this particular period is characterised by the recovery and repositioning of the sanctus in the Reformation churches, although the route and treatment differs between the various churches.

LUTHERANISM

For the most part, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the patterns inherited from the sixteenth-century Lutheran rites were perpetuated in German agendas. Thus, for example, Coburg 1626 and Gotha 1645 omit the preface and sanctus; Magdeburg 1632, 1653 and 1740 require them on festivals; Mecklenburg 1650, and Brunswick-Lüneberg 1619 and 1643 permit their use. However, the inroads of Pietism and Rationalism resulted in less frequent celebrations of the eucharist, and so the use of the sanctus became less common even in those areas whose agendas included it.

Of interest in this context was the Prussian Agenda of 1821, enforced by Frederick Wilhelm III of Prussia, following the union of Lutheran and Reformed Churches in 1817. This Agenda included a preface and sanctus, but in a position where they were used every Sunday even when there was no eucharist. The following order was given: hymn, invocation, versicle, confession of sins, declaration of grace, Gloria Patri (choir), kyrie (choir), Gloria in excelsis, salutation and collect, Epistle, Hallelujah, Gospel, Apostles' Creed, preface, sanctus, general prayer, Lord's Prayer and benediction. The sermon followed either the creed or the Lord's Prayer.

The reintroduction of the sanctus in areas where it had fallen into disuse was stimulated by Wilhelm Lohe's Agende für christliche Gemeinden, 1844, in which he promoted a return to ‘traditional’ Lutheran forms.