Basic Information
1. Writer: Joseph Addison (1672-1719).
2. Published date: The essay, Sir Roger at Church, was first published in “The Spectator” on 9th July, 1711 AD.
3. Setting: Place Setting: Church
Time Setting: Sunday
4. Central Character: Sir Roger de Coverley. In short Sir Roger. ( Churchman) Landlord of the whole congregation.
5. Moral lesson: Sunday should be a holy day for all the people of the world.
6. Matter of discussion: Importance of Sunday.
So we will know the complete summary of this essay very easily through only 2 points.
1. Importance of Sunday
2. Sir Roger’s Role in the Church
So let’s discuss these points.
1. Importance of Sunday
- Sustaining culture
This essay features a man named Sir Roger who loved Sunday. Because on this day he gets the opportunity to become a churchman. We all know that Christians meet and gather together in church on Sundays. After working six days in a week, only on this Sunday, they get off and go to church. Addison in this essay talks about a village where the people also meet the people of another village on Sundays. Everyone greets each other, dressed in beautiful clothes. People talk about each other and on different topics. Everyone listens very attentively to whatever the Father of the Church says and then everyone starts singing the prayer song together. Addison said it is essential to sustain culture.
- Sanctifying the human heart
According to Addison, people work for six days continuously, then their souls become impure. They do not understand the difference between good and bad. But Sunday helps purify their souls. After working for six days in a row, people don’t know what to do. They become very tired. And that’s why they become very strict. But by going to Church on Sundays they learn and have opportunities to be more modest. They felt peace in their hearts after listening to Father’s advice.
2. Sir Roger’s Role in the Church
- Decoration of the Church
Sir Roger has decorated this village church very beautifully. Decorated with different colored clothes. Again the beautiful sermons of the Bible are written on the walls of the church. He made a place for people to sit in the church. He did all this with his own money. Because he was a Landlord.
- Calling people to church
Sir Roger noticed that not everyone in the village went to Church every Sunday. That is why he urged everyone to come to church regularly.
- Teaching people songs of prayer
Sir Roger said that everyone should have a prayer book. He even hired a singer so that the people of the village could sing the prayer song beautifully. He succeeded in this task. Addison says here that due to the contribution of Sir Roger, the people of that village could sing prayer songs very beautifully. But the people of other nearby villages could not do that.
- Maintaining Church’s discipline strictly
Sir Roger took great care to see that everyone strictly obeyed the rules of the Church. They should not fall asleep during prayer. If anyone fell asleep, Sir Roger would either go himself or send someone to wake him up. Sometimes he would see who came to church and who didn’t.
- Some of Sir Roger’s fault
He would not let anyone else sleep during prayer, but he would sometimes fall asleep himself. When everyone had finished singing the hymns, Sir Roger would continue to sing himself for the next minute. Sometimes he would say Amen out loud 3 to 4 times, being happy with his own prayer.
- Some good qualities of Sir Roger
Sir Roger would occasionally visit the people and inquire about them all. He was very sensitive about the Church. He increased the salary of those every year who worked in the Church. The reason for this was to make the youth more interested in the Church. He was able to bring people from all walks of life in this village to the Church. Where people from nearby villages did not go to Church so much. And for this general reason, no one rose from their seats after the prayer was over, till Sir Roger was gone. And everyone in the village respected and loved Sir Roger very much.
