LESSONS ( 1. Old Testament . . . Canticle 1 or 2, ( 2. New Testament . . . Canticle 3 or 4. THE APOSTLES' CREED . . . . . . Amen. PRAYER. THE LORD'S PRAYER. PRECES or Interjected Verses anticipating the Collects. ( 1. for spiritual needs, COLLECTS ( ANTHEM or Choral Prayer uniting the ( two kinds of Collect, ( 2. for physical needs and earthly relations. {29} In 1552 the Introductory portion was prefixed. _Confession_, which formerly occurred in the Prayers, had been omitted in 1549. It now forms the Introduction. The reason for this beginning is set forth in a short sermon which is usually known as the _Exhortation_, and has, like other sermons, a Text, commonly known as a _Sentence_ (see Rubric at the head of the Sentences). This is in accordance with very ancient custom[1], and with the very natural sense that man must receive permission before he approaches God. God's answer to Confession is The _Absolution_ or _Remission_ of Sins. As an illustration of this we may think of Esther, when she went to make her petition of the King (Esther iv. 2, v. 1-3). The King extending his sceptre gave her permission to speak. The Sentences are 11 verses, chosen, 5 from the Psalms, 4 from the Prophets, 2 from the Gospels, 1 from the Epistles. They represent either man's cry to God (Nos. 2, 3, 7, 9, 10) or God's call to man (Nos. 1, 4, 5, 8, 11) or both (No. 6). {30} The Exhortation. _The Scripture moveth us_] The Sentences supply 11 such places, but there are many more to be found in the Bible. The word "moveth" has the same meaning as when a resolution is moved at a meeting. _When we assemble and meet together_ in Church] Four reasons are given, viz. the four great occupations of Worship, without regard to their order in the Service. We have already pointed out that _Thanksgiving_ and _Prayer_ spring from the sense of man's wants and his dependence on God; and that the _Reading of God's Word_ in these Services is not for study but for _Praise_. We shall therefore find the Thanksgiving after the Prayers, and the Lessons (or Lections) of Holy Scripture amongst the Praises. The Confession. The capital letters indicate that this was to be, as it were, dictated to the people, sentence by sentence: and the Rubric implies the same. It will be remembered that books were scarce when this Rubric was prepared. Literal obedience to it is often very impressive, and a real addition to the solemnity of the act. On ordinary occasions in some Churches, the Minister leads the Confession without the formal separation of each clause from the next. The expressions, used here to acknowledge the wickedness of sin and the defects of human life, will seem to be excessive whenever we are making light of {31} our faults. But in proportion as we realise the perfection of God's holiness, we shall find them suitable to every shade of defect and sin.