Duly.--In the prayer of Thanksgiving in the Holy Communion, the acknowledgment is made, "We heartily thank Thee, for that Thou dost vouchsafe to feed us who have _duly_ received." The word _duly_ as here used is the English word for the Latin _rite_, which means according to proper form and ordinance, _i.e._, as prescribed by and universally used in the Church Catholic; without which there can be no proper Sacrament. The word also occurs in the definition of the Church in the {89} XIX Article of Religion and has there the same interpretation. E Eagle.--The figure of an eagle is often used in the Church as an emblem to symbolize the flight of the Gospel message over the world. To this end the lectern from which the Holy Scriptures are read is generally constructed in the form of an eagle with outstretched wings on which the Bible rests. It is usually made of polished brass, but sometimes carved in wood. The eagle is also used as an emblem of the Evangelist St. John, who more than any other of the Apostles, was granted a clearer insight into things heavenly, as may be seen from the Gospel, Epistles and the Revelation which he was inspired to write. Early Communion.--From the very earliest ages of the Church it has been the custom to begin the devotions of the Lord's Day with the Holy Communion celebrated at an early hour. Through the influence of the Puritans in England this beautiful and helpful custom fell into abeyance for a while, but through the growing devotion of the revived Church both in England and America it has been restored. To-day there are very few parishes where the early Communion is not to be had, and the practice is growing and spreading as the result of increased knowledge of the Church's devotional system. The motive of the early Communion, especially on the Lord's Day, may be said to be twofold: First, the recognition of the Holy {90} Communion as the distinctive act of worship for each Lord's Day, without taking part in which no primitive Christian would have been considered to have properly kept Sunday, and secondly, the reverent desire to receive fasting, or as Bishop Jeremy Taylor has said, "to do this honor to the Blessed Sacrament, that It be the first food we eat and the first beverage we drink on that day." (See HOLY COMMUNION, also FREQUENT COMMUNION.)