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A History of Lay Preaching in the Christian Church
A History of Lay Preaching in the Christian Church Author:John Telford Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. Excerpt from book: Section 3CHAPTER II LAY PREACHING IN THE CHUKCH OF ROME IT is among the monks and friars that we must look for the preachers of the Middle Ages. These were the wandering evangelists who left ... more »Great Britain and Ireland to labour on the continent of Europe. St. Willibrod, the apostle of the Frisians, sailed on his mission in 690 with eleven or twelve disciples. The next century was an age of missions. Monks were at first regarded as laymen, and even if a monk were himself ordained he was classed with the laymen because he did not hold any ecclesiastical appointment. The division between monks and clergy became less strongly marked after the fourth century. The monastery often served as a training ground for the clergy, and sent out its members to assist in missionary work. "The illiterate clergy looked naturally to the nearest monastery for help in the composition of sermons. Deacons, althoughforbidden to preach, were allowed to read homilies in church; and these were furnished in case of need by the monks (according to a custom not peculiar to any age or country), who were, sometimes at least, learned in comparison with the country clergy. And they, who were thus assisting the clergy in their work, affected not unreasonably a clerical costume."l The bishop sent a priest at stated times to perform mass in the monastery; sometimes a resident priest was appointed, or one of the monks was ordained. On festivals the monks attended their parish church. The rival claims of monks and clergy gave some anxious hours to successive popes, and the great monasteries waged long struggles for independence with the bishops. We need not go far to recall these controversies. We know how the abbots of Westminster succeeded about 1220 in establishing their claim to independence of the bishops of London. The struggle had been ragi...« less