The next Authority I meet with, is the Fifteenth Canon of the Vinetick Synod, in which Six Bishops, towards the conclusion of the Fifth Age, made this Decree, Rectum quoque duximus, ut vel intra Provinciam nostram, sacrorum ordo & psallendi una sit consuetudo; We have also thought it right, that, as to the order of Sacred Administrations and Singing, there be wone custom through our Province. What is intended here by ordo sacrorum, may be best understood by the Council of Agatha, being a Synod of the same Country, held not long after this of Vans, that in the beginning of the Sixth Age, an. 506. this ⟨p. 174⟩in the latter end of the Fifth. There Can. 21. xOrdo ecclesiae ab omnibus aqualiter custodiendus, is the disposing of the Responsals, Prayers, Hymns, and Psalms, each in the place thought most fit (according to Augustin's definition of Ordo, est parium dispariumque rerum, suae cuique loca tribuens, dispositio, Civ. Dei. l. 19. c. 13.) and so, applied to Sacred Administrations, Ordo, established by a Synod, if it reached all particulars, will amount to no more, than a Rubric or Directory. One and the same might be observed by all the Churches in a Province, in all Offices, yea and in Prayers too; tho' the same expressions were not used, nor those that officiated, at all tied up to Words and Syllables: For example; If, in the common Office (at which all might be present) they began with Psalms, and then read some part of the Law, or Prophets, and next some part of an Epistle, or of the Gospels, and afterwards proceeded to the Sermon; the same order was observed, ytho' the same Psalms were not always sung, nor the same Lesson twice in a Year, and the same Sermon never twice Preached: So ⟨p. 175⟩for the Prayers, if according to the order specified, Con. Laodic. Can. 18. first Prayers were made for the Catechumens, then for the Penitents, after that for the Faithful. And, if in that office peculiar to the Faithful, the Prayers be ordered, as Augustin thought the Apostles method was, Epist. 59. so as first Prayer be made for all sorts; then the zElements be Consecrated; after that the People ⟨p. 176⟩Blessed; and the Elements being distributed, all be concluded with Thanksgiving: The same order of Prayer is observed, tho' the same Prayers be no more used, than the same Psalms or Lessons always, or the same Sermon more than once. And the same is to be understood of the 27. Can. Con.
The next Authority I meet with, is the Fifteenth Canon of the Vinetick Synod, in which Six Bishops, towards the conclusion of the Fifth Age, made this Decree, Rectum quoque duximus, ut vel intra Provinciam nostram, sacrorum ordo & psallendi una sit consuetudo; We have also thought it right, that, as to the order of Sacred Administrations and Singing, there be wone custom through our Province. What is intended here by ordo sacrorum, may be best understood by the Council of Agatha, being a Synod of the same Country, held not long after this of Vannes, that in the beginning of the Sixth Age, an. 506. this ⟨p. 174⟩in the latter end of the Fifth. There Can. 21. xOrdo ecclesiae ab omnibus aqualiter custodiendus, is the disposing of the Responsals, Prayers, Hymns, and Psalms, each in the place thought most fit (according to Augustin's definition of Ordo, est parium dispariumque rerum, suae cuique loca tribuens, dispositio, Civ. Dei. l. 19. c. 13.) and so, applyed to Sacred Administrations, Ordo, established by a Synod, if it reached all particulars, will amount to no more, than a Rubrick or Directory. One and the same might be observed by all the Churches in a Province, in all Offices, yea and in Prayers too; tho' the same expressions were not used, nor those that officiated, at all tied up to Words and Syllables: For example; If, in the common Office (at which all might be present) they began with Psalms, and then read some part of the Law, or Prophets, and next some part of an Epistle, or of the Gospels, and afterwards proceeded to the Sermon; the same order was observed, ytho' the same Psalms were not always sung, nor the same Lesson twice in a Year, and the same Sermon never twice Preached: So ⟨p. 175⟩for the Prayers, if according to the order specified, Con. Laodic. Can. 18. first Prayers were made for the Catechumens, then for the Penitents, after that for the Faithful. And, if in that office peculiar to the Faithful, the Prayers be ordered, as Augustin thought the Apostles method was, Epist. 59. so as first Prayer be made for all sorts; then the zElements be Consecrated; after that the People ⟨p. 176⟩Blessed; and the Elements being distributed, all be concluded with Thanksgiving: The same order of Prayer is observed, tho' the same Prayers be no more used, than the same Psalms or Lessons always, or the same Sermon more than once. And the same is to be understood of the 27. Can. Con.
- wAugust. Ep. ad Januar. 118. c. 6. Apostolus de hoc sacramento loquens, statim subiexuit: Caetera cum venero ordinabo; unde intelligi datur (quia multum erat ut in Epistola totum illum agendi ordinem insinuaret, quam universa per orbem servat ecclesia) ab ipso ordinatum esse, quod nulla morum variatur diversitate. vid. Three positions about Public Prayers.August. Ep. ad Januar. 118. c. 6. Apostolus de hoc sacramento loquens, statim subiexuit: Caetera cum venero ordinabo; unde intelligi datur (quia multum erat ut in Epistola totum illum agendi ordinem insinuaret, quam universa per orbem servat ecclesia) ab ipso ordinatum esse, quod nulla morum variatur diversitate. vid. Three positions about Publick Prayers.
- xEt quia convenit, ordinem ecclesiae ab omnibus aequaliter custodiri, statuendum est (sicut ubique fit) ut post Antiphonas, collationes, ab Episcopis vel Presbyteris, dicantur. Et Hymni matutini vel vespertini decantentur diebus omnibus, & in conclusione matutinarum vel vespertinarum, & missarum, post Hymnos, capitula de Psalmis dicantur, & plebs collecta oratione ad vesperam ab Episcopo cum benedictione dimittatur, Concil. Agath. Can. 21.
- yHic ordo psallendi, is not qui Psalmi, but quot; requires not the same, but so many Psalms to be used, Sin. Turon. 2. c•n. 19. in Crab. 14. in Caranza. A Council in the same Country with the former, an. 570. Cyril Catech. Mystag. 5. p. 259. Vidistis Diaconum [Greek or Hebrew]. [Greek or Hebrew]. Postea clamat Sacerdos, [Greek or Hebrew], p. 240. Vos deinde respondetis, [Greek or Hebrew]. Dicit deinde Sacerdos, [Greek or Hebrew]. Vos dicitis, [Greek or Hebrew]. [Greek or Hebrew], quae in Spiritu Sancto canebat Esaias, circumstantia Thronum Dei—atque dicentia, Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth—sic per ejusmodi Hymnos nos ipsos sanctificames, Deum benignissimum oramus, [Greek or Hebrew].Hic ordo psallendi, is not qui Psalmi, but quot; requires not the same, but so many Psalms to be used, Syn. Turon. 2. c•n. 19. in Crab. 14. in Caranza. A Council in the same Country with the former, an. 570. Cyril Catech. Mystag. 5. p. 259. Vidistis Diaconum 〈non-Latin alphabet〉. 〈non-Latin alphabet〉. Postea clamat Sacerdos, 〈non-Latin alphabet〉, p. 240. Vos deinde respondetis, 〈non-Latin alphabet〉. Dicit deinde Sacerdos, . Vos dicitis, . , quae in Spiritu Sancto canebat Esaias, circumstantia Thronum Dei—atque dicentia, Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth—sic per ejusmodi Hymnos nos ipsos sanctificames, Deum benignissimum oramus, .
