Gregory the Great Leontius Bizantin An. D. 594. § 13. Toward the End of this Century Leontius of Bizantium writ his Books against Nestorius and Eutyches wherein he complains of Theodorus of Mopsevestia the Master of Nestorius That he not only corrupted the Scripture but presumed to do another Evil equal to that viz. That he foolishly invented a New Liturgy besides that which the Fathers delivered to the Churches neither reverencing that of the Apostles nor that which the Great S. Basil writ by the same Spirit in which Liturgy of his he filled the Mystery of the Eucharist with Blasphemies rather than Prayers And can we now saith Leontius reasonably expect any other Antichrist since this Man so desperately hates Christ and changes the things that are Christs (f) Leont Bizan adver Nestor Eutych lib. 3. §. 18. Bib. Patr. Auctar. Tom. 2. col 619. I briefly pointed at this before (g) Cent. V. §. 8. But I produce this place here at large because it shews That in the Greek Church the Liturgy of S. James which is here called that of the Apostles and the Liturgy of S. Basil were believed in this Age to gave been endited by Inspiration and to deserve a Reverence almost equal to Holy Scripture So that for a private Bishop to despise or disuse them on conceit of his own Fancies was adjudged to be Blasphemy and he who did so was in this Century thought to be an Enemy to Christ himself Now this extraordinary Veneration for these Liturgies could proceed from nothing but their having been long used in the Eastern Church and their assurance of their great Antiquity and Excellency And if private Ministers had then enjoyed such a liberty in varying the public Prayers according to their own Fancies and Conceptions This Author could not have been so ridiculous as to represent this as so heinous a Crime in a Bishop So that we may conclude this Century also wherein we find the Use of Liturgies every where continued and by all the Fathers and Councils of this Age they are spoken of with much Reverence and represented as delivered from the Apostles and Primitive Bishops and as the ancient way of Serving God being no where first introduced in this Period but only in Countries newly Converted And the great business of many Councils in this Time was to reduce those Nations which had variety in their Offices to a Regular Uniformity CHAP. III. Of LITVRGIES in the Seventh and other Later Centuries TO gather up all the Evidence for LITURGIES in this and the following Ages would be a needless Trouble to the Reader and my self both because what I have so clearly made out to begin much sooner can receive no great strength from the Writers of this declining Age and because my Adversary doth confess they began to be imposed above one whole Century before the beginning of this Yet since he will go on to lower Times to plead for the continuance of his imaginary Liberty I shall follow him and not only confute his Objections but collect also which he hath omitted some of the most remarkable Proofs for the continuance of Liturgies in these Ages § 1. He that considers the Authorities before produced to prove Isidorus Ep. Hispalens An. Dom. 603. That Isidore who succeeded his Brother Leander in the Archbishopric of Sevil did perfect the Mozarabic Liturgy will not question but there was a setled Form of Prayer in Spain in his Time But if it be needful further to prove so plain a Matter we find in his Book of the Original of things one Chapter of Divine Offices wherein he explains the meaning of the several Liturgick Phrases such as The Evening Office The Morning Office The Mass A Choir Antiphons Responsals Canticles Psalms Hymns Allelujah Amen Hosanna the Offertory c. (h) Isidor orig lib. 6. cap. 19. pag. 80. Now these as we have seen are all parts of ancient Liturgy and he supposing the things to be known to all here gives the reason of the Names Moreover he hath also extant another Tract concerning The Offices wherein he shews what was the Original of every one of the Ecclesiastical Offices wherein he shews who were the Inventers of Canticles to be sung with Voices and Psalms to be sung to Musical Instruments as also who were the Authors of the Hymns used in the Church both Divine among which he reckons the Benedicite and Human the latter Composed by S. Hilary and S. Ambrose whose Hymns were used in all the Western Church He goes on to inform us That the Greeks first Composed Antiphons and that the Responsals were made in Italy in old Time As for Prayers he saith Christ was desired by his Disciples to compose them a Prayer which he did and thence the Church learned to use Prayers like to that which Christ made The Greeks being the first that composed such Forms of Supplication And a little after he treats of the Alleluja which by ancient Tradition was sung always in Spain except on Fasting-days and in Lent He explains also the Offertory which use to be made with Singing in his Time Then he reckons up Seven Prayers in the Mass that is saith he The Order of those Prayers by which the Sacrifice is Consecrated which being instituted by S. Peter is celebrated in one and the same Manner throughout the whole World The first is an Exhortation to the People to entreat the Lord that is a Litany The second is a Prayer That God would receive the Prayers and Alms of the Faithful The third respects the Offerers and Faithful deceased The fourth relates to the Kiss of Charity The fifth is for Sanctifying the Oblation and setting out Gods Praise exciting Heaven and Earth to joyn in it in which Hosannah is sung The sixth is the Prayer for the Holy Spirit to descend on the Sacrament The last is the Lords Prayer After which follows the Nicene Creed and the Benediction of the People (i) Isidor de Offic. Eccles lib. 1. cap. 4.5 6 7 8 9.13 14 15 16 17. pag. 581 582 c. All which several Prayers and Forms are yet to be seen in the Mozarabic Office to which Isidore here refers and so exactly follows the Order of it even where it differs from other Forms and Liturgies as particularly in giving the Benediction before the Distribution (k) Vid. Offic. Mozarab in Bib. Patr. Tom. xv edit Colon. cap. 27. pag. 779. Item vid. Concil Tolet. 4. Can. 17. Bin. Tom. 2. par 2. pag. 350. that no Man can doubt but that Office was Extant then with all the Parts now contained in it except those which mention the Virgin Mary added since of which there is no mention in him I must transcribe this whole Book of Isidore's if I should produce all the other particulars about the Hours of Prayer the Vespers Completorium Vigils Matius c. In all which and all the rest of those Books such plain and
do good (c) Clem. Alex. Strom. lib. 6. Now these being the constant and common wants of all Men and things daily needful for every one it was most fit to ask them in a set Form of Words and if they had pray'd for these things Extempore Clemens could not have been so positive in the Method as he seems to be I had almost forgot one of his Objections which is That the Christians then lifted up their Hands and Eyes to Heaven in Prayer which shews they had no Books (d) Discourse of Liturg. pag. 9. Clem. Alex. ibid. I reply It proves no such matter because though the Priest did read his part out of a Book the People might lift up their Hands and Eyes so long as he prayed alone and by frequent use of the common Forms both they and he would be so ready at the accustomed Words as to have liberty enough to look off from their Books and look up to Heaven as we in this Church often do in the use of our Liturgy § 4. At the same time flourished Tertullian Tertullian An. Dom. 192. in whose Works we have sufficient evidence that they used Forms of Prayer and Praises For he declares That Christ hath fixed a new Form of Prayer for us who are his Disciples viz. The Lord's Prayer which he expounds in a peculiar Tract (e) Tertul. de Orat. cap. 1. And in divers places calls it The lawful and the ordinary Prayer (f) De Orat. cap. 9. de Jejun cap. 15. pag. 553. de fuga in persec cap. 2. there being clear proof in him that the Christians daily repeated this very Form Now if they used but one Form in their Devotions they could not think Forms were unlawful nor imagine that Forms stinted the Spirit as our Dissenters now believe Yea that they used in public to pray by Forms seems to be intimated in that Passage That the Christians met together and as if they were drawn up to Battel did joyntly set upon God with their Prayers which Violence was acceptable to the Almighty (g) Quasi manu factâ precationibus ambiamus haec vis Deo grata est Tertul. Apol. cap. 39. for this implies their joyning Voices as well as Hearts And though he do not give us the very words of their Litany because he writ to the Unbelievers yet he describes some of the things which they desired of God to bestow on the Emperours viz. That they might have a long life and a quiet Empire that their Family might be safe their Armies valiant their Senate faithful their People virtuous and that the whole World might be in peace (h) Tertul. Apol. cap. 30. And it must be noted that Tertullian could not have quoted these particulars as a proof of the Christians Loyalty if they had not generally asked these very things Extempore Prayers would have been so various that they could have been no evidence in this or any other case Moreover he calls the Offices used in the celebration of the Eucharist Divine and Solemn Rites and adds That after these solemn Rites were finished the People were dismissed (i) Dominica solennia transacta solennia dimissa plebe Tert. de anim cap. 9. where though he studiously avoid reciting any part of the Office yet he intimates by that Phrase it was a Form because Solennes Preces Solemn Prayers among the Romans were those certain and solemn words in Prayer from which they might not vary (k) Brisson de formul lib. 1. pag. 61. He also saith concerning Baptism That Christ had not only imposed the Law of Baptizing but also prescribed the Form of it (l) Tertul. de Bapt. cap. 13. So that Baptism doubtless was performed then by a certain and set Form and though our Adversary argues that Tertullian uses variety of Words concerning this Form (m) Discourse of Liturg. pag. 94. 95. yet it is to be noted that this is only in his discoursing concerning it where Tertullian doth not pretend to cite the words but mentions the thing occasionally As to the Laudatory part of the Service it appears from him that they sang Psalms and Hymns alternately and therefore in Forms (n) Tert. ad uxor lib. 2. pag. 172. one of which Forms was the Gloria Patri which he describes as Irenaeus did by the last words World without end Amen For he asks the Christians If they could give testimony to a Gladiator in the Theatre with that Mouth which said Amen in the Church or if they could say World without end to any but God or Christ (o) Ex ore que Amen in sanctum protuleris gladiatori testimonium reddere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alii omnino dicere nisi Deo Christo Tert. de spectac pag. 83. From whence we may infer that the Glory be to the Father c. which was a Form in the Gallican Church in Irenaeus his time was also a Form used in Tertullian's time in Africa and so may be justly taken for one of the primitive and universal Forms by which all Churches did glorifie God And it will be very hard for our Adversary to give a Reason why they might not use Forms in their Prayers as well as in their Praises He urges against this one passage of Tertullian where describing their Love-Feasts he saith After they have washed their hands and brought in Lights they called for some to sing either Psalms or somewhat of their own Composing (p) Tertul. Apol. cap. 39. Discourse of Liturg. p. 126 143. But if we look on the place we shall find this was after the public Worship was done at their common Meal and if this Hymn was taken out of the Psalms then it was a Form most certainly or if it were of their own Composing probably it was made at home however it will not follow that now those miraculous Gifts of Inspiration are ceased we may compose Extempore Hymns because they did it in an Age when many had those Gifts Some other slight Objections he raises out of this Author against Forms of Prayer As First That Christians then looked up to Heaven when they prayed (q) Tertul. Apol. cap. 30. Disc of Liturg. p. 9. But this was answered before and yet we must add that Tertullian affirms they did not always look up to Heaven in Prayer For sometimes he saith They did not look up with confidence toward Heaven but imitated the Publican who prayed with an humble and down-cast Countenance (r) Idem de Oratione c. 13. And S. Cyprian observes That the Christians did not impudently lift up their Eyes to Heaven (s) Cypr. de Orat. Dom. §. 4. p. 310 So that no Argument can be drawn from the one posture or the other But his main Objection out of Tertullian is that Phrase of Sine monitore quia de pectore viz. That the Christians prayed without a Monitor because they prayed out of their Breast
that is as he expounds it prayed Extempore (t) Tertul. Apol. cap. 30. To which I cannot yield because a dark phrase of an obscure Author which is capable of many Interpretations must not be allowed for a proof of a new Method of Praying I confess Bishop Bilson modestly saith This seemeth to be meant of the miraculous Gift of Prayer which dured in the Church unto his time (u) Bilson's Christian Subject part 4. pag. 411. But then he supposes this Gift ceased soon after and believes that Liturgies came into use long before the time of S. Basil or S. Chrysostom (w) Id. ibid. pag. 437. So that if we allow this Bishops Exposition none of our Adversaries Consequences will follow for it doth no way prove that Ministers may now pray Extempore after the miraculous Gift of Prayer is ceased because those who had that Gift prayed in that manner Though I confess I see no need thus to expound the Phrase For allowing Rigaltius his ingenious observation that Tertullian here opposes the Christians way of praying to the Pagans who had a Monitor standing by them when they recited their Solemn Forms who prompted every Sentence to them that made the Prayer But the difference lies in this That the Christians had their Prayers by heart and could repeat them out of their Memory and he who can remember a thing needs no Monitor (x) Memini tametsi nullus moneas Terent. Eunuch II. 1. ver 10. Whereas it seems the Gentile Priests were not very perfect in their Prayers and had not committed them to their Memory because they stood in need to have a Monitor for every Sentence Now if this be the sense then it supposes the Christians had Forms which they could say by heart or repeat de pectore and then it makes for us and utterly discards Extempore Prayers Secondly Another Learned Man explains this Phrase of those Secret and Mental Prayers which every private Christian used in the solemn Assemblies on the stationary days in the intervals between the public Offices while all the Congregation kept silence Now these Prayers being not Vocal there needed no Monitor for them being only made as S. Cyprian expresses it silently and modestly within the secrets of their own Breasts (y) Tacitè modestè intra ipsas pectoris latebras Cypr. de Orat. Dom. See Falkner's Libert Eccles pag 117. and if we consider how long they stayed at these stations viz. for Nine hours together and how certain it is that all the time was not taken up in the public Offices of Reading Expounding Singing and Common Prayer it will not be improbable that some space was allowed there for these Mental Prayers (z) Albaspin lib. 1. obs 16. and if these be the Prayers Tertullian speaks of then they are nothing to the Public Offices about which we dispute But Thirdly Upon a due survey of the place it appears Tertullian is here proving the Christians sincere Loyalty and shewing they exceeded the Heathens in this Vertue and therefore made better Prayers for the Emperours than their Pagan Subjects For the Pagans had imbrued their hands in their Emperours Blood But the Christians saith he lift up their Hands to Heaven as being innocent The Pagans veiled their Faces in Prayer and might well do so to hide their blushing at the contradiction between their Actions and their Prayers but Christians prayed bare-faced and without any Guilt to make them blush Pagans had a Monitor because they had not laid their Petitions much to heart nor could they think of them so readily as the Christians who needed no Monitor because they prayed from their Hearts ** Oratio de Conscientia procedit Tertul. Exhort ad cast cap. 10. p. 513. most sincerely affectionately and with a true concern for the Emperour's safety So that to pray out of the Breast is to pray ex animo from the Heart and Soul the Breast in all Authors being usually put for the Mind and Soul (a) Manibus expansis quia innecuis capite undo quia non crubescimus denique sine monitore quia de pectere eramus pro omnibus imperatoribus c. Tertul. Apol. cap. 30. Thus then we see there are three ways of expounding this obscure Phrase each of which is more likely to be Tertullian's sense than his and one of them must be expounded of Forms of Prayer wherefore we cannot fear any Argument to be raised from hence against the use of Liturgies in public which undoubtedly began to be generally received before the end of this Century CHAP. III. Of Liturgies in the Third Century § 1. THough we have more Writers and consequently more Evidence in this than in the former Age concerning Common and prescribed Forms yet there are several Reasons why the Fathers of this Century do not frequently mention the Words of those Forms First Because their business was chiefly to convert Heathens and confute Hereticks and most of their Writings being upon those Subjects they had little occasion to Mention their Ways of Worship which in those days of Persecution was performed generally in private Secondly They knew the Heathens derided their Worship and would ridicule and blaspheme it if they had known it and the Hereticks who disowned the Churches Authority which composed these Offices would not allow any Argument drawn from the public Service so that it was not fit to quote their Liturgy when they writ either to the one or the other of these two sorts of Adversaries Thirdly They kept the Knowledge of these Forms from their very Catechumens till they were actually baptized and kept them as a secret and sacred Mystery among the Faithful and therefore cautiously forbore the Mention of them in such Writings as were to come into all hands I know Daileé pretends this opinion and practice of keeping these Mysteries secret did not obtain till after the end of these three Centuries (a) Dail de relig cultus object l. 2. c. 25. pag. 321 c. But he is grosly mistaken as I could prove by many passages but I will only instance in two viz. Tertullian in the last Age and S. Cyprian in this the former argues that the Heathens could not know what the Christian Worship was because the Faithful would not discover it since it was customary to keep all Mysteries secret especially such as were punished if they were discovered And Strangers he saith could have no knowledge of them since even pious Initiations ever keep out the profane (b) Ex formâ omnibus mysteriis silentii fides debeatur pp. unde extraneis notitiae cum etiam piae initiationes arceant profanos Tert. Apol. cap. 7. p. 8. that is not only the Heathens but the Christians in their pious ways of Worship kept out all Strangers and such as were not fit to know them Thus Tertullian and S. Cyprian tells an Heathen who reviled Christianity he ought not to answer him because that which is holy
is to be kept in our own Breast for our Lord saith we must not declare it to Swine and expose it to Dogs (c) Sanctum quotidie jubeamur intra Conscientiam nostram tenere Cypr. ad Demetr §. 1. p. 324. And from that same Text of Matth. VII 6. the same Author proves That the Mysteries of our Faith are not to be profaned by publishing them to those without (d) Idem lib. 3. test ad Quirin §. 50. p. 429. Wherefore since it is so clear even in these early Ages that they were scrupulous of publishing their ways of Worship we may conclude that no full and clear account of their Forms at large can be expected among these Writers And it is sufficient that they mention some and darkly hint at others of those Mysterious Forms sometimes and that they do plainly attest they had a prescribed Liturgy though they had but seldom an occasion or an inclination to tell us what it was Hippolytus Mar. An. Dom. 220. § 2. Among the Writers of this Age the first is Hippolytus a Bishop and Martyr who in his discourse of the End of the World and the Coming of Antichrist puts it among the Signs of those evil Times That Liturgy shall be extinguished singing of Psalms shall cease and reading of Scripture shall not be heard (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hippol. de Consum Mund. Bib. Patr. T. 2. p. 357. Which shews that the public Service of which he there speaks consisted then of three parts The ministration of Prayers Singing of Psalms and Reading the Scripture And the first of these is called Liturgy which though it signifie any public Service in general and be sometimes applied to the whole Public Worship yet where it is limited only to Prayers as it is here it implies a Common Form used generally which will be more probable to be this Fathers Sense if we consider that he saith Liturgy shall be extinguished that is the public Forms shall not be permitted to be used which cannot be properly said of Extempore Prayers they being an inward Gift as our Adversaries pretend And Antichrist himself hath no power to extinguish or put out Mens Gifts He may suppress the use of Forms of Prayer but the Extempore Mens faculty was not liable to any such interdict as could extinguish it And why may we not believe the Prayers in this Age were suitable to the rest of the Offices They sang by a Form out of a Book and read the Lessons out of a Book so that they scrupled not the use of Forms wherefore there is no ground to believe they disliked Forms of Prayer and consequently nothing to hinder us from expounding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the usual sense viz. of the Public Liturgy which Antichrist would not allow the Christians to use § 3. Our next Author is the Famous Origen Origen Adam An. Dom. 230. who hath so clear and convincing a Testimony for the use of a Liturgy in his Homilies on Jeremy that the Learned Centuriators were convinced by it that Set Forms of Prayer were used in his time for they thus cite the place It is say they without question that they had some Set Forms of Prayer in this Age for Origen in his XIth Homily on Jeremy seems to allude to those we now call Collects where he tells us We frequently say in our Prayers Grant O Almighty God grant us a part with thy Prophets and with the Apostles of thy Son Christ grant that we may be found at the Feet of thy only begotten (f) Formulas domque quasdam precationum absque dubio habuerunt Cent. Magdeb. cent 3. cap. 6. pag. 135. And if we consider that our Saviour promised to such as were effectually Converted that they should sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God (g) Matth. viii 11 and that the Holy Apostles and Prophets are describ'd in Scripture as rejoycing together in Heaven (h) Revel xviii 20. we shall be convinced this Form of Prayer is grounded upon Christ's Promise and upon the Word of God and consequently must own the Prayer to be pure and primitive Indeed our Adversary uses many Artisices to wrest this Testimony from us (i) Discourse of Liturg p. 141. but all in vain First he saith Ruffinus made many additions to Origens Homilies so that possibly this may be one of his Additions I Answer If he were sure Ruffinus added this yet since he lived in the next Century that would serve to confute him who maintains there were no prescribed Forms till the Fifth or Sixth Age But we can make it very probable Ruffinus did not add this passage First because there is nothing in it but what agrees well enough to Origen's time and to his Doctrin Secondly In Ruffinus his time they had made some steps towards Invocation of Saints and therefore had it been a Prayer composed by him there would have been some footsteps of that Superstition some Address to or expectation from the Apostles and Prophets whereas this Prayer only supposes them to be in Heaven and desires God to grant us a part with them Again Our Adversary saith These Words if they be Origens will no more prove this was a prescribed Form than S. Paul 's was Ephes I. 16 17. where he saith He ceased not to make mention of the Ephesians in his Prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ might give them tht Spirit of Wisdom c. I Reply His Parallel will by no means hold since the Apostle only relates and reckons up the things he asked for them and speaking to the Ephesians gives them an account of the Subject of his Petitions for them But Origen is repeating the Words of a Prayer and speaks directly to God therefore this must be a Form of common use as the Magdeburg Divines believed it to be Having thus detected his Sophistry and answered his Cavils and so cleared this Evidence for a Set Form we shall more easily understand that Origen refers to an usual Liturgy in another place where he saith They who serve God through Jesus in the Christian way and live according to the Gospel use frequently as becomes them night and day the enjoyned Prayers (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orig. in Cels lib. 6. pag. 302. Whence we infer that the Christian way was to serve God night and day with prescribed Prayers for the Participle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies not only a thing enjoyned or commanded in general as Isocrates and Aeschines use the word (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isocr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aeschin ita Math. i. 24. but so enjoyned that the very order and manner of doing it is set down and particularly appointed So those directions concerning the Leper's offering his Gift which Moses prescribed in the Old Law Levit. xiv 4. is called doing that which Moses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 commanded them that is which he prescribed
Extempore more than the other and it being very fit one part of the public Service should be like the other But our Adversary asks Why this Bishop did not alter the Liturgy also (y) Discourse of Liturgy p. 26. And though I am not bound to answer all his random Questions and suppositions grounded upon this Negative that Eusebius doth not say He did alter the Liturgy Yet I shall Reply That Hymns are more proper than Prayers are to set out and magnifie our Saviour's Divinity and so were much more offensive to this Heretick than the Prayers which were only addressed to the Father in the Name of Christ as our Mediator which the Arians allowed him to be And therefore Paulus began to reject the Hymns but probably he might have proceeded further if he had not been so early discovered and expelled before he could make any more Alterations Nor is it unlikely that the Liturgy was so ancient at Antioch being extant in Ignatius's Time that he durst not venture upon that at first I shall add no more in this Century but to observe That in the Epistle of Dionysius of Alexandria recorded by Eusebius it appears to have been the general usage of the Church for every one of the People to say Amen when they heard the Priest offer them the Sacrament and say The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ c. (z) Euseb hist Eccles lib. 6. cap. 35. p. 180. Which was a Form so universally used in all Churches of the World that we may conclude it was enjoyned by all Liturgies otherwise it had been impossible that all Christians should have so exactly agreed in that Form at that place and on that occasion We proceed now to Times of greater Light and more clear Evidence CHAP. IV. Of Liturgies in the Fourth Century § 1. THat the Use of Forms and stated Liturgies did not begin in the end of the Fifth nor in the entrance of the Sixth Century is very plain from the preceding Testimonies which sufficiently confute our Adversaries Assertion Yet if we had no Evidence of setled Forms of Prayer before this Age it had been enough to justifie our use of them because this is the first Century wherein the miraculous Gifts were ceased and the Church was setled under Christian Magistrates Wherefore since we plead for the use of a prescribed Liturgy in an established Church it is as much Antiquity as our Cause needs to shew we have Precedents for it from this Age that is as soon as the Primitive Churches Circumstances and ours did agree Now the Centuriators tell us that upon the Settlement of the Church The Bishops appointed Prayers for all things necessary for the happy state of the Empire for the Emperours for the safety of the Church for public Peace and for the Vnconverted (a) Episcopipreces Sacras ordinarunt pro omnibus rebus necessariis c. Magd. Cent. 4. §. 7. pag. 498. Now if the Bishops appointed such Prayers doubtless the Inferiour Clergy did use them and that shews there was a prescribed Liturgy Yet our Adversary strives by all kinds of Artifice to hide this plain Truth and the first Authors he produces in this Century are Arnobius and Lactantius to prove the Christians looked up to Heaven when they prayed (b) Discourse of Liturg. pag. 9. Which we freely grant but reject his consequence of their having no Written Forms since Experience shews that both Priest and People by frequent use of our Common Prayer may and do often look up to Heaven when they pray by this Form And as for one of these very Fathers ARNOBIUS An. Dom. 303. viz. ARNO BIVS though he writ against the Gentiles a little before the Settlement of the Church and therefore speaks very cautiously of the Christian Rites (c) Ita de Eucharistid loquitur viz. ut ad illud quod dabitur possint esse paratae Arnob. lib. 2. pag. 65. yet there are some Intimations in him of the use of Forms We adore saith he him that is higher than all and pray to him by a Venerable Service we supplicate him with Daily Prayers and vocally call on him for that which we need To venerate this supreme King is the end and design of these Divine Offices To him according to custom we all prostrate our selves adoring him with our joynt Prayers and requesting of him things just honest and fit for his holy Ears (d) Hic propositus terminus divinorum Officiorum hic finis est Huic omnes ex more prosternimur hunc Collatis Precibus adoramus c. Id. lib. 1. pag. 13 14 15. Now this Venerable Service of Daily Prayers vocally performed in Divine Offices wherein all the Christians joyned and bore a part can be no other than stated Forms known before to the Congregation and unless the Ministers and People had used such Forms Arnobius could not be sure they should always ask things fit for Gods holy Ears The same Author in another place evidently points to that Litany which Tertullian had briefly described in his Apology saying In our Conventicle we Invocate the Supreme God praying for Peace and Pardon to all Men For the Magistrates the Armies for the Emperours for our Friends and our Enemies for those that are alive and those that are dying (e) Arnob. adv gent. lib. 4. pag. 152. which are the very Heads that other Fathers set down when they do not design to quote the Words of their Litany but only to describe it in a public Discourse Constantin M. An. Dom. 312. § 2. The first Christian Emperour Constantine the Great who now established by Secular Laws the true Worship of God is our next Evidence for the use of prescribed Forms For Eusebius who was an Eye and Ear witness of those Transactions which he relates concerning him gives us an Account That he ordered his Palace after the manner of a Church and that when the Christians were assembled he would begin to take the Books into his hands either for explaining the Holy Scripture or repeating the prescribed Prayers in his Royal Family (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb vit Const l. 4 c. 17. p. 395. He also relates That he made a Form of Prayer for his Guards which they were to use every Sunday (g) Id. ib. c. 18. and he taught them to recite this Prayer with hands lifted up to Heaven and with the Eyes of their Minds lifted up still higher even to the King of Heaven (h) Id. ib. c. 19. The very Words of which Form Eusebius sets down (i) Id. ib. c. 20. and commends the pious Emperour because he was a Teacher of the Words of Prayer (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb de laud. Constantin p. 465. Now we learn from hence First That repeating Prayers out of a Book was the usage of Christians in the Church because when this was done in Constantine's Family it made his Court to resemble a Church
they also are now directed to the Father which Method none but Hereticks can be supposed to alter and lest any should bring in any Heretical Forms into these Offices the Council supposing still the Public Forms were thus made orders all Prayers at the Altar should be directed to the Father which is as much as to bind them to the old Forms I need only here observe the Reason why the public Prayers at the Altar were all to be directed to the Father which is because Jesus Christ is there set forth as the Propitiation for our Sins and our only Advocate it is by him and his Redemption there represented that we hope to engage the Father to hear us By Him therefore and not To Him these Prayers must be made Here we declare we only rely on his Interest and Intercession and by reason of His Death here represented the Sacrament hath been ever esteemed the most effectual way of prevailing with God the Father to whom therefore here our Prayers are most properly addressed And so they were then as I could prove if it were needful by many Passages of the Orthodox Fathers So that this Clause also supposes the public Forms were rightly drawn up and forbids any alteration to be made in them in this Point wherein some had been culpable by writing out Heretical Forms and prescribing them ignorantly to their own Diocesses As for the last Clause our Adversary reads it falsly the Words are (g) Quicunque sibi preces aliunde describit Vera Lectio Canonis At ille legit Quascunque sibi preces aliquis describit Confer Bin. ut supr cum libro isto pag. 44. Whoever writes out any Prayers from any other place for himself But he perverts it thus What-Prayers-soever any shall Copy out for himself where note he leaves out the main Word Aliunde From any other place which plainly refers to a public and prescribed Liturgy he that writ out any Prayers from thence need not shew them to any but whoever he were Bishop or private Man that writ out Prayers from any other Form he was not to use them in public or private till they had been viewed and judged of by the most able Bishops Whence we may justly infer First That there was a Written Liturgy throughly Orthodox out of which if any Man writ out any Forms he was sure they were right and need not shew them to any but boldly use them either in public or private Secondly That some itched after other Forms then as now also many do to restrain which dangerous humor this Council first obliges those who did this whatever they were to shew these Forms taken from other places to the more Judicious and within a few years another Council allowed no Prayers to be brought in but such as had been allowed by a Synod Thirdly That all this Clause may very well be referred to private Prayers because it is very probable that some for their private Devotions collected Forms out of the Liturgy Others transcribed them from some New Compositions but the Hereticks had been so busie that the liberty of using these was not to be allowed till some Judicious Men had viewed and approved them Lastly We may observe That this Clause wholly relates to Written Forms it supposes the Persons here spoken of did never pray otherwise than by Written Forms whether it be explained of public or private Prayers this is certain they writ them out of Forms and after they had Copied them out used them as such So that this utterly confutes my Adversary and shews That the general use of Africa was to pray by Forms This very plainly proves the Gift of Prayer was now ceased there and manifests their Folly who pretend in our days that it is a general Gift This shews that none did pretend to Extempore Prayer but all either writ out Forms from the public Liturgy or from some other place wherefore our Adversary had a singular assurance when he produced this Passage against Written Forms These were certainly Written Forms And he had best ask how these African Christians could look up to Heaven or mind God alone in Prayer when they were bound to look on their Books into which these Forms were transcribed or enquire how their Mysteries could be concealed being written down This Matter of Fact baffles all his far fetch'd Objections and let him interpret the whole Canon as he please it will shew the use of Written Forms and manifest the mischief of leaving Men at liberty to choose Forms for themselves even in his own way of expounding this shews so many ill Consequences of varying from the stated and established Forms that following Councils were forced to enjoyn them more strictly than ever And his Friends Smectymnuus were so honest to confess That as the Laodicean Canon Ordained None should vary but always use the same Form so the Carthaginian Canon further limited the Form (h) Smectymn Answer to Remonstr pag. 7. So that in their Opinion this Canon is an Evidence of the use of limited and prescribed Forms and a Restraint upon such as would vary from them § 24. Council of Africa Can 70. coâ— temp The same also is the Sense of that 70th Canon in the African Collection the true Reading of which in all the eminent Editors of it is This Concerning the Prayers which ought to be said at the Altar it seemeth good that those Prayers which have been heretofore Confirmed in the Council whether Prefaces Commendations or Impositions of Hands shall be used by all and by no means at no time shall any Prayers against the Faith be brought in but let those Prayers be said which have been Collected by the more Discreet (i) Can. Aâ—ric apud Bin. 103. Tom. 1. par 1. pag. 780. ita in Justel Cod. Tom. 1. p 385. in Beveridge dicitur Can. 106. Concil Carthag Tom. 1. pag 640. My Adversary could raise no Arguments from this Canon till he had falsified the Reading of it (k) Discourse of Liturg. p. 48 c. And therefore First He leaves out the first Words Concerning the Prayers which ought to be said at the Altar which though some Copies make the Title of the Canon yet none but my Adversary wholly omit them and Dr. Beveridge proves they are really a part of the Canon it self as even the next Words which depend on these do shew Concerning the Prayers c. It also seems good c. Secondly My Adversary translates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Latin Preces quae probatae fuerint The Prayers which shall be allowed in a Council nay He argues from his own false Translation that these could not be a Liturgy established because they were not yet approved (l) Discourse of Liturg. pag. 53. Whereas every Man may see that both the Greek and Latin Words are of the Preterperfect-Tense and not the Future wherefore they refer to the time perfectly past And so S. Paul uses this very