will be made in the following work, and from which several offices are taken, which I have edited: it may justly be considered as one of the most valuable MSS. in existence, relating to the ancient ritual of the Church of England. It is the only perfect Pontifical of Salisbury Use which I have seen, and is on that account alone of inestimable importance. In the Bodleian library I was not able to find any Pontifical of the English Church. It may be said that the famous missal of Leofric Bishop of Exeter, ought rather to be called a Pontifical; but it is very miscellaneous in its contents, and not limited to episcopal offices, having many which a priest, who is frequently recognised in the rubrics, was fully authorized to perform. But another English Pontifical, a noble and perfect volume, has escaped the ravages by which so many have been destroyed, and is still preserved in the Exchequer Chamber of the cathedral of Exeter. It belonged (whether originally or not, is impossible to say) to Bishop Lacy, and having been permitted to examine it by the kindness of the Dean and Chapter I shall not hesitate to add a full description of this book. The Exeter Pontifical is, in size, a small folio, written upon vellum, in a good hand of the latter part of the xiv th century. The first leaf is not numbered : afterwards it is regularly foliated to the end, from i. to c.iiij. There is no calendar; the rubrics are in red, and the initials in blue ink. At the beginning, on reverse of the leaf not numbered, is the Table of contents. The Pontifical ends on the middle of the recto of fol. c.iiij., on the reverse of which, in a hand nearly contemporary, is a collect, "Deus, qui Ra phaelis." Below this prayer, in a later hand, is the order for admitting a candidate into a religious fraternity, with an English form of obedience and reception. Upon the lower margin of the reverse of fol. 5 4 Bishop Lacy was a great promoter, if not the original author of the services and appointment of a day in honour of the Archangel Raphael. The register of Beauchamp, Bishop of Sarum, cited in the Monasticon, vol. 2. p. 519, leaves no doubt. "Edmundus Lacy Exon. Episcopus propriam quandam historiam novem lectionum, cum antiphonis, responsoriis in unum contextum redegit. Quod officium celebratum fuit in festo S. Raphaelis. 5. Oct." "Eugenius papa historiam S. Raphaelis archangeli ab Edmundo Lacy episcopo Exon. conscriptam Johanni Snetysham cancellario ecclesiæ Exon. examinandam commisit 1443. Ab isto auctoritate papali approbatum est officium et decretum est ut festum in singulis ecclesiis ubi illud acceptum fuerit celebraretur." The churches of Sarum and York do not appear to have admitted it. The canonical office is at the end of the 4th vol. (Pars Autumnalis) of the Roman Breviary, for the 24th day of October: "Duplex minus, pro omnibus Hispaniarum Regi subjectis." There is no collect or prayer in it the same as, 66 Deus, qui Raphaelis." A collect is frequently found in the Sarum "Horæ," "Oratio ad sanctum Raphaelem:" this again is different, and begins "Auxiliare mihi." Wilkins in his Concilia, Tom.3.p.537.cites from Bishop Lacey's Register, the institution, "Institutio festi S. Raphaelis in ecclesia Exon." This settles it to be different from the state and dignity in which it is now fixed in the Breviary of the Church of Rome; and the reader may find the full particulars in Wilkins, which are sufficiently important in many respects to repay the trouble of perusal. The following is the English form. "Tunc surgens a prostratione osculetur singulos fratres. So Bretherne. here is my maister. I. N. Whiche of his clene deuocioun that he hath to god, and of a speciall desire to us, askyth for goddis sake to be amitted and receiuid in to oure Bretherreden that he may take parte of the spirituall goodes and preyers, whiche thorof the gefte and grace of god ben don a mong us. Plese hit yow, to receiue hym. Quibus respondentibus. Etiam. Magister ad petendum dicat. We take yow maister. N. in to oure Bretherdon. grauntyng to yow the spirituall parte takyng i. is written: "Hunc librum pontificale dederunt Executores bonæ memoriæ Edmundi. lacy. nuper dum vixit, Exoniensis episcopi de bonis Ejusdem. Ecclesiæ Cath. Exon. ibm remansurum quamdiu duraverit ad of alle masses. matynes. euensongis. praiours. fastingis. abstinencis. wacchis. laboros, and other good dedis the whiche to the praysing of god buthe don a mong vs and alle oures. Tunc ille admissus se prosternat et cet. ut supra." This admittance into a participation of all the prayers, &c. of a convent, was not limited to members only: for example, we find in the xv th century a sum of money given to Thetford Priory, "to admit for ever certain persons and souls before named to the fraternity, suffrages, chapter, and whole religion, to be partners of all prayers, vigils, masses, fastings, alms-deeds, and all other suffrages of their religion." Dugdale. Monasticon. Vol. 5. p. 146. But to return to the forms of admitting a Novice or Brother into a Monastery. These are curious, and but few such are extant. I think it will not be unin. teresting to add two more. One, from a MS. formerly belonging to a Priory also in the same Diocese: S. Andrew's, in Cornwall. It contains the ceremonial of reception, and the following English dialogue occurs between the prior, standing in the chapter house surrounded by the brethren, and the novice kneeling before him. "Prior. What desire ye? Novice. To be mad broder. P. Ys hit yowr wil & yow hertely desyre to be parte taker of all massis and prayers and almeys dede, done yn holy place, or schall be done here after? N. Ye. P. Al so ys hit your wille to defende and to manteyne the righte of this holy plas to yowr power, where by God & Synt Androw may be the pesabeler seruyd by yowr worde and godewille, as a trewe broder otghte to do? N. Ye." Oliver's Monasticon Exon. p. 36. A more full form for the candidate is contained in a MS. in the library of the British Museum, which I have extracted and subjoin. Bibl. Cotton. Nero. A. 3. fol. 131. "The fyrst petycion in the colloquium. Syr, I besyche yow and alle the convent for the luffe of god, owr Ladye Marye, sant John of baptiste, and alle the hoyle cowrte of hevyne: That ye wolde resaue me, to lyve and dye here emong yow, In the state of a monke, as laudem dei pro salute anime dicti Edmundi. ita quod nullo modo alienetur a dicta ecclesia cathedrali." Table of contents. "In isto pontificali subscripta continentur. j. prebendarye and seruant vnto alle, to the honor of god, solace to the company, prouffet to the place, and helthe vnto my sowle ? The answer vnto the examina cyon. Syr, I tryste thurgh the helpe of god and yowr good prayeres to kepe all thes thyngs, whiche ye haue now heyre rehersede. The fyrst peticyon before the profession. Syr, I haue beyn heyr now this twelf month nere hand, and lovyde be god, me lyks ryght well, both the order and the company. Whir apon I besyche yow, and all the companye, for the luffe of god, our lady sanct Marye, Sanct John of baptyst, and all the hoyle company of hevyn, that ye wyll resaue me, vnto my professyon, at my twellmonth day, accordyng to my petycyon whych I made, when I were fyrst resaved heyr emongs yow." The use of the word "prebendary" in the sense in which it must of course be taken above, I should suppose to be very unusual, and valuable as throwing some light upon its ancient English signification. Once more there is a fragment of the form of creating a Prioress of the monastery of Barking, extant in a MS. at Oxford. (MS. Wood. Mus. Ashm. f. 30.) "When a prioresse shall bee made, thabbes shall commaunde hyr the Rule, injoining her that shee bee vnto hyr helping, and the points of the Rule to meynteyne Religion. And shee shall set hyr in hyr sete. And than shall come the chaplaine with ensens against hyr. And the abbess and shee shall go before the covent in the qwere. And than shall they go to St. Alburgh, and the convent shall say "levavi": and the pryores shall lye prostrate, and the abbes shall say the preces aforesaid with this oreson: "Oremus. Omnipotens, sempiterne Deus, miserere famulæ tuæ, &c." Than shall the pryores go to the qwere, and the capitall mass shall be, "Spiritus Domini." And the same day shall give pitaunce of good fysh to the covent: and whan shee deye, she meest gyve to the covent. Cætera desunt. Vide Dugdale. Monasticon. Vol. 1. p. 437. |