The American Church Dictionary and Cyclopedia by William James Miller (free novel 24 .txt) 📖

1661. Formerly Morning and Evening Prayer began with the Lord's Prayer, but the Revisers thinking this too abrupt a beginning they introduced the Sentences, Exhortation, Confession and Absolution as a more fitting preparation for the worship that follows. It has been pointed out that {105} this Exhortation was probably inserted under the impression that the people at large were extremely ignorant of the true nature of worship at the time. Five principal parts of worship are mentioned in it: (1) Confession of Sin, (2) Absolution, (3) Thanksgiving and Praise, (4) Hearing God's Word, and (5) Prayer for spiritual and bodily benefits. The Exhortations in the Communion Office were originally set forth in 1548, revised in 1552 and 1661. They were introduced at a time when the laity of the Church of England were in danger of two extremes: First, a total neglect of the Holy Communion which had sprung up during the Middle Ages, and secondly, that fearful irreverence towards the Holy Communion which arose from the dreadful principles held respecting it by the Puritans. In the face of these dangers, these Exhortations were placed where they are, for the instruction of the people as well as for hortatory purposes.

Expectation Sunday.—The Sunday following Ascension Day is so called. Being the only Lord's Day which intervenes between the Ascension of our Lord and the Descent of the Holy Ghost, it represents that period during which the Apostles were obeying the command of their Master when "He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father." They remained therefore, in the city expecting the Gift of the Comforter which was bestowed on the Feast of Pentecost.

Expectation Week.—The week preceding Whitsun Day is so called.
(See EXPECTATION SUNDAY.) {106}

F

Fair Linen Cloth, Fair White Linen Cloth.—In the Communion Office there are two rubrics, the first of which reads as follows: "The Table, at the Communion time having a fair white linen cloth upon it," etc. By this is meant the long linen cloth the breadth of the top of the Altar and falling over the ends eighteen or twenty inches. The other rubric reads, "When all have communicated, the Minister shall return to the Lord's Table, and reverently place upon it what remaineth of the consecrated Elements, covering the same with a fair linen cloth." By this is meant the lawn chalice veil. It is to be noted that when this rubric was made, the word "fair" meant beautiful. The white linen cloth can be made "fair," i.e., beautiful by means of embroidery, and this is done by embroidering upon it five crosses to symbolize the five wounds of our Blessed Lord on the Cross, and by having the ends finished with a heavy linen fringe. Also, the lawn chalice veil is made "fair" by being similarly beautified with embroidery, a cross being worked near the edge.

Faith.—"Divine, or as it is called, Catholic Faith is a gift of God and a light of the soul; illuminated by which, a man assents fully and unreservedly to all which Almighty God has revealed and which He proposes to us by His Church to be believed, whether written or unwritten. It is also a belief in the whole Gospel, as distinguished from a reception of some portion of it only; and it is a faith so full of the love of God as that it leads us to act differently from what we {107} should if we did not believe and marks us out as a peculiar people among men."—From Manual of Instruction.

From the above definition we learn that Faith has a twofold meaning, (1) the act of believing, and (2) the thing believed, or the deposit of Faith or Doctrine which all members of Christ are bound to receive. This Deposit of Faith is embodied in the Holy Scriptures but is summarized for us in the Articles of the Creed which are grouped around the Name into which we are baptized,—the Father, and the Son and the Holy Ghost. In the American Church two forms of the Creed are used, viz. the APOSTLES' and the NICENE (which see). These embody "the Faith once delivered to the Saints."

Faithful, The.—The New Testament and Prayer Book name for all the Baptized, who, being admitted into the Household of Faith, are the people of the Faith—fideles, that is, believers.

Faldstool.—Literally, a portable folding seat, similar to a camp stool, and formerly used by a Bishop when officiating in any church other than his Cathedral. The name now is generally applied to the LITANY DESK (which see).

Fasting.—Going without food of any kind as a religious discipline and as a help to the spiritual life, especially on the great Fasts of the Church. The Homily on Fasting says: "Fasting is found to be of two sorts; the one outward, pertaining to the body; the other inward, in the heart and mind. The outward fast is an abstinence from meat, drink and all natural food, for the determined time of fasting; yea, from all {108} delicacies, pleasures and delectations worldly. The inward fast consists in that godly sorrow which leads us to bewail and detest our sins and to abstain from committing them."

Fasting Communion.—(See EARLY COMMUNION.)

Fasts, Table of.—The Reformers of the English Church retained and enjoined one hundred and twenty-three days in each year, to be sanctified wholly or in part as Fasts and days of abstinence. These, with the exception of the Table of Vigils, have been retained in the American Prayer Book and are the following:

ABSOLUTE FASTS,

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

OTHER DAYS OF FASTING,

on which the Church requires such a measure of abstinence as is more especially suited to extraordinary acts and exercises of devotion, namely:

I. The Forty Days of Lent.

II. The Ember Days at the four seasons.

III. The Three Rogation Days.

IV. All Fridays in the year, except Christmas Day.

These Fasting Days must always be announced to the congregation in
Church, the rubric in the Communion Office requiring that "Then the
Minister shall declare unto the People what Holy Days or Fasting
Days are in the week following to be observed."

Fathers, The.—The name used to designate the ancient writers of the Church. Their writings are of the greatest value as bearing witness to the N. T. Scriptures and their interpretation, and also as {109} showing forth the belief and usage of the Church in the earliest years of its history. (See TRADITIONS, also UNDIVIDED CHURCH.) The term "Fathers" is generally confined to the writers of the first five or six hundred years of the Christian Era. They are usually grouped together according to the period in which they lived, e.g., The Apostolic Fathers are those who lived nearest to the time, and to some extent contemporary with the Apostles, viz. St. Barnabas, St. Clement, St. Ignatius, Hermas and St. Polycarp. Another class is called the Ante Nicene Fathers, or those who lived between the date of St. Polycarp, A.D. 167, and the date of the Nicene Council, A.D. 325, such as Justin Martyr, St. Irenseus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, Origen, St. Cyprian. A third class dates from the Nicene Council, such as St. Athanasius; Eusebius, the Church Historian; St. Cyril of Jerusalem; St. Hilary of Poicters; St. Basil, the Great; St. Gregory of Nyssa; St. Gregory Nazianzen; St. Chrysostom, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Leo, who is commonly regarded as the last of the Fathers, although St. Gregory of Rome is placed in the List as well as a few later writers. The above is not a complete list, only a few of the principal Fathers having been mentioned. It is pointed out in Milman's "Latin Christianity" that "The Eastern and the Western Church have each four authors of note, whom they recognize as Fathers par excellence. Those of the Eastern Church are St. Athanasius, St. Basil, St. Chrysostom and St. Gregory {110} Nazianzen. Those of the Western Church are St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine and St. Gregory of Rome,—the Fathers respectively of her monastic system, of her sacerdotal authority, of her scientific Theology and of her popular religion."

Feasts or Festivals.—Days set apart for the celebration of some great event connected with our Blessed Lord or His Saints, also called Holy Days. The rubric in the Communion Office requires that each Feast shall be announced to the congregation on the Sunday preceding the day on which it occurs. They are set forth in a Table to be found in the introductory portion of the Prayer Book as follows:

A TABLE OF FEASTS.

To be observed in this Church throughout the Year.

  All Sundays in the year. St. Bartholomew the Apostle.
  The Circumcision of our Lord. St. Matthew the Apostle.
  The Epiphany. St. Michael and All Angels.
  The Conversion of St. Paul. St. Luke the Evangelist.
  The Purification of the Blessed St. Simon and St. Jude the
    Virgin. Apostles.
  St. Matthias the Apostle. All Saints,
  The Annunciation of the Blessed St. Andrew the Apostle.
    Virgin Mary. St. Thomas the Apostle.
  St. Mark the Evangelist. The Nativity of our Lord.
  St. Philip and St. James the St. Stephen the Martyr.
    Apostles. St. John the Evangelist.
  The Ascension of our Lord. The Holy Innocents.
  St. Barnabas the Apostle. Monday and Tuesday in Easter
  The Nativity of St. John Baptist. Week.
  St. Peter the Apostle. Monday and Tuesday in Whitsun
  St. James the Apostle. Week.
  The Transfiguration of our Lord.

Feria.—A term derived from the Latin and used to designate days which are neither Feasts nor Fasts. {111}

Filioque.—The Latin for the words "and the Son" which occur in
our form of the Nicene Creed. They are not found in the original
Creed as used in the Greek Church, but were added by the Third
Council of Toledo, A.D. 589. This addition to the Creed by the
Western Church was the subject of a long controversy between the
East and the West, which with other complications finally led to
their entire separation in A.D. 1054. (See PROCESSION OF THE HOLY
GHOST.)

Fish.—The figure of a fish has been used from the very earliest days as a symbol in the Christian Church. Among the early Christians it was used as a secret sign by which they knew one another in the days of persecution. The significance of the fish as a Christian symbol is set forth under EMBLEMS (which see).

Flagon.—One of the Eucharistic vessels. A large pitcher-shaped vessel made of precious metal and used to hold the wine before its consecration in the chalice. It is sometimes used in the consecration.

Font.—The vessel which contains the water for the purpose of Baptism, usually of stone and vase-shaped, i.e., a large bowl on a pedestal, being sometimes circular and sometimes octagonal. The position of the Font in primitive times was at or near the Church door to signify that Baptism is the entrance into the Church Mystical. This position is still retained in some churches at the present time, but in most churches it is placed near the chancel for convenience, or because no place at the door was provided by the architect. Fonts were formerly required to be covered and locked; originally their covers were simple flat {112} movable lids, but they were subsequently very highly ornamented, assuming the form of spires and enriched with various decorations in carved wood or polished brass. The Font is so called from the Latin word Fons, genitive Fontis, meaning a fountain or spring, referring to Baptism as a Laver of Regeneration, the source of new and spiritual life.

Foreign Missions.—(See DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.)

Forms.—One great objection brought against the Episcopal Church by many persons not members of it is what they call forms and ceremonies. They say what they want is