Sunday 1 June 2014

THE EXCELLENCE OF LITURGY

'That the constant repetition of the same form does not forcibly arrest the attention as new sentiments and expressions would do, must be confessed: but, on the other other hand, the use of a well-composed form secures us against the dry, dull, tedious repetitions which are but too frequently the fruit of extemporaneous devotions. Only let any person be in a devout frame, and will be far more likely to have his soul elevated to heaven by the Liturgy of the Established Church, than he will by the generality of prayers which he would hear in other places of worship...' 
Charles Simeon in Andrew Atherstone, Charles Simeon on the Excellency of the Liturgy, p.25.