Parsons handbook

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As a member of the Alcuin Club, he campaigned for a revived English Catholicism that was rooted in pre-Reformation ritual. He died in and his ashes are interred in the Great Cloister at Westminster Abbey. Bible Software. Books and Courses. Buy this book Better World Books When you buy books using these links the Internet Archive may earn a small commission. Share this book Facebook. Last edited by mheiman. December 1, History. An edition of The parson's handbook This edition was published in by Milford in London.

Written in English — pages. Libraries near you: WorldCat. Parson's Handbook. Not in Library. The parson's handbook: practical directions for parsons and others according to the Anglican use, as set forth in the Book of common prayer, on the basis of the twelfth edition. The Parson's handbook: containing practical directions both for parson's and others as to the management of the parish church and its services according to the Anglican use, as set forth in the Book of common prayer , Oxford University Press.

The parson's handbook: containing practical directions both for parsons and others as to the management ofthe parish church and its services according to the Anglican use, as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer.

The parson's handbook: containing practical directions both for parsons and others as to the management of the Parish Church and its services according to the English use, as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer , Oxford University Press.

The parson's handbook: containing practical directions both for parsons and others as to the management of the parish church and its services according to the English use, as set forth in the Book of common prayer , Milford. The parson's handbook: containing practical directions both for parsons and others as to the management of the parish church and its services according to the English use, as set forth in the Book of common prayer ; with an introductory essay on conformity to the Church of England.

The parson's handbook: containing practical directions both for parsons and others as to the management of the parish church and its services according to the English use, as set forth in the Book of common prayer : with an introductory essay on conformity to the Church of England , H.

The parson's handbook: containing practical directions both for parsons and others as to the management of the Parish Church and its services : with an introductory essay on conformity to the Church of England. The parson's handbook: containing practical directions both for parsons and others as to the management of the Parish Church and its services according to English use, as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer, with an introductory essay on conformity to the Church of England , H.

The parson's handbook: containing practical directions both for parsons and others as to the managementof the parish church and its services according to the English use, as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer The parson's handbook: containing practical directions both for parsons and others as to the management of the parish church and its services according to the Anglican use, as set forth in the book of common prayer , Oxford University Press.

The parson's handbook: containing practical directions both for parsons and others as to the management of the Parish Church and its services according to the English use, as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer , H. No one knows what the Sarum use as to colours was for Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Ascensiontide, Whitsuntide, and Trinity Sunday; consequently the so-called Sarum uses are really one-half made up from the fancy of nineteenth-century ritualists.

The common idea is that only those four colours which are casually mentioned in the Sarum books were used,—white, red, yellow, and in some MSS. But the inventories show that in Salisbury cathedral itself there were in vestments of Violette , Purpurea , de Serico Indico of blue silk ; in altar-cloths of purple, blue and black, white and blue, chasubles of purple and blue, altar-cloths and vestments of red and green; in , three green copes and five chasubles, with tunicles, etc.

It is clear, then, that those colours, violet and green, which are commonly thought to be peculiarly Roman were actually included in the Sarum use of the sixteenth [75] century, and violet and blue, at least, in that of the thirteenth.

As it is impossible to tell how these colours were used at Salisbury, owing to the imperfect information of the books, we are forced to go to those dioceses where the order was set down more completely and distinctly.

We have this more complete information in the case of the following dioceses,—Lichfield, Wells, Exeter, London, and Canterbury.

The latest of these—the nearest, that is, to the time of the Ornaments Rubric—are the Pontificals of London and of Canterbury ; and the only complete ones are those of Exeter, London, and Canterbury, which were set forth by the bishops of the time.

The London inventories show that the Pontifical was generally followed, but all inventories show a considerable amount of local variation.

The only important variation is that at Salisbury as at Wells red is given from Trinity to Advent, [2] instead of green though the mention of green in the later inventories seems to show that Salisbury may have come round to the general use.

If we put these uses together, therefore, supplementing what is wanting in the Sarum use by what was ordered in the Pontificals, we get the use which I have called English , with the exception that red was used for the Sundays after Trinity and Holy Innocents Day, and white for Pentecost. If we go further, and prefer the Pontificals because they are of a date nearer to that of the Ornaments Rubric—which is [76] the most reasonable course—we shall substitute green for the Sarum red of the Trinity season; and even here we shall very likely not be departing from the actual custom at the Salisbury of Thus we arrive at a sequence that was in national use at the time of the Ornaments Rubric, and was authoritative; and yet we have not departed from what is known of the actual use of Sarum in anything but the use of violet for the Innocents and red for Pentecost, if we retain the Sarum Passiontide red, which is allowed by the Pontificals.

This sequence, too, differs but very slightly from the Roman sequence which is so well known at the present day. So closely have the issues been narrowed down by recent investigation! While allowing the optional use of violet for Passiontide which is an obvious convenience in the case of poor churches , I would plead for the use of red with black or dark blue orphreys and apparels for preference at this season on these grounds. It is more in accordance with liturgical propriety to change the colours at Passiontide: every diocese except that of Rome formerly did so.

It is more instructive to the people, and a most useful and beautiful enrichment of the colour sequence. Salisbury, Lichfield, and Wells all order red only. The inventories prove that red was still so used in the sixteenth century. This sequence of the Pontificals and of Exeter, clear, complete, and authoritative as it is, has the additional practical advantage of being nearly identical with the sequence which obtains almost everywhere to-day. Fortunately, the English colour-sequence which I am describing can be obtained by every one in Dr.

The only alterations I would in all humility suggest are the use of yellow instead of green for Confessors, and of the Passiontide red with black apparels and orphreys. These would not, I think, be objected to by the compiler. Yellow seems to be a better colour for Confessors than green, as it is more generally understood; to use green for Confessors in Trinity-tide, for instance, is sadly confusing, now that green is everywhere understood as the ferial colour.

Liturgically the question is unimportant, as yellow and green were regarded as interchangeable. Our latest Pontificals London and Canterbury order yellow; and, as they agree in this with Salisbury as well as with Exeter [78] though the latter allows green as an alternative , we are following the most general authority in preferring yellow. Among the dioceses mentioned on p. The use of white for Lent was practically universal in the sixteenth century and earlier. It was generally of plain stuff, fustian, linen, or canvas, with crosses, roses, or other devices of red or blue.

But it is nowhere ordered, and seems to have been simply a popular custom. It is therefore not binding on us, though allowable; but as its revival now would be a very unpopular custom, confusing the much-tried layman, who naturally associates a dark colour with Lent, I submit that it has little chance of obtaining amongst us, and that its introduction would only increase the present confusion.

There is no such restriction as to tints, and dark blue or purple is equally suitable for Lent. It may be mentioned here that there is not a single authority —in the Sarum books or elsewhere—for the use of red either in Lent except in Passiontide or Advent. Here is the colour-sequence ordered in the latest Pontificals, those of London and Canterbury , and The principal variants of other dioceses are given in brackets.

Stephen , red: St. John Evan. Innocents , violet Exeter, and all others, red : Circumcision , white: Epiphany , white: Ep. Palm Sunday , violet or purple Exeter, violet or red : Maundy Thurs. John Bap. Mary Mag. The parson must make it clearly understood that he will not accept a single thing for the church unless the advice has first been sought of that person who overlooks the decoration of the church.

Who that person is will depend on circumstances, but he must be a competent judge; and committees are useless unless their members are modest. If this precaution is not taken the services of the church are certain in time to be vulgarised. Some kind friend will work an impossible stole; another will compose a ruinous frontal, and, without warning any one, present it as a pleasant surprise when it is finished; another will be attracted by some brass-work of the gilt-gingerbread order in a shop-window, and with a smile of kindly triumph will deposit it one [80] day in the vestry.

It will be too late then for the parson to protest: all these good people will be hurt and one cannot blame them if their presents are rejected. But if it be publicly explained beforehand that beauty of effect is a most difficult task, for which a life-long training is required—and that a church must suffer if left to the chance of a multitude of individual tastes, this catastrophe will be avoided.

Sometimes one is tempted to think that folk consider anything good enough for a church. But this is not generally the case. It simply is that the elements of artistic knowledge have not yet entered the heads of many people,—and will not, unless the Church educate them by its example.

Simplicity, unity, proportion, restraint, richness of colour, ecclesiastical propriety, [6] these things are simply not understood by a vast number.

It is not their fault; they have had no opportunity of learning: they want to help the church, and they will do so well if they are only taught; but, if not, it will not cross their minds that decoration without harmony is just as excruciating as music without harmony.

When a parson has no ear he generally has the wisdom to put the music under good advice. It should be just the same when he has no eye. He must remember that those who have not this defect will be driven from the church by faults which to them offend not only against the eye, but against the heart and intellect as well.

If the vulgarities both in music and other forms of art, with which nearly every church is at present soiled, do not soon pass away, the quiet alienation of the most educated sections of the community will have gone too far for recovery. The Cassock in its English traditional form is double-breasted without buttons down the front, and kept in position by a broad sash.

It was very like that worn by civilians; and the clergy seem to have used what they found convenient, with some regard to the usual out-door dress of the period. Nowadays cassocks with buttons down the front are often worn; but neither beauty nor convenience is gained by the excessive number of buttons that one sometimes sees, and the buttons, unless they are made flat, are apt to stick into the knees.

On state occasions the hood and tippet should also be worn. The traditional shape since the time of Laud has been that of a broad band of black material.

A short cloth band may be fastened with three buttons. A long sash had better be tied in a simple knot at the left side. The Surplice. The pre-Reformation surplice, like that which has continued in use down to our own time, was very long and full. To wear a thing of this sort is scarcely to obey the Ornaments Rubric; it is as if a boy should wear a bathing-costume at a cricket match when he was told to wear a suit of flannels.

The surplice should fall to within about six inches of the ground, or to the ankles; and at the very shortest—by way of transition—nothing should be tolerated that is not well below the knee. It may be mentioned here that men are apt to think their surplices longer than they really are, because, when one leans forward to look at the length of the garment, it drops several inches in front.

A further cause that has led to the gradual cutting down of garments is the rage for cheapness, and the desire of the tailor to save as much material as possible. Before vestments became a commercial article, they remained full, on the Continent as well as here.

Smocking has plenty of precedent for surplices. But it is not in the least necessary, while shape is. Surplices should never button in the front. It need hardly be said at the present time that there is no English precedent for the use of lace. It simply destroys all beauty of drapery in any garment upon which it is placed.

Every artist will realise how much this means. Indeed, to the credit of our fellow-Christians on the Continent it must be said that they are rapidly discarding the use of lace, and with it that most indecent garment the cotta, which is fortunately not one of the vestments ordered by our Rubric.

The ancient monastic orders have always retained, and still use, the full surplice. The parson will therefore use a gentle authority against the good ladies who unconsciously try to approximate church vestments to the feminine attire with which they are familiar.

For ecclesiastical [84] vestments are for men, and it will be a bad day for us when we forget this fact. Of all the many vestments used at different times in the Church a well-cut surplice is perhaps the most beautiful. The Hood has come down to us by custom, and its origin is obscure. Canon 58 orders it for all the clergy who have a degree, as well as the surplice.

A caution is necessary against the attempts sometimes made by tailors to reconstruct ancient shapes of the hood out of their own fancies. The idea that buttons should be used is especially unfounded. The only safe course is to take the hood in its traditional shape as it is; if it does not draggle down too far at the back, and if it shows a little of its substance not a piece of mere tape in front, its comeliness and convenience cannot I think be improved.

As for its length, I would venture to suggest as a good criterion both of comfort and proportion that it should barely touch the seat when the wearer is sitting down. Some high-church clergy seem to have inherited the Puritan dislike to the hood, discarding it, in defiance both of authority and tradition. A century and a half ago this dislike of the hood was, more appropriately, the mark of a section of the low-church clergy.

The almuce need only be mentioned here, as its place was taken by the hood and tippet. Originally [85] a fur hood and cape combined, with long pendants in front, such as was much needed in the days when churches were very cold, it was replaced by the tippet or scarf, which was first of black material lined or edged with fur, then of black silk only. The Tippet or Black Scarf. The old meaning of the word tippet has hardly yet died out; there are many clergymen of the Church of Ireland who can still remember hearing the ecclesiastical scarf called a tippet.

It would be a great pity to let the old meaning go; because the Canons on the subject must be misunderstood when the modern foreign idea of a short cape is read into the word tippet. There is no known authority for confining the use of the tippet to dignitaries and chaplains: that custom grew up in the days when the direction of the canons as to copes also fell into abeyance, and is paralleled by the general disuse of the hood among the parish clergy at the same time.

If in the light of this known contemporary practice we read Canon 58, which orders the tippets of non-graduates to be made of stuff , and Canon 74, which, dealing with the walking dress of the clergy, orders Masters of Arts holding any ecclesiastical living, not less than Doctors and Dignitaries, to wear both hoods and tippets of silk or sarsenet, we cannot avoid the conclusion that the tippet should be worn by all the clergy—of stuff by non-graduates and presumably also by Bachelors , of silk by Masters and those above that degree.

The free use of black is so necessary to the beauty of all public services a fact which artists well know, though it is generally forgotten by others that the common substitution of coloured stoles for tippets is the more to be regretted. There is no authority, English or Continental, for the use of the stole in choir, while the black scarf or tippet has come down to us from before the Reformation, and the authority for its use is unmistakable.

The tippet should be worn outside the hood. The stitched gathers at the neck are a modern corruption of the tailors; besides spoiling the folds, they make the tippet wear out quickly. The tippet should be made of a piece of silk or for non-graduates, cashmere or merino long enough to fall within two inches of the bottom of the surplice, and from 13 to 19 in.

If the material be thin and soft, it may be even broader, and will need an interlining. The ends may be pinked in zig-zags with a pair of scissors, without any use of the needle. The tippet should be kept folded up flat; and a twist at the neck into three folds, in putting it on, will cause it to hang as it should. Those clergy who feel the cold will do well to have a tippet interlined with thick wool for winter wear.

For the almuce was originally used to cover the head, and when it ceased to fulfil that function the cap seems to have been introduced. It has gone through several modifications: once of the comely shape that we see in the portraits of Bishop Fox and others, it developed in the seventeenth century into the form sometimes called the Canterbury cap of limp material, with a tuft on the top , and then into the still beautiful college-cap in England, and abroad into the positively ugly biretta.

There is no conceivable reason for English churchmen to discard their own shape in favour of a foreign one, except that the biretta offends an immense number of excellent lay folk, and thus makes the recovery of the Church more difficult. English tradition since the Reformation has been against the wearing of any head-dress except the coif in church, from motives of reverence; and nowadays, when churches are heated, there is no need for anything but a skull-cap for those whose heads are sensitive.

The biretta is a secular headgear as well as the college-cap; vergers and choristers wear it in France, and so do barristers. The Canterbury cap is on the other hand distinctively ecclesiastical as well as English; its shape seems now to be tending to the more compact older form; and, as our superiors have largely adopted it, there are good reasons for the parson to wear it with his cassock and for outdoor processions, unless he wears the college-cap.

A cap was however used in choir where there were many cutting draughts and for processions. The Choral Cope was no doubt also used for the sake of warmth: indeed, with this garment worn over the ample fur almuce, surplice, and cassock, the medieval parson must have been well muffled up.

It was black, being often called the cappa nigra , and was more like a sleeveless gown than a stiff cope. Old effigies and brasses show that it fell gracefully from the shoulders to the heels, almost covering the arms. There does not seem to be any evidence of its use in parish churches, though it very likely was used in them. It is almost obsolete, perhaps because its protection in church came to be less needed.