RITUALISM.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 304, 20 December 1912, Page 7

RITUALISM.

{To tbe Editor.) Sir, —As a churchman of, I hope, orthodox views, 1 should be grateful to be allowed to give some history, and to ask some questions. Mr. Watson states that the Ornaments Rubric orders him to wear vestments, and that he needmust obey. Now, in the first place, the vestments, by Mr. Watson's own showing, are identical with the Mass vestments worn in the Roman Catholic Church. The service, therefore, which Mr. Watson performs, called by him the ! Eucharistic sacrifice, is nothing more nor ! less than the Mass. Will Mr. Watson ' deny this? If he will not, will he reconcile his teaching with Article 31, which says, "The sacrifices of Masses are blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits';" i In 1545, under the orders of Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, officers went about all over England smashing up the ancient altars, arraying themselves in mockery in the chasubles, etc., which Mr, Watson ; sets such store by, and even selling . them to well-to-do tradesmen as counj terpancs for their beds! Now, Cranmer was mainly responsible for our present Prayer Book and rubrics. When, under Queen Mary, he was degraded at St. I Mary's Church, Oxford, preparatory to i being burnt alive in the Oxford ditch, ! where St. John's College now stands, he I laughed in the face of Dr. Cole, the I cleric who was performing the ceremony | of degradation, loudly proclaiming as each of the vestments (on which Mr. j Watson sets such store) were torn from him, that they were but popish emblems, etc. Said .Latiiuer to Ridley, on the way to the historic ditch, "Must we fry these faggots then, Master Ridley?" and we know the historic saying about "lighting ■ such a candle in England as should j never be put out." The unhappy jester j was, of course, referring to altar lights (on which Mr. Watson sets such store) | Now, in the face of these facts, how i can Mr. Watson say that the compilers i of the Prayer Book meant vestments, I lights, incense pots, crosses, and the rest to be retained? Mr. Watson says that | at the Savoy Conference the Ornaments Rubric was deliberately retained. So it was—but why? Simply because it was meant to be read with the Homilies oi the Church. These homilies, which were compiled about the time of the first revi sion of the Prayer Book, say that the parish is to provide" its clergyman witl: a decent surplice and scarf, with a tip pet or hood if he be a graduate of s university. It adds that in cathedra churches a cope may be worn for pur poses of dignity, that vestment not beinj a sacerdotal one. In these Homilies words such as "eucharist are nevci used, but always "the Lord's Supper.' ! Now, when James If. flitted from Eng ; land, certain Anglican divine.-, such a; | the saintly Bishop Kerr, would not taki i the oath of allegiance to Wil J liam and Mary, because the' believed in that exploded figment the "divine right of kings." Now the High Church party set extraordinary store by these Nonjurors, as they wex

c-fled. I have • Nonjuror's prayer book, in which, by the way, there is a violent anti-Roman Catholic service to commemorate Guy Fawke's Day, and in lit the directions fof the prient at the Lord's Supper are: "The priest, standing at the north side of the Lord's Table, facing scath, shall cay: ". . . . Here is the mind of the Church of England expressed absolutely." There is no altar. It is but a table. In our present communion service thg rubric directs that a bell is to be tolled before service, and also that a decent "__ is to be provided by ■ the parish for the ' collectioh cf alms. If the compilers ' meant that all the old church furniture ' was to be retained, why menti.a trifles ' like these? It would be just as sensible ' as firr mc to spend £5 on an urgent cable from Auckland to London in order to urge my wife not to walk down the Strand in her stockinged feet! Has Mr. Watson no ___se of humour! In hundreds of English churches today—St. Matthew's, Sheffield; St. • Cuthbert's, Filbeach Gardens; St. German's, Cardiff; S_. Alban'*, Holborn, for example—it is publicly announced • that "parish mass will be offered at 11 ' a-m on Sunday"; and this "macs" i_ ' to be celebrated from a prayer book which calls the mass "a blasphemous ' fable," etc! Article XXX. says thai \ the sacrament was not "carried about, \ lifted up, or worshipped." Can Mr. ' Watson say that he complies with this ' article ? In condition, Sir, I would urge i Churchmen to secure a copy of the ' "Homilies." These show exactly the ' mind of the Reformers. Cardinal Wise- ! man, in addressing his clergy, once said: ■ Cromwell i s no t dead; he is only sleeping." If Mr. Watson pursues his present course, he will, perhaps, justify ' the Cardinal's aphorism. What M_ V\ atson calls "the beauty of holiness" ' has nothing to do with ecclesiastical ! bunting. The beauty of a holy life is i what is meant. It is an insult to su- ! gest that God cannot be worshipped without vestments. If 60 , the orderly and reverent worship of the Presbyterian Church and other similar Churches is Cnl ffl t0 '_ c deit 7* Let m <- Goktemith, as he refers to his ideal _?a._taO-i: — " At g meek and unassuming ' Snf!° 0 r lis ' a<l ° rne( - the venerable place; -way 0 " S " PS P revalled with double ' And ttat Came to SCoff renialn ed to ' I am, etc, ___ (To the Editor.) Sir,—l am an old woman, and do not know what the vestments mean at St lauls Does the amrice, the stole, the chasuble, the minple or pimple, me _n the poor must pay more to go to churchand will people have to change their dresses according to the eeaeoji? I have been told the loHy Jesus came on earth with feel all sore, just to teach truth and goodness, not io bring chasubles and ___»; s_ch tilings bring discord. I do not think the Great Healer thought m-uoh about those kind of rags when he came to the fever-stricken, the blind the paralytic, the heipless, and turned all . sorrow and pain into joy and health Religious teaching should stand upon its own merits. Such d_plav of ra_s seem indeed to endanger rather than ■ promote the higher aims of Jesus. His : religion was independent of rite and '■ ceremony, which has crushed the life : out of the churches to-day. i i Search for the best sifts, that lift ronr : spirit oft. On wings of inspiration and of prayer; The breathings of the spirit, sweet and soft. That comes in answer through the trembling air. I am, etc., OLD WOMAN. « (To the Editor.y ] Sir, —I aim sure that the great ma- , jority of loyal churchmen learned with | sincere regret the decision of tbe Vicar to proceed with ritualistic practices in St. Paul's. I carefully read the Vicar's > explanation of eucha-ristic vestments, as reported in your issue of Monday last. ! To my mind the explanation as most ( _ns_-tisf_-to_y, having too much the appearance of a piece of special pleading to \ support an innovation totally uncalled j for. I have carefully read the account i of the institution of the first communion by Christ, -as narrated in the Gospels, ' and I fail to find any reference to these eucharistic vestments. As far as we are aware, Christ wore no special dress, but administered the Communion in His ordinary costume. Had Christ ordained that these vestment- should be worn, no Christian would dare to object to them; but in the absence of such authority, 1 maintain that it is justifiable •to protest against their use. It is all very -well for Mr Watson to fall back upon the practices of the early Church, .but 1 would remind him that these practices not being found in the Bible, as sanctioned by Christ, a- c not a reliable authority, inasmuch as they are manmade. 1 cannot for a moment conceive that any communicant will more worthily receive the Communion b-*c_use y the celebrant is gorgeously array _ in these resplendent articles of church millinery. I knew that all Ritualist clergy abhor the term Protestant, because of the .hostility of Protestants to Sacerdotalism, which the Vicar of St. Paul's is now trying to impose upon his congregation. I earnestly ask the thinking portion of that congregation to rememba" that it is the -policy of ritualistic clergy to deprive the laity of all power in church government. I would also ask thetm to remember, thait if fchey now quietly acquiesce in these innovations, they will soon find that further changes -will be introdticed. Only a part of the .programme has been introduced. If I were a member of St. Paul's, I would resist by every lawful means this arrogant encroachment upon tbe rights of the laity. It is but fair that the laity, who find the funds to support the Church, should be allowed to decide upon what form of service they prefer. If the majority of the congregation is in favour of this , arrogant domination, there is no more , to be said, but I am sure that the ma- , jority of the Anglicans resident in St. Paul's parish is not in favour of the ; total subversion of democratic rule. ; Re use of alter lights, I notice the Vicar i prudently observed a rigid 6'ilence. I ■ was much disappointed that no explana- . tion was vouchsafed, because I have always wondered what part two candles . can play in worshipping the Almighty, i In conclusion, I earnestly hope that all loyal members of the Reformed Anglican i Church will manifest their disapproval I lof these ritualistic practices. They - have, as a last resort, the power to stop • them by refusing to supply the means , to carry on tbe Church. It is a drastic - but very effectual means- of asserting ' their power. I earnestly hope they will - be equal to the occasion.—l am, etc., ' LOYAL CHURCHMAN, of the Reformation stamp. 7 —