Produced by Al Haines

THE PRAYER BOOK EXPLAINED

BY THE

REV. PERCIVAL JACKSON, M.A.,

JESUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

PART I.

THE DAILY OFFICES AND THE LITANY.

CAMBRIDGE:

AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

1901

"The book requireth but orderly reading."

HOOKER, v. xxxi. 3.

{v}

PREFACE.

To those who believe in One Holy Catholic Church wherein dwelleth theHoly Spirit, it will always be difficult to distrust the Service Bookof any Branch of it. The old claim made at Jerusalem with regard tothe vexed questions of the Church's infancy, It seemed good to theHoly Ghost, and to us (Acts xv. 28), rested not on the presence thereof the good and wise, on the prudence or self-sacrifice of those whohad hazarded their lives for the Name, but on the reality of the Lord'spromised Presence. Not because there were Apostles there, but becausethose there were the Catholic and Apostolic Church, they asked andreceived the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

It was a living and lasting Presence, touching with saving grace thetreatment of such questions as the observance of Mosaic precepts, {vi}the eating of bought meat, as well as Purity of Life. We cannot doubt,then, that many Services which have been criticised on afterthoughtswere essentially constructed in accordance with the Faith once for alldelivered to the Church.

To renounce this conviction with regard to our own Church of England isto surrender its inheritance. Men of various tastes may prefer diverserites: reasonable sequence may suggest one method, and glowing impulseanother, fear of misunderstanding a third; but that which has seemedgood to the Holy Ghost and His Temple, the Church, demands that weshall endeavour to believe it to be good, and use it in the temper offaith.

The critical spirit, as we now use criticism, is not the spirit ofworship. For the spirit of worship is moved by Faith—Faith supremelyin God, but also faith in the words which we use, and in the peoplewith whom we use them.

Thus the truest cure for Doubt is Worship. If my faith in a friendweakens I must go to see him, to speak with him, to restore our mutual{vii} confidence and love. In like manner, if my faith in God throughChrist weakens, I must go to Him, speak with Him, seek a return of theold confidence and love.

In the belief that God is calling us to know Him more perfectly by theWorship which we offer in heart and life, and in the confidence thatour Branch of the Church has the guidance of the Indwelling Spirit,this book is dedicated to His glory.

P. J.

May 1901.

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CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PAGE

  Extempore Worship and Forms of Worship . . . . . . . . . . 1
  Variations of words and phrases:
    a. Variety of Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
    b. Variety in Singing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —
    c. Variations in the component parts . . . . . . . . 4