thanksgiving, which shows that by faith we anticipate the granting of the requests we have made. The “General Thanksgiving" given in Part III is very effective if said in unison.

One comment might be made here which will apply to all forms of service where the same response is made a number of times. The leader announces, "The response is-," and proceeds with the first petition. If the form of service is unknown to the worshipers, the leader should say the response with the others the first time that any change is made in the form of response.

No other form of service binds the worshipers together as much as does a litany. In some of the early litanies there was also a distinct recognition of the communion of saints. The whole Church, militant and at rest, is spiritually present. To keep this before one's mind, and also the mediatorship of Jesus Christ, it might be well to use as an opening sentence Heb. 12: 22-24: "Ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant."

In a litany service litany hymns should be sung; indeed other hymns seem out of place. Every hymnal groups these hymns, but there are sure to

be some very useful hymns not so grouped with which the leader should acquaint himself.

Service of Intercession

A service of intercession is related to the litany in that the leader prepares carefully the petitions the worshipers are to offer. However, they do not voice their requests by responses as in the litany, after which the leader goes on to the next petition, but pray silently for the objects named. The leader introduces the petition with the words "Let us pray for (or that)—," and "Let us give thanks for (or that)".

This is quite a usual form of prayer as part of a longer service, but is not often made a service in itself. A frequent mistake is made in leaving too long a time for the silent prayer. People's minds move rapidly, and too long a pause gives opportunity for wandering thoughts. The sudden breaking in on one's prayer by the announcement of a new topic is disconcerting, and as a way of avoiding this and bringing the silent petitions to a close there might well be used the responsory:

Leader, "O Lord, hear our prayer."

Answer, "And let our cry come unto Thee.”
Leader, "Let us pray that-," etc.

Or again, a long litany hymn can be chosen, and at the close of each period of silent prayer a verse can be sung. The sounding of a musical note in

this case gives the warning that the period of silent petition is over. Especially useful for this purpose is the hymn, "Saviour, when in dust to Thee."

The beginning and ending of such a service can be arranged to suit the leader. It is far more flexible than a litany, for it has no liturgical precedents to determine its form.

Services of the Commandments and the Beatitudes

The recitation of the Commandments has always formed part of the Communion Service in many churches. In 1892 a Commission of the Protestant Episcopal Church recommended the substitution of the Beatitudes in certain cases, but the change was not adopted. In 1905 the Committee of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (North) recommended the recitation of the Commandments and the Beatitudes in the form of two beautiful services. The reader is advised to study these services in "The Book of Common Worship," in order to learn the opening sentences, responses, etc. Briefly stated, the services in each case begin with opening sentences from the Psalter in the form of a responsory, and a brief prayer of invocation. The Commandments are recited in the form in which they occur in Exodus 20: 1-17. The response is, "Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law"; except after the last commandment, where the last clause becomes, "And write all these Thy

laws in our hearts, we beseech Thee." The Beatitudes are as given by Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount, 5: 3-10. The response is, "Lord, be gracious unto us, and help us to obtain this blessing," except that after the last is said, "Grant unto us Thy Holy Spirit, O God, and enable us to obtain all these blessings, through Jesus Christ our Lord." In case the group is unfamiliar with the form of response, it would be well to keep the same response throughout. After the recitation of the Commandments the leader gives the Summary of the Law, (Matt. 22: 37-40), preceding it with the words, "Hear also what our Lord Jesus Christ saith :” Prayers and a blessing conclude the service.

A little booklet of "Hymns and Prayers for the Use of the Army and Navy"2 makes the valuable suggestion that a shortened form of the Ten Commandments be used at any service at the discretion of the Chaplain. This form is as follows:

Leader. God spake these words, and said: I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have none other God beside Me. Thou shalt not make to thyself any image, to worship it or to serve it. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day. Six days shalt thou labor and do all that thou hast to do. Honor thy father and thy mother. Thou shalt not kill; neither shalt thou bear false witness against 2 Houghton Mifflin Company.

thy neighbor. Thou shalt not commit adultery; neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor's wife. Thou shalt not steal; neither shalt thou covet thy neigh

bor's goods.

Answer. Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep Thy laws.

Leader. And all these commandments our Lord Jesus Christ briefly comprehended in these words: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. And thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

Answer. Lord, have mercy upon us, and write all these Thy laws in our hearts, we beseech Thee.

Penitential Service

This type of service gives opportunity to a group of people who have been deeply stirred, to give common voice to their confession of sin. Its form will vary to suit the occasion, but it might well have as an expression of sin and repentance the 51st Psalm, omitting the last two verses. A helpful way to render this Psalm (and in fact all Psalms) is for each verse to be read responsively, and not for the verses to be alternated. In Hebrew poetry the second half of a verse repeats the idea of the first, supplements it, or gives its contrast. Thus in the first verse of this Psalm the first half, "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy loving kindness,"