CLERK. The legal designation of a clergyman is "_Clerk in Holy Orders_." The _Parish Clerk_ was formerly a person in Holy Orders, but his office, as defined in our Prayer Book, is usually discharged by a layman. The appointment of a Parish Clerk is in the hands of the incumbent, by whom also he may be dismissed; but in some parishes the office is a freehold. The almost universal use of choirs in churches has nearly done away with that strange mode of public worship which consisted of a duet between the parson and clerk. The clerk has certain stated fees for his assistance at marriages and funerals. CLOISTER. A covered walk attached to monastic and collegiate buildings and Cathedrals. COLLATION. The appointment to a benefice by a Bishop is called a _collation_. COLLECT. A short concentrated prayer. The derivation of the word is doubtful. The greater part of our Collects are found in the Sacramentaries of St. Leo (A.D. 420), Gelasius (A.D. 494), and Gregory the Great (A.D. 590.) Fifty-seven out of tie existing eighty-two Prayer Book Collects are thus translations from the Latin. The later Collects may sometimes be distinguished from these ancient ones by their lack of terseness, and by their greater use of scriptural language. COLLEGE. A corporation or community. The Colleges of our Universities are independent societies, governed by their own statutes and officers. Still, they are connected in certain ways with the greater Corporation, called the _University_ (which see.) COLLEGIATE CHURCHES. Churches with a _College_, or body of Canons or Prebendaries attached, such as Westminster Abbey, and St. George's, Windsor. The only others remaining now are Wolverhampton, Middleham, and Brecon. COMMANDMENTS, The TEN. The recital of the Decalogue is peculiar to our English Communion Service. It was ordered in 1552, possibly to counteract the growth of Antinomianism (which see.) While other parts of the Levitical Law relating to _ceremonies_ and the like are not binding on Christians, the Commandments are so, because they embody the _Moral_ Law, which is for all time and all people. For the sense in which the Commandments are to be understood, see the explanation of them in the Catechism. The reason of their being placed in the Communion Service is to remind us of the duty of self-examination before we "presume to eat of that bread and drink of that cup," and to give us a standard whereby we may measure ourselves. For the alteration from the _seventh_ day to the _first_, see _Sunday_. COMMENDATORY PRAYER. One of the four extra prayers added to the Office for the Visitation of the Sick in 1662. It is a most beautiful commendation of a "sick person at the point of departure" to God's gracious mercy.