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A. D. 590, and may conclude that it has been used in the English church for above twelve hundred years. When to these references I have subjoined another to the sacramentary of Gelasius, the collect to which it is appended may be considered as old as the year 494. Those collects which I have traced to the sacramentary of Leo are much more ancient than the time of Gelasius, and may be referred to the end of the fourth, or the earlier part of the fifth century. I have also occasionally quoted the sacramentary or missal of Ambrose, or more properly of the church of Milan. This sacramentary has been different from that of Rome from a most remote period, and though the liturgy of Milan was originally derived from Rome, yet the latter church may afterwards have borrowed from the sacramentary of the former some of those collects which are found in both, and have been so long used in the church of England. I have also had occasion to refer to the sacramentaries of the ancient Gallican church, which were in use before the emperor Charlemagne introduced the Roman liturgy into France'.

THE EPISTLES AND GOSPELS.

In another part of this work the reader will find some remarks on the antiquity of the custom of reading lessons from scripture in the Christian liturgy". I have there remarked on the custom of the English church, of continually reading the same portion of the Law, containing the Decalogue, be

For an account of the sacramentaries of Gelasius and Leo, see Dissertation, section vi.

See Dissertation, sect. vii. * See Dissertation, section

ix.

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Chap. iv. sect. ii. iv. v.

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fore the other lessons". In addition to this lesson from the Law, two others are taken from the Prophets, the Epistles of Paul, the catholic Epistles, the Acts of the holy Apostles, and the Gospels. The first being frequently taken from St. Paul's Epistles, and the second always from the Gospels, they have long currently obtained the names of "the "Epistle and the Gospel."

Almost all our Epistles and Gospels have been appropriated to their present situations for a great length of time. They are appointed for the same occasions in the most ancient monuments of the English church. In the succeeding pages I have traced the Epistles and Gospels now used by the church of England to her ancient litnrgies. I have thought it sufficient to refer to the missal or sacramentary of the church of Sarum, because it generally agrees with those of Hereford and York, and was commonly used in England. I have traced these lessons to a period antecedent to the Norman Conquest, by means of the manuscript of Leofric before referred to": and, finally, by means of the ancient Lectionarium or Comes of the Roman church, published by Pamelius, I have shewn that they

Chapter iv. sect. ii.

The beginning words of each epistle and gospel are inserted in the margin of this manuscript by some later hand than that which wrote the text; but the character of these annotations is so ancient, that we are justified in referring them to a period long prior to the Norman Conquest.

* Pamelii Liturgicon, tom. ii. I have referred to this lec

tionary, which bears the name of" Comes Hieronymi" in the work of Pamelius, because it seems to be at least as old as any other ancient Roman lectionary that has been published.

Jerome is said to have arranged the lectionary of the Roman church; but as this only rests on the authority of writers of the eleventh twelfth century, it is not worthy of attention.

or

were brought to this country by Augustine, archbishop of Canterbury, and consequently have been used in the church of England, as at present, for more than twelve hundred years.

Before I conclude these introductory remarks, I wish to explain the manner in which the Epistles and Gospels are referred to in the following pages. I have only thought it necessary to insert the chapter and verse which mark the commencement of those lessons in the English ritual, because any one may immediately refer to them in the Prayer Book. In like manner I have only extracted the title, and the beginning and concluding words of the corresponding passage in the ancient lectionaries, &c. because any one with a Latin Bible can easily find the original.

COLLECTS, EPISTLES, AND GOSPELS.

THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENTa.

THE EPISTLE. Rom. xiii. 8. Lectio Epistolæ beati Pauli Apostoli ad Romanos xiii. Fratres scientes quia hora est....

sed induemini Dominum Jesum Christum '.

THE GOSPEL. St. Matthew xxi. 1. Evangelium secundum Mattheum xxi. In illo tempore cum appropinquasset....benedictus qui venit in nomine Dominic.

THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT".

THE EPISTLE.

Romans xv. 4. Ad Romanos xv. Quæcum

que enim scripta....et virtute Spiritus Sanctie.

a A post-communion prayer for Advent, in the sacramentary of Gelasius, seems to resemble the collect. “Preces populi sui, quæsumus Domine, clementer exaudi; ut qui de adventu Unigeniti tui secundum carnem lætantur; in secundo cum venerit in majestate sua, præmium æternæ vitæ percipiant. Per.” Gelasii Sacr. Muratori, Liturg. Rom. Vet. tom. i. p. 683. Ambros. Sacr. ap. Pamel. Liturgic. tom. i. p. 441. MS. Leofr. fol. 154. The introduction of this collect is evidently derived from the Epistle.

b Miss. Sarisb. Dom. i. Adv. fol. x.

c Miss. Sarisb. fol. xi. d The collect is founded on the epistle. In the liturgy of S. James, there is a good

collect after the reading of the scriptures, which may be thought to merit transcription. Ὁ ἐνηχήσας ἡμᾶς Θεὸς τὰ θεῖά σου λόγια καὶ σωτήρια, φώτισον τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν τῶν ἁμαρτω λῶν εἰς τὴν τῶν προλεχθέντων κατάληψιν, ὡς μὴ μόνον ἀκροατὰς ὀφθῆναι τῶν πνευματικῶν ᾀσμάτων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ποιητὰς πράξεων ἀγαθῶν, πίστιν μετερχομένους ἀνύπουλον, βίον ἄμεμπτον, πολιτείαν ἀνέγκλητον. In the very next prayer part of our collect is embodied. Δέστ ποτα ζωοποιὲ, καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν χορηγὲ, ὁ δοὺς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὴν μακαρίαν ἐλπίδα τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς, τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, κ. τ. λ. Lit. Jacobi Assemani Cod. Lit. tom. v. p. 14, 15.

e Miss. Sarisb. fol. xii. Dom. 2, Adventus.

THE GOSPEL. St. Luke xxi. 25. Secundum Lucam xxi. Erunt signa in sole....verba autem mea non transibunt.

THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT".

THE EPISTLE. 1 Cor. iv. 1. Ad Corinthos 1. iv. Sic nos existimet homo ut ministros Christi....laus erit unicuique à Deoh.

THE GOSPEL. St. Matt. xi. 2. Secundum Mattheum xi. Cum audisset Joannes....qui præparabit viam tuam ante te1. THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT.

THE COLLECT. O Lord, raise up we pray thee thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; through the satisfaction of thy Son our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

Excita, quæsumus, Domine potentiam tuam et veni, et magna nobis virtute succurre; ut per auxilium gratiæ tuæ quod nostra peccata præpediunt, indulgentia tuæ propitiationis acceleret. Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patrej

f Miss. Sar. fol. xii.

g This collect resembles some very ancient prayers for Advent. "Excita Domine corda nostra ad præparandas Unigeniti tui vias, ut per ejus adventum purificatis tibi mentibus servire mereamur. Qui tecum vivit et regnat," &c. Miss. Sar. Dom. 2, Advent. fol. xii. MS. Leofr. 150. "Conscientias nostras quæsumus, Omnipotens Deus, cotidie visitando purifica; ut veniente Domino Filio tuo, paratam sibi in nobis inveniat mansionem." Gelas.

Sacr. Murat. tom. i. p. 681, Gregorii Sacr. Menard. p. 202. Ambros. Sacr. Pamel. tom. i. p. 443. MS. Sacrament. Leofr. fol. 154.

h Miss. Sar. Dom. 3, Adv. fol. xiii.

i Miss. Sar. Dom. 3, Adv. fol. xiii.

j Miss. Sar. Dom. 4, Adventus, fol. xv.; MS. Leofr. fol. 153; Sacr. Gelasii, Murat. tom. i. p. 680; Gregorii, Menard. p. 201; Ambrosii, Pamel. tom. i. p. 445.

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