Clergymen were to be
called "priests" and their authority treated as divine. Worship
was to be done in prescribed forms and ritual with pomp and
ceremony, including kneeling for communion. It was to be done in
accordance with the Romish Breviars, Rituals, and Mass-books.
Rings were to be used in marriages and crosses used in baptisms.
Churches, fonts, tables, pulpits, chalices and the like were to be
consecrated, thereby putting holiness in them. Churches that did
not do this but used unconsecrated or "polluted" articles were
closed by interdiction. Regard was to be had with regard to days,
postures, meats, and vestments. The clergy was to wear supplices
[white linen vestments flowing to the foot with lawn sleeves] and
embroidered copes [vestment over the head]. A Bishop wore a four-
cornered cap, cope and surplice with lawn-sleeves, tippet (long,
black scarf), hood, and canonical coat. Churchwardens were to take
oaths to inform against any who disobeyed. The law still required
that all attend Sunday sermons. But parishes had some control over
who was their preacher, even though a minister could be put upon a
parish by the bishops without the consent of the patron or people.
By increasing the meager pay of a parish clergyman, they could
chose one with a compatible theology or employ a lecturer from
outside. The Ritualists scolded clergymen for "gospel preaching"
and suppressed Puritan preaching in public meetings.
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