[97] Furthermore the minister was the vehicle
through which the commands of the authorities, lay or ecclesiastical,
were conveyed to the parishioners. He was compelled to read these
commands or injunctions at stated times and exhort his hearers to obey
them. For failure to comply with this duty, he might be cited before
the official,[98] and punished by that officer.[99]
The curate of East Hanningfield, Essex, is presented in 1587 for "that
he hathe not geven warninge to the church-wardens to looke to there
dutie in service tyme, for such as are absent from service."[100] The
curate of Monkton, Kent, is brought before the court in 1569 for that
he "doth not call upon fathers and mothers and masters of youths to
bring them up in the fear of God."[101] When the archdeacon sent down
an excommunication against any one of the parish, it was delivered to
the minister to be solemnly proclaimed by him from the pulpit,[102]
and thereafter he had to see that the excommunicate person remained
away from service until absolution was granted[103] by the ordinary,
which absolution was then publicly pronounced from the pulpit.[104]
When penance had to be done in church by an offender, it was the duty
of the parson to superintend the performance; to say, if necessary,
before the congregation the formula of confession prescribed for the
offence, in order that the guilty person might repeat it after
him;[105] to exhort the persons present to refrain from similar
transgressions; to read, on occasion, some homily bearing upon the
subject;[106] and finally to make out a certificate (together with the
wardens, if necessary) that the penance had been carried out as
enjoined by the judge.
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