310 



Oil the Consuetudinary of S. Osmund. 



Certainly in many cases there was a [symbolism in the outward 

 ceremonies that was not only very impressive but very instructive 

 also. Of course it was an age in which much of the general teaching 

 was by outward ritual ; but it did realise in any case the true nature 

 of worship, which is primarily, of course, the giving glory to God, 

 rather than — as is now too commonly thought — the obtaining 

 blessings for ourselves ; the truth being, that in proportion as we ren- 

 der of our own to God, we may look for grace from Him — that here 

 at least it is true " There is that giveth and yet increaseth."" Of 

 course all this elaborate ceremonial had its attendant evils ; for, 

 notwithstanding its apparent devotion, its tendency was to become 

 mechanical, and so perhaps at times only to awaken a desire for 

 knowledge which in itself it could never satisfy. 



V. — Of the twelve remaining sections of the Consuetudinary, 

 §§ 93- — 105, eight contain minute directions as to attendant 

 ceremonies at the celebration of mass on different days and various 

 times, whilst the other five relate to such matters as the covering of 

 the images, and the veil which shut off the sanctuary, during Lent, 

 the special services on Maundy Thursday — such as the hallowing of 

 the oils, &c, — the office of " Tenebrse" in Holy Week, the " Vigilise 

 mortuorum " or office for the dead. But of these we can make only 

 a passing mention, by way of completing our brief summary of the 

 " Consuetudinary 



Such then, as we have endeavoured to describe it, is this remarkable 

 "tractate," which bears the name of S. Osmund. Brawn up origi- 

 nally for his cathedral at Old Sarum, it was, of course, re-edited, 

 and possibly slightly modified, in the days of his worthy successor, 

 Richard Poore. To be understood it must, of course, be read to- 

 gether with the Ordinal ; and no doubt some of the directions were 

 to be interpreted by the customs, well-understood, and fully ackow- 

 ledged, of the church itself. But such as we have it — contained in 

 nineteen folios, written in contracted Latin, and possibly by the hand 

 of Richard Poore, or William de Wenda, it became in fact the 

 statute-book of ecclesiastical ceremonial for the church, in by far 

 the greater portion of England; and it continued such up to the 

 time of the Reformation in the sixteenth century. 



