The Prayer Book Explained | Page 4

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CHAPTER I.

EXTEMPORE WORSHIP AND FORMS OF WORSHIP.
There is no such special merit in monotony as to require that the
worship of God should be conducted wholly in one method rather than
in several. Rather it must be acknowledged that there is merit in variety
if it be subjected to dignity and order. For a certain measure of variety
arrests and engages the attention of the worshippers and sustains their
interest.
VARIATIONS OF WORDS AND PHRASES. Much has been said
from time to time concerning Extempore Prayers and Extempore Praise,
as opposed to those which are more carefully prepared and agreed
upon.
The discussion has been somewhat confused by the misuse of the word
Extempore. Prior to the invention of Printing every one who had to
conduct Services was required to know them by heart, so as to be able
to say them without book. The fact that he used no book did not make
the prayers extempore. In like manner one who is about to conduct the
prayers of a Congregation may carefully prepare his subjects, phrases,
and words, so as to avoid disorder in the subjects and unfitness in the
words. His prayers in that case are not strictly extempore.
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If however he determines to leave the order of subjects and the choice
of words and phrases to the impulse of the moment, his thoughts may
travel too fast, or too slowly, or too irregularly for the essential result:
for the blessing which Christ promised is to those who unite in worship.
(S. Matth. xviii. 19, 20.)
When a few people gather together with the same difficulties,
temptations, dangers, sins, successes, a truly extempore prayer may be
made by one of them without creating any discord of desire amongst
the rest: but as soon as the congregation begins to include men and
women of different occupations, tempers, ideas, talents--if moreover
the persons for whom intercessions should be made are widely
scattered and very variously employed--it becomes necessary to

supplement by careful preparation the impulses of any one who leads
the worship of a congregation. There is also great advantage in
choosing the best phrases for expressing and including the worship of
all.
We cannot doubt that the earliest prayers of the Collect form had local
colouring; but those which have survived for our use are so expressed
as to include many local applications, and a very great variety of
circumstances.
Further, it will be clear that an extempore prayer may be part of a form
of Service, just as much as a printed prayer. If the Service is composed
of, The short Prayer, a Lesson, the long Prayer, the Sermon and several
Hymns at fixed, or unfixed, places, the Service is a form. The
description of the Holy Communion in the time immediately after the
death of S. John the Evangelist (Justin Martyr, Apology i. 65-67, {3}
see p. 58) shows us a form which provided for the essentials of such a
service, with prayers, praises, lessons, offertory, Consecration,
Communion, in order, although he who conducted the Service had a
certain amount of liberty in using parts of it.
We may assume then that forms are good, and that it is good to have
preparation and order and chosen phrases. The next question is how to
provide for that Variety which shall sustain interest and engage the
mind of the worshipper in the great business of his Service.
We may consider Variety of method, Variety of singing, and Variations
in the component parts of the Service.
(a) Variety of Method. The worshippers are divided into two or more
parties who take up their parts alternately, or together. It is evident that
such a division may be made in many ways. Those which have been
adopted in former times have resulted in the survival of five Varieties
for general Congregations [see chap. III. f.].
(b) Variety in Singing. There were of old four methods of singing the
Psalms:

1. Direct or Choral. 2. Antiphonal. 3. Responsorial. 4. Continuous.
1. The Direct or Choral Singing was done by the whole choir:
2. The Antiphonal by the two halves of the choir alternately:
3. The Responsorial by the Priest and choir alternately:
4. The Continuous by the Priest alone.
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A careful study of the Rubrics will show that great liberty is allowed in
the Prayer Book in respect to the singing.
There is a Rubric in the Morning Service which prescribes the manner
of saying or singing Gloria Patri, viz. that it is to be Responsorial. The
order is that after the Morning and Evening Canticles As it was in the
beginning, &c. is to be an answer to Glory be to the Father, &c. And
this order may be found also after the Versicles of