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Transcriber's note:

      Page numbers in this book are indicated by numbers enclosed in
      curly braces, e.g. {99}.  They have been located where page
      breaks occurred in the original book.  For its Index, a page
      number has been placed only at the start of that section.





THE WORSHIP OF THE CHURCH

And the Beauty of Holiness

by

J. A. REGESTER, S.T.D.

Rector of St. Paul's Church, Buffalo, N. Y.


  "Oh, may I dwell in His Temple blest,
    As long as my life may be,
  And the beauty fair of the Lord of Hosts,
    In the home of His glory see!"
            BISHOP COXE, _Christian Ballads_







New York
James Pott & Company
285 Fourth Avenue
1898

Copyright, 1898, by
James Pott & Co.

First Edition.  Printed, January, 1898.
Second Edition, Revised.  Printed, May, 1898.




Preface

The material in this manual is, so far as known, accessible only in a
number of books.  Obligation to those from which it has been gathered
has not been expressed by references, which must have marked nearly
every page, but, instead, a list has been appended which may be
consulted if it is desired to verify statements or to study more fully
any subject presented.

The object in view has not been to discuss the propriety, or
lawfulness, or obligation of any matter referred to, but simply to give
information.




Contents


                                                    PAGE

  WORSHIP .....................   7
  THE CHURCH, THE PLACE OF WORSHIP.........  11
  SYMBOLISM OF THE CHURCH BUILDING.........  17
  ARRANGEMENT AND FURNITURE OF THE CHURCH .....  37
  SYMBOLIC ORNAMENTS OF THE CHURCH.........  51
  HOW TO USE THE PRAYER-BOOK............  92
  DEVOUT CUSTOMS AND USAGES ............ 103
  LIST OF BOOKS FOR REFERENCE ........... 119
  INDEX ...................... 121




{7}

_The Beauty of Holiness_


_Worship_

The worship of Almighty God is one of the characteristic acts of
humanity.  The brute looks up to heaven, but man alone looks up with
thought of God and to adore.  "The entire creation grew together to
reflect and repeat the glory of God, and yet the echo of God slumbered
in the hollow bowels of the dumb earth until there was one who could
wake up the shout by a living voice.  Man is the first among the
creatures to deliver back from the rolling world this conscious and
delicious response, the recognition of the Father who begat him.  He,
and he alone, is nature's priest, her spokesman, her mediator."

{8}

The idea of worship, in which the crown and glory of manhood thus has
expression, "includes all those acts which make up the devotional duty
of the soul to Almighty God."  Our private and family devotions are
acts of worship.  They enter into its obligation, are comprehended by
it, but do not fill it out.  They are not sufficient alone.  The due
acknowledgment before others of our belief in and reverence for God,
the blessings which attend only upon the use of united praise and
prayer and of Sacraments, the honor of God, the rendering of "thanks
for the great benefits that we have received at His hands," the setting
forth of "His most worthy praise,"--all demand the public act of
worship.

The obligation and privilege of such worship cannot be too greatly
exalted.  It is not a matter of inclination merely; it is an imperative
duty, the discharge of which may not be regulated by considerations of
convenience, or indolence, or pleasure.  To neglect it, is to dishonor
God, to withhold what is His due.  It is also