But it should remind us of something else, also,--of a duty on our part.
In "The Form and Manner of Ordering Priests" there is a prayer just before the Benediction, of which this is a part: "Grant that we may have grace to hear and receive what they shall deliver out of Thy most holy Word, or agreeable to the same, as the means of our salvation." And so, again, we pray in the Litany, "That it may please Thee to give to all Thy people increase of grace to hear meekly Thy Word, and to receive it with pure affection, and to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit." This is the way the Church teaches us to think and to pray concerning our duty and privilege in reference to the instruction and exhortation which divine love sends to us from the pulpit.
The pulpit stands, then, for something God's love does for us: "Preach the gospel." It stands also for something God's love demands from us: "Take heed how ye hear."
_The Choir- and Clergy-Stalls._--It will be observed that the stalls for the clergy and choristers are generally placed on the two sides of the choir and face each other. The south side is called the { 48} "decani side" and the north the "cantoris side," as being, in cathedrals, the respective sides of the dean and the cantor (or precentor).
By this arrangement proper provision is made for the clergy as leaders of the worship of the congregation and for the choir as leaders of its praise in song. The singing in our churches is intended to be "common praise," and this arrangement of the choristers marks their office as simply to lead it. They do not sing _to_ the congregation; they sing _with_ or _for_ them _to_ Almighty God. The people should sing with them, and not listen merely, as if attending a concert. Even when, as in a _Te Deum_ or anthem, the music is too difficult for the congregation to join in it, the singers are still rendering to God the praises of all present, and all should take part in it in thought and in heart.
Because of this ministry as leaders of praise the choir are vested. Their vestments are the cassock and the cotta--a modification of the surplice worn by the clergy.
Of the _Litany-desk_ we have already learned in the section in reference to the nave.
