which were effected in the Revision
period.
{159}
iv. The 4th Section includes various prayers of the _Amen_ form. The
first of these may be known as the Collect of Complete Confidence. It
is made up of two older prayers, and the couplet which precedes it
expresses each of those two older prayers in a brief sentence. Thus
the couplet anticipates the Collect. [See also p. 128.]
The other prayers of this Section usually have equivalents in the first
Section. The repetition is made because of some urgency due to the
circumstances of the time. Thus, we have prayed for the Clergy
already, but in Ember Weeks we add, in the 4th Section, a Collect for
the Candidates for Ordination. Or again, we have prayed for sick
people, but at this point we may add a Collect for the time of any
common Plague or Sickness. Similarly, we have prayed for the
preservation of the fruits of the Earth, but may add a prayer here for
Rain, or Fair weather, or for cheapness and plenty.
Section i. Our cry to Christ.
The distinguishing feature of the Litany is that it uses a worship-form
which is not used elsewhere in the Prayer Book. The Minister dictates
briefly the subject of the Prayer, which is then made by the voices of
the People. These are called Suffrages (from _suffragium_, Latin for a
vote in favour, or approbation). That part of the Litany which is made
in this way is very full and detailed. Students should also notice the
variety of its phrases, and the beauty of its rhythm.
The use of such a form is ancient, and the Revisers in 1549 had the
substance ready to their hand. Comparing the older Litany with that
which we use, we note that the Revisers have frequently combined
several suffrages to make one suffrage, as in the following instance:
{160}
By thine Agony and bloody By thy Passion and Cross:
Sweat; by thy Cross and deliver us, O Lord.
Passion; by thy precious Death By thy precious Death:
and Burial; by thy glorious deliver us, O Lord.
Resurrection and Ascension; By thy glorious Resurrection:
and by the coming of the Holy deliver us, O Lord.
Ghost: By thy marvellous Ascension:
deliver us, O Lord.
Good Lord, deliver us. By the grace of the Holy
Spirit the Comforter: deliver
us, O Lord.
Here f
|