Daily Reading for September 12 • John Henry Hobart, Bishop of New York, 1830
Let a regard for the honour of the Church, and for the glory of God who delights in order in his worship, awaken the zeal of every member of the Church. Let him preserve silence in the parts of the service performed by the minister, joining in them not with his voice, but with sincerity of mind and heart. Let him, however, consider it as a sacred duty to repeat aloud the parts in the service assigned to the people. He will thus have the satisfaction of performing his share in the important and honourable duty of worshiping God. Confession will be rendered more lively, supplication more animated, and praise more ardent when the people join in the service with their voices as well as with their hearts. Both minister and people thus faithfully performing the respective parts allotted to them, the service of the Church will be exhibited in all its majesty, beauty, and affecting solemnity; and the worship of the Sanctuary will ascend as acceptable incense to the Lord of Hosts.
From ‘A Companion to the Book of Common Prayer’ by John Henry Hobart (1805/1827), in J. Robert Wright, ed., Prayer Book Spirituality. Copyright © 1989. Used by permission of Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, NY. www.churchpublishing.org