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FIRST PRAYER-BOOK OF EDWARD VI. 3 15
followed, to which exhortations on the subject of
communion might be added at the discretion of the
minister. It is worthy of note that one of the rubrics
with regard to this implies that daily communion was
to be observed in cathedral churches and other places,
referring probably to collegiate institutions, such as
Ripon, Beverley, Southwell, &c. The offertory came
next, comprising the sentences, the oblation of the
alms and elements, the daily and proper prefaces, and
the Sanctus. Then came one long continuous prayer,
analogous to the Canon Missa, which embraced the
prayer for the whole state of Christ's Church, the Prayer
of Consecration (special direction being given for omission
of the elevation or showing of the Sacrament to the
people), the first thanksgiving in our present Postcommunion,
and the Lord's Prayer. After a mutual
blessing on the part of priest and people, a short
lesson, " Christ our Paschal Lamb," was said by the
priest, followed by the Invitatory, the Confession,
Absolution, Comfortable Words, and prayer of Humble
Access. Then came the Priest's Communion, followed
of course by that of the laity, during which the Aginis
£>ei v/CLS sung, together with certain sentences of Holy
Scripture. What is now the second thanksgiving in
our Post-communion followed, the whole concluding
with the Benediction.
The daily offices of the Church were reduced to
two. Matins and Evensong, names which still survive
in the calendar of our Prayer-book, and were constructed
out of those contained in the Breviaries of
English Use. The morning office was a condensation
of matins, lauds and prime, and evensong, in like