he same day. He does so as a part
of the sacrificial action, which is not complete unless a portion
of the sacrifice is consumed by the offering Priest. For this reason
he communicates himself, standing, as distinct from the congregation,
and completing the essentials of the Sacrifice in his priestly
character.

As he is not ministering to others when communicating himself, he
should not speak audibly in so doing.

He is to deliver the Sacrament first of all to the Clergy assisting
in the service, beginning with the Gospeller and Epistoler, in
accordance with the reason assigned in the rubric of 1549 for so
doing, viz. that they may be ready to help the chief minister.

The order of communicating the rest of the Clergy, and the lay
congregation, would be as follows:--1. To the Metropolitan of the
Province (if present). 2. To the Bishop of the Diocese (if present).
3. To other Metropolitans and Bishops (if present), in the order of
their seniority of consecration respectively. 4. Priests or Deacons.
5. Lay choristers, and 6. The rest of the laity.

'In like manner' means 'in both kinds.'

'In order.' These words may refer to the distinction of sexes,
as in the Clementine Liturgy,[f] or more generally to the usage
of taking the Sacrament to the people in their places in the
choir, in contrast with the present usage of coming up to the
altar-step. At all events, here is no recognition of the practice
of communicating by railsful.

'Into their hands.' It was prescribed in the Prayer-Book of 1549,
"that, although it be read in ancient writers that the people, many
years past, received at the Priest's hands the Sacrament of the
Body of Christ in their own hands, and no commandment of Christ to
the contrary: yet for as much as they many times conveyed the same
secretly away, kept it with them, and diversely abused it to
superstition and wickedness: lest any such thing hereafter should
be attempted, and that a uniformity might be used throughout the
whole realm, it is thought convenient the people commonly receive
the Sacrament of Christ's body in their mouths at the Priest's
hand." In 1552, the manner of receiving was again put back to the
use of the hands, and this has been continued since, so that the
receiving in the mouth is unrubrical now.[g]

Whatever be the manner of holding out the hands for the purpose of
reception, the Sacrament should, in order to avoid the possibility
of accident, be placed firmly and saf