presented the members, and placed before God the offerings and prayers, of the whole church'.

In the primitive ages, the white linen cloth and the vessels for the sacrament were not placed on the table until this time, when the catechumens had been dismissed, and when the offerings of the faithful were to be received. In the church of Constantinople this practice continues to the present day, when the linen cloth, or eiλntov, is laid by the priest, after the catechumens are dismissed. In the church of Milan the same custom formerly prevailed'. It was always practised in the primitive Roman church". In the modern Roman liturgy the linen cloth is only laid at this time on solemn occasions; at other times, they, like the church of England, and the Monophysites of Antioch and Alexandria", place the cloth on the holy table before the liturgy begins. It was very usual in the primitive church to fill up

As appears by the prayer which occurs at this place, entitled, Oratio super sindonem," that is, a prayer after the linen cloth is laid. Miss. Ambros. fol. 1, 3, &c.

u Ordo Romanus, apud Melchior. Hittorp. de Offic. p. 19. ▾ Missale Romanum, Ritus celebrandi Missam, vi.

w Vid. Liturg. Jacobi. Syr. Renaudot. Collect. Liturg. tom. ii. p. 2, 3. Liturg. Basilii, tom. i. p. 183.

any intervals of divine service which might appear tedious, with psalmody. Thus in almost all churches a psalm was sung while the people communicated. On the same principle, the western churches sung a psalm while the people made their oblations. When this began, it is impossible to say. Bona refers to Augustine, lib. ii. Retract. c. 11. as proving that the offertory or anthem sung while the people offered was in use in the time of Augustine*. But I think Augustine there refers to the anthem called Introit, sung before the lessons, which appears to have been introduced into the Roman church, about the time of Augustine, by Coelestinus, bishop of Rome. There are anthems for the offertory in the Antiphonarium of Gregory, bishop of Romey, who is commonly, but without sufficient reason, reputed to have been the author of the offertory.

The anthem called offertory has without doubt been received in the English church since the end of the sixth century, when Augustine brought the sacramentary and other books of Gregory to England. But it may have been used long before by the British church. Formerly, this anthem was probably sung in choirs; but in the English church it has long been customary for the officiating priest to repeat or chaunt it with his ministers. It was

* Augustin. lib. ii. Retractat. c. xi. p. 45. tom. i. ed. Benedict. 66 Morem qui tunc esse apud Carthaginem cœperat, ut hymni ad altare dicerentur de Psalmorum libro, sive ante oblationem, sive cum distribueretur populo quod fuisset oblatum."

y Antiphonarium Gregorii apud Pamel. Liturgica, tom. ii. p. 63, 64, &c.

z It appears in all the liturgies of the English church used before the reformation, as in the Miss. Sarisb. Eborac. Hereford.

probably this reason which induced the revisers of the English liturgy to appoint the offertory to be said by the priest. "Then shall the priest return to the Lord's table, and begin the offertory, saying one or more of these sentences following," &c. In the liturgy of York the rubric is, "Deinde dicitur offertoriuma;" in that of Hereford, "Sacerdos-canat cum suis ministris offertorium;" in that of Sarum, "Deinde dicitur offertorium b." This shews sufficiently that the offertory was said by the priest formerly in the English church as it is now.

SECTION IX.

THE PREPARATION OF THE ELEMENTS.

In the western churches, the vessels and linen cloth having been laid on the table, and the oblations of the people received, as has been already remarked, the priest selected from them one or more cakes or loaves of bread, which he placed on the table, and wine, which he mingled with a small proportion of water in the cup. The elements were then covered with a veil, or a portion of the linen cloth. In the church of Constantinople a different rite has long prevailed. There, after the catechumens have been dismissed, the deacon and priest convey in solemn procession the discus and chalice, containing the bread and wine, from the table of prothesis to the altard. According to the Roman

a Miss. Ebor. fol. 73. b Miss. Sar. fol. 72. c Mabillon. Liturgia Gallicana, p. 41. Gavanti Thesaurus, cum not. Merati, tom. i. p. 137, 139. In this last are various instances of churches

where the linen cloth, or corporale, is still used to cover both the table and the cup.

d This is called ἡ μεγάλη εἴσodos. Vide Goar, Rituale Græc. p. 73, 131.

liturgy, the bread is placed on the linen cloth, without any thing interveninge. The custom of the church of Constantinople and the east is to retain the bread in the patena or discus, which is placed along with it on the clothf.

The custom of mingling water with the wine of the eucharist, is one which prevailed universally in the Christian church from the earliest period. Justin Martyr of Syria, Irenæus of Gaul, Clemens of Alexandria, and Cyprian of Carthage, bear testimony to its prevalence in the second and third centuries. There is, in fact, no sort of reason to deny that the apostles themselves had the same custom. It is even probable that the cup which our Saviour blessed at the last supper contained water as well as wine, since it appears that it was generally the practice of the Jews to mix the paschal cup, which our Saviour used in instituting the sacrament of his blood. It has, however, been long decided by theologians, that the mixture of water is not essential to the validity of the sacrament. Bona, presbyter cardinal of Rome, refers to Bernard as speaking of some persons who thought that water was essential; "but," he adds, "the judgment of theologians is certain, that consecration is valid, even if water be

e 66

Deponit hostiam circa medium anterioris partis corporalis ante se, et patenam ad manum dextram aliquantulum subtus corporale." Miss. Rom. Ritus celebrandi Missam, vii.

f Goar, Rituale Græc. p. 73. g Ἔπειτα προσφέρεται τῷ προεστῶτι τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἄρτος καὶ πο τήριον ὕδατος καὶ κράματος. Justin. Martyr. Apolog. i. p. 95, 96. ed. Thirlby. 'OпÓтE Oυν кai

τὸ κεκραμένον ποτήριον, καὶ ὁ γεγονὼς ἄρτος ἐπιδέχεται τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ γίνεται ἡ εὐχαριστία σôμа Xpioтov. S. Irenæi, lib. v. c. 2. p. 294. ed. Massuet. Clemens Alexandrinus, Pædagogus, lib. ii. c. 2. p. 177. ed. Potter. tom. i. Cyprian. Epist. 63. p. 148, &c. ed. Fell.

h Maimonides, lib. de Solennitate Paschali, c. 7.

omitted, though he who omits it is guilty of a serious offence i."

The Armenians were the first Christians who prohibited the mixture of water with the wine; but they were condemned for this in the council in Trullo, A. D. 691, and the decree has been received by all Christians, except by the Monophysites of Armenia, who have never since adopted the mixture, even to the present day. In the church of England, the wine of the eucharist was always, no doubt, mixed with water. In the canons of the Anglo-Saxon church, published in the time of king Edgar, it is enjoined, that "no priest shall celebrate the liturgy unless he have all things which pertain to the holy eucharist, that is, a pure oblation, pure wine, and pure water." In after-ages we find no canons made to enforce the use of water, for it was an established custom. Certainly none can be more canonical, and more conformable to the practice of the primitive church. In the English church it has never been forbidden or prohibited; for the rubric which enjoins the priest to place bread and wine on the table, does not prohibit him from mingling water with that wine.

Another circumstance worthy of notice, as connected with the preparation of the elements, is, the

i "Refert Bernardus, Epist. 69. quorumdam opinionem existimantium aquæ mixtionem necessariam esse ad Sacramenti integritatem; sed certa est theologorum sententia, 0missa aqua validam esse consecrationem, quamvis omittens graviter peccat." Bona, Rer. Lit. lib. ii. c. 9. §. 3.

j "" Docemus etiam, ut sacerdos nunquam præsumat missam celebrare, nisi omnia habeat quæ ad S. Eucharistiam pertinent, hoc est, puram oblationem, et vinum purum, et aquam puram." Canones editi sub Edgaro rege, A. D. 960. Wilkins, Concilia Magn. Brit. tom. i. p. 227.