House of God.--The Church building is so called because it is set apart for the worship of God. That it is something more than a mere lecture hall, or concert room or auditorium, as it is commonly regarded by modern religionism will appear from the following taken from the Annotated Prayer Book: "The Church is the _House of God_, not man's house; a place wherein to meet with Him with the closest approach which can be made in this life. Hence, if Jacob consecrated with the ceremony of unction the place where God made His covenant with him, and said of it, 'This is none other but the House of God, and this is the Gate of Heaven'; so should our churches be set apart and consecrated with sacred ceremonies making them holy to the Lord. So also, because they are to be in reality, and not by a mere stretch of the imagination, the Presence chambers of our Lord, we must regard them as the nearest to {140} Heaven in holiness of all places on earth by the virtue of that Presence. And lavishing all costly material, and all earnest skill upon their first erection and decoration, we shall ever after frequent them with a consciousness that 'the Lord is in His holy Temple,' and that all which is done there should be done under a sense of the greatest reverence towards Him." Housel.--An old English word for the Holy Eucharist. Thus an old English canon of A.D. 960 orders every Priest "to give _housel_ (_i.e._ Holy Communion) to the sick when they need it." The word also appears in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in Piers Plowman, Beaumont and Fletcher and also in Shakespeare. So, also, we find the term _houselling cloth_, meaning a large cloth spread before the people while receiving. The word evidently meant a _Sacrifice_. Humble Access, Prayer of.--The name given to the beautiful prayer offered in great humility just before the Consecration in the Holy Communion, beginning, "We do not presume," etc. The words are taken from the most ancient Liturgies. Hymn Board.--A tablet to which the numbers of the hymns to be sung at any service are affixed, and which is placed in a conspicuous place for the greater convenience and guidance of the congregation. The purpose of the Hymn Board is to do away with the custom of announcing the day of the month and the hymns, but this is not generally carried out in practice. Hymnal, The.--As the Church has a book for her _Common Prayer_, so also she has a book for her _Common Praise_, and this is known as THE HYMNAL. The {141} Hymnal as it now stands was set forth by the action of the General Convention of 1892, and is the outgrowth of much study, many changes and a great deal of legislation since the time when there was bound up with the Prayer Book a few hymns for congregational use. The present imposing volume has 679 hymns drawn from almost every source and age, and, no doubt, meets every need and requirement.