4. The Anglican Communion

In accordance with the general tendency of the English Reformation, a very large part of the Reformed service is taken more or leas directly from the older liturgies, and even some parts which do not occur in the Roman mass have ancient precedent. Thus the prayer for the Church militant occupies the same position as the great intercession in the Gallican rite, and the recitation of the Ten Commandments, while probably due to the ethical tendency of the age, has been explained by some liturgical scholars as answering to the prophecy, or reading from the Old Testament, which in some other ancient liturgies preceded the epistle and Gospel. Several portions newly added were intended to emphasise the aspect of the service as a communion; thus the

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prayer of Humble Access, the Comfortable Words, and the position and wording of the confession and absolution presuppose the reception of the communion by the bulk of the congregation. The canon is much shortened, following the Roman closely in the essential part, and the Lord's Prayer, as scarcely ever elsewhere, follows the communion. The Gloria in excelaia retained its ancient position in the first Prayer-book of Edward VI., but was afterward moved to the end of the service, as an act of thanksgiving. See also Common Prayer, Book of.