A. An order for evening prayer.] Though evening service varieth not much from that of the morning, yet doth it afford something which obligeth our consideration. For (what is too much forgot) I must remind you that there is an evening service before evening prayer. “The curate of every parish, or some other at his appointment, shall diligently upon Sundays and holy days, half an hour before evening prayer, openly in the church instruct and examine so many children of his parish sent unto him as the time will serve, and as he shall think convenient, in some part of the Catechism.” The same rule is observed by the Belgic Church; and so did the Palatine divines advise at the synod at Dort, that it should be an afternoon exercise, with this positive resolution: non dubitamus, cur tot hereses, et nova dogmata locum passim inveniant, causam vel maximam esse, catechizationis neglectum: “we are confident that the neglect of catechising is the main cause of so many heresies and novel doctrines which infest the Church.”
I wish they of the Presbyterian inclination would more listen to these their friends, and if not for conformity’s, yet for Christianity’s sake, not suffer preaching so totally to usurp and justle out this most necessary office; that as an inmate to expel the right owner, the afternoon sermon hath not that countenance of authority in our Church which catechising hath, this being settled by express rule, that only tolerated or entering in by remote implication ; and though late custom hath invested it with an honour commensurate with and equal to that of the morning sermon, sure I am it was of minor reputation in the Apostolic and next succeeding ages. So that Mr. Thorndike demands “to see what place these afternoon sermons had in the public service of the ancient Church.” If by Church he intendeth the Catholic and universal Church, or the greatest and most considerable parcels of it, that place I conceive cannot be found, nor is there any mention thereof any where, Czesarea of Cappadocia, and Cyprus only excepted: of these Socrates thus: Cesaree Cappadocie, et in Cypro, die Sabbatis et Dominica semper sub vesperam, accensis lucernis, presbyteri et episcopi Scripturas interpretantur : “ at Cesarea of Cappadocia, as also at Cyprus on the Sabbath and Lord’s day, always at candle-light in the evening, the presbyters and bishops interpret the Scriptures.” And this I take it is the reason why St. Basil (who was bishop of that Czesarea) preached so many homilies (evidently the second, seventh, and ninth of his Hexaemeron) at the evening. Now as this testimony of Socrates chalketh out the place of the afternoon sermon to be the same with that in the morning, viz. after the reading of the Scriptures, so doth it imply that the custom was nowhere taken up but there; and that in other places preaching at evening service was but occasional and arbitrary, not stated as parcel of the office.
Let it not be thought that I here endeavour to disparage that ordinance of preaching, an ordinance so often instrumental to the conversion of souls. No, my only design is‘to commend the other duty to more frequent practice: a duty without whose pre-elementation sermons themselves edify very little.
Evening prayer.] The office catechistical being past, evening prayer is to begin. But why not afternoon, rather than evening prayer? I answer, because then the sun, and consequently the light, begins to decline. It seems the Greek Church had two services in the afternoon, one at our three, their nine, and another at the close of the evening, as appeareth by the council of Laodicea, can. 18, decreeing, περὶ τοῦ, τὴν αὐτὴν λειτουργίαν τῶν εὐχῶν πάντοτε, Kal ἐν ταῖς ἐννάταις, καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἑσπέραις ὀφείλειν γίνεσθαι ; “that the same service of prayers ought to be made use of both at the ninth hour and at evening.” This “at evening” was at candle lighting, whence the prayers appropriated to it were λυχνικαὶ εὐχαὶ, as the psalms λυχνικοὶ ψαλμοὶ, or ὕμνοι τοῦ λυχνικοῦ, “ candle-light hymns:” the reason is, because when the candles were first lighted their mode was to glorify God with an hymn, one form whereof is still extant in these words:
φῶς ἱλαρὸν ἁγίας δόξης ἀθανάτου πατρὸς, οὐρανίου, ἁγιοῦ, μάκαρος ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστὲ ἐλθόντες ἐπὶ τοῦ ἡλίου δύσιν ἰδόντες φῶς ἑσπέ- ρίνον, ὑμνοῦμεν πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον πνεῦμα Θεοῦ. Αξιος εἶ ἐν πᾶσι καιροῖς ὑμνεῖσθαι φωναῖς ὁσίαις υἱὲ Θεοῦ, ζωὴν ὁ δίδους διὸ ὁ κόσμός σε δοξάζει: “ blessed Jesus Christ, Thou cheerful brightness of the holy immortal glory of the heavenly and holy Father; when the sun is set, no sooner do we behold the evening light to shine than we glorify the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Son of God, giver of life, Thou art worthy at all times to be praised with holy voices, therefore the whole world doth glorify Thee.”
This is that eucharistical hymn whereof St. Basil thus: ἔδοξε τοῖς πατρᾶσιν ἡμῶν, μὴ σιωπῆ THY χάριν τοῦ ἑσπερινοῦ φωτὸς δέχεσθαι, ἀλλ᾽ εὐθὺς φανέντος εὐχαριστεῖν, λέγοντες αἰνοῦμεν πατέρα, καὶ υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον πνεῦμα Θεοῦ: “our fathers thought meet not silently to pass by the benefit of this evening light, but, as soon as it appeared, presently they gave thanks, saying, Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.” He that desireth to see more of this particular may resort to the same fountain whence I had it, the late learned primate de Symbolis, which being so excellent a piece, and so undoubtedly his, I cannot but wonder why Dr. Barnard in his first and second catalogue of his works omitted it.
At the beginning of Morning Prayer the Minister shall read with a loud voice some one or more of these Sentences of the Scriptures that follow. And then he shall say that which is written after the said Sentences.
A general Confession to be said of the whole Congregation after the Minister, all kneeling.
The Absolution, or Remission of sins, to be pronounced by the Priest alone, standing; the people still kneeling.
The people shall answer here, and at the end of all other prayers, Amen.
If no priest be present the person saying the service shall read the Collect for the Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity, that person and the people still kneeling.
B. For Thine is the kingdom, &c.] This doxology not being affixed to the Lord’s Prayer, as St. Luke represents it to us, and being omitted in very ancient manuscripts of St. Matthew’s Gospel, learned men conjecture, a Grecis ad Evangeltextum ascriptam fuisse ex liturgiis aut solemni aliogui consuetudine, “it was transplanted out of the liturgies of the Greek Church, or some such solemn usage into the text of the Gospel.” So Lucas Brugensis, in his Varie Lectiones ; of the same mind are Beza, Grotius, and most learned men ; probably enough, for the Greek Church ever had it in her liturgies, as is evident from Clemens’s Constitutions, lib. iit. c. 18, from Chrysostom, Theophylact, and others, who comment upon it. And the Latin Church as constantly omitted it, which is the very true reason why it is left out in ours; complying more with the Western than the Eastern forms.
Then the Minister shall kneel, and say the Lord's Prayer with an audible voice; the people also kneeling, and repeating it with him, both here, and wheresoever else it is used in Divine Service.
Then likewise he shall say,
Here all standing up, the Priest shall say,
Then shall be said or sung the Psalms in order as they be appointed.
Then a Lesson of the Old Testament, as is appointed.
After the Evening Lessons are appointed Magnificat, or My Soul doth magnifie the Lord, and Nunc dimittis, Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace: or else two Psalms. And very fitly doth the Church appoint sacred Hymns after Lessons: For who is there, that hearing God speak from Heaven to him for his souls health, can do less than rise up and praise him? and what Hymns can be fitter to praise God with for our salvation, than those which were the first gratulations, wherewith our Saviour was entertained into the world? And such are these. Yet as fit as they are, some have quarrell'd them, especially at Magnificat, [My soul doth magnifie the Lord,] and Nunc dimittis, [or, Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.] The Objections are these: That the first of these was the Virgin Maries Hymn for bearing Christ in her womb: The latter old Simeons, for seeing and holding in his arms the blessed Babe: neither of which can be done by us now, and therefore neither can we say properly these Hymns.
The answer may be, that bearing Christ in the womb, suckling him, holding him in our arms, is not so great a blessing, as the laying up his holy word in our hearts. S. Luke 11. 27. by which Christ is formed in us, Gal. 4. 19. and so there is as much thanks to be returned to God for this as for that, He that does the will of God taught in his word, may as well say. My soul doth magnifie the Lord as the holy Virgin; for Christ is formed in him, as well as in the Virgins womb. S. Matth. 12. 50. Whosoever doth the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. And why may not we after the reading of a part of the new Testament, say, Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, as well as old Simeon? for in that Scripture by the eye of Faith, we see that salvation which he then saw, and more clearly reveal'd. We have then the same reason to say it, that old Simeon had, and we should have the same spirit to say it with.
III. Of the Magnificat, or the Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After the first Lesson at evening prayer, two other hymns are appointed, both of them taken out of Canonical Scripture: the first is the song of the blessed Virgin, called the Magnificat, from its first word in Latin. It is the first hymn recorded in the New Testament, and, from its ancient use among the primitive Christians, has been continued in the offices of the Reformed Churches abroad, as well as in ours.
For as the Holy Virgin, when she reflected upon the promises of the Old Testament, now about to be fulfilled in the mysterious conception and happy birth, of which God had designed her to be the instrument, expressed her joy in this form; so we, when we hear in the Lessons like examples of his mercy, and are told of those prophecies and promises which were then fulfilled, may not improperly rejoice with her in the same words, as having a proportionable share of interest in the same blessing.
And after that Magnificat (or the Song of the blessed Virgin Mary) in English, as followeth.
IV. Of the ninety-eighth psalm. But when the first Lesson treats of some great and temporal deliverance granted to the peculiar people of God, we have the ninety-eighth psalm for variety; which, though made on occasion of some of David’s victories, may yet be very properly applied to ourselves, who, being God’s adopted children, are a spiritual Israel, and therefore have all imaginable reason to bless God for the same, and to call upon the whole creation to join with us in thanksgiving. This was one of those which, I have already observed, was first added to king Edward’s second Common Prayer.
Or else this Psalm; except it be on the nineteenth day of the month, when it is read in the ordinary course of the Psalms.
Then a Lesson of the New Testament, as it is appointed.
After the Evening Lessons are appointed Magnificat, or My Soul doth magnifie the Lord, and Nunc dimittis, Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace: or else two Psalms. And very fitly doth the Church appoint sacred Hymns after Lessons: For who is there, that hearing God speak from Heaven to him for his souls health, can do less than rise up and praise him? and what Hymns can be fitter to praise God with for our salvation, than those which were the first gratulations, wherewith our Saviour was entertained into the world? And such are these. Yet as fit as they are, some have quarrell'd them, especially at Magnificat, [My soul doth magnifie the Lord,] and Nunc dimittis, [or, Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.] The Objections are these: That the first of these was the Virgin Maries Hymn for bearing Christ in her womb: The latter old Simeons, for seeing and holding in his arms the blessed Babe: neither of which can be done by us now, and therefore neither can we say properly these Hymns.
The answer may be, that bearing Christ in the womb, suckling him, holding him in our arms, is not so great a blessing, as the laying up his holy word in our hearts. S. Luke 11. 27. by which Christ is formed in us, Gal. 4. 19. and so there is as much thanks to be returned to God for this as for that, He that does the will of God taught in his word, may as well say. My soul doth magnifie the Lord as the holy Virgin; for Christ is formed in him, as well as in the Virgins womb. S. Matth. 12. 50. Whosoever doth the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. And why may not we after the reading of a part of the new Testament, say, Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, as well as old Simeon? for in that Scripture by the eye of Faith, we see that salvation which he then saw, and more clearly reveal'd. We have then the same reason to say it, that old Simeon had, and we should have the same spirit to say it with.
Of the Nunc Dimittis. After the second Lesson at evening, which is always out of the Epistles, the Song of Simeon, called Nunc Dimittis, is most commonly used. The author of it is supposed to have been he whom the Jews call Simeon the Just, son to the famous Rabbi Hillel, a man of eminent integrity, and one who opposed the then common opinion of the Messiah’s temporal kingdom. The occasion of his composing it was his meeting Christ in the temple, when he came to be presented there, wherein God fulfilled his promise to him, that he should not die till he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And though we cannot see our Saviour with our bodily eyes, as he did, yet he is by the writings of the Apostles daily presented to the eyes of our faith: and therefore if we were much concerned for heaven, and as loose from the love of the world as old Simeon was, and we ought to be; we might, upon the view of Christ in his holy word, be daily ready to sing this hymn, which is taken into the services of all Christian Churches in the world, Greek, Roman, and Reformed, and was formerly very frequently sung by saints and martyrs a little before their deaths.
And after that Nunc dimittis (or the Song of Simeon) in English, as followeth.
Of the sixty-seventh psalm. Instead of it sometimes the sixty-seventh psalm is used, (being one of those that was introduced in king Edward’s second Liturgy) which being a prayer of David for the coming of the Gospel, is a proper form wherein to express our desires for the further propagation of it.
N.B. It ought to be noted, that both the sixty-seventh and hundredth psalms, being inserted in the Common Prayer Books in the ordinary version, ought so to be used, and not to be sung in Sternhold and Hopkins, or any other metre, as is now the custom in too many churches, to the jostling out of the psalms themselves, expressly contrary to the design of the rubric: which, if not prevented, may in time make way for further innovations and gross irregularities.
Or else this Psalm: Except it be on the twelfth day of the month.
Then shall be sung or said the Apostles' Creed, by the Minister and the people standing: Except only such days as the Creed of Saint Athanasius is appointed to be read.
And after that these Prayers following, all devoutly kneeling: the Minister first pronouncing with a loud voice,
Then the Minister, Clerks, and people shall say the Lord's Prayer with a loud voice.
Then the Priest standing up shall say,
C. Scotch Lit. “Then shall follow,” &c.] A very necessary rubric. For though use and custom had stated in our Churches a practice conformable to it, annexing those prayers to the morning and evening service, yet the want of express rule for its establishment, left our liturgy, in this point, not altogether inobnoxious to exceptions. The morning and evening services constitute offices distinct from the litany and communion, offices diurnal and of daily duty, and consequently they ought to have all their parts complete, perfect, and entire. But these offices, as they are bounded with these words, “Thus endeth the order of morning and evening prayer throughout the whole year,” want first a fit prayer for the king. If that versicle of “O Lord save the king” be urged against me, I answer, that short versicle doth not fit the latitude of our obligations to him, nor of those temporal advantages we desire to enjoy under him, nor of his personal qualifications, as man, as father, as king, as Christian, to all which our prayers ought regularly to relate, and which are considered in the litany, collects. Secondly, they want the dimissory benediction of the priest ; and it looks like a solecism, for a religious assembly to break off abruptly, as it were in the midst of sacred employment, and for the people to depart without a benediction. ‘The premises well weighed, this rubric was very pertinently inserted.
Then shall follow three Collects; the first of the day; The second for Peace; The third for Aid against all Perils, as hereafter followeth: which two last Collects shall be daily said at Evening Prayer without alteration.
Nor is the other, for aid against all perils, less seasonable at night; for being then in danger of the terrors of darkness, we by this form commend ourselves into the hands of that God, who neither slumbers nor sleeps, and with whom darkness and light are both alike.
In Quires and Places where they sing here followeth the Anthem.
Then these five Prayers following are to be read here: Except when the Litany is read; and then only the two last are to be read, as they are there placed.
Here endeth the Order of Evening Prayer throughout the Year.