THE GREAT ENGLISH "PROTESTANT" CHURCH.
Of course it is known by all intelligent students of the religious drift that the growing tendency of the Church of England is High Church-ward, which is the same as Romeward. An illustration of the teaching of many of the clergy of that church is found in the following, from the London Christian World of January 18, 1894:— "OUR PROTESTANT (!) CHURCH."
A few extracts from two recently published Anglican works will serve to give an idea of the teaching for children and adults now current in our "Protestant" church. The first are from an anonymous little book called "Hosanna! A Mass Book for Children," with a preface by Rev. R. A. J. Suckling. Children are told that the book "will help you to love the Lord, and to worship Him in the Holy Mass." "Remember, Christian child," it says, "the Church is holy. The Altar is holy. The Priest is holy. The Mass is holy." The children are bidden at various places to "carefully make the Sign of the Cross, first on your forehead, then on your lips, and then on your breast." Before the elements are consecrated they are to say:— O Blessed Lord Jesus, Thou art coming from heaven to be with us in this church. The Priest is going to make this Bread to be Thy Body, and this Wine to be Thy Blood. Very soon Thou wilt be here. After the consecration they are to say:—
Hail! true Body of Jesus, offered for me upon the Cross. Thou art here, and I adore Thee. There are some "Simple Thoughts about Christian Seasons." At Christmas they are told that "the same Jesus who was born in a stable and laid in a manger comes to us in the Mass and rests upon the altar." They should "try to go to Mass as often as you can in Lent." The last two weeks of Lent are the saddest time of all the year. When we go to church on Passion Sunday, we see the crucifixes and pictures covered with veils, and the singing is slow and quiet, and everything looks sad and mournful. The children are enlightened as to the mystical significance of each article of the priest's attire. The second of these publications is entitled "The Catholic Religion: a Manual of Instruction for Members of the English Church," by Rev. Vernon Staley, of Clewer, with a preface by Canon Carter (Mowbray & Co.), an elaborate compilation of some 350 pages. It informs us that
at present the Eastern, the Roman, and the Anglican portions of the Church, make up the Catholic body, the Universal Church. Concerning the Mass the strong language of the thirty-first Article, to the effect that the sacrifices of masses, in the which it was commonly said that the priest did offer Christ for the quick and the dead, were blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits,
is thus travestied:— The very strength of the expressions used of "the sacrifices of the masses," Dr. Pusey says, shows that what the article speaks of is not the sacrifice of the mass, but the habit of trusting to the purchase of masses when dying, to the neglect of a holy life. The interpretation is a significant comment on the value of creeds as a preservative of Protestant or any other faith. The book urges confession, and gives a list of sins to be dealt with at the confessional, amongst which are:— Gone to places of worship not belonging to the church.
Preferred my own opinion to the teaching of the Church.
Omitted to use confession when I knew I needed it.
Been unwilling to learn from the clergy what was needed for my soul. Of baptism we are told:—
It is reasonable to baptize infants, for they cannot too soon be transferred from a natural state to a state of grace. The effects of baptism are said to be threefold:—
1. It remits all sin, original and actual.
2. It bestows sanctifying grace, and endows the soul with the heavenly virtues of faith, hope, and charity.
3. It makes the recipient a member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven. In the directions for the reception of the Lord's Supper, the recipient, in taking the bread, is to
receive It from your palm with your mouth, taking care not to leave a particle on your hand, or to let one crumb fall to the ground. The doctrine of the Real Presence could hardly have been more ingeniously expressed. These are samples of the latest authoritative teaching of the Church established by law for the maintenance of the Protestant religion.