispense it in a private house, and to a small company, which in other cases we avoid. Indeed there are divers weighty reasons why the dying Christian should receive this sacrament, and why ministers should persuade them to it, and labour to fit them for the worthy receiving of it. For, 1. This is the highest mystery of religion, and fittest for those who are by sickness put into a heavenly frame and are nearest to perfection. 2. This isGod’sseal of remission to all that receive it with penitence and faith. 3. This arms them against the fear of death, by settingJesusbefore them, who died for them, and hath pulled out the sting of death. 4. This assures them of their resurrection, by keeping them members ofChrist’sbody. (John vi. 54.) 5. It declares they die in the peace and communion of the true Church, out of which there is no salvation. And if the sick man have done all the duties in the foregoing office, he is prepared to die, and therefore fit for this communion; and if he do receive it with devotion, the comfortable assurances ofGod’slove which he gets here will never leave him till he seeGodface to face. We shall only add, that, lest the fears of the Divine displeasure which sick men are very apt to entertain, should trouble their minds, and hinder their joy and comfort in this holy ordinance, the Church hath chosen a peculiar Epistle and Gospel on purpose to comfort them and deliver them from these fears, and also made a proper collect to beg patience for them under this their affliction. All which are so plain they need no explication, but only require the sick man’s devout attention, and then it is hoped they will not fail of their desired effect.—Dr. Nicholls. Dean Comber.
COMMUNION OF SAINTS. (SeeSaints.) This is an article of the Creed in which we profess to believe, as a necessary and infallible truth, that such persons as are truly sanctified in the Church ofChrist, while they live among the crooked generations of men, and struggle with the miseries of this world, have fellowship withGodtheFather, (1 John i. 3; 2 Peter i. 4,) withGodtheSon, (1 John i. 3; 2 John 9; John xvii. 20, 21, 23,) withGodtheHoly Ghost, (Phil. ii. 1; 2 Cor. xiii. 14,) as dwelling with them, and taking upTHEIRhabitations in them; that they partake of the care and kindness of the blessed angels, who take delight in the ministration for their benefit, being “ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Heb. i. 14; Luke xv. 10; Matt, xviii. 10); that besides the external fellowship which they have in the word and sacraments, with all the members of the Church, theyhave an intimate union and conjunction with all the saints on earth, as the living members ofChrist. (1 John i. 7; Col. ii. 19.) Nor is this union separated by the death of any; but asChrist, in whom they live, is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, so have they fellowship with all the saints, who, from the death of Abel, have departed in the true faith and fear ofGod, and now enjoy the presence of theFather, and follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. (Heb. xii. 22, 23.) “Indeed,” says Bishop Pearson, from whom this article is taken, “the communion of saints in the Church ofChristwith those who are departed is demonstrated by their communion with the saints alive. For if I have communion with a saint ofGodas such, while he liveth here, I must still have communion with him when he is departed hence; because the foundation of that communion cannot be removed by death. The mystical union betweenChristand his Church, the spiritual conjunction of the members with the head, is the true foundation of that communion which one member hath with another, all the members living and increasing by the same influence which they receive from him. But death, which is nothing else but the separation of the soul from the body, maketh no separation in the mystical union, no breach of the spiritual conjunction; and, consequently, there must continue the same communion, because there remaineth the same foundation. Indeed the saint before his death had some communion with the hypocrite, as hearing the word, professing the faith, receiving the sacraments together; which being in things only external, as they were common to them both, and all such external actions ceasing in the person dead, the hypocrite remaining loseth all communion with the saint departing, and the saints surviving cease to have farther fellowship with the hypocrite dying. But seeing that the true and unfeigned holiness of man, wrought by the powerful influence of the Spirit ofGod, not only remaineth, but also is improved after death; seeing that the correspondence of the internal holiness was the true communion with other persons during life, they cannot be said to be divided by death, which hath no power over that sanctity by which they were first conjoined. But although this communion of the saints in paradise and on earth, upon the mystical union ofChristtheir head, be fundamental and internal, yet what acts or external operations it produces is not so certain. That we communicate with them in hope of that happiness which they actually enjoy is evident; that we have the Spirit ofGodgiven us as an earnest, and so a part of their felicity, is certain. But what they do in heaven in relation to us on earth particularly considered, or what we ought to perform in reference to them in heaven, besides a reverential respect and study of imitation, is not revealed unto us in the Scriptures, nor can be concluded by necessary deduction from any principles of Christianity. They who first found this part of the article in the creed, and delivered their exposition to us, have made no greater enlargement of this communion, as to the saints of heaven, than the society of hope, esteem, and imitation on our side, of desires and supplications on their side; and what is now taught by the Church of Rome is as an unwarrantable, so a novitious, interpretation.”
COMMUNION IN ONE KIND. The principal advocates of Popery at the beginning of the Reformation were not willing to own, that the universal practice of the primitive Church was against the modern sacrilege of denying the cup to the people; and, therefore, though they confessed there were some instances in antiquity, of communion under both kinds, yet they maintained the custom was not universal. So Eckius and Harding, and many others. But they who have since considered the practice of the ancient Church more narrowly, are ashamed of this pretence, and freely confess, that for twelve centuries there is no instance of the people’s being obliged to communicate only in one kind, in the public administration of the sacrament; but in private they think some few instances may be given. This is Cardinal Bona’s distinction. “It is very certain,” says he, “that anciently all in general, both clergy and laity, men and women, received the holy mysteries in both kinds, when they were present at the solemn celebration of them, and they both offered and were partakers. But out of the time of sacrifice, and act of the Church, it was customary always and in all places to communicate only in one kind. In the first part of the assertion all agree, as well Catholics as sectaries; nor can any one deny it, that has the least knowledge of ecclesiastical affairs. For the faithful always and in all places, from the very first foundation of the Church to the twelfth century, were used to communicate under the species of bread and wine; and in the beginning of that age the use of the cup began by little and little to be laid aside, whilstmany bishops interdicted the people the use of the cup, for fear of irreverence and effusion.” (Book ii. c. 18, n. 1.) And what they did first for their own Churches, was afterward confirmed by a canonical sanction of the Council of Constance [A. D.1414].... At this day the Greeks, and Maronites, and Abyssins, and all the Orientals, never communicate but in both kinds, as Bona himself confesses (Book ii. c. 18, n. 2).—Bingham.The following is the decree of the popish Council of Constance [A. D.1418] on this subject.
“Whereas, in some parts of the world, certain persons rashly presume to assert, that the Christian people ought to receive the holy sacrament of the eucharist under both kinds of bread and wine; and do everywhere communicate the laity, not only in the bread, but also in the wine; and pertinaciously assert also, that they ought to communicate after supper, or else not fasting, doing this contrary to the laudable custom of the Church, which is agreeable to reason, which they damnably endeavour to reprobate as sacrilegious, this present holy general Council of Constance, lawfully assembled in theHoly Ghost, earnestly desiring to protect the safety of the faithful against this error, after much and mature deliberation had of many who are learned both in Divine and human law, declares, decrees, and determines, that, althoughChristinstituted this venerable sacrament after supper, and administered it to his disciples under both kinds of bread and wine, yet, notwithstanding this, the laudable authority of the sacred canons, and the approved custom of the Church has observed, that this sacrament ought not to be performed after supper, nor be received by the faithful unless fasting, except in the case of sickness, or any other necessity, either duly conceded or admitted by the Church; and, in like manner, that although in the primitive Church this sacrament was received of the faithful under both kinds, yet for the avoiding any dangers and scandals, the custom has reasonably been introduced, that it be received by the officiating persons under both kinds, but by the laity only under the kind of bread; since it is to be believed most firmly, and in nowise to be doubted, that the whole body and blood ofChristis truly contained as well under the species of bread as under that of wine.”
On which we may fairly remark, “full well ye reject the commandment ofGod, that ye may keep your own tradition.” ForChrist, when he celebrated the Eucharist, gave the cup to all who were present; and when he appointed his apostles his ministers to celebrate it, he bade them do the same, “Do this in remembrance of me.” But ye say, whosoever shall dare to do asChristhas bidden him, shall be effectually punished. Can human impiety exceed this?—Perceval.
COMMUNION TABLE. A name for the altar in the Christian Church. It is both altar and table. An altar with respect to the oblation; a table with respect to the feast. (SeeAltar.)
COMMUTATION OF PENANCE. Penance is an ecclesiastical punishment, used in the discipline of the Church, which affects the body of the penitent; by which he is obliged to give public satisfaction to the Church for the scandal he has occasioned by his evil example. Commutation of Penance is the permission granted by the ecclesiastical judge to pay a certain sum of money for pious uses, in lieu of public penance. (SeePenitents.)
COMPETENTES. An order of catechumens in the primitive Church, being the immediate candidates for baptism.
COMPLINE, or COMPLETORIUM, was, before the Reformation, the last service of the day. This hour of prayer was first appointed by the celebrated abbot Benedict, in the sixth century.
The Church of England, at the revision of our offices in the reign of Edward the Sixth, only prescribed public worship in the morning and the evening; and in making this regulation she was perfectly justified: for though it is the duty of Christians to pray continually, yet the precise times and seasons of prayer, termed canonical hours, do not rest on any Divine command; nor have they ever been pronounced binding on all Churches by any general council: neither has there been any uniformity in the practice of the Christian Church in this respect. Besides this, the Churches of the Alexandrian patriarchate, which were founded by the holy evangelist Mark, only appointed two public assemblies in the day; and no more were customary, even in the monasteries of Egypt, the rest of the day being left for private and voluntary prayer and meditation. Thus also the Church of England left her clergy and people to follow in private the injunction of the apostle, to “pray without ceasing;” for, as John Cassian observes, a voluntary gift of praise and prayer is even more acceptable toGodthan those duties which are compelled by the canons; and, certainly, the Church of England did not intend that her children should offer the sacrifice of praiseand thanksgiving only in the morning and evening when she appointed those seasons for public worship. Indeed, we find that a book of private devotion, containing offices for several hours of prayer, and entitled the “Horarium,” was published by royal authority,A. D.1560, from which Dr. Cosin, bishop of Durham, chiefly derived his “Collection of Private Devotion,” &c. The office of Evensay, or Evening Prayer, is a judicious abridgment of the office of Evensay andCompline, as formerly used by the English Church.—Palmer.
CONCEPTION (IMMACULATE) OF THE HOLY VIRGIN. The immaculate conception is a festival of the Roman Church, observed on December 8, in honour of the alleged conception of the Virgin Mary without sin. The doctrine itself was invented about the middle of the twelfth century. The devotion offered to the Blessed Virgin having grown to an extravagant height, it was asserted by some obscure theologians, not only that she was sanctified from her birth, but also that she was conceived without sin. The opinion was at first generally condemned, and it would have had its place among other forgotten heresies, if Duns Scotus, the great opponent of the Dominicans, had not undertaken its defence.
The testimony of Scripture to the universal corruption of human nature is as plain as possible, and no trace of any exception is to be found. The witness of the primitive Church is equally clear, and not a single writer, for more than a thousand years, can be cited as having given the least countenance to the modern view.
But although the Roman Church has afforded the highest sanction and encouragement to a doctrine which is condemned alike by Scripture and the Fathers, the inconsistencies and contradictions of its authorized teaching on the subject are endless. The Council of Basle, for instance, in its thirty-sixth session, declared the belief in the immaculate conception to be conformable to the Catholic faith; but on the other side it is urged, that the council was in schism when it passed the decree, on account of the deposition which it had pronounced against Eugenius. The Council of Trent, in its decree on the subject of original sin, expressly stated that it had no intention of including the Blessed Virgin in the terms which it employed; but in conclusion it only enjoined the observance of the decree of Sixtus IV., which left the question open. The parties of Dominicans and Franciscans were so equally balanced that the Council did not venture to pronounce in favour of the one at the expense of the other. Their disputes were only kept from proceeding to extremity by the intervention of the legate. Pius V. in the same way, forbade the censure of those who denied, as well as of those who affirmed, the doctrine. Gregory XV. prohibited the imputation of original sin to the Blessed Virgin, even in private disputations; but he made an exception in favour of the Dominicans, that is to say, while giving his highest sanction to the dogma, he granted an immunity to those who had from the first resisted it. Alexander VII. decreed that the immaculate conception is a pious doctrine and worthy of honour, but he forbade the censure of those who should reject it. The university of Paris, at one period, compelled all candidates for the highest degree in theology to bind themselves to defend it; while at the same time the chief authority in the Church permitted its denial. Austria received from Benedict XIII. the grant of an office for the immaculate conception, but the phrase itself is carefully excluded from the prayers. The evidence, such as it is, on both sides is equally conflicting. The Franciscans, for instance, produced a revelation of St. Bridget in favour of the doctrine, while the Dominicans appealed to a similar revelation made to St. Catherine of Sienna, in which the contrary is affirmed. A question was raised in consequence, whether one of the so called saints is not to be believed rather than the other, though both have their place as objects of worship in the Roman calendar.
To sober-minded Christians it seems as idle a question as ever occupied the time, or roused the bad passions, of theological disputants, since, according to Thomas Aquinas and others, it regards only an inconceivably minute instant of time; yet it sufficed at one period to throw the whole kingdom of Spain into confusion, and it has furnished for centuries the watchword of parties in the Roman Church, who have maintained the fiercest opposition to each other; and the controversy is still undecided. Although it is said that the doctrine is full of blessing, that the whole of Christendom is devoutly waiting for its authoritative declaration, and that this would be the great glory and joy of an age which is to witness the restoration of catholicity, the See of Rome is restrained by great and insurmountable difficulties. If the immaculate conception were decreed to be a necessary article of faith, no one could deny that an addition had been made tothe ancient creeds, and in a case to which even the loose principle of development could hardly be made applicable: while at the same time there would be an implied condemnation not only of the primitive fathers, but of the greatest theologians whom the Church of Rome has ever produced.
CONCEPTION OF OUR LADY. A religious order in the Romish Church, founded by Beatrix de Sylva, sister of James, first count of Portolegro, in the kingdom of Portugal. This lady, being carried to the court of Castile by Elizabeth, daughter of Edward, king of Portugal, whom the king of Castile had married, and the king falling in love with her on account of her beauty, the jealous queen locked her up in a chamber, where she left her without meat or drink for three days. In this condition she implored the assistance of the Virgin Mary, who, according to the legendary statement, appeared to her and comforted her, promising her a speedy release, which soon happened. But Beatrix, fearing the further resentment of the queen, privately withdrew from court, and fled to Toledo; where arriving, she retired to a monastery of Dominican nuns, in which she continued forty years in the practice of all sorts of austerities. Here she again imagined, or pretended, that the Virgin Mary reappeared to her, and inspired her with the desire of founding an order in honour of her own immaculate conception. To this end she obtained of the queen a grant of the palace of Galliana, where was a chapel dedicated to the honour of St. Faith. Beatrix, accompanied by twelve young maids of the Dominican monastery, took possession of it in the year 1484. These religious were habited in a white gown and scapulary, and a blue mantle, and wore on their scapulary the image of the Blessed Virgin. Pope Innocent VIII. confirmed the order in 1489, and granted them permission to follow the rule of the Cistercians. The pious foundress died in the year 1490, at sixty-six years of age.
After the death of Beatrix, Cardinal Ximenes put the nuns of the Conception under the direction of the Franciscans, as being the most zealous defenders of the immaculate conception; at the same time, he gave them the rule of St. Clara to follow. The second convent of the order was founded in the year 1507, at Torrigo, in the diocese of Toledo, which produced seven others, the first of which was at Madrid. This order passed into Italy, and got footing in Rome and Milan. In the reign of Louis XIV., king of France, the Clarisses of the suburb of St. Germain, at Paris, embraced the order of theConception. These religious, besides the grand office of the Franciscans, recite on Sundays and holy-days a lesser office, called the office of the Conception of the Holy Virgin.—Broughton.
CONCEPTION, MIRACULOUS. The production of the human nature of theSonofGodout of the ordinary course of generation, by the power of theHoly Ghost. (Matt. i. 18, 25.)
It were not difficult to show that the miraculous conception, once admitted, naturally brings after it the great doctrines of the incarnation and the atonement. The miraculous conception of ourLordevidently implies some higher purpose of his coming than the mere business of a teacher. The business of a teacher might have been performed by a mere man, enlightened by the prophetic spirit. For whatever instruction men have the capacity to receive, a man might have been made the instrument to convey. Had teaching, therefore, been the sole purpose of ourSaviour’scoming, a mere man might have done the whole business, and the supernatural conception had been an unnecessary miracle. He, therefore, who came in this miraculous way, came upon some higher business, to which a mere man was unequal. He came to be made a sin-offering for us, that we might be made the righteousness ofGodin him.—Bp. Horsley.
CONCLAVE. The place where the cardinals meet for the choosing of a new pope: the assembly itself is also called by this name, and it depends upon the members themselves to choose the place, although for some time the Vatican has been constantly used. Here they erect, in a large apartment, as many cells of deal wood as there are cardinals, with lodges and places for the conclavists, who shut themselves in to wait and serve the cardinals. These little chambers have their numbers, and are drawn by lot, so that it often happens that cardinals of different factions lodge near one another. These are made up during the nine days’ ceremony for the pope’s funeral; during which time anybody may go in and see the cells, which are hung on the outside with green serge or camlet, only those that belong to the favourites of the deceased, or are such as had been promoted by him, are covered with deep violet-coloured cloth, and over each are the arms of the cardinal who lives in it. Between the cells and the windows of the palace there is a longgallery for the convenience of the conclave, and it is from this that the cells receive their light. The day after the pope’s burial, that is, the tenth after his decease, the cardinals, having heard mass, invoke theHoly Ghost(as they term it) and go in procession two by two into the conclave, where they all meet in the chapel every morning and evening for a scrutiny, which is done by writing their suffrages in little billets, and putting them into a chalice that stands upon the altar: when all are put in, two cardinals are chosen by the rest to read those openly who are named, and to keep an account of the number of each, and this is done till two-thirds join for the same person; but a pope is seldom chosen after this manner. When it appears that after the scrutiny they do not agree, they come to what they call an accez or access, that is, a trial whether he who has most voices in the scrutiny could reach to two-thirds; but it is observable that they cannot give their suffrages in the accez to those whom they have appeared for in the scrutiny. If this does not succeed, they have recourse to the way of inspiration, (as they term it,) which is an open declaration, or rather combination of many cardinals to cry togethersuch a cardinal is pope. For example,Altieri Papais begun by one or two chiefs of a party, when they find suffrages enough to assure them that this method will not fail, and then the rest of the cardinals are forced to join, that they may not incur the pope’s displeasure, who would be chosen in spite of them. The scrutiny is managed in the following manner: each cardinal prepares his billet, wherein he writes his own name and that of the person for whom he votes, and another word of device; the cardinal’s name is written under the fold of the paper, and sealed with a seal for that purpose. The name of the chosen is written by the conclavist under another fold without the seal, and the word by which the cardinal knows that it is his name which is read, is written on the outside, asDeo volente, or the like; the fold which covers the cardinal’s name is never opened until the pope be chosen, who, to know those who voted for him, unfolds all. The motto serves in the accez, that it may appear that each cardinal has given another besides that in the scrutiny, seeing two billets with different persons under the same name; and at the end of the scrutiny and accez, if the suffrage be not sufficient to complete the election, they burn all the billetings that the electors’ names may be kept secret. Each cardinal during the conclave is allowed but two servants, or three at most, and this only to princes, or for some particular privilege. Several seek for this employment because the new-elected pope gives each conclavist three or four hundred livres, and they have the pleasure of seeing all that passes: yet the place is troublesome enough, because they must take in their meat and drink from a certain place common to all that live in the same part, must wait at table, and be as strictly confined as their masters.—Augusti.