BOOK
680
BOOK
in 1535 there appeared a new breviary dra\\Ti up
by Cardinal Quignonez, in which a complete break
had been made with the old order of the Office.
The canonical Hours had indeed been retained, but
the antiphons, versicles, responses, and Little Chap-
ters had been omitted, the Psalms were distributed
in such a way that three were said at each hour, and
the same Psalms said every day of the week in the
same order. A striking feature of this breviary
was the great length of the Scripture lessons which
enabled the priest to read through in the course
of the year almost the whole of the Old Testament
and the whole of the New Testament, with the
Epistles of St. Paul twice over. It was this book
which Cranmer had before him when framing the
office portion of the First Prayer Book. Indeed
he copietl word for word in his preface a considerable
portion of Quignonez 's preface. (See Gasquet and
Bishop, op. cit., App. III.) He reduced, however,
the Hours to two — Matins and Evensong (called
Morning and Evening Prayer in the Second Book) —
and arranged the Psalms for recital once a month
instead of once a week. He also introduced two
Scripture lessons, one from the Old Testament and
one from the New Testament at both hours of prayer,
and entirely omitted the lessons of the saints. In
the Second Book he introduced "When the wicked
man", "Dearly beloved brethren, the Scripture
moveth us", the general confession ("Almighty
and most merciful Father"), and the Absolution
("Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ"), which have remained to the present day.
When we remember that more than a hundred
editions of Quignonez 's breviary were printed during
the short space of twenty years, and that it was
on the point of being adopted universally, we can
see that this portion of the Book of Common Prayer
has some justification. No doctrinal questions were
at stake — unless it might be the omission of the
intercession of the saints.
(3) The Missal. — ^The Canon of the Mass in the Sarum Missal is taken almost word for word from the Roman Missal. In the First Prayer Book the Communion service is styled "The Supper of the Lord and the Holy Communion, commonly called the Mass"; in the Second, and also in the present book, "The Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper, or the Holy Communion". It is not possible within the limits of the present article to compare in detail the First Book with the Sarum on the one hand, and with the subsequent books on the other. (See Gasquet and Bishop, ch. xii and xvi). The word allar is used in the First Book, though with the alternative of "God's board"; in the Second Book and subsequent Books "table" and "board" alone occur. As regards vestments the First Book directs that the priest shall wear "a white alb plain, with a vestment (chasuble?) or cope", and the assisting clergj- "albs with tu- nacles"; the Second Book "the minister at the time of the Communion and all other times in his minis- tration, shall use neither alb, vestment, nor cope; but being archbishop or bisliop, he shall have and wear a rochet, and being a priest or deacon, he shall have and wear a surplice only". In the Third Book (1559) "it is to be noted that 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 the Church of England by the authority of Parliament in the second year of the reign of King Edward the Sixth". As is well known, the meaning of this rubric has long been a matter of dispute. The First Book directs the priest to stand "humbly before the midst of the altar"; the Second, to stand "at the north side of the table", as is still the rule. No mention is made of incense, or lights, or holy water in any of the books. As to the service itself.
the changes may be briefly summed up as follows:
The First Book omitted all mention of any true
sacrifice, but retained expressions capable of referring
to the Real Presence; the Second Book excludeil
these; the Third and subsequent Books re-admittetl
and combined expressions which might be taken
in either sense. "On comparing the first with the
second Communion office what is obvious at first
sight is, that whilst the former, in spite of the sub-
stantial change made in the ancient mass, manifesteil
a general order and disposition of parts similar to
the mass itself, the latter was changed beyond
recognition" (Gasquet and Bishop, 2S8). It will
be sufficient to note here that while the First re-
tained something like the preparatory prayer of
Consecration ("Vouchsafe to bl-l-css and sanc-|-tify
these thy gifts, and creatures of bread and wine
that they may be unto us the body and blood of
tliy most dearlj' beloved Son Jesus Christ"), the
Second and subsequent Books omitted this alto-
gether; in the Second Book no directions were given
as to the acts of the minister — he might recite the
words of Consecration as a mere lesson; but in the
later Books he was directed to take the paten and
cup into his hands. Most significant, too, are the
changes made in the form of administering the
Holy Communion. In 1549: "When he delivereth
the Sacrament of the Body of Christ, he shall say
unto every one these words: 'The body of our Lord
Jesus Christ which was given for thee, preserve thy
body and soul unto everlasting life'. And the
Minister delivering the Sacrament of the Blood . . .
shall say 'The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which
was shed for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto
everlasting life' ". In 1552: "And when he de-
livereth the bread, he shall say: 'Take and eat this,
in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed
on him in thy heart by faith, with thanksgiving'.
And the Minister that delivereth the cup shall
say: 'Drink this in remembrance that Christ's blood
was shed for thee, and be thankful' ". In 1559 and
the present Book: ".And when he delivereth the
Bread to any one he shall say, 'The Body of our
Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee, preserve
thy body and soul imto everlasting life. Take and
eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee,
and feed on him in thy heart by faitli with thanks-
giving'. And the Minister that delivereth the cup
shall say: 'The Blood of our Lord Jesus Clirist,
which was shed for thee, preserve thy body and soul
unto everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance
that Christ's Blood was shed for thee, and be thank-
ful' ". The First Book forbade "any elevation or
showing the Sacrament to the people"; the Second
Book added the so-called "Black Rubric" denying
any "real and essential presence of Christ's natural
flesh and blood". This was omitted in 1559, but was
reintroduced in 1662, shortened and slightly altered,
"corporal presence" being substituted for "real
and essential".
(4) The Ritual. — The order of the administration of Baptism in the old Sarum Manuale (Ritual) was almost identical in words and ceremonies with that now in use among us. (For the differences see S-\RUM.) The principal changes in 1549 were the omission of the blessing of the font, of the giving of the blessed salt, and of the first anointing. Now prayers were also introduced, but the general char- acter of the old service was preserved, including the exorcisms, the giving of the white garment, and the second anointing. All of these met with Bucer's disapproval, and were accordingly removed in 1552, and have never been restored. The present rite is exactly the same as that of 1552, with a few verbal alterations.
As the Reformers did not recognize Confirmation as a sacrament, we are not surprised to find that the
