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296 YORK.
Roman liturgies. The answer given by the pope
allowed him liberty of action Ex sitigiilis quibtisque
:
Ecclestis qiix pia, qua religicisa, qucB recta sunt, elige ;
et hcBC, quasi in fasciculum collecta, apud Anglonuit
mentesiti consuetudinem depone}- No iron rule of rigid
uniformity was imposed by the great and wise pontiff
who then sat in the chair of Peter, yet in the texture
of each liturgy there was a golden thread of unity
discernible which vindicated its claim to having been
woven in the same loom, however diverse the hues
of other portions of its fabric. The part called
the Canon MisscE, the most sacred part of the whole
action, containing as it does the consecration of the
elements and the form of the reception of the Holy
Eucharist, is common to all the Uses, with some few
variations. When the country came under the government
of one head, greater uniformity in liturgical
practice insensibly followed. To this the Use of
Sarum largely contributed. A form was drawn up
and promulgated about the year 1085, by Bishop
Osmund of Salisbury, for use throughout his diocese.
His great reputation for sanctity of life and theological
learning led eventually to its adoption far be3'ond
the narrow limits of the diocese for whose beneSt it
was originally framed. But although the Sarum Use
became thus extensively adopted, the other diocesan
Uses, more especially those of York and Hereford,
held their ground with more or less tenacity down to
the time of the Reformation. In the diocese of York
occasional instances occur of the introduction of the
' " Hist. Eccl.," i., c. xxvii., § 60.