APRO5 OXFORD O Sacerdos, quid es tu ? Non es ad te, quia mediator ad Deum, O Sacerdos. Shese devotions, it has pleased God to take to INCE the publication of the original edition of his rest the elder of the two Compilers, to whom the greater portion of the original matter was due, the late Dr. Oldknow, whose name and labour of love will long be remembered by those to whom he ministered in the Lord. May he rest in peace. * In consequence of this loss, the labour of rearrangement has fallen upon the surviving Compiler,-a labour only undertaken in deference to the wishes of many who used the original book, but most of the alterations had been already considered before death had removed him, to whom the design of the work was due. They are chiefly as follows: I. The Calendar has been prefixed. II. The original fragmentary devotions for the Third, Sixth, and Ninth hours have been already superseded in the second edition by an abridgment of all the lesser hours, which had been before widely circulated in a separate form, and found a convenient adaptation for those who were not able to use the original offices in their fulness. The Prayer Book Collects for the whole of the Christian year have now been added, and largely supplemented by Collects from the Parisian, Ambrosian, and other sources, for the Hours, and for the Black Letter Days. The Benedictio Mense and other useful forms have been introduced, and the whole section thoroughly revised and enlarged, in this edition. III. An additional form both of private Morning and Evening Prayer has been added to the two of each existing in the second edition, as also various forms of Mental and Ejaculatory Prayer, for use during the day, etc., etc. * A brief but touching letter reached the Editor from his successor, dated from Warwick gaol, expressive of the comfort he had found in the use of this book. IV. The Eucharistic Devotions have been greatly amplified, and some very beautiful prayers, for use before and after Celebration, have been added from early English sources. The Sarum Thanksgiving has been prefixed to the one, after the Latin use, which was given in the former edition: the devotions for those present during a Celebration have been greatly enlarged, both from our own early Missals, and the primitive Liturgies; ten Meditations are also introduced from another work of the present Compiler-"The Bread of Life"--and the well-known hymns "Lauda Syon," "Pange Lingua," etc., appended in the original Latin. The Editor feels, however, bound to give some explanation of the changes which have been made in the Private Devotions, inserted in the Order of Administration of the Holy Communion.” " These were previously those of the Latin Missal; but it has been repeatedly pointed out of late years, by competent Liturgical scholars, that these forms contain expressions, which it is difficult to reconcile with the Catholic and Primitive Doctrine of the Eucharistic Presence. The Priests of the Roman Communion are bound by these forms, and much special pleading may be found in their writings, explaining away the difficulties; but it is quite a work of supererogation for Anglicans, who are not committed to such necessity, to involve themselves in responsibilities not justly their own. Therefore these particular prayers have been superseded by others, drawn chiefly from the First Prayer Book of Edward VI., or that most perfect of the Anglican group of Liturgies-The Liturgy of the Non-Jurors, which deserves to be better known and studied than is at present the case. The introduction to the Service-the forms for the Communion of the Priest himself-and a few other prayers at the conclusion are from the Use of Sarum.* The Editor should add that these changes were also pressed upon him by many valued correspondents, brother priests who used the former edition. In supplying forms of devotion for the use of the Celebrant, the present Editor would guard himself against the supposition that he implies the necessity of such additions, fully believing as he does, that our own Rite, in its naked simplicity, contains all that is necessary for a valid celebration of the Holy Mysteries. If time and occasion serve, let none deny such liberty, but at the suggestion of a revered friend, well known as a "Master in Israel," the Editor would caution his younger brethren against undue prolixity at the Altar lest they should afford occasion for distraction to the young, or more ignorant members of their flocks, unaccustomed perhaps to sustained habits of mental prayer. It had been the intention of the Editor to add a few Rubrics, in addition to those of the Office, drawn from the older rite, which might suffice to put the modern Priest in the position of those Clergy of the olden time, into whose hands, familiar with mediæval tradition, the reformed Office was first placed. But upon consideration that this is a book for the Private Devotions of the Priest, and not for his direction in his public ministration; and that excellent altar books already exist, suitable in size and typographical character; such as "The Priest to the Altar," 'Notes on Ceremonial according to the Use of Sarum," the Editor has withdrawn within his own proper lines and omitted the Rubrics. V. The Penitential Section of the devotions has also been increased by additional prayers and meditations. VI. A Section on Meditation has also been added, which the Editor believes will be found very useful. The instructions are a free translation, or rather adaptation, from the Latin of Brusæus—which is prefixed to some editions of Avancini. Only a few examples of meditation are given, because it is the intention of these directions to supply the method rather than the matter, which will be found abundantly in the storehouse of Holy Writ. May he be permitted to suggest that it appears to him, that there can be no better preparation for preaching than the systematic meditation here suggested. VII. To the Prayers for use in Sickness the Editor has added an adaptation for personal use, of the Order for the Visitation of the Sick, and has included, as requested, the Form for Administration of Holy Unction from the First Prayer Book. The Prayers bearing reference to that Rite in this little volume were added by the originator of the book, and hallowed, the writer believes, by his use in his own last sickness, for which reason he, as the survivor, has carefully retained every Prayer for use in Sickness which was in the original edition. But the present Editor does not express an opinion as to the lawfulness or advisability of the restoration of a Sacramental rite, which has been called the "lost Pleiad of the Anglican Firmament," on the authority of individual Priests. It may be in God's purpose to restore it lawfully and canonically to us, for which he would devoutly pray. The Editor has substituted in part the Prayers for the Departed from the first English Prayer Book, for those from the Latin use, feeling that at a time when the hope of once more regaining the (at least permissive) use of that book is set before us, it is well to familiarize ourselves with its language. There are those amongst us who object to these Prayers, but none who regard the English Church of the present day as the representative of primitive doctrine and worship, can object to their use. "We have, no doubt," says the venerated soldier of Christ, to whom the Church of England owes so deep a debt of gratitude, Dr. Pusey, "We have no doubt that we may pray," (ie., for the faithful departed). "For the whole Church so prayed much nearer to the time when the beloved disciple left the earth, than many of us are to the early memories of our fathers; and, however, in evil days the public and ritual use of those Prayers was laid aside in the Church of England, yet even a Court of Ecclesiastical Law has formally |