Public or secular business which falls to be done on any Lord's Day, e.g., a meeting of any vestry or corporation, whether ecclesiastical or civil, must be held on the Saturday next preceding or the Monday next ensuing, at the like hour; and terms of office expire in the like manner (m). In computing time Sunday counts as no day, and, as a general rule, all acts which fall to be done on the Lord's Day should be done on the previous day. In LORD'S SUPPER, or the Holy Communion, also called the Eucharist or Thanksgiving, and formerly known as the Mass, is one of the two Sacraments of the Church of England (n). It is a sign of the love that Christians ought to have one to another and of our redemption by Christ's death (o). It is usually partaken of by eating a small piece of bread and drinking a little wine, but at different times in the history of the Church it has taken the form of a substantial meal. the Church of England the Lord's Supper can only be consecrated and administered by an episcopally ordained priest (p). According to the rubric there can be no public celebration except there be a convenient number to communicate with the priest according to his discretion, three persons at least; or any private communion of the sick unless two persons at least communicate with the priest (q); and Lord Penzance considers it quite practicable in all cases for the priest to ascertain whether the lawful number will communicate (r). Those who intend to communicate must be concentrated near or round the communion table. In cathedral and collegiate churches and colleges where there are many priests and deacons they must all receive the communion every Sunday at the least, except they have a reasonable cause to the contrary (s). The Sacrament must be received kneeling (t), but case there is a special statutory power, but a Bill is before Parliament to repeal it. (m) 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 31, repealed as to boroughs within the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882. (n) Art. 25. (o) Art. 28. (p) 13 & 14 Car. 2, c. 4, s. 14. (9) See Parnell v. Roughton (1874), L. R. 6 P. C. 46. (r) Clifton v. Ridsdale (1876), 1 P. D. 345. (s) Rubric and see Can. 23. no adoration is intended thereby or ought to be done (s). The Sacrament must be administered in both kinds (†). After the blessing the surplus bread and wine is to be reverently consumed according to the rubric, and for carrying out this purpose the vessels may be cleansed by the minister in church. provided it is done after the service is ended and without ceremony or prayers (u). In some particulars our Church differs from the present practice of the Greek and Roman Churches, but is supposed to be in accordance with the customs of the primitive Church. In the Romish Church certain innovations of the Middle Ages, e. g., communion in one kind, solitary masses by priests, and adoration of the elements are enjoined. Both the Romish and English Churches have departed from the very early practice still continued by the Eastern Church of administering the Communion to infants. The Lord's Supper may be administered to an impotent or very dangerously sick person in a private dwelling-house provided one other person communicates with the sick person and the priest (). This provision is necessary as the consecrated elements may not now (as in pre-Reformation times) be reserved or carried about (y). The minister may not privately administer the Communion, except in cases of great necessity, under pain of suspension for the first offence and excommunication for the second (z). In time of plague, sweat, or such other like contagious diseases when no person can be got to communicate with the sick person for fear of infection, upon special request of the deceased the minister may only communicate with him (a); but it would seem that in no case may a minister administer the Sacrament to himself alone. Every parishioner has a primâ facie right to partake of the Lord's Supper, and "the minister shall not without lawful cause (s) Black. Rubric at end of Communion Service; and see Art. 28. (t) Art. 30; and 1 Edw. 6, c. 1. (u) Read v. Bishop of Lincoln, L. R. (1891) P. 32. (x) Rubric. See CONGREGATION. (y) Art. 28. (z) Can. 71, deny the same to any person that will devoutly and humbly desire it, any law, statute, ordinance, or custom contrary thereunto in any wise notwithstanding" (b). The "lawful causes," according to the rubric (which is a statutory enactment), are that the parishioner (1) is an "open and notorious evil liver," or (2) has done "wrong to his neighbours by word or deed so that the congregation be thereby offended," or (3) is in hatred or malice with his neighbour, (4) refuses to kneel, or (5) has neglected to give notice of his intention to present himself, though this last cause is doubtful. There are further causes mentioned in canon 27, such as “refusing to be present at public prayers," and "being a common and notorious depraver of the Book of Common Prayer," and "speaking against and depraving the sovereign's authority in causes ecclesiastical;" but a layman cannot (though a clergyman may) be repelled for any of these canonical offences, unless it is also a "lawful cause " at the statute law. A person has been held not to be an "evil liver" for attending a Wesleyan Chapel (c); and in another case, where a person of irreproachable moral character published volumes of selections from the Old and New Testament and the Book of Common Prayer, and explained (in a private letter) that the construction which he placed upon certain parts of the Bible was not the same as the construction which, in his opinion, was generally placed thereon, and that this was the reason why he omitted certain portions; he was held (by the Privy Council) to be not an 66 66 and notorious evil liver" nor open and notorious depraver of the Book of Common Prayer” (d). In the Arches Court, it has been held that the avowed and persistent denial of the existence and personality of the devil constitutes a person an "evil liver" and also a "depraver of the Book of Common Prayer;" but it is doubtful whether this would be upheld by the Privy Council (e). . (b) 1 Edw. 6, c. 1, s. 8. (c) Swayne v. Benson (1889), 6 T. L. R. 7. (d) Jenkins v. Cook (1876), in Arches Court, L. R. 4 A. & E. 453, in P. C. 1 P. D. 80. a common (e) No decision on this point was given by the P. C. in Jenkins v. Cook, ubi sup. The tendency of the Supreme Court of Appeal is, happily, in the direction of great latitude in doctrinal matters, but it is to be presumed that a Papist, and possibly, a Unitarian, would be considered as doctrinally "evil livers" within the rubric and could be refused the Holy Communion. It is the clergyman's statutory and canonical duty to refuse an undoubted "evil liver" until he repents. Every parishioner is supposed to communicate three times a year, of which Easter should be one (ƒ). The priest must give notice or "warning," according to the rubric, of his intention to celebrate the Lord's Supper, and notice must be given to the priest by those who intend to be present. Persons not giving notice are liable to be refused the sacrament, though it has been thought that a clergyman is not justified in refusing solely on this ground (g). The bread and wine are to be provided by the churchwardens (h) if they have any funds for the purpose, otherwise by the minister (ƒ). Although only a priest can consecrate and administer the Lord's Supper, there seems to be no doubt that a deacon may legally read the other parts of the communion service (i). The duty is, however, primarily cast upon the priest by the rubrics. As to the division of the communion service, see PUBLIC WORSHIP. The following points have been decided as to the ritual of the Lord's Supper:-(1) The chasuble, alb, and tunicle are illegal everywhere, and the cope in ordinary parish churches (j). (2) The cup and paten may not be elevated above the head of the minister (). (3) Prostration and kneeling before the consecrated elements is illegal; the priest must stand during the prayer of consecration, and may not kneel at any time during the Communion Service, except when expressly directed so to do by the rubric (1). (4) Lighted (ƒ) Rubric. (g) Urlin, p. 32. (k) Art. 29, and Martin v. Mackonochie (1868), L. R. P. C. 365. (1) Ridsdale v. Clifton, ubi sup.; Martin v. Mackonochie, ubi sup. candles may not be used except when wanted for giving light (m). (5) The minister ought not to assume the eastward position (q. v.), but may do so provided he does not prevent the people from seeing. (6) The bread must be pure wheaten bread, not wafer bread (q. v.). (7) The wine must not be mixed with water (n). (8) Sign of the cross (q. v.) is illegal. (9) Incense (q. v.) may not be used. (10) The little bell known as the "sacring " bell may not be rung during the Prayer of Consecration (o). (11) The alms (q. v.) may not be elevated or placed on a credence table (p). (12) Crucifixes (q. v.) and images (q. v.) may not be used ceremonially. (13) The "ceremony of ablution" is illegal (q). (14) There is a conflict of authority as to whether the Agnus Dei may be sung. (See SINGING.) Doctrine. The doctrine of the Church of England as to the Lord's Supper is that it is (1) a commemorative rite, (2) a means of grace. It denies that there is any "corporal presence or "real presence of the natural body," which, of course, would overthrow the nature of a sacrament or sign (). It is a spiritual rite only (r), in which the wicked are in no wise partakers, although they carnally and visibly press with their teeth the sign or sacrament of the body and blood (s). The unworthiness of the minister (which would seem to include the case of the celebrant not being a minister at all) does not hinder the effect of the sacrament (t). Although lay baptism is permitted, the Church of England does not allow a deacon or a layman, even in urgent cases, to administer the Lord's Supper. In this it is not in accord with the primitive Church (u). It, however, teaches that a person may in urgent circumstances eat and drink the body and blood of our Saviour Christ elsewhere than at Holy Com (m) See LIGHTS. (n) See MIXED CHALICE. (0) Elphinstone v. Purchas (1870), L. R. 3 A. & E. 98. (p) Flamank v. Simpson (1868), L. R. 2 A. & E. 218. (4) Read v. Bishop of Lincoln, L. R. (1891), P. 32. (r) Art. 28. And see ARTICLES and PRESENCE. (8) Art. 29. (t) Art. 26. (u) See PUBLIC WORSHIP; Lay Ministrations. |