OF THE
LUTHERAN
LITURGICAL ASSOCIATION
Volumes I-VII.
Published by the Association Pittsburgh, Pa., 1906.
Copyright, 1906,
by
The Lutheran Liturgical Association.
[These volumes have been scanned and proofread, but may still contain errors. Original pagination has been indicated throughout.]
II 1 The Architecture of the Chancel (E. F. Krauss)
II 7 The Significance of the Altar (W. E. Schramm)
II 15 The Swedish Liturgies (N. Forsander)
II 29 Altar Linen (L. D. Reed)
II 35 The Sources of the Minor Services (R. M. Smith)
II 57 The History of the Liturgy of the Lutheran Church in Denmark (E. Belfour)
II 75 Thematic Harmony of Introit, Collect, Epistle, and Gospel (D. H. Geissinger)
II 83 Art in Worship (J. F. Ohl)
THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CHANCEL.
THE Church of Christ may be infallibly recognized by two marks, or characteristics. These are the pure teaching of the Gospel and the right administration of the Sacraments. In order that the Word and the Sacraments may be properly administered, some structure is ordinarily demanded, in which those may gather for whom the Means of Grace are designed. A certain part of this structure, however, must necessarily be reserved as the place from which the Word, read and preached, may sound forth; and in which the Sacraments may be applied to the people. “Order is Heaven’s first law,” and dare not be absent from the arrangement of our earthly temples. The specific place in the churches designed for the administration of the Means of Grace is popularly known as the Chancel. The name now applied to this section of the church is derived from the Cancelli, screens, or barriers, which in the ancient Church separated this part from the Nave, or main body of the church. In this discussion, the term Chancel is used in a general sense, and includes all that is commonly understood by the words, choir, recess, apse, and sanctuary.
The time allotted to the presentation of the architecture of the Chancel and its essential furniture does not admit of an elaborate treatment of the subject. It will not be possible to outline the processes whereby some of the conclusions stated in this paper, have been arrived at. The object is merely to state results, and to furnish in brief and succinct form some of the principles which ought to be observed in the construction and arrangement of the most important and suggestive part of our Houses of Worship. The aim throughout has been to keep in view the practical wants of our churches in this country. If the lynx-eyed critic should feel inclined to carp at some of the suggestions contained in this paper, let him rest assured that it was not prepared with a view to instruct the architects of Protestant cathedrals;
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but, to outline the best and most practical arrangement of the Chancel and its fixed, essential furniture for the House of Worship of an average Evangelical Lutheran congregation.
In treating an important subject like this, we must ever bear in mind that we dare not break abruptly away from the line of our historical development, nor fail to take into account that healthful conservatism which has always marked our beloved Church, where her adherents enjoyed a due appreciation of her Scriptural doctrine, her correct usages and her glorious history. Nor yet, on the other hand, dare we be so bound by the opinions and practices of the ancients as to impair our usefulness and adaptability in view of the age in which we live, in spite of the fact that it manifests a strong tendency to exalt the practical and the utilitarian at the expense of the artistic and refined; and shows an alarming want of reverence for the wholesome usages of the past. The Nineteenth and the Twentieth centuries contribute their quota to the development of cultus and ecclesiastical architecture as well as the Ninth and the Sixteenth. In a consideration like this it is as unpardonable, to put it mildly, to be indifferent to the trend of the present in these matters, as it is to ignore the results of wholesome development in the past, and to refuse to profit by them.
In treating of the architecture of the Chancel, we must in the first place decide upon its proper place in the church. The historical position of the Chancel is toward the East, so that the worshipping congregation always faces in the direction of the rising sun. To the devout mind, a number of beautiful and forcible reasons at once present themselves and make it self-evident that this is the most suitable place for the Chancel. If at all possible, the eastern position should always be selected for this important part of our Houses of Worship, not merely because this is in accord with the historical practice; but because it is eminently beautiful and suggestive. Our churches should be sermons in stone, and every individual part should be vocal with the exalted truths of our holy religion.
The floor-space occupied by the Chancel in proportion to that of the whole church, is a matter worthy of special consideration. Many of our churches are marred by such small-sized Chancels as to give the painful impression that the Word and the Sacraments, instead of being of essential importance, may be suitably disposed of in an insignificant little corner. In begrudging the ample space which ought to be assigned to the Chancel, we, manifest a want of a due appreciation of the importance of what takes place there. While unprepared to lay down
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a hard and fast rule stating the exact proportion which should exist between the Auditorium and the Chancel, one may safely say that there is no tendency manifesting itself anywhere at present in the direction of making the Chancel too large. One-eighth of the floor-space of the whole structure is not too much to devote to its exclusive use.
In the majority of our churches, the Chancel may well extend throughout its whole width a short distance into the Nave. This will make it possible for the Pulpit and Lectern to be stationed near the people. The floor of the Chancel should be raised from that of the Auditorium by three low and wide steps.
The three liturgical stations in our Church, as accepted by all our writers upon this subject, are: the Baptismal Font; the Pulpit, and its coordinate, the Lectern; and the Altar. These liturgical stations are properly considered under the subject before us; for Baptismal Font, Pulpit and Altar dare not be regarded as mere portable articles of furniture; but as fixed parts of the Church in which they are placed. They are more essential to a proper conception of a Christian church than the walls.
Let us take up the liturgical stations in their order, and begin naturally with the consideration of the Baptismal Font. In the great majority of our churches, a special Baptistry, like in ancient times, would be out of the question. The placing of the Font at the West end of the church, on the North side, is not practical in most of our churches; and no amount of emphasis laid upon the historic and symbolic significance of this place will ever make it general. There is only one other proper place left, and that is, at, or within, the Chancel. The center of the church, immediately in front of the Chancel steps, suggests itself as the best and most significant place for the Font. Here it will not intercept the view of the Altar, yet it will be in line with it in the centre of the church. Resting on the floor of the auditorium, it suggests that Baptism meets us on the level of our natural life, bestows upon us God’s grace, passes us on to the ministry of the audible Word from Pulpit and Lectern, until we finally, in proper order, attain to the Altar, with its holy mysteries and its celestial blessings, marking the most exalted point of worship this side of the glories of Heaven.
The Pulpit has been subjected to many and devious wanderings in the course of the Christian centuries. In the beginning the Bishop used to preach from his cathedra, in the Apse, back of the Altar. Whenever the Bishop did not preach, the Deacon read a homily from
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the South, or Epistle, Ambo. Owing to the distance of the Cathedra of the Bishop from the people, it early became customary for the Bishop as well to preach from this Ambo. Of these Ambos there were usually two in the ancient Church, placed respectively to the North and South of the Choir where it joined the Nave. From these Ambos the Scriptures were read, the Gospel on the North and the Epistle on the South; and from them the Cantores intoned the Psalms. The early practice of preaching from the South Ambo is no doubt responsible for the southern position of the pulpit in many of our important churches. The growing practice of placing the pulpit on the North side has no historical warrant, although we may well bear in mind what Meurer says in his “Kirchenbau,” page 214:—“The question whether the pulpit should be placed on the North or South side, in respect to which there has been no established usage, becomes for us simply a matter of expediency; for the distinction between the women’s and men’s side of the Nave, or between the Gospel and the Epistle side, has for us no longer any significance. The South side might be preferred simply for this reason, because the preacher facing the North, is at no time in danger of having the sun shine in his eyes. Certainly this might also be avoided by means of curtains.”
It is safe to say that the practice will never become general among us in this country of placing the Pulpit in the Nave at one of the pillars. Yet the Pulpit should be fixed as far out into the Auditorium as practically possible. Its most approved place doubtless is on the south side of the Chancel as near as possible to the people. The great mistake is to be avoided of building the Pulpit so inordinately high as to defy a simple law of acoustics, and do violence to the neck-muscles of the audience in looking at the preacher.
The Lectern, or Reading Desk, is not universally used in our churches. With respect to it, our most distinctive practice follows the later development, according to which the lessons are read from the Altar. There are a number of reasons which show this practice to be an objectionable one; and warrant a return to the more ancient practice according to which the lessons were read from Ambos from the north and the south sides of the Chancel where it joins the Nave. Having concluded that the Pulpit properly occupies the place of the south Ambo, from which in the ancient Church, the Deacon, as already explained, used to read a homily when the Bishop did not preach, the Lectern may properly take the place of the north Ambo; and thus afford greater balance and symmetry to the arrangements of our Chancels.
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Here the Word of God will be more audible to the people than if read from the Altar. The Word is not anything offered to God but, God’s message and gift of Grace to the people. It is a cheering sign to note that the trend in the development of the arrangement of our Chancels has of late been in this sensible and practical direction.
Having now, in our consideration of the ideal Chancel Architecture, placed the Baptismal Font in the center immediately before the three low steps which ascend to the Chancel, and having placed the Pulpit and the Lectern on this elevated platform, as far into the Nave as possible, we now proceed to a consideration of the Altar. The recess, in which the Altar stands, call it Sanctuary if you will, is reached by a low step from the elevation on which are fixed the Pulpit and Lectern. This step will serve the purpose of a prie-dieu, or kneeling-stool, for the communicants. A slight and inconspicuous railing, always open in front of the Altar, except at the times when persons kneel thereat, may be placed at a proper distance from the edge of this step; so as to serve, not as a chancel, or barrier, to the Altar, but merely as a support for the body. The Altar itself, which should be of generous proportions, may be raised from this elevation by three low and wide steps, thus elevating it on seven steps, all told, from the level of the auditorium, and bringing it within plain view of every worshipper, the center and most conspicuous object in the church.
The Reredos, or, in lieu of that, Dossal hangings, are becoming quite popular. These are doubtless what remains of the Reliquaries, as we see them in the Medieval churches. They are not essential to the architecture of the Altar, but are permitted; and submit to great artistic treatment. As in the Mediaeval Church, so in those of to-day, the Reredos is the Place where the canons of good taste and of pure ecclesiastical art are most frequently transgressed. The Reredos must correspond with the architecture of the church in which it is placed. The round, semi-circular arches of the Byzantine style are decidedly out of place upon the Reredos in a Gothic church. It must not surpass in costliness and elaborateness of design, the Altar itself, as if the Altar existed for the sake of the Reredos, and not the Reredos for the Altar. The Reredos may so powerfully overshadow the Altar as to give the impression conveyed by the attachment of a $1500.00 portico to a $300.00 cottage. Again all statuary and painting on the Reredos must refer distinctively to the redemptive work of Christ. Unity and harmony must exist throughout the whole of the sacred edifice. From its foundation-stone to the cross upon its spire, a church ought to produce
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the impression of a grand symphony proclaiming the great, central truths connected with the redemption of man.
In conclusion, let the prospective builders of churches be urged to recognize the fact that the organic centre of the church is the Chancel, and especially the Altar within the Chancel; and that here is the place to give character to the whole structure. If the building must be stinted in any place, let it not be the Chancel and the Altar. Here the wealth and the affection of the worshipper may well find their exalted expression in forms of chaste beauty and of simple elegance. Just as in the human body, the condition and activity of the heart determine the general health of the individual, so the architecture and arrangement of the Chancel express, in no uncertain characters, not only the general character of the whole structure; but, the taste and intelligence of the worshippers as well.
Although we dare not tolerate for a moment the far-fetched symbolism which some claim to see in the Chancel and its arrangements; yet it is cheerfully admitted that, as the Gospel sounds from it,, and in it the Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ is administered, it should remind us, by its architecture and symbolisms, of that more glorious temple not made with hands, in which dwells the inapproachable glory of God. The earthly tabernacle should be a pattern of the heavenly.
ELMER F. KRAUSS.
Leichhurg, Pa.
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THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ALTAR.
Of all visible accessories to worship, either of God’s ordering or of devising, the altar is the most ancient. The very first divine service of which we have any record was an altar service. True, it is not stated explicitly that Cain and Abel erected altars, but the fact that they brought offerings unto the Lord implies some form of altar. Whether these sons of Adam were instructed of God as to how they were to worship is a question. It seems very probable that they were; certain it is that ,the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering.” The altar which Noah builded unto the Lord and upon which I he offered burnt offerings, likewise met with divine favor. In the time of the patriarchs, a number of altars were erected; some at God’s express command, others were voluntary expressions of a desire to worship, on the part of godly souls. These altars of early times were often built in places where the Lord had appeared, or in spots hallowed by other religious associations. The usual purpose for which they were erected was naturally that of offering sacrifice; although in some instances, they served simply as memorials. These rudely constructed altars of the patriarchal age gave way to the portable altar in the court of the Tabernacle; and this in turn was superseded by the larger and more beautiful altar of the Temple. To trace in detail the development of the altar of burnt offerings, to study its construction and to notice its rela-
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tion to the altar of incense would doubtless prove interesting in this connection, but all this would be manifestly foreign to our purpose here.
To God’s people of the old dispensation the altar was wholly sacrificial in its significance. The most devout and thoughtful of the patriarchs and prophets seem to have had no knowledge of the symbolical meaning of the sacrifices which they offend. There is no record, either in Holy Writ or in the ancient profane writings, to indicate that these men had even an inkling of the truth that their sacrifices were but a type of the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. They expected a redemption through a Redeemer, but they did not understand that this meant the remission of sins through a crucified Savior. They understood and believed the divinely given laws concerning sacrifices without grasping the truth that those sacrifices were efficacious before God only in as far as the merits of the Messiah gave them efficacy. Their altars were to them a constant reminder of man’s duty to bring his gifts to God; but concerning God’s Gift to man, their altars were silent. While the light of fuller revelation makes manifest in the Old Testament altar a sacramental character, to the believers under the Law the altar was entirely sacrificial in its significance.
In the coming of Christ Jesus, Who, as our great High Priest, offered Himself as a spotless sacrifice to God for the propitiation of our sins, we have the substance of that which was foreshadowed by the types and ceremonies of the Old Testament. In Him all types found their anti-type and all ceremonies found their fulfillment. These glorious shadow-pictures by which the Jews were taught spiritual truths were therefore done away when the superior glory of that which was portrayed in the pictures was made manifest. From this it becomes obvious that the Jewish altar has no place or part under the present dispensation. Calvary’s cross, upon which our blessed Savior suffered and died is the only altar of sacrifice in the Church of the New Testament. Sin without a sacrifice now, as in times past, clamors for vengeance, but the Sacrifice of the cross is amply sufficient to silence the clamoring of all the world’s transgressions.
However it does not follow from this that that which we designate as an “altar,” in our churches at the present time, is a misnomer. On the other hand, the term “altar” as applied to the Christian communion table has an appropriateness which is readily apparent to the thoughtful Christian. This use of the word is of ecclesiastical rather than of scriptural origin. The New Testament speaks of “the Table of the
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Lord,” but does not refer to it as an “altar,” unless Hebrews xiii.10 is such a reference, a matter which cannot be proven. Certain it is that the word was used in this sense very early in the history of the Christian Church. We find it so used already in the writings of Ignatius, who was the contemporary of some of the apostles. Therefore the expression “Christian Altar” has been sanctioned—yes, hallowed—by not less than eighteen centuries of use.
The celebration of the Holy Eucharist demanded some form of table, upon which the elements might be placed during their consecration, and from which they might be distributed. As long as the little bands of believers meet for worship in private houses, the ordinary table of the home was utilized for this purpose. But the external development of the Church required changes in the arrangements for the assembling of the believers; and, just as naturally, the internal development brought about changes in the ceremonies and customs of the Service. The spiritual life of the believers gave birth to very beautiful and edifying forms, already in the early years of Christianity. It was during these years of the Church’s pristine purity that the Table of the Lord began to develop in form and to grow in meaning. The result of this development and growth is the Christian Altar as found in the true visible Church of Christ at the present time. It must therefore, be conceded that the altar as such is a human arrangement; yet we do not concede that it is a human invention. It is a legitimate growth of the same nature as are the Church Year and the Liturgy.
The prime purpose of the altar is, and always has been, for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. Without this Sacrament, the altar would in all probability, never have been introduced into any branch of the Christian Church. The dispensation of the blessed Body and Blood of our Lord from it, is what gives the altar its right to exist. Not that the altar adds to the essence or validity of this feast of grace. The Sacrament is in every way complete and perfect, as instituted by the Lord Jesus. When in times of persecution, Christians celebrated the Lord’s Supper on the trunks of trees, on the stones of graves and on elevations in the fields, the absence of an altar detracted absolutely nothing from the efficacy of the Sacrament. Notwithstanding this, he, who under normal conditions, would not prefer to receive the Lord’s Supper from an altar, rather than from the trunk of a tree or the stone of a grave, either does not grasp the idea of this Sacrament, or else is sadly lacking in his sense of churchly order and propriety. The Christian who has a correct conception of the Eucharist and any appreciation
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whatever of that which is churchly, would show a decided preference for an altar. To us as Lutherans the Lord’s Supper is so intimately associated with an altar that we commonly designate it as “the Sacrament of the Altar.” To us the altar has a meaning. To us it stands for one of God’s precious means of grace. As the pulpit stands for the Word and the font for Baptism, so the altar stands for the Holy Supper of our Lord. Even at a minor service the altar is eloquent with meaning. It speaks. It proclaims a rich feast of grace. It tells of gracious pardon for the sinful; it tells of nourishment and strength for the weak and faltering; it tells of sweetest heavenly comfort for the afflicted and distressed. It tells, in short, of a blessed communion in which sinful men may be drawn nearer to Heaven than is possible for them to approach in any other way on earth. These are the fundamental truths for which our altar stands. It is, therefore, primarily sacramental in its significance.
But our altar’s significance is not restricted to the sacramental. The Holy Supper is so suggestive of the atoning work of our Savior that we can hardly think of this Sacrament without being reminded of Christ’s agony and death. It is this atoning work that we plead in all our supplications and prayers at the throne of grace. When we petition our Heavenly Father for mercy, our reliance is solely upon the blood and righteousness of Jesus our Redeemer. The altars in our churches are, in a certain sense at least, symbolical of Golgotha’s altar upon which our Sacrifice expiated our sins. Therefore while the altar speaks of one of the means through which God comes to us with His grace, it also proclaims the ground of our acceptableness when we approach our God. This gives the altar also a certain sacrificial meaning.
There is yet another idea which augments this sacrificial significance of our altar, though not in a co-ordinate manner. In the ancient Church it was customary at the services, for each communicant to offer some gift upon the altar. Of these offerings, such as were necessary for the, celebration of the Holy Supper were set apart for that purpose; the remainder were used for the support of the ministry and for the benefit of the poor. Practically this same custom still obtains in our churches. The justification of this custom lies on the very surface of the matter. The offering is an integral part of a divine service. It is a blessed privilege as well as an imperative duty devolving upon every Christian to bring regularly a gift unto the Lord. When a congregation of Christians meets for worship, these gifts of the people are collected. What disposition shall now be made of them? The Chris-
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tian Church has always regarded the altar as the most appropriate place upon which to lay these offerings. Nor does this in any way militate against the primary purpose of the altar. Our altar stands, and ever must stand, primarily for God’s gift of grace to us, bestowed in the Holy Eucharist. Now upon this same altar from which we receive this rich and gracious feast, we lay our humble offerings, in token of our appreciation of God’s manifold mercies, and of our gratitude to their beneficent Giver.
But perhaps we may be enabled to discern more clearly the scripturalness and beauty of our altar’s significance by contrasting it with the altars, real and so-called, of other Christian denominations. Let us make comparisons, first with the altar as found in the Church of Rome, and then with the altars of the various Reformed bodies, and briefly note the points of contrast.
The altar of the Romish Church differs very materially from the Lutheran altar, just as the Romish conception of the Eucharist differs essentially from our own doctrine. According to papistical teaching, there is in the Romish Mass a sacrifice; not simply a commemoration of the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross, but a true propitiatory sacrifice whereby God is pacified. The celebrant in this ordinance is said to offer an unbloody sacrifice to God, by which atonement is made for the mortal and venial sins both of the living and of the dead. By this unscriptural view of the Eucharist, the Table of the Lord becomes, in the Church of Rome, an altar of sacrifice. This makes obvious a very important point of difference between the Lutheran and the Romish altars. While to the Lutheran the altar speaks primarily of divine grace bestowed upon men, to the Romanist it speaks of a sacrifice which men endeavor to bring unto God.
Again, the Romish Church makes a consecrated altar absolutely essential to the celebration of the Eucharist. According to this view, the use of an altar in the Lord’s Supper is not merely a matter of churchly order and propriety, but the altar is a part of the essence of the Sacrament. To the Lutheran, the Sacrament makes the altar; to the Romanist, the altar makes the Sacrament.
There is yet another point of difference. The Church of Rome has for many centuries made use of her altar in her idolatrous martyr worship. Every altar used for the celebration of Mass must, according to Roman Catholic rule, contain some authorized relics. These are preserved in a cavity prepared for their reception, called “the tomb.” At the consecration of an altar, the bishop of the diocese in-
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serts the relics, and seals up “the tomb” with the Episcopal seal. These relics are regarded with a veneration which amounts to worship. A Romish altar is, therefore, also a shrine, considered as sanctified by the presence of some martyr’s bone or other relic. The Lutheran Church has always regarded the veneration of relics, and all kindred practices, with horror. There is not even a semblance of saint adoration or martyr worship in the significance of the Lutheran altar.
To make a comparison with the altar as found in the various Reformed churches is by no means an easy task. We might dismiss the whole matter by saying that these churches have no altars; for, while it is true that in nearly all Christian churches there is a table of some sort, it is very doubtful if that article of furniture should be dignified by the name of “altar.” Some of the sects apply this word to their communion tables; others repudiate it. Even the Anglican or Episcopal Church has, since the year 1552, designedly eliminated the word “altar” from her Prayer Book.
Concerning the Episcopalians we can hardly do more than say that there is among them a very wide diversity of views on this subject. On the one hand, there are clergymen of this Church who have ascribed a significance to their altar which can barely be distinguished from that of the Romish altar; some, on the other hand, declare that their Church has no altar, contending that it is misleading to designate the Table of the Lord by this term. These are the two extreme views. The majority of those who have written on the subject take positions somewhere between these extremes. This great lack of unity in the teaching of the Episcopal Church renders her altar practically nondescript. Therefore no satisfactory comparison with our own altar can be made.
As regards the altars of the other Reformed, bodies, if we ascribe any significance at all to them, it is, strange to say, more like that of the Romish than of the Lutheran altar. It is sacrificial rather than sacramental. Among the various sects the Eucharist has, to a large extent, degenerated into a means whereby the participants proclaim their faith in the fact that Christ died for them. It is more a token of faith and of brotherly love than a true means of grace. Such a conception of the Eucharist naturally deprives an altar of any real sacramental significance, and leaves it but a meager sacrificial aspect. To the average sectarian congregation, the altar is simply a table placed in the church for the convenience of the pastor, deacons and committee on decorations, having no significance whatever.
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The difference, therefore, between the Lutheran altar and the altars of other Christian bodies is not merely one of degree but of kind. The difference is identical with that between truth and error. Would that all Lutherans had a better understanding of these matters! Then would all appreciate and love this beautiful heritage of former ages, the altar of our Church.
W. E. SCHRAMM.
Allegheny, Pa
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THE SWEDISH LITURGIES.
IN the Middle Ages the Latin language was the language of the Catholic Mass, and the Divine Service was then, in all essentials, conducted according to the Ordo Romanus. The liturgical forms used in Sweden deviated, however, in several details from the Missale Romanum of the beginning of the sixteenth century. The reason probably was that the forms used in Sweden were older by one or two centuries, the later Roman innovations having not yet been incorporated into the same, perhaps because Sweden was such a remote ecclesiastical province and not so often visited by papal legates.
The five printed missals of the mediaeval Church of Sweden are: Missale Upsalense vetus (printed between 1475 and 1484); Missale Stregnense (1487); Missale Aboense or Missale secundum ordinem fratrum predicatorum (1488); Missale Upsalense novum (1513); and Missale Lundense (1514). The Manuals of that time are two: Manuale Lincopense (1525) and Manuale Aboense (1522). To these may also be added Breviarium Scarense (1498), also containing Actus Sacerdotales. The missals differ from the general Latin ritual in some details and these even from each other. Thus the Missale Stregnense and M. Lundense differ from the three others and from M. Romanum in the order of the Collects read before the Epistle; especially is this
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the case for the Sundays following upon the Third Sunday after the Festival of the Trinity. This difference and its results in the Swedish Service ever since 1553 will be remarked upon later.
Olavus Petri, the Swedish Church reformer, not only translated into Swedish the New Testament and some of Luther’s Sermons, but he also wrote an original Collection of Sermons, a Catechism, a Manual, a Service Book and other smaller works for edification or polemics. And it is with great pleasure that we attempt to make his liturgical works known to American friends of Lutheran Liturgiology. The first work of Olavus Petri was: A Manual in Swedish, wherein Baptism and Other Things are to be Found. Concerning this book Dr. O. Quensel, Professor in Upsala, says: “Olavus Petri has here hardly had access to more than one Lutheran manual, namely Das Taufbuechlein of 1523; Luther’s Traubuechlein appeared first in 1534. The oldest Lutheran Ritual of Burial mentioned by Daniel dates from 1540. Neither Daniel nor Bodemann seem to know any Ritual earlier than 1539 for The Pastor’s Visitation of the Sick. Thus everything signifies that Olavus Petri independently, with the exception of what is mentioned, composed the handbook of 1529, without the guidance of any existing foreign Ritual, and that consequently this handbook is to be regarded as the ‘first Church Manual not only in Sweden, but in the whole Lutheran church.”
I may be permitted to state here, in passing, that we still have many precious jewels from this handbook in the Swedish Lutheran Church Books. Among others may be mentioned the following beautiful prayer, composed by Olavus Petri and read at the burial of the dead: “Almighty, Merciful and Eternal God, Who on account of sin etc.—.” This prayer has been translated from the Swedish Church Book of 1811 and inserted in Die Preus. Hofkirchen-Agende, as follows: “Allmaechtiger, barmherziger, ewiger Gott! Der Du um der Suende willen etc.—.” The same is true of the Swedish custom that the minister shall throw earth into the grave three times, while he says, “Dust thou art; and unto dust shalt thou return; Jesus Christ, our Saviour, shall raise thee on the last day.” This form has been transferred from the handbook of Olavus Petri to the Danish ritual of 1680 and to the Prussian “Agende.” Kliefoth (Liturg. Abhandlungen I: 291) says: “Die alten Agenden der deutschen lutherischen Kirchen kennen nicht diesen Ritus.” And from Nitzch’s Theologisches Votum ueber die Neue Hofkirchen-Agende, Dr. Quensel quotes these words: “Gewiss ist, dass die Schwedische Agende vorgelegen, denn z. B. das
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Hauptgebet fuer die Beerdigung und mehreres zur Ordinations-handlung gehoerig, ist woertlich aus derselben entlehnt.” Six more or less changed editions of this Manual were printed before 1614.
But we shall direct our attention to the Church Services. Olavus Petri published in 1531: The Swedish Mass, as it is Celebrated in Stockholm, With Reasons for Conducting it in Such Manner. This Service Book has as an introduction a little treatise: Reason why the mass ought to be conducted in such language that the common people may understand. In a following special preface: Olavus Petri to the Christian Reader, he gives an account of what had to be changed or not changed in the Mass. In the first mentioned introduction O. Petri says, among other things, “We Swedes as well as other people belong to God, and God has given us the language we have.” These words have been inscribed on the statue of O. Petri, erected in 1898 in the front of Storkyrkan in Stockholm, in which church he served as pastor from 1543 until his death in 1552.
This Swedish Liturgy must, however, have been composed by Olavus Petri some years previous to 1531. According to the historian Messenius, the Swedish Mass was celebrated for the first time in 1525 at the marriage of O. Petri; and in the beginning of 1529 certain conspirators against king Gustavus Vasa, accused the king for allowing the Mass to be celebrated in the Swedish language. The title of O. Petri’s Service Book confirms this statement; and in the first lines of the book the author also says that in many places of the country it was known that the Swedish and Evangelical Mass was administered in Stockholm and at sundry places in the kingdom.
The Swedish Service of 1531 contains, in order, the following parts.
1.) Allocution to the Congregation. Originally written by O. Petri, it has been abbreviated and changed in later Service Books.
2.) Confession of Sins. “We poor miserable sinners, conceived and born in sin, with all our heart confess unto Thee, holy and righteous God, merciful Father, that we in manifold ways during all our life, have offended against Thee. We have not loved Thee above all things, not our neighbor as ourselves. Against Thee and Thy holy commandments have we sinned by thought, word, and deed, and we acknowledge that, if Thou shouldst judge according to Thy justice and our sins, we have deserved eternal condemnation, But Thou, Heavenly Father, hast promised to receive with tender mercy all penitent sinners, who return unto Thee and with living faith flee for refuge to Thy fatherly compassion and to the merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Their trans-
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gressions Thou wilt not regard, nor impute unto them their sins. Relying upon Thy promise, we poor sinners confidently beseech Thee to be merciful and gracious unto us and forgive us all our sins to the praise and glory of Thy holy name. May the Almighty, Everlasting God, in His infinite mercy and for the sake of our Saviour Jesus Christ, forgive all our sins, and grant us grace that we may amend our lives, and finally with Him obtain eternal life. Amen.” (Church Book of Augustana Synod, Church Services with Music, Page 3). This confession, also a composition of O. Petri, is still, with a few alterations, read in all Swedish Lutheran churches. It contains several expressions from an old prayer book in the Swedish vernacular and is written in good evangelical and liturgical style; its last sentence, a prayer for absolution, is a free translation from the Latin Missal.
3) Introitus. a) A Psalm of David or any other song from Holy Scriptures.
b) Lord, have mercy upon us! Christ, have mercy upon us! Lord, have mercy upon us!
c) Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, good will toward men. We praise Thee, we bless Thee, etc.
4.) Salutation. The minister says (not sings as he does in the Introitus): “The Lord be with you!” The congregation sings: “And with thy spirit!”
5.) Collecta. The General Collect: “Grant us, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, Heavenly Father, a steadfast faith in Jesus Christ, a cheerful hope in Thy mercy and a sincere love to Thee and to all our fellowmen; through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Or any other, “according to the time.”
6.) The Epistle. A chapter or a half from St. Paul or any other Apostle.
7.) Gradual. The Hymn on the Ten Commandments, or any other Hymn.
8.) The Gospel. A chapter or a half from any of the four Gospels. In an Appendix to his Service Book O. Petri has added, that if this reading of the Scriptures gives offence to anybody, then the Epistles and Gospels in the Latin Mass may be read, until the people have been better instructed.
9.) Either the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene is to be read.
N. B. The usual place is not here given to the Sermon. According to the Latin Mass and Luther’s Formula Missae of 1523, the Sermon very likely had its independent place before the Mass began.
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O. Petri says in his first Introduction to the Service Book: “No Mass is to be held, if there has not first been preaching.” He had already in 1530 published a collection of his own sermons as a help for ignorant preachers. This Postil also gives instructions how to begin and finish a sermon, and the sermons are from the old Gospel Pericopes.
10.) Preface to the Communion. No Offertorium, but the following parts.
a) The Salutation: “The Lord be with you, etc.”
b) “Lift up your hearts to God!” “We lift up our hearts.”
c) “Let us give thanks to God our Lord!” “It is meet and right.”
d) “It is truly meet and right, becoming and salutary, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty, Everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord; Who is our Paschal Lamb offered for us, the innocent Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sin of the world; Who has conquered death, is risen again, and liveth forever more. Therefore, we who trust in Him shall also through Him be victorious over sin and death, and inherit eternal life. And in order that we may keep in remembrance His unspeakable mercy, He hath instituted His Holy Supper.” (Ch. Book of Aug. Synod. Services with Music, Page 18). This form of the Vere dignum was written by O. Petri, and, having been omitted in the Swedish Church Book of 1811, has been again restored in the Church Books of 1894 and 1895.
11.) Consecration. The elements are consecrated by reading from the Holy Scriptures the Institution of the Lord’s Supper, not the paraphrase in the Roman Mass.
12.) Sanctus (to be read or sung). The Lord’s Prayer, Pax, Agnus Dei. (All in Swedish).
N. B. This order of the Consecration and Sanctus has been preserved in all Swedish Services, although in the present Service Books the Lord’s Prayer precedes the Sanctus. Luther’s Formula Missae of 1523 and the Brandenburg-Nuernberg Service of 1533 also place the Act of Consecration between the Vere dignum and the singing of the Sanctus. The proper place for the Sanctus in the Service seems to us to be after the Consecration of the Bread and Wine and not before, as is the case in the Gregorian Mass, Missale Romanum and some Lutheran Church Books. The Church as the bride of the Lamb, greets her Bridegroom and King, and we Lutherans believe this sacramental advent of our Lord to the communicants to take place, not at the Con-
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secration but at the Distribution and reception of the consecrated Bread and Wine. The tenth article of the unaltered Augsburg Confession reads: “Of the Lord’s Supper they teach, that the Body and Blood of Christ are truly present and are communicated to those that eat in the Lord’s Supper” (vescentibus in Coena Domini). Compare with this also the answer given to the first question in the Fifth Part of Luther’s Small Catechism.
13.) The Communion. To this belong, a) An Admonition to the Communicants. This Admonition was written by O. Petri himself and is wholly independent of the Exhortation that in Die Deutsche Messe follows on the paraphrased Lord’s Prayer. Although abbreviated and put in another connection, the Admonition of O. Petri was used in the Swedish Service until 1894.
b) The Distribution of the Bread and afterwards of the Wine to the communicants. The minister says to those who receive the holy elements: “The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve your soul unto everlasting life!” And: “The Blood of our Lord, etc.”
14.) a) A Swedish Hymn or the Nunc Dimittis in Swedish.
b) Salutation. “The Lord be with you, etc.”
c) Collect of Thanksgiving. “O Lord, Almighty God, etc.”
d) Benedicamus. “Let us thank and praise the Lord, etc.”
15.) Benediction. “Bow your hearts to God and receive the benediction. The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make His face shine upon us, and be gracious unto us. *The Lord lift up His countenance upon us, and give us peace. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
FINIS.
As an Appendix to his Service Book, Olavus Petri has also translated the seven penitential Psalms of David, to be used “pro introitu.” Thereupon follow sixteen Collects, all translated from the Latin Missal, and twelve of them belonging to the latter half of the Church Year. These Collects are ordered to be read by the minister before the reading of the Epistle at his own pleasure, no direction being given for the selection of the Collects.
It may suffice here to note, as a general remark on this first Swedish Service, that in the main it follows that classic Liturgy, Luther’s Formula Missae of 1523. Olavus Petri is however sometimes quite independent of Luther, as he had already shown himself to be when translating the New Testament into Swedish in 1526. He had the courage and the evangelical spirit of Luther and was his true disciple in
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faith, but at the same time searched the Scripture himself for truth and life. Special characteristic traits in all the works of O. Petri are his faithful conservatism, deep humility and holy earnestness. The natural result of this has been, that the old Swedish Service has always been dear to Swedish Lutherans, even though it may be acknowledged, that the allocutions of O. Petri sometimes fall from the pure liturgical style into a certain manner of preaching.
Olavus Petri published, with a few but important changes, new editions of his Service Book in 1535 and 1537. The last increased the number of Collects to thirty,—of which fifteen were referred to certain named Festival Days. The Bible texts to be used as Introits are limited to “at most six verses,” and the Graduale is allowed to be sung in Latin, provided that it is taken from the Holy Scriptures. All these editions of the Service Book were semi-official, the king Gustavus Vasa, for political reasons, keeping himself neutral as yet in such matters. He had, however, tried to abrogate the Latin Mass in Stockholm as early as 1528.
In 1541 the Swedish Church Service received further changes under the editorship, as it seems, of a certain German nobleman, Georg Norman, a disciple of Melanchthon, and from 1539 the king’s adviser in church government. This new edition has the title: The Mass in Swedish, Upsala 1541, and its most important changes are the following. The minister is allowed to read his Confession of Sins in Latin; both the Introitus and the Graduale may be sung in Latin; and the old pericopes may be used as the Epistle and Gospel for the Sunday. Between the reading of the Gospel and the Creed is now inserted a rubric indicating this as the place for the Sermon. This rubric was taken from Die Deutsche Messe of 1526, where the Sermon, however, has its correct place, that is to say, after the Creed. The Nunc Dimittis in Swedish after the Communion has also been exchanged for a Swedish hymn.
The archbishop Laurentius Petri, a brother of Olavus Petri, had probably assisted Norman in the editing of the Service Book of 1541, and it is quite certain that Laurentius Petri himself executed the new edition of 1548. This edition has no changes in the text, only adding four new Collects after the Communion and introducing indications as to the manner of singing the responses in the Service. The singing of hymns in the Service was very deficient and in that respect still far below the use in Germany. Olavus Petri had, however, published a collection of 15 Swedish hymns in 1530, and another of 45 hymns in 1536,
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and Laurentius Petri published in 1567 The Swedish Hymn Book, containing 99 hymns, of which many are still sung in Swedish Churches.
The Mass in Swedish. Improved, Stockholm 1557. This is the title of the following Service Book of Laurentius Petri. Its two good improvements are, that the Gospel follows immediately upon the Graduale, and that the Collects for the whole Church Year are printed in an Appendix. These Collects are all translated from the Roman ritual; but Laurentius Petri, following here his Missale Stregnense, has all the Collects from the Third Sunday after Trinity Sunday, one Sunday ahead of the Roman ritual and the Episcopalian Book of Common Prayer. This Swedish order of the Collects for the latter half of the Church Year is also followed in the Common Service and in the Church Book of the Augustana Synod.
Liturgia Svecana, Ecclesiæ catholicæ et orthodoxcæ conformis. 1576. This Liturgy, having king John III for its author, was in reality a kind of restoration of the Roman Mass, although with some Lutheran features, as that the Sacrament was to be administered in both kinds to the laity. A new edition was published in 1588. Both editions were written partly in Latin and partly in Swedish and pretended to restore the ritual of the old Apostolic Church. Enforced with violence by the king until his death, this liturgy, commonly called the Red Book, was in the following year, 1593, rejected at the Church Diet of Upsala as superstitious and conformable to the papal Mass. Not a single person caring to defend the Red Book, it was then resolved, that the Church should return to the use of its old evangelical models of liturgy.
After the Church Diet of Upsala a long and hard strife began between the Swedish clergy, who preferred to use the liturgy of Laurentius Petri, and Charles IX, who had Calvinistic tendencies and presented two different Calvinistic draughts of a liturgy of his own. These were not adopted by the clergy, and the Swedish Church in defending its Lutheran faith against Calvinism grew more conservative in doctrine and liturgical customs than it otherwise might have been.
During the reign of the illustrious Lutheran king and hero Gustavus Adolphus, a new Swedish Liturgy was published in 1614 by a committee of seventeen learned divines, the sources and rule for their work being “the Church Law of 1571 and other pure and blameless liturgies.” This Service Book is called: Church Book, Containing, the Manners in Which Public Worship with Christian Ceremonies and Rituals shall be Conducted in our Swedish Congregations. The title is nearly the same as that of the Pennsylvania Agenda of 1748, and the
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word Mass is no longer used. The Church Book of 1614 contains also Forms for the Ministerial Acts; but here we confine ourselves to the first part: The Manners for Public Worship on Sundays and Festival Days. The contents are as follows:
1.) An Allocution. This now pertains not only, as in the former Services, to the Communion, but to the whole Divine Service.
2.) The Confession of Sins. The same as that of 1531. The only change is in the beginning:—“that we with our fathers in manifold ways.” The words “with our fathers,” having been very properly inserted here, are however omitted in the Service Book of 1811 and later editions.
3.) Kyrie and Gloria. As from 1531. The Introitus proper is omitted and has been omitted in Swedish services ever since. And instead of the Laudamus the first hymn of Decius (Church Book, No. 9 All glory be to God on High, etc.) is given as an alternative,
4.) Salutations. As from 1531. The Collects. As in the Service of 1557.
5.) The Epistles and Gospels are now definitely fixed to be the old pericopes of the Church Year. The Graduale between the Epistle and the Gospel is a Swedish Hymn, which in the Church Book was named for each Sunday. After the Gospel follows the Apostles’ Creed, with either the Nicene Creed or Luther’s Credo Hymn as alternatives.
6.) The Sermon, preceded by a Swedish Hymn, is closed with Prayers, and a new Confession of Sins is here given to be read at the minister’s pleasure. This confession is a translation from the Brandenburg-Nuernberg ritual: “O most merciful God and Father, Whose grace endureth from generation to generation! Thou art patient and long-suffering, and forgivest all who are truly penitent, their sins and transgressions. Look with compassion upon Thy people and hear their supplications. We poor sinners confess unto Thee that we are by nature sinful and unworthy of Thy goodness and love. Against Thee have we sinned and done wickedness in Thy sight. Remember not our transgressions; have mercy upon us; help us, O God, our Savior! For Thy Name’s sake, grant us remission of all our sins and save us. Give us the grace of Thy Holy Spirit that we may amend our sinful lives and obtain with Thee everlasting life; through Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved. Grant us, O Lord, this Salvation.” (Augustana Church Book with Music. Page 39.) These
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prayers in the pulpit close with the Lord’s Prayer and a Swedish Hymn sung by the congregation.
7.) As from 1557. a) Salutations. b) Both the Prefaces. c) The Consecration. d) Sanctus (to be read or sung). e) The Lord’s Prayer (to be sung by the minister). f) The Admonition to the Communicants. g) Pax.
8.) The Distribution, during which the Agnus Dei is sung by the congregation. The words said by the minister at the distribution are here changed to: “The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve your body and soul unto everlasting life.” And: “The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve your body and soul unto everlasting life.” These anti-Calvinistic words are taken from the already mentioned Missale Stregnense, which has this unique reading.
9.) a) Salutation. b) Collect of Thanksgiving. c) Salutation with response. d) Benedicamus. e) Benediction, as in 1531, but the word “us” is now changed to “you.”
10.) A Swedish Hymn is added in the Service of 1614 “pro exitu.”
A new edition of this Church Book appeared in 1693 with the ratification of king Charles XI, who positively prohibited the ministers from making any alteration in the Service. And the Church Book of 1614 continued thus to be used in all Swedish Churches until 1811, when a new Church Book was adopted, which was not an improvement but indeed a deterioration from the former pure and noble liturgy.
During the reign of Gustavus III, when the Church was more or less under the baneful influence of rationalism and neology, there was a proposition in 1789 to modernize the language of the Divine Service, although keeping the Lutheran faith unaltered. And in 1793 at the centennial jubilee of the Upsala Church Diet a new Church Book appeared, which however was not adopted in its proposed form. But the proposed Book was afterwards examined and modified by the clergy of the realm. In such amended form the new Church Book was ratified in 1810 by the king, and in the following year it was ordered by a royal proclamation to be generally used in all the Churches.
It is really a wonderful thing, that the Church Book of 1811 was as good as it turned out to be; it could have been worse in those times. All the churches seemed to acquiesce in the change of Church Books. Several believing Christians in the southern part of Sweden however murmured, but made no opposition, and some of those in the northern part, commonly called Luther readers, made some opposition and were
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at last allowed to choose between the old and the new Church Book. This Church Book of 1811 was used in the Established Church until 1894, when the new and far better Church Book, adopted the previous year by the Church Diet, was authorized by the king and ordered to be exclusively used in the Lutheran Church of Sweden.
The most characteristic trait of the Church Book of it 1811 is its rhetorical style. We will here render, as an example, the very peculiar beginning of the Morning Service. It begins with a short hymn, and the Pastor, having in the meantime entered and advanced to the altar, turns toward the congregation, and continues the Service thus: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty! Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory! We praise and honor Thee, we worship Thee, we thank Thee for Thy wonders. O Lord, God, heavenly King, God, the Father Almighty! O Lord, the only begotten Son of the Most High, Jesus Christ! O Holy Ghost, Spirit of peace, truth and grace!
All Thy works, O eternal God, praise Thee; eternal as Thou art, is Thy power, unchangeable is Thy goodness. Behold, eternal Father, with mercy, Thy people, assembled in Thy sanctuary to worship Thee, to thank Thee for Thy goodness, and to implore Thy grace for their spiritual and bodily welfare. Enlighten our understanding to know Thee, and teach our hearts to make unto Thee holy offerings of a true obedience. Bowed down under the burden of our sins, we humble ourselves in the dust before Thee and pray for grace and deliverance of Thee, O God, our Saviour! Merciful and good art Thou; great in mercy and compassion. Hear graciously the united supplications which now ascend to Thy throne.”
Thereupon follows the Confession of Sin, Kyrie and Gloria in Excelsis, as from 1531. In the Salutations, the Response of the congregation has been changed to “The Lord be with thee also.” The same Response is given in the Service of 1894 and in the Augustana Synod’s Swedish Church Book, but its English Church Book has: “And with thy spirit.” The Graduale (a Swedish Hymn) is taken away after the Epistle, and the Gospel is to be read in the pulpit. In the Apostles’ Creed, the third article has the change of “The Resurrection of the body” to “The Resurrection of the dead.” The Service of 1894 haste same phrase; but both the Augustana Church Books have the old sentence: “The Resurrection of the body.” In the Augustana Synod the congregation reads aloud the Creed and in like manner, after the Sermon is ended, and at its proper place, the Lord’s Prayer. This is not done in Sweden.
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Among other alterations in 1811 we observe that the old exhortation of O. Petri to the communicants has gained a more rhetorical style, and that the same has been entirely omitted by the Swedish Service of 1894 and both the Augustana Church Books. The Church Book of 1811 had omitted, the Vere dignum, but this, in its old form as given by O. Petri, was restored again in these three Church Books. The Agnus Dei in the Swedish Services of 1811 and 1894 and in the Swedish Augustana Church Book reads thus: “O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, save us merciful Lord God! O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, hear us merciful Lord God! O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, give us Thy peace and blessing!” Instead of this the English Augustana Church Book has the old form of Agnus Dei found in Missale Romanum, the Swedish Services of 1531 and 1614, and in the Common Service. When distributing the consecrated elements the minister says to each communicant, according to the Service of 1811: “Jesus Christ, Whose Body thou receivest, preserve thee unto everlasting life. Amen!” And again: “Jesus Christ, Whose Blood thou receivest, preserve thee unto everlasting life. Amen.” In the Service of 1894, and the Swedish Augustana Church Book, there is a shorter form given as alternative: “The Body of Christ, given for thee!”—“The Blood of Christ, given for thee!” And when this form is used, the minister says when dismissing the communicants: “The Lord Jesus Christ, Whose Body and Blood you have received, preserve you unto everlasting life! Amen.” The English Augustana Church Book says: When the minister giveth the Bread, he shall say: “Take and eat; this is the Body of Christ, given for thee.” When he giveth the Cup, he shall say: “Take and drink; this is the Blood of Christ, shed for thee.” In dismissing the Communicants, the Minister shall say: “The Lord Jesus Christ, Whose true Body and Blood you have now received, strengthen and preserve you unto everlasting life. Amen.”
In 1860 a change was made in the Service of 1811. After the Epistle follows now as Graduale a Swedish Hymn and the old Gospel text, which is to be preached upon only every third year. And two new series of texts for Morning and Evening Services are to be read in the pulpit and preached upon in each of the two succeeding years. The same order is still kept in the Church of Sweden and in the Augustana Synod. In the year 1874 the third article of the Apostles’ Creed was again altered. The sentence: “The holy Christian Church” has since been given as: “The holy universal Church.” And still again in
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1894 another change was made in the second article. The words: “He descended into hell” are changed to: “He descended into Hades.” The Swedish Augustana Church Book has the same changes, but the English translation uses the old common form in English.
There remains now to notice only the beginning and the close of the ritual of the Swedish Service of 1894 and of the Augustana Synod’s Morning Service. In all three Church Books the Minister turns to the Congregation and proceeds thus: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory. The Lord is in His holy temple; His throne is in heaven. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a humble and broken spirit. He heareth the supplications of those who truly repent and inclineth to their prayers. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace and confess our sins.”
The Morning as well as the Evening Services in the Church Book of Sweden close, as from 1614, with the Aaronic Benediction and a Swedish Hymn. According to the Church Books of the Augustana Synod, the same Services close with that Benediction and silent prayer.
Literature on the History of the Swedish Liturgies.
Baelter. S. Historiska Anmerkningar om Kyrko Ceremonierna. (Historical Remarks on Church Ceremonies.) Oerebro, 1830.
This book is however antiquated and superseded by the following works.
Kleberg. O. Den Svenska hoegmessan fran Reformationen till narvarande tid. I. (The Swedish Morning Service from the Reformation to the Present Time.) Lund. 1882.
Klemming. G. E. Sveriges aeldre liturgiska literatur. (The Oldest Liturgical Literature of Sweden.) Stockholm, 1879.
Quensel. O. Svenska Liturgiens historia. (History of the Swedish Liturgy). Upsala, 1890.
Ullman. U. L. Evangelisk Luthersk Liturgik. (Ev. Luth. Liturgics.) Lund. 1885.
Articles of Bishop Ullman and Prof. Quensel in The Church Review. Upsala, 1896-99.
N. FORSANDER.
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ALTAR LINEN.
THE mind that accords to the Holy Sacrament the supreme dignity and importance which the Word of God and the Church have ever given it, cannot regard any detail pertaining to its administration as unimportant. Here, on this summit peak of our earthly worship, we come to receive a Divine gift. But, as in other spheres, we “have this treasure in earthen vessels.” Earthly elements become the media for the heavenly impartation, and these must be kept in material vessels and spent by human hands. And while realizing that the word and will of its Founder alone give the Sacrament its virtue, and well knowing that they can add nothing to it, yet believing hearts delight to employ reverent hands in fashioning and disposing everything needful for its administration, and give loving thought to each detail. Hence it is not strange that the Linens which are required for the Table of the Lord should receive very particular attention from those who rightly value its Sacrament. Woman, ever anxious to engage in thoughtful service for her Saviour or His Church, has found here a most congenial field for her labor. While the hands of man wrought the story of his faith in sculptured arch and pillar, massive tower or tinted glass, woman’s deft fingers have plied swift needles through fine linens and bright silks and in “needle paintings” for the Altar have told their belief in language no less sublime. The Empress Helena, Etheldreda, queen of the Anglo Saxons, and many others, even to our own day, have thus employed royal hands. Nuns and princesses and devout women in every age and every station have thus concerned themselves with this part of “the King’s business.”
It is true that at times the Church has forgotten her privileges and neglected her treasures. Rationalism, scepticism, and materialistic indifference, no less than sectarian iconoclasm, were the open and subtle foes that exhausted her vitality and dimmed her vision. With the denial of the simple Word, came the depreciation of the Sacrament
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and the mutilation or total loss of the Liturgy in which both were enshrined. Every detail of the Divine Service felt the poisonous breath of doctrinal error. Hence minds that thought much of the relation of man to his brother, thought little of man’s relation to his God, as expressed in his worship of Him; and women, scrupulous in their concern for correct details of the napery of their own well-appointed dining rooms, failed to think of the Linens requisite for the Table of the Lord. But we rejoice to know that our generation has returned to the “Rock from which we are hewn;” the old paths have been sought, the old faith found, and the old practices revived. Not only do our church buildings, with their towers and windows, again proclaim the distinctive faith of Christianity, but the very walls and chancel furniture are vocal with sacramental suggestion in color and ornament of vestment. Altar Societies in many congregations emulate the pious zeal displayed by the Deaconesses of Kaiserswerth, and Church Needlework has again laid many a noble offering of time and toil upon our altars.
Let us understand clearly that this renewed interest in the appointments of the Lord’s House is not to be viewed simply in the light of an aesthetic or artistic revival. The Art that has been awakened has but responded again to the call of the Faith and Devotion that once inspired her greatest efforts. This Faith labored for centuries upon the structure which Christian Art, in its several departments, reared. Generation after generation of believing artists laid down chisel and brush and needle or pen when the sun of their day set, and passed on their work to their children in the faith. And so we have a distinctively Christian and a distinctively “churchly” type of Art, whether it be in Architecture, Painting, Music or Embroidery, that is not the product of any one man or any single age, but in its conventional and symbolical forms has gathered and treasured the sacrificial offerings of the Communion of Saints in every age of its earthly experience. In her Art no less than her Faith, can the Church of one generation cut herself loose from the achievements of her past. In our consideration of the subject of ALTAR LINEN, therefore, it will be necessary for us to learn the principles of utility and art which determined the development of the past, and endeavor to build our future efforts upon these established and significant forms.
The Altar Vestments, with their succession of color and ornament, illustrate and emphasize the particular thought of the various parts of the Church Year. The Altar Linens are essentially unchangeable, and ever voice the single thought of the Lord’s Supper. It is certainly not
necessary to say that the Season Vestments are never removed when the Linens are placed on the Altar for an administration of the Sacrament, but are simply covered by the Linens. In this manner the thought suggested by the Church Year and the idea of the Sacrament are always linked together and presented to the worshipper by a properly draped Altar. For not only at the time of an Administration, but at all times, the Altar should have upon it the white Altar Cloth, which ever marks it as the “Table of the Lord.” For while the place of Prayer and Benediction, and suggestive of our offerings to God, the Altar’s highest significance is in representing the sacramental gift which our Lord offers His Church in His Supper.
THE ALTAR CLOTH.
The Altar Cloth is not placed immediately upon the Season Vestments, but the latter are first covered with a heavier cloth, frequently of unbleached linen, and cut exactly the size of the top of the A