The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-11-27
4 QUESTION OF RITUAL
The Additions of the Clergy and the Laity
at the Communion Service.


A correspondent OF THE Sun. who signs him
self "Perplexity." writes:
To THE EDITOR oy The suS-sir, As TIE SUE
Is sort Of journalistic encyclopaedia for the people,
upon subject Which IS Z. present ARK % one o9its
subscribers. The differences in the matter Of belief
par. s,in the Episcopal Church are veil il fnoaH. but
nowhere are they more marked than In the celebrR-
siSn Sf EaAt .s sas a"" . Gan tSs fllRs1 eha GaIla p "i4s
de,ignAtes as the " mass" The latter declare their
and in thsir practice initiate very closely the Ritual
Of the Church Of Rome.
marked difference, and tnis sthe point upon which
S GheS the s6iy q sus dssiTsd, i. IL Even : cs 70 81. ls SeqF s5s
priest dsscends from the altar to the sanctuary rail.
the thumb and forshnSer Of his rich. hand, places It
upon the tongue of each communicate. When all
the altar and With ceremoniou. care washes MS
fngera and drinks the ablutinn from the chalice in
nothing remain upon his fingers Of the cOnssSrated
Now, in those Episcopal churches where the doc.
that What Is claimed by the Ritualists to be the body
palm Of each communicative hand. and all Of them
t tsslFs 81 e eb ,as ssI PsHs yt ~ sSip e9iDg E ,hcgu r. any p9r:
Who has given the sacrament ia bound to perform.
the end in Close imitation of the LATIN mass How
account tr the diyerEenesi Way Il It that the com.
sacrtaee Of the altar are eIemp: from the ablutton
and Sron"sdtaz. csrsIsnoy which Hpnn the cele-
WITH he BOOB y GSom 21E1P PTayer A and Savt ,aH btea
frequent attendant ct services In the Episcopal
THIS ,pbIeet Perhaps THE SUI. which has 50 many
Intelligent readers. can enlighton.
se nes IfP poPnts IL il G pRs S Shish h s9dcb be Is. fsvf Eitu al.
Church. The rubric in the communion ser
put into the hands" Of the communicant
II Is believed that the reformers inserted that
could not be touched. With the dlsavoWaI OF
the doctrine OF characterization. the belief
being other than a priest also had to GO. The
the so,;called advanced Party. in the Episcopal
eiated in the popular mind with the doctrine Of
trnnsu 6stantlatlo are common IN some OF the
ton Of the blessed sacrament. the reservation
OF the sacrament, and the procession OF the
sacrament through the church are regular
city. The priest washes his hands In the COM
munlon service after touching the host. The
ommunicant does not. according to TIKI sUShs
Several clerXmen in the advanced wing of
sas f p sPeap SafFSs T letter qG6sfiffhle ese dn Il one me
Hoaghtoe Of the Church q the Observation-Disclosures Htafo1
Episcopal churches. but It represents the same
The arst part Of PerpIeIitYfs' inquiry re-
lating to the mass is irrelevant, 1t Is probable
tnht lne hOtnan clorEy ms ADOPTED the same
practice that We have always observed In the alb
lutions. and no doubt before the somewhat
modern manner Of Roman administration was
adopted the ablutions performed by the laity
were performed In the Same manner that our
leity observe. because in those days the COM
munion everywhere was delivered into the
hands of the COMMUNICATE"
This was DR.. Houghton's formal answer 10
the letter. He added this explanation in add
ton: Il might just as well ask" he said,
first IN the Roman Catholic Church. for it is
certainly true that the communion was admin
iatered n the hands, How did the laity then.
In the days before the Roman Catholic was
recognized as separate communion, perform
theiL hblutlons That is a question which
Catholic Church to-day. As a matter Of fact
the ablution, to-day among the Anglican laity
ispertormed with the tongue. The wafer is put
mouth is sufficient a~blutlOn OF the spot on
which it rested The ruhTic Is met by placing
then put into the hands, The necessity OF
the. priests Ablution arises from the fact that
he handles, many waters Sometimes I have
consecrated a. many as 800. In such a case the
necessity OF the priests ablution is much
one In the palm OF his hand and performs sui.
fcient ablution when he lifts It with the tongue
into the month