deliver this City from evil days from famine from pestilence and from invasion Compare this Prayer with S. Cyprians words and then judge if he did not point to this or to some other Form to the same purpose and of the same strain Again whereas Celsus the Pagan slandered the Christians as men given to Magical Arts and Sorceries Origen who was but one remove from the times of the Apostles affirmes positively and upon certain experience that they who worship Orig. adv Cess lib. 6. the Lord of the Vniverse by Jesus Christ and live according to the Gospel using night and day constantly and rightly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Prayers which were Appointed cannot come under the power of Devils There is little Reason to doubt but that by these Prayers he means the Nocturnal and Diurnal Offices which we then prescribed and ordered by the Church and less Reason there is to fancy that such were not used in his time and for confirmation of this it is observeable that Origen himself else where quotes a customary Form then in use We frequently Orig. Hâ—om 11. in Jerem. say in our Prayers Grant us O Almighty God grant us a Portion with the Prophets grant us a place among the Apostles of thy Christ grant that we may be found followers of thine onely begotten Questonless this was an usual Form in the Alexandrian Liturgy and though we do not now find it in so many express words in the Liturgy ascribed to S. Mark yet we find in it a form to the same purpose grant us O Lord to have our Portion and inheritance with all thy Saints And in the Aethiopick Liturgy it is twice Lit. S. Marci in Anaphorâ Be propitious unto us O Lord and vouchsafe to make us joint-Possessors and partakers of the inheritance of the Apostles and cause us to follow their steps And again Lord write our names in the Kingdom of Heaven and joyn us with all thy Saints and Martyrs Furthermore Tertullian another African writer and somewhat Elder then Origen speaking of the Jam vero prout Scripturae leguntur aut Psalmi canuntur aut Adlocutiones proferuntur aut Petitiones delegantur c. Tert de Anima c. 3. Divine-service in his time which he calls Dominica Solennia reckons up four parts of it the Reading of Scripture the Singing of Psalms Allocutions and Petitions This place being throughly understood is very pregnant and full to our purpose 1. Here we have the reading of the Scriptures which in those early and pious times was perform'd not with that conciseness and brevity which was usual in after-ages but 't was Lectio fusissima and Lit. S. Jacob. large potions were read both out of the old and the new Testament 2. They Sung whole Psalms not only those composed by David and other Prophets among the Jews but as we shall see hereafter several Hymns and Songs of Praise which had been framed in the beginning by Faithful Christians and more immediately relating to the Christian Religion 3. But then a doubt may be moved what Tertullian means by those Allocutions which were made to the people and uttered at large for that I conceive to be his sence And the difficulty may be easily assoiled if we call to mind that in the Primitive times it was a general custome for the Deacon that read the service to direct the people in their devotion to tell them what they should pray for and to stir them up to beg such and such things of God calling upon them after this manner Let us pray let us pray earnestly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let us pray on yet further and with an intense Zeal and other such Forms there were which he frequently used and then dictated to them the matter of their devotion to which all the people gave their Suffrages readily and with much fervency of Spirit Litany-wise Now these Forms of exhortation were called by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Latines rendred Allocutions We call it Bidding of Prayers And though the custome be for certain Reasons grown much out of use among us yet there are many plain footsteps of it to Clem. Const be seen in our Liturgy especially in our Litany and Communion-service in which offices it was most used of old for the Minister is often ordered to say Let us pray let us pray And as to the custome it self it is so Ancient that I cannot find the beginning of it and 't was so universal that 't was observed in all the Primitive Churches for in all the Liturgies which I have yet seen either of the Eastern or Western or African Churches such Allocutory Expressions are still extant more or less Sometimes the Minister used short and concise Forms saying Let us Pray let us behave our selves reverently Lift up your hearts let us give thanks unto the Lord and to these the Congregation gave their customary Answers Sometimes these Allocutions were more large as for instance in that Prayer for Persons who intended to be Baptized to which several others did correspond the Minister said on this wise as we find in an African Liturgy Let us that are Believers pray for our brethren who prepare themselves for holy Illumination or Baptism and for their salvation let us beseech the Lord And the People answered Lord have mercy That our Lord God may please to confirm and strengthen them let us beseech the Lord Ans Lord have mercy That he may please to illuminate them with the light of knowledge and godliness let us beseech the Lord Ans Lord have mercy That he may please in due time to vouchsafe them the Laver of Regeneration and forgiveness of their sins let us beseech the Lord Ans Lord have mercy That he may please to regenerate them with water and the Holy Ghost let us beseech the Lord Ans Lord have mercy That he may please to give them a perfection of Faith let us beseech the Lord Ans Lord have mercy That he may please to gather them into the holy Fold of his Elect let us beseech the Lord Ans Lord have mercy O Lord save pity help and keep them by thy good Grace Ans Lord have mercy These and such Forms as these were undoubtedly used by the Churches of Christ in the first Ages of Christianity And these were the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Allocutions which Tertullian speaks of as used in his time and anon I shall make it probably appear that they were used before his time too 4. In the mean time it is observable that in the place before-cited he makes mention of Petitions also used in the Publick Assemblies of Christians By which I understand certain entire Prayers called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Collects when the requests of the Church were cast into one Body of Prayer offered up by the Minister to which the People answered Amen In the use of these he was the Apol. c. 30. mouth of
more consonant to the Ancient Spirit and Genius of Christianity or more agreeable to the Practice of all Churches in all Ages then to pray sometimes in short Collects and sometime in shorter versicles for Grace for Peace for the Divine protection for Plenty for seasonable weather for wholesome air for deliverance from Plagues and Enemies for the King for the Clergy and their respective Flocks for Magistrates for the whole Church and indeed for all men And of this nature and strain are those ordinary and occasional prayers with which our daily Service is wont to end Great exceptions have been taken by some at our Litany and yet it is as charitable and as Christian a piece of Devotion The Litany as ever could be framed by humane Pen if people will but bring with them hearts that are as good as the matter before them is excellent Here is Fire and Wood enough if the Lamb be not wanting for the Sacrifice Our Litany consisteth of two main parts The one is offered up by the Minister going before in supplications prayers and intercessions exactly according to S. Paul's Rule 1 Tim. 2. The other part is offered up by the people following after in their joynt suffrages and with such earnest and importunate cryes as pierce the highest Heaven Now this way of expressing our Devotions by turns the Minister in his turn and the Congregation in theirs is not only an admirable way to kindle and enflame each others zeal but moreover 't is a way and method suitable to the way and method of Gods Spirit and used many hundreds of years or Ages before the date of Christianity 1. For the Ministers going before the people both by his example and by calling upon them to joyn with him We find it was the continual practice of David not onely to make Addresses himself unto God but also to invite and call upon others to do so likewise O come let us sing unto the Lord let us magnifie his name together praise the Lord ye house of Israel praise the Lord ye house of Aaron praise the Lord ye house of Levi ye that fear the Lord praise the Lord and in Psal 107. O give thanks unto the Lord O that men would praise the Lord which form is repeated again no less than three times in the same Psalm as an admonition to keep up the Devotion of People And are not those Ancient Litany-forms used by the Deacons Let us pray let us beseech the Lord let us pray earnestly are they not exactly answerable to these Forms of Allocution used by this inspired and holy man If the Spirit thought fit to have such Forms used in praising God it is not unsuitable to the usual strain of that Spirit to use the like Forms in praying unto God too 2. As touching the peoples following the Minister by their suffrages it is a method no more unbecoming Gods Spirit then the other and nothing has been more customary than for the people to have their turns and to bear a part in Gods Worship After that remarkable victory over Pharoah and his forces the whole body of the Jews stood upon the shore of the Red Sea to bless God for their deliverance and we find Exod. 15. that Moses the Prophet and the men of Israel divided themselves into one body and Miriam the Prophetess with the women of Israel divided themselves into another body and as Moses and the men Sang his Triumphant Hymn so Miriam and the women answered them saying Sing ye to the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously the Horse and his Rider hath he thrown into the Sea This Form of Praise they repeated in all probability after every verse of Moses Song for we read of nothing else that they answered but only Sing ye to the Lord c. And if they had a Form of praise which they repeated after every verse as the ground and foot and burden of the Hymn is it unsuitable if we have a Form of prayer for the people to repeat after every Petition as the ground foot and burden of the Litany If they were directed by the Spirit of God when Moses went before them in a Song to answer Sing ye unto the Lord when they were delivered then it is also agreeable to the style of the same Spirit when the Minister goeth before us in our prayer for us to answer Good Lord deliver us Further it is to be considered that the 136th Psalm seemeth to have been composed by the Prophet on purpose that the end of each Verse might be repeated throughout by the whole Congregation O Give thanks unto the Lord for he is gracious and his mercy endureth for ever for his mercy endureth for ever for his mercy endureth for ever this is the burden of the Psalm from the beginning to the close of it And we may easily collect from 2 Chron. 5. 13. that at the Dedication of Solomons Temple this Psalm was repeated thus by turns one of the Priests saying before the former part of each Verse and then all the Singers following after with one voice and saying all along for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever And since they were directed by Gods Spirit to subjoyn throughout their prayers for his mercy for his mercy for his mercy endureth for ever it cannot be thought unbecoming Gods Spirit if we are directed to subjoyn in our Prayers Lord have mercy Lord have mercy Lord have mercy upon us And so I hope the Form and Contexture of our Litany will seem to every indifferent person to be free from all charge of vanity and superstition 2. It is free also from all just charge of Vncouthness and Innovation Many indeed judge of things by Modern usage and practice and because they have been accustomed to long continued effusions they look upon our Litany as an odd and a new device for which we were beholding to the Roman Missal But 't is clear to every knowing man that it was a very Ancient and a very usual way among Christians to pray Litany-wise It was so Ancient a way that for ought any man knows to the contrary it was used in the most early times of Christianity For in the oldest Rituals which are in being there are many such Forms of Prayer and some Ancient Service-books do consist of such for the most part 'T is true indeed they were not called Litanies at the first but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Diaconick Prayers because they were wont to be Ministered by the Deacon and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pacifick Prayers because the purport and scope of them was for peace in the World and among all mankind 'T is true also that in after times above 300 years after Christ these Forms of Prayer came to be used at solemn and publick processions when times were calamitous and full of peril and the destroying Angel was abroad and then several additional Prayers were inserted proper and suitable to the occasion the
people still crying with a loud voice that God would deliver them from such and such evils And then they were called Litanies and Rogations Hence it is that Mamertus and others are said to have framed Litanies because they enlarged them and used them in manner aforesaid And hence it is that S. Basil told the Clergy of Neocaesaria that there were no Litanies in Gregory's days because that name and that use of them was not then known But yet it is as true that such Forms of supplication and earnest Prayer were very anciently in use and before the times either of Basil or Gregory and S. Chrysostome in his Homily upon Rom. 8. deriveth the Original of them from the Apostles times And truely the general use of them doth argue that this way of praying cannot well be derived from any other Fountain for it was an Vniversal as well as Ancient way Look into that old Liturgy used by the Christians in India and you shall find large Litanies that is Prayers Litany-wise call them what you will Look into the Aethiopian Liturgy called the Vniversal Canon and you shall find Litanies Look into the Mosarabe or Spanish Course and you shall find Litanies Look into the Ambrosian office and you shall find Litanies Look into the Jerusalem Liturgy and you shall find Litanies Look into S. Chrysostomes and S. Basils Liturgies and those other offices collected by Goar and you shall still find Litanies And look into that most Ancient Service-book Eucholog called the Constitutions of the Apostles and you shall find Litanies frequently used at ordinations and in their daily Service and Prayers for the Catechumeni for penitents for persons vexed with evil Spirits for such as were Baptized and afterwards at the Lords Table too for the whole Catholick Church and its Members before the Holy Communion Can any thing speak louder for the Ancient and Vniversal use of Litanies And whence should this come but from Apostolical practice For the Primitive Christians were not easie to be imposed upon or to be perswaded out of their old beaten way Witness for all the Condemnation of Petrus Gnapheus and his V. Can. 81. Concil sixti in Trullo una cum Balsam Blast followers for adding only a little Formula to that received and usual Hymn holy God holy and strong holy and immortal have mercy upon us To this they subjoyned another clause thou that wast Crucified for us have mercy on us and the sixth Council in Trullo condemned the Author of it for a wicked and vile Heretick and Anathematiz'd all that should use that Form for the future for their fear was lest by that Additament it should be intimated that our Saviour was a fourth person distinct from the three persons in the holy Trinity The Fathers of Old were wise and wary and fearful of Innovations in the publick Service And then how the general use of Litanies could be brought into the Church but by such practice as they took to be a safe and authentick Precedent I cannot well understand or imagine 3. The Antiquity of our Litany being thus cleared as to its Form and Contexture next I am to shew its Antiquity as to its matter and substance likewise Now this will easily appear by observing the strain of the Ancient Litanies which though I have already represented in part yet for the further information of the Vulgar sort I shall add that they began and ended as our Litany doth with Lord have mercy They prayed and that many times by the Mercies and Compassions as Lit. S. Basil Lit. S. Chrys we do by the Sufferings Cross Passion c. of our Saviour that God would deliver them from the snares of the Devil from the assaults of enemies from the unclean Spirit of Fornication Can. Vnivers from famine pestilence earthquakes inundations fire sword invasion and civil Wars from all affliction wrath danger and Lit. Basil distress from all sin and wickedness from an untimely end Orat. Lucern and sudden death They prayed that God would keep them Lit. S. Chrys every day in peace and without sin that he would grant them remission of their sins and pardon their transgressions that he Off. Muzar Eucholog Lit. S. Chrys would give them things that were good and beneficial to their souls that they might lead the residue of their lives in peace and repentance that they might persevere in the Faith to the end and that the end of their lives might be Christian and peaceable Lit. S. Jac. without torment and without shame They prayed for the peace Lit. S. Chrys and tranquility of the World and of all Churches for the holy Catholick Church from one end of the earth to the other for Lit. omnes Kings for Bishops Presbyters and Deacons for Virgins Orphans Off. Ambros Missa Christ apud Indos Clem. Consâ— and Widows for such as were in bonds and imprisonment for such as were in want necessity and affliction for married persons and women labouring of child for such as were sick and weak and in their last Agony for banished people and slaves for their enemies and persecuters for persons at Sea and travellers by Land for them that were without and such as erred from the Right way for Infants and young Children and for every Christian soul And to every of these particular supplications the Congregation did answer sometimes Lord Const lib. 8. Lit. S. Chrys have mercy sometimes Grant it us O Lord and sometimes we beseech thee O Lord hear us This was the constant general and most charitable way of praying in the first and purest Ages of Christianity and the way which the Church of England had a careful eye unto at the digestion of our Litany into its Form and Model and whosoever will but compare the most Ancient Litanies with ours will find that this of ours is not only answerable to the best and of the same strain and Spirit with the best but moreover that it contains the very marrow and quintessence of them all And so much touching the Antiquity of our Litany Proceed we now to the Office at the holy Communion which anciently was never Celebrated without premising the Lords Prayer for which reason it is used with us at the beginning of that Service After all the people were dismissed save onely those who intended to Communicate the Primitive Christians presented Offertory their Offerings which by the Minister were reverently laid upon the Lords Table These offerings were so large and liberal that they served to maintain the whole Body of the Clergy and were a good provision for Orphans and Widows for sick persons and such as were in bonds for strangers and for all that were in want This custome of making Offerings before the Sacrament is so Ancient that nothing can be more We find it in all Liturgies Justin M. Apolog. 2. and other Ancient Records as in Origen Tertullian Irenaeus
tells it us as a Sign and Ingredient of perilous times that in the last days some great Professors of Religion would be disobedient to Parents without 2 Tim. 3. natural Affection and unthankful But in former Ages this Custom was justly accounted a good security to Religion And we finde it not onely in the Canon Vniversalis but even in Tertullian himself Habemus per benedictionem eosdem Arbitros fidei quos Sponsores salutis Tert. de Bapt. Quid necesse est Sponsores etiam periculo ingeri qui ipsi per mortalitatem destituere promissiones suas possint Id. ibid. Inde suscepti c. Id. de Cor. milit who frequently mentions it And so doth the pretended Dionysius Areopagita and the Author of the Questions and Answers ascribed to Justin Martyr And though it be acknowledged that those Books were not written by those men yet none doubts but they are ancient Records And 't is as certain that this Custom is much elder than those Authors Plat. in vita Hygini Magd. cent 2. c. 6. whosoever they were for it is confest that it prevailed in the time of Hyginus who was Justin Martyr's Co-temporary and lived within sixty years after S. John's decease 9. And so for baptismal Interrogatories and Stipulations and Vows of renouncing the Devil and all his works c. they Tertul. Cyril Just Mart. cum multis aliis are so manifestly ancient by the joynt Consent of all the most Primitive Writers that I dare say They bear date from the Apostles times And generally learned men do conceive that St. Peter alludes to that Custom 1 Pet. 3. 21. where he calleth Baptism 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Answer or the Promise and Stipulation V. Grotium in loc of a good Conscience towards God 10. The repeating of Psalms and Hymns by turns by Minister Antiphonae and People is a very useful good course to keep peoples minds from rambling and to imprint holy things in their memories And this hath been customary in the ancient Church though as St. Basil tells us there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 variety Basil Ep. 63. ad Cler. Neocaes in singing For sometimes the Minister began one verse and was seconded by the whole Congregation as is the custom still in many of our Parochial Churches and sometimes the Quire was divided into two parts which alternately answered each other from side to side as 't is usual in our Colledges and Cathedrals At the close of each Psalm or Hymn they commonly had some End versicles called by Philo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De vitâ Contempl Const lib. 2. c. 57. and in Clements Constitutions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 answerable to our Gloria Patri and these were recited by turns too Certain it is that the people were ever wont to bear their part in praising and blessing God which was one reason that Eusebius took those Therapeutae in Egypt for Christians because Eccl. Hist l. 2. c. 17. among other Christian Customs they had this And if he was mistaken in his opinion yet it argues that this was a general custom among Christians in his time And so indeed St. Basil assures us that it prevailed universally in the Eastern Churches Cassiodore affirms that Flavianus and Diodorus Tripart Hist l. 5. c. 32. brought in the Alternate singing of Psalms But this certainly is a mistake for this was most usual long before their days Socrates and others fetch it as high as from the holy Martyr Socrat. l. 6. c. 8. Ignatius who was no less than an Apostolical Bishop and this Trip. Hist l. 10. c. 9. is yielded by Cassiodore himself elsewhere But though Ignatius might have introduced this custom at Antioch yet in probability 't was originally borrowed of the Jews and so continued among Christians from the beginning This is evident that Pliny writing to the Emperour Trajan in whose days St. John died saith of the Christians that they were wont early in a morning to meet together which comes near to St. Basil's account and to sing Carmen Christo a Hymn to Christ and that secum invicem by course by turns or one after another 11. As concerning the posture of the body at the receiving Kneeling at the Sacrament of the Holy Sacrament it is clear that the sitting posture was never used unless by the Arrians who denied our Saviour's Divinity All the Catholicks did receive with all imaginable Reverence and in St. Cyril's time they did it in a worshipping Cyril Catech. Myst 5. and adoring gesture the Adoration being directed to God and Christ but not to the Elements 12. 'T is customary with us especially in some places to read the second Service at the Lords Table which some are pleased to look upon as a mighty piece of Superstition though it be nothing else but an innocent usage conformable to the Practice of the most Primitive times which is still preserved not onely in the Eastern parts but in the Lutheran Churches also For as Mr. Mede hath well observed this was the place Christian Sacrifice cap. 5. Ep. 56. to Dr. Twisse alibi where the Ancients offered up all their Prayers unto God and because the Passion of Christ is commemorated and his Death represented there they thought it the most fit and proper place for Divine-Service and so were wont to call upon God at the Altar signifying hereby that they offered up their Prayers in the Name and through the Merits of their crucified Saviour For the Readers further satisfaction I shall refer him to the Observations of that learned man and onely adde That that Phrase in Ignatius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be within the Altar is a plain allusion to this Ancient and Primitive custom and signifies to joyn with the Bishop in those Ministrations which were performed and in those Prayers which were offered up at the Altar And the like Phrase we finde in Clements Constitutions Const l. 7. c. 41. where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies to partake of holy Mysteries 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is explained afterwards to communicate in holy Ordinances In fine whosoever will give himself the trouble to search and will do us the right to speak impartially he must needs confess that those Constitutions of ours which are establisht by Law and those Rites which are preserved by Custom have had their Rise and Original from the best and most authentick Antiquity I have instanced in several particulars and a longer account might be given if that would do our business effectually But I hope what hath been already shewed will satisfie all indifferent and sober persons that our Church is free from all charge of Superstition and Novelty I would to God she were as free from danger too danger which is now threatned her not only by those who never were in her bosom but by those also to whom she like an indulgent Mother hath held