Q. Through what three main lines do our American Bishops derive their Succession from the Apostles? A. 1. Through the Ancient British Church. 2. Through the Irish Church. 3. Through the Roman Church. Q. Who was our first Bishop? A. Bishop Seabury, of Connecticut, who was consecrated at Aberdeen, in Scotland, A.D. 1784. Q. What other Bishops were also consecrated soon after in England? A. Bishop White, of Pennsylvania, Bishop Provoost of New York, and Bishop Madison of Virginia. Q. What did these Bishops proceed to do? A. They made other Bishops, and continued the Apostolic Succession in America. Q. How far does our branch of the Church extend to-day? A. Into every State and Territory of the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Q. And are we not also doing a Foreign Missionary Work? A. Yes; we have Missionary Bishops and Churches in foreign lands. Q. How many Bishops had we in the United States in the year 1880. A. 63 Bishops, and more than 3,300 other clergy. Q. How does the Protestant Episcopal Church meet in council? A. In the General Convention, once every three years. Q. What is the name of that part of the Church which a single Bishop governs? A. A Diocese. Q. How do the clergy and laity of the single Dioceses meet in council? A. In the Diocesan Councils, once a year. Q. What would seem to be the mission of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States ? A. To give a common basis of Catholic Unity for the various religious bodies around us. Q. How is our Church specially likely to do this? A. By being, on the one side, in sympathy with American Institutions, and, on the other side, true to the Ancient Faith and the Discipline of the Holy Catholic Church throughout the world. PART 5.-HISTORY OF THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. Q. What is the name of the Prayer Book on the title page? A. The Book of Common Prayer. Q. Why is it so called? A. 1. Because it is a book of public prayers, not of private devotions. 2. Because it is for the use of both ministers and people, not of ministers alone. 3. Because it is suited to the religious wants of all. Q. Were forms of Common Prayer used in the Jewish Church? A. Yes, and our Lord Himself sanctioned them by His own use when on earth. Q. What part of our Prayer Book was certainly used by the Jews and by Christ Himself? A. The Psalter, or Book of Psalms. Q. Were forms of Common Prayer used in the Early Christian Church? A. Yes, from the very first. Q. What form was earliest in common use? A. The Service for the Holy Communion, called the Divine Liturgy. Q. Why was this the first form of Common Prayer? A. Because the Holy Communion was always considered the chief service of the Church. Q. Have any of these Early Liturgies come down to us? A. Yes, the Four Great Liturgies of the Early Church have all come down to us. Q. What are their names? A. 1. The Oriental, of S. James. 2. The Alexandrian, of S. Mark. 3. The Gallican, of S. John. 4. The Roman, of S. Peter. Q. When the Church of Rome began, in 596 A.D., to usurp power in the British Church, what Liturgy had already been long in use there? A. The Gallican Liturgy.* Q. What other services of Common Prayer grew up beside the service for Holy Communion? A. The services of the Seven Hours. Q. What were these divisions of the day meant to commemorate? A. The chief events of our Lord's Passion. Q. Can you say the old rhyme which marks this meaning of the Seven Hours A. At Matins bound, at Prime reviled, Nailed to the Cross at Sext, at Nones They take Him down at Vesper tide, In grave at Compline lay: Who thenceforth bids His Church observe. Q. How were these Services of the Hours used? A. At first, probably as household devotions. *See Smith's Dict. Christ. Antiq.; Blunt's Dict. Doctr. and Histor. Theol., Ait. Liturgy; also Blunt's Annotated P. B., pp. 144-151, Edit., 1866. See Smith's Dict. Christ. Antiq., Art., Hours of Prayer. Q. How far back can this use of them be traced? A. Certainly as far back as the Fourth Century, when they are alluded to by S. Basil and others. Q. When the Prayer Book was printed at the English Reformation, what was done with these Services of the Hours? A. They were shortened and made into the form of Daily Morning and Evening Prayer. Q. Anl is the Prayer Book Office of Holy Communion identical in substance with the Early Liturgies? A. Yes; it is the same in substance as the Liturgies used in the Q. And do the Offices of used to-day by the Early Church. Holy Communion Roman Church agree with ours? A. Yes, in the main. Q. What, then, can you say, of our Book of Common Prayer? A. There is hardly a part of it which cannot be traced to the early days of the undivided Church. Q. Is not this a great comfort? A. Yes; it helps us to realise the Communion of Saints. Q. And is the Prayer Book of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America the same as the Prayer Book of the Church of England? |