The comprehensive humility of this Confession is designed to include both modified faults and grave offences--whether by commission, omission or indolence. The full acknowledgment of the different forms of sin is followed by prayer for mercy and recovery, relying upon the promises declared in Jesus Christ. The Absolution. As God's answer to Confession, this is pronounced by God's own messenger. The messenger must have full credentials; i.e. a Deacon must not say the Absolution. Both here and in the Confession, the _Titles and Attributes_ of God should be noticed. His power and mercy were made the grounds of our appeal to Him. His mercy and authority are now made the grounds of His answer. The fulness of the declaration of them gives emphasis to the declaration of pardon which follows. We find four parts in the Confession and the same parts in the Absolution, viz. 1. The Title and Attributes of God. 2. The substantial part, i.e. Confession or Absolution. 3. The prayer which is founded thereon. 4. The appeal through our Lord. {32} Rubrics. Before the invention of printing (15th century), the directions in Law Manuscripts had been written in red, in order to distinguish them from the Statutes. This distinction had been made also in Service Books and it has been continued to our own time. But every sheet which contains both black and red letters requires to be twice passed over a printing press. Hence, for cheap books, italics are used instead of red letters to distinguish the directions from the prayers, &c. The directions are called Rubrics (from Lat. _ruber_=red) whether the distinction is made by the colour or the type. The rubrics about the Confession and the Absolution were in 1662 made more clear. The habit had grown up in some churches for the Priest to say the Absolution kneeling. The word _all_ was therefore inserted in the rubric about Confession, and the words _standing, the people still kneeling_ were added to the rubric about Absolution. Thus _all kneeling_ includes the minister. This Introductory Part of the Service was composed for the Revision of 1552, and was then printed only in the Morning Service, with a rubric ordering it to be used _at the beginning of Morning Prayer, and likewise of Evening Prayer_. In 1662 it was first printed out in full in the Evening Service, and the rubric was altered to agree therewith.