danger in continuing so long in the communion of that Church I am willing to forsake it and to embrace the communion of your Church and am now come hither with an earnest desire to be admitted into it 3ly Then let the Minister tell him as before directed that he must go into the Church and enquire the consent of the Congregation to his admission and if the Congregation be willing to it let him return to the party with three or four of the Congregation and introduce him into the Church placing him in the penitents seat and saying as before directed in the Office for the Lapsi § 6. except only as to the time of his standing in the penitents seat which is left to the Minister's discretion to enlarge or abridge as he sees cause 4ly Then let the prayers of the Church begin and after that a Sermon preached on the heads formerly mentioned § 6. then let him be put in mind of appointing a day once a week for fasting and prayer according to the directions § 7. 5ly Let him acquaint him also that a publick Abjuration of the errors of the Roman Church together with an open promise of continuing in the Communion of our Church will be expected from him before he be admitted and to prevent surprize at any thing that he is to do let the Minister preacquaint him with them before he come to perform them 6ly When the party has observed the foregoing Rules and has stood in the penitents seat according to the time limitted by the Minister let him on the last day tell him that he intends to admit him to the communion of the Church the next Lords Day and when the day is come letthe directions formerly prescribed § 9 be observed 7ly After the prayer Prevent us O Lord is finished let the party standing before the Reading Desk say Reverend Sir I am come hither with a design to renounce the errors and corruption of the Church of Rome in which for many years past I have been educated and to implore your paternal assistance in admitting me to the Communion of your Church as also your holy prayers and the prayers of this Congregation unto God in my behalf for the pardon of all the sins errors and ignorances of my life past and for the assistance of his spirit to preserve and strengthen me in this Communion all the days of my Life ¶ Then let the Priest say Sir BEfore you are admitted to the Communion of our Church it is fit that you make some publick profession of your Faith acquaint the Congregation with the motives of your change that it may appear to them that you have neither forsaken the communion of the Church of Rome nor embraced the communion of ours for finister ends and worldly respects but upon sober grounds and solid arguments of conviction I demand therefore of you First Do you believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith Ans I do 2ly Repeat them for the satisfaction of the Congregation 3ly Do you here in the presence of God this Congregation heartily and sincerely renounce all the errors and corruptions of the Church of Rome as they stand determined by the Council of Trent and are at present taught and practised in that Church Ans I renounce them all 4ly Are you sensible of your sin and danger in continuing so long in the communion of that Church Ans I am 5ly Do you desire to be admitted into the communion of our Church Ans I do desire it 6ly Are you resolved by the grace of God to live and die in the unity of the Catholick faith and in the communion of the Church of Ireland as it stands reformed from the errors and corruptions of Popery Ans I am so resolved 7ly Read your Renuntiation ¶ After the reading of it let the Minister say ALmighty God who has put these good Resolutions into your heart and has discovered to you the light of his Truth give you grace and strength to walk in that light and perform those good resolutions through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen ¶ Then let the Minister use the two former Collects then proceed as in the former Office except only in the first Collect instead of these words let the sense of his former frailty in departing from the truth let these be inserted Let the sense of his former ignorance of the truth have so strong an influence c. After the two Collects let the Minister stand up the Penitent kneeling and lay his hand upon his head saying BY vertue of the Authority to me committed by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ I do receive this person into the communion of the Church and admit him to the prayers of the Church and the participation of the Lords Supper and to all other Rites and Symbols of communion In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Ghost Amen ¶ Then shall follow the Collect in the former Office and after that a short Exhortation upon these following heads First To shew to him the advantages that the Protestant communion has beyond that of the Church of Rome in allowing the liberty of reading the Scripture and the benefit of the publick prayers in a known tongue in drawing its Members off from relyances on Saints and Angels on hallowed Beads and Medals and and fixing their trust and confidence only upon God 2ly To lay before them the necessity of continuing stedfast in the communion that they have embraced 3ly To shew them the danger and hazard of breaking the Promise which they have so solemnly and publickly made and to forewarn them of and arm them against the loud clamours of Heretick and Schismatick and their being out of the Church which they must expect will be raised against them said unto them by the men of the communion which they have forsaken The Form of Abrenuntiation I H. T. of B. in the Parish of M. Diocess of M. Having been educated in the communion of the Church of Rome by means whereof I was neither able for some time to enquire into the Doctrines of that Church nor to shake them off without much difficulty after enquiry But now being sensible of the errors and corruptions of that Church and the great hazard of my salvation by continuing longer in it I am desirous to renounce her communion and to be admitted into the communion of the Church os Ireland as it stands reformed from the errors and corruptions of Popery humbly imploring the Divine Mercy for all the Ignorances and errors of my life past and desiring all Christian people to pray to God for me that they may not be laid to my charge and also humbly intreating you my Spiritual Pastor to admit me a Member though a very unworthy one into the communion of your Church in which by the grace of God I do fully purpose to live and die And this Declaration I do make willingly sincerely and unfeignedly without any Equivocation or Mental Reservation So help me God through Jesus Christ this _____ day of _____ 1691. FINIS 2. 5. an t c. c. 54 2. Peculiar places appointed for the Penitents Nic. c. 11. Ancyr c. 4. Tert. de poen Basil ad Amphil. c. 22. 56 When first introduc'd how long continued Hist Eccl. 6. 34. L. 5. c. 71. Where those stations were Can. 11 Ep. Can c. 56. 75 The place for the hearers can 11. in can 4. Ancyr lib. de paenit c. 10. The place of the prostrate in can Nicen. â— 1. 12. Ancyr 4. 5. in can praed syntag lit m. 6. The place of the faithfu distinction in habits prayers c. made between them Pacian in paraen ad paenit Ambrosad virglaps c. 8. Cypr. de laps Hieron Ep. 30. ad Ocean Conc. Agath c. 15. Tolet 3. c. 12. Bâ—rc in c. 6. Eligius hom 8. Laod. c. 19. Clem. const l. 8. c. 6. 7. 8. l. 2. c. 57. Dion Hier. Eccl. c. 3. Basil Ep. can c. 56. 75. Sozom hist l. 7. c. 16. Chrys hom 72. in Math. hom 3. in Ep. ad Ephesios Confession required de paenit c. 9 in Sal. 37. Hist Eccl. l. 7. c. 16. Bishop Taylor Un. Necess ch 10. S. 4. fasting injoyned Tert de paenit c. 9. 10. 11. 12. Morni de paenit l. 4. c. 9. 1. Corinth 5. 2. Corinth 2. Euseb 3. 23. de paenit c. 9. 10. Cypr. de lapsis Ancyr c. 16. Nicen c. 11. 12. Basil Ep. Can. how far the antient discipline is practicable present methods fit to be used distinction to be made between the lapsi Penitents Seat Conference with them Penitents address to the Minister and his answer Consent of the Church necessary Sermon for the occasion Fasting and Prayer publick confession Form of admission Penitent's address to the Minister Interrâ—…tories Prayers to be used Absolution Exortation * Here let him mention his reasons
in a spare dyet during all the time or a setting apart of some one or more days in a week wherin they eat nothing till Evening than in a total abstinence from all manner of food From the 4th Century onward the manner of fasting came to be prescribed and limited and then it was thought a tolerable degree of abstinence if the penitent did fast with bread and water as may appear by the Canons of several Councils and the penitential Canons extant at the end of Gratians decrees and thus things continued till the Eleventh Century at which time the disipline of the Church began to be Corrupted by the avarice of the Priests and the ease luxury of the people and then pilgrimages to the shrines of the saints and the entring into Monasterys the going on an expedition for the recovery of the Holy-Land or the maintaining of those that were willing to engage in the Expedition destroyed the ancient discipline of the Church and reduced it to that weak and languishing state in which it is at present 2ly I come now to the second particular to enquire how far the antient discipline of the church is at present practicable and here I consider that some things are of the substance of it which continued the same in all ages and were constantly practised as long as the discipline continued in its vigour and others are of a mutable and circumstantial nature which being altered and changed according to the custom of places and the will of the Governours of the Church may still be laid aside as they think fit Those things that are of the substance of it I see no reason why they ought not still to be continued for they are practicable now as well as formerly and having received no alteration through the several Ages of the Church that have transmitted them to us are a plain evidence to any unprejudiced man that they are not alterable at the will of the Church that they may be suited to her in any state or condition and may still be reduced to practice when the wisdom of her Governours shall think it expedient And among these I reckon three things formerly mentioned viz. The penitents confession of his fault his afflicting himself with fasting for a season and his standing for some time in a peculiar place of the Church appointed for that purpose before he be admitted to her communion Among the circumstantial and less necessary things I reckon the distinction of their Apparel and the Ashes on their Heads the Sack-cloth on their bodies and prostrations on the ground the abstinence from Feasts and and all kind of Civil Business and Commerce the macerating of the body by want of sleep and long and severe Fastings the length of time in which they were forced to continue under the Censures of the Church and wait for Absolution before they could receive it which sometimes and in some cases extended to twenty or thirty years and as to some particular Sins they would never grant a relaxation of their Censures till the penitent was expiring These things some of them were the peculiar flights and excellencies of the primitive Christians and were an argument of a rare and excellent temper that reign'd among them and may put us into a just admiration whether the severity of the Bishops and Presbiters in imposing them or the readiness of the people in complying with them were more to be valued and esteemed But alas since ease and Luxury have broken all the forces of Piety and the true practice of Religion is decay'd in most 't is in vain to talk of reducing a debauch'd Age to the austerities of the former or prescribe those things as a remedy for their Disease which they nauseate the thoughts of it is sufficient for us if we can be able to revive the substance of it though we cannot be so happy as to recover it to its primitive vigour There remains only to consider 3ly What methods are most proper for the admission of Papists to our Communion or the reconciling of Apostates from it and here it is to be considered First that the cases of these two are very different and therefore the method of dealing with them must be so too For the Romanists having never been of our communion may and ought to be treated with more tenderness then an Apostate Protestant for he has the pretence of ignorance for his excuse but the others sin is the more inexcusable because he has acted against the light of his Conscience and has had the opportunity of knowing better things 2ly That some difference must be made as to the case of the Protestants that have fallen off from us according to the several grounds and occasions of their Apostacy Some of them have been servants under the power of severe Masters and others wives under the authority of their husbands some have forsaken us out of a principle of fear lest they should be stript of all and exposed to want and others have complyed out of hopes of gain and making their fortunes by the exchange some have sat down quietly on their fortunes behaving themselves peaceably and inoffensively among their Protestant neighbours endeavouring to do them all the good offices that lay in their power others have Joyn'd with the Romanists in their violence against the Protestants and have been more than ordinarily eager in the prosecution of them that so they might approve their zeal and the sincerity of their conversion to their new Masters and as the motives to their change before they made it and their actions and behaviour after has been very different so the methods of treating them must be more mild or severe and temper'd according to the several circumstances of the party 3ly Let there be a seat prepared at the entry into the Church behinde the West door called by the name of the penitents seat and let the party that desires to be received sit there during the times of prayer Sermon on every Sunday for a month together that the Congregation may know the person and take notice of his behaviour during his continuance there 4ly Let none of them be permitted to come to Church or be present at Divine Service that do not give notice beforehand to the Minister of the Parish of his desire to be admitted to our communion and when he doth so let the Minister spend some time in conference with him and labour to bring him to a due sense and conviction of his fault in forsaking our communion if he were a member of it or of his danger in continuing so long in the communion of the Church of Rome if he were a Romanist 5ly Let the Minister the next Lords Day after notice given him by the person that desires to be reconciled appoint him to attend him to the Church and when they come to the Church door let the penitent standing without the door in the
presence of some of the Congregation say these words to him Sir I have formerly been a Member of the Church of Rome am now sensible of my sin and danger in being so I am come hither to desire that I may be admitted into the communion of your Church and to desire yours and the Prayers of the faithful to God in my behalf To which let the Minister answer Brother the Arms of the Catholick Church are always open to embrace those that are truly penitent for their faults but you must wait here a while till I go into the Church and desire to know the minds of my Christian Brethren whether they are willing that you should be admitted for since they have been scandalized by your fall it is but reasonable that they should be satisfied in your Repentance 6ly Then let the Minister go into the Church the penitent still standing without the door and acquaint the Congregation with the request of the penitent and if they be willing to have him admitted let him go to him again attended with three or four of the people and bring him into the Church placing him in the penitents seat and saying Sir I have acquainted the Congregation with your desire and they are willing to consent to it but you must be content to wait for four several Sundays in this place and communicate only in the prayers of the Church and the preaching of the Word till you be admitted to a more full communion with them When this is done let him proceed in the Office of the Church and when prayers are ended let a Sermon be preached adapted to the present occasion and consisting of these heads First the laying open the errors and corruptions of the Church of Rome both in Doctrine and Worship 2ly The danger of continuing in the communion of a Church that is so corrupt 3ly That notwithstanding this danger yet there is hopes of pardon with God upon the sincere repentance of the party 4ly Let the nature of Repentance be opened to him and let him be told what Acts and Offices he is to do for the making his repentance acceptable with God 5ly Let him give him some general Rules for the regulation of his life conversation 7ly When this is done let the Parish Minister go to his house and discourse over the heads of his Sermon to him Let him advise him to set apart one day in a week during his suspension for the work of fasting and prayer Let him direct him how to observe that fast and give him a few short prayers suited to his occasions and advise him how to employ his thoughts that they may not interfere for want of a subject fit for meditation In particular let him advise him to say the Litany and the seven Penitential Psalms and the three prayers in the Office of Commination All this is advised in case the party can read but if he cannot the Minister must take more pains with him in instructing him and learning him some few prayers by heart 8ly Let him also acquaint him that a publick confession of his sin in forsaking the communion of our Church will be expected from him together with an abjuration of the errors of the Church of Rome and an open promise of continuing for the future in the communion of our Church according to the form hereafter prescribed and let him read over to him the several things that he is to do in the face of the Church upon the day of his admission that he may not be surprized at the time of doing them 9ly When the party has observed these Rules and has stood four Sundays in the penitents seat as before directed let the Minister on the last Lords Day tell him that he intends to admit him into the communion of the Church the next Lords Day following and desire him to prepare himself accordingly for it And when the day for his admission is come which must always be some Sunday or Lords Day publickly in the Church let the penitent sit in his seat till after the Second Lesson at Morning prayer and then let the Minister go down for him and bring him up to the middle of the Church before the Reading-Desk and then let him pray PRevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious favour and further us with thy continual help that in all our works begun continued and ended in thee we may Glorify thy holy name finally by thy mercy obtain everlasting life through Jesus Christ Our Lord. ¶ Then let the penitent say Sir I am come hither with a design to make a publick confession of my fault in deserting the communion of this reformed Church in the times of danger and affliction embracing the communion of the Church of Rome to preserve my selfe from trouble I doe here publickly own this to be a great sin in me and doe beg your assistance in readmitting me to the communion of the Church from which I have Apostatized as also your holy prayers and the prayers of the Congregation unto God for me for the pardon of this great and crying sin and for the assistance of his Spirit to preserve and strengthen me in this Communion all the days of my life If the person can read he is to read the aformentioned profession if not let some one that can read repeat it for him saying Sir I. N. of C in the parish of B is come hither c. And then let the penitent express his assent to it ¶ Then let the Priest say Sir Before you are admitted into the communion of our Church it is fit that you should make some publick profession of your faith and acquaint the present Congregation with the motives of your Change to the end it may appear to them that you do not return to us again rashly unadvisedly for worldly ends and secular respects but upon sober grounds and weighty arguments of conviction I demand therefore of you First Doe you believe all the Articles of the Christian faith 2ly Repeat them then for the satisfaction of the Congregation I believe c. 3ly Do you here in the presence of God and of this Congregation renounce all the errors and corruptions of the Church of Rome as they stand determin'd by the Council of Trent and are at present taught and practised in that Church 4ly Declare unto the Congregation for what reasons you forsook the communion of our Church 5ly Are you sensible of your sin in forsaking our communion for those reasons and sorry for so doing 6ly Doe you desire to be admitted into the communion of our Church which you have forsaken 7ly Are you resolved by the Grace of God to live and die in the unity of the Catholick faith and in the communion of the Church of Ireland as it is reform'd from the errors and corruptions of Popery ¶ Then let the Priest say ALmighty God
who has put these good resolutions into your heart give you grace and strength to perform them through Jesus Christ our Lord. ¶ After this let the party read his abjuration openly in the Church if he can read and if not let some one of the standers by read it for him and at the end of it let him be asked by the Priest whether he assents to the contents of it Then say let us pray O Most merciful God who according to the multitude of thy mercies dost so put away the sins of those that truly repent that thou remembrest them no more open thine eyes of mercy upon this thy servant who most earnestly desires pardon and forgivness renew in him whatsoever has been decay'd either by the fraud of the devil or by his own carnal will and frailty preserve and continue him in the unity of the Church and restore him to thy peace and favor in heaven upon our admission of him into the communion of thy Church on earth Give him Grace to perform the good Resolutions that he has made and let the sense of his former frailty in departing from the truth have so strong an influence upon his Soul as to make him embrace it the more firmly for the time to come through Jesus Christ our Lord. MOst Gracious God and Merciful Father receive we beseech thee this wandring Sheep into thy Fold which by the snares of the Tempter the frailty of his nature has gone astray from it pardon his sin in so doing accept of his Repentance for it let thy Fatherly pitty be extended towards him and receive him into the Arms of thy Mercy now that he desires to return into the way of truth that so the Enemy may not triumph in the ruine of thy Servant but that the Church may rejoyce like an Indulgent Mother at the conversion and return of her lost Child through Jesus Christ our Lord. ¶ Then let the Priest stand up the Penitent kneeling and lay his hand on his head saying BY vertue of the Authority to me committed by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ I do readmit this person into the communion of the Church and restore him to the prayers of the Church and the participation of the Eucharist and to all other Rites and Symbols of communion in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Amen Let us pray MOst Gracious God and merciful Father who hast vouchsafed to call this thy Servant from the darkness of error to the light of thy truth and to recall him into the bosom of the Catholick Church send down upon him we beseech thee the the Holy Ghost the Comforter and daily encrease in him the gifts of thy Holy Spirit the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding the Spirit of Counsel Ghostly strength the Spirit of Knowledge and true Godliness and fill him O Lord with the Spirit of thy holy fear now and for ever Amen ¶ After this let the Minister make some short exhortation to him on these heads 1st The nature of the Promise and Obligation that he has entred into 2ly the necessity of performing a promise that has been made so publickly and upon such solemn occasion 3ly The shame danger hazard of breaking it The Form of Abjuration I H. E. of S. in the Parish of T. and Dioces of M. Do acknowledge my self to have been an unworthy Member of the Reformed Church of Ireland until by the treachery of my own sinful heart and for sinister ends and worldly respects and especially for I forsook the same I am truly sensible of my great sin in so doing and am heartily sorry for the same and do for the future renounce all the errors and corruptions of the Church of Rome as they stand determined by the Council of Trent and are at present taught and practised in that Church and do resolve by the grace of God to live and die in the unity of the Catholick faith in the Communion of the Church of Ireland as it is reformed from the errors and corruptions of Popery Intestimony whereof I do hereunto put my hand this day of 1691. This Abjuration should be signed by the party and witnessed and then delivered to the Priest that it may be entred into the Parish Registry then let it be sent to the Bishop of the Diocess that it may remain on Record on his Registry also If the lapsed person has done injury to any of his Protestant Neighbours by robbing them of their goods he ought not to be admited till he makes restitution or professes a willingness to it A Form of Admission of Romanist's into our Communion First WHensoever any person that has been educated in the communion of the Church of Rome desires to forsake it and to embrace the communion of our Church it is fit that he should give notice of his intentions some time before to the Minister of the Parish wherein he lives to the end the Minister may be satisfied in the motives of his change and spend some time with him in convincing him of the errors and corruptions of Popery If the person be ignorant and uninstructed in the common principles of Religion contained in the Creed the Lords prayer and the Ten Commandments as I am afraid many of the Papists are the Minister ought to spend the more time upon him First in instructing him in the common agenda credenda of Religion and then descending from them to the doctrines of the Church of Rome and shewing him the errors of them out of the word of God For it is in vain to gain a Proselyte to our Church that is not acquainted with the common grounds of Christian Religion that are owned by all Chistians as necessary to Salvation the admitting any person as a member of a distinct communion doth necessarily presuppose him instructed in those principles of Religion in which the Christians of all communions are agreed But if he be better educated and instructed in the grounds of Religion the Minister of the parish need only examin him in the reasons and motives of his intended change And if he finds him able to give a good account of his Change Then let him ask him in private whether he has had any hand in the Rappareeing of his Neighbours and if he confesseth he hath let him lay the danger of that sin before him and acquaint him with the necessity of making restitution and let him not be admitted till he makes some restitution if he be able or where he is not profess a willingness to do it 2ly Let him appoint him to attend him at the Church door the next Lords Day after notice given as formerly and then let the person that desires to be admitted stand at the Church door and say in the presence of some of the Congregation Sir I have formerly been a Member of the Church of Rome and being sensible of my sin and
in the Western than the Eastern Church for the three first were abrogated in the fifth Century soon after the days of Nectarius Patriarch of Constantinople but they continued in the Western Church till the ninth Century as may appear by the Capitulars of Charles the Great After which time the discipline of penance beginning to be relax'd the stations of the penitents decay'd with it 2ly That the place for the Weepers was in the Church-porch without the doors of the Church the place for the Hearers was at the further end of the Narthex the place for the Prostrate within the body of the Church but before the Ambon the Pulpit or reading desk and that for the Consistents before the Choire or Chancel This will be more evident by applying proofs out out of ancient Writers to each of these particulars First then for the place of the Weepers we have the testimonies of Greg. Thaumaturgus and St. Basil the former of whom tells us that it was without the doors of the Oratory where the penitent stood and beseeched the â—â—ithful to pray for him and the latter saith that they were to stand without the doors of the Church and confess their sins and desire the prayers of the faithful in their behalf The place for the Hearers was at the hither end of the Narthex or the entry into the Church which whether it was within or without the Church is not much material to my present purpose it being only incumbent on me to make good that there was such a peculiar determined place appointed for this order of penitents perhaps that controversy is easily reconciled by adjusting the several notions of the Ancients concerning the word Ecclesia which some extended not only to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also and included the Nave or body of the Church under the word Ecclesia and then it must be granted that the Narthex was within the Church and a part of it But others take the word Ecclesia in a more restrained sense as including only the Nave or Body of the Church where the faithful did assemble to Prayers and the Sacrament and then the Narthex was no part of it but must be supposed to be a part without it However let that controversy lie as it will I am only concerned to prove that the Narthex was the place or station of the Hearers And by the Narthex I mean the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fore-part or first entry into the Church extending from the West door till you come to the Pulpit of which we have some footsteps remaining in the two Cathedrals of the Holy Trinity St. Patricks Dublin in each of which there is a stone Pulpit fix'd about the middle of the Nave or Body of the Church Now the Narthex will contain all that part of the Church that reacheth from the great West door till you come near the stone Pulpit and here anciently the Catechumens and Daemoniacks and the Hearers had their stations the place before the Pulpit which anciently was fixed in the middle of the Nave tho' now removed to the Wall was the place of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the prostrate and from thence to the Choire or Chancel was the place of the Faithful or Consistents where they stood to hear the Word pray and from thence forward is the Chancel called by the Ancients 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now that the Narthex was the place of the Hearers is plain from the testimony of Greg. Thaumatur gus who saith that the station of Hearers was within the doors in the Narthex where they were to stand till the Catechumens were dismissed and then to goe out with them To the same purpose are the words of Balsamon and Zonaras and Gabriel the metropolitan of Philadelphia affirms that the place of Hearers was within the door of the Church viz. in the Narthex where the Hearers stood and communicated in the Hymns and reading of the Scripture The place for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Prostrate was behind the Ambon or the Reading Desk All the Scholiasts on the Codex canonum agree on this as Balsamon and Zondras Aristenus and Math. Blastares Balsamon places it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 behind the Reading Desk Zonaras and Aristenus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the hind part of it and Blastares affirms it was within the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but behind the Ambon and that they went out of the Church with the Catechumens when the Deacon pronounced 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The last place for the Consistents was between the Reading Desk and the Chancel tho' not without some distinction of place between them and the faithful that were not under the censures of the Church This is plain not only from the aforementioned Canons of Nice and Ancyra but from the Annotations of the Scholiasts upon them which we do all place them in the same rank and station with the faithful and allow them the same priviledges with them except the participation of the Lords Supper and the liberty of bringing their Offerings to the Holy Table 3ly That those several Orders of Penitents were not only distinguished from the faithful in their places but also in their habits in the form of prayer that was used for them and in the time of their departure out of the Church The several Writers on the discipline of penance do take notice of a distinct habit that they were to put on during the time of their penance which by some is called Sordida vestis by others lugubris atra pullata by others velamen paenitentiae habitus religiosus To these others require as necessary signes of contrition tears in their eyes and sadness in their countenance shaving of the haire and lying on the ground the putting sackcloth on their bodies and ashes on their heads and all for this end and purpose that it might be known to all persons that they were under the censures of the Church and that they might prove by these tests whether they were sincere in their reformations If any denyed to undergoe these severities they looked upon him as an hypocrite and a person unquallify'd for their communion Besides they were distinguished from the rest of the people in the time and man-of their departure out of the Church and the form of prayer and benediction that were used over them for as soon as the Hymns were sung and the Scriptures read and the Sermon finished the Hearers were dismiss'd and then the doors were shut the Catechumens were prayed for and when that prayer was finished the Catechumens were dismiss'd and then the Penitents come under discipline and as soon as they had kneeled down and some certain prayers were offered up in their behalf and the Bishop or Presbiter had laid his hands on them then they were dismissed