Plate 17.-An Altar Page 408 Plate 18. (Fig. 1): Veil and Burse covering the Chalice. (Fig. 2): The Chalice, Paten, Ciborium, 420 Plate 19.-(Fig. 1): Monstrance. (Fig. 2): Priest vested in Cassock and Amice 424 Plate 20.-(Fig. 1): Priest in Cassock, holding Biretta. (Fig. 2): Bishop in Cassock Plate 21.-(Fig. 1): Priest in Surplice and Stole. (Fig. 2): The Vestments of Acolytes.. 428 432 Plate 22.-(Fig. 1): Priest vesting for the Celebration of the Eucharist. (Fig. 2): Deacon vested as when assisting at the Eucharist 440 Plate 23.-(Fig. 1): Priest in Chasuble-Front View. (Fig. 2): Priest in Chasuble-Back View 450 Plate 24.-(Fig. 1): Bishop in Mozzetta. Bishop in Mantelletta (Fig. 2): 458 Plate 25.-(Fig. 1): Full Pontifical Vestments-Front view. (Fig. 2): Full Pontifical Vestments-Back View Plate 26.-Vortex and Shaft formed at Vespers Plate 27.-Appearance of Spheres at Moment of Benediction 466 484 494 NOTE. The Liturgy of the Liberal Catholic Church is singularly rich in passages of poetic beauty and high aspiration, and, although copious extracts have been embodied in this work, the Liturgy itself should be read to obtain an adequate idea of its worth and personal appeal. Copies in cloth and gilt may be obtained from the publishers. A limited number of copies of the frontispiece in colours have been printed separately and may be obtained from the publishers at 1/6 each. FOREWORD There is all around us a vast unseen world; unseen by most of us, but not necessarily invisible. There are within man faculties of the soul which, if developed, will enable him to perceive this world, so that it will become possible for him to explore and to study it precisely as man has explored and studied that part of the world which is within the reach of all. These faculties are the heritage of the whole human race; they will unfold within every one of us as our evolution progresses; but men who are willing to devote themselves to the effort may gain them in advance of the rest, just as a blacksmith's apprentice, specializing in the use of certain muscles, may attain (so far as they are concerned) a development much greater than that of other youths of his age. There are men who have these powers in working order, and are able by their use to obtain a vast amount of most interesting information about the world which most of us as yet cannot see. The news that such investigators bring back to us is happily of the most reassuring character; they are able to tell us that divine law rules in these higher worlds of finer matter, just as it does down here in grosser matter; that to everything in this world there is an inner side, and that that inner side is often far greater and more glorious than the outer which to our blindness seems to be the whole. 9 They tell us that man is a spirit, a spark of God's own fire; that he is immortal, and that to his growth and splendour there is no limit; that God's plan for him is wonderful and beautiful beyond all conception, and that none can fail finally to attain the goal intended for him, however slow his progress may be, however far he may wander from the path of righteousness. They do not claim to know the whole of that mighty plan, but the general trend of it is clearly to be seen. As men, we stand on a certain rung of the ladder of life; we can see other rungs both below and above us, and those who stand high above us-so high that they seem to us as gods in their marvellous knowledge and power-tell us that they stood not long since where we are standing now, and they indicate to us clearly the steps which lie between, which we also must tread if we would be as they. All these are matters not of faith, but of certainty to those who have learnt to use the eyes of the spirit. Let it be clearly understood that there is nothing fanciful or unnatural about such sight. It is simply an extension of faculties with which we are all familiar, and to develop it is to make oneself sensitive to vibrations more rapid than those to which our physical senses are normally trained to respond. So radical is the change in our conception of life which is introduced by our knowledge of this inner world that (though I have tried to avoid technicalities) I fear that much of what I have written in the following pages may not be fully comprehensible to those who have not studied that subject. I think, therefore, that it may be helpful to reprint, as an appendix to this book, an explanatory lecture which I gave some years ago, and I would suggest that those who are unfamiliar with the idea of a surrounding world composed of matter finer than the physical, should turn to that appendix and study it before reading the book itself. It happens that some of us who, after many years of harder work than most people would care to undertake, have succeeded in acquiring these higher senses, are deeply interested in the Church and its ceremonies. It is natural therefore that, having learnt so much in other fields of study by the use of these extended powers of observation, we should utilize them also to examine the inner and spiritual side of the Sacraments, in order to ascertain what they really are, what they can do for us and for others, and how we can so administer them as best to carry out the intention of the Christ Who founded them. The result of a long series of such investigations and experiments is embodied in this volume. The Holy Eucharist has hitherto been regarded as a means of grace to the individual. That it undoubtedly is; but I wish to show, with all reverence, that it is also very much more than that. It is a plan for helping on the evolution of the world by the frequent outpouring of floods of spiritual force; and it offers to us an unequalled opportunity of becoming, as St. Paul puts it, labourers together with God, of doing Him true and laudable service by acting as channels of His wondrous power. I have written, I think, somewhat diffusely; I have turned aside often from the main course of my commentary on the service of the Holy Eucharist to follow some interesting by path which opened before me; but I have done so with intention, for this aspect of the service is so new, and its ramifications and implications are so many and so beautiful, that it seems to me to demand a certain freedom of treatment. I have not of set purpose introduced any statement of the theological beliefs induced by the wider knowledge gained by this development of faculty, though indications of them inevitably peep through here and there. If time is given to me, I hope later to prepare a second volume dealing with that side of the question. I wish to express my hearty thanks to the Presiding Bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church, the Rt. Rev. James I. Wedgwood, for many most valuable suggestions and criticisms; and to the Rt. Rev. Irving S. Cooper, Bishop of our Church in the United States of America, for his work in connection with the illuminative illustrations appearing in this book, and for his most helpful and painstaking collaboration in the preparation of the work for the press. I also wish to express my indebtedness to Mr. E. Warner for the difficult technical work of preparing the illustrations of the eucharistic. form; to Miss Judith Fletcher for the photographs of the vestments; and to Miss Kathleen Maddox for her care in taking notes of the many sermons and informal talks embodied in this volume. May the usefulness of the book to others be commensurate with the labour which has been so freely spent upon its production. |