Chapter XLVII: Act 46: , Parl. 3, Act 106, Parl. 7, Act 24, Parl. 11, King James VI., do (23)

In conclusion, in whatever else the various liturgies differ, they all agree in the constant and frequent use of this prayer. Dr. Featly says, “the reformed Churches generally conclude their prayers before sermon with the LORD’S Prayer, partly in opposition to the Papists, who close up their devotions with an _Ave Maria_, partly to supply all the defects and imperfections of their own.” And the learned Bingham pointedly declares, “I dare undertake to prove, that for 1500 years together, none ever disliked the use of the LORD’S Prayer, but only the Pelagians; and they did not wholly reject the use of it neither, nor dislike it because it was a form, but for another reason, because it contradicted one of their principal tenets, which was, that some men were so perfect in this world, that they needed not to pray to GOD for the forgiveness of their own sins, but only for those of others.”

For these reasons we cannot but protest against the conclusion of the following paragraph taken from the works of Mr. Boston, a man of exemplary piety, but, as it would seem, of strong prejudices: “From the whole, I think it is evident, that a prayer formed upon the model of this excellent pattern, having the substance of the several petitions interspersed through it, though expressed in other words, is a true Scriptural prayer” (granted, it must be so); “and that there is no necessity to conclude with the LORD’S Prayer” (this is less certain). “And, therefore, I cannot but think that Papists, and many Protestants who conclude their prayers with the very words of the LORD’S Prayer, make a very superstitious use of it, causing people to imagine that the bare recital of the words of the LORD’S Prayer sanctifies their other prayers; and that no prayer can be accepted of GOD where this, I cannot but call it vain, repetition is omitted.” It is confidently hoped that, if what is collected in the present article be perused with attention, the members of the Church of England will be led to exclaim, “We ‘have not so learned CHRIST.’”

_The_ LORD’S _Prayer is to be said with an audible voice_.—It was an ancient custom for the priest to say some parts of the liturgy internally, (_secreto_, ἐν ἑαυτῷ, or μυστικῶς,) in an unintelligible whisper; and in some instances the people joined in this manner, as was the case with respect to the LORD’S Prayer and the creed. This unreasonable practice was put an end to at the Reformation, and the LORD’S Prayer in particular was directed to be said “with an audible voice,” “with a loud voice;” probably that the people might sooner learn this most essential prayer; a practice from which the ignorant may even now find benefit.

The flaming ardency of the seven spirits, and of all the heavenly choir, appears in the intenseness and loudness of their songs, “To him all angels cry aloud!” They do not breathe out faint or forced hallelujahs; their songs resemble, as St. John describes them, “the voice of many waters,” and “the voice of mighty thunderings.” (Rev. xix. 6.) But where are the least tokens of this seraphic ardency in our worship here on earth? The sacrifice of this our public service, like Elijah’s, is put in excellent order, but we ourselves “put no fire under!” On the contrary, a voluntary coldness runs through all the parts and offices of it, like the water poured on by Elijah, which “ran round the altar and filled all the trenches.” And it is next to a miracle if God accepts such cold offerings, or answers us from heaven, unless with the fire, not of acceptance, but of vengeance.—_Bisse on the Lord’s Prayer._

_The people are to repeat it with the priest._—When the LORD’S Prayer was directed to be said with an audible voice, it was, in the Romish Church, said by the priest alone; but in the Greek and ancient Gallican Churches, by the priest and people together—a custom which the Church of England has adopted in preference to the Roman. Until the review of 1661, the minister began the prayer, and went through it alone to the conclusion of the last petition, “but deliver us from evil,” which the people said; in order, as Bishop Sparrow remarks, that they might not be interrupted from bearing a part in so divine a prayer. In a rubric in the Communion Service, near the conclusion, the manner in which the LORD’S Prayer should be used is clearly laid down. “Then shall the priest say the LORD’S Prayer, the people repeating after him every petition.”

In none of the successive editions of the Prayer Book till the last review, was there any direction for the people prefixed to the first occurrence of the LORD’S Prayer. In King Edward’s First Book at its second recurrence, after the creed, the latter clause, “but deliver us from evil,” was inserted. This was altered in the Second Book of King Edward; and the direction, “Then the minister, clerks, and people,” &c., inserted, as we have it now. In the Litany, the two last clauses were marked as verse and response, till the last review. In the Communion no direction was given for the people;—at its second occurrence, the verse and response were marked, as in the Litany: but in the Second Book, the people were directed to repeat after him every petition, as now. The Scotch Prayer Book (temp. K. Chas. I.) first inserted the doxology, at both its occurrence in Morning and Evening Prayer, and at its last in the Communion. At the last review the doxology was inserted at its first occurrence in the Morning and Evening Prayer, and at the end of the Communion; and the versicular arrangement in the Litany was altered. The notation of the verse and response, with their proper cadences, is retained in the old choral manuals.

Wheatly remarks that “the doxology was appointed by the last review to be used in this place, partly, he supposes, because many copies of St. Matthew have it, and the Greek Fathers expound it; and partly because the office here is a matter of praise, it being used immediately after the absolution.” And again, in the Post Communion, “the doxology is here annexed, because all these devotions are designed for an act of praise, for the benefits received in the holy sacrament.” And in the Churching of Women, “the doxology was added to the LORD’S Prayer at the last review, by reason of its being an office of thanksgiving.”

In the Romish service, except in the Mass, the priest speaks the words, “_Et ne nos_,” &c., “Lead us not into temptation,” in a peculiar tone of voice, by which the people are apprized of its being the time for them to answer, “But deliver us from evil.” This also is a custom at the end of every prayer, that the people may know when to say “Amen.” In the Mosarabic liturgy the priest says the prayer by himself, and the people answer “Amen” to each petition.

The catechumens and the energumens, or those possessed with evil spirits, were not suffered in the primitive Church to join in the tremendous cry sent up by the people, but only bowed their heads in token of assent.

It may be observed that the several paragraphs of the LORD’S Prayer are made to begin, in our Church Prayer Book, with a capital letter, in order, most probably, to mark accurately the places where the people should take up their parts; and this method is adopted in the confession in the daily service, in the creeds, the _Gloria in excelsis_, in the Communion Service, and in the confession and deprecation in the Commination Service on Ash Wednesday.

But it must likewise be observed, that this method does not seem to be so closely followed in the Cambridge as in the Oxford books, the former combining the fourth and fifth paragraphs, the seventh and eighth, and the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth in the LORD’S Prayer; and yet in these copies the word “and” is retained before “the power,” &c., but dropped in the latter.

To make this matter clear, however, we subjoin the prayer as printed and pointed in the sealed books, at the beginning of Morning and Evening Prayer.

Our Father, which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in Earth, As it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them, that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil: For thine is the Kingdom, the Power, And the Glory, For ever and ever. Amen.

Here _and_ before _the Power_ is, in all the collated copies of sealed books, crossed out with a pen, both in the Morning and Evening Prayer.

In the Post Communion Service, there is some difference of punctuation and of type: e.g.

Our Father which art in heaven; Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation: But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, The power and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen.

Here _and_ was never inserted before _The power_.

After the Creed, the punctuation is as in the first specimen, except a colon after _temptation_, and a full stop with “Amen” after _evil_. _Heaven_ and _Earth_ do not begin with capitals. The same in the Litany, except there is a semicolon after _temptation_. At its first occurrence in the Communion, the punctuation, &c. is the same as in the Post Communion, except that there is a comma after _temptation_. A full stop and “Amen” after _evil_.

Demosthenes said, when he was reproved for studying his orations, that it argued his reverence for the people of Athens. So doth our study, in making exact forms, declare our esteem for Almighty GOD.—_Comber._ And we have this sacred form from the Wonderful Counsellor, who came out of the bosom of his FATHER, and knew his treasures, as well as our wants; he best could inform us what was fit for us to ask, and what most likely for him to grant: he was to go to heaven to be our advocate there, and he hath taught us to use this here, that there may be a harmony between our requests and his. For which cause it ought to be united to all our offices to make up their defects, and recommend them to “Our heavenly FATHER,” who cannot deny us when we speak the very same words which his dear SON hath put in our mouths, if we use them with understanding and devotion.—_Ibid._

LORD’S SUPPER. An ancient name for the sacrament of the holy eucharist. The name occurs in 1 Cor. xi. 20; but in that passage it is generally supposed by the most learned divines, that reference is made to the love-feast, kept in imitation of our LORD’S last supper, which was previous to the original eucharist. Thus much, however, says Dr. Waterland, is certain, that in the apostolical times the love-feast and the eucharist, though distinct, went together, and were nearly allied to each other, and were both of them celebrated at one meeting. (See _Eucharist_, _Agapæ_, and _Communion_.)

As by the sacrament of baptism we enter into the Christian covenant, so by that of the LORD’S supper we profess our thankful continuance in it: and therefore the first answer of our catechism concerning this ordinance tells us, that it was appointed “for the continual remembrance of the sacrifice of the death of CHRIST, and of the benefits which we receive thereby.”—_Abp. Secker._

It is called the LORD’S supper because it was both instituted by our LORD at supper, and was designed to succeed into the place of the paschal supper of the Jews. (Matt. xxvi. 26, &c.; Mark xiv. 22; 1 Cor. xi. 23–25, &c.)—_Abp. Wake._

LORD’S TABLE. One of the names given to the altar in Christian churches. (See _Altar_.)

LOUD VOICE. A term in our liturgy which may be considered technical; as not merely meaning _audible_, (though this expression is also used,) but as being a contradistinction to the _secretò_ of the unreformed service, and the _mystic_ voice (μυστικῶς) of the Greek Church: certain prayers and part of the service having been repeated in an inaudible whisper. (See _Secretò_, and _Mystic Voice_, also _Lord’s Prayer_.)

LOVE-FEASTS. (See _Agapæ_.) Feasts held in the apostolic age before the celebration of the eucharist, and discontinued on account of the abuse of them.

LOVE, THE FAMILY OF. A sect of enthusiasts, which arose in Holland, and being propagated across the Channel, appeared in England about the year 1580.

These sectaries pretended to a more than ordinary sanctity, which gained upon the affections of the common people. They affirmed, that none were of the number of the elect, but such as were admitted into their family, and that all the rest were reprobate, and consigned over to eternal damnation. They held, likewise, that it was lawful for them to swear to an untruth before a magistrate, for their own convenience, or before any person, who was not of their society. In order to propagate their opinions, they dispersed books, translated out of Dutch into English, entitled, _The Gospel of the Kingdom_. _Documental Sentences._ _The Prophecy of the Spirit of Love._ _The Publishing of Peace upon Earth, &c._

These _Familists_ could by no means be prevailed upon to discover their author: nevertheless it was afterwards found to be Henry Nicholas of Leyden, who blasphemously pretended that he partook of the Divinity of GOD, and GOD of his humanity. Queen Elizabeth issued a proclamation against these impious sectaries, and ordered their books to be publicly burnt.

LOW SUNDAY. Upon the octave of the first Sunday after Easter day, it was the custom of the ancients to repeat some part of the solemnity which was used upon Easter day; whence this Sunday took the name of Low Sunday, being celebrated as a feast, though of a lower degree than Easter day itself.

It was also called _Dominica in albis_, [or rather, _post albas depositas_, according to some ritualists, as Wheatly remarks,] because it was the day on which those who had been baptized on Easter eve put off their white garments.

LUCIFERIANS, in ecclesiastical antiquity, is the name of those Christians who persisted in the schism of _Lucifer_, bishop of Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia.

Lucifer lived in the fourth century, and was famous for his extraordinary virtues and abilities. He was deputed by the pope to the emperor Constantius, and procured the calling of a council at Milan in the year 355, by which he himself, and the rest of the orthodox prelates, who defended Athanasius, were condemned to banishment. He was recalled from his exile by the emperor Julian, in 361, when, coming to Antioch, where the church was extremely divided between the followers of Euzoius the Arian, and of Meletius and Eustathius, orthodox bishops, he, to put an end to the schism, ordained Paulinus bishop, whom neither of the orthodox parties approved. Eusebius of Vercelli, whom the Council of Alexandria had sent to heal the divisions, extremely disapproved this ordination; whereupon Lucifer, who was of an inflexible spirit, broke off communion with him and the other prelates, and retired to Sardinia, where to his death he persisted in his separation, and, by this means, gave birth to a schism, which caused a great deal of mischief to the Church. It continued to the end of the reign of Theodosius the Great, after which time authors make little or no mention of it.

LUKE, ST., THE EVANGELIST’S DAY. A festival of the Christian Church, observed on the 18th of October.

St. Luke was born at Antioch, and professed physic. It is not agreed whether he was, by birth, a Jew, or a heathen. Epiphanius, who makes him to be one of the seventy disciples, and consequently a Jew, thinks he was one of those who left JESUS CHRIST upon hearing these words, “He who eateth not my flesh, and drinketh not my blood, is not worthy of me;” but that he returned to the faith upon hearing St. Paul’s sermons at Antioch. Some authors suppose he was Cleopas’s companion, and went with him to Emmaus, when JESUS CHRIST joined them.

St. Luke accompanied St. Paul in his several journeys; but at what time they first came together is uncertain. Some think he met St. Paul at Antioch, and from that time never forsook him. Others believe they met at Troas, because St. Luke himself says, “immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, from Troas.”

Some think he survived St. Paul many years, and that he died at eighty-four years of age: but where, authors are not agreed. Achaia, Thebes in Bœotia, Elea in the Peloponnesus, Ephesus, and Bithynia, are severally named as the place of his death. Nor are authors better agreed as to the manner of it. Some believe he suffered martyrdom; and the modern Greeks affirm he was crucified on an olive-tree. Others, on the contrary, and among them many of the moderns, think he died a natural death.

LUKE’S, ST., GOSPEL. A canonical book of the New Testament. Some think it was properly St. Paul’s Gospel, and that when St. Paul speaks of his Gospel, he means what is called St. Luke’s Gospel. Irenæus says only, that St. Luke digested into writing what St. Paul preached to the Gentiles; and Gregory Nazianzen tells us, that St. Luke wrote with the assistance of St. Paul.

This evangelist addresses his Gospel, and the Acts of the Apostles, to one Theophilus, of whom we have no knowledge; many of the ancients have taken this name, in an appellative sense, for any one who loves GOD.

LUTHERANS. Those Christians who follow the opinions of Martin Luther.

This sect took its rise from the just offence which was taken at the indulgences (see _Indulgences_) which, in 1517, were granted by Pope Leo X., to those who contributed towards the finishing St. Peter’s church, at Rome. It is said, the pope at first gave the princess Cibo, his sister, that branch of the revenue of indulgences which were collected in Saxony; that afterwards these indulgences were farmed out to those who would give most for them; and that these purchasers, to make the most of their bargain, pitched upon such preachers, receivers, and collectors of indulgences, as they thought proper for their purpose, who managed their business in a scandalous manner. The pope had sent these indulgences to Prince Albert, archbishop of Mentz, and brother to the Elector of Brandenburg, to publish them in Germany. This prelate put his commission into the hands of John Tetzel, a Dominican, and an inquisitor, who employed several of his own order to preach up and recommend these indulgences to the people. These Dominicans managed the matter so well, that the people eagerly bought up all the indulgences. And the farmers, finding money come in very plentifully, spent it publicly in a luxurious and libertine manner.

John Staupitz, vicar-general of the Augustines in Germany, was the first who took occasion to declare against these abuses; for which purpose he made use of Martin Luther, the most learned of all the Augustines. He was a native of Eisleben, a town of the county of Mansfeld, in Saxony; and he taught divinity at the university of Wittemberg. This learned Augustine mounted the pulpit, and declaimed vehemently against the abuse of indulgences. Nor did he stop here; he fixed ninety-five propositions upon the church doors of Wittemberg, not as dogmatical points which he himself held, but in order to be considered and examined in a public conference. John Tetzel, the Dominican, immediately published 106 propositions against them, at Frankfort upon the Oder; and, by virtue of the office of inquisitor, ordered those of Luther to be burnt; whose adherents, to revenge the affront offered to Luther, publicly burnt those of Tetzel at Wittemberg. Thus war was declared between the Dominicans and Augustines, and soon after between the Roman Catholics and the Lutheran party, which from that time began to appear openly against the Western Church.

In the year 1518, Eckius, professor of divinity at Ingolstadt, and Silvester Prierius, a Dominican, and master of the sacred palace, wrote against Luther’s _Theses_, who answered them in a tract, which he sent to the pope and the bishop of Brandenburg, his diocesan, offering to submit to the Holy See in the points contested. But Prierius having published a discourse full of extravagant amplifications of the pope’s power, Luther took occasion from thence to make the papal authority appear odious to the Germans. In the mean time, the process against Luther going on at Rome, the pope summoned him to appear there within sixty days: but, at the instance of the duke of Saxony, his Holiness consented that the cause should be examined in Germany, and delegated his legate, Cardinal Cajetan, to try it. This cardinal gave Luther a peremptory order to recant, and not to appear any more before him unless he complied; upon which Luther, in the night-time, posted up an appeal to the pope, and retired to Wittemberg. Afterwards, fearing he should be condemned at Rome, he published a protestation in form of law, and appealed to a general council.

In the beginning of the next year, 1519, the emperor Maximilian dying, and the Elector of Saxony, who protected Luther, being vicar of the empire during the interregnum, that reformer’s interest and character were greatly raised, and he was generally looked upon as a man sent from GOD to correct the abuses which had crept into the Roman Church. In June, the same year, there was a famous conference between Luther, Eckius, and Carolostadius, at Leipsic; in which they agreed to refer themselves to the universities of Erfurt and Paris. The points debated upon were, free-will, purgatory, indulgences, penance, and the pope’s supremacy.

In 1520, Luther sent his book _De Libertate Christianâ_ to the pope; in which he grounds justification upon faith alone, without the assistance of good works; and asserts, that Christian liberty rescues us from the bondage of human traditions, and particularly the slavery of papal impositions. Afterwards, in a remonstrance written in High Dutch, he proceeded to deny the authority of the Church of Rome.

In June the same year, the pope resolved to apply the last remedies which the Church makes use of against her enemies, and began with condemning in writing forty-one propositions extracted from Luther’s writings, giving him sixty days to recant: but Luther refusing to comply, the pope declared him excommunicated, and sent the bull by Eckius to the Elector of Saxony and the university of Wittemberg, who agreed to defer the publication of it. In the mean time Luther wrote against the bull with great warmth and freedom, and appealed once more from the pope to a general council. Besides which, he caused a large bonfire to be made without the walls of Wittemberg, and threw into it with his own hands the pope’s bull, together with the decretals, extravagants, and Clementines. This example was followed by his disciples in several other towns.

The emperor Charles V. declared against Luther, and ordered his books to be burnt. Upon the opening of the Diet of Worms, in 1521, Luther, with the emperor’s permission, appeared there, and made a speech in defence of himself and his opinions. But, when the diet found that he would neither stand to the decisions of councils nor the decrees of popes, the emperor gave him twenty days to retire to a place of security, and, a month after, published his imperial edict, by which Luther was put under the ban of the empire, as an heretic and schismatic. But the duke of Saxony gave private orders to convey Luther to the castle of Wartburg, where he was concealed three quarters of a year. He worked hard in this retirement, which he called his _Isle of Patmos_, and kept up the spirit of his party by writing new books; among which were his “Tracts” against auricular confession, private masses, monastic vows, and the celibacy of the clergy. About this time the university of Paris, to which he had appealed, condemned a hundred propositions extracted out of his books; and King Henry VIII. of England wrote against him in defence of the seven sacraments. Luther replied both to the _Sorbonne_ and to the king of England, but in a very rude and unmannerly way.

Soon after he broke out of his retirement, and was so hardy as to publish a bull against the pope’s bull _In cœna Domini_, calling it the Bull and Reformation of Doctor Luther. About this time he published part of his translation of the Bible, in which he departed from the _Vulgate_, so long authorized and received by the Church.

The Elector of Saxony, who all along favoured and protected Luther, now gave him leave to reform the churches of Wirtemberg as he thought fit. The reformer proposed likewise a regulation concerning the patrimony of the Church; which was, that the bishops, abbots, and monks should be expelled, and all the lands and revenues of the bishoprics, abbeys, and monasteries, should _escheat_ to the respective princes; and that all the convents of Mendicant friars should be turned into public schools or hospitals. This project pleased the princes and magistrates, who began to relish Luther’s doctrine extremely; insomuch that, at the Diet of Wirtemberg in 1523, when Pope Adrian VI. insisted upon the bull of Leo X. and the Edict of Worms against Luther, he could not prevail with the princes to put them in execution, but was answered, that a general council ought to be called, and that there ought to be a reformation of the ecclesiastics, and especially of the court of Rome. This year, Luther had the satisfaction to see a league contracted between Gustavus, king of Sweden, and Frederick, king of Denmark, who both agreed to establish Lutheranism in their dominions. And now Luther’s persuasion, which, from the Upper Saxony, had spread itself into the northern provinces, began to be perfectly settled in the duchies of Lunenburg, Brunswick, Mecklenburg, and Pomerania; and in the archbishoprics of Magdeburg and Bremen; and in the towns of Hamburg, Wismar, Rostock; and all along the Baltic, as far as Livonia and Prussia.

About this time Luther left off the habit of a monk, and dressed himself like a doctor, refusing to be saluted with the title of _reverend father_. Erasmus having written a book concerning free-will, (_De Libero Arbitrio_,) Luther answered it in another, entitled _De Servo Arbitrio_. In 1525, Thomas Münzer and Nicholas Storc, taking their leave of Luther, put themselves at the head of the _Anabaptists_ and _Fanatics_. About this time Luther married a nun, called Catharine Boren, exhorting all the ecclesiastics and monks to follow his example. In 1526, Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, turned Lutheran, who gave great life and spirit to that party.

In March, 1529, the Diet of Spire decreed that the Catholics should not have the liberty to change their religion; that the Lutherans should be tolerated till the meeting of a council, but not allowed to molest the Catholics; and that the preachers should deliver nothing in their sermons contrary to the received doctrines of the Church. The Lutheran princes entered a solemn _protestation_ against this decree, from whence came the name of _Protestants_, taken up first by the Lutherans, and afterwards received among the Calvinists.

The beginning of October, this year, was held at Marburg the conference between Luther and Zwinglius, in relation to the eucharist; the latter affirming that there is nothing more than bread and wine in the LORD’S supper, which elements are the figure and representation of his body and blood; and Luther asserting that his body and blood are really present, but under the substance of bread and wine, and that only in the act of receiving the sacrament; after which he did not acknowledge the continuance of this presence. This conference broke up without coming to any accommodation.

In 1530, the Lutherans or Protestants drew up a Confession of Faith, which they presented to the Diet of Augsburg. (See _Augsburg, Confession of_.)

The year after, the Protestant princes made the famous league of _Smalcalde_, which obliged the emperor to grant the Lutherans a toleration, till the differences in religion were settled by a council, which he engaged himself to call in six months.

The Lutheran party gaining strength every day, and having refused the bull for convening a council at Mantua, the emperor summoned a general diet at Ratisbon, where a scheme of religion for reconciling the two parties was examined: but, after they had examined and disputed for a month together, the divines could agree upon no more than five or six articles, concerning justification, free-will, original sin, baptism, good works, and episcopacy; for, when they came to other points, and especially the eucharist, the Lutherans would by no means yield to the other party. The diet ended with a decree of the emperor, strictly forbidding the Lutherans to tamper with any person to make them quit their old religion, and at the same time suspending all the edicts published against them.

Martin Luther lived to see the opening of the famous Council of Trent, for accommodating the differences in religion; which put him upon acting with more vigour and warmth against the Church of Rome, as foreseeing that his opinions would be condemned there. In short, he left no stone unturned to engage the Protestant princes to act against the council; which measures he continued to pursue until his death, which happened in February, 1546.

Maurice, the Elector of Saxony, having taken the field against the emperor, and concluded a peace with him at Passaw, in 1552, it was stipulated that the exercise of Lutheranism, as stated by the Confession of Augsburg, should be tolerated all over the empire; which toleration was to last for ever, in case the differences in religion could not be accommodated within six months. And thus Lutheranism was perfectly settled in Germany.

The Lutherans are generally divided into the _moderate_ and the _rigid_. The _moderate Lutherans_ are those who submitted to the _Interim_, published by the emperor Charles V. Melancthon was the head of this party. (See _Interim_.)

The _rigid Lutherans_ are those who would not endure any alteration in any of Luther’s opinions. The head of this party was Matthias Flacius, famous for writing the _Centuries of Magdeburg_, in which he had three other Lutheran ministers for his assistants.

To these are added another division, called _Luthero-Zwinglians_, because they held some of Luther’s tenets and some of Zwinglius, yielding something to each side, to prevent the ill consequence of disunion in the _Reformation_.

The Lutherans retain the use of the altar for the celebration of the holy communion, some of the ancient vestments, and the mitre and pastoral staff for their bishops, at least in Sweden. They likewise make use of lighted tapers in their churches, of incense, and a crucifix on the altar, of the sign of the cross, and of images, &c. Several of their doctors acknowledge that such materials add a lustre and majesty to Divine worship, and fix at the same time the attention of the people.

The Lutherans retain the observance of several solemn festivals after their reformation. They keep three solemn days of festivity at Christmas. In some Lutheran countries, the people go to church on the night of the nativity of our blessed SAVIOUR with lighted candles or wax tapers in their hands; and the faithful, who meet in the church, spend the whole night there in singing and saying their prayers by the light of them. Sometimes they burn such a large quantity of incense, that the smoke of it ascends like a whirlwind, and their devotees may properly enough be said to be wrapped up in it. It is customary, likewise, in Germany, to give entertainments at such times to friends and relations, and to send presents to each other, especially to the young people, whom they amuse with very idle and romantic stories, telling them that our blessed SAVIOUR descends from heaven on the night of his nativity, and brings with him all kinds of playthings.

They have three holidays at Easter, and three at Whitsuntide, as well as those before mentioned at Christmas. These festivals have nothing peculiar in them with respect to the ceremonies observed at those times; but with regard to some particular superstitions, they are remarkable enough; as, for instance, that of the paschal water, which is looked on as a sovereign remedy for sore eyes, and very serviceable in uniting broken limbs. This paschal water is nothing more than common river water, taken up on Easter Day, before the rising of the sun. They have another superstitious notion with respect to their horses: they imagine that the swimming them in the river on Easter Day, before the sun rises, preserves them from lameness.

The other festivals observed by the Lutherans are, New Year’s Day, or the Circumcision, a festival not near so ancient as the four above mentioned; the festival of the Three Kings, or, otherwise, the Epiphany; the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, or Candlemas; and Lady Day, or the Annunciation. There is no public work nor service devoted to the Blessed Virgin, nor are there any processions, or other ceremonies, which are observed by the Roman Catholics on the two latter festivals. The festival of the Sacred Trinity is solemnized on the Sunday after Whitsunday; that of St. John Baptist, on the 24th of June; and that of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin, on the 2nd of July, as it is by the Roman Catholics. To conclude, the festival of St. Michael the Archangel, or rather the ceremonies observed by the Lutherans on that day, are the remains only of an ancient custom, which has been preserved amongst them, although somewhat extraordinary, as the members of their communion retain no manner of veneration for angels.

In 1523, Luther drew up a formulary of the mass and communion for the particular service of the church of Wittemberg. Without attempting to particularize the various parts of it, it may be observed that all the churches where Lutheranism prevailed were obliged entirely to conform to it. However, those orders were never punctually obeyed. Some Lutheran countries have one ritual, and some another. There is a difference, likewise, in their liturgies, though, as to the fundamental articles, they all agree.—_Broughton._

LYCH-GATE, or CORPSE-GATE. From _leich_, “a dead body”—(hence Leitchfield). A gate at the entrance of the churchyard, where the body was placed before burial. These are of frequent occurrence in ancient churchyards.

LYCHNOSCOPE. A narrow window near the ground, very frequently found at the south-west end of a chancel, not infrequently at the north-west, and sometimes, though seldom, in other parts of the church. The name was given on the assumption, (which is now, perhaps, universally abandoned,) that its use was to watch the pasch-light from without the church. The theory now commonly adopted, and at least in part proved, is, that lychnoscopes were confessionals. The last and fullest exposition and examination of the various theories of the use of these windows may be found in a paper by Mr. Lowe, in the first volume of the “Transactions of the Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, and other Architectural Societies.” In this paper their use as ventilators is suggested.

MACCABEES. There are two books of this name in the Apocrypha, both of an uncertain order. They are called Maccabees, because they relate the patriotic and gallant exploits of Judas Maccabeus and his brethren. The _first_ book, which is a most valuable and authentic history, contains the history of the Jews from the beginning of the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes to the death of Simon, a period of about thirty-four years. The _second_ book, which is far less valuable, and less to be depended upon, and which is in some places at variance with canonical Scripture, contains the history of about fifteen years, A. M. 3828 to 3843, from the commission of Heliodorus to pillage the temple, to the victory of Judas Maccabeus over Nicanor. These two books are accounted canonical by the Roman Catholics; but there are besides two other books, called the _third_ and _fourth_ books of Maccabees, of very little authority, and which were never admitted into the canon by any Church. The Books of Maccabees are not read in the service of the Church of England.

MACEDONIANS. So called from Macedonius, a bishop of Constantinople, deposed from his see by a council of 360, and also _Pneumatomachians_, from πνεῦμα, (_Spiritus_,) and μάχομαι, (_pugno_,) from their distinctive error: a sect of heretics who arose in the fourth century, who denied the separate personality of the HOLY GHOST. They were condemned by the second general council, (of Constantinople,) anno 381, and against their errors the expansion of the latter portion of the Nicene Creed was directed: “I believe in the HOLY GHOST, the LORD and giver of life, who proceedeth from the FATHER and the SON, who with the FATHER and the SON together is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the prophets.”

MAGDEBURG CENTURIES. (See _Centuries_.)

MAGISTRAL. An officer in cathedral and collegiate churches and royal chapels in Spain, generally a canon, whose duty it was to preach a certain course of sermons. He was so called, as it was necessary for him to be a master (or, as we should call it, bachelor) in theology. This was a _prebenda de oppositione_, that is, it was conferred upon the successful candidate in a public disputation so called.

MAGNIFICAT. The song of the blessed Virgin Mary, which is appointed to be said or sung in English after the first lesson at Evening Prayer, unless the 90th Psalm, called _Cantate Domino_, is used.

MALACHI, THE PROPHECY OF. A canonical book of the Old Testament.

The author of the Lives of the Prophets, and the Alexandrian Chronicle, say, that Malachi was of the tribe of Zebulun, and a native of Sapha, and that the name of Malachi was given him because of his _angelical_ mildness; which made Origen and Tertullian believe, that he was an “angel incarnate.” He is called an “angel” by most of the Fathers, and in the version of the Septuagint. Some think that Malachi is no other than Ezra, or Esdras, and this is the opinion of the ancient Hebrews, of the Chaldee Paraphrast, and of St. Jerome.

Malachi is the last of the twelve lesser prophets. He prophesied about three hundred years before CHRIST, reproving the Jews for their wickedness after their return from Babylon, charging them with rebellion, sacrilege, adultery, profaneness, and infidelity, and condemning the priests for being careless and scandalous in their ministry. At the same time, he forgets not to encourage the “pious remnant,” who, in that corrupt age, “feared the LORD, and thought upon his name.”

This prophet distinctly points at the MESSIAH, who was “suddenly to come to his temple,” and to be introduced by Elijah the prophet, that is, by John the Baptist, who came “in the spirit and power of Elias,” or Elijah.

The Jews pretend that, in the time of Darius, son of Hystaspis, there was held a general assembly of the heads of their nation, to settle the canon of their Scriptures; that Daniel, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi presided in this council, and that Esdras was their secretary. But it is certain Daniel did not live at that time. They add, that in the last year of Darius, died the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, and with them ceased the spirit of prophecy among the Israelites; and that this was the sealing up of vision and prophecy, spoken of by Daniel.

The death of the prophet Malachi is placed, in the Roman martyrology, on the 14th of January.

MANASSES, PRAYER OF. One of the apocryphal books of the Old Testament, which is rejected as spurious even by the Church of Rome; and though in the list of the apocryphal books contained in the sixth Article, is not read in the service of the Church of England. It cannot be traced to a higher source than the Vulgate version; and is evidently not the prayer of King Munasseh, mentioned in 2 Chron. xxxiii. 18, 19, as it never was extant in the Hebrew.—_Horne’s Introd._

MANICHEANS. Christian heretics, who took their name from one Manes. The ancients do not well agree as to the time of this heretic’s first appearance. But Spanheim says, it was in the time of Probus, a little before Diocletian, and that his heresy was a compound of the Pythagorean, Gnostic, and Marcionite opinions. According to the accounts given by the Greeks, (from whom, however, the Oriental writers differ considerably,) one Terebinthus, disciple to Scythianus, a magician, finding that in Persia, whither he was forced to retire out of Palestine, the priests and learned men of the country did strongly oppose his errors and designs, retired into a widow’s house, where (it is said) he was killed, either by angels or by demons, as he was engaged in incantations. This woman, being heiress to the money and books of Terebinthus, bought a slave named Cubricus, whom she afterwards adopted, and caused to be instructed in all the sciences of Persia. This man, after the woman’s death, changed his name, to obliterate the memory of his first condition, and assumed that of Manes. He pretended to be the apostle of CHRIST, and that he was the Comforter our SAVIOUR promised to send. He promised the king of Persia that he would cure his son; whereupon the father sent away all the physicians, and the patient died soon after: whereupon Manes was imprisoned, but made his escape; but being soon apprehended again, was flayed alive, and his carcass thrown to the wild beasts.

Manes held that there were two principles, the one good, from whence proceeded the good soul of man, and the other bad, from whence proceeded the evil soul, and likewise the body with all corporeal creatures. He taught his disciples to profess a great severity of life, notwithstanding which they were able to wallow in all impurity, and he forbade to give alms to any that were not of his own sect. He attributed the motions of concupiscence to the evil soul; he gave out that the souls of his followers went through the elements to the moon, and afterwards to the sun, to be purified, and then to GOD, in whom they did rejoin; and those of other men, he alleged, went to hell, to be sent into other bodies. He alleged, that CHRIST had his residence in the sun; the HOLY GHOST in the air; wisdom in the moon; and the FATHER in the abyss of light: he denied the resurrection, and condemned marriage; he held Pythagoras’s transmigration of souls; that CHRIST had no real body; that he was neither dead nor risen, and that he was the Serpent that tempted Eve. He forbade the use of eggs, cheese, milk, and wine, as creatures proceeding from a bad principle; he used a form of baptism different from that of the Church. He taught that magistrates were not to be obeyed, and condemned the most lawful wars. It were next to impossible to recount all the impious and damnable tenets of this heresiarch, insomuch that Leo the Great said of him, that the devil reigned in all other heresies, but he had built a fortress and raised his throne in that of the Manicheans, who embraced all the errors and impieties that the spirit of man was capable of; for whatever profanation was in Paganism, carnal blindness in Judaism, unlawful curiosity in magic, or sacrilegious in other heresies, did all centre in that of the Manicheans.

The Manicheans were divided into hearers and the elect: of the elect, twelve were called masters, in imitation of the twelve apostles; and there was a thirteenth, who was a kind of pope amongst them. Authors charge them with ascribing a body to GOD, and alleging that he was substantially in everything, though never so base as mire, dirt, &c., but was separated from them by the coming of CHRIST, and by the Manicheans eating the fruits of the earth. They likewise maintained, that there had been a great combat between the princes of darkness and light, wherein they who held for GOD were taken prisoners, and that he laboured still for their redemption. Moreover, he held that the sun and the moon were ships, that the soul of a man and of a tree were of the same substance, and both of them a part of GOD; that sin was a substance, and not a quality or affection, and therefore natural, and that acquired by the fall; he likewise held a fatality, and denied free-will. The emperors, in the fourth century, made laws against these heretics, who renewed their opinions in Africa, Gaul, and Rome, where a council was held against them.—But Manicheism continued to exist among the heretics of the middle ages.—See _Burton_. _Augusti._

MANIPLE, or MANUPLE. Originally a narrow strip of linen suspended from the left arm of the priest, and used to wipe away the perspiration from the face: gradually it received embellishments, it was bordered by a fringe, and decorated with needle-work. It is not improbable that its use might be to clean the sacred vessels, as has been supposed by some, for in the eleventh century it was given to the subdeacons as the badge of their order. It is distinguished from the _epigonaton_ by being worn on the left side. The maniple is not retained among the ecclesiastical vestments of the Church of England.

MANSE. _Mansio._ The ancient name (as appears from old records) for an ecclesiastical residence, whether parochial or collegiate. In Scotland it was peculiarly appropriated to parsonage houses; and now designates the residences of the ministers of the Presbyterian establishment. It was anciently applied also to the prebendal houses there.—See _M’Ure’s History of Glasgow_.

MANSIONARIES. The permanently resident canons in some Italian cathedrals: in others of the same country the term was applied to certain of the inferior clergy.

MANUDUCTOR, (_Lat._,) in the ancient Christian Church, was an officer, who, from the middle of the choir, where he was placed, gave the signal to the choristers to sing, marked the measure, beat the time, and regulated the music. He was so called, because he led or guided the choir by the motions and gesture of the hand.

The Greeks called the same kind of officer _Mesochoros_, because he was seated in the middle of the choir.

MARANATHA. On this word, which is added by St. Paul to the word _Anathema_, in 1 Cor. xvi. 22, Bingham, who has collected the authorities of the Fathers, tells us that St. Chrysostom says it is a Hebrew word, signifying _The_ LORD _is come_: and he particularly applies it to the confusion of those who still abused the privileges of the gospel, notwithstanding that the LORD was come among them. “This word,” says he, “speaks terror to those who make their members the members of an harlot, who offend their brethren by eating things offered to idols, who name themselves by the names of men, who deny the resurrection. The LORD of all is come down among us; and yet ye continue the same men ye were before, and persevere in your sins.” St. Jerome says, it was more a Syriac than a Hebrew word, though it had something in it of both languages, signifying _Our_ LORD _is come_. But he applies it against the perverseness of the Jews, and others who denied the coming of CHRIST: making this the sense of the apostle, “If any man love not the LORD JESUS CHRIST, let him be _Anathema, the_ LORD _is come_; wherefore it is superfluous for any to contend with pertinacious hatred against him, of the truth of whose coming there is such apparent demonstration.” The same sense is given by Theodoret, by Hilary the deacon, and Pelagius, whose writings have passed under the names of St. Ambrose and St. Jerome respectively. And it is received by Estius and Dr. Lightfoot as the truest interpretation. So that, according to this sense, _Maranatha_ could not be any part of the form of excommunication, but only a reason for pronouncing _Anathema_ against those who expressed their hatred against CHRIST, by denying his coming; either in words, as the Jews did, who blasphemed CHRIST, and called JESUS _Anathema_ or accursed; or else by wicked works, as those who lived profanely under the name of Christian. But Parkhurst is rather inclined to derive it from the Hebrew, _miharem atha_, signifying _cursed art thou_; the _m_ being changed into _n_, as was frequent among Hellenizing Jews.

MARCIONITES. Heretics of the second century, so called from Marcion. He was born at Sinope, in Paphlagonia or Helenopontus, on the coast of the _Pontus Euxinus_, or Black Sea, and for that reason is sometimes called _Ponticus_. He studied the Stoic philosophy in his younger years, and was a lover of solitude and poverty; but being convicted of uncleanness with a virgin, he was, by his father, who was a bishop, expelled from the Church. After this he went to Rome, where being not admitted into Church communion, because his father had not consented to it, he in spite embraced Cerdon’s heresy, and became the author of new heresies, about A. D. 134. He held with Cerdon two gods, the one good, the other bad: the latter, he said, was the author of the world, and of the law; but the good, he said, was the author of the gospel and redeemer of the world. He said that Christ was sent on purpose to abolish the law, as being bad. Origen affirms, that he supposed there was a GOD of the Jews, a GOD of the Christians, and a GOD of the Gentiles. Tertullian wrote against him, and, more curiously than anybody else, observes the rest of his opinions, as that he denied the resurrection of the body, condemned marriage, excluding married people from salvation, whom he would not baptize, though he allowed of three sorts, and that the living were sometimes baptized for the dead. In his sect, the women commonly administered the sacraments. Rhodon, a Greek author, quoted by Eusebius, says, the disciples of this heresiarch added many other errors to his tenets; that the heresiarch meeting Polycarp in the streets of Rome, asked him whether he knew him. “Very well,” answered the good bishop, “I know you very well to be the first-born of Satan.” Constantine the Great published an edict against the Marcionites and the other heretics, in 366; and Theodoret, bishop of Cyrus, converted 10,000 of them in 420.

MARIOLATRY. (See _Angels_, _Idolatry_, _Popery_, _Virgin Mary_, _Mother of God_.) The worship of the Virgin Mary: one of the sins of the Church of Rome, for defending which her theologians are guilty of heresy. The fact of the Romanists praying to the Virgin Mary is not denied. Their manner of doing so, not merely seeking her intercession, but actually addressing her in terms which sound very like blasphemy to those whose religion is catholic and Scriptural, may be seen from the following extracts made from the Psalter of Bonaventure.

Extract from the “Crown of the Blessed Virgin:”[8]

“O thou, our governor, and most benignant Lady, in right of being his mother, command your most beloved SON, our LORD JESUS CHRIST, that he deign to raise our minds from longing after earthly things to the contemplation of heavenly things.”

Extract from a serious parody on the To Deum, by the same writer:

“We praise thee, Mother of GOD; we acknowledge thee to be a virgin. All the earth doth worship thee, the spouse of the eternal FATHER. All the angels and archangels, all thrones and powers, do faithfully serve thee. To thee all angels cry aloud, with a never-ceasing voice. Holy, holy, holy, Mary, mother of GOD.... The whole court of heaven doth honour thee as queen. The holy Church throughout all the world doth invoke and praise thee, the mother of Divine majesty.... Thou sittest with thy SON on the right hand of the FATHER.... In thee, sweet Mary, is our hope; defend us for evermore. Praise becometh thee; empire becometh thee; virtue and glory be unto thee for ever and ever.”

Extract from a parody on the Athanasian Creed, by the same writer:

“Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the right faith concerning Mary; which faith, except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.... He (JESUS CHRIST) sent the HOLY SPIRIT upon his disciples, and upon his mother, and at last took her up into heaven, where she sitteth on the right hand of her SON, and never ceaseth to make intercession with him for us.

“This is the faith concerning the Virgin Mary, which, except every one do believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.”

Extract from a work by Alphonso Liguori, called “The Glories of Mary:”[9]