Martyrs; with the direct prayer that they may find "mercy and everlasting peace." As St. Paul prays for Onesiphorus, so such commemorative Prayers for the faithful departed are common in all ancient Liturgies; and thus at the Sacrament of Love, "angels and living Saints and dead but one Communion make."

It may be added that many of the heathen, whose associations are bound up with some commemoration of ancestors, have revolted from systems which deny to their dead even the uncovenanted mercies of the Gospel. Such natural instincts have sometimes impelled them to the other extreme, and made even the false doctrines of Purgatorial fires attractive and acceptable. What with Scriptural warrant the living Church implores is light and rest, forgiveness and sanctification to her dead-no more. It is this thought that makes the Holy Communion so solemn and precious a consolation to the survivors, at the Burial of the Dead.

In primitive usage there were kept in every Church two-leaved registers, called from the Greek Diptychs, on which were constantly inscribed the names of the communicants, living and dead. To be refused a place thereon was a token of discipline. In the roll of the dead, Saints and Martyrs were preeminent. Both lists were recited at the Holy Eucharist, which St. Chrysostom characterizes as "a great honour." It is a beautiful and hallowed custom which perpetuates this thought now, at the Celebration on All Saints' Day, in prefacing this Prayer for the Church by the reading of the names of all those in the congregation who, in the Christian Year now closing, have died "in the communion of the Catholic Church,"

and then imploring of God what He sees best and most gracious for our loved ones.

There is no rubrical intimation of a break or pause in the Service at this point, for the withdrawal of noncommunicants. Certainly, for communicants to depart and turn their backs upon the Sacred Feast, is no less a violation of propriety and reverence than it is of rubrical order. Even if not communicating, and though they be not entitled to such a privilege, still a subordinate benefit may well inure to those who remain. The early Church showed its sense of this by allowing those on the verge of restitution from discipline to be present; and to deny it is to ignore the manifold operation of the Eucharist. If worship be sought, what better time to offer it? If intercession for ourselves or for others, when will our prayers gather greater force? Or when can preparation better be made for a future participation in this Holy Sacrament than here? And many a learner might be attracted to feel the need and value of supernatural help, if encouraged at least to look reverently upon the administration of these, the most Holy Mysteries of Christ and His Church.

XX.

THE PREPARATION, PREFACE, AND PRAYER OF

HUMBLE ACCESS.

Ye who do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbours, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in His holy ways; Draw near with faith, and take this holy Sacrament to your comfort; and make your humble confession to Almighty God, devoutly kneeling.”—The Invitation in the Communion Office.

THE

HE Exhortations to be given in advance of a future Celebration are familiarly called the WARNINGS, and are provided so that no communicant need fail in due preparation therefor. There are two of them, one for ordinary use and one where negligence necessitates it. They are found at the end of the Communion Office, not being a consecutive portion of any one Service. There is now perhaps less need of them (and only a portion is generally used) since habitually frequent Celebrations are so rapidly increasing; in such contrast with the infrequent Communions and irreverent practices which prevailed when they were compiled. But undoubtedly their habitual disuse would prove a great spiritual loss to the congregation. Their authors are unknown, but they belong to Cranmer's day, and are among the best examples of the later forms of Exhortation and Prayer. The second was probably written by Peter Martyr. Some admirable

passages in the originals were omitted in the present English Book, and our own abbreviates them still farther. The fundamental and preparatory duties of self-examination, repentance and amendment are rigidly set forth; and our sins against God and our neighbour are brought sharply into relief.

The objection so often alleged, that of the unworthiness of communicants-sometimes an undue stumbling-block to those not yet within the fold-is removed by a consideration of the application in the first Warning of the words "worthy" and "worthily." It is nowhere asserted or assumed that any can be worthy in soul of so precious a privilege; but any, however debased, is capable of a worthy purpose, which is the sole requirement. Since a Sacrament has two inseparable parts, this is a complete Sacrament to all who partake, and not, in case of the recipient who is unworthy in purpose, merely the outward sign. So that to him who receives alike the thing signified and its outward sign, but whose heart is not right in God's sight, and who therefore does not "discern the Lord's Body," how dangerous is such a reception, which is itself not only devoid of benefit, but also entails fearful consequences of its

own!

The rationale of private confession in the Prayer Book has been earlier dwelt upon. It is in no sense compulsory, nor subject to priestly "direction" (which merely substitutes another's conscience for our own), nor is it held as necessary to forgiveness, nor enforced by penalties, all of which are enjoined by the Church of Rome. It is left entirely to the needs and discretion of the penitent, knowing well that fearful cases often arise where men do not

dare deny to themselves this fruitful aid, which seems to some only a rock of offence. No doubt there is less need of it than if a public Declaration of Absolution were not frequently and regularly given. Whether private or public confession were meant, its reality is the vital requisite ; and in the First Book strict charity for others was urged both upon those who do and on those who do not feel the need for this merciful provision.

The second Warning is most affectionately pleading in its tone. Its intense earnestness arises from the fact that neglect of this Sacrament is often the first symptom of danger to the religious life. It was probably at first intended for those who had ceased to commune at all; and indeed much of it is equally applicable to those who are still altogether neglecting so great salvation. Since the whole Warning is of the nature of a vehement remonstrance made for the saving of the soul, it does not explicitly set forth a doctrine. But in it, as well as in the one ordinarily used, the practice of confession is shown to be sanctioned by man's own needs as well as by the practical words of St. James the Apostle: "confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another"; "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

At this point the "Liturgy of the Catechumens " gives place to the "Liturgy of the Faithful," who alone are hereafter addressed. The EXHORTATION with which it opens is, like the Warnings just noted, original with the Anglican Communion, and marks her anxious carefulness for a right preparation. It is somewhat shortened here from the English use, but maintains a full, lofty and rigid standard of self-examination. Many admirably devout and search