Festivals and Fasts: Ember Days in September

The Church being always in need of manful men who are impressed with a due sense of what it means to be ordained to the ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons, 18th-century English layman Robert Nelson leads us devotionally in his Companion for the Festivals and Fasts of the Church of England.

Ember Days in September

Q. What Fast doth the Church observe at this Time?

A. The third Season of the Ember Days, which are the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, after the Fourteenth of September: the Sunday following being one of the stated Times for conferring the great Honour and Dignity of holy Orders.

Q. Wherein consists the Dignity of the Priesthood?

A. In the peculiar Relation it hath to God, whether we consider him as the Author of it, from whom it received its Institution, or the Nature of those Affairs it treats about, it being ordained for Men in Things pertaining unto God (Heb. 5:1). An Employment, as in its own Nature the most honourable and the most happy, so in its Effects the most beneficial to Mankind.

Q. How doth it appear to be the most honourable Employment?

A. Because no Man can be employed in any Work more honourable than what immediately relates to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and to the Salvation of Souls, immortal in their Nature, and redeemed by the Blood of God. The Powers committed to their Trust cannot be exercised by the greatest Princes, as such; and it is the same Work in Kind, and in the main End and Design of it, with that of the blessed Angels, who are ministering Spirits for those who shall be Heirs of Salvation (Heb. 1:14). It is the same the Son of God discharged, when he condescended to dwell among Men. It is the increasing and maintaining that Building whereof he laid the Foundation when upon Earth. It is the promoting his glorious Design and Undertaking for the Salvation of Souls.

Q. Wherein consists the Happiness of this Employment?

A. In that it fixes the Mind upon the best and the noblest Objects; upon God, a Being infinite in all Perfections, and upon that Happiness which is placed in the eternal Enjoyment of him, and upon those Methods that are established for the attaining of it. In that it engages Men in the greatest Acts of doing Good, in turning Sinners from the Error of their Ways, and by all wise and prudent Means in gaining Souls unto God. In that it sets Men above the low and mean Concerns of this Life; and instead of bodily Labour, confines them to the more delightful Exercises of the Mind. Add to all this, that the faithful and diligent Discharge of the holy Function gives a Title to a higher Degree of Glory in the next World; for they that be wise, shall shine as the Brightness of the Firmament, and they that turn many to Righteousness, as the Stars, for ever and ever (Dan. 12:3).

Q. What are the Benefits of the Priesthood?

A. It is by the Execution of the Priest’s Office, that Men are made Members of the Church of Christ by Baptism; and without being born of Water and of the Spirit, we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (John 3:5): That our spiritual Life is maintained by the holy Eucharist; for it is the Cup of Blessing which they bless, that is the Communion of the Blood of Christ; it is the Bread which they break, that is the Communion of the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16). That the Pardon of our Sins is signed and sealed to us; for by the Administration of the Sacraments are the Benefits of Christ’s Sacrifice really conveyed to all worthy Receivers; and that our Minds and Consciences are quieted by the Comfort and Benefit of Absolution. It is, moreover, by the faithful Discharge of this high Office, Men are turned from Darkness to Light, convinced of the Folly of their Sins, and of the Necessity of being holy, if ever they will be happy. Besides, that the Good of the State is hereby more secured, in those Instructions Men receive from the Ministers of God, in the necessary Duties of Obedience, Justice, and Fidelity.

Q. What hath been the general Sense of Mankind in Reference to the Priesthood?

A. All Nations, whether learned or ignorant, whether civil or barbarous, have agreed in this, as a common Dictate of natural Reason, to express their Reverence for the Deity, and their Affections to Religion, by conferring extraordinary Privileges of Honour upon such as administer in holy Things, and by providing liberally for their Maintenance.

And that the Honour due to the Holy Function flows from the Law of Nature, appears from hence; that in the oldest Times the Civil and the Sacred Authority were united in the same Person. For as the Original of civil Government was from private Families, so before those Families came to associate for more public Worship, the Master of the Family was the Priest of it.

Q. How were Priests respected among the Heathens?

A. In all Countries they enjoyed great Marks of Pre-eminence and Power, and managed the most weighty Affairs of Peace and War. Among the Egyptians their Kings were always declared either out of their Priesthood or Soldiery; but he that was chosen out of the Soldiery, was obliged immediately to turn Priest (Plut. de Isid. et Osir., tom. ii, p. 354). The Magi in Persia were Privy-Counsellors to the great Emperors of those Dominions (Strabo, Geog. i.1, pp. 23–24). The Brachmans in India were exempted from legal Penalties and common Tribute, and in all Difficulties were applied to by Prince and People for their Advice and Prayers (Porphyr., de Abst., lib. vi, sec. 17). The Druids, the Priests formerly of this our Island, as well as of France and Germany, were in such great Esteem, that they judged all public and private Causes, and distributed the main Springs of Obedience, Rewards, and Punishments; they never attended the Wars, nor were required to contribute towards the Charge of them, but enjoyed an universal Immunity (Cæs., de Bell. Gal., lib. iv). The Romans, a wise and valiant People, set so great a Value upon the Priestly Order, that if their principal Magistrates by chance, met any of Vesta’s Priests, they gave them Place (Liv., lib. 1). Numa Pompilius, who civilized that warlike Nation, is reported sometimes to have performed the Priest’s Office himself. Their Consuls sought the high Dignity of Pontifex Maximus, and several Emperors, after Augustus’s Time, were solemnly admitted to be High Priests.

Q. How were Priests respected before the giving of the Law?

A. The Character of the Persons who officiated as Priests before the Law, very much tended to support the Honour and Dignity of the Priesthood—For though in the first Ages of the World, in what related to a Man’s Self, it is very probable, from the Instances of Cain and Abel, that every Man was his own Priest (Spenc. de Leg. Heb., lib. 1, c. 6, p. 135; Gen. 4:3–4; 12:7–8), yet it is plain that the Family Sacrifices were performed by the Master of it, who as he exceeded the Rest in Power and Authority, so he was thought fittest for that honourable Function (Gen. 35:3, 7; Job 1:5; 42:8). When Families increased and associated together, for the more public Worship of God, the sacred and the civil Power were united in the same Person. Thus Melchisedeck was King and Priest in Salem (Gen. 14:13); and among the Egyptians, as was observed before, the Priesthood was joined with the Crown (Plutarch, Quest. Rom. cxiii). The Greeks accounted the Priesthood of equal Dignity with Kingship; which is taken Notice of by Aristotle in several Places of his Politics (De Rep., lib. iii, c. 10, 11). And among the Latins, we have a Testimony from Virgil, that at the same Time Anius was both Priest and King (Æn. iii). Nay, Moses himself, who was Prince of Israel, before Aaron was consecrated, officiated as Priest in that solemn Sacrifice, by which the Covenant with Israel was confirmed (Exod. 24:6, &c.).

Q. How were Priests respected under the Law?

A. Though the whole Nation of the Jews were, in respect of other Nations, God’s peculiar People; yet Levi was his peculiar Tribe, his Lot, and his Inheritance, set apart that they might execute the Service of the Lord (Deut. 33:8, &c.); and upon the Account of their being devoted to minister in holy Things, called his holy Ones. That God intended great Honour and Authority should be conferred upon the Priests, may appear plainly from the Power he gave them to interpret the Law, and to decide doubtful Cases, and from those severe Punishments he threatens to bring on such as did not comply with their Determinations (Deut. 17:8–9). And as for the High Priest, his Garments, his Palace, his Place in the Sanhedrim, and upon other Occasions, sufficiently show the Dignity of his Office, and the Authority he was invested with (Exod. 28:2, &c.; Lev. 21:21). The Laws that God was pleased yet further to give in relation to the Priesthood, tended to preserve the Character from being contemptible; for any corporeal Blemish made a Man unfit for it; and the particular Directions concerning their Marriages, and their not mourning for their nearest Kindred, made their Persons still more eminent. But what chiefly contributed to their Honour, was the Law about First-Fruits, and Tenths, which were solemnly dedicated to God, and yet were to be brought to the Temple for the Maintenance of the Priests.

Q. Why was the Priesthood confined to one Tribe?

A. It is thought that the chief Reason why God confined the Priesthood under the Law to one Tribe was, the better to train up the Jews, in the Knowledge and Worship of the true God, and to preserve them from the idolatrous Rites of their Neighbours, to which they were but too much addicted. For this was a certain Sign, that Sacrifices offered to him by any other Hands, were neither agreeable nor acceptable to him; because this testified that the Church of God was restrained to one People. So long, therefore, as none could administer in holy Things, but those of the Tribe of Levi, so long there could be no Church but of that People whereof Levi was a Tribe.

Q. Why was Levi preferred to this great Honour before any of the other Tribes?

A. Not only because this Tribe was distinguished by its Relation to Moses, who was Prince of the Congregation, and whom God thought fit farther to honour, by advancing his Father’s House to the highest Pitch of Dignity mortal Man could attain to; but also because this Tribe had given the most famous Instances of their Zeal against Idolatry. When the Israelites worshipped the Golden Calf, the greatest part of the Levites preserved themselves free from that Infection (Exod. 32:26–27). When Moses took Vengeance on those that were guilty of that Idolatry, the Levites, being kindled with Zeal, were obedient to his Voice, and assisted in expiating the Guilt of so great a Sin with the Blood of their own Kindred (Spen. de Leg. Heb., lib. i, p. 138). And if we may believe the Jewish Rabbins, when the other Tribes were tainted with the Superstitions of Egypt, the Tribe of Levi kept constant to the Worship of God; whereupon God was pleased thus to reward that Fidelity and Zeal for which they were so renowned.

Q. What Instances are there in the Old Testament of honourable Persons exercising the Priesthood?

A. Melchisedeck, who exercised that holy Function, was King as well as Priest, and the Patriarch Abraham acknowledged his Superiority, by receiving his Benediction, and by paying him Tribute, even the Tenth of all his Spoils (Gen. 14:18, 20; Heb. 7:4). Potiphera, Priest of On, was so considerable as to marry his Daughter to Joseph, the great Favourite of the King of Egypt (Gen. 41:45). Jethro, Priest of Midian, was Father-in-Law to Moses, eminent for his Wisdom and Authority (Exod. 3:1). And the High-Priest Aaron was Brother to the same Moses who was so mighty in Words and Deeds (Acts 7:22).

Q. How was the Priesthood esteemed among the Primitive Christians?

A. The Primitive Christians always expressed a mighty Value and Esteem for their Clergy, because they were sensible there could be no Church without Priests, and that it was by their Means that God conveyed to them all those mighty Blessings which were purchased by Christ’s Death. Ecclesiastical History is full of Instances of the Respect they then paid to their Bishops and Presbyters, by kissing their Hands, bowing to beg their Blessing, and all this even in the Times of Persecution. They gave all imaginable Proof of a sincere and hearty Love to their Persons, by maintaining them liberally out of their ship-wrecked Fortunes, and cheerfully submitting to the severe Discipline enjoined by them; and all this from a Sense of that Authority they had received from Christ, the great Bishop of Souls, and in Pursuance of those Precepts our Saviour and St. Paul have left us in this Matter (Luke 10:16; 1 Thess. 4:8). When Christianity became the Religion of the Government, great Honours and Revenues were bestowed upon the Clergy, not only for the Support of Religion, but as a Reward for those great Sufferings they had undergone in Defence of the Truth; all Laws that were any Ways prejudicial to them, were revoked, and new Ones made to secure to them Respect and Maintenance; which Advantages, in Progress of Time, were increased by the Favour of pious Princes, not only in the Roman Empire, but in all other Nations where Christianity prevailed.

Q. What Titles of Honour and Respect are given to those who are invested with the Priesthood under the Gospel?

A. The Dignity of their Office is amply displayed 1 Cor. iv. in the Scriptures, when those that are invested with Tit. i. 7. that Character are called the Ministers of Christ, Stewards of the Mysteries of God (1 Cor. 4:1; Tit. 1:7), to whom he hath committed the Word of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:19), the Glory of Christ (3 Cor. 8:23). Ambassadors for Christ, in Christ’s Stead (2 Cor. 5:20). Co-workers with him, Angels of the Churches (Rev. 2:3). And when it is moreover declared, that he that despiseth them, despiseth not Man, but God (Luke 10:16). All which Titles show, upon how many Accounts they stand related, appropriated, and devoted to God himself.

Q. What is implied in their being Ministers of Christ?

A. That they act by Commission from him, that they are his Officers and immediate Attendants, his Domestics, and in a peculiar Manner his Servants. That they are employed in his particular Business, empowered and authorized to negociate and transact for God, and that not only in some particular Things, but at large in all the outward Administrations of the Covenant of Grace, or of Reconciliation between God and Man.

Q. What is implied in their being Stewards of the Mysteries of God?

A. That as a Steward is the highest domestic Officer, and Governor of the whole Family, who is to give them their Portion of Meat in due Season; so the Priests under the Gospel are instituted to dispense spiritual Food for the Nourishment of Christians, to feed them with God’s holy Word, and Sacraments, to speak the hidden Wisdom which God ordained before the World (1 Cor. 2:7); which is committed to their Care to preserve entire from being maimed or perverted, as the Sacraments are to be rightly and duly administered.

Q. What is implied in their being public Agents and Ambassadors?

A. That they are God’s Vice-gerents and visible Representatives here upon Earth; that they are delegated by him to solicit and maintain a good Correspondence between God and Man; that they are empowered to administer the Word of Reconciliation, to sign and seal Covenants in his Name, upon which Account their Persons are sacred, and all Contempt shown to them is an Affront to their Master, whose Character they bear.

Q. What is implied in their being the Glory of Christ, and Co-workers with him?

A. That they are instrumental in advancing his Gospel, whereby Christ’s Name is glorified; that they manage and carry on that glorious Design for which he came into the World, and took upon him our Nature; that they are the Ministers of his spiritual Kingdom, to whose Diligence and Fidelity is committed its Preservation and Enlargement.

Q. Why are the Ministers of God called the Clergy?

A. Because those who have been peculiarly appropriated to the Service of God, and devoted to wait at the Altar, have always been esteemed God’s Lot and Inheritance, which the Word signifies in the Greek. Thus God says, the Levite shall be mine (Num. 8:14); and our Saviour calls his Apostles, the Gift his Father gave him out of the World (John 17:6). Now though the Word at first comprehended the whole Body of the Jewish Nation, and may in the same Sense be attributed to the Community of Christians, whom God has purchased to himself as a peculiar People; yet this Title was afterwards confined to narrower Bounds, and distinguished that Tribe which God made Choice of to stand before him in the Administration of holy Things; and after the Expiration of that Œconomy, was accordingly used to denote the Ministry of the Gospel, and those that were invested with the Priesthood in the Christian Church.

Q. How do the Ministers of the Christian Church derive their Commission?

A. From our Saviour Jesus Christ, the great Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls, who glorified not himself to be an High Priest (Heb. 5:5); but had his Commission from God the Father, and, after his Resurrection, invested his Apostles with the same Commission his Father had given him. As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you: And he breathed on them, and said unto them, receive ye the Holy Ghost, &c. (John 20:21–22). Which Commission evidently contains an Authority of ordaining others, and a Power of transferring that Commission upon others, and those upon others to the End of the World. And that this did not merely belong to the Persons of the Apostles, appears from the Nature of that Promise made to be with them always, even unto the End of the World (Matt. 28:20). Which must include their Successors in the Execution of the same Commission.

Q. Can the supreme Civil Magistrate communicate these Spiritual Powers to Church Officers?

A. The Nature of these Powers being purely spiritual, and having a Relation to the Souls of Men, can only be conveyed in that Way and Manner Christ has appointed; who delegated these Powers only to his Apostles and their Successors; and without his express Commission no Man ought to take upon himself, or communicate to others, a Power to sign and seal Covenants in his Name. This Commission the Apostles and their Successors exercised in all Places, and even in Opposition to the Rulers that then were; so that the Church subsisted as a distinct Society from the State for above three hundred Years, when the civil Government was only concerned to suppress and destroy it. Indeed when the Church received the Benefit of Incorporation and Protection from the State she was content to suffer some Limitation as to the Exercise of these Powers, and thought herself sufficiently recompensed by the Advantages that accrued to her by the Incorporation.

Q. Wherein then consists the Supremacy of Sovereign Magistrates?

A. In ruling all Estates and Degrees committed to their Charge by God whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal. In exercising their Civil Power in Ecclesiastical Causes, as well as over Ecclesiastical Persons, and in restraining with the Civil Sword the stubborn and evil Doers (Art. 37). So that all Persons in their Dominions, Spiritual as well as Temporal, are subject to their Authority; because when Men became Ministers in the Church, they did not cease to be Subjects of the State. Every Soul must be subject to the higher Powers (Rom. 13:1), which includes an Apostle, an Evangelist, a Prophet, or whatsoever else, as St. Chrysostom observes upon the Place. But by Virtue of this Supremacy, the ministering either of God’s Word, or of the Sacraments, is not given to Princes (Art. 37), because they are not invested with, nor have a sovereign Disposal of the Power of Orders.

Q. What may we learn from the Dignity of the Priesthood?

A. That it is no Diminution to Greatness of Birth, or any personal Excellency, to be devoted to the Service of the Altar. That great Purity of Life is required of those that are invested with such an honourable Character, whereby they may in some Measure be qualified to administer in holy Things, and by their Example guide those they instruct by their Doctrine. That it is an Argument of a very profane Temper, to contemn those that are owned of God as his Domestics and immediate Attendants; as his Agents and Ambassadors, because he that despiseth them, despiseth him that sent them; and the Affront put upon them will be interpreted as done to him from whom they derive their Commission. That it is a Dictate of natural Reason to testify our Reverence to the Deity, and our Affection to Religion, by honouring those who are the chief Ministers of it. That it is the greatest Piece of Presumption imaginable, to pretend to sign and seal Covenants in God’s Name, without receiving any Power and Authority from him in Order to that Purpose. That the Attendance at the Altar exempts no Man from the Cognizance of the Civil Powers, but that spiritual Persons are equally obliged to pay all Duty and Allegiance to their rightful Sovereigns, as well as the meanest of the Laity. That the Power of the Magistrate, when most full and absolute, does not extend either to use themselves, or communicate to others, those spiritual Powers which Christ left only to his Apostles and their Successors. That we then best show our Esteem of God’s Ordinance, and testify our Value for the Benefits of the Priesthood, when we not only reverence their Persons, but devoutly attend to their spiritual Administration.

The Prayers

I. For the Ordainers and the Ordained.

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who hast purchased to thyself an universal Church by the precious Blood of thy dear Son; mercifully look upon the same, and at this Time so guide and govern the Minds of thy Servants the Bishops and Pastors of thy Flock, that they may lay Hands suddenly on no Man, but faithfully and wisely make Choice of fit Persons to serve thee in the sacred Ministry of thy Church. And to those who shall be ordained to any holy Function, give thy Grace and heavenly Benediction, that both by their Life and Doctrine they may set forth thy Glory, and set forward the Salvation of all Men, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

II. For the Clergy, that they may rightly discharge their holy Function.

Grant, O Lord, that all those who administer in holy Things may have a great Sense of the Dignity and Importance of their Office; that since they are thy Ambassadors, they may in all their Actions have a due Regard to the Excellency of their Character, and faithfully, diligently, and prudently transact those great Affairs thou hast intrusted to their Management: That since they are thy Ministers, they may have always imprinted in their Remembrance, how great a Treasure is committed to their Charge, the Sheep of Christ, which he bought with his Death, and for whom he shed his Blood, that the Church and Congregation whom they serve is the Spouse and Body of Christ: That since they are the Stewards of thy Mysteries, they may feed and provide for thy Family, seek thy Sheep that are dispersed abroad, and thy Children which are in the Midst of this naughty World, that they may be saved through Christ: That since they are Labourers in thy Vineyard, they may never cease by their Care and Diligence to bring all such as are committed to their Charge unto that Agreement in Faith and Knowledge of God, and to that Ripeness and Perfectness of Age in Christ, that there may be no Place left for Error in Religion, or for Viciousness of Life. That since their Employment is laborious and difficult, they may constantly pray for the heavenly Assistance of the Holy Ghost from thee, O Father, by the Mediation of our blessed Redeemer and Saviour Jesus Christ; that by daily reading and weighing of the Scriptures they may wax riper and stronger in their Ministry, and so fashion their Lives, and those of their Families, after the Rules and Doctrine of Christ, that they may be wholesome and godly Examples for the Rest of the Congregation to follow, and be able to give a good Account of their Stewardship at the Tribunal of Christ; to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all Honour and Glory, World without End. Amen.

III. Bishop Taylor. For Bishops.

O thou great Shepherd, and Bishop of our Souls, most glorious Jesu, bless all holy and religious Prelates, especially the Bishops of our Church. O God, let Abundance of thy Grace and Benediction descend upon their Heads, that by a holy Life, by a true and Catholic Belief, by a resolute Confession of thy Name, and by a fatherly Care, and great Sedulity and Watchfulness over their Flock, they may glorify thee our God, the great Lover of Souls, and set forward the Salvation of their People, and of others by their Example, and at last, after a plentiful Conversion of Souls, they may shine like the Stars in Glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.