The liturgy, or forms of devine service, of the French Protestant church, of Charleston, S.C. online

THE LITURGY,



FORMS OF DIVINE SERVICE,

OF

OF
CHARLESTON, S. C.



TRANSLATED FROM THE LITURGY OF THE CHURCHES
OF NEUFCHATEL AND VALLANGIN:

Editions of 1737 >nd 1772.

WITH SOME ADDITIOXAL PRAYERS,

CAREFULLY SELECTED.

THE WHOLE ADAPTED TO PUBLIC WORSHIP IN THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

SECOND EDITION:
REVISED AND ENLAR&ED.



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( THE KF.W YORK
j PUW.JC LIBKARY

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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by

"THE FRENCH PROTESTANT CHURCH OF CHARLESTON,"

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of tlie United States for the District
of South-Carolina.



TABLE OF CONTENTS.



Preface to the First Edition, published in 1713,
Table of Lessons for Special occasions,
General Directions, - - - -

PART FIRST.

Morning service for the Lord's Day,
Afternoon service for the Lord's Day,



Page,
vii
xix

xxiii



1
15



PART SECOND.

Services for Week Days: —
For morning, with a sermon.

For morning or afternoon, with or without a sermon,
For afternoon, with or without a sermon,
For days of public humiliation.
For days of thanksgiving, . - . _

PART THIRD.

Section 1. — Prayers for stated occasions, to be used as
part of the morning service: —

For the day of the Nativity, - - - -

For the two Sundays during the Holy Days of the Nativity,
For the first day of the year, - - - -

For Palm Sunday, - . - - -

For the day of the Crucifixion,



25
32

40
47
58



69
71
73
74
75



IV TABLE OF CONTEXTS.

Page.

For the day of the Resurrection, - - - 77

For the day of the Ascension, - - - 79

For the day of Pentecost, .... 80

For the Preparatory service before Communion day, - 82

A prayer after Communion, - - - - 84

Section 2. — Collects for stated occasions, which may be
substituted for the corresponding prayers in Section 1, or
may be used in the afternoon service : —

For the Nativity, ..... 86

For the day of the Nativity, - - - - 87

For the last day of the year, and for New Year's day, 87

For the day of the Crucifixion, - - - 88

For the day of the Resurrection, - - - 89

For the day of the Ascension, - - - 89

For the day of Pentecost, - - - - 90

A prayer before Communion, - - 90

A prayer after Communion, - - - - 91

Section 3. — Occasional prayers and thanksgivings, to be
used either in the morning or afternoon services : —

Prayers.

For a person or persons to be ordained, - - 92

For Pastors, . - - . - - 93

For Missionaries, . - ... 94

For rain, ...... 94

For rain, ...... 95

For fair weather, - - - 96

In times of dearth and famine, - - - 96

In time of war, - - - 97

In lime of great sickness and mortality, - - 98

For a person expecting, or under, sentence of death, - 98

For a sick person, - - - 99

For a sick child, ..... 100

For a person under affliction, - - - 101

For a person or persons at sea, or going to sea, - 101



TABLE OF CONTENTS. . V

Thanksgivings. Page.

For rain, ....... 102

For fair weather, . . . - - 102

For abundance, - - - 103

For peace, - - - - - - 103

For deliverance from great sickness and mortality, - 104

For recovery from sickness, - - - - 105

For recovery of a sick child, - . - - 105

For a safe return from sea, - - - - 106

For deliverance in time of anxiety and danger, - 107

Section 4. — Concluding prayers: —

For purity of heart and life, - - - - 108

For Divine compassion and blessing, - - - 108

For grace, mercy and direction, - - - 109
For profitable meditation on the works of creation and re-

derapiion, -.-. - 109

For grace and life, - - - 110

For Christian love, - - • - - 110

For a blessing on the services of the day, - - 111

Another, - - - 112

Another, -..-.- 112

Another, - - - - - - 113

Another, - - - » - - 113

For the afternoon, - - - - - 114

Another, - - - - - - 114

Section 5. — Family prayers: —

Morning prayer, - - - - - 115

Evening prayer, .... - 117

PART FOURTH.

Section' 1. — The liturgy of baptism and confirmation: —

Of baptism for children, - - - - 119

Of confirmation, .... - 124



Vi TABLE OF CONTENTS.






Page.


Section 2. — The liturgy of baptism for adults.


128


Section 3.— The liturgy of the Holy Supper,


134


Section 4. — Service for occasions of catechetical


in-


struction, . - - -


146

1


Section 5. — The liturgy of marriage,


150


Section 6. — Service for the burial of the dead,


155


PART FIFTH.




Canticles for the Ordinary service : —




Twenty-two canticles, - - - from '.


64-185


Canticles for Holy days, and for Particular occasions :


—


For the eve of the Nativity,


186


For the day of the Nativity,


187


For the day of the Nativity,


188


For the day after the Nativity,


189


For the day of the Crucifixion,


190


For the day of the Crucifixion, . . .


191


For the day of the Resurrection,


192


For the day of the Resurrection,


193


For the day of the Resurrection,


195


For the day of the Resurrection,


196


For the day of the Ascension,


197


For the eve of the Ascension, and the day after,


198 ;


P'or Pentecost, .....


200


For Pentecost, .....


201


For Pentecost, . . . . .


202


For the Holy Days of September,


203


For the Holy Days of September,


205


For the Communion, - - . - -


206


For the Communion, .....


207


For the Comnmnion, - - - - .


209


Confession of Faith, ....


211



PREFACE

TO THE FIRST EDITION,

PUBLISHED IN 1713.



The Churches in the Principality of Neufchatel and Vallangin
began some years since to establish the Liturgy, which is now
presented to the public. In order that it might appear in a better
state, it was deemed advisable that some time should elapse
before its publication. The resolution has at length been taken
to print it, in conformity with the wish of many, who have de-
sired that it should be made public.

It is not necessary here to enlarge on the utility and antiquity
of Liturgies, or to explain how important it is that the mode of
celebrating divine service should be well regulated. None can
doubt that St. Paul's maxim, " Let all things be done decently
and in order,"* is applicable to the worship of God in the reli-
gious assemblies of Christians. This worship is of the greatest
consequence in religion, because it consists chiefly in serving
God, in adoring him, in giving him thanks, and in calling upon
him. Hence it is indispensable that divine service should be so
performed as to be most worthy of that infinite Being, and best
adapted to raise men to him, and to fill them with reverence and
love for his Supreme Majesty.

The attainment, however, of this end is difficult, unless there
be an established form of public worship. When the order of
divine service is settled, it is celebrated as well by the Minister
as by the People, in a manner more edifying, grave and decorous,

* 1 Epis. Cor., ch. xiv., v. 40.



VIU PREFACR.

than when it is entrusted to the discretion of the Clergy. The
preservation of uniformity in worship is another valuable conse-
quence of Liturgies. And if they conform to the spirit of the
Gospel, they exert also a salutary influence, in excluding from
the Church practices and opinions inconsistent with the purity of
religion.

These, and some other considerations, have satisfied the Pas-
tors of the Churches of Neufchatel and of Vallangin, that they
should contribute to the edification of their focks, by settling
the forms and order of their Liturgy, and by imitating, in this
particular, the example of niott Protestant Churches, and espe-
cially of the Churches of Switzeijand, whose Liturgies are all
printed.

That which is here given to the public contains,/rs;, the form
of divine service for Sundays and for week days, when a sermon
is preached ; afterwards the prayers for divers occasions, whether
before or after the sermon ; in the third place, the manner of
celebrating divine service, morning and afternoon, when there is
no preaching ; in the last place, tlie formularies for the celebra-
tion of the sacraments, for the solemnization of matrimony, for the
admission of catechumens, and for the reconciliation of penitents.*

To set forth here all the reflections which might be made on
the different parts of this Liturgy is unnecessary. It has been
judged advisable, however, to say something on the objects pro-
posed, and on the method which has been followed in its compo-
sition.

This Liturgy has been formed, as far as practicable, from the
Scriptures, and from ancient and modern Liturgies. The Scrip-
tures, especially, have been con-sulted — for as they are the sole
rule of our faith, so are they the only perfect guide to the true
mode of serving God. This course has been chiefly pursued in
the Canticles for the ordinary Morning and Afternoon Service.

* When tliis Liturgy was first publi^-hed, certain scandalous sinners, who had
been excluded from the Church, were received again into its peace: but this
practice liatli been abolished, lor reasons which it is useless to mention, and the
formulary only serves for individuals, "at the meeting of the Consistory, where it
has been preserved.



PREFACE. IX

They have been drawn, almost word for word, from the sacred
volume, and especial care hath been taken that they should em-
brace those excellent passages of the New Testament which
relate to Jesus Christ and our redemption. This has been thought
the more necessary, because hitherto our Churches have not had,
like other Protestant Churches, any Christian Canticles, and we
have therefore sung only those of the book of Psalms.* It is,
moreover, undeniable, that if the Jevi^s praised God for the fa-
vours which he had granted to their nation, and if they showed
forth his benefits in their songs, Christians are under still higher
obligations to bless God, through Jesus Christ ; to celebrate the
holy name of their Redeemer, to sing his praises, and to speak
in their hymns of all that he hath done for them, of his coming
into the world, of his sufierings, of his resurrection, of his as-
cension, of his last and glorious advent, and of the salvation
which he hath purchased for them.t The Apostles do expressly
command Christians to praise 'Jod our Father, through Jesus
Christ his Son, and their writings abound with praises and thanks-
givings, which ought to be without ceasing in the mouths and
hearts of the faithful. Authors who wrote in the second centu-
ry, and on whom we may rely,t inform us that the first Chris-
tians in their assemblies sang hymns to Jesus Christ as to a God,
and that, in the celebration of the Eucharist, God, the father of
all things, was praised and glorified, through the Son and Holy
Spirit. Much more might be said upon this subject, but the
reader is referred to the preface, which is at the head of the
Christian Canticles, lately introduced by the Church of Geneva
into their worship. In the Canticles of this Liturgy are collected
the principal passages of the New Testament, which can be
embodied in the worship of Christians; and they have been in-

• Since the first edition of this work, several Canticles, written by dift'erent
author?, have become a part of public worship, and are sung on tiie principal
solemnities, instead of the Psalms of David, vvliich are reserved for ordinary
occasions.

t Ep. Eph. i., 3 and v, 19 ; Coloss. iii., 16 ; I. Pet. i., 3 ; Apoc. i., 6, etc.

t Pliny the younger, in his letter to the Emperor Trajan (Epistle 97). Justin
Martyr in his first Apology.



X PREFACE.

terspersed among those of the Old. These passages being
very numerous, several Canticles have been composed, as well
for the ordinary service as for particular occasions.

After the Scriptures, the best Liturgies, both ancient and mod-
ern, have been consulted. Several formularies, previously adop-
ted in the Churches of this country, have been retained, and
in many respects a conformity has been observed to the order
already established therein ; and from other Liturgi