one. It is precatory or benedictory, rather than declaratory, and uses the pronoun "you," implying the presence of a body of believers. In structure and significance it resembles the other, but dwells more on the workings of God's mercy.

In the Ordinal, or Ordination of Priests, the Church does not hesitate to confer on them the original authority conveyed by her Divine Head, repeating His words: "Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained." This authority is involved in the Administration of the Sacraments; and the Remission of sins conferred in Baptism is renewed at every Absolution. There are four modes in which this absolving power may be officially exercised. They may be termed the absolution of prayer, or the power to intercede through Christ's merits; declaratory absolution, or the power to declare the Gospel; the absolution of discipline, or the power to exclude scandalous sinners; and sacramental absolution, or the power to admit to and administer the Sacraments.

The principal respects in which the power of a Priest, or fully commissioned Minister, exceeds that of a Deacon, are that he may pronounce the Absolution, give the Benediction and celebrate the Holy Communion. From what has been said of the grave importance of the Introductory portion of Morning and Evening Prayer, which closes here, it is evident that lack of punctuality at Church works a deprivation of great blessings.

VII.

THE LORD'S PRAYER AND VENITE.

"O come, let us worship and fall down: and kneel before the LORD our Maker.

"For He is the LORD our God: and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand."-The Venite.

THE

HE second and third divisions of the Service, that of Thanksgiving and Praise and that of God's Word, are closely interwoven by the alternation of the Psalter and Canticles with the Scripture Lessons. The second division begins here, as the Minister kneels and recites the LORD'S PRAYER, the people repeating it with him. It was the beginning of the entire Service in the First Book, and is there called the Pater noster. The rubric as to the people's invariable accompaniment does not apply to its use at the opening of the Communion Office. It here confirms and seals the word of Absolution, sets us free from sin to the liberty of the sons of Our Father, and opens the door to Praise.

There is no public service of the Church whatever without the Lord's Prayer, and it always has the place of honour. Here it is the first distinct Prayer in the Service. It is a striking example of Christ's approval of a form, and was twice given by Him; once in response to a direct request for instruction, and once in the Sermon on the Mount. It is the universal every-day prayer of humanity, and

though very general, it covers every need. Its petitions may often be used with a special intention, as "Thy kingdom come," for the salvation of the heathen, for the Second Advent of Christ, or for the reign of grace in our own hearts; and "Thy will be done" in the Church, in the State, or in personal doubt or affliction.

Its parts are four, i. e., invocation; three petitions for God's glory; three for ourselves; ascription. The order of thought is the same as that of the Ten Commandments. As children of a common Father, we are all brethren in His blessed Son, and the Invocation summons us to filial trust and reverence, and to fraternal communion. He is Our Father by creation and by redemption; in heaven preeminently, but not exclusively. In the first of the three petitions for God's glory, Hallowed be Thy Name, the spirit of devotion is enjoined. We place Him before ourselves, and make all things holy that bear His name : His Word, His Church, etc. In Thy kingdom come, we pray that it may come in us, in the world, in eternity. Such a coming brings heaven down to earth, and raises earth to heaven. By it sin will be destroyed, by which death and Satan rule. This is the spirit of loyalty. His kingdom is delayed by human resistance to His will. That will is learned by prayer, and so we ask that Thy will be done, as it is in heaven, where all is for love and nothing for reward. This petition inculcates the spirit of obedience. It includes the spread of Missions, the reunion of Christendom, and our own sanctification. Thus far the Prayer resembles the first table of the Decalogue.

Of the three petitions for our own wants, the first, Give

us this day our daily bread, is for temporal ones. Such petitions are sanctioned, yet restricted to our necessities. We ask for daily bread, the things needful for the body; and "having food and raiment, let us be therewith content." More than this, the needs of the soul are here implied (as warranted by some versions of the passage), in the thought of that "super-substantial" or celestial Bread, which came down from Heaven, and that Water of Life, after taking of which we shall never thirst. The other two requests for spiritual blessings are not limited, but expanded and earnest. In Forgive us our trespasses, we ask that our debts of thought, word and deed may be blotted out. But our only warrant for hope is in manifesting a forgiving spirit; "with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." This is the only petition with a condition attached. Its spirit is the one likest to Christ, and the hardest to our finite natures.

The next clause is in two parts, mutually dependent, as shown by the punctuation. All temptation is a "trying," and in this sense God will surely tempt us; but not "above that we are able," and will "make a way of escape that we may be able to bear it." We pray that He Lead us not into temptation, or rather that He keep us from putting ourselves in its way, and that we take heed lest we fall. We must not tempt God, and must be watchful to be found only in the path of duty, wherein alone protection is vouchsafed. Deliver us from evil means, above all, from the Evil One and all his angels, the source of all real evil. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life, to which Adam yielded, were overcome by Christ, in Whom alone is grace to resist our temptations

from within. Sorrow, sickness, suffering are not necessarily evils, but trials; there is no real evil but sin, i. e., a separation from God, who is "of purer eyes than to behold iniquity." In God's forgiveness of sin we see the beginning, in His support in temptation the continuance, and in His deliverance from evil the triumphant close of our whole spiritual life.

While the Lord's Prayer is that of the whole Church, and of all mankind, yet each petition has exceptional fitness among different classes. As has been touchingly said, "hallowed be Thy Name," is the prayer of the angels; "Thy kingdom come," that of the faithful departed; "Thy will be done," that of the living; "give us our daily bread," that of all creatures; "forgive us our trespasses," that of sinners; and "deliver us from evil," that of infants. The entire Prayer, if rightly conceived, is Christ's own prayer for Unity. Its doxology, or ascription of glory, For Thine is the kingdom, etc., is not given by St. Luke, nor is it in the best manuscripts of St. Matthew. It was perhaps added for a liturgical use, and is employed in the liturgy when the feature of praise is present.

The VERSICLES which follow, and which have been called the "Sursum Corda" (or "Lift up your hearts"), of the Daily Service, are very old, being the survival of its ancient penitential introduction. St. Benedict mentions them in 543 A. D. They are from the 51st Psalm, and follow the use of the Eastern Church. We cannot properly show forth praise until God opens our lips. The English Book adds two Versicles to these, i. e., "O God, make speed to save us," and "O Lord, make haste to help us." These short, ejaculatory Prayers (or preces) are in contrast