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have occupied, had they been repeated at morning prayer by the English church in ancient times. On the days when these prayers are omitted, the Litany is said at the end of the office of morning prayer. This is according to the rites of the church of Constantinople, where, at the office of matin lauds every morning, the service is terminated by a litany and prayer or benediction"; and the eastern church, in the third or fourth century, also adopted the same custom exactly, as may be seen in the Apostolic Constitutions. The two prayers for the king and royal family, although they do not appear to have been actually translated from any very ancient offices, are yet, both in expressions and substance, perfectly conformable to the many prayers for kings, &c. which are found in the liturgies and offices of the primitive church'; and it was the custom of the church in the time of S. Chrysostom to offer daily prayers for kings and all who are in authority".

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num dominantium et Regem reg-
nantium-deprecemur ut nobis
populo suo pacem regum tri-
buere dignetur." Mabillon, Lit.
Gall. p. 246. Monti Kúpi
τῶν εὐσεβεστάτων καὶ πιστοτά-
των ἡμῶν βασιλέων . . . ὑπότα-
ξον αὐτοῖς πάντα τὰ βάρβαρα
ἔθνη, τὰ τοὺς πολέμους θέλοντα.
Lit. Basilii ut supra.
"Quæ-
sumus, omnipotens et miseri-
cors Deus, ut rex noster-qui
tua miseratione regni suscepit
gubernacula, virtutum omnium
percipiat incrementa.” Miss.
Sar. Com. fol. 19. MS. Leo-
fric Missa cotidiana pro Rege.

4 Τί δέ ἐστι τὸ, πρῶτον πάντων ; τουτέστιν, ἐν τῇ λατρείᾳ τῇ καθημερινῇ· καὶ τοῦτο ἴσασιν οἱ

COLLECT FOR THE CLERGY AND PEOPLE.

This collect is as old as the fifth century, being found in the sacramentary of Gelasius, A. D. 494. We can have no reasonable doubt that it has been used by the English church for above twelve hundred years.

Almighty and everlasting God, who alone workest great marvels; Send down upon our Bishops and Curates, and all Congregations committed to their charge, the healthful Spirit of thy grace; and that they may truly please thee, pour upon them the continual dew of thy blessing. Grant this, O Lord, for the honour of our Advocate and Mediator, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui facis mirabilia magna solus; prætende super famulos tuos Pontifices, et super cunctas Congregationes illis commissas, Spiritum gratiæ salutaris; et ut in veritate tibi complaceant, perpetuum eis rorem tuæ benedictionis infunde1.

PRAYER OF S. CHRYSOSTOM.

This prayer occurs in the liturgy of the church of Constantinople, which bears the name of Chrysostom. It must be confessed, however, that it is not found in the most ancient manuscripts of that liturgy, but in those of the liturgy of Basil, where it is recited as the prayer preceding the third anthem at the beginning of the Communion-service. It occurs in a MS. of Basil's liturgy, which has been referred by Goar and others to the ninth cen

μύσται, πῶς καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέ pav yivɛTαι, kai έv έσπéρą kai ἐν πρωΐᾳ· πῶς ὑπὲρ παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου, καὶ βασιλέων, καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐν ὑπεροχῇ ὄντων πошúμε0α τ dénov. Chrysost. Hom. vi. in 1 Tim.

r Gelasii Sacramentar. Muratori, tom. i. p. 719. Sacr. Gregorii, Menard. p. 254. Miss. Sarisb. Commune, fol. 24. Brev. Sarisb. post Letaniam, fol. 60. Psalt.

tury. Whether this prayer be as old as the time of either Basil or Chrysostom, is very doubtful to me, because all the commencement of those liturgies which bear their names (except the lessons) appears to be more recent than the time of Chrysostom: however, this prayer has certainly been very anciently used in the exarchate of Cæsarea, and the patriarchate of Constantinople.

Almighty God, who hast given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee; and dost promise, that when two or three are gathered together in thy Name, thou wilt grant their requests: Fulfil now, Ο Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants, as may be most expedient for them ; granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.

Ὁ τὰς κοινὰς ταύτας καὶ συμφώνους ἡμῖν χαρισάμενος προσευχὰς, ὁ καὶ δύο καὶ τρισὶ συμφωνοῦσιν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί σου τὰς αἰτήσεις παρέχειν ἐπαγγειλάμενος· αὐτὸς καὶ νῦν τῶν δούλων σου τὰ αἰτήματα πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον πλήρωσον, χωρη γῶν ἡμῖν ἐν τῷ παρόντι αἰῶνι τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς σῆς ἀληθείας, καὶ ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι ζωὴν αἰώνιον χαριζόμενος.

THE BENEDICTION.

The office of matins terminated with a benediction, according to Benedict, A. D. 530, Amalarius,

S

Liturgia Chrysostomi, Goar Rituale Græc. p. 66. Basilii, ibid. p. 160. Goar refers this prayer, not to Chrysostom, but to Basil. See Rituale Græc. not. 106, in Chrysostomi Liturg. But although the absence of the form in question

in the ancient MSS. of Chrysostom's liturgy affords sufficient reason for thinking that it was not composed by him, yet the mere existence of the prayer in the MSS. of Basil's liturgy is no proof that it is to be attributed to him.

A.D. 820, and the offices of the Anglo-Saxon church". We find also by the Apostolical Constitutions, that the conclusion of the office of matins in the eastern church, in the third or fourth century, was a benediction given by the bishop". The benediction we use is derived from the liturgies of the eastern churches. This form occurred in the liturgies of Antioch, Cæsarea, Constantinople, and Jerusalem. It is spoken of by Chrysostom (A.D. 380), Theodoret (A.D. 420), and many others; and had probably been used in those oriental churches from the most primitive times.

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CHAPTER I.-PART II.

EVENING PRAYER.

SECTION I.

INTRODUCTION.

WHAT has been already said with regard to the sentences of morning prayer is even more applicable to those of evening prayer; for if a verse or capitulum was read before the last evening service, or compline, in the time of Amalarius, A.D. 820a, there could be no impropriety in placing one before the earlier evening service of vespers or evensong.

The idea of placing an address to the people at the commencement of the office is derived from the primitive Gallican and Spanish liturgies, where an exhortation, called Præfatio, was recited at the beginning of the communion office.

A confession and absolution formerly occurred at the end of the office of compline, according to the offices of the English churches; but it also appears that they were sometimes repeated at the

a "Solent religiosi viri ante præsens officium (completorii) lectionem legere." Amalar. de Eccl. Off. lib. iv. c. 8.

b It was repeated after the catechumens were dismissed,

and before the oblations of the people were received. See Dissertation on primitive Liturgies, p. 160 and 174.

c Brev. Sarisb. Psalt. fol. 57. Brev. Ebor. fol. 3.

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