spelles angyt on Englisc[1] ðam folce. and be ðam Pater noster. and be ðam credan eac. swa he oftost mage. ðam mannum to onbryrdnysse. ðæt hi cunnon geleafan. and heora cristendom gehealdan," &c. "The mass-priest shall, on Sundays and festivals, tell to the people the sense of the gospel in English, and concerning the Pater noster, and the creed also, as often as he possibly can, as an incitement to men, that they may know the faith, and preserve their Christianity." (See Thorpe's "Laws," &c., vol. ii. p. 359.) For further information upon the doctrines of the Anglo-Saxon Church in the time of Ælfric, see "The Testimonie of Antiquitie," published by Archbishop Parker, Lisle's Monuments in the Saxon Tongue, and Soames's Bampton Lectures for the year 1830.
The text of the Hexameron is taken from a very ancient MS., numbered Junius 23, in the Bodleian, and is collated with Jun. 47 of the same, which is a transcript made by the indefatigable Junius from a MS. in the Hatton collection.
- ↑ It is also probable that the Gospel itself was first read to the people in English, before the priest expounded upon it, as, in the copies of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels now extant, portions are appointed for particular festivals, as, for instance, "Ðys Godspel gebyrað on Petres mæsse-dæg," &c. "This Gospel belongs to Peter's festival," &c.
