Chapter LIV: Act 46: , Parl. 3, Act 106, Parl. 7, Act 24, Parl. 11, King James VI., do (30)

OCTAVE. The octave is the _eighth day_ after any principal festival of the Church. In ancient times it was customary to observe these days with much devotion, including the whole period also from the festival to the octave. It was thought that the subject and occasion of these high festivals called for their being lengthened out in this manner; and the period of eight days was chosen because the Jews celebrated their greater feasts, some for seven days, and the feast of Tabernacles for eight days. Such Jewish institutions being only types and shadows, the Christians thought it fit not to have their commemorations of shorter duration.

In our Prayer Book we retain the observance of the octaves of Christmas, Easter, Ascension, and Whitsunday, by using, for seven days after each of these festivals, an appropriate “Preface,” in the Communion Service, if that sacrament is administered on any of these days. The preface for Whitsunday is, however, only to be used for _six_ days after, because the seventh (or octave of Whitsunday) would be Trinity Sunday, which has a preface of its own.

The first two days of the octaves of Easter and Whitsunday have special services, and in some cathedrals are observed with nearly the same solemnity as the festival itself. It appears by the _Pietas Londinensis_, published in 1714, that in the church of St. Dunstan in the West, the holy communion was administered on every day during the octaves of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide.—_Jebb._

OFFERING DAYS. “The four general offering days,” Bishop Cosin says, “in the Church of England enjoined by convocation in 1536, [ought to be 1537,] were Christmas Day, St. John Baptist’s Day, St. Michael’s Day, [Easter Day.] Which order is in some places still observed, and the king and queen in their chapel royal, or wherever they be at church on those days, never omit it, but arise from their seat and go in solemn manner to present their offering upon their knees at God’s altar. And then is read by the priest or bishop attending, the sentence here prescribed, 1 Cor. ix.”—_Jebb._

OFFERTORY. So called, because it is that part of the Communion Service in which the _offerings_ are made. The custom of making oblations at the communion is certainly apostolical, as appears from 1 Cor. xvi. 2: “On the first day of the week let every one lay by him in store as GOD hath prospered him.” Which custom continued down to the following ages, as appears from different passages in Justin Martyr, Tertullian, St. Cyprian, St. Ambrose, and other ancient writers. Out of those offerings, which were not always in money, but in bread, wine, corn, &c., were taken as much bread and wine as served for the celebration of the communion at the time; but if any persons were under public infamy, by reason of any ill actions by them committed, their offerings were not to be received. These offerings in the primitive times were so considerable, that they were divided into four portions; one for the relief of the poor; the second the bishop retained for his maintenance; the third was for the maintenance of the church and its ornaments; and the fourth for the clergy. The office of the Offertory was used in Walafrid Strabo’s time, who lived in the middle of the ninth century; and it was so long before his time, that he could not tell to whom to ascribe its original.—_Dr. Nicholls._

Formerly, Mr. Palmer observes, this anthem was probably sung in choirs. The sentences at the Offertory are set to varied melodies, in Marbeck’s book, according to the licence given in King Edward VI.’s First Book, either to sing or say them. This licence is withdrawn by the rubric as it now stands, so altered in King Edward’s Second Book, since the saying of the sentences by the priest is expressly enjoined. Of the old custom a vestige is preserved in the ceremony of the installation of Knights of the Garter, and formerly was at coronations.

OFFICIAL. The official is the person to whom cognisance of causes is committed by such as have an ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The official of an archdeacon stands in like relation to him as the chancellor does to the bishop.

OGEE. (_Ogive_, French.) An inflected curve; a curve formed of two segments of a circle, one struck from one side, and the other from the other side of the same right line. This curve occurs chiefly in mouldings, and is principally characteristic of the Decorated style; but it occurs in other styles also, and has several variations according to its place and date. The word is used in French as a generic term for pointed architecture.

OPHITÆ (from ὄφις, _a serpent_); also called _Serpentinians_. A ridiculous sort of heretics, who had for their leader a man called Euphrates. They entertained almost the same fantastic opinions that were holden by the other Egyptian Gnostics concerning the _æons_, the _eternal matter_, the _creation of the world_ in opposition to the will of GOD, the _rulers of the seven planets_ that presided over this world, the _tyranny of Demiurge_, and also concerning CHRIST united to the man JESUS, in order to destroy the empire of this usurper. But besides these, they maintained the following particular tenet (whence they received the name of _Ophites_): “That the _Serpent_ by which our first parents were deceived, was either CHRIST himself, or _Sophia_, [_Wisdom_,] concealed under the form of that animal;” and in consequence of this opinion they are said to have nourished a certain number of serpents, which they looked upon as sacred, and to which they offered a sort of worship, a subordinate kind of divine honours. There is some curious information about the Ophitæ in the lately discovered work of Hippolytus.

OPTION. An archbishop had the choice or option of any one dignity or benefice in the gift of every bishop consecrated or confirmed by him, which he may confer on his chaplain, or whom else he pleases. This was styled his _option_. The privilege has been relinquished by English archbishops since 1845, in consequence of a construction put on some words in the cathedral act (3 & 4 Vict. c. 113, sect. 42). “That it shall not be lawful for any spiritual person to sell or _assign_ any patronage or presentation belonging to him by virtue of any dignity or spiritual office held by him.”

Bishop Sherlock, on his appointment to the see of London in 1749, had a dispute with Archbishop Herring as to the right of option. A compromise took place: but the bishop printed a pamphlet on the subject in 1755. It never was published, and but 50 copies were printed.—_Heylin’s Life of Bishop Sherlock_, prefixed to his Works, vol. i. lx.

OPUS OPERATUM. An expression frequently occurring in discussions respecting the efficacy of the sacraments, &c., importing a necessary spiritual effect flowing from the outward administration, (from _the thing done_,) irrespective of the moral qualities of the recipient. This doctrine is alleged as one of the corruptions of the Church of Rome, and, if carried out, would obviously equalize, in a great measure, the benefits received by the worthy and the unworthy who approach the altar, and would justify the administration of baptism to the heathen, &c., not only on consent, but by the application of physical force.

In a certain sense it is unquestionably true, that all the appointed means of grace have an effect _ex opere operato_, inasmuch as the act itself, though inefficacious in its own nature, is an institution of GOD, and consecrated by him as an instrument not to be made void at the caprice of man. Thus, the preaching of the gospel is inevitably a savour of life or of death. The administration of baptism is invariably an admission into the Church. But that the use of an appointed ordinance goes beyond this, and results in all cases in a moral effect on the individual, and in the insuring of higher portions of Divine grace _ex necessitate_, is contrary to the views of the Church, the doctrine of Scripture, and the preservation of man’s free agency.

ORARIUM. (See _Stole_.)

ORATORIO. In Church music, a musical drama, of which the subject is always sacred, and intended to be performed in a church. The origin of this kind of spiritual and musical drama, which has now run into great excesses, is found in the plan of Filippo Neri, in the early part of the sixteenth century, to arrest the attention of those to whom he preached, by procuring the execution of pieces of sacred music of more than common interest before and after his sermon. This custom, which commenced in the congregation of the Oratory, (whence the name Oratorio,) was imitated by all the societies of the same foundation, and soon became so popular, that the best masters, both in composition and in execution, were found to take a part in it. The performance in the time of Filippo Neri himself was scarcely more than a cantata, but it soon after assumed a more perfectly dramatic form, being distributed between several persons, and accompanied with action and scenic representation, so as to present much of the character of a musical mystery. (See _Moralities_.) In this way many sacred subjects were performed, such as Job and his friends, the Good Samaritan, and the Prodigal Son.

_Oratorio_ derived its name from the Oratorio, or chapel in the church of St. Girolamo della Carita at Rome, where Filippo Neri’s confraternity assembles. (See _Priests of the Oratory_.)

In England, oratorios have been much used in our cathedrals. Among the most celebrated oratorios are _the Messiah_ of Handel, and _the Creation_ of Haydn.

ORATORY. A name given by Christians to certain places of religious worship.

In ecclesiastical antiquity, the term houses of prayer, or _oratories_, is frequently given to churches in general, of which there are innumerable instances in ancient Christian writers. But in some canons the name _oratory_ seems confined to private chapels, or places of worship set up for the convenience of private families, yet still depending on the parochial churches, and differing from them in this, that they were only places of prayer, but not for celebrating the communion; or, if that were at any time allowed to private families, yet, at least, upon great and solemn festivals, they were to resort for communion to the parish churches.—_Broughton._

ORATORY, PRIESTS OF THE. There are two congregations of monks, one in Italy, the other in France, which are called by this name.

The priests of the oratory in Italy had for their founder, Philip de Neri, a native of Florence, who, in the year 1548, founded at Rome the Confraternity of the Holy Trinity. This society originally consisted of but fifteen poor persons, who assembled in the church of St. Saviour _in campo_, every first Sunday in the month, to practise the exercises of piety prescribed by the holy founder. The pope gave leave to assemble in the church of St. Girolamo dell Carita, from the _Oratorio_ or chapel in which church they derived their name. Afterwards, their number increasing, by the addition to the society of several persons of distinction, Neri proceeded to establish an hospital for the reception of poor pilgrims, who, coming to Rome to visit the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul, were obliged, for want of a lodging, to lie in the streets, and at the doors of the churches. For this charitable purpose, Pope Paul IV. gave to the society the parochial church of St. Benedict, close by which church was built an hospital so large, that, in the Jubilee year, 1600, it received 44,500 men, and 25,500 women, who came in pilgrimage to Rome.

Philip Neri, besides this charitable foundation for pilgrims, held spiritual conferences at Rome, in a large chamber accommodated in the form of an oratory: in which he was assisted by the famous Baronius, author of the “Ecclesiastical Annals.” Here were delivered lectures of religion and morality, and the auditors were instructed in ecclesiastical history. The assembly always ended with prayers, and hymns to the glory of GOD; after which, the founder, and his companions, visited the churches and hospitals, and took care of the sick. And now it was that this religious society began to be called _Priests of the Oratory_.

In 1574, the Florentines at Rome, with the permission of Pope Gregory XIII., built a very spacious oratory, in which Neri continued his religious assemblies. The pope likewise gave him the parochial church of Vallicella, and, the same year, approved the constitutions he had drawn up for the government of his congregation, of which St. Philip himself was the first general.

This new institute soon made a great progress, and divers other establishments were made on the same model; particularly at Naples, Milan, Fermo, and Palermo. The founder having resigned the office of general, he was succeeded therein by Baronius, who was afterwards promoted to the dignity of a cardinal. Neri died the 25th of May, 1595, and was canonized in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV. After his death, this congregation made a further progress in Italy, and has produced several cardinals and eminent writers, as Baronius, Oderic Rainaldi, and others.

The priests of the Oratory in France were established upon the model of those in Italy, and owe their rise to Cardinal Berulle, a native of Champagne; who resolved upon this foundation, in order to revive the splendour of the ecclesiastical state, which was greatly sunk through the miseries of the civil wars, the increase of heresies, and a general corruption of manners. To this end he assembled a community of ecclesiastics, in 1611, in the suburb of St. James, where is at present the famous monastery of Val-de-Grace. They obtained the king’s letters patent for their establishment; and, in 1613, Pope Paul V. approved this congregation under the title of the Oratory of JESUS.

This congregation consisted of two sorts of persons; the one, as it were, incorporated, the other only associates. The former governed the houses of this institute; the latter were only employed in forming themselves to the life and manners of ecclesiastics. And this was the true spirit of this congregation, in which they taught neither human learning, nor theology, but only the virtues of the ecclesiastical life.

After the death of Cardinal Berulle, which happened the 2nd of October, 1629, the priests of the Oratory made a great progress in France and other countries. This order had eleven houses in the Low Countries, one at Liege, two in the county of Avignon, and one in Savoy, besides fifty-eight in France. The first house, which was, as it were, the mother of all the rest, was that of the street St. Honoré, at Paris, where the general resided. The priests of this congregation were not, properly speaking, monks, being obliged to no vows, and their institute being purely ecclesiastical or sacerdotal.—_Broughton._ The Oratorians have lately appeared in England.

ORDEAL. An appeal to the judgment of Almighty GOD, in criminal cases, when the innocence or guilt of the accused rested on insufficient evidence.

Among the Saxons and Normans, if any person was charged with theft, adultery, murder, treason, perjury, &c., in these cases, if the person neither pleaded guilty, nor could be convicted by legal evidence, it was either in the prosecutor’s or judge’s power to put him upon the ordeal; and provided he passed through this test unhurt, he was discharged; otherwise he was put into the hands of justice, to be punished as the law directed, in case he had been cast by the ordinary forms of prosecution. For we are to observe, that this trial by ordeal was not designed for the punishment of those in whose cases the ordinary forms had miscarried; the intention of it was rather to clear the truth, where it could not be otherwise discovered, and make way for the execution of the law.

There are several sorts of this inquiry; the trial was sometimes made by cold, and sometimes by scalding, water; sometimes by ploughshares, or bars of iron, heated burning hot; sometimes the accused purged their innocence by receiving the sacrament; and sometimes by eating a piece of barley bread called the corsned.

In the trial by cold water, the persons suspected were thrown naked into a pond, or river: if they sank they were acquitted, but if they floated upon the river without any swimming postures it was taken for an evidence of guilt.

When scalding water was the test, they were to plunge their arm in a tub, or kettle, to the elbow; if this was done without any signs of pain, or marks of scalding, the person was discharged; but if there was the least complaint under the operation, or any scar or impression to be seen, it was taken for proof against him. Slaves, peasants, and people of mean condition, were put upon this water ordeal.

Persons of figure and quality were generally tried by the burning iron. This ordeal had different circumstances in proportion to the crimes objected. If the person was only impeached for a single crime, the iron was to weigh but one pound: but if he was prosecuted upon several articles, the weight of the iron was to increase proportionably; and here the person impeached was either to hold a burning ball of iron in his hand, and move with it to a certain distance, or else to walk barefoot upon heated ploughshares, placed about a yard from each other. If after this trial his hands and feet were untouched, and he discovered no signs of feeling any pain, he was discharged by the court; but if the matter fell out otherwise, he was remitted to the punishment of the law.

Before the person accused was brought to the ordeal, he was obliged to swear his innocence, and sometimes receive the holy eucharist.

The Christians of this age had a strong reliance upon this way of trial, not in the least doubting but that GOD would suspend the force of nature, and clear the truth by a supernatural interposition. If we may believe the records of those times, we shall find that innocent persons were frequently rescued, in a surprising manner, perhaps by some skilful management on the part of the authorities aware of the fact.

To proceed to some of the preliminaries of the ordeal. After the charge was legally brought in, the person impeached was to spend three days in fasting and prayer. At the day of the trial, which was made in the church, the priest, appearing in the habit of his function, took up the iron which lay before the altar, and, repeating the hymn of the Three Children, put it into the fire. This being done, he proceeded to some forms of benediction over the fire and iron; after which, he sprinkled the iron with holy water, and made the sign of the cross in the name of the Blessed TRINITY: upon which the person accused passed through the test.

The ceremony of the scalding water ordeal was much the same. But when the trial was to be made by cold water, the three days’ fast and the other religious circumstances being premised, the person suspected drank a draught of holy water, to which the priest added an imprecation in case he was guilty: then the water, into which the presumed criminal was to be thrown, had a sort of exorcising form of prayer said over it; by which the element was, as it were, conjured, by the most solemn expressions, to detect the guilty and discover the truth.

The bread called the _corsned_ was another way of trial. The person prosecuted took an ounce of it fasting, or sometimes the same quantity in cheese, and sometimes the holy eucharist. Immediately before this was done, the priest read the Litany proper to the occasion, and proceeded to another prayer, in which he desired that GOD would please to bring the truth of the matter in question to light, and that the evil spirits might have no power to perplex the inquiry, and prevent the discovery; that if the person was guilty, the morsel might stick in his throat and find no passage; that his face might turn pale, his limbs be convulsed, and an horrible alteration appear in his whole body; but if innocent, he desired that which the party received might make its way easily into his stomach, and turn to health and nourishment.

Notwithstanding the commonness of this custom in England, and other parts of Christendom, it began to be disliked at last, and fell several times under the censure of the Church and State: thus Louis, and Lotharius his successor, emperors of Germany, positively forbade the ordeal by cold water. The trial likewise by scalding water, and burning iron, was condemned by Pope Stephen V. It is probable they might think it a rash way of proceeding, and a tempting of GOD; and that it was unreasonable to put innocence upon supernatural proof, and pronounce a man guilty, unless he had a miracle to acquit him. The first public discountenance of it from the State which we meet with in England, was in the third year of King Henry III. Most of the judges in their circuits received an order from the king and council not to put any person upon the trial ordeal, in regard it was prohibited by the court of Rome. This order of the king and council, Sir Edward Coke, as Sir Henry Spelman observes, mistakes for an act of parliament. It is true, as that learned antiquary goes on to say, at that time of day, a public regulation, passed in council, and sealed with the king’s seal, had the force of a law. It must, however, be said, this prohibition does not run to the judges of all the circuits; but, it may be, the rest of the justices might receive the same instructions another way. And though we meet with no express law afterwards to this purpose, yet this method of trial, standing condemned by the canons, languished by degrees, and at last grew quite out of practice.

ORDER. The rules or laws of a monastic institution; and afterwards, in a secondary sense, the several monastics living under the same rule or order. Thus the _Order of Clugni_ signifies literally the new rule of discipline prescribed by Odo to the Benedictines already assembled in the monastery of Clugni; but secondarily, and in the more popular sense, the great body of monastic institutions, wherever established, which voluntarily subjected themselves to the same rule.

ORDERS, HOLY. (See _Bishop_, _Clergy_, _Deacon_, _Ordinal_, _Ordination_, _Presbyter_, _Priest_.) “It is evident unto all men diligently reading the Holy Scriptures and ancient authors, that from the apostles’ time there have been these orders of ministers in CHRIST’S Church; bishops, priests, and deacons. Which offices were evermore had in such reverent estimation, that no man might presume to execute any of them except he were first called, tried, examined, and known to have such qualities as are requisite for the same; and also by public prayer, with imposition of hands, were approved and admitted thereunto by lawful authority. And therefore, to the intent that these orders might be continued and reverently used and esteemed, in the united Church of England and Ireland, no man shall be accounted or taken to be a bishop, priest, or deacon in the united Church of England or Ireland, or suffered to execute any of the said functions, except he be called, tried, examined, and admitted thereunto, according to the form hereafter following, or hath _had formerly episcopal consecration or ordination_.”—_Preface to the English Ordinal._

As it is here said, in the ancient Church these three orders of ministry, as established by CHRIST and his apostles, universally prevailed. But, besides the bishops, priests, and deacons, there were, in most of the Churches, other ecclesiastical persons of inferior rank, who were allowed to take part in the ministrations of religion. These constituted what are called the _inferior orders_, and in some of the ancient canons they have the name of “clergy.”

There is this great difference between the three holy orders and the others, that the former are everywhere mentioned as those degrees of men whose ministrations were known and distinguished, and without which no Church was looked upon as complete; but to show that the inferior orders were never thought to be necessary in the same degree, let it be considered, that different Churches, or the same Church in different ages, had more or fewer of the inferior orders. In some were only _readers_; in others, _subdeacons_, _exorcists_, _and acolyths_. The Apostolic Canons mention only _subdeacons_, _readers_, _and singers_. The Laodicean enumerate these, and also _exorcists and ostiaries_. But while there was no standing rule respecting these merely ecclesiastical orders, the three essential grades of the ministry were found in all parts of the Church.

In the Church of England, the following are the regulations respecting admission to Holy Orders observed in the various dioceses, as given in Hodgson’s “Instructions.”

Persons desirous of being admitted as candidates for deacon’s orders, are recommended to make a written application to the bishop,[10] six months before the time of ordination, stating their age, college, academical degree, and the usual place of their residence; together with the names of any persons of respectability to whom they are best known, and to whom the bishop may apply, if he thinks fit, for further information concerning them.

The following six papers are to be sent by a candidate for deacon’s orders, to the bishop in whose diocese the curacy which is to serve as a title is situate, three weeks before the day of ordination, or at such other time as the bishop shall appoint; and in due time he will be informed by the bishop’s secretary when and where to attend for examination.

1. Letters testimonial from his college; and in case the candidate shall have quitted college, he must also present letters testimonial for the period elapsed since he quitted college, in the following form, signed by three beneficed clergymen, and countersigned by the bishop of the diocese in which their benefices are respectively situate, if they are not beneficed in the diocese of the bishop to whom the candidate applies for ordination.

2. Form of letters testimonial for orders.

“To the [11]Right Reverend ——, by Divine permission Lord Bishop of ——
[_the bishop in whose diocese the curacy conferring the title is
situate_].

Whereas our beloved in Christ, A. B., bachelor of arts, (_or other degree_,) of —— college, in the university of ——, hath declared to us his intention of offering himself as a candidate for the sacred office of a deacon, and for that end hath requested of us letters testimonial of his good life and conversation; we therefore, whose names are hereunto subscribed, do testify that the said A. B. hath been personally known to us for the space of[12]—— last past; that we have had opportunities of observing his conduct; that during the whole of that time we verily believe that he lived piously, soberly, and honestly; nor have we at any time heard anything to the contrary thereof; nor hath he at any time, as far as we know or believe, held, written, or taught anything contrary to the doctrine or discipline of the united Church of England and Ireland; and, moreover, we believe him, in our consciences, to be, as to his moral conduct, a person worthy to be admitted to the sacred order of deacons.

In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names, this —— day
of ——, in the year of our Lord 18—.

[13]C. D. rector of ——.
E. F. vicar of ——.
G. H. rector of ——.”

[_Countersignature._]

3. Form of notice or “Si quis,” and of the certificate of the same
having been published in the church of the parish where the
candidate usually resides, to be presented by the candidate if he
shall have quitted college.

“Notice is hereby given, that A. B., bachelor of arts, (_or other degree_,) of —— college, Oxford, [_or_ Cambridge,] and now resident in this parish, intends to offer himself a candidate for the holy office of a deacon, at the ensuing ordination of the Lord Bishop of ——;[14] and if any person knows any just cause or impediment for which he ought not to be admitted into holy orders, he is now to declare the same, or to signify the same forthwith to the Lord Bishop of ——.

We do hereby certify, that the above notice was publicly read by the undersigned C. D., in the parish church of ——, in the county of ——, during the time of Divine service on Sunday the —— day of last [_or_ instant], and no impediment was alleged.

Witness our hands this —— day of ——, in the year of our Lord 18—.

C. D. officiating minister.
E. F. churchwarden.”

4. Certificate from the divinity professor in the university, that the candidate has duly attended his lectures. Also a certificate from any other professor whose lectures the candidate may have been directed by the bishop to attend.

5. Certificate of the candidate’s baptism, from the register book of the parish where he was baptized, duly signed, by the officiating minister, to show that he has completed his age of twenty-three years; and in case he shall have attained that age, but cannot produce a certificate of his baptism, then his father or mother, or other competent person, must make a declaration, before a justice of the peace, of the actual time of his birth: and here it may be necessary to remark, that by an act of the 44 Geo. III. c. 43, intituled “An Act to enforce the due observance of the canons and rubric respecting the ages of persons to be admitted into the sacred order of deacon and priest,” it is enacted, that thenceforth no person shall be admitted a deacon before he shall have attained the age of three and twenty years complete; and that no person shall be admitted a priest before he shall have attained the age of four and twenty years complete: and that if a person shall be admitted a deacon before he shall have attained the age of twenty-three years complete, or a priest before he shall have attained the age of twenty-four years complete, such admission shall be void in law; and the person so admitted shall be incapable of holding any ecclesiastical preferment.

6. The form of a nomination to serve as a title for orders, if the
incumbent is non-resident.

To the Right Reverend ——, Lord Bishop of ——.

These are to certify your lordship, that I, C. D., rector [_or_ vicar, &c.] of ——, in the county of ——, and your lordship’s diocese of ——, do hereby nominate A. B., bachelor of arts, (_or other degree_,) of —— college in the university of ——, to perform the office of curate in my church of —— aforesaid; and do promise to allow him the yearly stipend of —— pounds, to be paid by equal quarterly payments, [_as to amount of stipend, see title “Stipends payable to Curates,”_] with the surplice fees, amounting on an average to —— pounds per annum, (_if they are intended to be allowed_,) and the use of the glebe-house, garden, and offices, which he is to occupy (_if that be the fact; if not, state the reason, and name where and what distance[15] from the church the curate purposes to reside_): and I do hereby state to your lordship, that the said A. B. does not intend to serve, as curate, in any other parish, nor to officiate in any other church or chapel (_if such be the fact, otherwise state the real fact_); that the net annual value of my said benefice, estimated according to the act of parliament 1 & 2 Victoria, c. 106, sects. 8 and 10, is —— pounds, and the population thereof, according to the latest returns of population made under the authority of parliament, is ——. That there is only one church belonging to my said benefice (_if there be another church or chapel, state the fact_); and that I was admitted to the said benefice on the —— day of —— 18—.[16] “And I do hereby promise and engage with your lordship and the said A. B., that I will continue to employ the said A. B., in the office of curate in my said church, until he shall be otherwise provided of some ecclesiastical preferment, unless, for any fault by him committed, he shall be lawfully removed from the same; and I hereby solemnly declare that I do not fraudulently give this certificate, to entitle the said A. B. to receive holy orders, but with a real intention to employ him in my said church, according to what is before expressed.”

Witness my hand this —— day of ——, in the year of our Lord 18—.

[_Signature and address of_] C. D.

_Declaration [to be written at the foot of the Nomination]._

“We the before-named C. D. and A. B. do declare to the said Lord Bishop of ——, as follows; namely, I the said C. D. do declare that I _bonâ fide_ intend to pay, and I the said A. B. do declare that I _bonâ fide_ intend to receive, the whole actual stipend mentioned in the foregoing nomination and statement, without any abatement in respect of rent or consideration for the use of the glebe-house, garden, and offices thereby agreed to be assigned, and without any other deduction or reservation whatsoever.

Witness our hands this —— day of ——, 18—.

[_Signatures of_] C. D.
A. B.”

6. (_a_) The form of nomination to serve as a title for orders, if the
incumbent is resident.

The same form as No. 6, so far as “quarterly payments;” then proceed as follows:—And I do hereby state to your lordship, that the said A. B. intends to reside in the said parish, in a house [_describe its situation, so as clearly to identify it_], distant from my church —— mile [_if_ A. B. _does not intend to reside in the parish, then state at what place he intends to reside, and its distance from the said church_]; that the said A. B. does not intend to serve, as curate, any other parish, nor to officiate in any other church or chapel (_if such be the fact, otherwise state the real fact_); and I do hereby promise and engage with your lordship, and so on [_in the same form as No. 6, to the end_].

Witness my hand this —— day of ——, 18—.
[_Signature and address of_] C. D.

The declaration to be written at the foot of the nomination is to be in the same form as No. 6, so far as the word “statement,” after which proceed as follows:—“Without any deduction or reservation whatsoever.

Witness our hands this —— day of ——, 18—.

[_Signatures of_] C. D.
A. B.”

It is proper to observe, that the following declaration is to be subscribed previous to ordination, in the bishop’s presence, by all persons who are to be ordained:—

“I, A. B., do willingly, and from my heart, subscribe to the thirty-nine articles of religion of the united Church of England and Ireland, and to the three articles in the thirty-sixth canon; and to all things therein contained.”

N. B.—The following are the three articles referred to:

“1. That the Queen’s majesty, under GOD, is the only supreme governor of this realm, and of all other her highness’s dominions and countries, as well in all spiritual or ecclesiastical things or causes, as temporal; and that no foreign prince, person, prelate, state, or potentate hath, or ought to have, any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-eminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within her majesty’s said realms, dominions, and countries.

“2. That the Book of Common Prayer, and of ordering of bishops, priests, and deacons, containeth in it nothing contrary to the word of GOD, and that it may lawfully so be used; and that he himself will use the form in the said book prescribed, in public prayer and administration of the sacraments, and none other.

“3. That he alloweth the book of articles of religion, agreed upon by the archbishops and bishops of both provinces and the whole clergy, in the convocation holden at London, in the year of our LORD one thousand five hundred sixty and two; and that he acknowledgeth all and every the articles therein contained, being in number nine and thirty, besides the ratification, to be agreeable to the word of GOD.”

_Oaths to be taken by those who are to be ordained, at the time of Ordination._

THE OATH OF ALLEGIANCE.

“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.”

THE 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, superiority, pre-eminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, within this realm. So help me GOD.”

The act of parliament 59 Geo. III. c. 60, contains directions for the use and guidance of candidates for orders who are to officiate as clergymen in the colonies, or for her Majesty’s foreign possessions.

_Instructions as to Priest’s orders._[17]

The following papers are to be sent by a candidate for priest’s orders to the bishop, three weeks before the day of ordination, or at such other time as the bishop shall appoint, and in due time he will be informed by the bishop’s secretary when and where to attend for examination.

Where a candidate applies for priest’s orders to the same bishop who ordained him deacon, the papers 1 and 2 only are required.

1. Letters testimonial of his sound doctrine, good life, and behaviour, for the time elapsed since he was ordained deacon, signed by three beneficed clergymen, and countersigned by the bishop of the diocese in which their benefices are respectively situate, if not beneficed in the diocese of the bishop to whom the candidate applies for ordination. (See _Form of Testimonial, in Instructions as to Deacon’s Orders, No. 2_.)

2. Notice, or “Si quis,” and certificate of the publication thereof. (See _Form thereof, in the Instructions as to Deacon’s Orders, No. 3_.)

In case the candidate was ordained deacon by the bishop of another diocese, he must produce not only the papers, Nos. 1 and 2, but also the following papers, Nos. 3, 4, and 5.

As it is not common for a deacon to be ordained priest by any other than the bishop who admitted him to deacon’s orders, a candidate applying to the bishop of another diocese must, in the first instance, state to him the particular circumstances which occasion the application, the curacy which he served, and for what period.

3. Letters of deacon’s orders.

4. A certificate of baptism.

5. Nomination, if not already licensed.

The same subscriptions and oaths are made and taken by candidates for priest’s orders, as by candidates for deacon’s orders.

With respect to foreign Protestants, Palmer observes: “We are not bound to condemn Presbyterian orders in every case: for instance, the appointment of ministers by the Protestants in Germany during the Reformation, was most probably _invalid_; and yet, considering their difficulties, the fact of their appeal to a general council, their expectation of reunion with the Church, and therefore the impossibility of establishing a rival hierarchy, I think we are not bound to condemn their appointments of ministers, as many learned and orthodox writers have done; who, however, seem not to have observed the peculiarities of their position, and to have supposed that they were at once definitively separated from the Roman churches. Certain differences of opinion, then, in reference to the question of Presbyterian ordinations, may exist without any material inconvenience.

“That ordinations by mere presbyters are, (however _excusable_ under circumstances of great difficulty,) in fact, _unauthorized and invalid_, is the more usual sentiment of theologians, and is most accordant with Scripture, and with the practice of the Catholic Church in general, and of our Churches in particular, which do not recognise any such ordinations.”

ORDERS OF MONKS. The several orders of monks are distinguished in this manner by their habits. The White Friars are canons regular of the order of St. Augustine. Grey Friars are Cistercian monks, who changed their black habit into a grey one. The Black Friars are Benedictines.

ORDINAL. The Ordinal is that book which contains the forms observed in the Church for making, ordaining, and consecrating, bishops, priests, and deacons. In the liturgy established in the second year of King Edward VI., there was also a form of consecrating and ordaining of bishops, priests, and deacons, not much differing from the present form. Afterwards, by the 3 & 4 Edward VI. c. 10, it was enacted that all books heretofore used for the service of the Church, other than such as shall be set forth by the king’s majesty, shall be clearly abolished (s. 1). And by the 5 & 6 Edward VI. c. 1, it is thus enacted: The king, with the assent of the lords and commons in parliament, has annexed the Book of Common Prayer to this present statute, adding also a form and manner of making and consecrating of archbishops, bishops, priests, and deacons, to be of like force and authority as the Book of Common Prayer. And, by Art. 36: “The book of consecration of archbishops and bishops, and ordering of priests and deacons, lately set forth in the time of Edward VI., and confirmed at the same time by authority of parliament, doth contain all things necessary to such consecration and ordering; neither hath it anything that of itself is superstitious and ungodly. And therefore whosoever are consecrated or ordered according to the rites of that book, since the second year of the forenamed King Edward unto this time, or hereafter shall be consecrated or ordered according to the same rites, we declare all such to be rightly ordered, and lawfully consecrated and ordered.” And by Canon 8: “Whosoever shall affirm or teach, that the form and manner of making and consecrating bishops, priests, and deacons, containeth anything that is repugnant to the word of GOD; or that they who are made bishops, priests, and deacons, in that form, are not lawfully made, nor ought to be accounted either by themselves or others to be truly either bishops, priests, or deacons, until they have some other calling to those Divine offices, let him be excommunicated, _ipso facto_, not to be restored until he repent and publicly revoke such his wicked errors.”

The form in which orders are conferred in our Church is this: “The bishop, with the priests present, shall lay their hands severally upon the head of every one that receiveth the order of priesthood; the receivers humbly kneeling, and the bishop saying, ‘Receive the HOLY GHOST for the office and work of a priest, in the Church of GOD, _now committed unto thee_ by the imposition of our hands. Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained. And be thou a faithful dispenser of the word of GOD, and of his holy sacraments: in the name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY GHOST.’” In the office for the ordering of deacons, the bishop lays on his hands, but does not use the words, “Receive the HOLY GHOST,” &c., or grant authority to forgive or retain sins. In the office for the consecration of bishops, the form is thus: “Then the archbishop and bishops present shall lay their hands upon the head of the elected bishop, kneeling before them on his knees, the archbishop saying, ‘Receive the HOLY GHOST for the office and work of a bishop in the Church of GOD, now committed unto thee by the laying on of our hands, in the name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY GHOST. Amen. And remember that thou stir up _the grace of_ GOD _which is given thee_ BY _the imposition of our hands_, for GOD hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and soberness.’”

Several Protestant dissenting communities have taken it upon themselves to lay on hands when a person is elected to the dissenting ministry; but none, that we are aware of, have ever assumed the solemn office of thus conferring the grace of GOD by the imposition of human hands, which would clearly be blasphemous, except there existed a commission from GOD to do so, which commission, without the apostolical succession, cannot be proved, unless by miracle. This form has given great offence to many conscientious ultra-Protestants. Attempts are sometimes made to explain the words away; but such explanations have been seldom found satisfactory, except to those whose interest it is to be satisfied. It is evident that they are to be understood simply, clearly, unequivocally, to express that the grace of GOD is given by the imposition of the bishop’s hands; and that if we speak of this as superstitious or ungodly, we are, as may be seen from the 36th Article and the 8th Canon, under the anathema of our Church. On the other hand, the comfort is indescribably great to those who believe that grace ministerial is thus conveyed in attending the ministry of the Church; the efficacy of the ministrations of whose ministers depends not on the merit or talent of the individual, but on the grace of GOD, of which he is the authorized, though unworthy, dispenser.

ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH. Rites ordained by GOD to be means of grace, such as, 1. Baptism (Matt. xxviii. 19); 2. The LORD’S supper (Matt. xxvi. 26; 1 Cor. xi. 24, &c.); 3. Preaching and reading the word (Mark xvi. 15; Rom. x. 15); 4. Hearing the gospel (Mark iv. 24; Rom. x. 17); 5. Public and private prayer (1 Cor. xiv. 15, 19; Matt. vi. 6; Ps. v. 1, 7); 6. Singing of psalms (Col. iii. 16; Eph. v. 19); 7. Fasting (Matt. ix. 15; Joel ii. 12); 8. Solemn thanksgiving (Ps. ix. 14; 1 Thess. v. 18). See _Rites_.

ORDINARY. The person who has ecclesiastical jurisdiction, as of course and of common right, in opposition to persons who are extraordinarily appointed. In some acts of parliament we find the bishop called ordinary, and so he is taken at the common law, as having ordinary jurisdiction in causes ecclesiastical; albeit, in a more general acceptation, the word _Ordinary_ signifies any judge authorized to take cognizance of causes in his own proper right, as he is a magistrate, and not by way of deputation or delegation.

ORDINATION. (See _Orders_.) The apostles appointed bishops, priests, and deacons, to be the standing guides and governors of the Church; and because there should be a succession of them continued in all ages, for the peace and preservation of those churches which they had planted, therefore it is necessary that there should be a power lodged somewhere, to set apart some distinct orders of men to those public offices, and this is called ordination. Many dissenting sects hold it necessary that there should be such a power, but they dispute where it is. Some affirm that a man ought not to take upon him the ministry without a lawful call, which is very true. They likewise agree that ordination ought to be continued, and they define it to be a solemn setting apart of some person to a church office; but they say it is only to be done by preaching presbyters, and that those who are not set apart themselves for the work of the ministry, have no power to join in setting apart others for that purpose; and this form of ordination was proposed to the parliament, in the year 1643, by an assembly of those persons, in order to be ratified. There is another sort of people who hold that where there are no such preaching presbyters, in such case, other persons, sufficiently qualified and approved for their gifts and graces by other ministers, being chosen by the people, and set apart for the ministry, by prayer and fasting in the congregation, may exercise that office, so that some place the power of ordination in simple presbyters, and others in the people. There are others who maintain that ordination is not to be justified by Scripture, and that the word itself signifies a lifting up of hands, and is used in Scripture for giving a vote, which in all popular assemblies is customary even at this day: from whence they infer that the Christian churches were at first democratical, that is, the whole congregation chose their pastor; and that by virtue of such choice he did not pretend to any peculiar jurisdiction distinct from others, but he was only approved by the congregation for his parts, and appointed to instruct the people, to visit the sick, and to perform all other offices of a minister, and at other times he followed his trade; and that the Christians in those days had no notion how a pastor could pretend to any succession to qualify him for the ministry, for that the pretence of dispensing divine things by a mere human constitution was such an absurdity that it could not be reconciled to reason.

This and many more such calumnies were cast on ordination, and the bishops themselves were called ordination-mongers; but it was by those who alleged that the purity of the Christian religion, and the good and orderly government of the world, had been much better provided for without any clergy. But we will show from Scripture, from antiquity, and from the concurrent testimony of the Fathers, that bishops had, and ought to have, the power of ordination.

When our SAVIOUR established the Christian Church, he made his apostles governors thereof, and vested them with a power to ordain others to the ministry; and, accordingly, they ordained the seven deacons, and consecrated St. James bishop of Jerusalem, and he ordained presbyters of that church. That Timothy, as soon as he was made bishop of Ephesus by the great apostle of the Gentiles, but not before, had this power of ordination, is allowed by St. Chrysostom himself, who magnified the power of presbyters more than any of the Fathers; and he proves it thus, viz. because St. Paul gave Timothy a caution, not to admit any one rashly to an ecclesiastical office. It is true he likewise bid him not to despise the gift which was given to him by prophecy, with laying on of the hands of the company of elders; but he could not mean by those words an assembly of ordinary presbyters, for as such they could not have conferred any extraordinary commission, especially upon Timothy, because he was, at that very time, a bishop, and ordained by St. Paul himself. He had a jurisdiction over all the presbyters of Asia; for he had power given him by that apostle to inquire into their conversation and abilities, and then to admit them into that holy office, if he found them qualified, and not otherwise. Titus had the same power throughout that populous island of Crete; and these things are so plain, that they must deny the authority of the Scriptures, who deny the power of ordination to be originally in bishops: and therefore they have invented a senseless objection, viz. that though Timothy and Titus were superior to presbyters, yet their power was but temporary; for they were chosen by the apostles at that time, upon a particular occasion, to preside in the assemblies of presbyters, to moderate the affairs of those churches, which power was to determine at the expiration of their commission. But this cannot be proved by history, or any records. It is a mere invention, contrived to make a party between those two distinct orders of men; and it can have no foundation in Scripture, from the promiscuous use of the words bishop and presbyter: for though it is true that the last is used to show the humility of a bishop, yet it is as true that the word apostle is likewise used to show his superiority. So that, in the primitive times, bishops ordained as bishops, and not as presbyters; for in those days, as it has been already observed, bishops and presbyters were accounted distinct in order, whatever has of late years been advanced to the contrary. Therefore, the objection that a bishop and presbyter were neither distinct in order or office; that though the apostles, and those who immediately succeeded them, exercised a large jurisdiction, yet it was granted to them by our SAVIOUR as they were apostles, and did in no wise concern their successors, to whom he gave no such authority, nor any manner of superiority over their fellow presbyters,—these, and such like, are doctrines which neither agree with the Scripture, nor with the Fathers; they are contrary to the plain and constant usage in the Church for 1600 years, during all which time all Christian churches were governed by bishops.