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284 THE COMPREHENSIVE CHURCH.
when it must occur, it is desirable that it should be brief, comprehensive, and pure, as in the prayers of the Episcopal Church.
For those who are not pious, and consequently not absorbed in
devotion, I believe, as a general fact, that the Episcopal service is
less irksome and more agreeable. The frequent change and great
variety are an obvious reason why it should be so. Besides, it
should be recollected that much the greater part of the services
appointed for every day, and for every morning and evening, including the collects and Scriptures, are not a repetition except
once a year—leaving out of view the part sustained by the choir,
and even that has more or less variety in it. With the exception
of a few short prayers offered up at intervals between other parts,
the services of the Episcopal Church actually have less repetition
and a greater variety than those of any other Protestant Church.
And it cannot be denied that they are all in the highest degree
Scriptural, and eminently calculated to assist devotion.
3. But there is too much getting up and sitting down, too frequent change of posture and of topic, too much interchange of
different kinds of service, etc. Doubtless it does seem so to those
who are not accustomed to it, and who are more used to services
like the Presbyterian. But when this objection is proved experimentally, it not only vanishes, but the practices before esteemed
faults are transformed into excellences. The whole system is
found to accord with nature and with the spirit of closet devotion. It might be presumed that such a ritual, the product of so
many centuries of the Christian Church, and of the most illustrious saints adorning her annals, who had to do with the formation
of this work, was never composed and constructed but with all
the lights and suggestions of experience.
Follow the Christian to his closet, where are his Bible, his
prayer and hymn books, his various manuals of devotion. He
kneels and invokes God, his Father, Redeemer, and Sanctifier;
he reads a verse, or two, or more, or a chapter of the Bible, according as his feelings incline. If a sentiment of devotion springs
up in his heart at any moment or place of his reading or meditation, he instantly gives expression to it; if any desire, he offers it
up in prayer; if he feels any evil, he prays for deliverance; if
| Title | The comprehensive church |
| Creator | Vail, Thomas H. (Thomas Hubbard) |
| Publisher | Appleton |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1879 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000288 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 284 THE COMPREHENSIVE CHURCH. when it must occur, it is desirable that it should be brief, comprehensive, and pure, as in the prayers of the Episcopal Church. For those who are not pious, and consequently not absorbed in devotion, I believe, as a general fact, that the Episcopal service is less irksome and more agreeable. The frequent change and great variety are an obvious reason why it should be so. Besides, it should be recollected that much the greater part of the services appointed for every day, and for every morning and evening, including the collects and Scriptures, are not a repetition except once a year—leaving out of view the part sustained by the choir, and even that has more or less variety in it. With the exception of a few short prayers offered up at intervals between other parts, the services of the Episcopal Church actually have less repetition and a greater variety than those of any other Protestant Church. And it cannot be denied that they are all in the highest degree Scriptural, and eminently calculated to assist devotion. 3. But there is too much getting up and sitting down, too frequent change of posture and of topic, too much interchange of different kinds of service, etc. Doubtless it does seem so to those who are not accustomed to it, and who are more used to services like the Presbyterian. But when this objection is proved experimentally, it not only vanishes, but the practices before esteemed faults are transformed into excellences. The whole system is found to accord with nature and with the spirit of closet devotion. It might be presumed that such a ritual, the product of so many centuries of the Christian Church, and of the most illustrious saints adorning her annals, who had to do with the formation of this work, was never composed and constructed but with all the lights and suggestions of experience. Follow the Christian to his closet, where are his Bible, his prayer and hymn books, his various manuals of devotion. He kneels and invokes God, his Father, Redeemer, and Sanctifier; he reads a verse, or two, or more, or a chapter of the Bible, according as his feelings incline. If a sentiment of devotion springs up in his heart at any moment or place of his reading or meditation, he instantly gives expression to it; if any desire, he offers it up in prayer; if he feels any evil, he prays for deliverance; if |
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