"THE RISING TIDE OF RITUALISM."
By Editor
WHEN Bishop Cummins withdrew from the Protestant Episcopal Church and established the Reformed Episcopal Church, he did so in the belief that the evangelical element in the former church would be gradually supplanted and replaced by a ritualism that would ape Romanism, and finally surpass it in complexity of detail and power to hide the simplicity of the truth as it is in Christ. When he predicted it, several Protestant Episcopal pulpits in this city resounded with declarations that there was no foundation for the statement, and scores of pamphlets were published. But it has been fulfilled more rapidly than he could have supposed. In this city, in St. Mary's, St. Ignatius', the Church of the Redeemer, the Church of the Holy Cross, Church of St. Edward the Martyr, and the Church of the Holy Nativity, there are used the eucharistic lights, crosses, crucifixes, incenses, and appropriate vestments. In the Church of the Redeemer the term "mass" is used. In the Trinity parish paper appears the announcement, "Daily celebrations of low mass." In the Church of the Transfiguration there is annually announced a solemn mass of requiem, at which black and gold vestments and incense are employed. Mr. Gregory Ware, writing in favor of ritualism, in a secular paper, publishes a table showing the manner in which ritualism has spread in the Church of England in ten years: |
Number of churches in which used. |
|
|---|
|
1882. |
1892. |
| Eastward position... |
1,662 |
3,918 |
| Eucharistic vestments... |
336 |
1,029 |
| Altar lights... |
581 |
2,048 |
| Incense... |
9 |
177 |
A disturbance now exists in the diocese of Maryland, in which there are clergymen recommending the general introduction of the confessional and incense; and, though Bishop Paret has forbidden it, so far as his authority will allow, two of the churches—Mt. Calvary and St. Andrew's—use incense, and the latter has three clergymen present to hear confessions. The Protestant Episcopal Church may fancy, because it is here and there attracting ministers from other denominations, that it is prospering and increasing its membership. It is, however, contributing chiefly to the success of the Roman Catholic Church, for after a certain distance has been traveled in that direction, the logic is in favor of the Roman system.—New York Christian Advocate.