Chapter XV: The Service of Prayer

III. The Litany.

Origin of Litanies. Some of the Offices of Holy Communion--especially in the East--have had a portion after the Gospel very similar to what we call a Litany. Thus in the Liturgy (i.e. Holy Communion Office) of S. James, the Deacon says _The Universal Collect_, consisting of fifteen suffrages (see Appendix F), each ending with, _Let us beseech the Lord_: and the Response of the people is, _Lord have mercy_, which is said thrice at the end of the petitions. Similar to this is _the Prayer of Intense Supplication_, in the Liturgy of S. Chrysostom. Cf. also the modern Liturgy of Constantinople.

We should expect to find the further development of Litanies, in Churches where the Eastern influence was felt; it is therefore no surprise to us, that the history of them next takes us to the Churches of Southern France. "The South of Gaul had been colonized originally from the Eastern shores of the Aegaean. Its Christianity came from the same regions as its colonization. The Church of Gaul was the {154} spiritual daughter of the Church of proconsular Asia[1]."

Pothinus, Bp of Lyons and Vienne, had come probably from Asia Minor. When, at the age of more than 90, he was martyred (A.D. 177), his successor as Bishop was Irenaeus, who received part of his early education in Asia Minor from Polycarp, a disciple of S. John the Evangelist. Other martyrs, at Vienne and Lyons, in that year (A.D. 177), had come from Asia Minor. A map will show that Vienne is about 16 miles south of Lyons. Thus from the first days of the Church in France, a close connection existed between it and the Church in Asia Minor.

About A.D. 467[2], Mamertus, Archbishop of Vienne, ordered Litanies to be said in procession on the three days before Ascension Day; being moved thereto by a succession of calamities--earthquake, war, wild beasts invading the city itself--followed shortly by the destruction of the royal palace in Vienne by lightning. The practice spread to neighbouring dioceses, and was confirmed by the Council of Orleans (A.D. 511). The three days before Ascension Day are thence called 'Rogation Days'; and processions for purposes of prayer are called Rogations, or Litanies.

The Rogation Litanies were not adopted at Rome {155} until the time of Leo III. (795-816): but in a time of pestilence at Rome, Gregory the Great, A.D. 590, instituted the Sevenfold Litany of S. Mark's Day.

Gregory the Great has been called the Apostle of the English, because he intended to come as a missionary to convert the English; and, when prevented from so doing by his election as Bishop of Rome, sent Augustine in his stead A.D. 596. The yearly Synod of the English Church was appointed in 673 to be held at Cloveshoo--a place probably near London but in the kingdom of Mercia. In 747 at a great council held at Cloveshoo, March 12 was appointed as S. Gregory's Day; May 26 as the day of S. Augustine Archbishop of Canterbury[3]; and Gregory's Sevenfold Litany, together with the Rogation Services, was sanctioned for use in England, with a phrase which implies that custom had already introduced them.

The 2nd Book of Homilies (1562. See Art. xxxv). contains a Homily for Rogation Week in four parts--three of which appear to be designed for the three Rogation Days, and the fourth for The Perambulation of the Parish, or Beating of the Bounds--a custom which has survived into our own time. The parishioners walked along the outline of the parish, taking {156} care that at least one of them passed through any obstruction which was built, or erected, across the boundary. Thus, if a cottage were so built, a boy would be passed though the door and window of it. Trees at corners were marked with a hatchet: a note book was preserved as a guide for the next perambulation. From this useful and ancient ceremony, Rogation Days were called by the Anglo-Saxons Béddagas=Prayer-days, or Gang-dagas=perambulation-days. Boundary stones, dated May 4, 1837, are to be seen in the thickets of Buckland Woods, Devon, showing that Ascension Day was chosen in that year for the perambulation of Ashburton. More recently the perambulation of Exeter has been performed on Ascension Day. The steps by which the religious dedication of the year's work, at each centre of agricultural industry, passed into a municipal ceremony accompanied by social amenities, may be conjectured. It was still a religious service--partly in the church and partly in the fields, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, and much later.

Litanies, however, have ceased to be processions. They are not said walking, but kneeling. The Litany is to be said at some different place from the Morning Prayer: for, in the Commination it is ordered, that part shall be said by the Minister in the Reading Pew, or Pulpit, and the rest "in the place where they are accustomed to say the Litany." Since this recognises an accustomed place, the kneeling desk or fald-stool[4], placed "in front of the chancel door," or "in {157} the midst of the Church" (Injunctions of Edw. VI.), appears to be intended.

For the order to kneel to say the Litany, we must refer back to the rubric at the head of the Collects in Morning Prayer, where the words, _all kneeling_, were added in 1662 (see p. 130).

The place of the Faldstool may have been suggested by Joel ii. 17, _Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar_.

Structure of the Litany.

The Litany is a series of prayers addressed mainly to God the Son. It has two breaks, or interruptions, which consist of prayers addressed to God the Father. Thus there are five sections.

Section i. from the beginning, to _O Christ, hear us_.

Thirty petitions to Jesus under the title _Good Lord_, with invocation of Holy Trinity at the beginning, and urgent entreaty at the end.

Section ii. from _Lord, have mercy upon us_, to _world without end_. Amen.

Earnest appeal to the Father, with _Lesser Litany_ as preface to the Lord's Prayer.

Section iii. _From our enemies_, to _O Lord Christ_.

Eight Antiphonal prayers to Christ.

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Section iv. _O Lord, let thy mercy_, to end of occasional prayers and thanksgivings.

One fixed, and other variable, prayers for urgent needs.

Section v. The Prayer of S. Chrysostom, addressed to Christ, and the Benediction 2 Cor. xiii.

NOTES.

i. The Invocation of the Holy Trinity in the 1st Section is very full, and should be compared with the Invocation which is used in Section ii. as a preface to the Lord's Prayer.

The words, _Good Lord_, are spoken to Jesus: as we may easily infer from the words, _whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood_; and from, _By the mystery of thy holy Incarnation, By thine Agony and bloody Sweat_ &c. _Son of God, O Lamb of God, O Christ_.

ii. The Lesser Litany is to be repeated, verse by verse, by the congregation; copying, in this respect, the setting of the Invocation at the beginning of Section i. The beginning of the Section being thus marked, the end of it is marked by the _Gloria Patri_.

iii. We shall show that these eight verses are probably intended for Antiphonal singing.

iii. and iv. The Sarum Litany had here 10 couplets of versicles and seven collects. Of these seven collects we may mention, _O God, whose nature and property_ &c., _the Prayer for Clergy and People_, and the 2nd Evening Collect, _O God, from whom_ &c.

The substitution of the two sections, as they now stand, may be quoted as an example of the improvements which were effected in the Revision period.

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iv. The 4th Section includes various prayers of the _Amen_ form. The first of these may be known as the Collect of Complete Confidence. It is made up of two older prayers, and the couplet which precedes it expresses each of those two older prayers in a brief sentence. Thus the couplet anticipates the Collect. [See also p. 128.]

The other prayers of this Section usually have equivalents in the first Section. The repetition is made because of some urgency due to the circumstances of the time. Thus, we have prayed for the Clergy already, but in Ember Weeks we add, in the 4th Section, a Collect for the Candidates for Ordination. Or again, we have prayed for sick people, but at this point we may add a Collect for the time of any common Plague or Sickness. Similarly, we have prayed for the preservation of the fruits of the Earth, but may add a prayer here for Rain, or Fair weather, or for cheapness and plenty.

Section i. Our cry to Christ.

The distinguishing feature of the Litany is that it uses a worship-form which is not used elsewhere in the Prayer Book. The Minister dictates briefly the subject of the Prayer, which is then made by the voices of the People. These are called Suffrages (from _suffragium_, Latin for a vote in favour, or approbation). That part of the Litany which is made in this way is very full and detailed. Students should also notice the variety of its phrases, and the beauty of its rhythm.

The use of such a form is ancient, and the Revisers in 1549 had the substance ready to their hand. Comparing the older Litany with that which we use, we note that the Revisers have frequently combined several suffrages to make one suffrage, as in the following instance:

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By thine Agony and bloody By thy Passion and Cross:
Sweat; by thy Cross and deliver us, O Lord.
Passion; by thy precious Death By thy precious Death:
and Burial; by thy glorious deliver us, O Lord.
Resurrection and Ascension; By thy glorious Resurrection:
and by the coming of the Holy deliver us, O Lord.
Ghost: By thy marvellous Ascension:
deliver us, O Lord.
Good Lord, deliver us. By the grace of the Holy
Spirit the Comforter: deliver
us, O Lord.

Here five suffrages are grouped into one. In like manner four are grouped in the suffrage, _From all evil and mischief_ &c.

The number of petitions was further reduced by the omission of all the prayers to the Saints, entreating them to pray for us. These were very numerous--28 fixed; and 40 more, which varied according to the week-day.

The petitions which were then introduced present two features which should be carefully studied--_Duplication_ and _Wreathing_[5]. _Duplication_ has been already explained (see p. 33), and is here of the Progressive sort. We give numerous instances below. _Wreathing_ is when two phrases have two members each, and are united by taking the two first members together, and the two second members together.

A simple instance of this is found in the union of the phrases,

_by their preaching they may set forth,_
_and by their living they may shew accordingly_

{161} the Word of God. These, being wreathed together, become _that by their preaching and living they may set it forth and shew it accordingly_.

In such combinations it is necessary that the ideas shall be in harmony with one another. God's truth is set forth in sermons, and shewn in the preacher's life: with rather less exactness, but with sufficient truth, and with admirable suggestion, we may say that God's truth is set forth in the good life of a preacher, and shewn in his sermons.

One of the best instances of Wreathing is in the combination of the three phrases

_succour all that are in danger,_
_help all that are in necessity,_
_comfort all that are in tribulation._

Danger, Necessity, and Tribulation are in progressive order of calamity. In danger, the calamity may be avoided--we want support for our own strength: in necessity, the blow has fallen--we want help at once from outside: in tribulation, the disaster has come--we want comfort.

If we have understood Progressive Duplication, we shall at once see that Wreathing is used in unison with it.

It is convenient to describe the 1st section of the Litany, as consisting of four subsections, viz. Invocations, Deprecations, Obsecrations, and Intercessions. The Invocations are said by the Minister, and repeated by the congregation. The prayers of the other sub-sections formerly were also said twice; but, since 1549, are said in two parts, the congregation making the respond which contains the prayer. This is done {162} not only for variety, but to assist the blind, or unlearned, in uniting their voices with the rest of the people. It is moreover an exercise of the privilege of approach to God, granted by our Lord (1 Pet. ii. 5; S. Matth. xviii. 19, 20), which is sometimes forgotten in thoughts of the ministry which He appointed.

_Progressive Duplication &c._

The groups of sins and sufferings from which we desire to be delivered supply instances of progress, from that which is less, to that which is more, serious. Most of these are obvious, and call for no further remark.

Deprecations (Prayer for deliverance).

1. _Spare thy people, O Lord_: Joel ii. 17.

2. _Crafts and assaults_: The crafty enemy is one who cannot, or dare not, attack openly. Hence assaults imply greater strength, or greater courage, than crafts.

3. Of personal defects, _Blindness of heart_ may be due at first to causes for which we are not responsible. _Pride_ is that which is too well satisfied with itself: _Vain-glory_ is that which seeks admiration from others; _Hypocrisy_ is that which seeks admiration on false pretences.

_Envy_ is the desire to injure, and grows into _Hatred_, which has perhaps a vestige of candour that is absent from _Malice_.

3 and 4. _Deadly sin_. All sin is deadly unless it is forgiven by God; on the other hand "after we have {163} received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and by the grace of God we may arise again, and amend our lives," "the grant of repentance is not to be denied to such" (Article xvi.). It should be remembered that our Lord has taught us to interpret the Commandments inclusively, so that they comprise all duties, and all sins--envy, hatred, and malice, as well as murder, for instance. The old distinction between deadly sins and venial sins has in it only an element of truth. Those named deadly sins were Pride, Covetousness, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Anger, Sloth. Of these Pride, Lust, and Envy are mentioned here, being notable amongst sins which war against the Soul. Two phrases here include all sins: "all deadly sin," and, "the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil." It is not easy to decide whether such a sin as Idleness falls under the head of Covetousness, or Sloth, or Pride; nor whether it is a deceit of the World, the Flesh, or the Devil. These classifications do, however, help in self-examination, and sometimes suggest helps in the battle against our sins.

5. _Plague, Pestilence, and Famine_ form a group in which we see that Famine is the most serious, because it attacks the whole community. Plague is a disease which befalls us as a blow (_plege_); Pestilence is a disease which spreads from one to another. Science tends to enlarge the host of pestilences, and diminish the number of death-blows which cannot be explained. It is apparent that a disease which spreads through a community is more dreadful than one which singles out one person or many.

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_battle, murder, and sudden death_, are blows which may fall upon us; it is not prayer that we may be delivered from being soldiers, and from the crime of murder.

6. _sedition, privy conspiracy, and rebellion_: sedition is the thought; conspiracy, the plan; and rebellion, the action--of a subject against the Government.

_false doctrine, heresy and schism_: false doctrine is the thought; heresy, the plan; and schism, the action--of a Churchman against the Church, and its Lord.

_hardness of heart_, is a disposition to disobey what we know to be the command of God. If not checked, it grows into actual _contempt of His Word and Commandment_.

Obsecrations. (Entreaty mentioning the plea.)

7 and 8. _Incarnation_: S. John i. 14; Rom. i. 3.

_Nativity_: S. Luke ii. 11. Circumcision: S. Luke ii. 21.

_Baptism_: S. Matth. iii. 16.

_Fasting and Temptation_: S. Luke iv. 1, 2.

_Agony and Bloody Sweat_: S. Luke xxii. 44.

_Cross and Passion_: S. Matth. xxvii. 41-46; Heb. v. 7.

_Death and Burial_: S. Mark xv. 44, 45.

_Resurrection_: S. Matth. xxviii. 5-7.

_Ascension_: Acts i. 9; 1 Tim. iii. 16.

_The Coming of the Holy Ghost_: Acts ii. 32, 33.

9. _Tribulation, Wealth, Death, Judgment_ are the four times of special need.

Tribulation is derived from threshing, or crushing.

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Wealth is well-doing, or welfare. Prosperity and Adversity are both times of temptation.

Intercessions. (Prayer for others.)

10. _Universal_ is equivalent to Catholic.

11. _Governor_ refers to the relation of the Sovereign to the Church.

12. _faith, fear, and love_, an ascending order of submission to God. _affiance_=trust.

11, 14. The names of the Sovereign, and of the Royal Family, vary in these petitions. A Prayer Book of 1682 has King Charles, Queen Catherine, and James Duke of York. In 1801, King George, Queen Charlotte, George Prince of Wales, and the Princess of Wales. In 1850, Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and Albert Prince of Wales. The date of a Prayer Book is sometimes omitted from a title page, but may be learnt from these petitions more accurately than from the Table of Moveable Feasts. It is, I believe, left to the Sovereign to say who is to be mentioned, and by what titles.

15. _Bishops_: successors of the Apostles as Overseers of the Churches (1 Tim. i. 3; 2 Tim. ii. 2; Tit. i. 5, ii. 15). The word _epirkopos_(= overseer) is contracted into Bishop in many languages, with slight differences, e.g. Old English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Cornish. In Spanish it becomes Obispo; in Italian, Vescovo; in French, Évêque.

_Priests_: successors of the Elders, or Presbyters, who ministered in congregations (Acts xx. 17). As the Bishop has the Oversight of many congregations with their Priests and Deacons, so the Priest {166} has the Oversight of one congregation, or Parish. In this sense he might be called Overseer, or Bishop, of that Parish, and S. Paul's use of this word in 1 Tim. iii. has suggested that, while the Apostles lived, the word Bishop was used as much in this sense as in the other. When the word Bishop was required for the Apostolic office, the word Priest remained for the second Order of the ministry. Priest is contracted from Presbyter, and appears with slight variations in many languages.

_Deacons_. The Seven appointed in Acts vi. are not there called deacons, but they are assumed to be the first who were appointed to that office, or order of the Ministry. In some ancient churches they retained the practice of having seven deacons.

The word means Minister, and has come from the Greek into many languages with slight variations. Like the word Bishop, it is used in the N.T. of other orders of the Ministry (S. Paul, 1 Cor. iii. 5; 2 Cor. iii. 6; Eph. iii. 7, &c.: Epaphras, Col. i. 7: Tychicus, Eph. vi. 21: Timothy, 1 Tim. iv. 6: Archippus, Col. iv. 17). Although in 1 Tim. iv. 6 the word is used of Timothy, who was receiving commandment as overseer of all the Clergy at Ephesus, we find in 1 Tim. iii. 8-10 that Deacons were already Church Ministers, with official duties (1 Tim. iii. 10)[6].

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shew it _accordingly_: i.e. shew it in accordance with their preaching. The "teaching" and "living" must agree together.

16. The Council of the King of England had, from of old, the duty of making, or approving, the choice of the King, and advising him on matters of state, and of law. Many of its duties have been deputed to Committees, to Judges, and to Parliament. The Cabinet of Chief Ministers of State may be regarded as a Committee of the King's Council.

In the reign of Charles II., when the Prayer Book was last revised, the Council was still the body whose advice guided the King, although it was growing too large for the secrecy which is often necessary in such weighty matters. It is still a very great honour to be made a Privy Councillor, but the Privy Council very seldom, or never, meets for business except by its Committees, which are not chosen by the Council.

When therefore we use this petition, we may think rather of the members of the Cabinet than of those whom the King has honoured with the title of Privy Councillor. A petition for the House of Commons might with advantage be introduced into the Litany.

17. _to execute justice_, in the case which is being tried, is the first duty of a magistrate; _to maintain truth_ is also his duty, for he must have regard to other cases which will come before the Court.

18. This concludes the petitions for our own nation. We now go on to things which affect all nations alike.

19. _Unity, peace, and concord_. The general meaning of these words is the same, but there may {168} be unity without peace, and peace without concord: therefore we pray for all the three; and concord is placed last as being the inward temper which gives reality to unity and peace.

20. Here the order is reversed--proceeding from love which is the highest kind of bond, to _dread_ which should keep us from disobedience, and coming finally to the outward result viz. _a diligent life of obedience to the commandments_.

21. Takes up the last thought of the previous suffrage.

The life of obedience is here traced from hearing to receiving, and so, _to the fruits of the Spirit_ (see Gal. V. 22-24).

22. _Erred_ is when the fault is in ourselves only; _deceived_ is when we give way to the evil guidance of others.

23. Those who _stand_ need strength: those who are _weak-hearted_ need comfort and help: those who _fall_, restoration.

24. See p. 161.

25. Emigration has become more common since this petition was prepared: those who settle in foreign lands should here be remembered. _Captives_ are war-prisoners.

26. We may mentally supply the thought of _motherless_ children. Widows may be supposed to include widowers. Both sexes are described as widows in some parts of England. All kinds of bereavement are of course included in _desolate and oppressed_.

27. Just as 19 concluded a section of petitions {169} for our own nation, so 27 concludes a section about the people of all nations. 28 adds a petition which the Lord particularly enjoined (S. Matth. v. 44).

28. _enemies, persecutors_, and _slanderers_--in ascending order of malignity. Similarly in the Commandments, where the worst sin of each sort is the one mentioned, we find false witness, or slander, named, in the Commandment which forbids all falsehood.

_and to turn their hearts_--a nobler prayer even than asking God to forgive them: for when we have asked Him for their forgiveness, we may still long to overcome their hostility, rather than to see it withdrawn. As Christ's disciples we here desire to forego our triumph, and to rejoice over their conversion from evil.

29. Kindly fruits of the earth. 'Kindly' means 'natural'; from an Old English word 'cynd' or 'gecynd,' meaning _nature, kind, manner, condition_. (Cf. Gen. i. 11, 12, 21, 24, 25.)[7]

30. Although forgiveness is granted through the death of our Lord, repentance is that condition of our souls wherein the forgiveness cleanses them. _Repentance_ is therefore asked for first, then _Forgiveness, Grace_, and _Amendment_.

_Sins, negligences, and ignorances_: cf. General Confession, 'left undone'=negligence; 'done'=sins; 'no health in us' supplying the other defects, which are here set down to ignorance. We are called to a holy life, and therefore faults due to ignorance need {170} amendment and pardon, as well as faults which come of conscious disobedience to God's commands.

At the close of these petitions, the cry becomes more urgent. Our Lord warned us against vain repetitions--repetitions without meaning. The repetitions here are not vain--they express deep feelings, and anxious entreaty.

Section ii. Our cry to the Father in Heaven.

The couplet

_O Lord, deal not with us_, &c.
_Neither reward us_, &c.

belongs to the _Prayer of the Contrite Heart_, and is a summary of it. It is taken from Psalm ciii. 10. It offers no excuse but owns that we have sinned and are in wretched plight, as does the prayer which follows. This prayer was taken from the Sarum Missal, where it stands in a Mass for Tribulation of heart.

Ps. li. 17 supplies the thought of, that _despisest not--the contrite heart_, which is interwoven with, _sorrowful sighing_, from Psalm lxxix. 12.

We base our claim upon our forlorn condition, and appeal to God's mercy. Note the repetition _merciful--mercifully--graciously--goodness_. The temper of the prayer is of kin to Psalm lxix. which--especially in verses 13 to 21, and in its final thankfulness, as sure of God's help--may have inspired its words and thoughts.

_Psalm xliv_. _1st and last verses_. Doubtless an abbreviation of the whole psalm, which stood at the beginning of the 3rd Rogation Litany.

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If it be thought that the Gloria Patri occurs as a surprise in the midst of these entreaties, we may notice (1) that all entreaties are more real when they recognise truly the Majesty of God; and (2) that S. Augustine's processional Litany when he came to Canterbury (A.D. 596) concluded with Alleluia. "We beseech thee, O Lord, in all Thy mercy, that Thy wrath and Thine anger may be removed from this city and from Thy holy house, for we have sinned. Alleluia." (Taken from the 2nd Rogation Litany), (3) the _Gloria Patri_ is always said after a Psalm in the Services, and sometimes after parts of a Psalm.

Section iii. Appeal for help.

The eight versicles which follow next are addressed to Christ, and in most editions of the Prayer Book are separated by a small space from the Verse and Respond,

_Priest_. O Lord, let thy mercy, &c.
_Answer_. As we do put, &c.

These eight versicles were, even in 1544, distinguished from those two, although they were then all marked to be said responsorially. In 1549 the direction for responsorial use was omitted for the eight verses, and retained for the couplet which anticipates the next collect. We may infer from this that it is intended that the eight verses should be said, or sung, antiphonally. In the Sarum Use (3rd Litany for S. Mark's Day), they were all to be said, first by the Minister, and repeated by the People.

The eight versicles form a section by themselves, and have a different setting from the sections which {172} precede and follow them. It was, no doubt, intended to make this 3rd Section a very solemn appeal to Christ, for help in all those difficulties and anxieties which have been recited in Section i.; and to make this appeal more earnest, _because_ of the evil plight which is acknowledged in Section ii.

The phrases are freely translated from the Latin of the Sarum Use, suggested by a thorough knowledge of the Psalms, but not, we believe, to be regarded as quotations therefrom. _O Son of David_ was substituted for _Fili Dei vivi_, in making the translation. There is not sufficient ground for supposing that it was done by accident. In the appeal for a merciful hearing, it is right to ground it first upon His Human Nature as Son of Man, and then upon His Divine Nature as Christ, and Lord.

Section iv. The pressing anxieties of the moment.

The _Collect of Complete Confidence_, with its Verse and Respond, is placed here to strike the keynote of the Section: and the Section is filled up from the Occasional Prayers, or from the Collects after the Communion Service.

This is obviously the place where other prayers may be introduced, when urgent needs require them.

The _Verse and Respond_: Psalm xxxiii. 22. The first half of the Collect was formerly a complete prayer, separated from the other half, in the Litany of 1544, by _O God whose nature_, &c., the prayer _for {173} Clergy and People_, and another prayer. The Verse contains the thought of the first half, the Respond has the thought of the second half.

Since the special prayers which are used in this Section are only occasional, and rarely more than one or two at a time, they were all placed (1662) in a chapter by themselves, after the end of the Litany.

Section v. _The final commendation of our prayers to Christ, who makes them acceptable_: See Morning and Evening Prayer.

[1] Lightfoot, _Apost. Fathers_, Pt. II. vol. 1. p. 446.

[2] This date is variously stated. Hotham in _Dict. Chr. Ant._ vol. 11. says 477; Scudamore in the same vol. 452; Hooker 'about 450'; Burbidge 450; Maclear (S.P.C.K.) and Prayer Book Interleaved 460; Proctor 'about 460'; Daniel, J. H. Blunt, and Barry 467. The dates _known_ of Mamertus are between 463 and 474. (Professor Collins tells me no others are known.)

[3] In some Churches this day was the Festival of Augustine, Bp of Hippo. The Calendar of Le Bec, however, sets it down to our Augustine, as our own Calendar does. I do not know whether this agreement between them was after, or before, that famous Abbey sent us Lanfranc and Anselm to be successors of Augustine at Canterbury.

[4] Fald-stool. Faudestola (whence French, fauteuil) is said by Martene to be adopted into Latin; and by Brachet is traced to a German origin, Falt-stuol. The idea of these derivations is, that the Prie-dieu, or kneeling-desk, was able to fold up and be made, perhaps, a chair. But the connection with Rogations suggests (A.S.) Feald-stól, or Feld-stól (German Feld-stuhl), i.e. a moveable seat (cf. camp-stool).

[5] See George Herbert's poem, "A wreath."

[6] The settlement of words of general meaning, into titles of office, is frequent enough to supply ample illustration of the process briefly indicated above. Pastor, General, Major, Mayor, and many other words, including Rector, Vicar, Curate, may be traced through changes which are often singularly similar to those of Bishop, Priest, and Deacon. It is a natural process--so natural as to be almost invariable.

[7] The Greek Translation of our Prayer Book has _oraious_, timely or seasonable: the German has "lieben," dear, beloved, or kindly in the other sense, which, though as old as Chaucer's time, is not the meaning here.