Chapter LIII: Act 46: , Parl. 3, Act 106, Parl. 7, Act 24, Parl. 11, King James VI., do (29)

NESTORIANS. (See _Mother of God_.) The followers of Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, who lived in the fifth century. They believed that in CHRIST there were not only two natures, but two persons; of which the one was _Divine_, even the ETERNAL WORD, and the other, which was _human_, was the man JESUS; that these two persons had only one _aspect_; that the union between the SON of GOD and the SON of man was formed in the moment of the Virgin’s conception, and was never to be dissolved; that it was not, however, an union of nature or of person, but only of will and affection; that CHRIST was therefore to be carefully distinguished from GOD, who dwelt in him as in his temple; and that Mary was to be called the mother of CHRIST, and not the mother of GOD.

This heresy was condemned by the fourth general council, that of Ephesus, A. D. 431; in which all are anathematized who refuse to call the Virgin Mary the mother of GOD. For a full account of this people, see Mr. Badger’s _Nestorians and their Rituals_.

NEWEL. The central column round which the steps of a winding stair are disposed. They are sometimes designed with considerable taste, and carefully executed.

NICENE CREED; sometimes called the _Constantinopolitan Creed_. This creed was chiefly composed by the orthodox fathers of the first general Council of Nice, A. D. 325, to define the Christian faith, in opposition to the heresy of Arius. As sanctioned by this assembly it ended with “I believe in the HOLY GHOST.” The remainder was added by the second general council, held at Constantinople, A. D. 381, in which the heresy of Macedonius, with regard to the Divinity of the HOLY SPIRIT, was condemned. In the fifth century, the Western churches added to this creed the words _filioque_, in conformity with the doctrine, that the HOLY SPIRIT proceeds from the SON, as well as from the FATHER.

The Church for three hundred years had been content to profess in her creed, that CHRIST was the LORD; comprehending, under this title, the highest appellations given to him in Scripture, without stating minutely, or scrutinizing too narrowly, a doctrine proposed rather to us as an object of faith than of understanding. Happy had it been for the Christian world, if this moderation of the Church had been suffered to continue; but Arius, a discontented priest of Alexandria in Egypt, either having conceived a different opinion, or wishing to bring himself into notice by the assertion of a novelty, took upon him to maintain that CHRIST was not a Divine person, in the highest sense, but a creature, superior indeed to human nature, but not a partaker of the supreme GODHEAD.

The publishing of this opinion raised a violent ferment and schism in the Church. Constantine the Roman emperor summoned a council at Nice, in Bithynia, to settle this dispute; and there, in the year 325, Arius’s doctrine was condemned in an assembly of 300 bishops, and that creed framed, which from the name of the city was called the Nicene Creed. And here it is necessary to observe, that the meaning of the three creeds of our Church, and all creeds that can be composed on gospel principles, is nothing more than a declaration of the sense in which we accept the profession made in our baptism. By baptism we are admitted into the Church of CHRIST; by the command of CHRIST we are baptized “in the name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY GHOST.” This is the condition, by which alone we can partake of the Christian covenant; this is the mark by which alone we are distinguished from the professors of every other religion upon earth.

When we repeat a creed, therefore, we do no more than declare our repeated assent to the conditions of the baptismal covenant; and it would be sufficient to do this in the very words that CHRIST enjoins, “I believe in the FATHER, the SON, and the HOLY GHOST,” if explanations had not been demanded, to show what we mean by this declaration. Creeds then do not, properly speaking, contain articles of faith, but an explanation of the sense in which we understand the primary position of our religion. And this view of the matter will show us the reason, why no creed is prescribed in Scripture; why all creeds ever have been, and ever must be, the composition of men.—_Dean Vincent._

The three creeds, which are the three barriers of the faith of our Church, extracted from the Holy Scripture in the purer ages of Christianity, though variously expressed, are yet the same in substance; agreeable to each other; and all agreeable to the word of GOD, and approved all along by the Catholic Church. In these forms she calls upon her members to declare their belief to be consonant to that of the Church universal. The Apostles’ Creed, as the plainest and shortest form, is appointed for common and daily use. The Athanasian, for festivals which relate more immediately to our SAVIOUR; or which are placed at such convenient distances from each other, as that none may be wholly ignorant of the mysteries therein contained. And the Nicene Creed is to be repeated whenever the eucharist is administered according to the institution of our LORD, whose eternal generation, GODHEAD, incarnation, sufferings, and exaltation, are therein summarily contained and acknowledged.—_Archdeacon Yardley._

It is called “the Nicene Creed,” because it was for the most part framed at the great Council of Nice. But because the great Council of Constantinople added the latter part, and brought it to the frame which we now use, therefore it is called also “the Constantinopolitan Creed.” This creed began to be used in churches at the Communion Service immediately after the Gospel, in the year of our LORD 339. [The introduction of it in this place is, however, more commonly referred to Peter the Fuller, bishop of Antioch, about A. D. 471.] Afterwards it was established in the churches of Spain and France, after the custom of the Eastern Church, by the Council of Toledo, and continued down to our times. The reason why this creed follows immediately after the Epistle and Gospel, is the same that was given for the Apostles’ Creed following next after the lessons at morning and evening prayer. To which the canon of Toledo hath added another reason for saying it here, before the people draw near to the holy communion; namely, that the breasts of those who approach to those dreadful mysteries, may be purified by a true and right faith.—_Bp. Sparrow._

The creed is a summary of the doctrine of the gospel, and here is placed next to it, because it is grounded upon it. In the gospel we “believe with our heart unto righteousness;” in the creed we “confess with our mouth unto salvation” (Rom. x. 10); for all the people ought to repeat the creed after the minister. It doth more largely condemn all heresies than the Apostles’ Creed: wherefore it is fitly enjoined to be recited by all before the sacrament, to show that all the communicants are free from heresy, and in the strictest league of union with the Catholic Church; as also to prepare themselves for worthy receiving, by exercising that faith, of which they have so much use at the LORD’S table, as the Council of Toledo ordained in the year 600 [589]. So that every one must openly profess and firmly embrace all these articles, before he can be fit to receive; yea, and while he repeats them with his lips, he must resolve to show forth in his life, that he doth sincerely believe them, by strictly living according to them.—_Dean Comber._

As in the Morning Prayer, so in the Communion Service, for the same reason, after reading the Scripture, we recite the creed: only then we have that of the ancient Latin Church; here that of the ancient Greek.—_Abp. Secker._

Besides the general reasons for repeating the creed, the rehearsal of our faith before the receiving of the holy communion is founded on these two special grounds:—1. It is meet that all should first profess the same faith, who partake of the same mysteries; for surely, if “no stranger, nor uncircumcised person,” could eat of the passover, that typical sacrament, (Exod. xii. 43, 48,) much more no stranger to the Christian faith, nor unbeliever, should partake of the real sacrament of the LORD’S supper. 2. As the acknowledgment of the articles of our Christian faith is part of the vow made at our baptism, so ought the same acknowledgment to be repeated at the LORD’S supper, wherein we renew that vow.—_Dr. Bisse._

Add to this, that every solemn confession of our faith must be looked upon as giving glory and honour to GOD, in recognising his essence and attributes, and the blessings which flow from those sources on mankind: and hence it, in a peculiar manner, befits this holy service of thanks and praise. In this we imitate the most ancient liturgies of the Church; which, when this holy sacrament was celebrated, had an eucharistical form, wherein GOD’S power and goodness were acknowledged in the creation, preservation, and redemption of the world. Thus we, though in a shorter form of undoubted authority, confess to the holy and undivided TRINITY, and distinctly own the Divinity of each person. We commemorate the creation of the world by “GOD the FATHER Almighty.” We acknowledge JESUS CHRIST to be our “LORD;” to have been “begotten” from all eternity, to be “of one substance with the FATHER,” and with him Creator of all things: that “for our salvation he came down from heaven, was made man, suffered, and died” for us. We commemorate his resurrection, ascension, and sitting at GOD’S right hand: express our expectation of his second coming; and declare that “his kingdom shall have no end.” We confess to GOD, that he hath inspired the prophets; that he hath built a Church on the foundation of the apostles; that he hath appointed baptism for the remission of sins; and given us leave to “look for the resurrection of the dead” and an happy eternity.

What more glorious hymn than this can we sing to the honour of GOD? Is it possible to mention anything else that can so much redound to his glory? May not this our service be well styled the eucharist, when we thus give praise and glory to Almighty GOD for the wonderful manifestation of his attributes, and the inestimable blessings he hath bestowed upon us? Let not any one therefore think, that repeating the creed is barely a declaration of his faith to the rest of the congregation: for, besides that, it is a most solemn act of worship, in which we honour and magnify GOD, both for what he is in himself, and for what he hath done for us. And let us all, sensible of this, repeat it with reverential voice and gesture; and lift up our hearts with faith, thankfulness, and humble devotion, whenever we say, “I believe,” &c.—_Archdeacon Yardley._

The Nicene Creed is properly sung in all choirs. Bishop Beveridge says, “We stand at the creeds; for they being confessions of our faith in GOD, as such they come under the proper notion of hymns or songs of praise to him.” The rubric sanctions, that is, enjoins in choirs, the custom: and such has been the usage of most choirs since the Reformation; an usage kept up throughout the Western Church, according to Mr. Palmer, since the year 1012. It is not adapted to chanting, like the Psalms. In our Prayer Book it is divided, like the Apostles’ Creed and the Gloria in excelsis, into three paragraphs, of which the central one has special reference to GOD the SON.—_Jebb._

NICOLAITANS. Heretics who arose in the Christian Church during the time of the apostles, (as appears from Rev. ii. 6, 15,) and are taken to be the fathers of the Gnostics. Some of the ancient fathers affirm that Nicolas, one of the seven first deacons, was the founder of this sect; that being blamed by the apostles for keeping company with his wife, whom he had left before to live in continence, he invented this brutal error to excuse his proceeding, and thought that impurity was a necessary means to attain to eternal happiness: others say that the holy apostles, reproaching him for being jealous of his wife, who was very handsome, he sent for her, and in a great assembly gave her leave to marry whom she pleased: upon which some libertines framed a heresy of their own, and unjustly called it by his name. They denied the Divinity of CHRIST by an hypostatical union, saying, the Divine inhabited, but was not united to, the human nature; they held that all pleasures were good, and that it was lawful to eat meats offered to idols. Becoming too much known by this name, they assumed that of the Gnostics, and divided themselves into other sects, called Phibionites, Stratiotics, Levitics, and Barborites.

NIPTER. (_Gr._ In Latin, _pediluvium_.) The ceremony of _washing feet_. This is performed by the Greek Christians on Good Friday, in imitation of our SAVIOUR, who on that day washed his disciples’ feet with his own hands.

In the monasteries, the abbot represents our SAVIOUR, and twelve of the monks the twelve apostles. Among these the steward and porter have always a place; the former acts the part of St. Peter, and imitates his refusal to let JESUS wash his feet; the latter personates the traitor Judas, and is loaded with scoffs and derision. The office used on this occasion is extant in the _Euchologium_.

NOCTURNS. Services anciently held during the night. In the Breviary, the Psalter is divided into portions, the first of which consists of fourteen Psalms, the second of three, and the third of three. These all form a part of the Sunday office of matins, each of which portions is called a nocturn. These were designed to be read at these nightly assemblies, with other services appointed in order for the various nights.

NOETIANS. Christian heretics in the third century, followers of Noëtus, a philosopher of Ephesus, who pretended that he was another Moses sent by GOD, and that his brother was a new Aaron. His heresy consisted in affirming that there was but one person in the GODHEAD, and that the WORD and the HOLY SPIRIT were but external denominations given to GOD in consequence of different operations: that as creator he is called FATHER; as incarnate, SON; and as descending upon the apostles, the HOLY GHOST.

This heresiarch, being summoned to appear before the assembly of the Church of Ephesus, to give an account of his doctrine, made a very catholic profession of faith; but he had no sooner gained a dozen followers, than he began publicly to teach and spread his opinions. He was excommunicated by the Church of Ephesus, and after his death denied ecclesiastical burial.

Being reprehended by his superiors, he is said to have replied, “What harm have I done? I adore one only GOD; I own none but him. He was born, suffered, and is dead.”

NOMINALISTS. At the restoration of the study of logic in the eleventh century, many disputes took place, trivial in their origin, but important on account of the colour which they gave to religious controversy, concerning the objects of logic. Agreeing that the essential object of logic was the discussion of _universals_, as distinguished from _particular_ or _individual_ things, two parties were formed on the question whether universals are _words_ and _names_ only, or _things_ and _real essences_. Those who declared them to be only names and words, and who of course, therefore, determined that logic was only conversant with words, were called _Nominalists_, and basing their philosophy on that of Aristotle, were principally supported by the talent and authority of Roscellinus. Those who held that _universals_ were _real existences_, and so that logic was conversant with _things_ and _realities_, were called _Realists_. They supported their hypothesis on the authority of Plato. Johannes Scotus Erigena, in the ninth century, had taught this doctrine, but without leaving behind him any school of avowed followers. The controversy with the _Nominalists_ was commenced in the eleventh century, and in the thirteenth the greater part of the schoolmen were _Realists_.

NOMINATION. This is the offering of a clerk to him who has the right of presentation, that he may present him to the ordinary. (For form of Nomination, see _Curacy_.)

The nominator must appoint his clerk within six months after the avoidance, for, if he does not, and the patron presents his clerk before the bishop hath taken any benefit of the lapse, he is bound to admit that clerk.

But where one has the nomination, and another the presentation, if the right of presentation should afterwards come to the queen, it has been held, that he that has the nomination will be entitled to both, because the queen, who is to present, is only an instrument to him who nominates, and it is not becoming the dignity of a queen to be subservient to another; but the nominator should name one to the lord chancellor, who, in the name of the queen, should present to the ordinary.

And as the presentation, so the right of nomination, may be forfeited to the queen. It is true, if the patron, upon a corrupt agreement unknown to the nominator, presents his clerk, this shall not be prejudicial to the nominator within the statute of simony; but if the nominator corruptly agrees to nominate, his right of nomination shall be forfeited to the queen.

NONES. A term employed in the Roman calendar, inserted in all correct editions of the Prayer Book. The nones were the fifth day of each month, excepting in March, May, July, and October, when the nones fell on the 7th day. They were so called from their being the ninth day in each month before the ides.—_Stephens’s Book of Common Prayer_, notes on the Calendar, p. 270.

NONJURORS. Those conscientious men who refused to renounce their oath of allegiance to King James II., and to transfer it to the Prince of Orange. What was at first a necessary separation from the Church of England, degenerated, after a time, into a wilful schism. The history of the Nonjurors is written by Lathbury (_London_, 1845).

NORMAN. The highest development of Romanesque architecture in England, which succeeded the Saxon at the Conquest, and admitted the pointed arch which marks the Transition, about 1145. It must be observed, however, that many buildings, generally called Norman, and which agree with the Norman style in all essential particulars, except in the accident of their being built before 1066, must, architecturally, be classed with this style. The Norman is so absolutely distinguished from all Gothic orders by the round arch, that it is needless to enter into its differentials. Several of its peculiarities will be found under the heads _Buttress_, _Capital_, _Cathedral_, _Mouldings_, _Pier_, _Pillar_.

NORTH SIDE. In the rubric immediately preceding the office for the Holy Communion, the priest is directed to stand at the _north side_ of the table. As this work is not a Dictionary of the English language, it might seem beside our purpose to offer any explanation of those words, which are sufficiently clear, though they have been perplexed by the unreasonable scruples of some of our generation. Johnson gives the following as one of the definitions of _side_, “any part of any body opposed to any other part:” another is, “right or left.” The north side then is that which is opposed to the south; viz. the left side to those who look to the east, where the holy table is placed. By a side is meant that which is _lateral_, as contradistinguished from that which is _opposite_ or _vertical_. A side is the short end of the table, and so the Scotch liturgy understood the word, “the _north side_, or _end thereof_.” The table usually in English churches stands at the end of the chancel: the exceptions are so few as clearly to prove a rule; and it must be obvious to common sense, that when placed differently, the priest’s position there should be the same relatively to the church as if the table stood at the east; that is, at the _left side_ of those who look towards the chancel from the body of the church. Universal custom has been in conformity with the plain meaning of the rule; and the priest always has stood at that which formed the north or left side of the _square table_. Had the intention of the compilers of the liturgy been different, the rubric would have been worded in some such way as this, “the priest standing at the _north-west corner_, or _angle_,” or “_left angle_.” An angle, or corner, is not a side; and could never be so interpreted, unless the table were placed diagonally. The following authorities are explicit.

“The design is, that the priest may be the better seen and heard, which, as our altars are now placed, he cannot be, but at the north or south side. And as Bishop Beveridge has shown, that whenever in the ancient liturgies the minister is directed to stand before the table, the north side of it is always meant.”—_Wheatly._

“This seems to have been ordered, for the purpose of avoiding the fashion of the priest’s standing with his face towards the east, as is the Popish practice.”—_L’ Estrange._

As to the words in the rubric preceding the Collect for the Queen, _the priest standing as before_, Mr. Collis observes, that these mean “not standing as he rehearsed the Commandments; for if that were designed nothing would have been said here. But _standing as before_, namely, as he stood at the north side of the table, before he was ordered to turn to the people. When the Commandments are read by him, he directs himself to the people; when he comes to the collect, he directs himself to the Almighty by prayer.”

NOTES OF THE CHURCH. The necessity of devising some general notes of the Church, and of not entering at once on controversial debates concerning all points of doctrine and discipline, was early perceived by Christian theologians. Tertullian appeals, in refutation of the heresies of his age, to the antiquity of the Church derived from the apostles, and its priority to all heretical communities; Irenæus, to the unity of the Church’s doctrines, and the succession of her bishops from the apostles; St. Augustine, to the consent of nations; St. Jerome, to the continued duration of the Church from the apostles, and the very appellation of the Christian name. In modern times, Bellarmine the Romanist added several other notes, such as,—agreement with the primitive Church in doctrine; union of members among themselves and with their head; sanctity of doctrine and of founders; continuance of miracles and prophecy; confession of adversaries; the unhappy end of those who are opposed to the Church, and the temporal felicity conferred on it. Luther assigned as notes of the true Church, the true and uncorrupted preaching of the gospel; administration of baptism, of the eucharist, and of the keys; a legitimate ministry, public service in a known tongue, and tribulations internally and externally. Calvin reckons only truth of doctrine and right administration of the sacraments, and seems to reject succession. The learned theologians of the Church of England adopt a different view in some respects. Dr. Field admits the following notes of the Church: truth of doctrine; use of sacraments and means instituted by _Christ_; union under lawful ministers; antiquity without change of doctrine; lawful succession, i. e. with true doctrine; and universality in the _successive_ sense, i. e. the prevalence of the Church successively in all nations. Bishop Taylor admits, as notes of the Church, antiquity, duration, succession of bishops, union of members among themselves and with CHRIST, sanctity of doctrine.

Palmer, from whom this account is abridged, takes, as notes of the Church, what the Nicene, or Constantinopolitan, Creed gives, as the Church’s attributes, “ONE, HOLY, Catholic and Apostolic.”

NOVATIANS. A Christian sect, which sprang up in the third century; occasioned by the jealousy which Novatian, a priest of Rome, conceived upon seeing Cornelius raised to the episcopate of the Roman Church, to which he himself aspired. Enraged at the disappointment, he endeavoured to blacken the character of Cornelius, by charging him with a criminal lenity towards those who had apostatized during the persecution of Decius. He maintained, that such persons ought indeed to be exhorted to repentance, but never to be absolved by the Church, reserving their absolution to GOD alone, who had the power and authority to remit sins. Hence he was led to deny, in general, that the Church had the power of remitting mortal sins, upon the offender’s repentance. And at last he went so far as to deny that apostates could ever hope for pardon even from _God_ himself: a doctrine which so terrified some of those who had lapsed and repented, that, in despair, they quite abjured Christianity, and returned to Paganism.

The followers of Novatian added to this original heresy of their master another, which was the unlawfulness of second marriages; against which they were as severe as against apostates; denying communion for ever to such persons as married a second time after baptism, and treating widows who married again as adulteresses.

As these heretics pretended that the Church was corrupted by the communion it granted to sinners, it is no wonder they rebaptized those they gained over to their sect. In baptizing, they used the received forms of the Church, and had the same belief concerning the FATHER, SON, and HOLY GHOST, in whose name they baptized. St. Cyprian rejected their baptism, as he did that of all heretics; but it was admitted by the eighth canon of the Council of Nice.

The Novatians put on the external appearance of great piety and purity; and though they did not refuse the title of Novatians, they assumed the proud appellation of _Catharii_, that is, the Pure, or Puritans; and like the Pharisees among the Jews, they would not suffer other men to come near them, lest their purity should be defiled thereby.

The schism which Novatian had formed in the Roman Church was not confined to Rome, nor to Italy, nor even to the West. It made its way into the East, and subsisted a long time at Alexandria, in several provinces of Asia, at Constantinople, in Scythia, and in Africa. The Novatians abounded particularly in Phrygia and Paphlagonia. Constantine seems to have favoured them a little by a law of the year 326; which preserves to them their churches and burying-places, provided they never belonged to the Catholic Church. But in a famous edict about the year 331, he sets them at the head of the most detestable of all heretics, forbidding them to hold public or private assemblies, confiscating their oratories or churches, and condemning their leaders to banishment. It is pretended this edict had not the designed effect as to the Novatians, by means of Acesius their bishop, who resided at Constantinople, and was in great esteem with the emperor, on account of his virtuous and irreproachable life. The Novatian sect was entirely extinct, or at least reduced to a very inconsiderable party, about the middle of the fifth century.

NOVEMBER, FIFTH OF. (See _Forms of Prayer_.)

NOVICES, in countries where monachism prevails, are those persons who are candidates, or probationers, for a religious life. The time of their probation is called the Noviciate; after which, if their behaviour is approved, they are professed, that is, admitted into the order, and allowed to make the vows, wear the habit, &c.

The novices among the Jesuits are disciplined in a very peculiar manner. To make them the better understand the nature and extent of the obedience they owe to their superiors, they have certain emblematical pictures in their chambers or studies. For example: in the middle of the canvass is a boy stooping down with a piece of timber on his shoulders, with this motto, _fortiter_, upon it. He has a harp in his hand, to intimate the cheerfulness of his submission. On the right hand is a little dog in a rising posture, to show that the novice is to obey with despatch and expedition. His breast is open, to show that his superiors have his heart as well as his limbs at their service. His mouth is represented shut, to show that there must be no grumbling or contesting the point with his superiors; and his ears are stopped, to intimate that he must submit to orders however unacceptable to that sense.

If a novice breaks through any part of this submission, he has a penance enjoined him according to the nature of his misbehaviour. For instance, if he discovers a haughty disposition, he is ordered to go into the infirmary and perform the coarsest offices to the sick and decrepit. If he refuses to do as he is bid, or murmurs at it, he is brought into the refectory at dinner or supper time, and obliged to confess his fault upon his knees before all the company.

NUMBERS, THE BOOK OF. A canonical book of the Old Testament. It is the fourth book of the Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses, and receives its denomination from the numbering of the families of Israel, by Moses and Aaron; who mustered the tribes, and marshalled the army of the Hebrews, in their passage through the wilderness.

A great part of this Book is historical, relating several remarkable events which happened in that journey; as, the sedition of Aaron and Miriam; the rebellion of Korah and his companions; the murmurings of the whole body of the people; Balaam’s prophecy; the miraculous budding of Aaron’s rod, &c. It gives likewise a distinct account of the several stages of journeyings through the wilderness. But the greatest part of this Book is spent in enumerating the several laws and ordinances, not mentioned in the preceding books; such as, the office and number of the Levites; the trial by the waters of jealousy; the rites to be observed by the Nazarites; the making of fringes on the borders of their garments; the law of inheritance; of vows; of the cities of refuge, &c.

The Book of Numbers comprehends the history of about thirty-eight years, though the most part of the things related in it fell out in the first and last of these years, and it does not appear when those things were done which are related in the middle of the Book.

NUMERALS. The designation of twelve priests, in the cathedral of Nola (inferior to the canons).—_Jebb._

NUNS. Those women who devote themselves, in a cloister or nunnery, to a religious life. (See _Monks_.)

There were women, in the ancient Christian Church, who made public and open profession of virginity, before the monastic life, or name, was known in the world; as appears from the writings of Cyprian and Tertullian. These, for distinction’s sake, are sometimes called ecclesiastical virgins, and were commonly enrolled in the canon or _matricula_ of the Church. They differed from the monastic virgins chiefly in this—that they lived privately in their fathers’ houses, whereas the others lived in communities. But their profession of virginity was not so strict as to make it criminal in them to marry afterwards, if they thought fit.

In the following ages, the censures of the Church began to be inflicted upon professed virgins who should marry; and these censures seem to have grown more severe, in proportion to the esteem and value Christians set upon celibacy and the monastic life. Yet there never was any decree for rescinding or making null such marriages.

Some canons allowed virgins to be consecrated at twenty-five years of age, and others at sixteen or seventeen; but time quickly showed, that neither of these terms were so conveniently fixed as they might be. Other canons, therefore, required virgins to be forty years old, before they were veiled, as may be seen in the Councils of Agde and Saragossa. And the imperial laws decreed, that, if any virgin was veiled before that age, either by the violence or hatred of her parents, (which was a case that often happened,) she was at liberty to marry. Hence appears a wide difference between the practice of the ancient Christian Church in this matter, and that of the modern Church of Rome.

As to the consecration of virgins, it had some things peculiar in it. It was usually performed publicly in the church by the bishop. The virgin made a public profession of her resolution, and then the bishop put upon her the accustomed habit of sacred virgins. One part of this habit was a veil, called the _sacrum velamen_; another was a kind of mitre, or coronet, worn on the head. In some places the custom of shaving professed virgins prevailed; as it did in the monasteries of Syria and Egypt, in St. Jerome’s time: but the Council of Gangra strongly condemned this practice, accounting that a woman’s hair was given her by GOD as a mark of subjection. Theodosius the Great added a civil sanction to this ecclesiastical decree: whence it appears that the tonsure of virgins was anciently no allowed custom of the Church, however it came to prevail in the contrary practice of later ages.

As the society of virgins was of great esteem in the Church, so they had some particular honours paid to them. Their persons were sacred, and severe laws were made against any that should presume to offer the least violence to them. The emperor Constantine charged his own revenues with the maintenance of them; and his mother Helena often entertained them and waited upon them at her own table. The Church gave them also a share of her own revenues, and assigned them an honourable station in the churches, whither the most noble and religious matrons used to resort with earnestness to receive their salutations and embraces.

The ancient names of these virgins were _Nonnæ_, _Moniales_, _Sanctimoniales_, and _Ascetriæ_. The term _Nonnæ_ (from whence our English word nuns) is, according to Hospinian, an Egyptian name signifying a virgin.

In the Romish Church, when a young woman is to be professed, that is, to be made a nun, the habit, veil, and ring of the candidate are carried to the altar, and she herself, accompanied by her nearest relations, is conducted to the bishop. Two ancient venerable matrons attend upon her as bridewomen. When the bishop has said mass, the archpriest chants an anthem, the subject of which is, that she ought to have her lamp lighted, because the bridegroom is coming to meet her. Then the bishop calls her in a kind of recitative, to which she answers in the same manner. Being come before the prelate, and on her knees, she attends to the exhortation he makes to her with regard to a religious life, and in the mean time the choir chants the Litanies. Then the bishop, having the crosier in his left hand, pronounces the benediction. She then rises up, and the bishop consecrates the new habit, sprinkling it with holy water. When the candidate has put on her religious habit, she again presents herself before the bishop, and sings on her knees, _Ancilla Christi sum_, &c., i. e. “I am the servant of CHRIST.” Then she receives the veil, and afterwards the ring, by which she is married to JESUS CHRIST; and, lastly, the crown of virginity. When she is crowned, an anathema is denounced against all who shall attempt to break her vows. After the communion, the prelate gives her up to the conduct of the abbess, saying to her: “Take care to preserve pure and spotless this young woman, whom GOD has consecrated,” &c.—_Broughton._

NUNC DIMITTIS. The first words in Latin of the Song of Simeon, “LORD, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,” appointed as one of the hymns to be used after the second lesson at even-song. It was used in this place in the most ancient times. It is found in the Apostolical Constitutions. And even at the present day this hymn is repeated at evening prayer in the patriarchate of Constantinople. The hymn occurs in the Latin office for compline, from which, and from the vesper service, our office of Evening Prayer was compiled.

After the second evening lesson out of the Epistles of the holy apostles, this hymn is most commonly used. The author of it is supposed to be that holy doctor whom the Jews call Simeon the Just, son of the famous Rabbi Hillel, a man of eminent integrity, and one who opposed the then common opinion of the Messiah’s temporal kingdom. The occasion of composing it was his meeting CHRIST in the temple when he came to be offered there, wherein GOD fulfilled his promise to him, that he should not die till he had seen the Messiah: taking JESUS therefore in his arms, inspired with joy and the HOLY GHOST, he sang this “Nunc dimittis:” and though we cannot see our SAVIOUR with our bodily eyes as he did, yet he is, by the writings of the apostles, daily presented to the eyes of our faith; and if we were as much concerned for heaven, and as loose from the love of this world, as old Simeon was, and as we ought to be, we might, upon the view of CHRIST in His holy word by faith, be daily ready to sing this hymn; which was indited by the SPIRIT, recorded in holy writ, and is adopted into the public service of all Christian Churches, Greek and Latin, Reformed and Roman, and used to be sung in extraordinary by divers saints and martyrs a little before their death.—_Dean Comber._

This hymn, called from the Latin beginning of it “Nunc dimittis,” expresses the gratitude of good old Simeon, “a just man and devout,” as we read in St. Luke ii. 25–32, “and waiting for the consolation of Israel; to whom it was revealed that he should not die till he had seen the LORD’S CHRIST.” Accordingly, “he came by the SPIRIT into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child JESUS, he took him up in his arms, (image to yourselves the scene, I beg you,) and blessed GOD, and said, LORD, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,” that is, in comfort, “according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared” to set “before the face of all people.” And the following sentence hath a strong appearance of being designed by the HOLY GHOST to intimate, (whether the speaker of it perceived the design or not,) that, contrary to the expected and natural order of things, CHRIST should first “be a light to lighten the Gentiles;” then, afterwards, “the glory of GOD’S people Israel.” To perceive the fitness of Simeon’s thanksgiving for our use, it needs only to be remembered, and ever should in repeating it, that we also “have seen the LORD’S salvation.” For though we have not yet beheld our SAVIOUR with our bodily eyes, to that of faith he is exhibited continually in the gospel history and sacraments: we may meet him in his Church; we may converse with him in our private meditations. And this we should think happiness enough for us here, whatever else we want or suffer; and be always prepared, and always willing, to “bless GOD,” and “depart in peace.”—_Abp. Secker._

This hymn comes very properly after the second lesson, which is always taken out of the New Testament, wherein is contained and delivered to us that gospel, the enjoyment and participation of which is the ground and foundation of the whole hymn. It should be added, that this hymn is addressed to GOD; and since it may be used as the personal address of every devout Christian, no one should repeat it after a careless manner; but consider to whom it is repeated, and utter the whole after a suitable manner.—_Dr. Bennet._

NUNCIO. An ambassador from the pope to some prince or state; or a person who attends on the pope’s behalf at a congress, or at an assembly of several ambassadors. A nuncio, in fact, is the pope’s ambassador, as the _internuncio_ is his envoy extraordinary. A nuncio has a jurisdiction, and may delegate judges in all the states where he resides, except in France, where he has no authority beyond that of a simple ambassador. Sometimes a nuncio is invested with the functions of a _legatus natus_. (See _Legate_.)

OATHS. “As we confess that vain and rash swearing is forbidden Christian men by our LORD JESUS CHRIST, and James his apostle, so we judge that the Christian religion doth not prohibit, but that a man may swear when the magistrate requireth, in a cause of faith and charity, so it be done according to the prophet’s teaching, in justice, judgment, and truth.”—_Article_ xxxix. The first oath mentioned in the Holy Scriptures is that of Abraham, Gen. xiv. 22, 23.

The _Oath of Allegiance_ is as follows:—“I, A. B., do sincerely promise and swear, that I will be faithful, and bear true allegiance, to her Majesty, Queen Victoria. So help me GOD.” This is taken by Protestant dissenting ministers, when licensed by the civil magistrates; as is also the following:

_Oath of Supremacy_:—“I, A. B., do swear, that I do from my heart abhor, detest, and abjure, as impious and heretical, that damnable doctrine and position, that princes excommunicated or deprived by the pope, or any authority of the see of Rome, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or any other whatsoever. And I do declare, that no foreign prince, person, prelate, state, or potentate, hath or ought to have any jurisdiction, power, pre-eminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within this realm. So help me GOD.”

OBADIAH, THE PROPHECY OF. A canonical book of the Old Testament. This prophecy is contained in one single chapter, and is partly an invective against the cruelty of the Edomites, who mocked and derided the children of Israel, as they passed into captivity, and, with other enemies their confederates, invaded and oppressed these poor strangers, and divided the spoil amongst them; and partly a prediction of the deliverance and salvation of Israel, and of the victory and triumph of the whole Church over her enemies.

The time when this prophecy was delivered is wholly uncertain. The Hebrews believe, that this prophet was the same with the governor of Ahab’s house, mentioned in the First Book of Kings, who hid and fed the hundred prophets, whom Jezebel would have destroyed. Some say he was that Obadiah whom Josiah made overseer of the works of the temple. But most writers make him contemporary with Hosea, Amos, and Joel.

OBIT. An office performed at funerals, when the corpse was in the church before it was buried; it afterwards came to be performed on the anniversary of the death of a benefactor. Thus, in many of our colleges, the obit or anniversary of the death of the founder is piously observed. (See _Commemoration_.) The _obiit Sundays_ (once a quarter) at St. George’s at Windsor, were celebrated formerly with great magnificence, and are to a certain degree still. In Kennet’s Register, p. 765, (as quoted in the Hiereugia Anglicana, p. 211,) there is the following notice. “1662, Sept. 10.—This day was published the service that is performed in the King’s Free Chapel of St. George, in the castle of Windsor, upon Obiit Sunday in the morning, (that is, the Sunday before every quarter day,) and at the offering up of the achievements of the deceased Knights of the Garter.

_The Rubric._ The service is the same that is appointed in the Book of Common Prayer, until you come to the Psalm for the day of the month, instead of which you have these proper Psalms, xxi., cxlvi., cxlvii. After the Psalm the junior canon upon the place cometh out of his stall with the verger before him, and readeth the lesson at the desk, which is taken out of the forty-fourth chapter of Ecclesiasticus. After the lesson Te Deum laudamus is sung. After the Te Deum is ended, they all depart out of the quire in the body of the church to sermon. After sermon is ended, the canons go to the altar, and the quire go to their stalls, and the communion service beginneth. The Epistle is taken out of the twenty-third chapter of Deuteronomy; the Gospel in the fifth of St. John, beginning at the twenty-fourth and ending at the thirtieth verse. After the sacrament (which is always on the Obiit Sunday) is ended, and the blessing given at the altar, the canons go to their stalls, and these following prayers are read:

_Priest._ O Lord, save the king.

Quire. _And mercifully hear us when we call upon thee._

_Collect._ O Lord, our heavenly Father and merciful Saviour, we praise and thank thee, O Lord, &c.

God save our gracious sovereign, and all the companions of the most honourable and noble Order of the Garter.

_Here endeth the obiit service._

The verse and response, O Lord, save the queen, &c., are used daily after the anthem in St. George’s Chapel.—_Jebb._

OBLATION. An offering to GOD.

In the office for the holy communion we pray GOD to “accept our alms and oblations.” The word _oblations_ was added to this prayer for the Church militant here on earth, at the same time that the rubric enjoined, that, if there be a communion, “the priest is then,” just before this prayer, “to place upon the table so much bread and wine as he shall think sufficient.” Hence it is clearly evident that by that word we are to understand the elements of bread and wine, which the priest is to offer solemnly to GOD, as an acknowledgment of his sovereignty over his creatures, and that from henceforth they may be peculiarly his. For in all the Jewish sacrifices, of which the people were partakers, the viands or materials of the feast were first made GOD’S by a solemn oblation, and then afterwards eaten by the communicants, not as man’s, but as GOD’S provision, who, by thus entertaining them at his own table, declared himself reconciled and again in covenant with them. And therefore our blessed SAVIOUR, when he instituted the sacrament of his body and blood, first gave thanks, and blessed the elements, i. e. offered them up to GOD as the Lord of the creatures, as the most ancient Fathers expound that passage; who for that reason, whenever they celebrated the eucharist, always offered the bread and wine for the communion to GOD upon the altar, by this or some such short ejaculation, “LORD, we offer thine own out of what thou hast bountifully given us.” After which they received them, as it were, from him again, in order to convert them into the sacred banquet of the body and blood of his dear SON. Consonant to this, in the First Common Prayer of King Edward VI., the priest was ordered in this place to set the bread and wine upon the altar. But at the second review, to conciliate the ultra-Protestants, this ancient usage appears to have been thrown out. It was however restored at the last review of the Prayer Book in the reign of Charles II., when it was ordered that the bread and wine should be placed solemnly on the table by the priest himself. Whence it appears that the placing of the elements upon the altar before the beginning of the morning service, by the hands of a lay-clerk or sexton, as is sometimes the irreverent practice, is a profane breach of the aforesaid rubric.—_Mede. Wheatly._

The English liturgy is not without a verbal oblation, which occurs at the beginning of the prayers and commemorations. After the elements have been placed on the table, and thus devoted to the service and honour of GOD, the priest prays to GOD thus: “We humbly beseech thee most mercifully to accept our alms and oblations, and to receive these our prayers, which we offer unto thy Divine Majesty.” Here three species of sacrifice or oblation are verbally offered: first, the “_alms_,” which St. Paul describes as a sacrifice well-pleasing to GOD; secondly, the “_oblations_,” namely, the creatures of bread and wine; thirdly, the “_prayers_,” which, according to St. John, are offered with incense on the heavenly altar, and of which the holy Fathers speak as a sacrifice and oblation to GOD.—_Palmer._

In a more extended sense of the word, we mean by _oblations_ whatever religious Christians offer to GOD and the Church, whether in lands or goods. It is probable that the example of St. Paul might incite the primitive Christians to offer these gifts to the Church; for he appointed every one of the Corinthians and Galatians to yield something to _God_ for the saints every LORD’S day: but this being thought too often, therefore Tertullian tells us it was afterwards done every month, and then _ad libitum_: but it was always the custom for communicants to offer something at receiving the sacrament, as well for holy uses, as for relief of the poor, which custom is, or ought to be, observed at this day.

In the first ages of the Church, those _deposita pietatis_, which are mentioned by Tertullian, were all voluntary oblations, and they were received in lieu of tithes; for the Christians at that time lived chiefly in cities, and gave out of their common stock, both to maintain the Church, and those who served at the altar.

But when their numbers increased, and they were spread abroad in the countries, then a more fixed maintenance was necessary for the clergy; but still oblations were made by the people, which, if in the mother Church, then the bishop had half, and the other was divided amongst the clergy; but if offered in a parish church, then the bishop had a third part, and no more.

These oblations, which at first were voluntary, became afterwards, by a continual payment, due by custom.

It is true there are canons which require every one who approaches the altar to make some oblation to it, as a thing convenient to be done.

And it is probable that, in obedience to the canons, it became customary for every man who made a will before the Reformation, to devise something to the high altar of the church where he lived, and something likewise to the mother church or cathedral; and those who were to be buried in the church usually gave something towards its reparations.

But at the great festivals all people were obliged to offer something, not only as convenient, but as a duty; but the proportion was left to the discretion of the giver; and we think, with great reason, for the bounty of the Christians in those ages was so great, that men would build churches on their own lands, on purpose that they might have an equal share of those oblations with the clergy.

And this might be the occasion that the emperors Constantine and Valentinian made laws to prohibit such excessive gifts, which in those days were kept in store-houses built for that very purpose.

But in succeeding ages there was little occasion for such laws, for the zeal of the people was so considerably abated, that, instead of those repositories, the clergy had little chests to contain those gifts, till at last they dwindled into so small a portion, that now, as a quaint writer observes, they can scarce be felt in the parson’s pocket.

We have the authority of Bishop Patrick to show that, in the prayer after the Offertory, the elements are specially intended by the word _oblations_. “We humbly beseech GOD,” he says, “to accept not only our alms, but also our oblations. These are things distinct; and the former, _alms_, signifying that which was given for the relief of the poor, the latter, _oblations_, can signify nothing else but (according to the style of the ancient Church) the bread and wine presented unto GOD.”—_Christian Sacrifice_, p. 77. But it is no less unquestionable, (adds a note in Stephens’s edition of the Common Prayer Book, vol. i. p. 1175,) that this term was also employed to signify money, intended for the maintenance of the clergy, for the service of God, for merciful works of the more spiritual kind, and that it sometimes even denotes the alms for relief of temporal necessities; and numerous authorities exist to prove that, ecclesiastically speaking, “oblations” were not to be confined to the sacred elements _exclusively_: although oblations are expressly distinguished from alms.

The ecclesiastical meanings of the word oblation may be illustrated from the coronation service of Queen Victoria. Her “first oblation” was a pall or altar cloth of gold, and an ingot of gold: the next a sword: and afterwards at the Offertory were two “oblations;” the first being _bread and wine_ for the communion, which were “by the archbishop received from the queen, (who was kneeling,) and reverently placed upon the altar, and decently covered with a fine linen cloth:” with a prayer, “Bless, O LORD, we beseech thee, these thy gifts, and sanctify them unto their holy use,” &c. “Then the queen, kneeling as before, makes her second oblation, a purse of gold;” and then follows a prayer to God “to receive _these oblations_.”