An ecclesiastical dictionary : containing definitions of terms and explanations and illustrations of subjects pertaining to the history, ritual, discipline, worship, ceremonies, and usages of the Christian church : with brief notices of ancient and modern sects, and biographical sketches of the early fathers and writers of the church / by William Staunton.

  • William Staunton
Date:
1875
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An ecclesiastical dictionary : containing definitions of terms and explanations and illustrations of subjects pertaining to the history, ritual, discipline, worship, ceremonies, and usages of the Christian church : with brief notices of ancient and modern sects, and biographical sketches of the early fathers and writers of the church / by William Staunton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    55/760 (page 49)
    ANTE-COMMUNION. 40 now in use, the rubric extends it ‘ until the end of the general 'prayer [for the whole state of Christ’s Church militant here on earth].’ In the American Prayer-book, the rubric does not authorize the minister to proceed further than the end of the Gospel, unless ‘ when there is a Communion.’ The Ante-communion, when including the prayer ‘for the whole state of Christ’s Church militant,’ bears a considerable resemblance to the Missa Catechumenorum of the ancient Church, or ‘ that part of the services at which the catechumens, who were not admitted to the reception of the Eucharist, were allowed to be present.’ There was this difference, however that in the early ages of the Church, the Eucharist was generally admin istered every Sunday, so that the Ante-communion was not recited as a detached portion of the office, but in its immediate connection with the ad- ministration of the sacrament, from which the catechumens were always excluded. Still it is not to be supposed that there were not occasions on which the practice corresponded more nearly with that which now prevails; for in both the Eastern and Western Churches, it sometimes happened that large portions of the Communion service were used, without being followed by the ‘ consecration of the mysteries.’ In this, the Church testified her desire, as she still does, to unite her children on every Sunday in this sublime act of worship, thereby inviting their weary souls to a perpetual and heavenly feast. It is somewhat unfortunate that in the American Prayer-book, the rubrics relating to the use of the Ante-communion are much less clear than in the English. The alterations which they underwent in our early Conventions, were doubtless intended to meet one or two contingencies for which pro- vision was not made in the English Prayer-book. The effect, however, has been to convey an ambiguity of meaning, tending to obscure rather than to illustrate the design of the Church, and to give at least the ,shado^^ of a sanction to the occasional omission of this portion of the Conimunion Sffice. But whatever clashing there may seem to be between the rubrics as they now stand, the sense of the Church, in regard to the use of the Ante- communion, cannot well be mistaken. The regular use of it is invariably attended by a consciousness that the design of the Church has been met; whereas the omission of it is sure to create in the mind a vague suspicion of error, not to be allayed even by the most plausible construction of the rubrics. On this ground alone, therefore, it might be judged safest to take the affirmative side, and let the Ante-communion be read on every Sunday and otner occasion for which a Collect, Epistle, and Gospel have been provided. In the primitive age. the Holy Communion was administered on every Lor<fs Day at the least and the Ante-communion, of course, formed an