NOTE. Two things in this translation of the Day Hours of the Western Church seem to call for some explanation. 1. Although the Feasts of Corpus Christi, S. Thomas of Canterbury, the Assumption, the Guardian Angels, and the Commemoration of All Souls, are not now authoritatively commanded to be celebrated in the Anglican Church, yet they are of such universal observation in Western Christendom, and are so frequently commemorated by pious persons and religious communities amongst us by way of private or special devotion, that it has been thought good to insert the Offices for the abovementioned Commemorations in this Diurnal. 2. Likewise, as the practice of taking part in the Communion of Saints by directly asking the Mother of God, the Angels and the Saints, for the assistance of their prayers, is becoming more general among English Catholics, such invocations have been retained in the Litanies. As to Invocation of Saints, it may be worth calling to mind what one of the greatest living theologians of the Anglican Communion has lately written: "That it cannot be doubted that in the latter part of the fourth century the great fathers, who secured and transmitted our faith, practised and taught it," i.e. the custom of "directly asking the Saints to use those intercessions in whose efficacy they believed." And again, " In principle, then, there is no question, herein, between us and any other portion of the Catholic Church." (See the whole of this paragraph.)-Explanation of the XXXIX. Articles, by the Bishop of Brechin, Vol. II., pp. 404, and 421. In order, however, that those who do not wish to commemorate the Feasts, &c., abovenamed, or who scruple to use the Invocations, may not have the usefulness of this book destroyed so far as they are concerned, the Offices of Corpus Christi, &c., and the Invocations in the Litanies, have been enclosed in brackets, as well as every arrangement made for conveniently and readily omitting them. The translation of the hymn Veni, Creator, has been inserted by the kind permission of the Editors of Hymns Ancient and Modern. JOSEPH MASTERS AND SON, PRINTERS, ALDERSGATE STREET, LONDON. In the press. THE HOURS OF THE DAY: CONSISTING OF LAUDS, VESPERS, PRIME, TERCE, SEXT, NONE, AND A Complete Edition. BY THE EDITOR OF "THE LITTLE HOURS OF THE DAY." In the press. THE PRIEST'S MANUAL AT THE ALTAR: CONTAINING Rubrical Directions, Private Prayers in Latin and English, and Ritual Music, according to the use of the Catholic Church in England: TOGETHER WITH Preparations for and Thanksgiving after Mass; the General Rubrics; and Collects, Epistles, and Gospels for Various Days and Occasions. EDITED BY THE REV. ORBY SHIPLEY. |