SOURCES OF THE MORNING SERVICE OF THE COMMON SERVICE. Their WE are the possessors of a matchless liturgical Order of Worship. What is the origin of its component parts? To this question many, who have used it for years, cannot return a satisfactory answer. ideas respecting the origin of the various parts are hazy and confused. Some seem to think that their source lies bodily in the Office Books of the Roman Church; others, that Luther, his co-laborers and followers composed and presented our Service to the Church. To trace the origin and to some extent the development of the different parts, their use in the Christian worship of the early and mediaeval church, and their retention in the Orders of the Church of the Reformation of the XVI century, (the consensus of which formed the basis of "The Common Service"), is the design of this paper. If by it any are stimulated to further research of their own, or obtain a higher appreciation of our Service, the writer will feel amply repaid for the many, by no means unpleasant, hours spent in poring over volumes that exhaled the fragrance of languages other than his mother-tongue. The Lutheran Church has ever claimed, and rightfully too, to be the Church conforming most closely to Holy Scripture. Her Liturgical Service cannot consequently be incompatible with Scripture. We purpose, therefore, to trace I. THE SCRIPTURAL SOURCES. The Invocation is at once recognized as the Baptismal Formula in Matt. 28: 19. The Call to Confession has its origin in Hebrews 10: 22. The first part of the Versicle is taken from Ps. 124: 8, and the second from Ps. 32: 5. The Confession is not Scripture, word by word, but is nevertheless Scriptural. The Declaration of Grace has its source in John 3: 16, 1: 12; Mark 16: 16. The Introits are found as follows: I. Advent, Ps. 25: 1-4; II. Advent, Zech. 9:9; Isa. 30: 30, 29; Ps. 80: 1. III. Advent, Phil. 4:4-6; Ps. 85: 1. IV. Advent, Isa Christmas, Isa. 9: 6; Ps. 98: 1. Sunday after 5, 2, 1. New Year, Ps. 8: 1, 4; 1; Ps. 72: 1. I. Epiphany, Isa. II. Epiphany, Ps. 66: 4, 1, 2. 45:8; Ps. 19: 1. ma, Ps. 18: 5, 6, 1, 2. I, 2. Ps. 122: 1. Monday in Isa. 63: 16. 6: 1; Rev. III. Epipha Judica, Ps. 43: 1, 2, 3. Holy Week, Ps. 35: 1-3. 6: 14; Ps. 67 : 1. Wed VI. Epiphany, Ps. 77: 18; 84, 1. SeptuagesiSexigesima, Ps. 44: 23-25, 1. Quinquagesi2, 3, 1. Ash Wednesday, Ps. 57: 2, 1. Invocavit, Ps. 91: Reminiscere, Ps. 25: 6, 2, 22, I. Oculi, Ps. 25: 15, 16, Laetare. Isa. 66: 10; Palmarum, Ps. 22: 19, 21, 1. Tuesday and Thursday in Holy Week, Gal. nesday in Holy Week, Phil. 2: 10, 8, 11; Ps. 102: 1. Good Friday, Isa. 53: 3-6; Ps. 102: I. Easter, Ps. 139: 18, 5, 6, 1, 2; or Luke 24: 6, 5, 7; Ps. 8: 5-6. Quasimodogeniti, 1 Pet. 2: 2; Ps. 81: 8, I. 1. Misericordias, Ps. 33: 5, 6, 1. Jubilate, Ps. 66: 1, 2, 3. Cantate, Ps. 98: 1, 2. Rogate, Isa. 48: 20; Ps. 66: 1, Ascension Day, Acts 1: 11; Ps. 47: 1. Exaudi, Ps. 27: 7, 8, 9, 1. Whitsunday, Wisdom 17; Ps. 68: 3, 1. Festival of the Trinity,-I. Ecclesiastical, Ps. 8: 1. II. Isa. 6:3; Rom. 11: 36; Ps. 8: 1. Sundays after Trinity,— I. Ps. 13: 5, 6, 1. II. Ps. 18: 18, 19, 1, 2. III. Ps. 25: 16, 18, 1, 2. IV. Ps. 27: 1, 2, 3. V. Ps. 27: 7, 9. I. VI. Ps. 28: 8, 9, 1. VII. IX. Ps. 54 6, 35, I. 2. 4, 5, I. X. Ps. XII. Ps. 70: I, 2. I. XV. Ps. 86; 1−4. XVIII. Eccle Ps. 47: 1, 3. VIII. Ps. 48: 9, 10, I. 55: 16, 18, 19, 22, 1. XI. Ps. 68: 5, XIII. Ps. 74: 20-23, I. XIV. Ps. 84: 9, 10, I. XVI. Ps. 86: 3. 5, I. XVII. Ps. 119: 137, 124, siasticus 36; 16, 17; Ps. 122: I. XIX. Ps. 35: 3; 34: 17; 48: 14; 78: 1. XX. Dan. 9: 14; Ps. 115: 1; 119: 124; 51: 1; 48: 1. XXI. Psalm 119: I. XXII. Ps. 130: 3, 4, 1, 2. XXIII. Jer. 29: 11, 12, 14; Ps. 85: 1. XXIV. Ps. 95: 6, 7, I. XXV. Ps. 31: 9, 15, 17, I. XXVI. Ps. 54: 1, 2, 5. Festival of Harvest, Ps. 65: 11, 9, 10, I. Festival of the Reformation, Ps. 46: 7, 2, 1. Day of Humiliation and Prayer, Isa. 1: 2, 4; Ps. 130: 3. giving, Ps. 150: 6, 2, 1. Day of General or Special ThanksAnnunciation, Ps. 45: 12, 14, 15, 1. Evan gelists', Apostles', and Martyrs' Days, 2 Tim. 1: 12; 4: 8; Ps. 139: 1, 2. St. Michael's Day, Ps. 103: 20, 21, 1. The Gloria Patri has as its basis Rom. 16: 27; Eph. 3: 21 ; Phil. 4: 20; Rev. 1 : 6. The Kyrie is found in Ps. 51: 1; 123: 3; Matt. 9: 27; 15: 22; 20: 30; Mark 10: 47. The Gloria in Excelsis rests upon the angels' song as wafted over Judea's plains on the night of the Saviour's nativity,― Luke 2: 14. The Salutation is taken from Ruth 2: 4, and the Response follows Ruth 2: 4; 2 Tim. 4: 22. The Collects are largely Scriptural. This fact may not always be evident, owing to the changes made in translation. An example is furnished in the Collect for Epiphany, which is plainly built upon Matt. 2: 9; 2 Cor. 5: 7; 1 John 3: 2. The Epistles and Gospels are necessarily all Scripture. The Sentences after Epistle are found as follows: Advent, Ps. 25: 6; Epiphany, 117: 1-2; Passion, Phil. 2: 8; Easter, 1 Cor. 5: 7; Whitsuntide, Ps. 104: 30; Trinity, Ps. 119: 124-125; or Ezra 7: 27 and Song of the Three Holy Children. The Creed has its basis in Scripture. The Sermon should be largely a "Thus saith the Lord." The Offertory selections are from Ps. 51: 17-19; 51: 10-12. Lord's Prayer is from Matt. 6: 9-13. The The Salutation and Response of Preface are from Ruth 2:4; 2 Tim. The Proper Prefaces abound in Scriptural expressions. The Sanctus is taken from Isa. 6: 3 and Ps. 118: 26. The Exhortation contains many interwoven Scriptural phrases. The Words of Institution are found in Matt. 26: 26-28; Mark 14: 22-24; Luke 22: 19-20; 1 Cor. 11: 23-25. The Agnus Dei is taken from John 1: 29; Matt. 9: 27. The Pax has its origin in Luke 24: 30; John 20: 19-21; Rom. 16: 16; 1 Pet. 5: 14. The Words of Distribution only assume a slightly different form of Christ's own words at the Institution. The Nunc Dimittis is the grand hymn of Simeon recorded in Luke 2:29-32. The Call to Thanksgiving and Response are taken from Ps. 136: 1. The Collect, while not Scripture, is Scriptural. The Salutation and Response as above. The Benediction is from Num. 6: 24-26. From the above it will be seen that unscripturalness can certainly not be charged against "The Common Service." nterest is reserved for the consideration of II. What may be of greater THE LITURGICAL SOURCES. It must ever be remembered that Luther had no desire to break with the past in beginning and prosecuting the work to which in the providence of God he had been called. Reformation, not revolution; reconstruction, not destruction; revision, not creation, was his aim. His energies were directed against all corruptions whether in doctrine or practice; and to bring the Church to the purity of both was his steadfast endeavor. As he moved in the van in purifying the doctrines, so also he led the way in purging the Service of the Church. Whatever was evangelical and not in conflict with the Word of God, he retained; and whatever was the fabrication of a corrupt hierarchy he set aside as so much dross. We are consequently not at all surprised to find many things in our Service that have come to us as a heritage from the Church of past ages. We do not pretend to speak with final authority as to the sources of all the various parts. In some instances this is impossible; but enough will be said to establish the claim that when worshipping in our churches, we connect directly with the saints of the most ancient times. To trace the liturgical origin of our Morning Service we shall now proceed. THE CONFITEOR, Although not a component part of the normal Lutheran Service, this is nevertheless a fitting introduction. While it has its origin in the Confiteor or Praeparatio in Missam of "The Ordinary of the Mass," it bears but faint resemblance to it when analyzed. Its usage even in the Roman Church is not of a very early date,-probably the 13th century. Most of the Lutheran orders of the 16th century rejected it. A few, e. g., Reformation of Cologne 1543, Bugenhagen 1524, Strassburg Kirchenampt 1524, Doeber's Nuernburg Ev. Mass 1525, Mecklenburg 1552 retained it. Brandenburg-Nuernburg 1533 says concern |