true faith, may have (i. e. receive hereafter) perfect consummation and bliss." It might be well argued as absolutely necessary in order to realise" the communion of saints;" for what communion have we with the dead in Christ, except we remember them in our prayers, more especially at the sacrifice of the blessed Eucharist, by which, above all, we are united most intimately as with the Head of the Body, so likewise with all its members, not only with them which are on earth but with them also which are with God? These, without any further arguments, would be enough to shew that "prayer for the dead is an holy and good thought;" but, besides, there are not wanting clear testimonies in the New Testament, that the dead can be benefited by the living, and that the intermediate state is a time of improvement. Consider what St. Paul alludes to, 1 Cor. xv. 29, where, having urged very strongly the truth of the doctrine of the Resurrection, he goes on:-"Else," if it were not so, "what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?" From which it has been argued with much plausibility, that whatever that custom of baptizing for the dead, to which St. Paul alludes, might have been, at least so much is clear, that there are some ways in which the living may benefit the state of the departed; and it ought to be observed, that St. Paul here, similarly with the author of the 2 Maccabees, appeals to the regard the living have for the dead, in proof of the doctrine of the resurrection. Again; many, with Bishop Taylor, are of opinion that St. Paul, in his prayer for Onesiphorus, is certainly referring to a dead person. "The Lord" are his words, (in his last epistle just before his martyrdom,) "give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain : but, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me. The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well."1 And, again, amongst the salutations at the end, he greets "the household of Onesiphorus:" leaving, to say the least, a strong presumption that Onesiphorus himself is omitted because he was no longer in the flesh, and therefore no longer the subject of earthly salutation. Again, in the Epistle to the Philippians: "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day". not of their death-which consistently with the belief that afterwards no improvement can take place, might most reasonably be expected; but " of Jesus Christ," i. e. the great Day of Judgment, all the time between whiles being included as that during which God might perform or make perfect the good work He had already begun in them. To the same purpose are many other texts."Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ : who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”3 "That ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ."4 "The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it."5 "I give thee charge ... that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus 12 Tim. i. 16-18. 4 Phil. i. 10. 2 Phil. i. 6. 3 1 Cor. i. 7, 8. Christ." In all these passages, the time of sanctification is represented as extending to the great Day of Judgment. In connection with these latter texts, too, should be considered in what sort of state or frame of mind a multitude of good persons die. Charity repels the notion, that because of the imperfections and infirmities which still cleave to them, they are doomed to a common lot with the wicked and impenitent. On the other hand, God's word is absolute that into the city of the heavenly Jerusalem "there shall in no wise enter anything that defileth." It has been the doctrine of the Church therefore, first, that the intermediate state is the time in which sincere but imperfect Christians receive that final purification which we see so many on their deathbeds need; too good indeed to be lost entirely, yet unfit to enter into the immediate presence of Him, for the sight of whom "holiness" is so emphatically declared necessary by the Apostle; and, secondly, that their souls in this state are assisted by the suffrages of the faithful. Since the object of the following Prayers and Offices is to supply members of the Church of England with a manual of devotion for the dead, it is right here to state, that they contain nothing contrary to the doctrine or discipline of our Church. The Church of England has expressed no formal opinion indeed in favour of prayers for the dead, such as those which follow, either in her Canons or Articles; but neither has she said anything against them. At the time of the Reformation they were universal, and nothing being said against a custom then prevalent, and which could not have escaped notice, is tantamount to at least a silent approval; and this, moreover, is confirmed by the fact that the first Common Prayer 1 See 1 Tim. vi. 13, 14. Book of King Edward VI., drawn up by the same persons who prepared the present, contains several of the prayers which will be found in the following manual. Now, the authority which ratified the use of the present book, declared of the former, that it "contained nothing but what was agreeable to the Word of God and the Primitive Church."1 Hence in the Church of England, many not only of her greatest divines, but also of others whose names we think worthy of all respect and honour, have used prayers for their departed friends and relatives. Amongst whom, in later years, may be mentioned Dr. Johnson, who ever remembered in his prayers the soul of his deceased wife. And yet more recently, within the last few years, judgment was given in the Ecclesiastical Court by Sir H. Jenner, in the cause of "Woolfrey v. the Vicar of Carisbrooke," by which it was judicially declared that, "Prayer for the Dead is not contrary to the Articles or Canons of the Church of England; that it was generally practised by the Christians of the more early ages, who prayed that the souls of the dead 'may have rest and quiet in the interval between death and the resurrection; and that at the Last Day they may receive the perfect consummation of bliss.' It will now be well to say something respecting the antiquity, use, and intention of the following Services. And, first, of the Office for the Dead. The date of the compilation of the Office for the Dead, as it has come down to us, is uncertain. All that is known is, that it is very old, and, in substance at least, has the sanction of primitive antiquity. 1 See Pamphlet entitled "The Doctrine of the Catholic Church in England on the Holy Eucharist," p. 10. Parker, Oxford, 1841. It is proper to be used especially while the corpse remains unburied, and on the third, seventh, thirtieth, and anniversary days of the death or burial. On the third day, it may be remembered, that our Lord's resurrection took place; on the seventh, that Joseph and his brethren "made a mourning seven days for their father Jacob;" and that Ecclesiasticus says: "Seven days do men mourn for him that is dead."1 Thirty days they mourned for Aaron, even all the house of Israel."2 "And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days."3 Anniversaries are too obvious to need any comment; and they are useful to supply deficiencies. Concerning the Office itself, it will be observed by those who are familiar with the Breviary, that it has neither the lesser hours nor second vespers; that it begins at once without the invocation of Divine assistance, and that afterwards the Gloria Patri, the benedictions and every other formulary indicative of joy, is omitted: for " as a tale out of season, so is music in mourning :"4 in these latter respects resembling the Offices commemorative of our Lord's Passion, from which it yet differs in the omission of second vespers and the lesser hours, to mark its inferiority in point of solemnity and importance. As regards the intention of the Psalms, they seem to be most rightly said in the person of the departed. The five Psalms of Vespers are supposed to deprecate God's mercy through our Lord's five wounds for whatever the dead have sinned by any of their five senses. The Song of the Blessed Virgin has regard to her intercession for them. In Psalm cxlvi. the departure of the soul and the return of the body to its earth is commemorated. The three Psalms of each Nocturn may refer to 1 Ecclus. xxii. 12. 2 Num. xx. 29. 4 Ecclus. xxii. 6. |