Let them give thanks whom the Lord hath redeemed and delivered from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west : from the north, and from the south. They went astray in the wilderness out of the way: and found no city to dwell in ; Hungry and thirsty: their soul fainted in them. So they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress. He led them forth by the right way: that they might go to the city where they dwelt. O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men ! For he satisfieth the empty soul: and filleth the hungry soul with good ness. Such as sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death: being fast bound in misery and iron; Because they rebelled against the words of the Lord and lightly regarded the counsel of the most Highest; He also brought down their heart through heaviness: they fell down, and there was none to help them. So when they cried unto the Lord in their trouble: he delivered them out of their distress. For he brought them out of darkness, and out of the shadow of death and brake their bonds in sunder. : O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men ! For he hath broken the gates of brass and smitten the bars of iron in sunder. Foolish men are plagued for their offence and because of their wickedness. Their soul abhorred all manner of meat and they were even hard at death's door. So when they cried unto the Lord in their trouble: he delivered them out of their distress. He sent his word, and healed them : and they were saved from their destruction. O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness: and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men ! That they would offer unto him the sacrifice of thanksgiving and tell out his works with gladness! For at his word the stormy wind ariseth which lifteth up the waves thereof. They are carried up to the heaven, and down again to the deep their soul melteth away because of the trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wit's end. So when they cry unto the Lord in their trouble: he delivereth them out of their distress, For he maketh the storm to cease: so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad, because they are at rest and so he bringeth them unto the haven where they would be. O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men ! That they would exalt him also in the congregation of the people and praise him in the seat of the elders! Who turneth the floods into a wilderness and drieth up the watersprings. A fruitful land maketh he barren : for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. Again, he maketh the wilderness a standing water and water-springs of a dry ground. And there he setteth the hungry : that they may build them a city to dwell in ; That they may sow their land, and plant vineyards; to yield them fruits of increase. He blesseth them, so that they multiply exceedingly and suffereth not their cattle to decrease. And again, when they are minished, and brought low through oppression, through any plague, or trouble; Though he suffer them to be evil intreated through tyrants: and let them wander out of the way in the wilder They that go down to the sea in O MOST blessed and glorious Lord ships and occupy their business in great waters; These men see the works of the Lord; and his wonders in the deep. God, who art of infinite goodness and mercy; We thy poor creatures, whom thou hast made and preserved, holding our souls in life, and now FORMS OF PRAYER TO BE USED AT SEA. our rescuing us out of the jaws of death, humbly present ourselves again before thy Divine Majesty, to offer a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, for that thou heardest us when we called in our trouble, and didst not cast out prayer, which we made before thee in our great distress: Even when we gave all for lost, our ship, our goods, our lives, then didst thou mercifully look upon us, and wonderfully command a deliverance; for which we, now being in safety, do give all praise and glory to thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Or this: MOST mighty and gracious good God, thy mercy is over all thy works, but in special manner hath been extended toward us, whom thou hast so powerfully and wonderfully defended. Thou hast shewed us terrible things, and wonders in the deep, that we might see how powerful and gracious a God thou art; how able and ready to help them that trust in thee. Thou hast shewed us how both winds and seas obey thy command; that we may learn, even from them, hereafter to obey thy voice, and to do thy will. We therefore bless and glorify thy Name, for this thy mercy in saving us, when we were ready to perish. And, we beseech thee, make us as truly sensible now of thy mercy, as we were then of the danger: And give us hearts always ready to express our thankfulness, not only by words, but also by our lives, in being more obedient to thy holy commandments. Continue, we beseech thee, this thy goodness to us; that we, whom thou hast saved, may serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen. An Hymn of Praise and Thanksgiving after a dangerous Tempest. COME, let us give thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious: and his mercy endureth for ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; let the redeemed of the Lord say so whom he hath delivered from the merciless rage of the sea. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion slow to anger, and of great mercy. He hath not dealt with us according to our sins: neither rewarded us according to our iniquities. But as the heaven is high above the earth so great hath been his mercy towards us. We found trouble and heaviness: we were even at death's door. The waters of the sea had well-nigh covered us the proud waters had wellnigh gone over our soul. The sea roared: and the stormy wind lifted up the waves thereof. We were carried up as it were to heaven, and then down again into the deep our soul melted within us, because of trouble; Then cried we unto thee, O Lord: and thou didst deliver us out of our distress. Blessed be thy Name, who didst not despise the prayer of thy servants : but didst hear our cry, and hast saved us. Thou didst send forth thy commandment and the windy storm ceased, and was turned into a calm. O let us therefore praise the Lord for his goodness: and declare the wonders that he hath done, and still doeth for the children of men. Praised be the Lord daily even the Lord that helpeth us, and poureth his benefits upon us. He is our God, even the God of whom cometh salvation: God is the Lord by whom we have escaped death. Thou, Lord, hast made us glad through the operation of thy hands: and we will triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the Lord God: even the Lord God, who only doeth wondrous things; And blessed be the Name of his Majesty for ever: and let every one of us say, Amen, Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end. Amen. us but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto us. The Lord hath appeared for us the Lord hath covered our heads, and made us to stand in the day of battle. The Lord hath appeared for us the Lord hath overthrown our enemies, and dashed in pieces those that rose up against us. Therefore not unto us, O Lord, not unto us but unto thy Name be given the glory. The Lord hath done great things for us the Lord hath done great things for us, for which we rejoice. Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord who hath made heaven and earth. Blessed be the Name of the Lord : from this time forth for evermore. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end. Amen. After this Hymn may be sung the Te Then this Collect. ALMIGHTY God, the Sovereign Commander of all the world, in whose hand is power and might which none is able to withstand; We bless and magnify thy great and glorious Name for this happy Victory, the whole glory whereof we do ascribe to thee, who art the only giver of Victory. And, we beseech thee, give us grace to im prove this great mercy to thy glory, the advancement of thy Gospel, the honour of our Sovereign, and, as much as in us lieth, to the good of all mankind. And, we beseech thee, give us such a sense of this great mercy, as may engage us to a true thankfulness, such as may appear in our lives by an humble, holy, and obedient walking before thee all our days, through Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom with thee and the Holy Spirit, as for all thy mercies, so in particular for this Victory and Deliverance, be all glory and honour, world without end. Amen. INTRODUCTION TO THE ORDINAL. THE EARLY ORDINALS.-The existence from the first origin of the Christian Church of a constituted Order or Orders of the Ministry is beyond all possibility of historic doubt. The Apostles, ordained and commissioned by Our Lord Himself, held from the beginning a supreme place in such Ministry. By them the lower Orders of Presbyters and Deacons were undoubtedly instituted; even if the old tradition be rejected, which finds the germ of the Presbyterate also in Our Lord's appointment of the Seventy. It is equally beyond all historic doubt, that, while the choice of such Ministers belonged to the whole body of the Church, the Confirmation and solemn Ordination of those chosen have always belonged to the Apostles, and their successors in the Ministry, by an authority tracing itself up to Christ Himself, and not derived directly from the Congregation. Hence from very early times forms of Service for this solemn Ordination and Mission grew up in the Church, gradually developing themselves into greater fulness and elaborateness of Ceremonial both in the East and the West. The essentials of Ordination are perfectly simple. They are merely what the Apostles themselves used-Imposition of hands with Prayer and Benediction, and solemn mission in the Name of Jesus Christ. But round these, as was natural, many forms of Examination, Prayer, and Ordination, and much significant Ceremonial gathered, with considerable variety in different ages and portions of the Church. In the East we find existing the Greek, the Coptic, the Jacobite, the Maronite and Nestorian Ordinals; all having common substance and independent varieties. In the West, the form which prevailed was that of the Roman Church, especially as found in the Sacramentaries of Leo I., Gelasius, and Gregory the Great. In England, before the Reformation, the Ordinals are found with variation in the different Uses-the Sarum Use being the predominant form. THE FORMATION OF OUR SERVICES.-Our Service of 1549 was taken, as usual, from the ancient Services, with much alteration, espe cially in the hortatory portions, and much ritual simplification. Thus in the Ordination of Deacons, the Investiture with the Stole was omitted; in the Ordination of Priests, the Investiture with Stole and Chasuble and the anointing and blessing of the hands; in the Consecration of Bishops, the anointing of the head and hands, and the delivery of the ring and the Mitre. Variations were also made in the prayers and in the formula of Ordination. But substantially the order and general character of the Service remained the same. The Service has passed through three phases. In 1549 Cranmer and certain other Bishops were appointed to revise the old form, and the results of their labours were published in 1550. In 1552 a further Revision took place at the time of the Revision of the Prayer Book, omitting in the Ordination of Priests the delivery of the Paten and Chalice, and in the Consecration of Bishops the delivery of the Pastoral Staff; and in the Ordination of Priests and Deacons the direction that the Candidates should appear in Ecclesiastical habits. Otherwise no considerable change was made. The Ordinal remained unaltered till 1662, when it was carefully revised and some changes of no great importance, but generally tending to greater solemnity, were introduced. Many objections had been made to the special formula used in the Ordination of Priests and Consecration of Bishops; but little attention was paid to these. THE PREFACE. THE THREE ORDERS.-The Preface defines the position of the Church of England in relation to the Three Orders of the Ministry. In Art. xxiii., "On Ministering in the Congregation,' two fundamental principles are laid down; first, that the Ministry is not merely a function, to be assumed by any Christian, but that it belongs to a regularly constituted Order, of men "lawfully called and sent to execute the same;" next, that the call and mission of such men belongs to those who have public (official) authority given them in the Congregation to call and send Ministers into the Lord's Vineyard." In this Preface, written in 1552, and virtually sanctioned by Art. xxxvi., the Church asserts that historically from the Apostles' time, this Order of the Ministry has been threefold, and that the call and mission to that Ministry (which Art. Xxxvii. declares in no sense to belong to the Royal Supremacy) has rested properly with the Bishops, although in the Ordination of Priests the Priests present take a subsidiary part. To this ancient rule, traced up to Apostolic times, without theorizing on the principle of Apostolical Succession, or pronouncing on the practice of other Christian bodies, she declares her stedfast adhesion-in this case as in all others desiring to follow the guidance of the Primitive Church-and refuses to allow any to minister within her own borders, unless ordained according to that rule. THE HISTORICAL QUESTION.-The historical assertion, on which her rule is based, is absolutely unquestioned as regards Priests and Deacons. The existence of Presbyters in the Church at Jerusalem is recognised from the first (in Acts xi. 30 & xv. 4, 6, 23); the ordination of Presbyters in Gentile Churches is described as a matter of course (in Acts xiv. 23 & xx. 17); the Pastoral Epistles are full of the work and qualifications of the Order. No record is given of the institution of this Order, and some ancient authorities suggest (without any historic certainty, but with much probability) that its germ was to be found in the Seventy, appointed by Our Lord (Luke x. 1) to a lower kind of Apostolate. The Diaconate is clearly traceable to the Institution of the Apostles (in Acts vi. 1-6); in which the Seven were chosen by the people, but ordained by the Apostles; and from that time has continued unbroken. The Episcopate alone has been questioned; and even here the question is confined within narrow limits. For, first, it is perfectly certain that the name Bishop (or Overseer) is in the New Testament attached as a descriptive title to the office of Presbyter (see Acts xx. 17, 28; Tit. i. 5-7; 1 Tim. iii. 1-7); and hence it is evident that the Épiscopal Order did not appear as a fully developed and distinct Order so long as the Apostolate remained. Next, it is equally certain that, from the middle of the 2nd century onwards, the distinctive existence of the Episcopate, as the highest |
