he various halting places. The old Litanies bore a general
resemblance to ours. In 1544 Cranmer, by desire of the king, drew
up the first English Litany, which was compiled principally from
ancient sources. The Litany at first was a separate service. In
1662 it was ordered to be sung after Morning Prayer. The Act of
Uniformity of the present reign, 1872, allows it to be used in the
Morning or Evening, or as a separate service. It was ordered for
Wednesdays and Fridays only in 1549; Sundays were added in 1552.

LITERATE. This term, applied to a Clergyman, means one who has not
taken a degree, and is not a member of a Theological College.

LITURGY. From a Greek word, meaning a public act or duty; it is
now popularly used of the entire Book of Common Prayer, although
formerly it was applied only to the Service for administering the
Holy Eucharist.

As each different part of the Prayer Book is discussed under its
own heading, this article will be confined to (_a_) why a formulary
is used; (_b_) the history of our own.

(_a_) Forms of Prayer were used in the Jewish Church. Moses and
Miriam used a prescribed form as a thanksgiving for the crossing of
the Red Sea, Exodus xv God appointed a form of prayer, Deut. xxi.
7, 8; also a benediction, Num. vi. 22, 26. Moses used a form of
prayer, Num. x. 35, 36. Josephus and Philo tell us that the worship
both in the Temple and in the Synagogues consisted of a settled
form of prayer; this our Lord sanctioned by His frequent presence.
He Himself gave us a form of prayer--the Lord's Prayer. He promises
a special blessing on congregational worship. Matt, xviii. 19;
the "agreement" must pre-suppose a settled form. Traces of forms
of prayer some think are found in the New Testament.

The voice of history is unanimous on this point, nearly all the
Fathers testifying to the use of formularies.

Common sense reasons are plentiful, as, for instance, that in
Eccles. v. 2. A formulary makes the congregation independent of
the minister's mood, or ability, or piety, or orthodoxy.

(_b_) History. Before the time of Augustine (597) the English
Church had its own National Use, largely derived from the East,
through the Galilean Church. It is certain that the entire Roman
Ritual was never used, although attempts were made to force it
upon the Anglo-Saxon Church. There was a considerable variety in
the manner of performing Divine Service in the different Dioceses,
each having its own particular