Ornaments Rubric
Encyclopedia
The "Ornaments Rubric" is found just before the beginning of Morning Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer
of the Church of England
. It runs as follows:
The interpretation of the second paragraph was debated when it first appeared and became a major issue towards the end of the 19th century during the conflicts over what vestments and ceremonies were legal in the Church of England.
. The second paragraph is essentially an extract from penultimate section of the Elizabethan Act of Uniformity (1559 - 1 Elizabeth I,c.2) and breaks off in the middle of a sentence. The act itself provided that:
Until June 1549 the Sarum Rite Mass (a version of the Roman Rite) was celebrated in Latin, with certain insertions in English. From 1547, the Epistle and Gospel on Sundays and Holy Days; and from March 1548 the inclusion of devotions between the consecration and the reception of communion very similar to those used in the 1549 book.(Procter and Frere, pp.35ff). The ornaments of the ministers would have been the traditional Eucharistic vestments used in that Rite: albs, tunicles, dalmatics, copes, chasubles, maniples, miters et cetera.
The second year referred to in the Act of 1559 began on 28th January 1548 and the Act approving the introduction of the first Book of Common Prayer was approved by Parliament on 21st January 1549. While has been argued that the Act legalises the Roman-catholic vestments which were actually in use in the second year, most authorities accept that the Act refers to the vestments ordered in the first Edwardine Prayer BookBasically, plain white alb, surplice, chasuble, cope and in the case of a bishop, the rochet. even though they were only required as from June 1549.
On the 30th of April 1559, it was "glossed" (interpreted) by Dr Sandys, successively Bp of Worcester (1559), London (1570) and York (1575), to mean that "we shall not be be forced to use them, but that others in the mean time shall not convey them away, but that they may remain for the Queen." Later in 1559, the Queen issued her Injunctions, one of which required the churchwardens to deliver to "our visitors" an inventory of "vestments, copes or other ornaments, plate, books and especially of grails, couchers, legends, processions, hymnals, manuals, portuals and such like, appertaining to their church." In 1566, the metropolitan (Archbishop Parker) issued his "advertisements" ordering the use of the surplice and in cathedrals and collegiate churches the cope. The Canons of 1604, passed with strict conformity to legal procedures and legally binding with minor modifications till well into the 20th Century, enforced this same line.
For about one hundred years, starting in the middle of the 19th century, the legal interpretation of the rubric was disputed. Anglo-Catholics
pointed to it to justify their restoration of the traditional Eucharist
ic vestment
s of western Christianity
in the Anglican Communion
, whereas Evangelical
s insisted that further order was taken in the Injunctions of 1559, the "Advertisements" of 1566 and the Canons of 1604 and therefore the only legal vestments were choir habit
together with the cope in Cathedrals and collegiate churches. With the passing of new Canons in 1969, the use of the disputed vestments became legal in the Church of England.
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. It runs as follows:
"THE Morning and Evening PrayerPrayerPrayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
shall be used in the accustomed Place of the Church, ChapelChapelA chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
, or ChancelChancelIn church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
; except it shall be otherwise determined by the OrdinaryOrdinaryIn those hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system, an ordinary is an officer of the church who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute the church's laws...
of the Place. And the Chancels shalt remain as they have done in times past.
"And here is to be noted, that such Ornaments of the Church, and of the Ministers thereof, at all Times of their Ministration, shall be retained, and be in use, as were in this Church of EnglandChurch of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, by the Authority of ParliamentParliament of EnglandThe Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
, in the Second Year of the Reign of King Edward the SixthEdward VI of EnglandEdward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
."
The interpretation of the second paragraph was debated when it first appeared and became a major issue towards the end of the 19th century during the conflicts over what vestments and ceremonies were legal in the Church of England.
History and Interpretation
The rubric first appears in the Elizabethan revision of the BCP in 1559 and was retained in the later 1604 revision under James IJames I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
. The second paragraph is essentially an extract from penultimate section of the Elizabethan Act of Uniformity (1559 - 1 Elizabeth I,c.2) and breaks off in the middle of a sentence. The act itself provided that:
"... such ornaments of the Church and of the ministers thereof shall be retained and be in use as were in this Church of England by the authority of Parliament in the Second Year of the Reign of King Edward the Sixth shall be retained and be in use, until other order shall be therein taken by the Queen's Majesty with the advice of her commissioners appointed and authorized under the great Seal of England for ecclesiastical causes, or of the metropolitan of this realm; ..."
Until June 1549 the Sarum Rite Mass (a version of the Roman Rite) was celebrated in Latin, with certain insertions in English. From 1547, the Epistle and Gospel on Sundays and Holy Days; and from March 1548 the inclusion of devotions between the consecration and the reception of communion very similar to those used in the 1549 book.(Procter and Frere, pp.35ff). The ornaments of the ministers would have been the traditional Eucharistic vestments used in that Rite: albs, tunicles, dalmatics, copes, chasubles, maniples, miters et cetera.
The second year referred to in the Act of 1559 began on 28th January 1548 and the Act approving the introduction of the first Book of Common Prayer was approved by Parliament on 21st January 1549. While has been argued that the Act legalises the Roman-catholic vestments which were actually in use in the second year, most authorities accept that the Act refers to the vestments ordered in the first Edwardine Prayer BookBasically, plain white alb, surplice, chasuble, cope and in the case of a bishop, the rochet. even though they were only required as from June 1549.
On the 30th of April 1559, it was "glossed" (interpreted) by Dr Sandys, successively Bp of Worcester (1559), London (1570) and York (1575), to mean that "we shall not be be forced to use them, but that others in the mean time shall not convey them away, but that they may remain for the Queen." Later in 1559, the Queen issued her Injunctions, one of which required the churchwardens to deliver to "our visitors" an inventory of "vestments, copes or other ornaments, plate, books and especially of grails, couchers, legends, processions, hymnals, manuals, portuals and such like, appertaining to their church." In 1566, the metropolitan (Archbishop Parker) issued his "advertisements" ordering the use of the surplice and in cathedrals and collegiate churches the cope. The Canons of 1604, passed with strict conformity to legal procedures and legally binding with minor modifications till well into the 20th Century, enforced this same line.
For about one hundred years, starting in the middle of the 19th century, the legal interpretation of the rubric was disputed. Anglo-Catholics
Anglo-Catholicism
The terms Anglo-Catholic and Anglo-Catholicism describe people, beliefs and practices within Anglicanism that affirm the Catholic, rather than Protestant, heritage and identity of the Anglican churches....
pointed to it to justify their restoration of the traditional Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
ic vestment
Vestment
Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religion, especially among Latin Rite and other Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans...
s of western Christianity
Western Christianity
Western Christianity is a term used to include the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church and groups historically derivative thereof, including the churches of the Anglican and Protestant traditions, which share common attributes that can be traced back to their medieval heritage...
in the Anglican Communion
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
, whereas Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
s insisted that further order was taken in the Injunctions of 1559, the "Advertisements" of 1566 and the Canons of 1604 and therefore the only legal vestments were choir habit
Choir dress
Choir dress is the vesture of the clerics, seminarians and religious of traditional churches worn for public prayer, either apart from the eucharist or by those attending the eucharist as the clergy part of the congregation rather than as the celebrants...
together with the cope in Cathedrals and collegiate churches. With the passing of new Canons in 1969, the use of the disputed vestments became legal in the Church of England.