The Prayer Book Explained

The Prayer Book Explained, by
Percival Jackson

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Title: The Prayer Book Explained
Author: Percival Jackson
Release Date: May 8, 2007 [EBook #21351]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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PRAYER BOOK EXPLAINED ***

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THE PRAYER BOOK EXPLAINED
BY THE
REV. PERCIVAL JACKSON, M.A.,

JESUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.


PART I.
THE DAILY OFFICES AND THE LITANY.

CAMBRIDGE:
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
1901

"The book requireth but orderly reading."
HOOKER, v. xxxi. 3.

{v}
PREFACE.
To those who believe in One Holy Catholic Church wherein dwelleth
the Holy Spirit, it will always be difficult to distrust the Service Book
of any Branch of it. The old claim made at Jerusalem with regard to the
vexed questions of the Church's infancy, It seemed good to the Holy
Ghost, and to us (Acts xv. 28), rested not on the presence there of the
good and wise, on the prudence or self-sacrifice of those who had
hazarded their lives for the Name, but on the reality of the Lord's
promised Presence. Not because there were Apostles there, but because
those there were the Catholic and Apostolic Church, they asked and
received the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

It was a living and lasting Presence, touching with saving grace the
treatment of such questions as the observance of Mosaic precepts, {vi}
the eating of bought meat, as well as Purity of Life. We cannot doubt,
then, that many Services which have been criticised on afterthoughts
were essentially constructed in accordance with the Faith once for all
delivered to the Church.
To renounce this conviction with regard to our own Church of England
is to surrender its inheritance. Men of various tastes may prefer diverse
rites: reasonable sequence may suggest one method, and glowing
impulse another, fear of misunderstanding a third; but that which has
seemed good to the Holy Ghost and His Temple, the Church, demands
that we shall endeavour to believe it to be good, and use it in the temper
of faith.
The critical spirit, as we now use criticism, is not the spirit of worship.
For the spirit of worship is moved by Faith--Faith supremely in God,
but also faith in the words which we use, and in the people with whom
we use them.
Thus the truest cure for Doubt is Worship. If my faith in a friend
weakens I must go to see him, to speak with him, to restore our mutual
{vii} confidence and love. In like manner, if my faith in God through
Christ weakens, I must go to Him, speak with Him, seek a return of the
old confidence and love.
In the belief that God is calling us to know Him more perfectly by the
Worship which we offer in heart and life, and in the confidence that our
Branch of the Church has the guidance of the Indwelling Spirit, this
book is dedicated to His glory.
P. J.
May 1901.

{ix}

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Extempore Worship and Forms of Worship . . . . . . . . . . 1 Variations of
words and phrases: a. Variety of Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 b.
Variety in Singing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -- c. Variations in the
component parts . . . . . . . . 4
CHAPTER II.
Origin of Morning and Evening Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . 5 The Day
Hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 General Scheme of the Day
Hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Names and Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
CHAPTER III.
The Model--The Lord's Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 a. Two kinds of
Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 b. Praise and Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14 c. Intention and Setting .