Chapter 2

Let us see what the Prayer-Book says of those who are in Paradise. In the Burial Office we have this prayer: "Almighty God, with whom do live the spirits of those who depart hence in the Lord, and with whom the souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity; We give Thee hearty thanks for {27} the good examples of all those Thy servants, who, having finished their course in faith, do now rest from their labors. And we beseech Thee, that we, with all those who are departed in the true faith of Thy holy Name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in Thy eternal and everlasting glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Note how the closing portion reminds us that while the departed "do now rest from their labors," they have not yet received their "perfect consummation and bliss"; that they wait for this till the coming of our Lord and the Resurrection, when it shall be "both in body and soul," "in eternal and everlasting glory." We speak of them, therefore, as composing the "Church expectant."

Now observe what the same prayer tells us of their state while thus resting and waiting in expectation of their perfect consummation and bliss. It says, "The souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, _are in joy and felicity_."

This same symbolic meaning for this part of the chancel may come to us in another way, that is, from the services which are conducted from it, Morning and Evening Prayer, which are commonly {28} known, therefore, as the "Choir Offices." These look beyond the choir, which represents the "Church expectant" in Paradise, to the sanctuary, with its Altar, which represents, as we shall see, heaven and the "Church triumphant." The central point of the Church's worship is the great sacrificial act of the oblation of the Holy Eucharist. Upon this the other services of Morning Prayer and the Litany, which precede, and of Evening Prayer, which follows, depend for their significance; the first as preparation for it, and the second as an act of thanksgiving and praise; just as the "felicity" of those in Paradise is a felicity not perfect in itself, but one of anticipation of, and preparation and thankfulness for, the "perfect consummation and bliss" which await them.

And the dominant note of these services is keyed to that same idea. It is a note of "joy." There are indeed strongly marked features of penitence and need. We come before God in our worship as those who are sinful and needy. We ever make approach through the sacrifice of the Cross. But we come also as those who have confidence in divine love and mercy. So praise, joyous praise, predominates. The _Te Deum_, the _Benedicite_, the _Benedictus_, the _Jubilate_, all ring out this note and give {29} joyousness to the service, while _Magnificat_ and _Nunc Dimittis_ tell of rejoicing and hope in what Christ has brought us by His Incarnation.

It is all a worship of preparation and joy. The choir may remind us, then, by its suggestiveness as related to the other parts of the church, and by the dominant note of joy which rings through its services, how the faithful departed go at death into the "joy and felicity" of Paradise, there to wait, as the "Church expectant," for the Resurrection and their "perfect consummation and bliss", that the "Church expectant" and the "Church militant" are not two Churches, but the one Church of Christ in two places and in two states, on earth and in Paradise, fighting and waiting; that they have still "mystic sweet communion" in praise and worship and prayer--the Church in Paradise leading our worship as the choir leads the worship of the congregation.

So, again, the choir may impress upon our minds how joy has place in the Christian life: that Christianity is not a religion of gloom, but of joy; that if Christ says, "Come, take up the cross, and follow Me," He says also, "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light," because the way of the Cross is the way into true joy.

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So we pass through the transepts, which speak to us of self-sacrifice, into the choir, which speaks to us of joy. So long as self is first, the best and truest joy is shut out of our lives; but when self has been crucified, and love is first,--love that delights to serve, and that believes still in the absolute and perfect goodness of God even when the cross is laid upon its shoulders,--then joy comes in, the joy which is a foretaste of that which those in Paradise know, even as that is a foretaste of the perfect joy of heaven.

_The Sanctuary._--The chancel, as we have seen, represents in the symbolism of God's house that part of the life of His Church which is reached through death. The choir tells us of the worship and the "joy and felicity" of the "Church expectant." The sanctuary tells us of that for which the Church in Paradise is waiting in expectation. It represents heaven, into whose blessedness the Church shall enter as the "Church triumphant" at the second coming of our Lord.

When we enter a church, the part which is the center of attention is always the sanctuary--the place of the Altar. To this the other parts all lead up. It is the most elevated part, and here the dignity and beauty of the decorations center, just as {31} all our life in the fellowship of Christ's Church here on earth, our cross-bearing, and the worship by which we are prepared and trained on earth and in Paradise, all lead us heavenward.

The sanctuary is made the place of the greatest dignity and beauty, and is most richly decorated, because it is the place of the Altar; and it is through thoughts which come to us from the solemn service of the Holy Eucharist, which is celebrated at the Altar, that this part of the chancel is made the symbol of heaven.

Let us see from Holy Scripture what it is that our Lord, who in His love did so much for us on earth, is still doing for us in heaven. "We have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, ... called of God a high priest after the order of Melchisedec.... Because He continueth ever, He hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." This is finely presented in one of our Eucharistic hymns:

"O Thou, before the world began Ordained a sacrifice for man, And by the eternal Spirit made An offering in the sinner's stead;

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Our everlasting Priest art Thou, Pleading Thy death for sinners now.

"Thy offering still continues new Before the righteous Father's view; Thyself the Lamb forever slain, Thy priesthood doth unchanged remain; Thy years, O God, can never fail, Nor Thy blest work within the veil."

Now if we turn to the Office for the Holy Communion, we shall see how the oblation in the Holy Eucharist is linked in with this present work of our "great High Priest" in heaven.

In the Prayer of Consecration we say: "All glory be to Thee, Almighty God, our heavenly Father, for that Thou, of Thy tender mercy, didst give Thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our redemption; who made there (by His one oblation of Himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world; and did institute, and in His holy Gospel command us to continue, a perpetual memory of that His precious death and sacrifice, until His coming again.... Wherefore, O Lord and heavenly Father, according to the institution of Thy dearly beloved Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, we, Thy humble servants, do celebrate {33} and make here before Thy Divine Majesty, with these Thy holy gifts, which we now offer unto Thee, the memorial Thy Son hath commanded us to make." What is done as we thus "celebrate and make before the Divine Majesty," in the commemorative sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist, the "memorial" ("in remembrance of Me") of Christ's "precious death and sacrifice," is beautifully and strongly expressed in another of our Eucharistic hymns:

"And now, O Father, mindful of the love That bought us, once for all, on Calvary's tree, And having with us Him that pleads above, We here present, we here spread forth to Thee, That only offering perfect in Thine eyes, The one true, pure, immortal sacrifice.

"Look, Father, look on His anointed face, And only look on us as found in Him; Look not on our misusings of Thy grace, Our prayer so languid, and our faith so dim, For lo! between our sins and their reward, We set the Passion of Thy Son our Lord."

This is one way in which the sanctuary of the church reminds us of heaven--by reminding us of what is done in the heavenly "holy place," and also there.

Then, again, the sanctuary has the same {34} suggestiveness as the place of Communion. To have the communion of the presence and life of God, through Christ, this is the very center of the blessedness of heaven. What it is that we have here on earth in the "Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ" we will let our Lord Himself tell us. "In the night in which He was betrayed, He took Bread; and when He had given thanks, He brake it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is My Body, which is given for you; Do this in remembrance of Me. Likewise, after supper, He took the Cup; and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of this; for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you, and for many, for the remission of sins; Do this, as oft as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of Me."

So before He had said, anticipating this Sacrament of Communion which He thus ordained: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.... Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink {35} indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me."

And so we pray in the Holy Eucharist: "Grant us, ... gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh, of Thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink His blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by His body, and our souls washed through His most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in Him, and He in us."

It all speaks of a foretaste here, in a Sacrament, of what heaven shall give in its fullness.

The sanctuary tells us of heaven in another way.

What the soul that gains its blessedness shall find in it we may put into one small but very sweet word--"peace."

Now the Altar in the sanctuary of the church, with its "perpetual memory" of Christ's "precious death and sacrifice," stands for peace between God and us. The aim and purpose of that sacrifice was to bring about atonement, that is, at-one-ment, the setting at one, at peace. Christ "loved us, and gave Himself for us," and by this sacrifice brought reconciliation between us and God, "having made peace through the blood of His cross."

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And so at the close of the Holy Eucharist celebrated in the sanctuary, after the "memorial" has been made before God which His Son "hath commanded us to make," and we have been "partakers of His most blessed Body and Blood," this is the Blessing with which the Church lets us depart--a blessing which carries the thought up to what, in its fullness, waits for us in heaven: "The Peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord."

The oblation, the communion, the peace, of the sanctuary, these all tell us thus of heaven and the "Church triumphant."

Of Christ's "mystical body," with its fellowship and cross-bearing on earth, its passage through death to the joy of Paradise, and, waiting beyond, heaven, with its communion and peace through the Cross--it is of this that the church as a building may speak to devout hearts.

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_Arrangement and Furniture of the Church_

A person coming into one of our churches would recognize at once a difference between its interior arrangement and that of many other places of worship. If he thought out the purpose of this arrangement, its adaptation to various forms of divine service and religious uses, he would feel that "here is a place where people are taught to worship the Lord in holy rites, and where forms and spaces and objects are themselves teachers of holy truths."

From the door a broad alley (commonly but improperly called an aisle), running lengthwise of the building, leads to the chancel. It suggests that the approach of the people, for the blessings and {38} consolations which are dispensed there, is made convenient and is invited.

The place of prominence in the furnishing of the church is given to the _Altar_--a table of stone or wood on which the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is celebrated. It is raised several steps above the level of the choir and is railed in. Covering the Altar is an _Altar-cloth_, embroidered, and varying in color with the seasons of the Christian Year. The portion covering the front of the Altar is called the _frontal_; that covering the top of the Altar and simply a few inches of the front is called the _super-frontal_.

Back of the Altar, and raised above it, is a narrow shelf, called the _retable_, upon which the several ornaments of the Altar are placed. In the center is the _Altar-cross_, that this holy symbol of our Faith may be constantly before the eyes of all who worship. The _vases_ to hold the flowers with which the Altar is beautified on festal occasions stand at either side of the Cross. The _candlesticks_, in churches where lights at the Holy Communion are used, stand at the ends of the retable.

Behind the Altar, in many churches, is the _reredos_--a carved or sculptured screen of wood or stone, frequently extending the whole width of the {39} sanctuary. Sometimes a painting takes its place, or a _dossal_--a decorated curtain of as rich material as circumstances will allow.

On the south side of the Altar is a small table or shelf, called the _credence_, on which are placed the elements of bread and wine until such time in the service as they are offered for consecration on the Altar. Here also the _alms-basin_ is placed before the Offertory, and the _cruets_ containing the wine and the water for the ablutions at the close of the service. When the communicants are not too many, a part of the wine from the cruet is poured into the chalice at the proper time; but if a large number are to communicate, the _flagon_, a large vessel of silver, is used to hold the wine and is placed on the credence.

Nothing should be placed on the Altar itself but the _Altar-desk_, for holding the book of the Altar-service, and the Altar-vessels. These are usually the _paten_, or plate for holding the bread at the Celebration, and the _chalice_, the cup for the wine. There is sometimes a spoon with a perforated bowl to use in case any foreign substance is found in the chalice. If possible these vessels should be of precious metal. They are sometimes adorned with jewels.

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A rubric directs that at the time of the Communion the Altar shall be covered with a "fair white linen cloth" ("fair," that is, not only clean, but beautiful). Another "fair linen cloth," commonly called the "linen chalice veil," is also directed to be used for covering the consecrated elements after the communion of the people. To these custom has added other convenient and seemly appointments of linen and silk.

The "chalice veil" is a square of silk, embroidered and often fringed, used to cover the vessels before the consecration.

The "pall" is a square of cardboard covered with linen, used to cover the chalice during the Celebration.

The "corporal" is a square of linen spread upon the Altar at the Celebration, upon which the vessels are placed.

The "purificators" are small napkins of linen for cleansing the vessels after the service.

The "burse" is a square, stiff pocket of silk over cardboard, in which the Altar-linen is carried to and from the Altar.

The color of the chalice veil and the burse follows that of the season. The linen pieces are always white. They are supposed to represent the cloths {41} which were wound around our Lord's sacred body and wrapped about His head at His burial.

You will see the reason for thus making the Altar a place of dignity and beauty, and for these various provisions for reverence in the sacred rite celebrated there, if you will recall what we have already seen of its meaning. We show honor to and reverence the Altar and its worship as the place and the performance of the highest act of divine worship, in which, by the ministry of His Church and according to His own appointment, "a continual remembrance of the sacrifice of the death of Christ" is "celebrated and made before the Divine Majesty," and as the place where God "vouchsafes to feed us with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of His Son our Saviour Jesus Christ." All is done for His honor.

"'Tis for Thee we bid the frontal Its embroidered wealth unfold; 'Tis for Thee we deck the reredos With the colors and the gold; Thine the floral glow and fragrance, Thine the vesture's fair array, Thine the starry lights that glitter Where Thou dost Thy light display."

_The font._--The reverent administration of Holy Baptism, the other of the two great Sacraments {42} ordained by Christ as generally necessary to salvation, is provided for by the presence of the Font. As its name indicates (from the Latin word for a fountain or spring), this is the repository for the pure water which in this holy Sacrament is "sanctified to the mystical washing away of sin." It is generally of fine stone and often richly carved. Sometimes a separate room is marked off from the rest of the church for it and called a _baptistery_. There should always be, for proper protection, a cover for the Font. A _ewer_ for the water to be used, and a _baptismal shell_ with which to dip from the Font the water poured upon the head of the person baptized, are frequently provided as seemly appointments.

The Font is often, following ancient custom, octagonal in form. The symbolism of this form is this,--that "as the whole creation was completed in seven periods of time, the number next following, eight, may well be significative of the new creation," and, again, that the octave, as a repetition of the first, is a symbol of Christ's resurrection, and therefore of the "death unto sin and new birth unto righteousness" in Holy Baptism.

The Font is usually placed near a door of the church. Its position thus symbolizes the truth that Baptism is the outward form of admission into the {43} Christian Church. It expresses what the child is taught in the Church Catechism to say of Holy Baptism: "wherein I was made a member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven."

Always in sight, the Font is a constant invitation by its very presence, and shows that the Church is always ready to receive, and desires to receive, new members "into the congregation of Christ's flock."

It should always remind those who have been baptized of the grace of their second birth, when they were made "members of Christ," and of their duty, "being made the children of God, to walk answerably to their Christian calling."

It should call to remembrance that "baptism doth represent unto us our profession; which is, to follow the example of our Saviour Christ, and to be made like unto Him; that as He died, and rose again for us, so should we, who are baptized, die from sin, and rise again unto righteousness." That is the main profession or business of a Christian man, and the Font, where Baptism constantly represents our Lord's death and rising again for us, should ever remind us of it and call us afresh to "mortify all our evil and corrupt affections, and daily proceed in all virtue and godliness of living."

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_The Lectern._--The lectern, supporting the large Bible from which the Lessons are read, bears witness to the esteem in which our Church holds the Sacred Scriptures. It is worthy of note that our Church makes larger provision for the people "to hear God's most holy Word" than any other religious body in the world. Almost the whole Bible--some parts of it several times--is read publicly every year. Lessons from the Old Testament were read in the service of the synagogue. Our Lord's example shows how properly we follow this ancient custom of reading Scripture lessons in public worship: "As His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias."

The selection of suitable Lessons for each day is a matter of careful arrangement on the part of the Church. There will be found in the front of the Prayer-Book "The Order how the Psalter is Appointed to be Read," and also "The Order how the Best of the Holy Scripture is Appointed to be Read." Four "Tables of Lessons" are given--for Sundays, for Holy-Days, for the forty days of Lent and the Rogation and Ember-Days, and for all the days of the year not otherwise provided for.

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Of the two Lessons appointed, one is from the Old, the other from the New Testament. Both are "God's most holy Word," and taking the Lessons from both enables us to see the unity of thought and purpose in the two, and how the promises and predictions of the Old Testament are fulfilled in the New.

The most common and, perhaps, the most appropriate lectern is that made in the form of an eagle, standing often upon a globe, bearing the Bible upon its outspread wings. The eagle, because of its lofty heavenward flight, is the symbol of inspiration, and its position upon the globe and its outspread wings remind us how the Word of God is to be carried into all the world.

There are, then, certain thoughts which the lectern should bring us: the reverent honor which "God's most holy Word" should ever receive from us; the privilege of its use as "a lantern unto my feet and a light unto my paths"; our missionary obligations and privileges--to make the outspread wings of the eagle a reality and not merely a symbol.

_The Pulpit._--The pulpit suggests the thought of the sacred and important work of the Christian Ministry as preachers of the Word of God.

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It is a common thing to hear persons say that they care little for the sermon and speak lightly of preaching. They forget that the preacher is one "sent," that our Lord Himself made preaching one of the great means for the spread of the Gospel and for the salvation of men. And as such persons do not reflect, in this disparagement of preaching, the mind of our Lord, so neither do they represent the estimate of the Church. The Church takes care to provide for it, and that, too, in connection with her most solemn act of worship, the celebration of the Holy Communion. Among the rubrics following the Creed in the Communion Office is this: "Then shall follow the Sermon." So, also, the Church, through the Bishop, demands of the man who comes to be ordained, "Are you determined, out of the Scriptures, to instruct the people committed to your charge?" And when he is ordered a Priest, this is a part of the authority given to him: "Take thou authority to preach the Word of God."