Besides the above-named priests, all more or less connected with the working of a mediæval parish, it was ordered that, wherever the means of the place would allow it, there should be always a deacon and subdeacon to assist in the due celebration of the Divine service. Chance references in accounts and other documents seem to show that they were often so employed. In one set of churchwardens’ accounts there is a curious entry of receipt from a deacon, who pays for damage done to certain vestments at the time of his ordination. In another, a collection was made from the parishioners for the support of the deacon; and in a book of directions for clerics, it is laid down as part of the deacon’s office to bring the pyx containing the Blessed Sacrament from behind the altar, where it had been hanging, and to place it on the table of the altar for the priest to communicate the faithful. CHAPTER V THE PARISH OFFICIALS If the parish priest, rector, or vicar was undoubtedly the admitted centre of life in the district, the father of his people and the pastor of his flock, neither on his part nor on that of the parishioners was there any mistake about the rights and duties of the people to the parish church and towards parish matters generally. Within well-defined limits, the parish, which included both parson and people, managed its own affairs. Every adult of both sexes had a voice in this self-government, and, as Bishop Hobhouse has pointed out, in pre-Reformation days a wise freedom in the management of the fabric of the church and its accessories seemed to have been left to the parish by the diocesan authorities. They--the people--encouraged by every means in their power, and indeed frequently initiated, those manifestations of zeal for beautifying God’s house which form so remarkable a feature in the architectural history of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Moreover, it is impossible to turn over the church accounts of that period which have come down to us, without acknowledging that the love of the people for their parish churches was supported and intensified by the feeling that it was their work, and that upon each of them in conscience lay the duty of assisting to maintain the sanctuary, where, according to their strong and simple faith, God dwelt in their midst, and of helping to keep up within this holy place the round of prayers and praise and sacrifice. This common purpose of all within a parish was in those days not left to be carried out by chance or by mere individual effort; it was highly and intelligently organised to secure the co-operation and the continual contributions necessary for successfully carrying out the work. For this end certain officials were chosen by popular election as the people’s representatives, others were appointed in various ways and others, again, were employed as their services were required.