{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_15172/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_15172","id":"gutenberg_15172","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15172","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Catholic Church. Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae","Holy Week services"],"text":"Produced by Olaf Voss, William Flis, and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team.\n\n\n\n\n\nTRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: The Table of Contents\nwas added by the transcriber.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE CEREMONIES\n\nOF THE\n\nHOLY-WEEK\n\nAT ROME.\n\nBY\n\nTHE RT. REV. MONSIGNOR BAGGS,\n\nBISHOP OF PELLA.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTHIRD EDITION.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nROME:\n\nSOLD BY LUIGI PIALE,\n\nENGLISH BOOKSELLER,\n\n1. PIAZZA DI SPAGNA, 106. VIA BABUINO.\n\n1854.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nDIRECTIONS FOR SEEING THE CEREMONIES 3\n\nCHAP. I. ON THE CEREMONIES OF THE MASS 5\n\nCHAP. II. ON THE CEREMONIES OF PALM-SUNDAY 22\n\nCHAP. III. ON THE DIVINE OFFICE, AND THE OFFICE OF TENEBRAE IN\nPARTICULAR 37\n\nCHAP. IV. ON THE CEREMONIES OF HOLY THURSDAY 50\n\nCHAP. V. ON THE CEREMONIES OF GOOD-FRIDAY 69\n\nCHAP. VI. ON THE CEREMONIES OF HOLY-SATURDAY 92\n\nAPPENDIX. PECULIAR CEREMONIES OF HOLY-WEEK AT JERUSALEM 121\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nDIRECTIONS\n\nFOR SEEING THE CEREMONIES\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nProvide yourself with a HOLY-WEEK-BOOK, or _Uffizio della Settimana\nSanta_. Take care that your dress is according to rule. For many of\nthe ceremonies ladies require tickets signed by _M. Maggiordomo_.\n\nOn Palm-sunday morning the Pontifical ceremonies begin at S.\nPeter's, at about 9 o'clock: no stranger can receive a palm without\na permission signed by _M. Maggiordomo_. In the afternoon the Card.\nPenitentiary goes at about 4 or half past 4 to S. John Lateran's,\nwhere the Station of the day is held.\n\nOn the _afternoons_ of _Wednesday_ and _Thursday_, (between 4 and half\npast 4) and of _Friday_ (half an hour sooner) the office of Tenebrae\nbegins at the Sixtine chapel. After it is over, you may go to S.\nPeter's to bear the conclusion of a similar service: there on Thursday\nevening the high-altar is washed by the Card, priest and chapter;\non Friday the Pope, Cardinals etc. go thither to venerate the relics\nafter Tenebrae in the Sixtine chapel; and on the afternoons of both\ndays the Card. Penitentiary goes thither in slate. In the evening of\nthese three days the feet of pilgrims are washed, and they are served\nat table by Cardinals etc. at the Trinita dei Pellegrini.\n\nOn _Thursday morning_ you can see the oils blessed at S. Peter's: this\nceremony begins _early_. There is little difference between the mass\n(at about half past 9 or 10) in the Sixtine chapel on this day, and\non ordinary days, and there is generally a great crowd: the procession\nafter mass is repeated on the following morning; and the papal\nbenediction on Easter Sunday: your best plan therefore will be to go\nat an early hour to see the blessing of the oils, and afterwards the\nwashing of the feet, at S. Peter's; and then go to see the dinner\nof the _apostles_ near the balcony from which the Pope gives His\nbenediction. The _Sepulchres_, particularly that in the Cappella\nPaolina, may be visited.\n\nOn _Friday morning_ the service of the Sixtine chapel begins at about\nhalf past 9 or 10. (Devotion of 3 hours' agony from about half past\n12 to half past 3 at the Gesu, SS. Lorenzo e Damaso etc.; after the\n_Ave Maria_ the _Via Crucis_ at Caravita, and devotion of the dolours\nof the B. Virgin at S. Marcello, etc. An hour after the _Ave Maria_\npoetical compositions are recited at the Serbatojo dell'Arcadia).\n\nOn _Saturday morning_ service begins at S. John Lateran's at about\nhalf past 7. As soon you have seen the baptism at the baptistery, you\nhad better drive to the Vatican, to attend at the beautiful mass of\nthe Sixtine chapel.\n\nOn _Saturday afternoon_ you may go to the Armenian mass at S.\nBiagio or S. Gregorio Illuminatore: it begins towards 4 o clock. On\nEaster-Sunday the Pope sings solemn mass at S. Peter's, at about 9\no'clock. He afterwards venerates the relics, and gives His solemn\nbenediction. In the afternoon, besides Vespers there is a procession\nat S. Peter's called that of the 3 Maries. (At S. John Lateran's\nthe Cardinals assist at Vespers, and afterwards venerate the relics\npreserved there) At night the cupola is illuminated, and on the\nfollowing night there are fireworks or _girandola_ at Castle S.\nAngelo. On Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday there is _cappella papale_ at\nthe Vatican, but it differs little from the ordinary _cappelle_.\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. I.\n\nON THE CEREMONIES OF THE MASS\n\n\n_CONTENTS._\n\n    Origin of the word _ceremony_--object of\n    ceremonies--institution of the mass--its earliest\n    ceremonies--discipline of secrecy--liturgy of the Roman\n    church--general review of the principal ceremonies of\n    the mass--mass of the catechumens, _ambones_--mass of the\n    faithful, blessed water, secrecy, prayers for the dead--Latin\n    the language of the Roman liturgy, and why--usual ceremonies\n    of high-mass in the papal chapel--sentiments of S. John\n    Chrysostom.\n\n    \"_It was chiefly, if not only, in the mystical liturgy of the\n    eucharist, that the primitive church spoke without reserve\n    of all the sublimities of Christian faith._\" Palmer, Origines\n    Liturg. vol. I, p. 13.\n\n[Sidenote: Origin of the word ceremony.]\n\nFrom Rome our Saxon forefathers received Christianity; and from the\nsame source we have derived several words denoting Christian rites.\nThus the words _religion, sacrament, sacrifice, communion_, and others\nare Latin, with the exception of the termination. The word _ceremony_\nalso is Latin, and owes its origin to an interesting fact in ancient\nRoman history. When the Capitol was besieged by the Gauls (A.U. 365)\nmost of the inhabitants of Rome provided for their own safety by\nflight: but the Flamen Quirinalis or priest of Romulus, and the\nVestal virgins loaded themselves with the sacred things, that they\nmight secure those hallowed treasures from profanation. \"They were\nproceeding\" (says Livy lib. V, c. XXII) \"along the way which passes\nover the Sublician bridge, when they were met on the declivity by L.\nAlbinus a plebeian, who was fleeing with his wife and children in\na _plaustrum_ or cart: he and his family immediately alighted: then\nplacing in the cart the virgins and sacred things he accompanied them\nto Caere where they were received with hospitality and respect\". Hence\n(says Valerius Maximus lib. I, c. 1.) \"sacred things were called\nceremonies, because the inhabitants of _Caere_ revered them when the\nrepublic was broken, as readily as when it flourished\". Thus is the\nword ceremony associated at once with the devotion of Albinus, with\nthe Gaulish invasion of the Capitol, and with Caere, one of the twelve\ncities of Etruria, now called Cervetri or Caere vetus[1]. The Pagan\nRomans derived their religious rites from Etruria, and in particular\nfrom Caere on account of its proximity to Rome: this may be another\nreason for the adoption of the term _ceremony_, which was afterwards\napplied to the rites of all religions[2].\n\n[Sidenote: Object of ceremonies.]\n\nBut what, it may be asked by many, is the use of ceremonies? I shall\nanswer in the words of the council of Trent. \"Since the nature of man\nis such, that he cannot easily without exterior helps be raised to\nthe meditation of divine things, the church as a pious mother has\ninstituted certain rites, namely, that some things in the mass should\nbe pronounced in a low voice and others aloud; she has also used\nceremonies, as mystical benedictions, lights, incense, vestments,\nand many other things of that kind, from apostolical tradition and\ndiscipline, in order that the majesty of so great a sacrifice might\nbe displayed, and the minds of the faithful might be excited by these\nvisible signs of religion and piety to the contemplation of those\nsublime things which are concealed in this sacrifice\". Session XXII,\nc. V.--These words lead us to treat briefly of the mass, the principal\nact of divine worship during holy-week as at all other seasons of the\nyear. This we do now the more readily, that we may not afterwards be\nobliged to interrupt our account of the peculiar ceremonies of Holy\nweek, which presuppose an acquaintance with the mass.\n\n[Sidenote: Institution of the mass.]\n\nJesus Christ instituted the mass at his last supper, when he took\nbread and blessed and broke and gave to his disciples and said, Take\nye and eat, this is my body; and taking the chalice he gave thanks,\nand gave to them saying, Drink ye all of this: For this is my blood\nof the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of\nsins: Matth. XXVI, 26. In this brief account are mentioned all the\n_essential_ parts of the mass. Christ commanded the apostles and\nthrough them their successors to perform the same holy rite \"in\ncommemoration\" of Him, and they obeyed His commands, as we learn from\nthe acts of the apostles, and the first epistle to the Corinthians.\n\n[Sidenote: Its early ceremonies.]\n\nGradually various prayers and ceremonies were added to the sacred\nwords pronounced by Christ, as the Apology of St. Justin, the writings\nof St. Cyprian, the catechetical discourses of St. Cyril of Jerusalem\nand other early works prove. The Apostles themselves had added the\nLord's prayer[3]. The liturgy however during the first four centuries,\nas Le Brun maintains[4], or, according to Muratori followed by Palmer,\nthe first three centuries, was not written, but was preserved by oral\ntradition, according to the received practice of the early church,\nwhich, unwilling to give what is holy to dogs, or to cast pearls\nbefore swine concealed from all persons, except the faithful, the\nmysteries of faith. It would seem from St. Justin's apology, that\nmuch was left to the particular devotion of the bishop or priest who\noffered mass, and hence we might expect not to find in the earliest\nliturgies great uniformity, except in essentials and general outline.\nYet Le Brun has endeavoured to restore, from the early Christian\nwriters, the liturgy used in the first four centuries: and it contains\nthe most important prayers and ceremonies of the mass in its more\nmodern form.\n\n[Sidenote: Discipline of secrecy.]\n\nWe shall so often have to recur to the discipline of secrecy alluded\nto above, that we consider it necessary to speak of it briefly,\nbefore we proceed further. The Pythagoreans, the Stoics, Plato, the\nEpicureans and other ancient philosophers concealed their doctrines\nfrom the uninitiated: the mysteries also of Osiris, Isis, Bacchus,\nCeres, Cybele etc. were carefully kept secret. There was no novelty\ntherefore for the ancients in the discipline of secrecy, the\ninstitution of which in the Christian church is attributed by many\nfathers to Christ himself, who directed that his disciples should not\n\"give what is holy to dogs, or cast pearls before swine\". Matt. VII,\n6. This injunction was observed by the whole church from the apostolic\nage till the fifth century in the east, and the sixth century in the\nwest: it extended to dogmas as well as rites, and in particular to\nthose of the holy Trinity and the sacraments, especially the blessed\nEucharist[5]. For \"those things\" says St. Cyril of Alexandria \"are\ngenerally derided, which are not understood\" adv. Julianum. The\npagans, at the instigation, it would appear, of the Jews and early\nheretics, availed themselves of this secret discipline to charge\nthe Christians with the detestable crimes of Oedipus and Thyestes,\npretending that in their secret assemblies they murdered an infant\ncovered with flour, and drank his blood. (Cecilius ap. Minut. Fel.)\nIt was solely with the view of refuting these calumnies, that Justin\nMartyr explained, in his apology addressed to Antoninus Pius, the\ncatholic doctrine of the eucharist. S. Blandina on the contrary\nendured the most cruel torments rather than reveal it, though its\nprofession would have confuted the same odious calumnies; and S.\nAugustine observes a similar reserve when answering the pagan Maximus\nMadaurensis.\n\n\"Who\" says the protestant Casaubon \"is so little versed in the\nwritings of the fathers, as to be ignorant of the formulary used\nprincipally of the sacraments, the initiated understand what is said:\nit occurs at least fifty times in Chrysostom, and almost as frequently\nin Augustine\". S. Fulgentius inserts in his answer to the deacon\nFerrandus the following words of S. Augustine to the neophytes \"This\nwhich you see on the altar of God you saw last night: but what it was,\nwhat it meant, and of what a great thing it contains the sacrament,\nyou have not yet heard. What therefore you see is bread and the\nchalice. What your faith demands is, that the bread is the body of\nChrist, and the chalice contains the blood of Christ\". S. Cyril\nof Jerusalem in his catechetical discourses addressed to the newly\nbaptised inculcates in the strongest terms the doctrine of the real\npresence, but charges them most strictly not to communicate to the\ncatechumens his instructions. In consequence of this practice the\nearly fathers often speak obscurely of the B. Sacrament, and call it\nbread and wine and _fermentum_ after the consecration, though they\nclearly teach the _faithful_ the doctrine of the real presence[6].\n\n[Sidenote: Liturgy of the Roman church.]\n\nPope Innocent I, writing to Decentius at the beginning of the fifth\ncentury, attributes the liturgy of the Roman church to St. Peter. It\nwas first written in the fifth century; and Pope Vigilius sending it\nin 538 to Profuturus derives it from Apostolic tradition. The most\nancient sacramentary or liturgical work extant of the Roman church is\nthat of Gelasius who was Pope from 492 to 496[7]. He collected prayers\ncomposed by more ancient authors, and also composed some himself:\nand this Gelasian compilation was reformed by Gregory the Great and\nreduced to one volume[8], which may be considered as the prototype\nof our present liturgy. The canon or most solemn part of the mass\nhas been preserved inviolate ever since, as appears from the Ordines\nRomani written shortly after the time of S. Gregory, and also from the\nexplanations of it written by Florus and Amalarius. This canon as well\nas the order of prayer are the same as those of Gelasius, as Palmer\nobserves (Orig. liturg. vol. 1, p. 119,) and are also nearly identical\nwith those of the sacramentary of S. Leo. The Ambrosian and African\nliturgies also were evidently derived at a very remote period from\nthat of Rome. From such considerations as these Mr. Palmer proves the\nvery ancient or apostolical origin of the \"main order\", the substance\nof the Roman liturgy. Origines liturg. vol. I, sect. VI. The author of\nthe canon is unknown; yet we know the authors of some additions to the\ncanon. Thus S. Leo I added sanctum sacrificium immaculatam hostiam, S.\nGregory I, diesque nostros in tua pace disponas.\n\n[Sidenote: Review of the ceremonies of the mass.]\n\n[Sidenote: Mass of the catechumens, ambones, sermons.]\n\nWe shall not examine minutely all the prayers and ceremonies of the\nmass, or stop to enquire at what time and by what pope each of\nthem was first introduced, lest we should weary the patience of our\nreaders[9]; but we shall content ourselves with a general review of\nthe mass, as it is now celebrated. We may divide it, as the ancients\ndid, into two parts, the mass of the catechumens, and the mass of the\nfaithful. The first part includes the preparation and confession of\nsins at the foot of the altar, the _introit_ or anthem and part of\na psalm sung at the _entrance_ into church, the _Kyrie eleison_ or\npetition for mercy, the _Gloria in excelsis_ or hymn of praise (both\nof great antiquity, as Palmer following our catholic divines has\nshewn) the collect or collects so called from their being said when\nthe people are collected together, the epistle and gospel, and also\nthe verses, said or sung between them both, called the Gradual[10]:\nif sung by one voice, it is called the Tract; if by choir, the\nResponsory. The collects and other prayers are said with the arms\nextended in the same manner as many figures are represented praying on\nold christian as well as pagan monuments. After the gospel the sermon\nused to be preached, as it generally is in our times[11] and after\nthe sermon Pagans, Jews, heretics, schismatics, energumens, public\npenitents and catechumens were dismissed by the deacon; for the\nfaithful alone were allowed to be present at the celebration of the\nsacred mysteries, in conformity to the discipline of secrecy. That\npart of mass, which we have described was called the mass of the\ncatechumens, because these were allowed to be present at it.\n\n[Sidenote: Mass of the faithful, blessed water.]\n\nFrom the _missio_, _missa_, or dismissal announced by the deacon to\nthe people before and after the mass of the faithful, the term _missa_\nor mass is derived. It was in use in the early ages; for it is found\nnot only in the epistle to the bishop of Vienne attributed to Pope\nPius I, and in that of Pope Cornelius to Lupicinus: but S. Ambrose\nalso says \"I continued my duty, and began to celebrate mass\" and in\nanother place he exhorts the people to \"hear mass daily[12]\".\n\nWhen the church had been cleared of all except the faithful, the\nsecond part of our mass, or the mass of the faithful, began with the\nNicene symbol or creed. Then followed the offertory, or part of a\npsalm sung anciently while the people made their offerings to the\nchurch, particularly of bread and wine[13]. The priest offers to God\nthe bread, and wine mixed according to apostolic tradition[14] with\na little water, which our Saviour is believed to have mixed with\nthe wine at the last supper; he implores God's blessing on these\nofferings, and washes his hands in token of the purity of soul[15]\nwith which the sacred mysteries should be approached, and at high mass\nfor the sake of outward cleanliness also, on account of the incense\nwhich he has used. Having commemorated the passion, resurrection,\nand ascension of Christ, as he does also after the consecration, he\ncalls on those present to join him in prayer, he says another prayer\nor prayers called the _secret_, because said in secret, and then\nrecites the _preface_ to the canon, a prayer in which he unites with\nthe celestial spirits in praise and thanksgiving as Christ himself\ngave thanks at the last supper: it concludes with the Tersanctus or\nTrisagion \"Holy, Holy, Holy etc.\" which, as Palmer observes, has been\nprobably used in the Christian liturgy of the east and west since the\nages of the apostles. V. 2. p. 219.\n\n[Sidenote: Prayers for the dead.]\n\nThe canon of the mass next follows, which as well as many of the\npreceding and following prayers is said in a low voice, according to\nthe ancient custom alluded to by Innocent I, S. Augustine, Origen, and\nother Fathers[16]. In it the priest prays for the church, the Pope,\nthe bishop of the place, the living and the dead[17] he reveres the\nmemory of the B. Virgin, the Martyrs and other Saints[18], and having\nonce more implored the blessing of God, and spread his hands over the\nvictim, according to the custom of the Jews, he pronounces over the\nbread and wine the words of consecration according to the command of\nChrist, and adores and raises for the adoration of the people the\nbody and blood of our Divine Lord. It is in this consecration that\nthe sacrifice of the mass principally consists; as by it the victim\nis placed on the altar, and offered to God, viz. Christ himself,\nrepresented as dead by the separate consecration of the bread and\nwine, as if His blood were separated from His body. After some other\nprayers, in which the priest offers to God the holy sacrifice, and\nprays for mercy and salvation for all present, he elevates the host\nand chalice together; this was the ancient elevation, as the more\nsolemn one, which follows immediately after the consecration, was\nintroduced generally in the 12th century, in opposition to the heresy\nof Berengarius. Then concluding the canon the priest recites the _Our\nFather_, and breaks the host, as Christ broke the bread, and as His\nbody was \"broken\" for us[19]; he puts a particle of the host into\nthe chalice[20]; he implores mercy and peace from the lamb of God, at\nsolemn masses gives the kiss of peace according to the recommendation\nof scripture, and receives the two ablutions of the chalice, one of\nwine, the other of wine and water, lest any portion of the sacred\nblood should remain in it: he recites the communion or anthem, which\nwas originally sung while the holy communion was distributed; he says\nthe prayer or prayers called postcommunion, dismisses and begs God's\nblessing on the people, in fine he recites the beginning of St. John's\ngospel or some other gospel appropriate to the day. We shall on other\noccasions recur to various ceremonies of the mass[21].\n\n[Sidenote: Latin the language of the liturgy.]\n\nThe language of our liturgy has descended to us as a precious legacy\nfrom the time when Peter and Paul preached in Rome. It would be\nincongruous that our ancient hierarchy robed in ancient vestments\nshould perform our ancient liturgy in a moderne language. As in all\nparts of the globe there are members of the Catholic church, she has\nwisely preserved in her liturgy a language common to all countries,\nthe language too of majesty, civilisation and science, as De Maistre\nobserves. Like her divine founder she is the same yesterday and\nto-day: like the rock, on which she is built, she is proof against\nthe winds and waves; she is unchanged and unaffected by the wayward\ncaprices of fashion. Translations of her liturgy are published for the\nuse of those who are unacquainted with Latin so that they may either\njoin in reciting the prayers of the church, or say others which their\nown devotion may suggest.\n\nHaving described the ceremonies of low-mass, we shall subjoin a brief\naccount of those customary at high-mass when celebrated in the papal\nchapel: we shall thus avoid unnecessary repetitions in the course of\nthis work. The beginning of the mass is said by all persons within\nthe sanctuary: and the Pope recites it before the altar with the\ncelebrant. As His Holiness is the ecclesiastical superior of the\nlatter, and is habited in his sacred vestments, many benedictions are,\naccording to a general rubric, reserved to Him, which are otherwise\ngiven by the person who sings mass. Thus He blesses not only the\nincense, the water at the offertory, the subdeacon and deacon, the\npreacher, when there is a sermon, and the people after the sermon\nand at the end of mass, but also the Cardinals on several occasions,\nand the celebrant himself before he offers up mass. \"For without\ncontradiction (says St. Paul) that which is less is blessed by the\nbetter\". Hebr. VII, 7. He also, and not the celebrant, kisses the\nbook of the Gospel. The first cardinal priest present hands to Him the\nincense, and also incenses him, kneeling down if the Pope be seated\nat the time, and standing if the Pope stands[22], and therefore, he\nis seated near the Pope during part of the Mass, that he may be ready\nwhen his services are required.\n\nIncense is used, as is customary at high masses, before the introit,\nat the Gospel, after the offertory and during the elevation. Before\nthe introit the crucifix, the altar[23], the celebrant and the Pope\nare successively incensed. Before the deacon sings the gospel he\nincenses the book; and after it the Pope is once more incensed by\nthe first cardinal priest. After the offertory, besides the bread\nand wine, the crucifix, the altar, the celebrant and the Pope,\nthe Cardinals and the first in rank among the prelates and other\npersonages are incensed by the deacon. At the elevation the blessed\nSacrament alone is incensed.[24]\n\nWhen the Pope reads from the missal, this book is held by the first,\nand a taper by the second, patriarch or assisting bishop[25]. The\n_Kyrie eleison_, the _Gloria in excelsis_, _Credo_, _Sanctus_\nand _Agnus Dei_ are said by all persons within the sanctuary: the\ncardinals descend from their seats to say them, and form a circle in\nthe middle of the chapel; having received the Pope's blessing they\nreturn to their places. After the _Sanctus_, the Pope goes before\nthe middle of the altar followed by the assistant bishops and others\nof His train's and all kneel till the elevation is ended. After the\n_Agnus Dei_, the first Card. priest goes up to the altar, kisses it,\nand receives from the celebrant the kiss of peace: this he gives to\nthe Pope, from whom the two first Card. deacons receive it. The Card.\npriest then returns to his place, and gives the kiss of peace to the\npriest who assists the celebrant; from him the first of the other\ncardinals and principal prelates receive it and communicate it to\ntheir colleagues. The assistant priest then gives it to the master of\nceremonies, who has accompanied him, from whom the other colleges of\nprelates receive it and in fine (if time permit) to the deacon, from\nwhom it passes to others who assist at the altar. When the pope gives\nHis blessing, the cross is held before Him by the last auditor of the\nrota, and His vestment by the first protonary. Such are the ceremonies\ngenerally observed at high mass in the papal chapel, except at masses\nfor the dead, when some of them, and in particular those of incensing\n(except at the offertory and elevation) and of the kiss of peace, are\nomitted.\n\n[Sidenote: Sentiments of S. John Chrysostom.]\n\nWe shall conclude with the words of a holy and eloquent bishop of\nCostantinople of the 4th century, \"When thou seest the Lord immolated\nand placed there, and the priest engaged in the sacrifice and praying,\nand all present empurpled with precious blood, dost thou think that\nthou art among men, and art standing on the earth? and not rather\nthat thou art instantaneously transferred to heaven, where casting\nout of thy soul every fleshly thought thou lookest around on heavenly\nthings. O miracle! O the love of God for man! He, who sits above with\nthe Father, is at the same time held in the hands of all, and gives\nhimself to those who wish to receive and embrace him. Wishest thou\nto see the excellence of this _holiness_ from another miracle? Depict\nbefore thy eyes Elias and an innumerable multitude surrounding him,\nand the victim placed on the stones; all the others in profound\nsilence, and the prophet alone praying; then suddenly fire rushing\nfrom heaven on the sacrifice. These things are astonishing and replete\nwith wonder. Then transfer thyself thence to the things now effected,\nand thou wilt find them not only wonderful, but surpassing all\nastonishment. For here the priest bears not fire, but the holy Ghost;\nhe pours out long supplications, not that fire descending from above\nmay consume the offerings, but that grace falling on the sacrifice\nmay through it inflame the souls of all and render them purer than\nsilver purified by fire. This most dread rite then who, that is not\naltogether insane and out of his mind, shall be able to contemn? Art\nthou ignorant that no human soul could have sustained this fire of the\nvictim, but all would have totally perished, unless the assistance of\ndivine grace had been abundant\" S. John Chrysostom, De Sacerdotio Lib.\n3, c. IV.\n\n[Footnote 1: It is situated near the road leading from Rome to\nCivitavecchia at the distance of about 27 miles from the former city.\nIts necropolis has lately enriched the new Gregorian museum with some\nof its most precious treasures, consisting in gold ornaments of the\nperson, in silver and painted vases etc. of very ancient and admirable\nexecution. See Nibby, Analisi storico-topografica etc. as also Grifi.\nThe Etruscan and Egyptian museums entitle His present Holiness Gregory\nXVI to be ranked with many of His predecessors among the greatest and\nmost munificent patrons and collectors of ancient monuments.]\n\n[Footnote 2: If we compare with this term others of similar\ntermination, such as _sanctimonia_ from _sanctus_, we shall find in\nthem a confirmation of the etymology given above: _monia_ serves to\nform the substantive, but does not otherwise alter the meaning.]\n\n[Footnote 3: S. Greg. M. lib. VII, epist. 64.]\n\n[Footnote 4: See Le Brun, Explic. Missae T. 2. dis. 1. Also Renaudot.\nThey have however been refuted by Assemani, Maratori and Zaccaria.]\n\n[Footnote 5: The _Pater noster_ is still said in secret, except after\nthe canon of the Mass, because at that part of the Liturgy only the\nfaithful were present. See Moroni's learned work entitled, Dizionario\ndi erudizione ecclesiastica.]\n\n[Footnote 6: See Schelstratius, de Disciplina Arcani, or Trevern's\nanswer to Faber's Difficulties of Romanism: also Bingham lib. X, c. 5.\nTimes are now so much altered that it is difficult to conceive how the\nReserve in communicating Religious knowledge recommended in one of\nthe Tracts for the Times could be practicable, even if it were judged\nexpedient.]\n\n[Footnote 7: It was first published by B. Card. Tommasi from a very\nancient manuscript in the queen of Sweden's library. Cave, Mabillon,\nMuratori, Assemani and other eminent critics admit its authenticity.\nThere is however another sacramentary _perhaps_ more ancient called\nthe Leonian, because it is attributed by the learned to Leo the great,\nA.D. 450. It was first published by Bianchini in the 4th volume of\nAnastasius the librarian from a Verona MS. written 1100 years ago.]\n\n[Footnote 8: This new Gregorian sacramentary was carried to England\nby St. Augustin and the other missionaries. Mr. Palmer and after him\nMr. Froude (Remains, vol. 2nd, p. 387) give a similar account of the\nRoman liturgy. They, like archbishop Wake, attribute the origin of the\nRoman, Oriental, Ethiopic and Mozarabic liturgies to St. Peter, St.\nJames, St. Mark and St. John, and observe that all other liturgies\nare copied from one or other of these. \"In each of these four original\nliturgies the eucharist is regarded as a mystery and as a sacrifice\"\np. 395: they all agree in the principal ceremonies of the mass, and\nall contain a prayer for the rest and peace of all those who have\ndeparted this life in God's faith and fear\" p. 393. \"Now it may\nbe reasonably presumed\", says archbishop Wake \"that those passages\nwherein all these liturgies agree, in sense at least, if not in words,\nwere first prescribed in the writings of the ancient fathers\". See\nTracts for the times, no. 63.]\n\n[Footnote 9: They who wish for further details may consult Le Brun,\nCard. Bona, Martene, Gavant, Rock's Hierurgia etc.]\n\n[Footnote 10: Because anciently sung from the _steps_ of the _ambo_ or\npulpit, according to Rabanus Maurus an author of the 9th century, and\nothers. In the ancient churches there were generally in the _chorus_\nor choir two ambones, one from which at solemn masses the lector and\nat a later period the subdeacon used to sing the gospel, with his face\nusually turned towards that side of the church, where the _men_ were\nassembled; at Rome this was generally the south side. At low masses\nthe missal was removed from the epistle side of the altar at the\nbeginning of the offertory, in order to leave room for the offerings,\naccording to an Ordinarium of Monte Casino of the year 1100. It has\nfor a long time been customary to remove it before the gospel, which\nthe priest recites turned towards the same direction as the deacon at\nhigh mass. Mystical meanings were afterwards assigned for this removal\nof the book.]\n\n[Footnote 11: It is astonishing how Mr. Palmer could assert that \"Leo\nbishop of Rome in the fifth century appears to have been the only\nbishop who preached in the Roman church for many Footnote: and it is\nsaid that none of his successors until the time of Pius the fifth,\nfive hundred years afterwards, imitated his example\". Orig. Liturg.\nvol. II, p. 59. Bingham I. IV, c. Sec..3. Mr. Palmer forgot all the\nhomilies of Gregory the great, as well as the chronology of the Popes.\nThe latter might find in the multiplicity and importance of their\nother occupations abundant motives for abstaining from preaching, a\nduty to which so many of their clergy dedicate themselves. That the\nearly Popes however preached there can be no doubt, although most\nof their homilies, if ever written, have not reached our time. Not\nonly the example of S. Peter who (whatever we may think of the local\ntradition of Rocca S. Pietro above Palestrina) used certainly to\npreach, as the Acts of the Apostles prove; but the general custom of\nother cities would induce the zealous Bishops of Rome to exhort and\nencourage their flock, particularly in time of persecution; and that\nat a later period they were not unaccustomed to preach is evident\nfrom the Ordo Romanus of Card. Gaetano published by Mabillon and from\na Vatican MS. no. 4231, p. 197; both these documents are quoted by\nCancellieri, _Descriz. delle Cappelle etc. p. 328_. See proofs that\nthe Popes preached drawn up in chronological order in Sala's notes to\nCard. Bona, lib. 2. c. 7-]\n\n[Footnote 12: S. Ambros. Ep. 13, serm. 34.]\n\n[Footnote 13: Of the ancient offerings the following vestiges remain:\ncandles are offered by the clergy at their ordination, bread and wine\nby bishops at their consecration, chalices and torches by the Roman\nsenate on particular festivals, and in fine bread, wine, water, and,\ntill lately, doves and other birds at the canonisation of the Saints.\nOn the ancient offerings see Cancellieri, de Secretaries, t. I, p.\n181.]\n\n[Footnote 14: \"This custom prevailed universally in the Christian\nchurch from the earliest period\" Palmer Orig. Liturg. vol. 2, p. 75.]\n\n[Footnote 15: As the ancient Roman houses had an _impluvium_ in the\nmidst of the _atrium_, so in the _atria_ annexed to the Christian\nchurches was one or more fountains (Eus. Eccl. Hist. l. X, c. 4) and\nsometimes a well or cistern. In these the faithful used to wash their\nhands (Tertull. De orat. Sec., De lavat. man.) Thus in the atrium of\nSt. Paul's basilica there was a cantharus, restored by Pope Leo I, of\nwhich the saint writes thus to Ennodius;\n\n  Quisque suis meritis veneranda sacraria Pauli\n      Ingrederis, supplex ablue fonte manus.\n\nThe _cantharus_ is mentioned by Virgil Eclog. VI, 21.\n\n  Et gravis adtrita pendebat cantharus ansa.\n\nA large vessel of this description may be seen in the _cortili_ of S.\nCecilia and SS. Apostoli at Rome. It used to be blessed on the vigil\nor festival of the Epiphany, as it is now in the Greek and even the\nRoman church. When churches were built without _atria_, a vessel\nof blessed water was placed inside the church: in some of the older\nchurches there is even a well. See Nibby, _Dissert. sulla forma, etc.\ndelle antiche chiese_.]\n\n[Footnote 16: See Le Brun tom. IV, diss. 15. Super usu recitandi\nsilentio missae partem etc. This custom was connected with the\ndiscipline of secrecy. The scripture itself does not mention what\nwords Christ used, when He \"gave thanks\", before He pronounced the\nwords of consecration; and the early church imitated this reserve.\nAnciently curtains concealed the altar, during the most solemn part of\nmass, as now in some Oriental churches. St. John Chrysostom (Hom. 3,\nin Ep. ad Ephes.) mentions this custom; and traces of it still remain\nat St. Clement's church in Rome.]\n\n[Footnote 17: See ancient inscriptions from the catacombs, containing\nprayers for the dead in Bock's Hierurgia (vol. 2, ch. 7), also in\nAnnali delle Scienze Religiose, Luglio 1839, as also in the well-known\nworks on the catacombs. Bingham admits that the eucharistic sacrifice\nwas offered for S. Augustine, S. Monica, the emperors Constantine\nand Valentinian at their funerals. (S. Ambrose prayed for Valentinian\nGratian and Theodosius.) \"In the communion service\" says he \"according\nto the custom of those times, a solemn commemoration was made of the\ndead in general, and prayers were offered to God for them\". Bingham,\nAntiq. l. 23, c. 2. \"The custom of praying and offering up sacrifice\nfor the faithful departed most evidently appears to have prevailed in\nthe church even from the time of the apostles\", says the Protestant\nbishop Milles, Opera S. Cyrilli. p. 297. \"In primitive times\" says\nPalmer \"these commemorations (in the mass) were accompanied by\nprayers for the departed\". Origin. Liturg. vol. 2, p. 94. With these\nProtestant admissions before us and many others collected in the\nAnnali delle Scienze Relig. Luglio 1839, we opine that the Rev. Mr.\nBreeks ought to have been solicitous for his own soul rather than for\nthat of Mrs. Wolfrey, whose inscription was dictated by the spirit\nof primitive Christianity. The following is the inscription on\nThorndike's tomb at Westminster \"Tu lector, requiem ei et beatam in\nXto resurrectionem precare\". On Bp. Barrow's tomb at S. Asaph's \"O\nvos transeuntes in domum Domini, domum orationis, orate pro conservo\nvestro ut inveniat requiem in die Domini\". Both were written by their\nown direction: other Protestant testimonies may be seen ap. Srett. o.\n462.]\n\n[Footnote 18: Pope Vigilius (A.D. 538.) in his epistle to Profuturus,\nbishop of Braga in Spain, says, that the canon never varied, but that\non particular festivals \"we make commemoration of the holy solemnity,\nor of those saints whose nativities we celebrate\".]\n\n[Footnote 19: \"The bread which we break is it not the communion of the\nbody of Christ\". 1 Cor. X, 16.]\n\n[Footnote 20: This custom we may consider with Palmer as a memorial\nof an ancient mode of communicating under both kinds united, which\nis still observed in the oriental churches: Vol. 2, p. 146; or with\nLe Brim as a record of the practice of sending the particle to the\npriests of titular churches, T. 4. Micrologus and others consider\nthis mixture as a representation of Christ's resurrection. It is very\nancient, as Sala shews.]\n\n[Footnote 21: \"St. Paul calls the Eucharist 1 Cor. X, 16 the cup of\n_blessing_ which _we bless_.\" This incidental information vouchsafed\nto us in scripture, should lead us to be very cautious how we put\naside other usages of the early church concerning this sacrament,\nwhich do not happen to be clearly mentioned in scripture\". Tracts for\nthe Times, Vol. 1, no. 34. The \"Mass\" in Cranmer's Form of prayer\nand administration of the Sacraments, which was declared by act of\nParliament \"agreable to the word of God and the primitive church\"\ndiffers but little from the Roman mass above described. See Pugin's\nLetter on the proposed Protestant Memorial. London 1839.]\n\n[Footnote 22: Macri in his Hierolexicon says, that the Cardinal\nkneels, to incense the Pope when seated, from respect to his\n_cattedra_ or chair, which is the first see in the Christian church.\nOthers say from respect to his temporal sovereignty, the archbishops\nof Milan are incensed with the same formality. This custom is\nmentioned in the 13th century by Card. Giaconio Gaetano. Ordo\nRomanus Sec. 112. A certain love of proportion may have had its share\nin the origin of this ceremony, by which the same relative height is\npreserved between the Pope and the Cardinal in all cases in which\nthe former is incensed. Thus also the assistant Bishop, who holds\nthe Missal for the Pope, kneels when He is seated, and stands when\nHe stands. We kneel to the Pope to receive his blessing, as we do to\nbishops and even priests; we also kneel from respect to his exalted\ndignity, not only as sovereign, but also as head of the Catholic\nchurch. It is well known that the British peers kneel even to the\nempty throne of their sovereign. Kneeling is a very ancient token of\nprofound respect; it was paid to Joseph in Egypt, Gen. XLI, 43; to\nElias, 4 Kings I, 13 etc.]\n\n[Footnote 23: \"O that an angel\" says St. Ambrose, \"would appear to\nus also, when incensing the altar, and offering sacrifice\". Expl. in.\nLuc. l. 1, c. 25, n. 9.]\n\n[Footnote 24: Incense is, as we shall see in c. 2; an emblem of\nprayer, and in this sense it is offered to the B. Sacrament, to Christ\nrepresented by the crucifix, and adored on the altar. The gospel\nis incensed to signify the sweet odour which it communicates to our\nsouls; and the ministers of God, to signify, according to St. Thomas,\nthat God maketh manifest _the odour_ of his knowledge by us in every\nplace: \"For we are unto God _the good odour_ of Christ in them who are\nsaved, and in them who perish\". 2 Cor. II, 14, 15. In fine the bread\nand wine offered to God are incensed to signify the spices with which\nthe body of Christ was embalmed in the tomb; such at least is the\nexplanation given in the Liturgy of St. Chrysostom; and it is from the\noriental churches that the Latin church has taken this last practice.\nIncense is a token of respect in these and other cases.]\n\n[Footnote 25: A taper with a stand, called a _bugia_, is held at\ndivine service for persons in ecclesiastical dignity, as a sign of\ndistinction, and to throw additional light on the book from which they\nread. The taper held for the Pope at the _cappelle_ has no stand,\nand is enkindled from a light concealed within the desk, on which the\nassistant Bishop places the missal. This is a memorial of an ancient\nmonastic custom mentioned by Martene Lib. 1, De rit. Eccl. p. 277,\n232.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. II.\n\nON THE CEREMONIES OF PALM-SUNDAY\n\n\n_CONTENTS._\n\n    Part 1. _Introductory_. Mysteries and devotion of\n    holy-week--Palm-Sunday, entry of Christ into Jerusalem--of\n    Julius II into Rome--Sixtus V and Captain Bresca--triumphant\n    return of Pius VII to Rome, contrasted with ancient Roman\n    triumphs. Part 2. _Descriptive_, Palm-sunday--lights used at\n    mass etc.--vestments--_ubbidienza_, blessing of the palms,\n    benedictions, holy water, incense--distribution of the\n    palms--order in which the prelates and others\n    receive them--solemn procession with palms, _sedia\n    gestatoria_--ceremonies peculiar to this procession--its\n    antiquity--High mass, its peculiar ceremonies on\n    palm-sunday--Passio--Cardinal great Penitentiary at S. John\n    Lateran's.\n\n    \"_Hosanna to the son of David: blessed is he that cometh in\n    the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest_\". Matt. XXI, 9.\n\n[Sidenote: P. I. Holy-week]\n\nThe sufferings and death of Jesus Christ are the mysteries which the\ncatholic church commemorates during holy week. \"On these days\" says\nS. John Chrysostom (in Ps. CXCIV) \"was the tyranny of the devil\noverthrown, sin and its curse were taken away, heaven was opened\nand made accessible\". It was then becoming that christians should\nconsecrate these days of mercy, of grace and salvation to exercises\nof penance, devotion, and thanksgiving. The imposing liturgy of the\nRoman church is at this season more than usually solemn; and it is our\ntask to describe, and endeavour to trace to their origin, its varied\nceremonies.\n\n[Sidenote: Palm-Sunday, Christ's entry into Jerusalem.]\n\nPalm-sunday is so called from the commemoration of our blessed\nSaviour's entry into Jerusalem, when, according to St. John (XII, 13)\n\"a great multitude took branches of palm-trees, and went forth to meet\nhim, and cried: \"Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the\nLord\". Thus when Simon Maccabee subdued Jerusalem, he entered it \"with\nthanksgiving and branches of palm-trees, and harps, and cymbals, and\nhymns and canticles, because the great enemy was destroyed out of\nIsrael\". 1 Macc. XIII. The entry of our divine Redeemer therefore was\none of triumph: but it was also the entry of a king into his capital:\nfor \"many spread their garments in the way\" (Mark XI, 8), as when\nJehu was elected king, (4 Kings IX, 13), the Israelites spread their\ngarments under his feet. Thus also Plutarch relates of Cato of Utica,\nthat the soldiers regretting the expiration of his authority with many\ntears and embraces spread their garments, where he passed on foot.\n\nPope Julius II returning to Rome after the siege of Mirandola\ndistributed palms to the Roman court at S. Maria del Popolo; and\nthen rode in triumphal procession to the Vatican passing under seven\narches adorned with representations of his extraordinary and heroic\ndeeds[26].\n\n[Sidenote: Sixtus V and Captain Bresca.]\n\nWhen Sixtus V. undertook to erect in the Piazza di San Pietro the\nponderous egyptian obelisk[27], which formerly adorned Nero's circus\nat the Vatican, he forbade on pain of death that any one should speak\nlest the attention of the workmen should be taken off from their\narduous task. A naval officer of S. Remo, who happened to be present,\nforeseeing that the ropes would take fire, cried out \"_acqua alle\nfuni_\". He was immediately arrested by the Swiss guards, as we see\nhim represented in the small fresco in the Vatican library, and was\nconducted before the Pontiff. Sixtus shewed that his severity was\nbased on justice; for instead of punishing the transgressor of his\norders, he offered him the choice of his own reward. They who have\nobserved the great abundance of palms which grow in the neighbourhood\nof S. Remo, on the coast between Nice and Genoa, will not be surprised\nto hear, that the first wish of the gallant captain was to enjoy the\nprivilege of supplying the pontifical chapel with palms. The Pope\ngranted him this exclusive right and it is still enjoyed by one of\nhis family.\n\n[Sidenote: Return of Pius VII to Rome.]\n\nWhen the meek and benevolent Pius VII was returning to Rome from\nexile and captivity, Dr. Bresca, one of the captain's descendants,\ncontrived, though not without great risk, to convey to Rome the\nchoicest palms of S. Remo and Bordighera. At the house of his friend\nViale half a mile outside the Porta del Popolo, he assembled twenty\nfive _orfanelli_ dressed in their white cassocks, and forty-five\n_verginelle_. When the carriage of the beloved Pontiff approached,\nthis double choir of children appeared, bearing palms in their hands\nand singing joyous canticles of benediction but I must describe this\nlovely scene in the melodious language of the south. \"Ciascuno di\nessi (says Cancellieri) recava in mano una di queste palme di color\nd'oro altissime e cadenti come tante vaghissime piume. Sei zitelle\nsostenevano de'galanti panieri di freschissimi fiori pendenti dal\nloro collo, con nastri bianchi e gialli, relativi allo stendardo\nPontificio. Quindi tutti si schierarono in buon ordine sulle due ale\ndelta strada, e mentre le ragazze versavano graziosamente a mani piene\nda' loro canestrelli la verzura ed i fiori, quella selva ondeggiante\ndi palme, tributate al trionfo del S. Padre dal candore e dall'\ninnocenza, sorprese con la novita di uno spettacolo, che non pote a\nmeno d'intenerire, e di muovere tutti gli astanti\".\n\nIf we now look back for a moment to the triumphs of the pagan\nemperors, well may we bless God for the change which the religion of\nChrist has wrought in this city. After they had let loose war, and\nfamine, and pestilence, to prey upon hapless nations, they ascended\nthe Capitol to offer incense with polluted hands to their profane\ngods; and meantime the groans of the dying and unpitied princes, whom\nthey had reserved to decorate their triumph, ascended from the scala\nGemonia to call down the vengeance of heaven upon their oppressors.\nBut while the pacific and holy vicar of Christ returns in triumph to\nhis capital, the lips of babes and sucklings sing his praises, as they\ndid those of his Divine Master, and he implores heaven to shower down\nbenedictions on his enemies as well as his beloved children.\n\n[Sidenote: P. II Papal chapel on palm-sunday.]\n\n[Sidenote: Lights used at mass, etc.]\n\nAt about 9 o'clock on palm-sunday morning the Cardinals, Prelates\nand others assemble near the chapel of the Pieta at S. Peter's, as at\npresent the solemn service takes place in that basilica, and not as\nformerly in the Sixtine chapel. The crucifix over the altar is veiled,\nin token of the mourning of the church over her divine spouse's\nsufferings[28]. On the altar are six lighted candles, and other\ntorches are brought in after the _Sanctus_ of the Mass, and held till\nafter the elevation, in honour of the B. Sacrament, by four _acoliti\nceroferarii_[29].\n\n[Sidenote: sacred vestments]\n\nAs the pope is to bless and distribute the palms, and a solemn\nprocession is to take place, the Cardinals put on their sacred\nvestments, viz. all of them the amice, the cardinal bishops the\nsurplice and the cope, the priests the chasuble, and the deacons a\nchasuble shorter in front than that of the priests. The auditors of\nthe Rota, _Cherici di Camera, Votanti_, and _Abbreviatori_ put on a\n_cotta_ or supplice. The bishops and mitred abbots wear the cope,\nand the _Penitenzieri_ or confessors of St. Peter's, the chasuble.\nThe copes of the cardinal bishops are ornamented with a _formale_,\nadorned with three large bosses or projections of pearls arranged in\na perpendicular line, while the Pope's are in a triangular order,\nevidently alluding, to the blessed Trinity. As this is a day of\nmourning, the sacred vestments are purple.\n\n[Sidenote: _ubbidienza._]\n\nThus attired and holding their mitres the Cardinals remain standing\nwhile the Pope is vested by the assistant Cardinal-deacons who put\non His Holiness the amice, alb, girdle, stole, red cope, _formale_ or\nclasp, and mitre. All then move in procession towards the high-altar\nin the order observed in the procession of the palms, as described\nbelow:[30] the Pope descends from His _sedia gestatoria_ to adore the\nHoly Sacrament with the Cardinals etc. The procession then goes to\nthe high-altar; and having prayed for a short time before it, the Pope\ngoes to the throne,[31] and there receives the _ubbidienza_ or homage\nof all the cardinals present, who in turn kiss His right hand covered\nwith the cope. This ceremony which takes place at all solemn offices,\nexcept on good friday, and at masses for the dead, bears some\nresemblance to the old homage of feudal times[32].\n\n[Sidenote: Blessing of the palms.]\n\nSome palms are arranged on the altar. The Pope's chief Sacristan, who\nis a bishop chosen from the Augustinian order bears one, and kneels\non the steps of the throne between the deacon and subdeacon, who bear\ntwo larger palms. His Holiness reads the usual prayers over the palms,\nsprinkles them with holy water, and incenses them three times.\n\n[Sidenote: Distribution of the palms.]\n\nWhen the palms have been blessed[33], the Cardinal Dean receives from\nthe governor of Rome and presents to the Pope those three palms, which\nwere borne by _M. Sagrista_, the deacon and subdeacon. One of these\nis held during the service by the prince assistant at the throne,\nthe other two are delivered to the care of _M. Coppiere_, one of the\n_Camerieri segreti partecipanti_: the shortest is carried by the Pope\nin the procession. An embroidered apron is now placed over the Pope's\nknees, and the cardinals in turn receive a palm from Him, kissing\nthe palm, his right hand and knee. The bishops present kiss the\npalm which they receive and his right knee: and the mitred abbots\nand _Penitenzieri_ kiss the palm and his foot[34], as do all who\ncome after them in the following order, which is observed also\non good-friday at the kissing of the cross, and it is also on\ncandlemas-day and ash-wednesday.\n\nThe Governor, the Prince assistant, the _Uditore della Camera_,\nthe Treasurer, the _Maggiordomo_, the Apostolic protonotaries; the\nGenerals of Religious Orders, the _Conservatori_ and Prior of the\n_Caporioni_, the _Maestro del S. Ospizio_, the _Uditori di Rota_,\nthe _Maestro del S. Palazzo_, the _Votanti di Segnatura_, the\n_Abbreviatori del Parco maggiore_, the priest, deacon, and subdeacon\nwho assist the cardinal who is to celebrate mass, the Masters of\nceremonies, the _Camerieri segreti_ and _d'onore_, the Consistorial\nadvocates, the _Cappellani segreti_, _d'onore_ and _comuni_, the\n_Ajutanti di camera_, the _bussolanti_, the _Procuratori generali_\nof religious orders, the _Procuratori di Collegio_, the singers,\nthe clerks of the papal chapel, the cardinal's _caudatarii_, the\n_ostiarii_, the mace-bearers, some students of the German college, and\nin fine such noblemen and gentlemen as are admitted on this occasion\nto receive a palm from His Holiness, who is assisted as usual by two\nCard. deacons.\n\nDuring the distribution of the palms, the anthems _Pueri Hebraeorum_\netc. are sung by the choir; and when it is finished, the Pope washes\nHis hands, and says the usual concluding prayer: the prince stationed\nat the throne brings the water, and the Cardinal Dean presents the\ntowel to His Holiness.\n\n[Sidenote: _Solemn procession._]\n\nThe Pope then puts incense into the thurible for the procession, and\nthe first Card. Deacon turning towards the people says according to\nthe old formula Let us proceed in peace: the choir answers, in the\nname of Christ. Amen'. The procession, in which the blessed palms\nare carried, moves round S. Peter's, in the following order, which\nis observed also for the most part on holy thursday and good friday.\nThe _Procuratori di Collegio_,[35] _Procuratori generali_, the\n_Bussolanti_, the _Ajutanti di Camera_, _Cappellani comuni_ and\n_segreti_, the Consistorial advocates, the _Camerieri d' onore_,\nand _segreti_, the singers, the _Abbreviatori, Votanti di Segnatura,\nCherici di Camera, Uditori di Rota_, the Thurifer, (_Votante di\nSegnatura_), the Subdeacon (_Uditore di Rota_) who carries the cross\nornamented with a small palm, between two acolythes (_Votanti di\nSegnatura_) carrying candles, the _Penitenzieri_, the mitred abbots,\nbishops and the Cardinal deacons, priests and bishops all wearing\ntheir mitres.[36] The Pope is preceded by many officers of his guards\n(who go to the throne towards the end of the distribution of palms),\nthe _Maestro del S. Ospizio_, the _Conservatori_, Senator and Governor\nof Rome. His Holiness is carried on his _Sedia gestatoria_[37] under\na canopy supported by 8 _Referendarii_ (prelates of the tribunal of\n_Segnatura_) between the _flabelli_ carried by two of His _Camerieri_.\nHe is followed by the dean of the Rota (whose duty it is to bear His\nmitre) between two _camerieri segreti_ (who as well as two Auditors of\nthe Rota bear His train when occasion requires), by the _Uditore della\nCamera_, the Treasurer, _Maggiordomo_, Protonotaries and Generals of\nreligious orders.\n\nDuring the procession the choir sings the anthem, _Cum appropinquaret\netc._ When the procession is in the portico, two soprano singers\nreenter the basilica, and shut the door: then turning towards\nthe door, they sing the first verse of the hymn _Gloria, laus et\nhonor_[38] and the other verses alternately with the choir, which\nremains without. The subdeacon knocks at the gate with the cross, and\nit is immediately opened; the procession returns into the church, and\nthe choir sings the concluding anthems.\n\n[Sidenote: _its antiquity._]\n\nThe solemn commemoration, which we have described, of Christ's\ntriumphant entry into Jerusalem, could never have taken place\nduring times of persecution: nor did it originate immediately after\nConstantine had ensured peace to the church. Martene (De ant. Eccl.\nRit. lib. IV, c. 20) could find no mention of it before the 8th or 9th\ncentury, when Amalarius says \"In memory of this we are accustomed to\ncarry palm-branches, and cry Hosanna\". Merati however, in his notes to\nGavant, considers that he has found traces of it in the Gregorian and\nGelasian sacramentaries, and in a Roman calendar of the beginning of\nthe fifth century[39] and his opinion is adopted by Benedict XIV. The\nceremonies of the church of Jerusalem on this day were a still closer\nimitation of the entry of Christ into that city.\n\nWhen the procession is ended, the cardinals, bishops, and mitred\nabbots take off their sacred vestments and the prelates their\nsurplices, and they all resume their respective _cappe_; the\n_Penitenzieri_ retire, and mass is celebrated by a cardinal of the\norder of priests. Having already given an account not only of\nlow mass, but also of the additional ceremonies of high mass, as\ncelebrated in the papal chapel, we shall here mention those only which\nare peculiar to palm-sunday.\n\nAt those words of the epistle (which is sung as usual by the\nsubdeacon), \"in the name of Jesus let every knee bow\", the whole\nassembly kneels to adore their divine Redeemer, who became obedient\nunto death for our salvation. The affecting account of His sufferings\nand death is then sung by three priests[40] belonging to the\npontifical choir, and habited as deacons in alb and stole. The history\nitself is sung by a tenor voice, the words, of our Saviour by a bass,\nand those of any other single voice by a _contralto_, called the\n_ancilla_, as he sings the words of the _maid_ to S. Peter: the choir\nsings the words of the multitude[41]. The church, mourning over the\nsufferings of her divine Spouse, does not allow the incense, lights,\nor the benediction and salutation usual before the gospel; but the\npalms are borne to signify the triumphs consequent on His death as\nthey are also from the elevation till after the communion. All stand\nup as usual from respect to the holy gospel (\"as servants before their\nLord\" Amalarius) but kneel for a short time at the words \"Jesus crying\nwith a loud voice yielded up the ghost\", to adore that God of love who\ndied for mankind. The latter part of the gospel is sung in the usual\nchant by the deacon, but without the customary lights[42]. At the\noffertory is sung the first part of the beautiful hymn _Stabat Mater_:\nthe music is Palestrina's, and is justly and highly panegyrised by\nBaini; it has been published by Dr. Burney. Both the _introit_ and\ncommunion are sung without, and the offertory with, counterpoint: the\n_Kyrie eleison_, Gradual and tract, in plain chant. The Benedictus\nqui venit is usually very beautiful. At the end of the mass, as there\nhas been no sermon, the Card. celebrant announces from the altar the\nPope's usual grant to all present of an indulgence[43] or remission\nof the _temporal_ punishment due for past sins, whose guilt has been\nalready remitted.\n\n[Sidenote: indulgences]\n\nWhen the mass is ended, the palms are carried home by those who have\nreceived them, and are preserved with respect. Two larger than the\nrest are kept until the ascension, in the sacristy called the _Letto\ndei Paramenti_ because anciently the aged Pontiffs after their\nfatiguing walk to the stational churches used to repose on a _letto_\nor bed prepared for them in the sacristy, where they afterwards put\non the _paramenti_ or vestments. The paschal candle also, an emblem\nof Christ the true light, as we shall afterwards see is removed on\nthe day of the ascension: this circumstance may explain the\nabove-mentioned custom.\n\n[Sidenote: Cardinal penitentiary at S. John Lateran's.]\n\nIn the afternoon of palm-sunday, the Cardinal great Penitentiary\ngoes in state to S. John Lateran's. He is met, before he enters\ntheir college, by the minor penitentiaries, who at this basilic are\nFranciscans, _minori osservanti_. Having sprinkled those present with\nholy water, he goes up to their private oratory[44] in the Lateran\npalace, whither he is escorted by the prelates and other ministers of\nthe apostolic _Penitenzieria_. After a short prayer, he proceeds to\nthe library, where he holds the _Segnatura_ or tribunal for signing\ndocuments relating to his office, and afterwards enters the basilic of\nSt. John Lateran's, where he is received by four canons. Here seated\nat his tribunal of penance, he touches with his rod the heads of the\nprelates, ministers and others who approach to him; and for this\nact of humiliation they receive an indulgence, or remission of the\ncanonical penance, of 100 days. He also hears the confessions of\nany persons who may choose to present themselves: but the solution\nof difficult cases and absolution from crimes reserved to his\njurisdiction may be obtained without confessing to his Eminence on\nso public an occasion[45].\n\nThe ceremonies, which we have described, are designed to honour\nour divine Redeemer, whose actions and sufferings are thereby\ncommemorated, and at the same time to excite sentiments of devotion\nin the hearts of His servants. Here ought the catholic to exercise\nfaith, hope, love, and contrition for his sins: and _all_, of whatever\ncountry or creed they may be, who are admitted with hospitality and\nliberality to witness the solemn and imposing service, if they do not\nfeel such noble sentiments, ought at least to observe that external\ndecorum, which the season, the place, the hierarchy, and above all the\ncommemoration of the sufferings of the God of charity will dictate to\nevery well-educated and well-principled mind. It is to be lamented,\nthat not only the devotion of Catholics is disturbed, but their\nfeelings also are occasionally insulted in their own house of worship\nby the unbecoming remarks of individuals--but enough: \"you have not\nso learned Christ: if yet you have heard him, and have been taught in\nhim, as the truth is in Jesus\". Ephes. IV, 20, 21. If on this day even\nthe inhabitants of Jerusalem received Him with triumph and jubilee,\nlet us His disciples and children offer to Him the best tribute in our\npower of love praise and adoration.\n\n[Footnote 26: See Cancellieri, _Solenni possessi de'Papi, p_. 539.]\n\n[Footnote 27: According to Champollion, it was originally erected in\nHeliopolis by Ramesses 7th son of the great Ramesses or Sesostris;\nPliny says by Nuncoreus son of Sesostris. Caligula transported it to\nRome, and placed it in the circus afterwards called Nero's, where it\nremained standing till the time of Sixtus V.]\n\n[Footnote 28: It was customary in Lent, says St. Audoenus, to cover\nwith a linen veil the tomb of Eligius to conceal the brightness of the\ngold and the splendour of the gems\". Vita S. Eligii l. 2. c. 40. Thus\ndoes the church at this season put off her costly nuptial robes, and\nvest herself in weeds of deepest mourning. The time for veiling the\ncrucifix and images has varied at different periods. The Saturday\nbefore passion-sunday is now the first, and holy Saturday the last\nday, of this observance.]\n\n[Footnote 29: S. Isidore (A.D. 600.) observes, that acolythes are\ncalled in Latin _Ceroferarii_ \"from their carrying wax tapers when the\ngospel is to be read or sacrifice is to be offered\". In the eleventh\ncentury Micrologus testifies \"that Mass, according to the _Ordo\nRomanus_, was never celebrated without lights, even in the day time,\nas a type of the light of Christ\". To this custom we shall recur in\nthe following chapter.]\n\n[Footnote 30: Pietro de Marca maintains, that the crucifix borne\nbefore the Pope was substituted in place of the _labarum_ or standard\ncarried before the emperors. That of Constantine had the form of a\ncross, and was surmounted with XP the first letters of Christ's name,\nEus. In Vita Const. l. 4.]\n\n[Footnote 31: I shall not speak of some ancient ceremonies of holy\nweek which have fallen into disuse, such as the custom of carrying the\ngospel or the B. Sacrament in triumphant procession on Palm-Sunday,\nand others alluded to by Cancellieri and described by Martene, De\nAntiq. Eccl. Rit.]\n\n[Footnote 32: In times of schism caused by antipopes it was a practice\nof the utmost importance. Thus we read in Baronius' Annals A.D. 1160,\nthat when the antipope Cardinal Octavianus, who assumed the name of\nVictor, had been illegitimately elected, the chapter of St. Peter's\ncame immediately to the feet of the said Pope Victor, and _obeyed_\n\"obedivit\" and the clergy and people paid due reverence to him, and a\ngreat multitude in like manner _obeyed_: \"the rectors also came to his\nfeet, and paid _obedience_ and reverence\". Then follows a long list of\nthe clergy of various Roman churches, all of whom it is said that they\n_obeyed_. Thus,\n\n\"The Lateran prior and his canons _obeyed_. The clergy of the\npatriarchal church of S. Mary Major's _obeyed_ etc.\"\n\nThis _obedience_ was evidently an external sign of their acknowledging\nVictor as Pope in place of Alexander, the legitimate pontiff.\nAnciently the Pope received the homage of the deacons in the sacristy;\nthey afterwards went out of the sacristy to put on their dalmatics.\nCancellieri de Secretariis T.I. In the sacristy the Pope gave the\n_peace_ to the Bishops, Cardinals, Prefect, Senator, and other lay\nprinces according to the canon Benedict, Cencius Camerarius and\nCajetan. The ordines Romani mention the bowing of the Subdeacon at the\nknees of the Pontiff, and the kissing of his hand by the priests, the\narchdeacon and secundarius De secretariis T. I, p. 409.]\n\n[Footnote 33: Many forms of benediction of persons and things taken\nfrom ancient Pontificals and manuscript rituals may be seen in\nMartene, De antiquis Ecclesiae Ritibus. The church generally uses\nholy-water and incense when blessing God's creatures, which are\n\"sanctified by the word of God and prayer\" 1 Tom. IV, 5. God had\nappointed water of expiation to be used by the Jews, Numbers XIX.\nLustral water used to be sprinkled also by the Pagans; Terque senem\nflamma, ter aqua, ter sulphure purget. Ov. Met. l. 7. Anastasius\nsays that Alexander I, who was Pope in 108 \"appointed that water\nfor sprinkling should be blessed with salt in private houses.\" It\nis mentioned also in the apostolic constitutions. Boldetti in his\n_Cemeterii de' martiri_ notices the short columns supporting small\nvases, in corners of the chapels in the catacombs; and Bottari has\npublished and illustrated in his _Roma sotterranea_ an interesting\nfresco discovered in the catacombs of S. Agnese, and representing five\nfigures carrying vessels closely resembling those still used for holy\nwater; four of those figures carry branches supposed to be of the\npalm-tree: the fifth holds an aspergillum with which holy water is\nstill sprinkled. A copy of this fresco may be seen also in Rock's\nHierurgia, p. 668. Incense is a symbol of prayers. \"Let my prayer, O\nLord\" we say with the Psalmist \"be directed as incense in thy sight\".\nGod had appointed it to be used in the Jewish worship, and St. John\nsays, that an \"angel came and stood before the altar, having a golden\ncenser, and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer\nof the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar, which is\nbefore the throne of God: and the smoke of the incense of the prayers\nof the saints ascended up before God, from the hand of the angel\".\nApoc. VIII, 3, 5. Of the apostolic antiquity of its use the Protestant\nbishop Beveridge adduces proofs in his Vindication of the apostolical\ncanons. The ancient liturgies of the east and west agree in\nprescribing the use of incense, and in particular at the beginning\nof mass, at the offertory etc. See Renaudot, Assemani, Le Brun etc.\nConstantine, according to Anastasius in his life of S. Silvester, gave\ntwo golden thuribles to the Lateran basilis, and a third adorned with\njewels to the Baptistery. See Card. Bona, Rerum Liturgicarum lib. I,\nc. XXV, Sec. 9.]\n\n[Footnote 34: Of the antiquity of the custom of kissing the Pope's\nfoot we have proofs in Anastasius the librarian in the lives of Popes\nConstantine and Leo IV. When Valentine was elected Pope in 827, his\nfeet were kissed by the Roman senate and people at S. John Lateran's.\nNumerous instances also are on record of sovereigns who have kissed\nthe feet of the Popes, and Pouyard has written a dissertation to shew,\nthat this custom was anterior to that of marking the papal shoes or\nsandals with a cross. This token of profound respect was given also to\nthe emperors of the east at Byzantium.]\n\n[Footnote 35: These are distinguished lawyers habited in black\n_cappe_. For an account of the various offices above-mentioned and of\ntheir origin see The Papal Chapel, Described etc. by C.M. Baggs. Rome.\n1839.]\n\n[Footnote 36: That crosses, candles and incense were anciently used in\nprocessions appears from S. Gregory of Tours, de Vit. Patrum, c. 13.]\n\n[Footnote 37: The kings and chief magistrates of ancient Rome were\nentitled to a _sella curulis_, or chair of state, which used to be\nplaced in their chariots. Gell. III; 18. They were seated on it also\nat their tribunal on solemn occasions. Virgil makes old king Latinus\nsay:\n\nEt _sellam regni_ trabeamque _insignia nostri_. AEn. XI. 334. The\nRomans had borrowed it from the Etruscans according to Dionysius of\nHalicarnassus. (Clement of Alexandria observes, That many of the rites\nof Etruria were imported from Asia; and Diodorus (lib. 5.) represents\nthese insignia as derived from Lydia. See Phoebens. De Identitate\nCathedrae S. Petri p. XX. seq.) It was richly adorned, _conspicuum\nsignis_, according to Ovid, Pont. IV. 5, 18. In the Pope's carriage\neven now there is a chair of state, and to Him alone is reserved the\nhonour of a _sedia gestatoria_. Pope Stephen II in 751 was carried to\nthe basilica of Constantine on the shoulders of the Romans exulting\nat his election: and from this fact some derive the custom of carrying\nthe Pope in His chair on solemn occasions.]\n\n[Footnote 38: This hymn is attributed to the abbot Theodulph\nafterwards bishop of Orleans, who lived in the 9th century. If it\nwere true, that he sang it as the emperor Louis le debonnaire was\npassing by the prison, in which he was confined, and that he was in\nconsequence liberated, we should have a historical reason for the\nshutting and opening of the door, and for the hymn's being sung partly\ninside the church. This account has however been called in question\nby Menard, Macri, Martene and others; and hence Pouget, and after him\nBenedict XIV and others are contented with a mystic reason for such\nceremonies, viz, that heaven was closed to man in consequence of sin,\nand was opened to him by the cross of Christ.]\n\n[Footnote 39: In these it is called Dominica ad Palmas, Dominica\nin Palmis, and in the Gregorian Sacramentary mention is made, in\nthe prayer which precedes communion, of the faithful carrying\npalm-branches.]\n\n[Footnote 40: Anciently a cardinal deacon used to read it, and to sing\nonly the words \"Eli, Eli, lamma sabachthani\".]\n\n[Footnote 41: The author of this exquisite chant is unknown: Baini\nsupposes that he was a member of the pontifical choir: it has been\nsung in the papal chapel since the middle of the 13th century. In 1585\nit, together with the rest of the service of holy week, was published\nby Tommaso da Vittoria with the words of the people harmonised for 4\nand 5 voices; his method was adopted by the papal choir, which adorns\nit with many traditional graces, and in particular gives occasionally,\nsays Baini, to the words of the multitude \"the irresistible force of\na most robust harmony\". The abbate Alfieri has published a new edition\nof the _Passios_.]\n\n[Footnote 42: In Africa till the time of S. Augustine, the Passion\nused to be read in holy week from the gospel of S. Matthew alone; but\nby his direction, as he mentions in his 232nd discourse, it was read\nevery year from all the four evangelists; and this custom is still\nobserved.]\n\n[Footnote 43: That God, after He has pardoned sin and consequently\nremitted its eternal punishment, often, if not generally, demands\ntemporal satisfaction from the sinner, is evident from many instances\nin scripture, such as those of David (2 Sam. XII) of Moses (Deuteron.\nXXXII compare Num. XIV) to say nothing of Adam (Gen. III) and all his\nposterity, who endure the temporal punishment of original sin, even\nwhen its stain has been washed away by baptism. Now the church by\nvirtue of the ample authority with which Christ has invested her\n(Matt. XVIII, John XX) and in particular her chief pastor (Matt. XVI)\nhas from the beginning exercised the power of remitting the temporal\npunishment of actual sins. Thus S. Paul pardoned the incestuous\nCorinthian (2. Cor. II): in times of persecution the bishops at the\nrequest of the martyrs remitted the penance imposed on those who had\nfallen into idolatry (Tersul. lib. ad martyres, Euseb. Hist. Eccl.\nlib. V, c. 4. S. Cyprian. Epist. XIII etc.), to say nothing of canons\nof the 4th century which prescribe that indulgences should be granted\nto _fervent_ penitents, of the crusades, and of the indulgences\ngranted to those who contributed money for the building of S. Peter's,\netc. Indulgences presuppose repentance and confession, and the\nperformance of those good works which are prescribed as conditions\nnecessary for their acquisition, as communion, prayers, alms etc.]\n\n[Footnote 44: It was built by Calixtus II, and was for two centuries\nand a half the Vestry of the Roman Pontiffs. It was repaired and\nconsecrated in 1747. See Cancellieri. De Secretariis T. I, p. 342.]\n\n[Footnote 45: In the third century, in the time of Pope Cornelius\nthere were priests appointed to absolve those who had fallen into\nidolatry; and they were called _Presbyteri Paenitentium_. S. Marcellus\nalso, according to Anastasius, after the persecution raised by\nDiocletian, appointed in Rome titular churches, in which penance as\nwell as baptism were administered by priests, the former sacrament is\nconferred by the minor penitentiaries. Pope Simplicius in fine, as\nwe learn from the same author, destined fixed weeks at S. Peter's,\nS. Paul's, and S. Laurence's, to _receive penitents_ and administer\nbaptism. From the usual custom of Rome in such matters, Zaccaria\nargues that during the first five or six centuries, according to the\ngeneral custom proved by Thomassin, the great penitentiary was the\n_bishop himself of the city_ in which they resided. It is however\ncertain, that in the 4th century from the numerous priests of\nConstantinople one was selected called a penitentiary, who took\ncognisance of crimes, to which public penance was annexed by the\ncanons. At Rome also there was a cardinal penitentiary long before\nthe fourth council of Lateran, which in 1215 prescribed that bishops\nshould appoint penitentiaries, for Berthod priest of Constance relates\nin his chronicle, that in the year 1084 he was promoted to the dignity\nof cardinal-priest and penitentiary of the Roman church.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP III.\n\nON THE DIVINE OFFICE, AND THE OFFICE OF TENEBRAE IN PARTICULAR.\n\n\n_CONTENTS._\n\n    PART 1. _Introductory_. Breviary--Divine office, its\n    origin--performed by the early Christians--ancient and modern\n    editions of the breviary. PART 2. _Descriptive_. Office of\n    Tenebrae--Matins and Lauds--extinction of the lights--meaning\n    of this ceremony--chant, lamentations--conclusions of the\n    office--_Miserere_, its music--Card. Penitentiary at S. Mary\n    Major's. _Trinita dei Pellegrini_.\n\n    \"_I will bless the Lord at all times_: _his praise shall\n    always be in my mouth_\". Ps. XXXIII, 2.\n\n    \"_He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the\n    death of the cross_\". Phil. II, 8.\n\n[Sidenote: P. I. Breviary.]\n\nWe shall not hesitate to borrow the following account of the church\noffice contained in the Roman Breviary from a Protestant divine\n(Tracts of the Times no. 75). \"The word _Breviarum_ first occurs\nin the work of an author of the eleventh century (Micrologus) and\nit is used to denote a compendium or systematic arrangement of the\ndevotional offices of the church. Till that time they were contained\nin several independent volumes, according to the nature of each. Such,\nfor instance, were the _Psalteria_, _Homilaria_, _Hymnaria_, and the\nlike, to be used in the service in due course. But at his memorable\nera, and under the auspices of the Pontiff who makes it memorable,\nGregory VII, an Order was drawn up, for the use of the Roman church,\ncontaining in one all these different collections, introducing the\nseparate members of each in its proper place, and harmonising them\ntogether by the use of rubrics.\n\n[Sidenote: Divine office, its origin.]\n\n\"Gregory VII did but restore and harmonise these offices; which seem\nto have existed more or less the same in constituent parts, though not\nin order and system, from Apostolic times. In their present shape they\nare appointed for seven distinct seasons in the twenty four hours,\nand consist of prayers, praises and thanksgivings of various forms;\nand, as regards both contents and hours, are the continuation of a\nsystem of worship observed by the Apostles and their converts. As to\n_contents_, the Breviary service consists of the Psalms; of Hymns\nand Canticles; of Lessons and Texts from inspired and Ecclesiastical\nauthors; of Antiphons, Verses and Responses, and Sentences; and of\nCollects. And analogous to this seems to have been the usage of the\nCorinthian Christians, whom St. Paul blames for refusing to agree in\nsome common order of worship, when they came together, _every one\nof them_ having a Psalm, or a doctrine, a tongue, a revelation, an\ninterpretation (1 Cor. XIV, 26). On the other hand, the catholic\n_seasons_ of devotion are certainly derived from apostolic usage. The\nJewish observance of the third, sixth and ninth hours for prayer,\nwas continued by the inspired founders of the Christian church. What\nDaniel had practised, even when the decree was signed forbidding it,\n\"_kneeling on his knees three times a day, and praying and giving\nthanks unto his God_\", S. Peter and the other Apostles were solicitous\nin preserving. It was when \"_they were all with one accord in one\nplace_\", at \"the _third_ hour of the day\", that the Holy Ghost\ncame down upon them at Pentecost. It was at the _sixth_ hour, that\nSt. Peter \"went up upon the house-top to pray\" and saw the vision\nrevealing to him the admission of the gentiles into church. And it\nwas at the _ninth_ hour that \"Peter and John went up together into the\ntemple\", being \"the hour of prayer\". But though these were the more\nremarkable seasons of devotion, there certainly were others besides\nthem in the first age of the church. After our Saviour's departure,\nthe Apostles, we are informed, \"all _continued_ with one accord in\nprayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus,\nand with His brethren\": and with this accords the repealed exhortation\nto pray together without ceasing, which occurs in St. Paul's epistles.\nIt will be observed that he insists in one passage on prayer to the\nabridgment of sleep (Eph. VI, 18); and one recorded passage of his\nlife exemplifies his precept: \"And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed,\nand sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them\".\n\nIn subsequent times the Hours of prayer were gradually developed from\nthe three, or (with midnight) the four seasons above enumerated, to\nseven, viz. by the addition of Prime (the first hour), Vespers (the\nevening), and Compline (bedtime); according to the words of the\nPsalm, \"Seven times a day do I praise Thee, because of Thy righteous\njudgment. Other pious and instructive reasons existed, or have since\nbeen perceived for this number\".[46] Thus far our Protestant author,\nwith whose remarks we are too well pleased to go out of our way to\ndispute with him the truth of some other portions of his tract, which\nare objectionable.\n\n[Sidenote: Performed by the early Christians.]\n\nThat the early Christians continued after the time of the apostles to\nobserve the hours of prayer above enumerated is proved by Martene (De\nAnt. Eccl. Rit. T. 3) who has collected many decisive passages from\nthe Greek and Latin Fathers. We shall content ourselves with one taken\nfrom a work on prayer by S. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage in the third\ncentury. Having mentioned Daniel's practice of praying three times\na day, he observes, that it is manifest that there was something\nmysterious or symbolical in the ancient practice. \"For the holy Ghost\ndescended on the disciples at the third hour; at the sixth hour Peter\ngoing to the house-top was instructed by God to admit all to the\ngrace of salvation; and the Lord, who was crucified at the sixth\nhour, washed away our sins with his blood at the ninth hour, and\ncompleted the victory by his passion. For us however, besides the\nhours anciently observed, the times and also the symbols of prayer\nhave increased. For we must pray in the morning, to celebrate the\nresurrection of the Lord; also when the sun recedes and the day\nceases; for Christ is the true sun and the true day, and when we pray\nthat the light of Christ may again come upon us, we pray that his\ncoming may impart to us the grace of eternal light: and let us who\nare always in Christ, that is, in the light, not cease from prayer at\nnight\". See also Dr. Cave's Primitive Christianity Part. 1, c. 9.\n\n[Sidenote: Editions of the breviary.]\n\n\"The old Roman breviary\" says the author of Tract 75 above quoted\n\"had long before Gregory VII's time been received in various parts of\nEurope; and in England since the time of Gregory the great who after\nthe pattern of Leo and Gelasius before him had been a reformer of it\".\nThe people used anciently to join with the clergy in offering this,\nconstant tribute of praise to God; but the duty of daily reciting it\nis obligatory only upon the Catholic clergy, and religious orders.\nS. Benedict shortened it considerably, (as Grancolas observes, Com.\nHist. in Brev. Rom.) New editions and emendations of it were published\nsuccessively by the authority of St. Gregory VII, Nicholas III,\nand Clement VII, and finally the Roman Breviary at present used was\nrestored by order of the Council of Trent, published by Pope Pius V,\nand revised by Clement VIII, and Urban VIII. It follows closely, as\nMerati observes, that first adopted by the regular-clerks in the 16th\ncentury, and resembles the edition published by Haymo, general of the\nFranciscans, and authorised by Nicholas III (A.D. 1278). Hence it\nis called by the author of Tract 75 the _Franciscan_ Breviary. It is\nhowever founded upon the old Roman Breviary, which the Franciscans\nby the direction of their holy founder had adopted: for according\nto Rodolfo, dean of Tongres Cap. XXII, when the Popes dwelt at the\nLateran, the _office of the Papal chapel_ was much shorter than that\nof the other churches of Rome; it was composed by Innocent III, and\nwas adopted by the Franciscans instituted at his time. Nicolas III\nordered that all the Roman churches should use the Franciscan Breviary\nas reformed by Haymo, in 1241. \"Our own daily service\", says the\nabove-mentioned minister of the church of England is confessedly\nformed upon the Breviary\".\n\n[Sidenote: P. II. Office of Tenebrae.]\n\nHaving premised thus much on the office in general, we may now return\nto holy-week. Besides palm-sunday, three other days in the week\nare particularly devoted to the commemoration of the history of our\nredemption; holy-thursday, because on it our Lord instituted the\nblessed Eucharist, and his passion began; good-friday, on which He\nwas crucified and died; and holy saturday, on which His sacred body\nremained in the tomb. The church commences her solemn service of each\nof these days with that part of the divine office called matins and\nlauds, and at this time Tenebrae from the _darkness_ with which it\nconcludes. It used of old to be celebrated at night, as it still is\nby some religious communities[47]; but it now takes place on the\nafternoon preceding each of those three days. Nor is this unusual:\nfor \"the ecclesiastical day is considered to begin with the evening\nor Vesper service, according to the Jewish reckoning, as alluded to in\nthe text. \"In the evening and morning and at noon day will I pray, and\nthat instantly\". (Tracts of the Times, No. 75).\n\n[Sidenote: Matins and Lauds.]\n\nThe office of Matin so called from Matuta or Aurora consists at\nTenebrae of three _nocturns_. Each of these is composed of three\nappropriate psalms with their anthems, followed by three lessons taken\nfrom scripture or the fathers. Immediately after matins, Lauds or\nthe praises of God are sung: they consist of five psalms besides the\n_Benedictus_ or canticle of Zachary, to which succeeds the _Miserere_\nor 50th psalm. Some of the short prayers usually said are omitted: for\nthe church during this season of mourning strips her liturgy as well\nas her altars of their usual ornaments[48].\n\n[Sidenote: Extinction of the lights.]\n\nA triangular candlestick, upon which are placed fifteen candles,\ncorresponding to the number of psalms recited before the _Miserere_,\nis peculiar to this solemn office, and is placed at the epistle-side\nof the altar. After each psalm one of the candles is extinguished by\na Master of ceremonies, and after the _Benedictus_ the candle placed\non the top of the triangular candlestick is not extinguished, but is\nconcealed behind the altar and brought out at the end of the service;\nwhile that canticle is sung, the six candles on the altar also are\nextinguished, as well as those above the _cancellata_ or rails[49].\n\n[Sidenote: Meaning of this ceremony.]\n\nLamps and candelabra were presented to the sanctuary by the faithful\nduring the first ages of persecution; and in more tranquil times to\nthe basilicas by Constantine and others who erected or dedicated them.\nThey were lighted, as S. Jerome observes, in the day time \"not to\ndrive away darkness, but as a sign of joy\": and therefore the custom\nof gradually extinguishing them at the office of Tenebrae we may\njustly consider with Amalarius as a sign of mourning, or of the\nsympathy of the church with her divine and suffering Spouse. The\nprecise number of lights is determined by that of the psalms, which\nis the same as at ordinary matins of three nocturns.\n\nThe custom of concealing behind the altar during the last part of the\noffice the last and most elevated candle, and of bringing it forward\nburning at the end of the service, is a manifest allusion to the death\nand resurrection of Christ, whose light, as Micrologus observes, is\nrepresented by our burning tapers. \"I am the light of the world\". John\nVIII. 12[50]. In the same manner the other candles extinguished one\nafter another may represent the prophets successively put to death\nbefore their divine Lord: and if we consider that the psalms of the\n_old Testament_ are recited at the time, this explanation may appear\nmore satisfactory than others, which would refer them to the blessed\nVirgin, the apostles and disciples of Christ[51]. In the triangular\nform of the candlestick is contained an evident allusion to the\nB. Trinity. This candlestick is mentioned in a MS. Ordo of the 7th\ncentury published by Mabillon.\n\n[Sidenote: Chant, lamentations.]\n\nThe anthems and psalms, with the exception of the _Miserere_ which is\nthe last psalm at Lauds, most of the lessons and other parts of the\noffice, are sung in plain chant. From the middle of the 15th century\nthe three lamentations or first three lessons of each day used to be\nsung in _canto figurato_ in the papal chapel: but by order of Sixtus\nV, only the first lamentation of each day is thus sung, and even it\nis much shortened, as Clement XII directed: the two others are sung\nin _canto piano_ according to Guidetti's method. The first lamentation\nboth of the first and second day is by the celebrated Pierluigi da\nPalestrina: that of the third day by Allegri. Baini observes, that\nthe first lamentation of the second day is considered the finest:\nPalestrina composed it for four voices, besides a bass, which entering\nat the pathetic apostrophe 'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, be converted to the\nLord' \"every year makes all the hearers and singers, who have a soul,\nchange colour\". Bayni, Mem. Stor. T. 1. The lamentations of Jeremiah\nhave the form of an acrostic, that is, the verses begin with the\nletters of the Hebrew alphabet in regular order, the first with\nAleph, the second with Beth, and so in succession. It was difficult\nto observe a similar order in the Latin Vulgate: but to preserve\nsome vestige of it, the name of the Hebrew letter, with which each\nverse begins in the original, is sung before the same verse in the\ntranslation.\n\n[Sidenote: Conclusion of the office.]\n\nWhen the _Benedictus_ or canticle of Zachary and its anthem are\nfinished, the choir sings the verse \"Christ was made for us obedient\neven unto death\": on the second night they add \"even unto the death of\nthe cross\": and on the third, \"for which reason God hath exalted him,\nand hath given him a name, which is above all names\". The heart of the\nchristian is melted to devotion by these words, sung on so solemn an\noccasion: he kneels before his crucified Redeemer, and recites that\nprayer of love, that prayer of a child to his Father which He that\nman of sorrows dictated to His beloved disciples; and then remembering\nthose sins, by which he offended that dear and agonising parent, and\ntouched with sorrow and repentance, yet more and more excited by the\nmusic, I might almost call it celestial, his heart calls loudly for\nthat mercy to obtain which Jesus died. He joins with God's minister\nin fervently repeating the prayer imploring God's blessing on those\nfor whom Christ suffered and died: the noise which follows it recals\nto his mind the confusion of nature at the death of her creator; the\nlighted candle once more appearing reminds him that His death was only\ntemporary: and he departs in silence impressed with pious sentiments,\nand inflamed with devout affections.\n\n[Sidenote: Miserere, its music.]\n\nThey who have assisted at the office of Tenebrae will not be surprised\nat the saying of a philosopher, that for the advantage of his soul he\nwould wish, that when he was about to render it up to God, he might\nhear sung the _Miserere_ of the Pope's chapel. In no other place has\nthis celebrated music succeeded. Baini the director of the Pontifical\nchoir, in a note to his life of Palestrina, observes that Paride de\nGrassi, Master of ceremonies to Leo X, mentions that on holy wednesday\n(A.D. 1519), the singers chanted the _Miserere_ in a _new_ and\n_unaccustomed_ manner, alternately singing the verses in symphony.\nThis seems to be the origin of the far-famed _Miserere_. Various\nauthors, whom Baini enumerates, afterwards composed _Miserere_[52];\nbut the celebrated composition of Gregorio Allegri a Roman, who\nentered the Papal college of singers in 1629, was the most successful,\nand was for some time sung on all the three days of Tenebrae. Then one\ncomposed by Alessandro Scarlatti, or that of Felice Anerio, used to\nbe sung on holy thursday: but these were eclipsed by the _Miserere_,\ncomposed in 1214 by Tommase Bai a Bolognese, director of the choir of\nS. Peter's. From that time only Allegri's and Bai's were sung in the\nPope's chapel; till Pius VII directed the celebrated Baini to compose\na new _Miserere_, which has received well-merited applause. Since the\nyear 1821 all three, viz. Baini's, Bai's, and Allegri's _Misereres_\nare sung on the three successive days, and generally in the order in\nwhich we have mentioned them: the two latter are sometimes blended\ntogether. The first verse is sung in harmony, the second in plain\nchant, and so successively till the last verse, which alone is sung in\nharmony by both the choirs, into which the singers are divided; only\none choir sings the other verses[53].\n\n[Sidenote: Cardinal penitentiary]\n\n[Sidenote: Trinita dei Pellegrini]\n\nOn Wednesday-afternoon, the Cardinal great Penitentiary goes in state\nto S. Mary Major's, where the minor Penitentiaries are Dominicans.\nFor an account of this custom see the preceding chapter. On Wednesday,\nThursday and Friday evenings, Christians may be edified at the Trinita\ndei Pellegrini[54] by the sight of Cardinals, princes, prelates and\nothers, washing in good earnest, and afterwards kissing the feet of\npoor pilgrims, while they recite with them the Our Father, Hail Mary,\nGlory be to the Father, and other beautiful prayers, such as;\n\n  _Gesu, Giuseppe, Maria,_\n  _Vi dono il cuore e l' anima mia._\n  _Gesu, Giuseppe, Maria,_\n  _Assisteleci nell' ultima agonia, etc._\n\nThey afterwards wait on them at table, and accompany them to\ntheir beds, reciting other devout prayers. In another part of that\nestablishment, princesses and other ladies practise the same offices\nof charity towards the female pilgrims. Here might we fancy that the\nprimitive christians were before us, those men of charity, simplicity,\nand lowliness: and when in the same place, a few years ago, that\ndevout Pontiff Leo XII on his knees washed and kissed the feet of\npilgrims, who had journeyed from afar; who that saw him did not call\nto mind with tears the lowliness and charity of his predecessor Peter,\nand of a greater than Peter, who \"washed the feet of his disciples,\nand who wiped them with the towel wherewith he was girded\".\n\nMarius mourned over the ruins of Carthage; but his was the sorrow\nof disappointed, selfish ambition. Jeremiah lamented the fall and\ndesolation of Jerusalem: and his plaintive accents were inspired by\ngenuine patriotism and religion. Observe his venerable figure in the\nSixtine chapel; there he sits pensive and disconsolate, with his legs\ncrossed, his wearied head resting upon his hand, and his eyes rivetted\non the ground, as if nothing could engage his attention but the woes\nof the daughter of Sion[55]. Then listen to the lamentations of this\ninspired and afflicted prophet: they are full of deepest pathos,\nand uttered in notes sweet as the warblings of philomel. Turn now, O\nChristian soul, to a more sublime and mournful spectacle. Jesus in\nthe garden of Gethsemani and on mount Calvary mourned not for a single\ncity or nation: he sorrowed over the ruins of a world, not as of\nold Noah may have done, when secure from danger he looked down upon\nthe waters which overspread the earth; but \"He was wounded for our\niniquities, and he was bruised for our sins: and the Lord hath laid on\nhim the iniquities of us all\", He suffered and died for us. The moral\nruins of the world, our sins and their awful consequences, caused all\nthe pangs and sorrows of Jesus. Come then let us cast ourselves at the\nfoot of that cross, and cry aloud for mercy with a contrite and humble\nheart, which He will never despise. To _Thee_ alone, shall we say,\nhave we sinned, and have done evil before thee; yet have mercy on\nus, O God, according to thy great mercy. And thou, O blessed Virgin\nand Mother, who standest in silent anguish beneath the cross of thy\nagonising Son[56], would that we could feel love and sorrow like unto\nthine.\n\n  _Eja mater fons amoris_\n  _Me sentire vim doloris_\n  _Fac, ut tecum lugeam._\n  _Fac, ut ardeat cor meum_\n  _In amando Christum Deum,_\n  _Ut sibi complaceam. Amen._\n\n[Footnote 46: See also Palmer's Origines Liturgicae, Vol. 1 Antiq. of\nthe English ritual c. 1, p. 1. Both writers do not hesitate to admit\nthat the breviary is the great source of the Church of England's\nMorning and Evening prayer.]\n\n[Footnote 47: Our divine Lord sometimes passed the night in prayer;\nand the early Christians, as Pliny informs his master Trajan, used to\nassemble before the light to sing a hymn to Christ. Lucian as well as\nAmmianus Marcellinus complained of their spending the night in singing\nhymns. S. Jerome in fine writes to Eustoch. (Ep. 22) that besides the\ndaily hours of prayers we should rise _twice and thrice at night_.]\n\n[Footnote 48: In the mass and office for the dead several prayers and\nceremonies otherwise prescribed are omitted: so on this occasion, says\nBenedict XIV, \"the church forgetting all things else thinks only of\nbewailing the sins of mankind, and condoling with Christ our Redeemer\nin His sufferings\". As for the antiquity of this service, Martene\nremarks (lib. IV, c. 22) that the order of the _nocturnal_ and diurnal\noffices of holy-thursday is found, such as we now observe it, in the\nancient Antiphonarium of the Roman church, and in that of S. Gregory\npublished by B. Tommasi, so that there has been scarcely any variation\nduring the last thirteen hundred years.]\n\n[Footnote 49: When the Pope officiates, the eight candles over the\n_cancellata_ are lighted: six are lighted for a Cardinal, and four\nfor a Bishop. Amalarius priest of Metz in the ninth century (De ordine\nantiphonarii), mentions the extinction of the lights in the office\nof these three days. It would seem however, that it was not then\ncustomary at Rome, for Theodore, archdeacon of the Roman church,\nin answer to his enquiries had said to him \"I am usually with the\nApostolic Lord at the Lateran, when the office of Coena Domini (Holy\nThursday) is celebrated, and it is not customary to extinguish the\nlights. On Good Friday there is no light of lamps or tapers in the\nchurch in Jerusalem (Santa Croce) as long as the Apostolic Lord offers\nup solemn prayers there, or when the cross is saluted\". This latter\ncustom is still continued.]\n\n[Footnote 50: In confirmation of this explanation we may observe, that\nthe candle is placed behind the altar after the _Benedictus_ during\nthe anthem alluding to Christ's passion, and remains there while the\nverse 'Christ became obedient unto death' the psalm _Miserere_, and\nthe prayer which mentions the crucifixion, are sung.]\n\n[Footnote 51: See such opinions ap. Benedict. XIV, De festis Lib.\n1, c. 5. The system of Du Vert, who would reject all mystical and\nsymbolical significations attributed to the church-ceremonies, has\nbeen satisfactorily confuted by Langlet, Le Brun, Tournely and other\ndivines.]\n\n[Footnote 52: Tartini's and Pisari's lasted only one year each.]\n\n[Footnote 53: Persons, who go immediately after the service in the\nSixtine chapel to S. Peter's, are generally in time for part if not\nthe whole of the _Miserere_ sung in that Basilic. The compositions of\nFioravanti the late, Basili the present, master, and Zingarelli, are\nsung there.]\n\n[Footnote 54: See Reminiscences of Rome. Letter 4th. London, 1838 On\npilgrimages and pilgrims see Mores Catholici Book 4th, ch. 5th. S.\nPhilip Neri founded the Confraternity of Trinita dei Pellegrini.]\n\n  [Footnote 55:      ... lia fatto alla guancia\n  Della sua palma sospirando letto. Dante Pur. VII.\n\nSed frons laeta parum et dejecto lumina vultu. Virg. AEu. VI, 863.\nSee the learned canon. De Jorio's Munica degli antichi, art. Dolore,\nMestizia. We may add that conquered provinces are often represented in\na similar attitude as statues, on bas-reliefs, and on medals. See for\ninstance, Judaea Capta, a reverse of Vespasian, ap. Addison, Dialogues\non ancient medals.]\n\n[Footnote 56: \"Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother\". John\nXIX, 25.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. IV.\n\nON THE CEREMONIES OF HOLY THURSDAY\n\n\n_CONTENTS._\n\n    General character of the liturgy of holy thursday--its ancient\n    form--blessing of the oils at S. Peter's, communion under\n    one kind--origin and explanation of the blessing and\n    salutation of the oils--High mass in the Sixtine chapel,\n    _troccole_--procession of the B. Sacrament to the Pauline\n    chapel--antiquity of processions--reservation of the B.\n    Sacrament--Papal benediction from S. Peter's, _flabelli_--bull\n    in Coena Domini--washing of the feet--dinner of the\n    _apostles_--antiquity and meaning of this custom of\n    washing feet--customs of other churches: Leonardo da Vinci,\n    Michelangelo, Dante--Cardinals' public dinner etc.--Tenebrae:\n    Card. Penitentiary--recapitulation of the principal ceremonies\n    of the day--S. Peter's on holy thursday-evening: washing of\n    the high-altar--antiquity and meaning of the stripping and\n    washing of the altars--conclusion.\n\n    \"_Before the festival day of the pasch, Jesus knowing that\n    his hour was come, that he should pass out of this world to\n    the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he\n    loved them to the end_\". John XIII, 1.\n\n[Sidenote: Liturgy of holy-thursday]\n\nDuring the last three days of holy-week the church celebrates the\nfuneral obsequies of her Divine Spouse: and hence there are numerous\nsigns of mourning in her temples, in her liturgy, and in the dress of\nher ministers. On thursday however, a passing gleam of heavenly light\nirradiates the solemn gloom in which she is enveloped: for on this day\nJesus Christ, having loved his own even unto the end, instituted the\nholy sacrament, the staff of our pilgrimage, our solace in affliction,\nour strength in temptation, the source of all virtue, and the pledge\nof everlasting life. Accordingly the liturgy of holy-thursday bears\nthe impress both of sorrow and of gladness: it is not unlike a fitful\nday of April in our northern climes, when the sun now bursts from the\nclouds which had concealed his brilliancy, and now once more the sky\nis shrouded in murky gloom--an apt emblem this of the over-changing\nstate of man, who at one moment quaffs the inebriating cup of earthly\njoys, and yet a little, and it is dashed from his grasp; and sickness,\nsorrow and death are his portion.\n\n[Sidenote: its ancient form.]\n\nAnciently three masses used to be celebrated at Rome[57] on this day,\nas is evident from the sacramentary of pope Gelasius; and at all the\nthree the Pope himself officiated. At the first the public penitents\nwere absolved:[58] at the second the oils were blessed; the last (ad\nvespertinum officium) was intended to commemorate the institution\nof the blessed Sacrament. Public penance gradually declined in the\nwestern church after the seventh century; and the three masses are now\nreduced to one. That of the Sixtine chapel, at which the Pope assists,\ndiffers very little from ordinary Masses celebrated there, and the\nconcourse of persons is generally very great.\n\n[Sidenote: Blessing of the oils at S. Peter's]\n\n[Sidenote: Communion under one kind.]\n\nThe oils are blessed in S. Peter's during mass, by the Card.\narchpriest, or a Bishop in his stead. They are three, viz. 1 the oil\nof catechumens, used in blessing baptism, in consecrating churches and\naltars, in ordaining priests, and in blessing and crowning sovereigns:\n2 the oil of the sick used in administering extreme unction and in\nblessing bells: 3 sacred chrism, composed of oil, and balm of Gilead\nor of the west Indies[59]: it is used in conferring baptism and\nconfirmation, in the consecration of bishops, of patens and chalices,\nand in the blessing of bells. The Roman Pontifical prescribes, that\nbesides the bishop and the usual ministers, there should be present\ntwelve priests, seven deacons, and seven subdeacons, all habited in\nwhite vestments. After the elevation at those words of the canon, _Per\nquem haec omnia etc._ a little before the _Pater noster_, the Bishop\nsits down before a table facing the altar, and exorcises and blesses\nthe oil for the sick, which is brought in by a subdeacon. He then\nproceeds with the mass, and gives communion to the ministers and the\nrest of the under the form of bread alone[60]. Having received the\nablutions, he returns to the table above mentioned, and awaits the\ncoming of the procession of the priests, deacons, subdeacons etc. In\nit, the balsam is carried by a subdeacon, etc. the oil for the chrism\nand that for the catechumens by two deacons: and meantime the choir\nsings appropriate verses. The bishop blesses the balsam, and mixes\nit with some oil; he then breathes three times in the form of a cross\nover the vessel of chrism, as do the twelve priests also. Next follows\nthe blessing, and then the salutation, of the chrism: the latter\nis made 3 times by the bishop and each of the twelve priests in\nsuccession, saying, Hail holy chrism, after which they kiss the vessel\nwhich contains it. The oil of catechumens is blessed and saluted\nin like manner: and the procession returns to the sacristy; in the\nmean time the bishop concludes the mass; and thus this solemn rite\nterminates.\n\n[Sidenote: Origin of the blessing of the oils.]\n\nThe oil of the sick is mentioned in the well-known passage of St.\nJames V, 14 \"Is any man sick among you; let him bring in the priests\nof the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in\nthe name of the Lord etc.\" At the beginning of the fifth century also,\nPope Innocent I observes that it is the office of the bishop to make\nor prepare (_conficere_) this \"holy of chrism\" or unction: and in the\nSacramentary of Pope Gregory the great the rite; by which this oil was\nblessed and administered to the sick, is described. Chrism and the\noil of catechumens also are mentioned by many ancient Fathers. (See\nTurnely T. 7 de Sacram. Bapt. et Confirm, etc.)[61] St. Basil in the\n4th century attributes the origin of the custom of blessing the oils\nto tradition. \"We bless the water of baptism and the _oil of unction_,\nas well as the person who receives baptism. By what scriptures? Is\nit not from silent and secret tradition?\" (De Spir. S. c. 27). It is\nmentioned also in the second and third councils of Carthage, by S.\nCyprian, who says \"The eucharist, and the oil, with which the baptised\nare anointed, are sanctified at the altar\". Ep. 70.\n\nIt would appear however from the 20th canon of the first council of\nToledo that anciently chrism could be blessed _at any time_; and hence\nBenedict XIV is of opinion, that the custom of blessing it only on\nholy Thursday began about the seventh century; for it is mentioned in\nthe Sacramentary of S. Gregory, in the old Ordo Romanus, and in other\nworks written after that period. This day has been with reason chosen\nfor this ceremony, as St. Thomas observes, in order that the chrism\nmay be prepared for the solemn baptism administered on Easter Eve;\nand because on it the Eucharistic sacrament, for which the other\nsacraments are as it were preparatory, was instituted. S. Isidore\nhowever assigns a different reason, viz. that two days before the\npasch Mary _anointed_ the head and feet of the Lord\". De Divi Off.\nlib. 2, c. 28.\n\n[Sidenote: Meaning of the ceremonies already described.]\n\nPouget (Institut. Cath. t. 2, c. 8) proves that the blessing of the\noils originates in apostolic tradition, as St. Basil cited above\nobserves. He proves also that since the fifth and sixth centuries the\nbishop and priests used to breathe three times over the chrism and\noil of catechumens, and to salute them with the words \"Ave sanctum\nchrisma: ave sanctum oleum\". Our Saviour breathed on His apostles,\nwhen He said 'Receive ye the holy Ghost': and hence his ministers\nbreathe over the chrism, by which the Holy Ghost is conferred in\nconfirmation, and over the oil of catechumens, which is used in other\nsacred rites. Respect is paid to them, because they are employed in\nGod's service, and hence it is a relative respect directed to Him.\nAn ardent soul will never hesitate to address inanimate objects; in\nfact some of the finest passages of ancient and modern oratory are\napostrophes of this nature[62]. S. Andrew is said to have saluted the\ncross, on which he suffered, S. Paula the birth-place of our divine\nLord; and theirs were words of love of God, and not of idolatry.\n\n[Sidenote: High mass in the Sixtine chapel.]\n\nIn the Sixtine chapel the crucifix and tapestry over the altar are\ncovered with a white and not a purple veil; the throne also is white,\nand the Pope is vested in a white cope. On the rich facing of the\naltar is represented Christ dead, His descent into limbo, and His\nresurrection. The cardinal dean generally celebrates the high mass,\nafter the _Gloria in excelsis_ of which no bells are allowed to be\ntolled in Rome (except at the papal benediction) but in their stead\nare used _troccole_ or boards struck with iron: this practice is\nobserved until the _Gloria in excelsis_ is sung in the papal chapel\non the following saturday-morning[63].\n\nAfter the offertory of the mass Palestrina's motet _Fratres ego enim_\nis sung; of which Baini says that he \"does not hesitate to affirm that\nit resembles as closely as possible the music of heaven\". Two hosts\nare consecrated, one of which is received by the celebrant, and the\nother destined for the following day is put into a chalice, which the\ndeacon covers with a paten and _palla_ or linen cloth, as the dead\nbody of Christ was wrapped in \"fine linen\"[64]. Mark XV, 46. At\nthe beginning of the canon twelve lighted torches are brought in\nby _bussolanti_; and after the elevation two masters of ceremonies\ndistribute among the cardinals and others candles carried by clerks of\nthe chapel, in preparation for the procession. The usual kiss of peace\nis not given, from detestation of the treacherous kiss given this day\nby Judas to his divine master, as Alcuin remarks[65].\n\n[Sidenote: Antiquity of processions]\n\nImmediately after mass the cardinal celebrant with his ministers\nleaves the chapel; the other cardinals, bishops and mitred abbots, put\non their respective sacred vestments, and the _Uditori di Rota_, the\n_Cherici di Camera, Votanti_, and _Abbreviatiori_, their surplices:\nthe other prelates wear their usual _cappe_. They all now accompany\nthe B. Sacrament to the Pauline chapel[66] in solemn procession, which\nis regulated like that of palm-Sunday. The singers go to the _sala\nregia_, illuminated with large cornucopia, and there begin to sing\nthe _Pange lingua_ (a hymn in honour of the holy Sacrament) as soon\nas the cross covered with a purple veil appears: the last verses of\nit are sung in the Pauline chapel, which is splendidly illuminated.\nThe cardinals bearing their mitres and torches precede two by two\nthe Holy Father, who bare-headed and on foot carries the blessed\nSacrament under a canopy supported by eight assistant bishops or\nprotonotaries[67]. When the Pope reaches the altar, the first cardinal\ndeacon receives from His hands the B. Sacrament, and preceded by\ntorches carries it to the upper part of the _macchina_; M. Sagrista\nplaces it within the urn commonly called the sepulchre, where it is\nincensed by the Pope; in the mean time the conclusion of the hymn is\nsung. M. Sagrista then shuts the sepulchre, and delivers the key to\nthy Card. Penitentiary, who is to officiate on the following day.\n\n[Sidenote: Reservation of the B. Sacrament.]\n\nTwo objects are obtained by this custom; 1st. the blessed sacrament\nis solemnly preserved for the adoration of the faithful on this\nanniversary of its institution, as well as for the priest's communion\non good friday[68]; 2nd. the burial of our divine Saviour is\nrepresented: this is anticipated, in order that the principal altar\nmay be striped, in sign of mourning, and as He was stripped before His\ncrucifixion.\n\n[Sidenote: Papal benediction: _flabelli_.]\n\n[Sidenote: Bulla in Coena Domina.]\n\nThe procession, of which we have already spoken, afterwards proceeds\nfrom the Pauline chapel to the _loggia_ in front of S. Peter's: but\nthe Pope, as he no longer carries the B. Sacrament, wears his mitre,\nand is seated in his _sedia gestatoria_ under a canopy carried by\neight Referendarii[69]; and the _flabelli_[70] are carried at each\nside of Him. He now gives his solemn benediction to the multitude\nassembled before St. Peter's. This however is repeated with even\ngreater splendour on Easter-Sunday, as well as on the Ascension and\nAssumption; and we shall therefore reserve a description of it to\nanother occasion, especially since generally speaking, persons who are\nanxious to witness the _lavanda_ or washing of the feet will find it\ndifficult to be present also at the Benediction[71].\n\n[Sidenote: Washing of the feet.]\n\nAfter the benediction, the cardinals and others take off their sacred\nvestments, and resume their _cappe_, which they wear during the\n_lavanda_ or washing of the feet. This now takes place in S. Peters,\nin a side-chapel adorned with two _arazzi_; one representing Leonardo\nDa Vinci's last supper is placed behind the benches prepared for the\npriests whose feet are to be washed by the Pope: and the other, which\nrepresents Providence seated on the globe between Justice and Charity,\nabove two lions holding banners of the church, is placed over the\nthrone. The Pope is habited in a red cope, and wears a mitre. Seated\non His throne, and surrounded by cardinals, prelates, and other\ndignitaries of His court, He puts incense into the thurible, being\nassisted as usual by the first Cardinal priest. He then gives the\nblessing, usual before the gospel is sung, to the Cardinal-deacon\nhabited in his sacred vestments, who sings that beautiful passage of\nthe gospel of S. John, which explains the origin of this ceremony:\n\"Jesus knowing that his hour was come, that he should pass out of\nthis world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world,\nhe loved them to the end. Knowing that the Father had given him all\nthings into his hands, he began to wash the feet of his disciples, and\nwipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded, and he said to them;\nIf I being Lord and Master have washed your feet, you also ought to\nwash one another's feet; for I have given you an example, that as I\nhave done to you, so you do also\". At the end of the gospel, the Pope\nkisses the book, the Cardinal Deacon incenses Him as usual, and the\nchoir begins to sing beautiful anthems allusive to the affecting\nceremony, and recommending charity, the distinctive virtue of\nChristians, more precious than even faith and hope. The Pope's cope is\nthen taken off, and a towel is fastened to his girdle by the assisting\nCard. deacons; and then, in imitation of his Divine Master, he washes\nand kisses the right foot[72] of 13 priests, called the _apostles_,\ndressed in _cappe_ of white cloth, and wearing high cap, which in form\nresemble those on the bas-reliefs of Persepolis: each of them receives\nfrom Him a towel, and a nosegay, besides a gold and silver medal\npresented by the Treasurer[73]. The Pope then returns to his throne,\nwashes his hands[74] is vested once more in the cope, and recites the\nOur Father and the concluding prayers.\n\n[Sidenote: Dinner of the _apostles_.]\n\nHis Holiness afterwards waits on the 13 _apostles_ at table, in a hall\nin the Vatican palace, (at present in the hall above the portico of S.\nPeter's), giving them water to wash their hands, helping them to soup,\none or more dishes, and pouring out wine and water for them once or\ntwice. The plates are handed to Him by prelates of _mantelletta_, and\nduring the ceremony one of His chaplains reads a spiritual book. He\nthen gives them his blessing, washes His hands, and departs. \"Which\nis greater\" says our Saviour, \"he that sitteth at table or he that\nserveth? Is not he that sitteth at table? but I am in the midst of you\nas he that serveth?\"\n\n[Sidenote: Antiquity and meaning of the _lavanda_.]\n\nFrom the most remote antiquity, it was customary among the Hebrews and\nother nations, that the feet of strangers and guests should be washed\nbefore they reclined at table, as they had often travelled on foot.\nThus the angels entertained by Abraham and Lot (Gen. XVIII, XIX),\nwere supplied with water to wash their feet: Abraham's servants in\nthe house of Laban, and the brothers of Joseph, when received by him,\nwashed their feet. (Gen. XLIII, 24)[75]. In these cases however the\nguest washed his own feet; and hence the condescension of our Divine\nLord was an act not of hospitality or charity alone, but also of\nprofound humility; and accordingly he put on a towel or apron, like\nan ordinary slave, as Ferrari observes (De Re Vestiaria par. 1).\nMost interpreters are of opinion, that Christ washed the feet of His\ndisciples towards the close of the ordinary supper, and shortly before\nHe instituted the holy Sacrament; in order to signify the purity\nwith which it should be received. His example was imitated by His\ndisciples, and accordingly S. Paul (1 Tim. V, 10) speaks of widows who\n\"have washed the saints' feet,\" as Magdalen had washed those of our\nLord.\n\nIn the Roman church, as in that of Bologna, it has been for many\nages customary for the Bishop to wash feet on this day. In the _Ordo\nRomanus_ of Cencius Camerarius it is mentioned, that the Roman Pontiff\nafter mass washed the feet of twelve subdeacons, and after dinner\nof 13 poor persons, or according to the Ordines Romani published by\nMabillon, of 12 deacons. The _Ceremoniale_, attributed to Marcellus\narchbishop of Corcyra, prescribes that the Pope should wash the feet\nof thirteen poor men. Various causes are assigned by different authors\nto explain, why the number is thirteen, and not twelve as was that of\nthe apostles. (See Benedict XIV, De Festis, lib. I, c. VI, Sec.Sec. 57, 58).\nThe most probable account, we think, is that the thirteenth _apostle_\nwas added in memory of the angel, who is believed to have appeared\namong the 12 poor guests of S. Gregory the great, while he was\nexercising united charity and humility. A painting of this event may\nbe seen in one of the chapels near his church on the Caelian mount,\nin which is preserved the table, at which he daily fed twelve poor\npersons. (See the passage of John the deacon cited above in the note).\nThe two customs of washing the feet first of 12, and then of 13, have\nbeen reduced to one, and in it the number 13 is preserved[76].\n\n[Sidenote: Cardinals' public dinner.]\n\nTill within the last few years the Cardinals used to dine in public\nat the Vatican on holy Thursday and good Friday, that they might be\nspared the trouble of returning to their respective palaces before\nTenebrae; and anciently the Pope used to dine with them at the Lateran\npalace, in the hall called the Triclinium Leonianum[77]. The Pontiff\nwore on such occasions his cope and mitre, and the Cardinals were\nhabited in sacred vestments with mitres. After dinner a sermon was\npreached before the Cardinals. _Mons. Maggiordomo_ used to invite on\nthese days prelates, officers, and others engaged in the _cappella_ or\npalace, to a dinner at which he presided.\n\n[Sidenote: Tenebrae etc.]\n\n[Sidenote: Recapitulation.]\n\nIn the afternoon, at the office of Tenebrae, among other signs of\nmourning, the cross is veiled in black, and the candles are of yellow\nwax: the Pope's throne is stripped of its usual ornaments, and is\nwithout a canopy: the cardinals' and prelates' benches also are\nwithout carpets. The Cardinal Penitentiary goes to S. Peter's, where\nthe minor Penitentiaries are Conventuals of S. Francis. We have spoken\non these subjects in the preceding chapters. We may here recapitulate\nthe principal ceremonies of the day, as Morcelli has done in his\nCalendar. The oils are blessed in S. Peter's; the Pope assists at mass\nin the Sixtine chapel, carries the B. Sacrament to the Pauline chapel,\ngives His solemn benediction from S. Peter's, washes the feet of\nthirteen priests and serves them at table. In the afternoon Tenebrae\nin the Sixtine chapel; and the Cardinal great Penitentiary goes to S\nPeter's.\n\n[Sidenote: S. Peter's on holy thursday-evening.]\n\nIn this basilic the B. Sacrament is preserved amid many lights in the\n_Sepulchre_ in a side-chapel[78], and several confraternities come\nin procession to venerate the relics, of which we shall speak in the\nnext chapter. It is much to be regretted that the cross, which used\non holy-Thursday and good-Friday to glow with 628 lights[79], and to\nproduce a splendid effect by the _chiaroscuro_ which resulted from it\nin this vast and magnificent fabric, is no longer suspended before\nthe Confession, in consequence of irreverent conduct on preceding\noccasions.\n\n[Sidenote: Washing of the altar.]\n\nThere still remains another remarkable ceremony customary in S.\nPeter's on holy-Thursday. After the office of Tenebrae, the chapter of\nthat basilica proceeds in procession from the chapel of the choir to\nthe high altar. The black stoles which six of the canons wear, and the\nyellow and extinguished tapers of the acolythes, are signs of mourning\nfor the sufferings of Christ. They all carry elegant _aspergilli_[80]\nof box or other wood, and having prayed for a short time in silence,\nthey chant the anthem \"They divided my garments etc.\" and the psalm \"O\nGod, my God, why hast thou abandoned me?\" A fine cloth, which covered\nthe altar, is then removed from it, and the Cardinal-priest of the\nchurch and the six canons pour whine upon the altar, and wash it\nwith their _aspergilli_ or brushes. After the other canons, beneficed\nclergymen, etc. have in turn washed it in like manner: the Cardinal\nand the six canons begin to dry it with sponges and towels: all then\nkneel down, and the ceremony concludes with the verse \"Christ became\nobedient unto death etc.\" the Our Father, and the prayer of the day\n\"Look down, we beseech thee etc.\"[81] The chapter then venerates the\nrelics shewn as usual from the gallery above S. Veronica's statue.\n\n[Sidenote: Antiquity and meaning of these ceremonies.]\n\nThe _stripping_ of the altars, which is practised on this day\nthroughout the western church, is mentioned in the most ancient _Ordo\nRomanus_: indeed anciently the altars used to be stripped every\nday, as Du Vert (Ceremon. de l'Eglise T. IV.) and Cancellieri (De\nSecretariis T. IV.) have shewn. The custom of _washing_ the altar\nis observed in the Latin church in those of the Dominicans and\nCarmelites; and also according to Benedict XIV \"in many churches of\nFrance, Germany and other remote countries\" among which Cancellieri\nreckons Spain. It is mentioned by S. Isidore (lib. de Eccles. Offic.\nc. 18) by Alcuin (de divinis offic.) and in the Sarum, Parisian and\nmany other missals quoted by Martene. What however is its meaning?\nWhile Monsignor Battelli, in his dissertation on the subject,\nmaintains that this custom was instituted for the sake of cleanliness,\nrather than from a wish to denote any mystery, and that this day\nwas selected as the most convenient, because the altars were already\nstripped; the abbot Rupert and Belet discover mystical meanings in\nthe sponges, towels, wine, water, and even _aspergilli_. We prefer\na middle course, and while we are willing to admit with Durandus and\nothers an allusion in the wine and water to the blood and water which\nflowed from our Saviour on the cross, we maintain with the learned S.\nIsidore, S. Eligius, Benedict XIV and others, that we wash the altar,\nthe symbol of Christ, from motives of respect to Him, who on this day\nwashed the feet of His disciples.\n\nTwo great virtues are embodied in the ceremonies of this day, and\nimpart to them their life and loveliness: they are the essential and\ncharacteristic virtues of Christians, by the practice of which they\nimitate their divine Master and model, and come at last to be united\nto Him in heaven. Christ was moved by charity to institute the Holy\nSacrament, and by humility to wash His disciples feet. Let us then\nlearn of him because He was meek and humble of heart, and let us love\none another, because Christ hath first loved us, and commands us to\nlove one another.\n\n[Footnote 57: In Africa two were customary, one in the morning, and\nthe other after supper. S. August. ep. 54 ad Januarium.]\n\n[Footnote 58: For an account of this ancient ceremony the reader\nmay see Fleury, Moeurs des Chretiens; _Funz. della Settimana Santa._\nMartene, lib. IV, 22. etc.]\n\n[Footnote 59: \"Balsam is produced in the vineyards of Engaddi, and\nin preparing chrism it is mixed with oil and consecrated by the\npontifical benediction, that all the faithful may be signed with this\nunction at confirmation\". Ven. Bede, in canlic. cap. I. The Greeks\nbless the chrism on the same day as the Latins, having prepared it a\nfew days previously. See their Euchelogium, Ordo VIII entitled, On\nthe composition of the great ointment in the Costantinop. church ap.\nMartene, loc. cit.]\n\n[Footnote 60: Only one priest says mass in each on this day and\nthe other priests communicate, as on it Christ alone said mass, and\ndistributed the Holy communion to the apostles. Although for many\ncenturies both kinds were ordinarily received, yet the custom of\ncommunicating under the form of bread alone is very ancient. Thus\nin time of persecution the faithful used to carry to their houses\nthe holy communion under the form of bread alone, the hermits also\npreserved it in the deserts, the sick received it as their viaticum,\nthe ministers of God kept it in the churches, for their spiritual\nsupport, and the bishops used to send it to their clergy in token of\ntheir union in charity. These were all instances of communion under\none kind, which are enumerated and proved by many Catholic divines,\nas for instance by Dr. Rock in his Hierurgia. They demonstrate the\nconstant belief of the church, that the whole sacrament is received\nunder one kind only; and Christ himself in the scriptures attributes\nits admirable effects to the act of _eating_ only as well as to that\nof _eating and drinking_. \"He that eateth this bread shall live for\never\" etc. In fact since His resurrection \"He dieth now no more\": His\nbody and blood and soul and Divinity are united together for evermore,\nand consequently the communicant receives under the form of bread\nalone Christ himself whole and entire. The Latin church prescribed\nthe general reception of communion under one kind, in order to obviate\naccidents which frequently arose from the indiscriminate use of the\nchalice, and in opposition to the error of the Hussites: Thus Paul\nII took occasion from the presence of Frederic III at Rome, to give a\npublic and illustrious proof of the condemnation of this new heresy\nby the church, by giving communion under one kind only to the Emperor,\nand also to the deacon and subdeacon, who generally communicate under\nboth kinds when the Pope sings mass. In the Greek and other oriental\nchurches communion is administered under one kind to the sick and\nothers who are prevented by distance from communicating in the\nchurches. The general communion customary on holy-thursday is\nprescribed by the English bishop Walter in the 10th century, in the\ncapitulary of Theodulph of Orleans, and by all ancient pontificals and\nmissals, according to Martene T. 3, p. 98. It is practised also by the\nGreeks, as Leo Allatius testifies. De consensu utriusque Ecclesiae lib.\n3. Palmer (Vol. 2. p. 76) says \"It is not essential to the validity\nof the Sacrament, that the bread should be whole and entire before\nconsecration, and broken afterwards: but the Universal practice of\nthe Christian church, derived from the apostles and from Jesus Christ\nhimself ought not to be infringed in this matter\". Yet even Bp.\nMiddleton whom he quotes in the same page, says \"When there were\nmany communicants, _in primitive times, there were several cakes or\nloaves_, in proportion to the number: and it took some time after the\nconsecration was finished, to break and divide them for distribution\".\nEach person communicated from his own offering: hence S. Augustine\nsays \"Erubescere debet homo idoneus si de aliena oblatione\ncommunicaverit\" Serm. 215 de Temp, any longer justification of the\ngeneral practice of the Roman church would therefore be superfluous.]\n\n[Footnote 61: \"From the frequent mention of _oil_ in scripture as the\nemblem of spiritual gifts it was actually used in the primitive church\nin the ceremonies of admitting catechumens, and in baptising\". Tracts\nof the Times, Vol. 1, no. 34.]\n\n[Footnote 62: Our ardent love of this classic soil tempts us to insert\nthe following noble instance from Cicero (pro Milone XXXI) \"Vos enim\njam _Albani_ tumuli atque luci vos, inquam, imploro alque tester\nvosque Albanorum obrutae arae, sacrorum populi Romani sociae et aequales,\nquas ille praeceps amentia caesis prostratisque sanctissimi lucis\nsubstructionum insanis molibus oppresserat: vestrae tum arae, vestrae\nreligiones viguerunt, vestra vis valuit, quam ille (Clodius) omni\nscelere polluarat: tuque ex tuo edito monte, Latiaris sancte Jupiter,\ncujus ille lacus, nemora, finesque saepe omni nefario stupro et scelere\nmacularat, aliquaudo ad eum puniendum oculos aperuisti: vobis illae,\nvobis vestro in conspecta serae sed justae tamen et debitae paenae solutae\nsunt\".]\n\n[Footnote 63: These _troccole_ were formerly called by the hard names\nof _crepitacula ligna congregantia, mallei excitatorii_. The Greeks\nused them anciently, as Martene proves from a libellus de miraculis\nAnastasii presented to the second council of Nice, from S. John\nChrysostom's life by Metaphrastes etc. etc. In modern times also they\ncontinue to use them. Benedict XIV observes that the practice of the\nLatin church on these days is intended to preserve the remembrance of\nthe ancient custom. It is also evidently intended, like the reversed\narms of the soldiers, as a sign of mourning for the death of Christ.\nThis silence of the bells is prescribed in the ancient rituals:\nmystical interpreters assign as a reason, that they signify Christ's\npreachers and apostles, who were silent during the sufferings of their\nMaster.]\n\n[Footnote 64: S. Greg. Turon. De mirac. S. Martini \"oblatis super\naltare sacris muneribus, mysterioque Corporis et Sanguinis Christi\npalla ex more cooperto.\", Vid. Bona. Lib. II, c. 13. not. 12.]\n\n[Footnote 65: This mass is found in the Antiphonary and Sacramentary\nof Pope Gregory the great; in all churches but the Roman, as Marlene\nobserves, vespers were joined with the mass on this day, as they are\non holy Saturday throughout the Latin church. On holy-thursday the\nPope used generally to preach after the gospel, and in the mean time\nthe Cardinals stripped the altar: after the sermon the Pope blessed\nthe people as usual, and then began the _Credo_, according to\nBenedict, Canon of S. Peter's. His Holiness drank on this day directly\nfrom the chalice, and did not use the golden reed or _fistola_, as on\nother occasions; this we learn from the Apamean Pontifical.]\n\n[Footnote 66: This chapel was erected by Paul III according to the\ndesign of Antonio Sangallo. Its two large frescoes are the last\nefforts of the genius of Michelangelo, then aged 75 years: they\nrepresent the crucifixion of S. Peter and the conversion of S. Paul.\nThe fall of Simon Magus, and the baptism conferred by S. Peter,\npainted on the righthand-wall are works of Federico Zuccheri; on the\nopposite side S. Paul at Malta, and restoring the young man, who had\nfallen from a window, are by Lorenzo Sabbatino da Bologna, the ceiling\nwas painted by Federico Zuccheri. The B. Sacrament is publicly and\nsolemnly exposed in this chapel for the adoration of the faithful on\nthe first Sunday of Advent as well as on holy-thursday See Chaltard;\n_Descriz. del Vaticano_ Taja, _Palazzo Vaticano_.]\n\n[Footnote 67: S. John Chrysostom established processions at\nConstantinople in opposition to those of the Arians; and the empress\nEudoxia supplied the people with silver crosses and wax lights, to be\ncarried on such occasions. Socrat. Hist. Eccl. lib. VI, c. 8, Sozomen\nlib. VIII, c. 8. Processions were incompatible with the persecutions\nof the first three centuries. During them, and even long after\nConstantine, in consequence of the discipline of secrecy, there was\nneither public exposition or procession of the B. Sacrament. The\nfaithful however adored it privately, as for instance, S. Gregory\nNazianzen relates of his sister Gorgonia, that when seized by a fever\n\"she fell down with faith before the altar, and invoked with a loud\ncry Him who is honoured thereupon\". (Discourse on her funeral). S.\nCyril of Jerusalem also exhorts the believer, that when he receives\nthe chalice of the blood of Christ he should bow down profoundly\nand adore. (Catech. 5), The office and mass of Corpus Christi\nwere composed by S. Thomas Aquinas. As holy-thursday is in great\npart devoted to the sufferings of Christ, the festival of _Corpus\nChristi_ with its procession was instituted about the middle of the\nthirteenth century by Urban IV at the petition of B. Juliana of Mount\n_Cornelione_, and in consequence of the miracle of Bolsena, well known\nas the subject of one of Raffaello's frescoes in the Vatican. See\nBened. XIV, De Festis, and the authors cited by him. The miraculous\ncorporal stained with blood is still preserved at Orvieto, the\ncelebrated cathedral of which owes its foundation to the miracle. \"No\none eats that flesh, says S. Augustine, unless he has first adored\" in\nps. 98 \"The flesh of Christ,\" says S. Ambrose \"which we adore even now\nin the mysteries, and which the apostles adored in the Lord Jesus\" (de\nSpir. S. lib. 34, c. 12) All the fathers and liturgies mention this\nadoration, which was therefore derived from apostolic tradition. Sala\nad Bonae lib. 2, c. 13.]\n\n[Footnote 68: In the Greek church communion is on this day reserved\nfor the sick of the ensuing year under the form of bread alone,\naccording to Leo Allatius. (De utriusque Ecclesiae consensione). Pope\nInnocent I in the beginning of the 5th century directs, that the\neucharist be preserved on this day for the priest and the sick. This\nreservation is mentioned also in the Gregorian sacramentary, without\nany mention of the sacred blood, since it might be spilt. It has taken\nplace in the Pauline chapel ever since its erection by Paul III. A\nparticle of the B. Sacrament was formerly preserved after mass on\nfestivals and carried back in procession to the sacristy: it was\ncarried to the altar in procession on the next festival, and a portion\nor the whole of it was put into the chalice before the host was\nbroken. See Cancellieri, De Secretariis T. I, p. 217, seq.]\n\n[Footnote 69: These prelates used to refer cases and petitions to the\nPopes, as they now do the former to their tribunal, which according to\nGonzalez derives its name of _Segnatura_ from the _signature_ of the\nsovereign affixed to its decree.]\n\n[Footnote 70: They are formed of peacocks' feathers, the eyes of which\naccording to Macri and others signify the vigilance and circumspection\nof the Pontiffs. They are mentioned in the apostolic constitutions, in\nwhich it is prescribed, that two deacons should hold, them in order\nto drive away flies, which might otherwise fall into the chalice.\nAccordingly, at the ordination of the deacons in the Greek church,\namong other instruments a Flabellum is given to them for their\nministry at the altar: this S. Anastasius is said to have used while\na deacon. Flabella are mentioned in the liturgies of SS. Basil,\nChrisostom, and other Greek and Syriac liturgies, Flabella are in\nthe Latin church a mark of distinction, and are carried for the Grand\nPrior of the knights of Malta the bishop of Troja in Aquila, and the\narchbishop of Messina, as well as for His Holiness.]\n\n[Footnote 71: Since the time of Clement XIV, the custom of reading\nfrom the _loggia_ on this day the bull in _Coena Domini_ has been\nabolished. (On this bull see de Maistre du Pape lib. 2, c. 14).\nAccording to the doctrine of S. Paul, the B. Sacrament is the bond\nas it is the symbol of union or _communion_ between the faithful; \"We\nbeing many are one body, all who partake of one bread\" 1 Cor. X, 17,\nand hence this day of its institution was selected for the public\n_excommunication_ of those, who reject the doctrines of the church, or\nmaliciously oppose her ordinances. After the bull had been read \"many\ncandles are lighted, of which the Lord Pope himself holds some, and\neach cardinal and prelate one lighted, and he extinguishes and throws\nthem on the ground, saying, we excommunicate all the aforesaid; and\nthen the bells are rung together without observing any order\". Ap.\nGatticuin, Acta Cerem. 82. These ceremonies are interpreted to mean\nthe _extinction of the grace_ of the holy Ghost; and the dispersion\nof unbelievers, as on the contrary the regular and orderly ringing of\nbells calls the faithful together.]\n\n[Footnote 72: It is supported by the subdeacon habited in the tunic or\n_tonacella_.]\n\n[Footnote 73: John the deacon, in his life of Gregory the great,\nmentions the _Sacellarius_ or Treasurer (see Thomassin lib. 2. c. 103,\nn. 11), whom that holy Pope commanded according to custom to invite\nthe twelve pilgrims to dinner. Besides the gifts mentioned above,\nthe white dress is given to these _apostles_, who are chosen by some\nCardinals, Ambassadors, the Propaganda, the _Maggiordomo_, and the\ncaptain of the Swiss guards.]\n\n[Footnote 74: The water is brought to him by the Prince assisting at\nthe throne, and the towel is presented by the first Cardinal Priest.\nWhen the Pope is prevented from performing this ceremony, the Cardinal\nDean supplies his place in presence of the sacred college (Lunadoro).\nIn that case the gospel is sung, not by a cardinal, but by the prelate\nwho is deacon of the _cappella_. Formerly, according to the MS.\nPontifical of the Apamean church written in 1214, Vespers were sung by\nthe Pope's chaplains, while he washed the feet of twelve subdeacons.]\n\n[Footnote 75: Chardin and other travellers testify, that this practice\nis preserved in modern times. In Homer's Odyssey the custom of taking\na bath before a banquet is frequently mentioned, III, 467; IV, 49, VI.\n216; VIII, 449.]\n\n[Footnote 76: The emperors of Costantinople used (according to\nCodinus De Officiis Aulae Costantinop.) to wash the feet of twelve poor\npersons: and Vespasiano Fiorentino in the fifteenth century, in his\nlife of Alfonso di Napoli quoted by Cancellieri, says that \"Il Giovedi\nSanto lavava i piedi a tanti poveri, quant' egli aveva anni, et\nlavavagli, come si deve ... et a tutti dava una veste bianca, et un\npajo di calze, et un Alfonsino, et un fiorino et un carlino, et non\nso che altra moneta. Dipoi il Giovedi medesimo faceva ordinare una\ncena,... et la Maesta del Re la pigliava, et metteva loro innanzi, e\ncon il vino, et quello avevano di bisogno con grandissima umilta\".\nSee also Martene, De Ant. Eccl. Rit. Lib. IV, c. XII, Sec. 8. Our readers\nwill here call to mind the good old custom still preserved of the\nmaundy of our British Sovereigns, so called from mandatum, the first\nword of the first anthem sung during, the washing of the feet. In the\nGreek church, according to Baillet, not only are the feet of twelve\npoor persons washed, but the name of an apostle is given to each of\nthem; as it may be supposed, nobody is anxious to have the name of\nJudas Iscariot: so lots are drawn to determine the person who is to\nrepresent that traitor. This may remind us of the threat of Leonardo\nda Vinci to copy the head of Judas, in his celebrated last supper,\nfrom the importunate Prior of S. Maria delle Grazie of Milan. Poor\nLeonardo despaired of finding a model for the head of our Saviour; and\nfor more than a year was seeking the rabble for a fit subject whom he\nmight represent as Judas: meantime the Prior was continually worrying\nhim to finish the fresco. \"In ogni caso poi\" said he to Lodovico\nSforza, \"faro capitale del ritratto del P. Priore, che lo merita\nper la sua importunita e per la sua poca discrezione\". The story of\nLeonardo bears some resemblance to the manner in which Michelangelo\npunished Biagio da Cesena Pontifical Master of Ceremonies, who\nbefore Daniel of Volterra had acquired his well-known nickname of\n_braghettone_ complained to the Pope, that the naked figures of\nthe last judgment were unworthy of a house of prayer. The artist\nintroduced his censor in his painting as Minos judge of the infernal\nregions, with long ears like those of the other devils, and a\nserpent's tail. Paul III when appealed to is said to have answered,\nthat if his Ceremoniere had been in Purgatory, he might have helped\nhim out, but out of hell there was no redemption. This Papal witticism\nPlatner could not find in any writer earlier than Richardson (See\nBeschreibung der Stadt Rom) but _se non e vero, e ben trovato_.\nDante was not more scrupulous than Michelangelo about thrusting his\nopponents into his _inferno_.\n\n      Pictoribus atque poetis\n  Quidlibet audendi semper fuit aequa potestas.\n]\n\n[Footnote 77: The mosaics with which it was adorned by Pope Leo III\nare preserved in the great niche adjoining the _scala santa_.]\n\n[Footnote 78: The Portuguese, Spanish and some other churches\nare generally distinguished on this day by the brilliancy of the\nillumination of their _sepulchres_.]\n\n[Footnote 79: In the eighth century Pope Hadrian I, according to\nAnastasius, suspended under the principal or _triumphal_ arch, as it\nwas called, a silver cross with 1365 or 1380 small lamps, which where\nlighted at Easter and other great festivals. This was perhaps the\norigin of the cross which used to be suspended in S. Peter's at this\nseason.]\n\n[Footnote 80: We have already mentioned an ancient Christian fresco in\nwhich an aspergillum is represented.]\n\n[Footnote 81: Formerly, as Card. Borgia has proved (De Cruce Vaticana)\nthis ceremony was performed in S. Peter's on good Friday. In other\nchurches there were two distinct observances; 1. that of stripping\nthe altars on holy Thursday, when Christ's passion began; and 2. that\nof washing them with wine and on good Friday, when blood and water\nflowed from His side, as the Abbot Rupert observes. For the ancient\nceremonies of this day at Rome see besides the Apamean Pontifical\nabove-cited, the Pontificals of Egebert archbishop of York and of\nTirpin archbishop of Rheims ap. Martene, loc. cit. In some places\nthe fast of Lent was not observed on this day, as appears from\nS. Augustine, Ep. 54 and Januarium. Of old this was the day for\nshaving in preparation for Easter-Sunday: it was therefore called\nshere-Thursday.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. V.\n\nON THE CEREMONIES OF GOOD-FRIDAY\n\n\n_CONTENTS._\n\n    Ancient ceremonies at Rome--Service in the Sixtine\n    chapel--Passio--Sermon and indulgence--Prayers for all\n    mankind--exposition of the cross; ancient crucifixes and\n    crosses--_adoration_ of the cross; its antiquity--Palestrina's\n    _improperii_, Trisagion--chant of the hymn _Pange lingua\n    gloriosi lauream etc_,--Procession of the B. Sacrament--_Mass_\n    of the Presanctified, Vespers--Tenebrae--Veneration of the\n    principal relics at S Peter's--Grounds of belief in the\n    genuineness of relics--1. Relic of the cross--2. of the\n    lance--3. _Volto Santo_--Reflections--Recapitulation.\n\n    \"_The principal object of the church in the office of this\n    day is, that Jesus Christ crucified may be placed before\n    our eyes, that touched with contrition at the sight, our\n    souls may be so disposed, as to obtain the fruit of\n    redemption_\" Bened. XIV, De Festis D.N.J.C. lib. 1. c. 7.\n\n[Sidenote: Ancient ceremonies.]\n\nOn good Friday the Pope used formerly to go with the Cardinals and the\nother members of the court to the Oratory of S. Lorenzo called _Sancta\nSanctorum_ in the Lateran palace, where they venerated and kissed the\nrelics of SS. Peter and Paul, as well as two crosses preserved there.\nOne of these was then carried by a Cardinal Priest, and and the Host\nconsecrated on the preceding day was borne by another Cardinal of\nthe same order; the Pope, the Cardinals and all the others were\nbare-footed, and walked in procession reciting psalms to S. John\nLateran's and thence to S. Croce, where the station was held and the\nceremonies of the day were performed.[82]\n\n[Sidenote: Service in the Sixtine chapel.]\n\n[Sidenote: Passio.]\n\n[Sidenote: Sermon and indulgence.]\n\nThese take place at present in the Sixtine chapel; in which the yellow\ncolour of the candles and torches, the nakedness of the Pope's throne\nand of the seats of the church denote the desolation of the church at\nthe sufferings and death of her divine founder. The Cardinals do not\nwear their rings; their dress is of purple, which is their mourning\ncolour; in like manner the Bishops do not wear rings and their\nstockings are black: those of the Cardinals are purple; and the\nmaces as well as the soldiers' arms are reversed. The Card. great\nPenitentiary with the sacred ministers are habited in black. There is\nno thurifer and there are no lights; for the death of the Son of God\nis going to be commemorated; and while He was hanging upon the cross\nand when He died, there was darkness over the whole earth. The Pope\nis habited in a red cope: he does not wear his ring nor give his\nblessing: but if he be present at this part of the service, His\nHoliness kneeling with the Card. Penitentiary at his left hand offers\nup prayers for a short time before the altar. This, which was stripped\non the preceding day, is now covered with a linen cloth by two\n_Cerimonieri_[83]. The Pope then goes to His seat; and the Card.\nCelebrant accompanied by the ministers to the altar, and thence to\nhis _faldistorio_ or seat. An appropriate passage from the prophecy\nof Osee is sung by one of the choir, and the precept from Exodus\nconcerning the killing of the paschal-lamb, a type of Christ, by\nthe subdeacon. The Pope and the Card. Celebrant also read both these\nlessons, after each of which a tract is sung by the choir; and between\nthem a prayer by the Celebrant. After the prophecies, which are a\npowerful confirmation of the truth of our holy religion, the account\nof the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ, penned by an eye-witness\nS. John, the disciple of love, is recited[84]. It is read in a low\nvoice by the Card. Celebrant and sung with the same impressive chant\nas on Palm-Sunday by three cantors wearing the alb, a black maniple\nand stole: they used formerly to recite it bare-footed. At those words\n\"And bowing down his head he gave up the ghost\" all kneel to adore\ntheir Redeemer. It is related of a servant of God of the name of\nPiccolomini, that he expired in church on good Friday when those\nwords were sung. The latter part is chanted, but without the usual\nceremonies, by the deacon, after he has taken off his folded chasuble\nand put on the large band or stole. A short sermon is then preached by\na conventual Friar, who afterwards according to custom publishes the\nindulgence or remission of temporal punishment of thirty years granted\nby the Pope to those who have confessed and sincerely repented of\ntheir sins. See p. 37. As Morinus has shewn (De Penitentia cap. 4.) in\nmost churches penitents were absolved and reconciled after the gospel.\n\n[Sidenote: Prayers for all mankind.]\n\nChrist, says S. Paul, died for all men, and when suffering on\nthe cross, He prayed even for his relentless persecutors: on the\nanniversary then of his death it is fit that His church should pray\nfor all men, that all may be saved by the application of His merits to\ntheir souls. The Card. Celebrant commences the beautiful, charitable,\nand ancient prayers of this day with the words, Let us pray, dearly\nbeloved, for the holy church of God etc. The deacon then kneeling says\n(according to the ancient custom mentioned by S. Cesarius of Arles\nin his 36th homily, and by S. Basil in his book on the Holy Ghost c.\nXXVII) Let us bend our knees, and the subdeacon answers, Stand up, as\nit was customary to pray standing. This form is repeated before each\nprayer, except that which is offered for the Jews[85]: for their\nsoldiers, bowing the knee before our Lord, mocked him saying in\nderision, Hail king of the Jews. Prayers follow for the Pope, for all\nthe clergy, and holy people of God (formerly for the Emperor also) and\ncatechumens who are to receive baptism on the day following. Having\nprayed for all members of the church, we then pray for heretics and\nschismatics, that God may deign to \"deliver them from all errors,\nand bring them back to their holy mother the catholic and apostolic\nchurch\"; and these petitions are followed by others for the conversion\nof Jews and Pagans[86].\n\n[Sidenote: Exposition of the cross: ancient crucifixes and crosses.]\n\n[Sidenote: _Adoration_ of the cross: its antiquity.]\n\nWhen these prayers are ended[87] the officiating Cardinal takes off\nhis chasuble, and going to the epistle-side of the altar receives from\nthe deacon the crucifix[88] covered with a black veil. Then turning\ntowards the people, and uncovering the upper part of the crucifix, he\nsings, Behold the wood of the cross, on which hung the salvation of\nthe world; in singing which words he is joined by two tenor-voices\nfrom the choir. The choir answers, Come, let us adore[89]. The Pope\nand all others kneel, except the Cardinal celebrant, who advances\nnearer to the middle of the altar, and uncovers the right arm of the\ncrucifix, and repeats the same words in a higher tone, and again in\na still higher tone before the middle of the altar, where he uncovers\nthe whole cross. The choir answers as before, and all except the\ncelebrant kneel each time the words are repeated. The Cardinal then\nplaces the crucifix on a rich cushion lying on the steps of the\naltar[90].\n\n[Sidenote: Trisagion.]\n\nI observed above, that it was formerly customary for the Pope and all\nothers to walk bare-footed in the procession of this day, as others\nroyal personages have done; for instance, S. Louis of France, S.\nElisabeth of Hungary, and others. Thus to be barefooted was a sign of\nmourning (1 Sam. XV, 30. Jer. II, 25) among the Jews. Their priests\nwere without shoes at their functions, in token of reverence (Exod.\nIII, 5. Jos. V, 15). Some memorial of this practice is preserved in\nthe present custom of taking off the shoes of the principal persons\nwho revere and kiss the cross on this day. The Pope's shoes are taken\noff by an _Ajutante di Camera_, His cope by acolythes (_Votanti di\nSegnatura_), and afterwards His Holiness then makes three profound\ngenuflections before the crucifix, gradually approaching nearer to it,\nand then kisses it in token of his love for Him, who died upon it for\nour salvation[91]. He also empties a purse, containing an offering\nof 100 _scudi d'oro_, into a silver basin near the crucifix. When the\nPope is about to make the first genuflection, the choir begins to sing\nthe _improperii_, the sentiments of which, and the chant composed by\nPalestrina [92], are admirably adapted to the pathetic ceremony. In\nthem God enumerates the unparalleled benefits which he lavished upon\nthe Jews, and the atrocious crimes by which they repaid Him. At the\nend of each _improperium_ or reproach, the Trisagion is sung by one\nchoir in Greek, and in Latin by another \"Holy God! Holy strong one!\nHoly immortal, have mercy on us\"[93]. The Pope then returns to his\nthrone; he resumes his previous vestments and reads the _improperii_\nfrom the Missal held as usual by an assist. bishop kneeling. The\nCardinal celebrant and all the other members of the sacred college,\nafter their shoes have been taken off, assisted by the _Ceremonieri_\nrevere and kiss the crucifix in the same manner as the Pope has done;\nand each of them leaves an offering of a _scudo d'oro_ according to\nan ancient custom.[94] When they return to their places, their shoes\nare put on by their respective _camerieri_, who afterwards leave the\nchapel. The patriarchs and bishops assistant and non-assistant and the\ngenerals of religious orders without shoes, and all the other prelates\netc. wearing their shoes, _adore_ and kiss the cross in like manner,\nobserving the same order as in going to receive palms on the preceding\nsunday; and they also make their offerings before the cross. When\nthe sacred college has finished the _adoration_, the choir having\nended the _improperii_ sings the anthem _Crucem tuam_, the psalm\n_Deus misereatur nostri_, the hymn _Pange lingua gloriosi lauream\ncertaminis_[95] etc. Towards the end of this beautiful ceremony the\ncandles are lighted, the deacon spreads out the corporal[96] as usual,\nplacing the purificator near it. He then respectfully takes the cross,\nand places it on the altar amid the candlesticks.\n\n[Sidenote: Chant of _Pange lingua_ etc.]\n\nA procession, arranged like that of the preceding day, now goes to\nthe Pauline chapel. Assisted as usual by the first Card. priest, the\nPope kneels and incenses the B. Sacrament three times. _M. Sagrista_\ndelivers the B. Sacrament to the Cardinal celebrant, who presents it\nto the Pope; His Holiness covers it with the end of the veil placed\nover his shoulders[97] and the procession returns to the Sixtine\nchapel [98]. In the mean time the choir sings the hymn \"_Vexilla Regis\nprodeunt_\". When the Pope arrives at the altar, he delivers the B.\nSacrament to the Card. Celebrant, who places it on the altar. His\nHoliness then incenses it and returns to his throne.\n\nDuring the procession the crucifix on the altar of the Sixtine chapel\nis removed, and a larger cross containing a considerable relic of the\ntrue cross is substituted for it. This relic was sent to Pope Leo the\nGreat in the 5th century by Juvenal Bishop of Jerusalem. It was lost,\nbut found again by Pope Sergius I in 687: it was stolen at the sack\nof Rome in 1527, and removed from its case of silver: however it was\nrecovered by Clement VII, who ordered the rich cross, in which it\nis at present preserved, to be made: in 1730 it was again stolen but\nrecovered once more by Clement XII. At the close of the last century,\nthough the candlesticks, and the statues of the Apostles belonging\nto the papal chapel were lost, this cross was preserved. In 1840 His\npresent Holiness Gregory XVI ordered it to be again exposed to the\npublic veneration in the Sixtine chapel: He gave it to the charge\nof the chapter of S. Peter's, who deliver it to _M. Sagrista_ on\nGood-friday morning: and it remains in the Sixtine chapel till the\nend of Tenebrae on that day. Moroni _Cappelle Pontificie etc._\n\nThe _Mass_ of the _Presanctified_, as it is called, is next\ncelebrated; Card. Tommasi, following S. Cesarius of Arles, calls\nit the office, and not the mass of good-Friday; for mass, strictly\nspeaking, is not offered up on this day, since no consecration takes\nplace, and the B. Sacrament is received by the celebrant under the\nform of bread alone, as it could not be preserved with safety under\nthe form of wine[99].\n\n[Sidenote: Mass of the Pre-Sanctified.]\n\nThe Card. Celebrant places the B. Sacrament on the paten[100] and\nthence on the corporal. In the meantime the deacon puts wine into the\nchalice, and the subdeacon water, which however are neither blessed or\nconsecrated[101] on this day. The cardinal then places the chalice on\nthe altar, and the deacon covers it with the _palla_ or pall (a small\nsquare piece of linen, which serves to prevent flies etc. from falling\ninto it). The Cardinal incenses the offerings and the altar, washes\nhis hands, and recites the _Orate Fratres_ and Our Father. All then\nkneel to adore the blessed Sacrament, which he raises over the paten.\nHe divides it as usual, but without saying any prayer [102], into\nthree parts, putting one of them into the chalice. Striking his\nbreast, and acknowledging his own unworthiness, he receives communion,\ntaking the sacred host, and afterwards the consecrated particle with\nthe wine in the chalice [103]. He then receives the ablution, washes\nhis hands, and returns to the sacristy with the sacred ministers.\n\n[Sidenote: Vespers.]\n\nAnciently on fasting days nothing was allowed to be eaten till sunset;\nand Vespers used therefore to be said before dinner: now that the one\nmeal allowed on such days may be eaten as early as noon, the ancient\npractice of saying Vespers before dinner is still preserved. Vespers\nare therefore sung immediately after the mass of the Presanctified:\nthey consist of the Our Father and Hail Mary said in secret, of five\npsalms with their anthems, and the _Magnificat_ with its anthem. At\nthe verse 'Christ became obedient unto death', all kneel down to adore\nHim, and the _Miserere_ and the usual prayer are recited, but without\nthe solemnity of Tenebrae[104].\n\n[Sidenote: Tenebrae.]\n\n[Sidenote: Principal relics.]\n\nIn the afternoon at Tenebrae, the office, being that of Holy Saturday\nanticipated as usual, refers to the repose of the body of our blessed\nLord in the tomb. When it is finished, the Pope wearing his stole,\nand the Cardinals having taken off their _cappe_, go to S. Peter's in\nprocession, accompanied by the Papal _Anticamera segreta_, the guards\nand others, to venerate the relics of the Cross, the Lance, and the\n_Volto Santo_, which are shewn by the Canons from the gallery above\nthe statue of S. Veronica [105]. The Pope meantime, and the Cardinals\nand others arranged on each side of Him, remain kneeling. The\nPontifical cross is borne as usual before the Pope, when going to S.\nPeter's by an _Uditore di Rota_, and when returning to His apartments\nby His cross-bearer who is one of His chaplains.\n\n[Sidenote: Grounds of belief in relics.]\n\nCatholics are bound to believe with divine faith only those doctrines,\nwhich the church defines to be doctrines taught by God; and hence with\nregard to particular images or relics or miracles, concerning which\nChrist has taught nothing, they believe them to be genuine or reject\nthem, according to the evidence which accompanies them. We shall\ntherefore briefly examine what evidence there is in favour of the\nrelics in question.\n\n[Sidenote: 1. Relic of the cross.]\n\n1. The relic of the cross was placed here in 1629 by Urban VIII; but\nit was formed of some pieces taken from the churches of S. Anastasia\nand S. Croce in Gerusalemme. The Jews were accustomed to bury the\ninstruments of punishment in or near the place where the persons\nexecuted were buried; but on this subject I must content myself with\nreferring to Baronius, Calmet, Menochius, Gretser etc. who cite the\nRabbins in proof of this assertion. Now according to the ancient\nhistorians, Eusebius, Sozomen and Socrates: the Emperor Adrian erected\na temple of Venus over the tomb of the God of purity, after he had\ncovered it with a great quantity of rubbish. Helen the saintly mother\nof the emperor Costantine, after many searches (according to Eusebius\nin his life of that emperor) at length discovered the sacred tomb, in\nwhich was found, according to Sozomen, the inscription placed over the\ncross by Pilate, \"Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews\"[106]. Near the\ntomb in another part of the cave were found three crosses: but here a\ndifficulty arose on which of these three was our Saviour crucified?\nAt the suggestion of Macarius Bp. of Jerusalem, a woman at the point\nof death, as Ruffinus, Socrates, Theodoret, Sozomen and Nicephorus\nrelate; or a dead man, according to Paulinus and Severus Sulpicius,\nwas brought to the spot, and restored to health or to life, when\nplaced on _one_ of the three crosses. If we consider, that it is\nrelated in the 2nd book of Kings c, XIII, that when some persons \"were\nburying a man, they cast the body into the sepulchre of Eliseus.\nAnd when it had touched the bones of Eliseus, the man came to life\nand stood up on his feet,\" we may not be unwilling to admit the\npossibility or probability, that such a miracle may have occurred at\nthe sepulchre of the God of Eliseus. Besides the authors whom I have\nmentioned, this history is attested by S. Ambrose, S. Chrysostom, and\nS. Cyril of Jerusalem. This great bishop and Eusebius lived at the\ntime when the event is said to have happened: the other writers lived\nnot long after, and Ruffinus and Theodoret passed part of their lives\nin Syria. The same historians mention, that S. Helen divided the\nCross into three parts, one she left in Jerusalem, another she sent\nto Costantine, according to the author of the life of Pope Sylvester\npublished by Pope Damasus towards the close of the 6th cent.; and the\nthird she reserved for herself, to Rome. She placed the last mentioned\npiece in the Sessorian Basilica, called also the Basilica of Helen,\nbecause erected by her, in the Horti Variani: hence is derived\nits title of S. Croce in Gerusalemme. On this subject additional\ninformation may be found in the work of the late Padre De Corrieris,\nDe Sessorianis praecipius D.N.J.C. reliquiis, in Trombelli De cultu\nSSrum and Ben. XIV. De festis. From Santa Croce a piece of the cross\nwas taken to S. Peter's, and is one of the relics shewn on good\nfriday. Even in the fourth century S. Cyril of Jerusalem testifies,\nthat particles of the true cross had been sent to every Christian\ncountry.\n\n[Sidenote: 2. of the lance.]\n\n2. The lance also with which our divine Saviour's side was pierced,\nwas found by S. Helen, as the Bollandists shew: and it was preserved\nin Jerusalem, as S. Gregory of Tours and our venerable Bede observe:\nbut towards the end of the 6th cent., the iron part of it was\ntransfered to Costantinople; of this the point was placed in the\nimperial palace; the other part in the church of S. Sophia, and\nafterwards in that of S. John. William of Tyre and Anna Comnena\nmention it as existing there in the 11th and 12th centuries. Towards\nthe close of the 13th century the point of the lance with other\nrelics passed into the possession of S. Louis of France: the other\npart of the lance still remained at S. John's in Constantinople,\nas Buondelmount, who saw it, bears witness. When Mahomet subdued\nCostantinople, he preserved all the relics, as Theodore cited by\nBenedict XIV relates in his history of the Turks, and his son Bajazet\nsent an ambassador with the relics of the lance to Pope Innocent VIII,\nin order to induce his Holiness not to protect Zizimus, who disputed\nwith him the succession to the Turkish throne. The Pope received it\nwith great reverence, and placed it in the Vatican. As some suspicion\nwas entertained about the veracity of the Turkish ambassador, Benedict\nXIV, as he mentions in his very learned work on the Canonisation\nof the Saints, from which I have extracted this account, sent for\nan exact cast of the point preserved at Paris, which perfectly\ncorresponded with the piece preserved in the Vatican; and thus were\nconfirmed the assertion of the Turk[107].\n\n[Sidenote: 3. _Volto Santo_.]\n\n3. As for the _Volto Santo_, or image of our Saviour it was placed in\nan Oratory of the Vatican Basilica by John VII as long ago as 707,\nas may be seen in Marlinetti, Dei pregii della Basilica Vat. Who S.\nVeronica or Berenice was, who is said to have wiped our Saviour's face\nwith the handkerchief is another question, as Benedict XIV observes,\nto whom and to Marlinetti I shall content myself with referring. It\nappears that this ancient likeness of our Saviour was afterwards kept\nat S. Spirito: six Roman noblemen had the care of it; and to each of\nthem was confided on of the six keys, with which it was locked up.\nThey enjoyed various privileges, and among others, says an ancient MS.\nChronicle quoted by Cancellieri, \"havevano questi sei ogni anno, da\nSanto Spirito, due vacche in die S. Spiritus le quali se magnavano\nli con gran festa\". In 1410 the _Volto Santo_ was carried back to S.\nPeter's, where it has ever since remained[108].\n\n[Sidenote: Reflections.]\n\nThe Council of Trent, in the 25th Session, teaches that veneration and\nhonour are due to relics of the Saints, and that they and other sacred\nmonuments are honoured by the faithful not without utility. We all\nhonour the memorials of the great, of the wise and of the brave; who\nhas not venerated the oak of a Tasso or the house of a Shakespeare?\nWhile _We_ revere the relics of a Borromeo at Milan, of a Francois\nde Sales at Annecy, of a Luigi Gonzaga, a Filippo Neri, a Camillo de\nLellis at Rome, others respect the chair and table of Wickliffe at\nLutterworth, or the room of Luther at Eisenach. If infidels unite in\npaying homage to the house of the impious _philosopher_ of Ferney, let\nall Christians, however they may be otherwise unhappily divided, join\nin shewing their respect for the image of their Saviour, and for those\ninstruments which touched his sacred body, and were sanctified by his\nprecious blood. O let them gaze with reverential awe on that lance\nwhich entering into his adorable side drew from it blood and water,\nand on that cross to which he was nailed and on which he died for\nour salvation. The early Christians, our forefathers in the faith,\nmanifested great respect for the bodies and the blood of the martyrs,\nbecause they were faithful _followers_ of Christ. Thus, in the letter\nof the faithful of Smyrna preserved by Eusebius, they mention that\nthey gathered up the bones of their bishop Polycarp, (a disciple of\nS. John the Apostle) \"more precious than pearls, and more tried than\ngold, and buried them. In this place, God willing\", say they \"we shall\nmeet and celebrate with joy and gladness the birthday of this martyr\".\nSS. Praxedes and Pudentiana, and many other devout females used\nto collect the blood of the martyrs with sponges and cloths, as\nif they feared that one drop of it should be lost. Read the poems\nof Prudentius, observe the phials of blood[109] placed before the\nmartyrs' tombs in the catacombs, and you will not doubt the truth of\nsuch assertions[110]. The shadow of Peter, the handkerchiefs which\nhad touched the body of Paul, could cure diseases, as the Scripture\nwitnesseth; but here are the relics of a greater than Paul, of a\ngreater than Peter: O then let us kneel, and love, and venerate them;\nfor they were closely united to Him who is the author and object\nof our faith, the only foundation of our hope, the centre and the\nconsummation of our love.\n\n[Sidenote: Recapitulation.]\n\nIt does not fall within my plan to speak of the devotion of the three\nhours of agony, practised on this day in many churches, as at the\nGesu, S. Lorenzo in Damaso etc. or of that which is practised after\nthe _Ave Maria_ at S. Marcello, Caravita etc. or of the elegies\nrecited by the Arcadian pastors over their Redeemer. Let us rather\nbriefly recapitulate with Morcelli the principal ceremonies of\nthe day: Station at S. Croce; service in the Sixtine chapel,\nthe veneration of the Cross; the B. Sacrament carried thither in\nprocession from the Pauline chapel, Mass of the Presanctified and\nVespers. In the afternoon Tenebrae, and veneration of the relics at S.\nPeter's.\n\n[Footnote 82: See a MS. Apamean Pontifical ap. Marthene T. 3, p.\n132, Benedict Canon of S. Peter's in his _Ordo Romanus_, Marangoni,\n_Istoria dell antichissimo Oratorio o Cappella di S. Lorenzo nel\nPatriarchio Lateranense_. Roma 1747. S. Louis of France used to walk\nbarefooted on this day to the churches, praying and giving abundant\nalms, as did also William, king of the Romans. (Chronicon Erphordense\nad ann. 1252), S. Elisabeth of Hungary used to devote the day to\nsimilar acts of piety, walking barefooted and in the dress of a poor\nwoman to the churches, and there making her humble offerings at the\naltars, and distributing copious alms. On her practices of piety\nduring holy-week see her life by Le Cte de Montalembert c. 9.]\n\n[Footnote 83: The Corporal, which was anciently much longer than at\npresent, was spread in this manner at all masses before the offertory.\nSee Cancellieri, De Secretariis T. I, Fleury, Moeurs des Chretiens.]\n\n[Footnote 84: The lessons, the prayer, and the passion are found in\nthe ancient ordo Gelasianus for this day.]\n\n[Footnote 85: According to the Gelasian Sacramentary all were to\ngenuflect at the prayer for the Jews, as well as at the other prayers;\nnot so according to the Gregorian Sacramentary.]\n\n[Footnote 86: \"God our Saviour\", says S. Paul (1 Tim. II, 4) \"wishes\nall men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth\". The\nCatholic church is animated by the same spirit of charity, as the\nadmirable prayers of this day might alone prove. If she teaches\nexclusive salvation. Christ taught the same \"He that believeth and\nis baptised shall be saved: he that believeth not shall be condemned\"\nMark XVI, 26. We cannot therefore consistently accuse the church\nof want of charity, when she proclaims the general conditions of\nsalvation, without at the same time charging Christ himself, who first\ntaught them, with the same fault. True charity desires the salvation\nof all but she warns others of their danger; and does not cruelly\nconceal it from them till it is too late.]\n\n[Footnote 87: After these prayers the faithful used anciently to leave\nthe church, and the Priests to go to their own churches, to perform\nthe ceremonies till the evening-service: so that what follows was then\na totally distinct service. See Sacram S. Gregorii, ant. Ord. Roman,\netc. ap. Martene lib. IV, c. 23.]\n\n[Footnote 88: It would appear, that, before Costantine abolished the\npunishment of malefactors on the cross, the Christians, who well knew\nwith S. Paul that Christ crucified was to the Jews a stumbling-block,\nand to the gentiles foolishness', prudently abstained from\nrepresenting our Saviour nailed to the cross, and used rather to\ndepict a lamb with a cross near it, of which instances may he seen in\nRork's Hierurgia p. 520. The first mention of the _crucifix_ in the\nchurch is believed to occur in the poem titled _De Passione Domini_\nreferred to the fourth century. That the use of the sign and the\nimage of the _cross_ was much more ancient and very prevalent among\nChristians will appear from the following facts. \"At every step and\nmovement\" says Tertullian (in the early part of the third century)\n\"whenever we come in or go out, when we dress and wash ourselves, at\ntable, when lights are brought in, whether we are lying or sitting\ndown; whatever we are doing, we mark our foreheads with the sign of\nthe cross\". Eusebius mentions that Constantine placed a magnificent\ncross De Vit. Const. I. 3. In the fourth century in his palace S. John\nChrysostom in one of his eloquent homilies observes \"Every where the\nsymbol of the cross is present to us. We inscribe it very diligently\non our houses, and walls, and doors, and brows, and thoughts\". S.\nBasil (De Spirit. S. ad Amphilochium c. 27.) derives the sign of the\ncross from Apostolic tradition. That this custom universally prevailed\namong Christians might be proved from S. Jerome, from the historian\nSocrates and others, and from monuments of the early Christians still\npreserved in Egypt: but why travel so far? we have only lo look around\nus in the catacombs, or in the Vatican Museum and Library. The cross\nis the chosen, the beloved sign of Christians; they repeated it a\nthousand times on their lamps, on their rings, on their cups and\nsacred vessels, that they might have the sign of their redemption ever\nbefore their eyes, they kissed it at the hour of their death, and\nhad it marked on their tomb, as a sign of their hope of salvation. No\nsooner had peace shone upon the church, than crosses were erected on\nhigh roads, and in many places of public resort: and would to God that\nthose sacred ancient monuments, which once adorned our own country,\nbore public testimony to the faith of its inhabitants, and recalled\nto the minds of passers-by the sufferings of their Saviour, had not\nbeen too rudely treated in the first heat of religious and political\nfrenzy! For some ancient representations of the cross see the learned\nwork of Dr. Rock on the mass. I shall content myself with noticing an\ninteresting instance, which he has not mentioned. At Pompeii the house\nof Pansa, as it is called, is one of the most remarkable yet excavated\non account of its extent and regularity. Some parts of it were used\nas shops, and appear to have been let out, (as is still the custom in\nsome palaces of Rome): for they have no communication with the body\nof the building. Between two parts thus separated is an entrance from\na side street to the peristyle or open court surrounded by columns;\nand on the pier between the two doors is, or rather was a painting\nrepresenting one of the guardian-serpents or tutelary deities, who\nwere sometimes represented under that form, as we occasionally see\nat Pompeii, and as we learn from Virgil (lib.) V. Hence as we see\nin Titus' baths and are informed by Persius, a place was considered\nsacred, in which serpents were painted. Indeed these reptiles became\nsuch favourites, that, according to Seneca, they used to creep upon\nthe tables amid the cups: and some ladies so far overcame natural\nprejudices, as to place real serpents, if not boas, round their necks,\nto cool them, instead of using artificial boas to warm themselves.\n\"Si gelidum nectit collo Glacilla draconem\" says Martial. Before the\nserpent painted in Pansa's house is or was a projecting brick intended\nto support a lamp: the painting in consequence of its situation could\nbe seen only by persons within the house: but upon the opposite wall\nthere is or was a cross worked in bas relief upon a panel of white\nstucco, so situated as to be visible to all persons passing. It had\nthe form of a Latin cross, which, we may observe, as well as the Greek\ncross: is found upon ancient Christian monuments; though of course\nwe cannot bring forward other instances so ancient as the monument\nin question. (See Rock p. 516). \"It is hard to conceive\", says the\nlearned Mazois, \"that the same man should bow at once before the cross\nof Christ, and pay homage to Janus, Ferculus, Limetinus, Cardia, the\ndeities of the threshold, and the hinges of doors. Perhaps at this\ntime the cross was of a meaning unknown except to those who had\nembraced the Christian faith, which, placed here among the symbols\nof paganism, as if in testimony of gratitude, informed the faithful,\nthat the truth had here found an asylum with a poor man, under the\nsafeguard of all the popular superstitions\". So far Mazois, whose\nopinion is embraced by the author of the interesting work on Pompeii\npublished by the society for promoting useful knowledge: but is it not\nprobable, I may ask, or rather is it not certain that, at that early\nperiod, while some members of the same family were pagans, others were\nChristians? it is not then surprising if in the same house we find\nboth Christian and Pagan emblems: we may suppose, that some such\npersons may have been inmates of the same house as Mr. Bulwer's\npagan gladiator Lydon and his Christian father Medon. Pompeii was\noverwhelmed by ashes in the year of Christ 79: and if Vesuvius still\noccasionally lay waste the surrounding country, we are indebted to it\nfor the preservation not only of a thousand classical monuments, but\nalso of a representation of the cross of Christ, which cannot be of a\nmuch later date than the time of the destruction of Jerusalem.]\n\n[Footnote 89: St. Helen discovered the cross on which Christ suffered,\nand erected a church in Jerusalem, in which it was deposited.\n\"The bishop of that city every year, at the season of the paschal\nsolemnity, exhibits it to be _adored_ by the people, after he himself\nhas first performed his act of profound veneration\". S. Paulinus\nof Nola, A.D. 430, ep. 11 ad Sever. \"In the middle of Lent, the\nlife-giving wood of the venerable cross is usually exposed for\n_adoration_\". S. Sophronius patriarch of Jerusalem in 639. (Orat. in\nExalt. Crucis). From this custom of the church of Jerusalem probably\narose that of the Roman church, in which a crucifix, containing a\nparticle of the true cross, was publicly venerated on good Friday. In\nthe Sacramentary of pope Gelasius (A.D. 402) we read in an account\nof the ceremonies of this day \"The priest comes before the altar,\nadoring the Lord's cross and kissing it--all adore the holy cross and\ncommunicate\". This ceremony is mentioned also in the Antiphonary of\nS. Gregory the great and the ancient _Ordo Romanus_. Flecte genu,\nlignumque crucis venerabile adora, says Lactantius. See bishop\nPoynter's Christianity p. 151. Of the Greeks Leo Allatius relates that\n\"on good-friday, while they accompany as it were Christ himself to the\ntomb, they lead round through the cities and _adore_ the sculptured\nbody of Christ\". De consensu utriusque Eccl. lib. 5. c. 15. The\nSyrians also practise this ceremony, as we learn from documents\npublished by Card. Borgia and Nairon. This rite is called the\n_adoration_ of the cross. Let us not forget what is said in the Book\nof Common Prayer in the solemnization of Matrimony \"With this ring\nI thee wed; with my body I thee _worship_\". Such words of doubtful\nsignification must be interpreted from the doctrine of the church\nwhich adopts them. Hanc veniam petimusque damusque vicissim. Now\nthe word _adorare_ used in our liturgy (derived from _ad_ and _ora_,\nbecause persons when _adoring_ used to put their right hand to their\nmouth; Plin. I. 28, c. 2. Apuleius in Apolog.) signifies not only to\npay divine worship, but also to venerate and even to salute. Thus\nfrom the instances collected in Forcellini's Lexicon we may select the\nfollowing: \"Primo autem septimum Germanici consulatum adoravi\". Stat\nin praef i. 4 Silv. Imo cum gemitu populum sic adorat: Apulei. lib 2.\nMetam. The doctrine of the catholic church on this subject is as usual\nclear and decided. The twenty-fifth session of the Council of Trent\ndecreed as follows: \"The holy synod commands all bishops, and others\nsustaining the duty and care of teaching, that they should diligently\ninstruct the faithful concerning the legitimate use of images\naccording to the custom of the catholic and apostolic church received\nfrom the commencement of christianity, and the consent of the holy\nfathers, and decrees of the sacred councils, teaching them ... that\nthe images of Christ; of the Virgin mother of God, and other saints,\nare to be had and retained especially in churches, and that due honour\nand veneration are to be given them: not that any divinity or virtue\nis believed to exist in them for which they are to be worshipped, or\nthat any thing is to be asked from them, or that confidence is to be\nplaced in images, as was formerly done by the Gentiles, who used to\nplace their hope in idol; but because the honour which is given to\nthem is referred to the prototypes which they represent; so that\nby the images which we kiss, and before which we uncover our heads\nand bow our bodies, we adore Christ, and venerate the Saints, whose\nlikeness they bear: this has been decreed against the opposers of\nimages by the decrees of councils, especially of the second synod of\nNice. And let the bishops diligently teach, that by the histories\nof the mysteries of our redemption expressed in pictures or other\nlikenesses the people are instructed and confirmed in commemorating\nand assiduously venerating articles of faith, and that from all sacred\nimages a great fruit is derived, not only because the people are\nadmonished of the benefits and gifts conferred on them by Christ, but\nalso because God's miracles through the saints, and salutary examples\nare laid before the eyes of the faithful, that they may return\nthanks for them to God, and may compose their life and manners to an\nimitation of the saints, and may be excited to adore and love God and\ncherish piety\". The council then gives directions for the extirpation\nof any abuses which may creep in. These words, by which our faith\nand practice are regulated, are too clear to need comment, and\nsufficiently justify catholics from the foolish and calumnious charge\nof idolatry. The true Catholic practice is well expressed in a work\nattributed to Alcuin \"We prostrate our bodies before the cross, and\nour souls before the Lord: we venerate the cross by which we have been\nredeemed, and we supplicate Him who redeemed us\".]\n\n[Footnote 90: This rite is described in the Ordo Romanus XIV with the\nsame ceremonies. It is first mentioned in the Ordo XI of the Canon\nBenedict.]\n\n[Footnote 91: We kiss and press to our hearts the pictures of those\nwhom we love, and shall we think it sinful to kiss the image of Him,\nwho for love of us humbled himself even to the death of the cross?\nOh! let each one of us rather exclaim with S. Paul \"God forbid that I\nshould glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the\nworld is crucified to me and I to the world\" (Gal. VI): or in the\nwords attributed to S. Andrew when he was going to be crucified \"Hail\nprecious cross, that hast been consecrated by the body of my Lord, and\nadorned with his limbs as with rich jewels. Oh good cross, that hast\nreceived beauty from our Lord's limbs, I have ardently loved thee,\nlong have I desired and sought thee; now thou art found by me and made\nready for my longing soul\". Act. S. Andreae.]\n\n[Footnote 92: \"The greatest glory\" says Baini \"was deservedly obtained\nby _Pierluigi_ on account of the _improperii_, and the hymn _Crux\nfidelis_ which he set to music for 8 voices divided into two choirs,\nand which were sung for the first time by the choir of the Lateran\nbasilica on good Friday in the year 1560: by them _fece sbalordire\narte e natura_. Pius IV demanded them for the use of the apostolic\nchapel, and, after he had heard them, declared that Palestrina had\nsurpassed his expectations. These _improperii_ are still sung and will\never be sung in the apostolic chapel\" Baini, Mem. storic. di Giovanni\nPierluigi da Palestrina 1. p. 64.]\n\n[Footnote 93: This hymn is frequently sung in the Greek and Oriental\nchurch. Renaudot T. I, p. 70. According in the Menologium Graecum\nand S. John Damascen it was first used in the reign of Theodosius,\nwhen public supplications were offered to heaven during a terrible\nearthquake at Costantinople. This Palmer admits, I, 64. It is still\nsaid in Greek, in which it was originally composed, as well as in\nLatin, in the Roman church. See Goar in notis ad Rituale Graec.]\n\n[Footnote 94: In the Ordo Romanus XII, Ap. 1, de Presbyterio, it is\nprescribed that \"according to ancient custom whatever is offered upon\nthe cross ought to belong to the _schola_ (or company)\" of the cross:\nin the Ordo XIV, that it belongs to the _Sagrista_. The sum collected\nis at present the perquisite of M. Sagrista and the two principal\nMasters of ceremonies. These offerings were customary also in other\nchurches, and in particular at Paris.]\n\n[Footnote 95: Baini observes, that the chant of this hymn is one of\nthe few instances of _rhythmical_ chant preserved by uninterrupted\n_tradition_ in the papal chapel and adorned with the ancient\nornaments. (See his Saggio sopra l'indentita dei ritmi musicale e\npoetico. Firenze, 1820). \"The chant of that hymn\" says Eximano (quoted\nby Baini, Mem. Stor.) is a true plain chant, that is, a chant of\nunison, such as it is found in all choral books: but the mode of\nsinging it in the pontifical chapel makes it appear different from\nwhat is sung in other churches--Above all, the distribution of the\nnotes, which are sung (not of those which are written) adapted to\nexpress the length and shortness of the syllables which compose the\nrhythm of the hymn, ought to be studied. \"Se si da quell'inno ad un\nmaestro di cappella per metterlo in musica concertata ed in _battuta\nsensibile_, verra subito distrutto il _ritmo_, e se la cantilena\ndella cappella pontif. si scrive in battuta, si vedranno cadere\nnel _battere_ alcune sillabe brevi, senza pregiudizio della loro\nquantita\". Dubbio di D. Antonio Eximeno sopra il saggio fondamentale\npratico di contrappunto del R.P.M. Martini. Roma, 1773.]\n\n[Footnote 96: The corporal is a square piece of linen so called,\nbecause the Corpus or body of Christ is placed on it. S. Isidore of\nPelusium in the beginning of the 5th century says, that the white\nlinen cloth, which is spread under the divine gifts, is the clean\nlinen cloth of Joseph of Arimathea: \"for we, sacrificing the bread of\nproposition on the linen cloth, without doubt find like him the body\nof Christ\": it was anciently much larger than it is at present. The\npurificator is a small towel, which serves to wipe the chalice and\nthe hands and mouth of the priest, after he has received the B.\nSacrament.]\n\n[Footnote 97: The veil is used from reverence to the B. Sacrament:\non an ancient mosaic on one of the arches of S. Prassede, a person\nis represented enveloped in it, holding a sacred vessel apparently\nintended to contain the B. Sacrament. Ciampini, Vet. mon. T. 2.]\n\n[Footnote 98: According to the Gelasian Sacramentary, \"the deacons go\nto the _sacrarium_ and walk in procession with the body and blood of\nthe Lord, which remained from the preceding day\": with it the most\nancient Ordo Romanus ad usum monasteriorum agrees.]\n\n[Footnote 99: In the fourth century Pope Innocent I in his epistle to\nDecentius assigns as a reason, why the holy sacrifice is not offered\nup on this day, the example of the apostles who, concealing themselves\nfor fear of the Jews, spent this and the following day in fasting and\nmourning for the death of their master, and were thus debarred from\nthe holy mysteries. During the whole of Lent the Greek church still\ncelebrates, towards evening, only the mass of the presanctified,\nexcept on Saturdays and Sundays, and on the feast of the Annunciation,\nwhen the ordinary mass is offered up. This is one of the ancient\ninstances of communion under one kind; for, as Leo Allatius observes,\neither it is received under the form of bread alone, or if some drops\nof the sacred blood were sprinkled on the host, all the species\nof wine have disappeared before communion. (De utriusque Ecclesiae\nconsensione, p. 875). Neither in the Latin or the Greek church is the\nmass of the pre-sanctified a _Missa sicca_ or dry mass: in which not\nonly the consecration, but also the communion, and all those prayers\nwhich are said over the holy Eucharist, used to be omitted. See\nDurandus in Rationali c. 1. This is the only day in the year on which\nmass is not offered up in the Latin church, and even on it the priest\ncommunicates: on holy Saturday mass is said, but the priest alone\ncommunicates: on all other days all the faithful may and many do\ncommunicate, either during mass or before or after it according to\ncircumstances. Palmer having quoted a passage from Bona, in which the\nCardinal regrets that communion, as well as other rites to which the\nmass is not essential, is often delayed till after the mass is ended,\nsubjoins the following ejaculation. \"Would that they who communicate\nwith the Roman church were not too timid or too lukewarm to return to\nthe practice of the primitive church in this and many other respects\".\nOrig. Liturg. vol. 2, p. 154. Now in the primitive church the\nfaithful, and even those in health, used to communicate not only\nduring mass, but also at other times, as is evident from the office of\nthe presanctified, at which, according to the Gelasian sacramentary,\nall present communicated, as well as from the numerous ancient\ninstances of communion under one kind mentioned in the preceding\nchapter; for in these cases it was not received during the mass, and\nmany of them are cases of \"_persons in health_\". In the same page Mr.\nPalmer observes that \"_during all the primitive ages_ the whole body\nof the faithful communicated at each celebration of the liturgy\". Now\nhas the church of England preserved this \"practice of the primitive\nchurch\"? So far is this from being the case, that Palmer considers\nher _ordinary_ office as a \"_Missa sicca_; or dry service\" p. 164,\nin which there is neither consecration or communion, and the earliest\nnotice of which occurs in the writings of Petrus Cantor (A.D. 1200),\naccording to Palmer's own admission, ibid. Even on those few days\nin the year when she admits her children to communion, her ministers\ngenerally consider that they make an oblation only of bread and wine,\nand not of the body and blood of Christ, whereas, whatever Palmer or\nthe Tracts for the Times may say to the contrary, we are prepared to\nprove from the _very liturgies_, which the former cites, that in the\nmass there is an oblation not merely of bread and wine but also of the\nbody and blood of Christ; and accordingly even the author of Tract 81,\nvol. 4, admits, p. 61, that \"the real point of difference between the\nprimitive church and modern views is whether there be in this oblation\na _mystery_ or no\". It is truly lamentable that men of learning should\nfalsely accuse the Roman church of departure from primitive discipline\nin a matter of so little comparative importance as the precise\n_time_ when communion is to be received, while they themselves must\nacknowledge, that they have _abolished communion_ itself as well as\n_consecration_ on _nearly_ all the days of the year, and that they\nhave reduced the oblation of the mass from a '_mystery_' and a\n'_venerable, tremendous_ and unbloody sacrifice' (Palmer vol. 2, p.\n84) to an offering of bread and wine. They have thus deprived their\nfollowers of the inestimable fruits of communion enumerated by Christ\nin the gospel--yet these forsooth are the men who charge Catholics\nwith a departure from primitive practice. How many other _primitive\npractices_ mentioned in this work have been abolished by the church\nof England!]\n\n[Footnote 100: This plate, which is of gold or silver-gilt, resembles\n_in form_ the patera used in the ancient sacrifices, and generally\nrepresented together with the _prefericulum_ on sepulchral monuments\ndedicated to the Manes.]\n\n[Footnote 101: The wine is sanctified, but is not consecrated, either\nby the particle of the sacred host, or by the recital of the _Pater\nnoster_, as has been shewn by Mabillon, (Museum Ital.) Bossuet, and\nother authors quoted by Benedict XIV. The wine and water represent\nthe blood and water, which flowed on this day from Christ's body. See\nAct. Coer. p. 54. Whenever priests _say Mass_, they receive under both\nkinds, in compliance with the command of Christ \"Drink ye all of this\"\nwhich words as well as those others, \"Do this in commemoration of me\"\nwere addressed to the apostles and their successors.]\n\n[Footnote 102: According to the direction of the Gelasian\nsacramentary, the _Pax Domini etc_. is not said on this day.]\n\n[Footnote 103: \"As the communion,\" says Mabillon \"is of the nature of\na sacred banquet, it consists of food and drink; hence the other part\nof the banquet, viz. drink, was supplied by wine, mixed with water,\nbut sanctified by a particle of the B. Sacrament\" See for the service\nof this day a MS. Pontifical of the church of Apamea in Syria ap.\nMartene t. 3, p. 132. It is found with little variation also in the\nGelasian Sacramentary, in a very ancient _Ordo Romanus_, and some MSS.\ncited by Martene. In the Roman church, as Amalarius was informed by\nthe Roman archdeacon \"at the station no one communicated\". In many\nother churches there was general communion; this is prescribed by the\nchurch during this holy season.]\n\n[Footnote 104: In many churches the crucifix used to be solemnly\nplaced in the _sepulchre_ after the Vespers. See the Sarum and other\nmissals, ap. Martene t. 3, p. 139.]\n\n[Footnote 105: So jealously are these relics kept, that even\nsovereigns cannot go up where they are preserved, without being\nfirst appointed Canons of the Basilica. The Emperor Frederic III,\nand afterwards Ladislaus son of the king of Poland, and Cosimo III\ngrand-duke of Tuscany went up dressed as Canons of St. Peter's.]\n\n[Footnote 106: The learned professor Sholz after his return from\nPalestine defended in a dissertation the genuineness of this tomb\nagainst Dr. Clark's objections: if it be within the walls of the\nmodern city of Jerusalem, it was certainly outside the ancient walls.]\n\n[Footnote 107: The lance preserved at Nuremberg resembles in form that\nof St. Peter's, but is made of common iron, united with a part of one\nof the nails of the cross.]\n\n[Footnote 108: These relics are shewn to the people on holy-Wednesday\nafter the matins of Tenebrae; on Thursday and Friday several times in\nthe day: on holy Saturday morning after mass: on Easter Sunday after\nthe Pontifical mass: on Easter Monday, and a few other festivals.]\n\n[Footnote 109: The opinion of Roestell (Beschreibung der Stadt Rom, B.\nI, p. 400) that these phials contained the blessed eucharist under\nthe form of wine, if admitted, would form a new proof of the real and\npermanent presence of Christ's blood in the B. Sacrament; yet it is\na novel, unsupported, and untenable conjecture. Some of the ancient\nChristian Fathers complain, it is true, of the abuse of burying the\neucharist with the deceased under the form of bread; but the phials of\nblood have been found with so many bodies, that we cannot reasonably\nsuppose the custom to have been an abuse: and who among the ancients\nmentions that the eucharist was ever buried with them under the form\nof _wine_? That the palm-branch or crown accompanied by these phials\nof blood are authentic signs of martyrdom, see Raoul-Rochette's\nMemoires sur les pierre sepulcrales, t. XIII des Mem. de l'Academie,\np. 210, 217. On one of the phials mentioned by Roestell was found the\ninscription Sanguis Saturnini.]\n\n[Footnote 110: In the Vatican Library is a small relic-case, marked\nwith the monogram, of great simplicity and consequent antiquity. There\nis another of ivory, adorned with bas-reliefs of the resuscitation of\nLazarus, Christ's apprehension etc. Plainer, Bescher. der Stadt Rom.\nB. 2. See also Rock's Hierurgia Vol. 2, cap 6.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAP. VI.\n\nON THE CEREMONIES OF HOLY-SATURDAY\n\n\n_CONTENTS._\n\n    Service of Easter-eve--Ceremonies of\n    holy-saturday-morning--Sixtine chapel. 1. Blessing of the fire\n    and incense-procession; Paschal candle--the deacon sings the\n    _Exultet_--triple candle--2. Baptism administered on this\n    day: communion of children in former times--prophecies--3.\n    The litany: invocation of Saints--change from mourning\n    to rejoicing--High mass: sacred pictures\n    etc.--_Alleluja_--Vespers--end of the mass: mass of Pope\n    Marcellus--Ceremonies at S. John Laterans. Blessing of\n    the font: baptistery--baptism of adults--litanies and\n    confirmation--mass and ordination--Armenian catholics--their\n    liturgy; and high mass on Easter-eve--reflections--Conclusion.\n\n    \"_But now Christ is risen from the dead, the first-fruits of\n    them that sleep_\". 1 Cor. XV, 20.\n\n[Sidenote: Service of Easter-eve.]\n\nI remarked in the last chapter, that anciently mass was not said\neither on good-friday, or holy-saturday, and I quoted Pope Innocent I,\nwho assigns as a reason the example of the Apostles, who spent those\ndays in mourning for their Master. It was formerly customary to\ncelebrate mass on the night of Easter-eve or holy Saturday. Hence when\nTertullian, the oldest Latin Christian writer, endeavoured to dissuade\nhis wife from ever marrying a pagan, in case of his own death, among\nother arguments he used the following; \"Who will tranquilly wait for\nyou, when you are spending the night at the paschal solemnities?\"\nS. Jerome also (in cap. 25 Matt.) says, that according to apostolic\ntradition, the people did not leave the church on Easter-eve before\nmidnight. This custom continued for many ages; but Hugh of S. Victor\nin the twelfth century says, that in his time, in order to avoid\nweakness arising from long fasting, the hour anciently observed was\nanticipated. The service, which is now performed before noon on holy\nSaturday, was formerly assigned to the night of Easter-eve: and this\nanticipation accounts for the occasional mention of night, which\nit contains, as well as for the early celebration of Christ's\nresurrection.\n\n[Sidenote: Ceremonies of holy saturday.]\n\nThe ceremonies of holy saturday-morning may be arranged under three\nheads: 1st. the blessing of the fire and of the paschal candle: 2nd.\nthe preparation for, and ceremonies of, baptism: 3rd. the litany\nand mass. All three allude, as we shall see, to the resurrection of\nChrist, which is the great object of our devotion on this day. In Rome\ntwo sanctuaries are the great centres of attraction in the morning,\nviz. S. John Lateran's on account of the baptism of adults, and\nthe Sixtine chapel, where the service is always beautiful, and\nparticularly on this day. We shall first give an account of the\nceremonies observed in the latter, and shall then describe the\nadditional interesting rites of S. John Lateran's.\n\n[Sidenote: Sixtine chapel: 1. Blessing of fire and incense.]\n\n1. As the missal prescribes, the altar is covered at a convenient\nhour, and the candles of the altar are not lighted till the beginning\nof the mass. A light, from which the charcoal for the incense is\nenkindled, is struck from a flint in the sacristy; where also _M.\nSagrista_ privately blesses water. The cardinals enter the Sixtine\nchapel vested in their purple _cappe_: the maces are reversed, as on\nfriday. Meantime in the sacristy the Card. Celebrant wearing a purple\ncope and mitre, and assisted by the sacred ministers, blesses (as\nusually with holy water and incense) the fire and the five grains of\nincense, which are to be fixed in the paschal candle[111].\n\n[Sidenote: Procession: Paschal candle.]\n\nThe Cardinal afterwards changes his cope for a chasuble, which is\npurple as well as that of the subdeacon; but the deacon, as he is\ngoing to bless the Paschal candle[112], wears a white dalmatic. They\nthen enter the Sixtine chapel; where, having put incense into the\nthurible, the Cardinal remains: but the deacon, the subdeacon who\ncarries the cross, and the other ministers go to the Pauline chapel,\nwhence a procession returns in the following order. After two mace\nbearers comes an acolythe with the five grains of incense, and another\nwith the thurible; then the subdeacon carrying the cross; and the\ndeacon with a reed, at the top of which are 3 candles united together.\nAt his left hand is a Master of ceremonies with a small candle lighted\nfrom the blessed fire, and he is followed by two other acolythes.\nWhen the deacon arrives near the door of the _cancellata_, one of the\nthree candles is lighted, and all genuflect, except the subdeacon: the\ndeacon then sings, _Lumen Christi_, the light of Christ, and the choir\nanswers, Thanks be to God. The other two candles are lighted in turn,\nas the Deacon approaches nearer to the altar; singing the same words\neach time, but gradually in a higher tone. He then gives the reed\nto an acolythe; and before he sings the _exultet_ or blessing of the\nPaschal candle, he receives the benediction of the Card. Celebrant,\nwho once more puts incense into the thurible.\n\n[Sidenote: Deacon sings the _Exultet_:]\n\n[Sidenote: triple candle]\n\nThe deacon[113] goes to the book, and has the subdeacon on his right\nhand, and on his left the thurifer and two acolythes, one of whom\nholds the reed, and the other the plate containing the five grains of\nincense. All stand, as at the gospel: he incenses the book, and then\nsings the _Exultet_[114]. After the words _curvat imperia_, he fixes\nin the candle the five grains of incense in the form of a cross[115].\nAt the words \"_ignis accendit_\" he lights the paschal candle with one\nof the _three_ lights[116]. When the blessing, as it is called, is\nended, the paschal candle is left lighted near the pulpit and the\nseats of the Card. deacons, and the triple candle is placed near the\naltar on the gospel-side[117]. The deacon then takes off his white\nvestments, puts on others of a purple colour, and joins the Card,\ncelebrant, who accompanied by the ministers takes his seat on\n_Faldistorio_ near the altar on the epistle-side, to hear the\nprophecies recited.\n\n[Sidenote: 2. Baptism administered.]\n\n[Sidenote: communion of children.]\n\n2. The administration of the Sacrament of Baptism forms an important\nfeature in the ceremonies of this day: indeed anciently it was\ncustomary to confer it only on holy-saturday, and the eve of\nWhit-sunday, except in case of necessity[118]. On these two days those\nCatechumens who were sufficiently instructed, and also children, used\nto be baptised[119] by the bishop, and by the bishop of Rome as well\nas others[120]; and after they had been baptised, they all received\nConfirmation and the holy Eucharist[121].\n\n[Sidenote: Prophecies.]\n\nThe twelve lessons or prophecies read on this day were intended for\nthe instruction of the catechumens; and they are well selected for\nthat purpose, as they contain an account of the creating, the flood,\nthe obedience of Abraham, the deliverance of God's people from their\nenemies at the red sea, the precept concerning the paschal lamb,\nthe conversion of Ninive, the refusal of the three children to adore\nNabuchodonosor's statue, etc. they are twelve in the ancient Gelasian\nOrdo. They are sung in the Sixtine chapel by members of the papal\nchoir, and are read by the Card. celebrant. After each prophecy the\nCardinal standing up sings a prayer: the deacon chants _Flectamus\ngenua_ and the subdeacon _Levate_ before each, except the last, when\nthe knee is not bent, in order to shew abhorence of the idolatry\nexacted by Nabuchodonosor for his statue. After the 4th, 8th, and 11th\nprophecies an appropriate Tract is sung by the choir. Formerly some or\nall of these prophecies were said in Greek as well as in Latin. (See\nCancellieri, _Funz. d. Set. S._ Sec. 4, Martene T. 3. p. 148.). These\nlesson are recited even where there is no baptismal font, as at the\nSixtine chapel. After them follow in S. John Lateran's and other\nchurches the blessing of the font, and in some of them administration\nof baptism.\n\n[Sidenote: 3. The litany: invocation of Saints.]\n\n[Sidenote: Change from mourning to rejoicing.]\n\n3. In the papal chapel, immediately after the prophecies, the\nCelebrant takes off his chasuble, and prostrates himself with the\nsacred ministers before the altar; all the others also kneel, and\ntwo tenor voices from the choir chant in the middle of the chapel the\ngreater litanies, called those of the saints, each petition of which\nis repeated in the same words by the choir[122]. Before the verse\n\"_Peccatores te rogamus audi nos_\" the assistant priest and ministers\ngo to the sacristy, and put on white vestments. Then returning to the\nchapel they assist the Card. Celebrant to put on his white vestments\nat his _faldistorio_. The candles are now lighted (at the _Agnus Dei_\nof the litany, as the Sacramentary of S. Gregory and the Ordo Romanus\nprescribe); the purple veil which covered the throne and the purple\n_paliotto_ or facing of the altar are removed; and both appear decked\nin white. The Cardinals assisted by theirs _caudatarii_ take off\ntheir purple _cappe_, and put on others of scarlet brought in by their\nrespective _camerieri_. The reason of this sudden change from mourning\nto rejoicing we have already seen: the celebration of Christ's\nresurrection from the dead is celebrated by anticipation.\n\n[Sidenote: High mass.]\n\nAt the end of the litanies, the Pope (if His Holiness were not present\nat the preceding ceremonies) enters the chapel, wearing a white\ncope and a mitre; at the foot of the altar he repeals as usual the\nbeginning of the mass with the Card. Celebrant at His left hand: in\nthe meantime the choir sings solemnly the _Kyrie eleison_ etc. (as\nthere is no _Introit_ of the Mass, because the people were assembled\nin the church previously): the Pope goes to His throne, and receives\nthe usual _ubbidienza_; and the other customary ceremonies of high\nmass in the papal chapel take place (see p. 19 and foll.) with such\nexceptions as we shall now mention. As soon as the Celebrant commences\nthe _Gloria in excelsis_, the veil is removed from the tapestry over\nthe altar; which represents Christ rising from the dead[123], the\ncannons of S. Angelo are discharged, the arms are no longer reversed\nand the bells of the city are tolled, to announce to its faithful\ninhabitants the resurrection of their Divine Lord.\n\n[Sidenote: Alleluja.]\n\nAfter the epistle, sung as usual by the subdeacon, another subdeacon\n(_Uditore di Rota_) wearing a white _tonacella_ or tunic announces\nat the foot of the throne the joyful tidings to His Holiness[124] by\nchanting aloud; \"_Pater sancte, annuntio vobis gaudium magnum, quod\nest, Alleluja_\": having then kissed the Pope's foot he returns into\nthe sacristy. This word of joy[125] _Alleluja_, (praise God) which\nhad not been once uttered during the long season of mourning which\npreceded this solemnity, is now sung thrice by the Celebrant,\ngradually raising his voice to a higher tone. The choir reechoes it\neach time, singing it in _contrapunto_, and then chants the verse\n_Confitemini_, and the tract, which is ordinarily recited in\npenitential times. Throughout the mass the joy of the church is\nincomplete; for though Christ has risen from the dead, He has not\nyet appeared to His disciples, and the light of faith is still\noverclouded, as Alcuin remarks: hence lights are not carried at the\ngospel; the Creed, offertory, motetto and _Agnus_ _Dei_ are omitted,\nand the kiss of peace is not given[126]. Merati adds to the cause\nalready assigned the wish to abridge service; particularly on account\nof the newly-baptised children, who communicated at this mass; and the\nunusual shortness of the Vespers confirms this opinion.\n\n[Sidenote: End of the mass.]\n\nAfter the Celebrant has communicated, Vespers are sung by the choir,\nin place of the _communion_ and postcommunion. They consist of the\nanthem _Alleluja_ repeated three times before and after the short\npsalm _Laudate Dominion omnes gentes_ etc.; of the anthem _Vesper\nautem sabbati_, which the Celebrant commences and the choir continues;\nof the _Magnificat_[127] and in fine of the prayer which is chanted\nby the Card. Celebrant. While the anthem before the _Magnificat_ is\nsung, the Pope puts incense into the thurible; the celebrant incenses\nthe crucifix and the altar, and is incensed by the deacon, and the\nincensing continues as after the offertory at high-mass (See p. 21) At\nthe _Gloria Patri_ the deacon, having incensed the Card, priests, bows\nhis head in the middle of the chapel, and then proceeds to incense the\nCard, deacons. After the prayer; _Ite Missa est, Alleluja, Alleluja_,\nis sung; and the choir answers, _Deo gratias Alleluja, Alleluja_: the\nPope gives the usual blessing, the Celebrant publishes the indulgence\nof thirty years and this beautiful service terminates. In the sacristy\nHis Holiness puts on a _mozzetta_ of white (instead of red) damask,\nand wears it during the whole of Easter week: His shoes also are\nwhite. The Cardinals put on red _mantellette_ and _mozzette_ over\ntheir purple cassocks; these they afterwards change for others of\nscarlet.\n\n[Sidenote: Mass of Pope Marcellus.]\n\nThe mass sung on this day is that of Pierluigi da Palestrina, called\nthe mass of Pope Marcellus; not because it was composed during his\npontificate; but because, according to Baini, Pierluigi had intended\nto dedicate a work to that Pope, to whom he was grateful and attached,\nbut was disappointed by His Holiness' premature death; and therefore\nhe persuaded Card. Vitellozzi to give it that name in honour of\nhis former patron. This is the celebrated mass, which rescued\necclesiastical music from the dangers which surrounded it in the\nPontificate of Pius IV (as we have related in The Papal Chapel, Rome,\n1839), and not of Marcellus II, as Baini has proved. It is said, that\nwhen it was first sung in the papal chapel, the Card. dean Francesco\nPisani was so enraptured with it, that he exclaimed with Dante,\nParadise, Canto X.\n\n  _Render e questo voce a voce in tempra_\n  _Ed in dolcezza, ch' esser non puo nota_\n  _Se non cola dove il gioir s'insempra._\n\nto whom, with all the readiness of the bucolic shepherds, whom this\nclassic soil even now produces, Card. Sorbelloni, the Pope's cousin,\nreplied:\n\n  _Risponda dunque; O beata sorte!_\n  _Risponda alla divina cantilena_\n  _Da tutte parti la beata Corte,_\n  _Si ch' ogni vista ne sia pia serena._\n\nBaini Mem. Stor. T. 1.\n\n[Sidenote: Ceremonies at S. John Lateran's.]\n\nThe ceremonies of holy-week are performed at S. John Lateran's[128]\nby the chapter of that protobasilica, and resemble for the most part\nthose which we have already described. On holy-saturday however, in\naddition to the rites before mentioned, the font of the baptistery is\nblessed by the Card. Vicar, baptism is solemnly administered there to\nadults, the newly-baptised are confirmed in the church, ordination is\nconferred during mass upon candidates, for the priesthood. We shall\ntreat briefly of these various ceremonies.\n\n[Sidenote: Blessing of the fonti: baptistery.]\n\nAfter the twelve prophecies have been recited, the Card. Vicar, (as\nthe representative of the Bishop of Rome) wearing a purple cope and\na mitre, goes in procession from the tribune of the basilica to the\nbaptistery[129]. He is preceded by acolythes bearing the paschal\ncandle[130], and the cross and usual lights, as well as by the\ncandidates for baptism and orders, and the chapter of the basilica.\nIn the mean time the beautiful tract, As the stag thirsts for the\nfountains of water, etc. is sung[131]. His Em. then chants the prayers\nappointed for the benediction of the font; he divides the water with\nhis hand in the form of a cross, exorcises it, touches it, signs it\nthree times with the sign of our redemption, and pours some of it\ntowards the four parts of the world, in allusion to the command of\nChrist: \"_Go teach all nations, baptising them_\" (Matt. XXVIII). He\nthen dips the paschal candle three times into the water, singing, and\neach time raising his voice to a higher pitch than before: \"May the\npower of the Holy Ghost descend upon the fulness of this font\"; as\nwhen He descended, says Gavant, \"in the form of a dove at the baptism\nof Christ represented by this candle plunged into the water\". Then\nbreathing three times on the water nearly in the form of a cross \"that\nhe may unite the Trinity with the cross\" (as the same author observes)\nhe continues the chant, and raises the candle from the water,\nalluding in the prayer to \"the effect of baptism, which confers grace,\n_raising_ the soul from sin to glory\". (Gavant). The blessed water\nis then sprinkled upon the people, and some of it is reserved to be\nsprinkled in houses, etc. In order to sanctify the water still\nmore, the Cardinal now pours into it, in the form of a cross, oil of\ncatechumens and chrism; and mixes them with the water of the font,\nin the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. This last ceremony\nis intended to signify, according to mystical interpreters, such as\nAmalarius, Honorius, Durandus, etc. \"the union of Christ by baptism\nwith the members of the church\" (Gavant). The prayers of this\nbenediction, most of which are sung in the tone of the _preface_ at\nferial mass, contain beautiful allusions to the mention of water in\nthe Old and New Testaments, as for instance: \"O God, whose Spirit at\nthe very beginning of the world was borne upon the waters, that the\nnature of water might even then conceive the power of sanctification;\nO God, who washing with waters the crimes of a guilty world, didst\nsign the figure of regeneration in the very out-pouring of the deluge;\nmay this font receive of the Holy Ghost the grace of thy only begotten\nSon\"[132].\n\n[Sidenote: Baptism of adults.]\n\nThe Caeremoniale Episcoporum prescribes that infants, except in danger\nof death, should not be baptised during the eight preceding days, that\nthey may be reserved for holy-Saturday. The beginning of the baptismal\nservice and the exorcisms are performed privately in the sacristy\nby the parish-priest, while the prophecies are read in church[133].\nAfter the font has been blessed, the catechumens wearing a long white\ndress, and accompanied by their respective godfathers and godmothers,\napproach the font, and in turn ascend. In answer to the questions of\nthe Cardinal (who is now vested in a white, and not a purple, cope,)\nhaving renounced Satan and all his works and pomps, they profess\ntheir belief in the articles of Christian faith, and their desire of\nbaptism[134]: then assisted by their sponsors they are baptised by\ninfusion in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; they are\nanointed with chrism, receive a white garment, with a charge to bear\nit unspotted before the tribunal of Christ, and in fine a lighted\ntaper, that \"when the Lord shall come to the nuptials, they may meet\nhim in the heavenly court unto life everlasting\".\n\n[Sidenote: Litanies and confirmation.]\n\nThe litanies are sung, while the procession returns to the church,\nwhere the newly-baptised are confirmed in a side-chapel, and exhorted\nto perseverance in virtue, by the Cardinal[135]; the litanies are\nthen continued, but cease while all kneeling venerate the heads of\nSS. Peter and Paul shewn from above the high altar; the procession\nafterwards returns to the tribune, where the mass of the day is sung,\nand orders are conferred by the Cardinal-Vicar.\n\n[Sidenote: Mass and ordination.]\n\nThe orders of priests and deacons are often mentioned in the N.\nTestament: and the church, as S. Thomas observes, instituted the\ninferior orders. Subdeacons are mentioned by Pope Cornelius and S.\nCyprian in the 3rd century, as well as acolythes, exorcists, and\nlectors. S. Augustine and S. Gregory Nazianzen speak of _ostiarii_;\nand the clerical tonsure is mentioned by S. Isidore at the beginning\nof the 5th century, as a rite established before his time. Orders\nare conferred by the laying on of hands and prayer, as the scripture\nteaches, and also by the delivery of the instruments belonging to each\norder: appropriate exhortations addressed to the candidates for the\ndifferent orders are interspersed with the prayers prescribed in the\npontifical. (On their antiquity the reader may consult Morinus de\nOrdinationibus, Martene de Antiquis Eccl. Ritibus, T. 2. etc.) The\ntonsure is given after the _Kyrie eleison_ of the mass, the 4 minor\norders after the _Gloria in excelsis_; subdeacons are ordained before\nthe epistle, which one of them repeats; deacons after the epistle\nand finally priests after the first part of the tract. These last,\nafter the imposition of hands, receive their peculiar vestments,\nviz. the stole hanging down in front, and the chasuble: their hands\nare anointed with oil of catechumens, and they receive a chalice\ncontaining wine and water, a paten with a host, and power to say\nmass. (Luke XXII, 19). After offerings of candle have been made to the\nordaining Bishop, the new priests join him in saying mass[136]: and\nafter the newly-ordained and baptised have communicated, the priests\nprofess their faith by reciting the apostles' creed; they receive\npower to forgive and retain sins (John XX, 22, 23), they promise\nreverence and obedience to their ecclesiastical superior, and receive\nthe bishops blessing, who then directs that masses and prayers be\nsaid by those whom he has ordained, and recommends himself to their\nprayers. In other respects the mass is similar to that of the Papal\nchapel[137]. Morcelli in his calendar in summing up the ceremonies\nof this day, having mentioned the station at S. John Lateran's, the\nbaptism of Jews and Turks, and mass in the papal chapel, says that\nat the _Gloria, tonitrus tormentorum ab Arce fiunt, AEra templorum ac\nTurium sonant._\n\n[Sidenote: Armenian Catholics:]\n\nHaving spoken of the ceremonies of the Vatican and S. John Lateran's,\nwe might consider our task as completed[138]. Yet one more _funzione_\nattracts our countrymen on this day; and we are therefore unwilling to\nbid them farewell, before it is ended. Come then to S. Biagio or to S.\nGregorio Illuminatore, to assist at the Armenian mass; and on the\nroad we may talk of the venerable and amiable Fathers who perform that\nsolemn service, and of the nature of their liturgy.\n\nSS. Bartholomew and Thaddaeus were the first apostles of Armenia:\nbut it was not till the beginning of the 4th century, that the whole\ncountry became Christian in consequence of the divine blessing, which\nattended the zealous exertions of S. Gregory surnamed the Illuminator.\nIn the 6th century great numbers of the Armenians were infected with\nthe heresy of Eutyches, who denied that there were two natures in\nChrist: and to this error they afterwards added some others. In the\npontificate of John XXII, about the year 328, a zealous Dominican\nbishop, called Bartholomew of Bologna, went as a missionary among\nthem; and many of the Eutychians or Monophysites returned to the bosom\nof the Catholic church. In the 16th century the Catholics were so\nfuriously persecuted by Zachary, a schismatical patriarch, that they\nfled and took refuge in other countries. They have at present two\nestablishments at Rome, one of the Antonian monks at the church of\nS. Gregory Illuminator, behind the colonnade of S. Peter's; and a\nnational _ospizio_ at S. Biagio in strada Giulia.\n\n[Sidenote: their liturgy.]\n\n\"The Armenians,\" says Palmer \"have only one liturgy, which is written\nin the ancient Armenian language, and has been used by them from time\nimmemorial. The whole groundwork and order of the Armenian liturgy\ncoincides with the Caesarean, as used in the time of Basil. This\nliturgy has, like most others, received many additions in the course\nof ages. There are several prayers extracted from the liturgy of\nChrysostom, and actually ascribed to him\" Vol. 1, Liturgy of Armenia.\n\"The liturgy of Basil can be traced with tolerable certainty to the\n4th century. Striking as are some of the features, in which it differs\nfrom that of Antioch, it is nevertheless evidently a superstructure\nraised on that basis: the composition of both is the same, i.e. the\nparts, which they have in common, follow in the same order. The same\nmay be said of the Constantinopolitan liturgy, commonly attributed to\nS. Chrysostom, of that of the Armenian church, and of the florid and\nverbose composition in use among the Nestorians of Mesopotamia. So\nthat the liturgy of Antioch, commonly attributed to S. James, appears\nto be the basis of all the oriental liturgies\". Tracts for the Times,\nN. 63. The author then proceeds to state the grounds of the belief\nthat the liturgies of Antioch, Alexandria, Rome and Gaul were of\nApostolic origin; concluding thus \"It may perhaps be said without\nexaggeration, that next to the holy scriptures they possess the\ngreatest claims on our veneration and study\". Padre Avedichian\nobserves in his preface to the Armenian liturgy, that it was probably\ncompiled by John _Mandagunense_, an Armenian patriarch of the fifth\ncentury.\n\n[Sidenote: Armenian high-mass.]\n\nWe shall now give a brief account of their high mass, which we do the\nmore readily, because Mr. Palmer represents it in a very mutilated\nform. The celebrant, whether priest or bishop, is vested in the\nsacristy: the vestments bear some resemblance to those of the Greeks.\nThe beginning of the mass is the only part probably taken from the\nRoman liturgy, but it contains an invocation of the B. Virgin and of\nthe saint of the day. When the celebrant goes up to the altar, the\nveil is drawn: he uncovers the chalice, blesses the host, which is\nlike ours of unleavened bread; pours wine and water into the chalice,\nand recites the beautiful prayer of S. John Chrysostom: \"O Lord our\nGod, who hast sent our Lord Jesus Christ the celestial bread, the\nnourishment of the whole world; do thou bless this proposition etc.\"\nThe veil is then drawn back, and the offerings, the altar, and the\npeople are incensed. The Celebrant recites the prayer of the festival,\nfollowed by other prayers composed by S. John Chrysostom: the\nTrisagion is sung, and the gospel is carried in procession, and is\nkissed by one of the congregation. Then follow the epistle, gospel,\nand creed. After two prayers, and two benedictions imparted to the\npeople; the offerings are carried in procession to the altar, the\ncelebrant offers them up to God, and prays that Jesus Christ will make\nhim worthy to consecrate, and receive his \"holy and immaculate body\nand precious blood; for thou, O Christ our God, art he who offers\nand is offered\". After he has washed his hands, he says \"O Lord God\nof armies, let this victim become \"the true body and blood of thy\nonly begotten Son\". He then blesses the people, says prayers which\ncorrespond to our preface and _Sanctus_, and pronounces the words of\nconsecration. After he has said other prayers, and made the sign of\nthe cross several times over the host and chalice, he invokes the holy\nGhost, begging also that the body and blood of Christ may produce \"the\nsalvation of our souls and the remission of our sins\". He then prays,\nthrough the merits of the holy sacrifice, for the whole world, the\nchurch and state, all conditions of men and for all the faithful\ndeparted: he invokes the intercession of the B. Virgin and all the\nSaints: he prays for the Pope and all present; and after other similar\nsupplications, he says the _Pater noster_. The elevation takes place\nat this part of the mass, and also the blessing of the people with\nthe consecrated host and chalice, accompanied by appropriate prayers.\nAfter the curtains have been drawn, the priest breaks the host, and\nputs a particle of it into the chalice: he then receives communion,\nblesses the people with the chalice and particle, and distributes\ncommunion; before its distribution the curtains are drawn back. When\nthe ablutions and prayers after the celebrant's communion are ended,\nturning towards the people, he recites a prayer of S. John Chrisostom,\nwhich is followed by the last gospel. Then invoking the holy cross he\nblesses the people, who unite in praising God. He finally blesses them\nagain, and distributes blessed bread (not consecrated) among them. At\nS. Gregorio Illuminatore Vespers are added and said _in circolo_: the\nclergy carry tapers; and the gospel is held up by the Celebrant to\nimplore blessings on the people.\n\n[Sidenote: Reflections.]\n\nThese ceremonies may appear singular to us, who are of a different\nclime and different customs; their music in particular is little in\naccordance with our taste, or notions of melody and harmony. Yet the\nremark of Montfaucon (Diario Italico) \"aera Dodonaea dixisses\", alluding\nto the brass kettles of the oracle (Potter Arch. Graec. B. 2, Sec. 8)\nis an exaggeration. Their _flabelli_ are of metal, of a round form,\nsurrounded with little bells, which are sounded at the seraphic hymn,\nto express, if we might believe Cancellieri, \"by the trembling of the\nhands, that of the blessed spirits, who assist at the throne of the\nDivine Majesty with fear and trembling\". (Tre Pontific. Not. VI).\nTheir mass is anticipated, but not at so early an hour as that of\nthe Latin. (Even in the Latin church, permissions to say mass in\nthe afternoon of this day have been granted by some Popes; they may\nbe seen in Cancellieri. _Funz. d. Sett. S. p_. 183, 184). Amid the\nnumerous differences between their rite and our own, the attentive\nspectator will not fail to remark the similarity of the substance and\norder of their liturgy, and of that of the Roman church; although,\nwith the solitary exception of the beginning of the mass, both have\nexisted independently of one another during the last 1400 years. This\nis a powerful argument in favour of the great antiquity, nay of the\napostolic origin of their most important ceremonies, which may be\ntraced through different channels to the _primitive_ liturgies of Rome\nand Antioch. It is also one of those striking illustrations, which\nRome presents, of the unity and catholicity of the church; and at\nthe same time of the adaptation of her immutable doctrines and sacred\npractices to the feelings and customs of widely-separated nations who,\nhaving little in common but human nature, yet all acknowledge \"one\nLord, one faith, and one baptism\". (Ephes. IV. 5); and all belong to\n\"one fold and one shepherd\". John X, 16.\n\n[Sidenote: Conclusion.]\n\nHaving now considered in detail the various ceremonies of Holy Week\nat Rome, a philosophic mind will take a general review of them: and\nthis question will very naturally suggest itself: What judgment\nought I to form concerning them? am I to consider them as mummery, or\nsuperstition, or idolatry, as many most confidently pronounce, who\nare unacquainted with their nature, their origin, and their meaning;\nand at the same time are little accustomed from early infancy to\nany language or gesticulations save those of the tongue? or am I not\nrather to regard them as a solemn, and sacred, and pathetic, and most\nancient expression of Christian faith and Christian feeling; which,\nunited as it is with the noblest productions of divine inspiration and\nof Christian art may haply not only instruct and elevate the mind, but\nalso enkindle in the soul flames of that pure and practical devotion,\nwhich this holy season demands from every follower of Christ? Let the\nreader decide for himself; but for our part, we envy not the mind\nor heart of him, who can prefer the former of these views. We shall\never bless God, that we have learnt in another school not to condemn\nthe customs and manners of other countries and other people, merely\nbecause they differ from our own; and that we are disposed to\nattribute to signs the meaning attached to them by those who adopt\nthem, and not that of our own fancies. Men of warmer climates than our\nown convey to others their sentiments and feelings by action as easily\nas by the tongue. Italians, as well as Greeks and Orientals, have\ninherited from their fathers a language of gesture more powerful and\nexpressive than that of words. The Hebrew prophets, Isaiah, Ezechiel,\nand others, nay Christ himself, spoke by action as well by the tongue.\nGod appointed in the old law innumerable ceremonies: Christ in the new\nlaw of spirit and truth instituted sacred rites, or sanctified those\nwhich previously existed: the early church imitated His blessed\nexample: and they have been faithfully preserved as a precious\ninheritance till the present time. The very objection, that some of\nthem were borrowed from Jews or Pagans, is a proof of their primitive\nantiquity: Christ or the church removed from them all profaneness or\nsuperstition, and then adopted and sanctified them. (See Wiseman's\nLetters to Poynder). If all parties unite in approbation of the\nillumination of the cupola of S. Peter's, and of the fireworks of S.\nAngelo, considered as outward demonstrations of the exultation of the\nchurch at the resurrection of her Divine Spouse; we shall ever admire\nalso the expressions of christian feeling exhibited in the interior\nof her temples, whether they consist in ceremonies or words; and on\nthis day emulating the transports of joy of the fervent and eloquent\npilgrim to Jerusalem and Mount Sinai, when shall unite our voices with\nthose of the angelic spirits in singing, _Alleluja_; \"because Jesus\nChrist, our Lord, who was delivered up for our sins, rose again for\nour justification\". Rome. IV, 24, 25.[139]\n\n[Footnote 111: Anciently in some churches, as Thomassin has shewn (de\ndierum Festorum celebratione lib. 2. c. 14), fire used to be struck\nfrom a flint to light the church-lamps etc. every day and particularly\non Saturday, and the new fire was blessed; on holy Saturday however\nthis ceremony was performed with great solemnity; and in the 11th\ncentury it was restricted to that day alone. At Rome in holy week\nthis practice was not originally confined to holy Saturday, but was\nobserved on the three days before caster: for the first _Ordo Romanus_\ndirects, that on holy _thursday_ fire should be struck from a flint\noutside the church, and blessed. Amalarius also (4e Ordine Antiph.)\ntestifies that on good _friday_ \"new fire was enkindled and reserved\ntill the nocturnal office\". Leo IV however (A.D. 847) appears to have\nfirst ordered that on Easter Eve \"the old fire should be put out, and\nnew fire blessed and distributed among the people\" (Homil. de cura\nPastorali). For Pope Zachary, about the year 731. in answer to\nthe enquiries of Boniface, bishop of Mayence, states that \"on holy\nthursday, when the sacred chrism is consecrated, three lamps of a\nlarge size filled with oil collected from the different lamps of the\nchurch, and placed in a secret part of the said church, should burn\nthere constantly, so that the oil may suffice till the third day,\nthat is saturday. Then let the fire of the lamps which is used for the\nsacred font be renewed. But concerning the fire taken _ex cristallis_,\nas you have asserted, we have no tradition\". Pouget (Inst. Cathol. l.\n1) observes that the new fire is blessed with great solemnity on this\nday, \"because the fire struck from a flint appears to be a type of\nChrist arising from the dead\". Formerly not only the lights of the\nchurch, but all the fires of the city were enkindled from the blessed\nfire (as we learn from a MS. Sancti Victoris (ap. Martene, De ant.\nEccl. Ritibus lib. IV, c. XXIV). \"After the _Ite Missa est_\" says\nthe Ordinarium of Luke archbishop of Cosenza \"the bishop gives his\nblessing, and immediately the deacon commands the people, saying\n\"Receive the new fire from the holy candle, and having put out the\nold, light it in your houses in the name of Christ; then rejoicing\nthey depart with the light\". This custom is mentioned also in Leo\nIVth's homily above quoted.]\n\n[Footnote 112: As for the Paschal candle, Anastasius says that\nZosimus, who was elected pope in 417, gave leave that candles should\nbe blessed in the churches. Bened. XIV, Merati and Gretser understand\nby these words, that that Pontiff only extended to the parish churches\na custom already practised in the greater churches: however this may\nbe, the blessing of this candle is at least as old as the time of Pope\nZosimus. It is inserted in the ancient sacramentary of Pope Gelasius\n(A.D. 495). S. Augustine (lib. 15 de Civ. Dei) mentions some verses\nwritten by himself in praise of the paschal candle. S. Jerome also\nspeaks of it in his epistles; and Ennodius bishop of Pavia in\n519 wrote two formulas, according to which it might be blessed.\nCancellieri, at the end of his _Funzioni della Settimana Santa_,\ndescribes two blessings of the paschal candle contained in manuscripts\nof the 12th century. Du Vert as usual rejects every mystical meaning\nof the candle: but why then should it be lighted on this night, and\nnot on christmas and other nights? The 4th Council of Toledo, held in\n633, states that the paschal candle is blessed, in order that we may\nreceive the mystery of Christ's resurrection; and hence the abbot\nRupert says, that the candle when lighted represents Christ's\nresurrection from the dead. That such is its meaning appears from the\nfive holes made in it in the form of a cross, to represent the five\nwounds of Christ: in them the five grains of incense are fixed by the\nDeacon, in order to represent, according to Rupert, the spices applied\nto Christ's body by Joseph of Arimathea. In confirmation of this\nexplanation, we may observe that this candle is not removed from the\nchurch till the gospel has been sung on Ascension-day when Christ\ndeparted from among men: and it is lighted at solemn mass before the\n_gospel_ and at vespers before the _Magnificat_ on the Sundays and\nholidays which occur between holy saturday and the ascension. To the\nsame symbolical meaning of this candle we must attribute the ancient\ncustom of affixing to it (as a symbol of Christ) a tablet on which\nthe current year of our Lord and its indiction were marked: sometimes\nthese, if not other chronological dates, were inscribed on the candle\nitself by the deacon, before he sang the _Exultet_, as Ven. Bede\ntestifies, The same idea was preserved in the practice of forming the\n_Agnus Dei_ with the wax of the paschal candle. \"On this day\" (holy\nsaturday) says Durandus \"the acolythes of the Roman church make\n_lambs_ of newly blessed wax, or of the _wax of the paschal candle_\nof the preceding year mixed with chrism: on Saturday in Albis they\nare distributed by the Lord Pope to the people in the churches\".\nAmalarius likewise mentions this custom. It appears also from the\ntwo benedictions of Ennodius mentioned above, that the faithful used\nparticles of the pascal candle as a preservative against storms: the\ngood effects hoped for in this and similar cases are attributed to the\nprayers of the church, which God in His goodness has promised to hear.\nThe paschal candle is painted according to an ancient custom.\n\n  \"Ast alii _pictis_ accendant lumina _ceris_\".\n\nS. Paulinus Nat. VI. S Felicis\n\nPierin del Vaga, whom Vasari considered as the most distinguished\nof Raffaello's assistants, was originally nothing more than a\ncandlepainter. His creation of Eve at S. Marcello at Rome, and\nhis frescoes in the Doria place at Genoa, are well-known; at the\nVatican he assisted Giovanni d'Udine in his arabesques, Polidoro in\nhis antique chiaroscuri, and executed some of the most beautiful\nhistorical paintings of the loggie di Raffaello. Hence may we judge of\nthe versatility of his talents.]\n\n[Footnote 113: Why does a deacon perform this ceremony? since other\nbenedictions are reserved to bishops and priests. Rupert assigns as a\nreason, that Christ's body was wrapped in spices by his disciples, and\nnot by the apostles whose successors are bishops and priests: besides,\nthe hymn sung by the deacon is the praeconium Paschale, or announcement\nof the Resurrection, which was first made by inferiors to their\nsuperiors, by the women to the apostles. We may add that both the fire\nand the 5 grains of incense are previously blessed by the priest, and\nin the praeconium itself there is not any form of blessing, strictly\nspeaking. In the church of Ravenna however the bishop used to\nbless this candle (S. Gregory ep. 28, lib. 9). In the Roman church,\naccording to cardinal Gaetani, the last of the Cardinal priests\nusually blessed the fire, and the last Card. deacon lighted the _lumen\nChristi_, or triple candle, and the Paschal candle. The deacon used\nto bless the latter either at the steps of the presbytery, or from the\nambo; and hence we find a marble column, intended to support it, fixed\nto the ambo in S. Clement's S. Laurence's, and S. Pancras' churches\nat Rome. See another marble column destined for the same use ap.\nCiampini, Vet. mon. cap. 2.]\n\n[Footnote 114: Martene (De antiquis Eccl. rit. lib. 4, c. 24)\nmaintains that this hymn was composed by S. Augustine, and this\nopinion is adopted also by Baillet and Benedict XIV, and confirmed by\na MS. pontifical of the church of Pavia of the 9th century, and other\ndocuments cited by Martene, ibid: it was corrected by S. Jerome, if\nwe may believe an ancient Pontifical of Poitiers (quoted ibid.) The\n_chant_ of this beautiful hymn is very ancient. \"I have seen,\" says\nBaini \"in many manuscripts both anterior and posterior to the 11th\ncentury the melodies of the preface, of the _Pater noster_, of the\n_Exultet_, and of the _Gloria_ precisely such as the modern\" (T. 2,\np. 92). In a splendid roll of the Minerva (signed D. 1. 2) of the 9th\ncentury, are contained the _Exultet_, the solemn benediction of the\nbaptismal font, and the administration of all the ecclesiastical\norders. Nor is this the only roll containing the chant precisely\nsimilar to the modern. D'Agincourt left another to the Vatican\nlibrary. See also MS. no. 333 of the Barberini library, of the year\n1503.]\n\n[Footnote 115: Prudentius speaks of the \"guttas olentes\" or\nodoriferous drops of the candle, and S. Paulinus of Nola of \"odora\nlumina\": hence P. Arevalo conjectures that the grains of incense were\nfixed in the paschal candle even at the time of Prudentius in the 4th\ncentury.]\n\n[Footnote 116: In churches, at the words _Apis mater eduxit_, the\nlamps also are lighted. With regard to the triple candle, we may\nobserve that on an ancient marble column preserved in the Piazza\nbefore the cathedral of Capua is a bas-relief representing the\nlighting of the paschal candle by means of a reed surmounted by 3\nsmall candles, as the Canonico Natali testifies in a letter printed at\nNaples in 1776. The triple candle is mentioned in the Ordo Romanus\nof Card. Gaetano, in that of Amelius, and in a MS. Pontifical of the\nchurch of Apamea, ap. Martene. As Thomassin observes, \"we light a\ncandle divided into three in honour of the Trinity, considering that\nenlightened by Christ we know that recondite mystery\". Gavant also\ngives the same explanation. In the Greek service the bishop gives\nhis blessing, as often as he sings mass, with a triple candle. In the\nLatin church it is used only on holy Saturday.]\n\n[Footnote 117: See Appendix.]\n\n[Footnote 118: This custom is proved from the letter of Siricius\nPope in the 4th century to Himmerius, from letters of S. Leo and\nPope Gelasius, as well as other ancient documents (ap. Bened. XIV,\nInstitut. prima ed lat.); and vestiges of it are preserved in the\nliturgy of the weeks of Easter and Pentecost. Ordinations were\ngenerally conferred before Christmas, as is evident from the lives of\nthe early Popes. Baptism was administered before the great festivals\nof Easter and Pentecost, that the newly-baptised might be prepared to\ncelebrate them worthily, and receive the graces therein commemorated.\nPerhaps another reason for selecting the eve of Easter may be found in\nthe parallel drawn by S. Paul between baptism and Christ's death and\nresurrection (Rom. VI, 5 and foll.): \"we who are baptised in Christ\nJesus are baptised in his death. For we are buried together with him\nby baptism unto death: that as Christ is risen from the dead by the\nglory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life\" etc.]\n\n[Footnote 119: See on such subjects Del Signore's Institut. Hist.\nEccles. with notes by Prof. Tizzani Cap. V. Sec. 19 seq.]\n\n[Footnote 120: See Comm. ad Ord. Rom. Mabillonii tom. 2, Mus. Ital. p.\n95.]\n\n[Footnote 121: According to the Ordo Romanus, children after baptism\non this day were to take no food or milk before Communion \"and on all\ndays of Easter-week let them go to Mass, and let their parents offer\nfor them, and let all communicate\". As Cabassutius proves in his\nnotitia Ecclesiastica saeculi primi, they used to receive the B.\nSacrament under the form of wine alone. The bishop dipped his finger\ninto the sacred blood, and then put it into the mouth of the child a\npractice observed in modern times in some parts of the East, according\nto the learned Maronite Abraham Ecchellensis; afterwards a little milk\nand honey was put into their mouths, as an emblem (according to John\nthe deacon) of the promised land, to which they were called. This\ncustom of giving communion to children was not of necessity for\nsalvation, as Cardinal Noris proves in Vindiciis Augustinianis Sec. 4,\nand the Council of Trent observes. In some places an abuse crept in\nof putting the milk and honey into the consecrated chalice, but it was\nprohibited by an African Council.]\n\n[Footnote 122: In the 4th century, S. Basil writing to the clergy of\nNeocesarea observes, that the litanies, which they then used, were\nintroduced after the time of S. Gregory Thaumaturgus (Epist. 63). In\nGaul about the year 452, S. Mamertus bishop of Vienne appointed solemn\nlitanies to be recited on the three _rogation_ days. \"At Rome,\" say\nPalmer, \"no doubt litanies were in use at an early period, since we\nfind that in the time of Gregory the great (A.D. 590), the appellation\nof litany had been so long given to processional supplications,\nthat it was then familiarly applied to those persons who formed the\nprocession\". Vol. 1, p. 271. That holy Pontiff gave the following\ndirections; \"Let the litany of the clergy set out from the church of\nS. John the Baptist, the litany of the men from the church of the holy\nmartyr Marcellus, the litany of the monks from the church of SS John\nand Paul: the litany of the handmaids of God from the church of the\nblessed martyrs Cosmas and Damian, the litany of the married women\nfrom the church of the blessed protomartyr Stephen; the litany of the\nwidows from the church of the blessed martyr Vitalis, the litany of\nthe poor and children from the church of the blessed martyr Cecilia\".\nVita S. Gregorii a Joanne Diacono, lib. 1, c. 42. That the litanies\nwere recited on holy-saturday appears from several ancient _rites_\nquoted by Marlene (De Ant. Eccl. Ritibus, lib. 4, c. XXV, and lib. 1,\nc. I, art. 18). Palmer, wishing to defend the liturgy of the church\nof England, maintains the antiquity of litanies, but pretends that the\ninvocations of saints were not originally contained in them, but were\nadded to them in the west about the eighth century (vol. I, p. 289).\nFrom a passage in Walafridus Strabo he is led to admit that at _his_\ntime (the ninth century) \"these invocations must have been _for\nsome time_ in use, and accordingly manuscript litanies containing\ninvocations have been discovered by learned men, which appear from\ninternal evidence to be as old as the eighth century\". He attempts\nhowever by _negative_ arguments to shew, that these invocations\nare not more ancient than that period; although at the same time he\nconfesses that \"we have no _distinct account_ of the _nature_ of the\nservice which was used on occasions of peculiar supplication during\nthe earliest ages\". p. 272. To his arguments we may oppose the\n_positive_ testimony of Walafridus Strabo, who says \"The litany of the\nholy names is believed to have come into use after Jerome, following\nEusebius of Cesarea, had composed the martyrology\". A long time,\nabout three centuries, elapsed before the _canon_ of the scriptures\nwas determined; and it is not therefore surprising if the _canon_\nof saints, (if such it may be called), who died at considerable\nintervals, required some time for its formation. Invocations of the\nsaints in ancient litanies may be seen ap. Martene (lib. 4f c. 27\nand lib. 1, c. 1, art. 18). One would conceive from Palmer's account\nof the Ambrosian litany that it did not contain invocations of\nthe saints, p. 276; yet in the Ambrosian processional, to which he\nalludes, we read as follows \"Afterwards they go to the altar, were the\nlitanies are recited on bended knees, in reciting which the _names\nof the saints_ without _Intercede pro nobis_ are sung aloud by the\nprovost and clergy of the first collegiate church; and by the other\nclergy with _Intercede pro nobis_ and this rite of singing the\n_litanies_ and antiphons is observed in every other stational church\".\nap. Martene lib. 4, c. 28. In the Ordo Romanus also De Benedictione\nEcclesiae these invocations are found. The question however concerning\ntheir antiquity _in the litanies_ is of minor importance. Even Palmer\nadmits, that \"Catholic fathers in the 4th century invoked the saints\"\np. 292, though he gravely assures his readers, that \"they were too\nwell instructed in the Christian faith to believe positively that the\nsaints heard our prayers\". He mentions the learned work of Serrarius\ncalled \"Litaneutici seu de Litaniis etc.\" as an instance of the\nwritings, in which \"innumerable passages have been cited from ancient\nwriters to prove, that the invocation of saints is more ancient than\nthe eighth century. But most of those passages do not refer to the\ninvocation of saints, but to prayers made to God for the intercession\nof saints\". Palmer, vol. I, p. 278. We consider that there is little\ndifference in principle between these two things: we shall however, to\nsatisfy him, quote only one passage from an ancient Oriental liturgy.\n\"Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, pray for me to the only begotten\nSon, who was born of thee, that he may forgive me my offences and\nsins, and may receive from my feeble and sinful hands this sacrifice,\nwhich in my weakness I offer on this altar, through thy intercession\nfor me, O holy Mother\". (From the ancient liturgy used by the\nNestorians called the liturgy of the holy apostles. Renaudot, t. II.\nSee bishop Poynter's Christianity, Note E: and ancient inscriptions\nin Rock's Hierurgia, p. 347 and foll.) Though we have the _innumerable\nancient_ passages above-mentioned in favour of the Catholic doctrine,\nyet shall we call Mr. Palmer's attention to the following passage of\nhis own work. Speaking of secrecy, he says: \"this primitive discipline\nis sufficient to account for the fact, that very few allusions to\nthe liturgy or eucharistic service are found in the writings of the\nFathers\". I, p. 14. His fears of _heresy and blasphemy_ arising from\nthe invocation of Saints may be calmed by the simple perusal of the\ndoctrine of the church taught by the Council of Trent, sess. 25. \"The\nholy synod commands all bishops and other teachers--_diligently to\ninstruct the faithful, teaching them_ that the Saints reigning with\nChrist offer to God their prayers for men; that it is _good and\nuseful_ to invoke them with supplication, and to have recourse to\ntheir prayers, help, and assistance, in order to obtain benefits _from\nGod through his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who alone is our Redeemer\nand Saviour_\". Accordingly we say in the litany \"Lord, have mercy on\nus: holy Mary _pray for us_\" etc.]\n\n[Footnote 123: We shall say nothing of sculptured figures taken\nfrom the catacombs, such as the statues of the good shepherd and\nS. Hippolitus now in the Vatican, or the numerous bas reliefs on\nChristian sarcophagi (on which see Raoul-Rochette, Tableau des\nCatacombes, c. IV. Beschreibung der Stadt Rom. B. 2, in the\ndescription of the Christian Museum in the Vatican Library). On\nanother class of Christian representations the reader may consult\nBuonarruoti's _Osservazioni sopra alcuni frammenti di vetro, ornati\ndi figure_. We shall rather call the attention of the Christian\nantiquarian to the numerous frescoes painted in the chapels of the\ncatacombs, and illustrated by Bosio, Bottari, d'Agincourt etc.,\nthe latter of whom attributes some of them to the second century on\naccount of the similarity of their style to that of frescoes in the\ntomb of the Nasones, which is situated on the Flaminian way at a short\ndistance from Rome; his opinion is confirmed by the fact that some of\nthem have been broken through, with the view of preparing a place of\nburial for the bodies of martyrs slain in _subsequent persecutions_.\nA list of their subjects which are _generally_ taken from the old and\nnew Testaments may be seen in Raoul-Rochette (c. 3, p. 157 foll. ed.\nde Brusselles). Of these we may briefly notice in particular some of\nthe representations of Christ, of the B. Virgin, of the apostles and\nmartyrs. In them Christ sometimes appears as an infant on the lap\nof His holy mother, Who ever pure and modest is always veiled; and\nthis lovely group is found not only on these paintings, but also on\nbas-reliefs and glass-vessels generally anterior to the 4th century,\nand consequently to the general council of Ephesus held in 431;\nalthough it is pretended that such figures were first designed after\nthat period. (Instances are enumerated by Raoul-Rochette c. VI).\nConstantina, daughter of Constantine, whose tomb is still preserved\nat Rome, begged of Eusebius bishop of Cesarea a likeness of our Divine\nSaviour (Concil. Labbe. t. VII, 493 seq): we must have recourse to\nthe catacombs for His most ancient portraits. See one resembling\nthe ordinary type of His sacred head and taken from the cemetery of\nCalixtus, at the end of Raoul-Rochette's work. This type, repeated\nagain and again on Christian monuments during the last sixteen hundred\nyears or more, may suggest the hope that some traces of our Divine\nSaviour's features are still preserved among us, notwithstanding\nthe diversity of His portraits, of which S. Augustine complained, De\nTriniti l. 8, c, 4 5. Raoul-Rochette's opinion, that this likeness and\nthe portraits of the apostles were of Gnostic origin, is altogether\nunsupported, as the Belgian editors of his work justly observe. Christ\nis frequently represented also as seated amid His apostles, of whom\nSS. Peter and Paul were favourite subjects of the old artists: see\nRaoul-Rochette c. VI, where he mentions, after the older antiquaries,\nthe ancient representations of S. Ciriaca, S Priscilla, SS. Stephen,\nCyprian, Laurence, Agnes, and other martyrs. During Diocletian's\npersecution, the provincial council of Eliberis in Spain decreed, that\nthere should be no paintings on the walls of churches: its 36th canon\nwas evidently intended to save sacred pictures from the profanations\nperpetrated by the pagans. The faithful however, fertile in\nexpedients to gratify their devotion, now began to use those portable\nrepresentations of pious subjects called diptychs, because they\ngenerally consisted of two tablets which could at pleasure be _folded_\ntogether. They were formed of ivory or wood, and resembled the\npresents of that name formerly sent by the consuls on the day of their\nentrance into office: on these were usually inscribed the names and\nthe portraits of the new magistrates. (Symmachus lib. 2, ep. 80, all\n71). The sacred diptychs, of which many are preserved in the Vatican\nLibrary, were easily saved from the fury of the Iconoclasts. Their\nfolding form without their portability is preserved in many of the\nancient altar-pieces of Italian and other churches and from them the\nmodern altar-pieces are derived: they did not however supersede the\nuse of frescoes, or mosaics, as is evident from innumerable ancient\nand modern ecclesiastical monuments of this city. In the preceding\nchapter we laid before our readers the doctrine of the catholic church\nconcerning respect paid to images, p. 80.]\n\n[Footnote 124: \"He is risen; he is not here. But _go, tell_ his\ndisciples and _Peter_, that he goeth before you into Galilee\". Mark\nXV, 6 7.]\n\n[Footnote 125: This Hebrew word, which frequently occurs in psalms\nof praise, CIV, 34, CV, 45, CVI, 1, etc. has been preserved, as well\nas _Amen_, and _Sabaoth_, in its original form in most liturgies.\nAccording to S. Gregory (Ep. 64, ind. 2). who appeals to S. Jerome's\nauthority, it was introduced into the Roman liturgy in the time of\nPope Damasus. S. Gregory forbade it to be sung at funerals, (as it had\nbeen at that of Fabiola: S. Jerome in Epitaphio Fabiolae;) or during\nLent.]\n\n[Footnote 126: Gavant and others, following Walafridus Strabo and the\nabbot Berno, think that the Offertory and _Agnus Dei_ are not said,\nin order to signify the silence of the holy women returning from the\nsepulchre (Mark XVI, 8). Others attribute some of these omissions\nto the circumstance, that there is no communion; on this day, and\ntherefore neither offertory or postcommunion; anciently however\ncommunion was given on this occasion, as is evident from the Gelasian\nsacramentary (See Bened. XIV, De Festis c. VIII). The kiss of peace,\nas Grancolas observes, is not given, because formerly at the dawn of\neaster-sunday, soon after the mass of easter-eve, the faithful used to\nassemble in the church \"and kissing one another with mutual charity to\nsay, _Surrexit Dominus_ \"; (the Lord is risen) Ordo Rom. ab Hittorpio\ned. p. 55. Merati says, that the _Agnus Dei_ is omitted because it\nis of recent origin, having been first introduced into the liturgy by\nPope Sergius A.D. 688 (lib. Pont.), whereas the Mass of the day is of\ngreater antiquity.]\n\n[Footnote 127: Cancellieri says that the music of this _Magnificat_\nwas composed by Luca Marenzio. Among the compositions prior to\nPalestrina, and still sung in the papal chapel, Baini reckons the\nMagnificats of Carpentrasso and Morales, as well as the _Te Deum_\nand _Lumen ad revelutionem gentium_ of Costanzo Festa.]\n\n[Footnote 128: This basilic, which is the cathedral of the bishop of\nRome, was first erected by Constantine, whose statue taken from his\nbaths adorns the portico. It was in great part destroyed by fire in\n1308; but it was restored by the munificence of the Popes and the\npiety of the faithful, emulated in these days, in which we deplore the\nburning of S. Paul's. In the gothic tabernacle over the high altar are\npreserved the heads of SS. Peter and Paul. The mosaics of the tribune\nwere made by order of Nicholas IV (A.D. 1278-1292).]\n\n[Footnote 129: This baptistery, as well as the basilica, is attributed\nto the time of Constantine; it was reduced to its present state by\nUrban VIII; On an ancient and interesting Christian sarcophagus taken\nfrom the Vatican cemetery is represented a basilica with its apsis,\nand near it a circular building evidently meant for the baptistery:\nthis is covered with a cupola surmounted by the monogram of\nChrist; and over the gate are curtains drawn up on each side, See\nRaoul-Rochette-Tableau des Catacombs, p. 332. The font is an ancient\nurn of basalt the paintings above it, between the second order of\ncolumns, representing, the life of S. John Baptist, are by Carlo\nMaratta.]\n\n[Footnote 130: In a missal of Pavia it is called a figure of the\ncolumn which preceded the Israelites going out of Egypt.]\n\n[Footnote 131: The stag was a favourite subject of the early Christian\nartists, who often represented it in their paintings, and afterwards\non their mosaics. The text above quoted explains its signification.]\n\n[Footnote 132: \"In most of the old rituals we find that the font was\nhallowed with various ceremonies besides prayer. It was customary\nto make the sign of the cross, as we learn from the testimony of\nChrysostom, Augustine, and Pseudo-Dionysius\". Palmer vol. 2, p. 195.\nMartene observes that the rite of pouring chrism into the water\nis mentioned in all the ancient Gallican, Ambrosian, and Mozarabic\nliturgies. The blessing of baptismal water is reckoned by S. Basil,\nin the 4th century, among apostolical traditions. (De Spiritu. S. c.\n27).]\n\n[Footnote 133: \"Some form of admission to the class of catechumens was\nused in all churches at an early period, and it seems most commonly\nto have consisted of imposition of hands with prayers for the person.\nTo this in many places were added various rites, such as, signing the\nforehead of the candidate with the cross, the consecration and giving\nof salt, which was entitled the sacrament of catechumens, repeated\nexorcisms, or prayers and adjurations to cast out the power of Satan,\nanointing with oil, and other mystical and figurative rites. In the\ncourse of many ages, when the Christian church had overspread the face\nof the world, and infidelity had become in most places extinct, the\nform of admission to the class of catechumens was from a veneration\nfor old customs in many places conjoined to the office of baptism,\nand administered at the same time with it to the candidates for that\nsacrament whether they were infants or not\". Palmer, vol. 2, c. 5,\nsect. 1.]\n\n[Footnote 134: \"It has been customary in the Christian church from\nthe most remote period, for the candidates for baptism to renounce the\ndevil and all his works, before they were admitted to that sacrament.\nThis renunciation was always followed by a profession of faith in\nChrist, as it is now in the English liturgy. The last interrogation\nand answer \"Vis baptizari, Volo\" have long been used in the west.\n(Martene de Antiq. Eccl. rit. tom. I, p. 180, 192). According to the\nancient custom of the Roman church, represented in the Sacramentary of\nGregory, the profession of faith occurs between the hallowing of the\nwater and the administration of the sacrament. This custom has long\nbeen used in the Roman church; since the Sacramentary of Gelasius\n(A.D. 494) appointed the confession of faith to be made immediately\nbefore baptism, _though the renunciations were made some hours\nbefore_. In primitive times the sign of the cross was not only made\non the forehead of the elect at the time of baptism, but was used very\noften in other ways: this act is probably not more recent than the\napostolical age; and this sign was made in some part of almost every\nChristian office. The administration of baptism was succeeded by\nvarious rites in the primitive church; among other the newly-baptised\nwere clothed in white garments. Formerly also confirmation followed\nimmediately after baptism\". I have extracted the preceding passages\nfrom different sections of Palmer's 5th chapter, vol. 2: coming from a\nclergyman of the church of England, they are important admissions, and\nthey dispense with the necessity of my proving the antiquity of these\nvarious baptismal riles. The reader may see proofs of them collected\nin Palmer (loc. cit.) Martene T. 1: cap. 2, etc.]\n\n[Footnote 135: Palmer says, that in confirmation, to the rites of\nprayer and imposition, of hands was added \"that of anointing with an\nunguent or chrism, made of oil and balsam, and hallowed by the prayers\nof the bishop.--We learn from the writings of Tertullian and Origen,\nthat it was already customary both in the east and the west at the end\nof the 2nd or beginning of the 3rd century. This chrism was intended\nto signify the grace of the Holy Spirit then conferred\". Palmer,\nOr. Lit. vol. 2, p. 199. If this unction had not been of apostolic\norigin, it would not have been customary in all churches at so early\na period.]\n\n[Footnote 136: At S. John Lateran's, when the _Agnus Dei_ is said, the\nancient custom is preserved, which was originally established by Pope\nSergius, of saying _Miserere nobis_ three times, and not _Dona nobis\npacem_, which words were introduced into the liturgy, (according\nto Innocent III, De Myst Missae) about the 10th century, in time of\nschism.]\n\n[Footnote 137: Orders are generally conferred on the saturday of each\nember-week, besides the saturday before passion and easter sundays.\nA minute detail of the numerous ceremonies of ordination can not be\nexpected in a work on the ceremonies of holy-week. The reader may find\nthem all enumerated in the Pontifical, and on their antiquity he may\nconsult Morinus, De Ordinationibus; Martene, De Ant. Eccl. Rit. t.\n2. etc. On the service of holy saturday see the MS. Pontifical of\nthe Apamean church and various Ordines ap. Martene, lib. IV, c. 24.\nFormerly after the mass there was general communion; and at Rome no\nVespers were said (Alcuin), and 7 altars were consecrated.]\n\n[Footnote 138: In the afternoon the parish-priests bless with prayers\nand holy water the houses and paschal food of their parishioners.\nIn the Ordo Romanus, besides the blessing of milk and honey, there\nis a formula of benediction of a lamb and other food. Durandus\nalso (lib. 6 Ration.) mentions the blessing of the lamb, a custom\nwhich is preserved at Rome till the present time. The shops of the\n_pizzicaroli_ are illuminated and gaily decorated, probably because\n_they_ have peculiar reasons to rejoice at the conclusion of the\n_austerities_ of lent.]\n\n[Footnote 139: For the ceremonies of Easter-sunday see The Pontifical\nMass sung at S. Peter's on Easter-sunday etc. By C.M. Baggs. D.D. Rome\n1840.]\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX\n\nPECULIAR CEREMONIES OF HOLY-WEEK AT JERUSALEM\n\n\nHaving spoken of the blessing of the paschal candle at Rome, we may\nfor a few moments turn our thoughts towards a city still more ancient,\nand trodden by holier and more exalted beings than even the apostles\nand martyrs of the eternal city. The justly-celebrated traveller John\nThevenot in his Voyage du Levant describes the ceremonies of holyweek\nperformed at Jerusalem; the distribution of palms, the washing of the\nfeet on Maunday-Thursday at the door of the holy Sepulchre; and the\nprocession to the holy places or stations performed by the Catholic\nChristians. Concerning this the eloquent Pere Abbe de Geramb, in his\ninteresting Pelerinage at Jerusalem in 1832, informs us that \"by means\nof a figure in relief of the natural size, whose head, arms, and feet\nare flexible, the religious represent the crucifixion, the descent\nfrom the cross, and the burial of Jesus Christ, in such manner as\nto render all the principal circumstances apparent to the senses and\nstriking\".\n\nBoth these distinguished writers of different periods agree in\ntestifying, that all the devotions of the Catholics were and are still\nconducted with so much order that they are admired both by Christians\nand Turks, whereas those of the schismatical Christians took place\nwith much confusion, and with such a noise, that the Janissaries, who\nhad to preserve order, were obliged to strike the persons engaged in\nthem as well as the spectators. This statement is confirmed by the\naccount, which they and other travellers give, of the _holy fire_\nof the Greeks and other schismatics. Benedict XIV observes that no\nmention is made of the supposed miracle of the holy fire by early\nChristian writers who lived at Jerusalem; as Eusebius, S. Jerome, S.\nEpiphanius, or S. Cyril bishop of Jerusalem. It is however spoken of\nby Bernard a Frank monk of the ninth century, and in a Pontifical\nof the church of Poictiers of about the tenth century: by Hugo\nFlaviniacensis in Chronico Virdunensi, in the discourse of Urban II\nin the council of Claremont, and in other documents of the middle\nages mentioned by Martene (lib. IV, c. XXIV). Lupi (tom. 4, Conc. gen.\netc.) thinks it probable, that the custom of burning lights and the\npaschal candle on this day was instituted, in order to return thanks\nto God for a miracle (which _may_ of old have happened at Jerusalem)\nand to announce it to all nations.\n\nI shall now extract a brief account of the scene of confusion enacted\nin modern times at Jerusalem on such occasions from Thevenot, in whose\nwork is a print representing it. \"After our Catholic office was ended\"\nsays he, \"we prepared to enjoy the sight of the holy fire of the\nGreeks, Armenians and Copts, whose priests make their people believe,\nthat on holy Saturday fire descends from heaven into the holy\nSepulchre, and on that account make each of their pilgrims, who are\nvery numerous, pay some money. This solemnity appears rather a comedy\nor a farce than a church-ceremony, and is very unbecoming in a place\nso sacred as the holy Sepulchre. After we had finished our service,\nwhich was about eight in the morning, they, extinguished all their\nlamps and those of the holy Sepulchre, and then they commenced their\nfolly, running round the holy Sepulchre, like mad people, crying,\nhowling, _et faisans un bruit de diables_; it was charming to see\nthem running one after another, kicking and striking one another with\ncords; many of them together held men in their arms, and going round\nthe holy Sepulchre, let them fall, and then raised horrible shouts\nof laughter, while they who had fallen ran after the others to avenge\nthemselves: it seemed that both old and young were downright mad. From\ntime to time they raised their eyes, and stretched their hands, full\nof taper, to heaven, crying all together _eleison_, as if they were\nwearied at the delay of the holy fire. This scene continued till\ntowards three in the evening, when two Greek archbishops and two\nbishops habited as patriarchs, for the patriarch was not then at\nJerusalem, left their choir with all their clergy, and began\nthe procession round the holy Sepulchre: they were joined by the\nArmenians, four of whom wore mitres: then came a Coptic bishop, with\nall his clergy and people. After they had walked three times round the\nholy Sepulchre, a Greek priest came out of the chapel of the Angel,\nwhich is close to that of the holy Sepulchre, and gave notice to him\nwho represented the Patriarch, that the holy fire had descended from\nheaven: the latter then entered into the holy Sepulchre, followed\nby the representatives of the Armenian patriarch and of the Coptic\nbishop. After they had remained there a short time, we saw the Greek\narchbishop in an amusing posture, bending down his head, and bearing\nin each hand a quantity of lighted tapers. No sooner had he appeared,\nthan all rushed one upon another to light their tapers from those of\nthe archbishop; as that is considered the best fire, which is first\nlighted. The Janissaries however, who were stationed near the door\nof the chapel of the Angel, did not stand with their arms folded, but\nmade the calpacs and turbans of the Greeks fly from one end of the\nchurch to the other, striking around on all sides with their sticks,\nto make way for the poor archbishop, who also as we may suppose\ndid all in his power to save himself. He then mounted in haste a\nstone-altar opposite the entrance of the holy Sepulchre, where he was\nimmediately surrounded by the people: those also who had lighted their\ntapers endeavouring to save themselves were overwhelmed by the others:\nthe confusion was horrible, and blows were not unfrequent. After the\nGreek archbishop has come out, the Armenian appears, and saves himself\nfrom the crowd in the church of the Armenians, and the Copt in that\nof the Copts. Every one was in such a hurry to get some of the holy\nfire, that in a moment more than 2000 bundles of candles flamed in\nthe church: and the people, crying out like persons possessed began\ngreater follies than before. A man carrying a drum on his back began\nto run with all his might round the holy Sepulchre, and another\nrunning in the same manner struck it with two sticks; and when he\nwas tired, another immediately took his place. \"_Il semble qu'\non soit dans un enfer, et que ce soient tout autant de diables\ndechaines_.\"--But enough of this unedifying scene, of which the Abbe\nGeramb gives a similar account. If we contrast with it the majestic\nand edifying ceremonies of the Roman church, we shall feel grateful\nto God for having preserved us from such disorders. I shall merely add\nfrom Thevenot, that the Christians are called to office at the holy\nSepulchre by boards struck with iron, as we are for two days in\nholy-week: but drums and other instruments are also played there,\nwhich make, he (adds), \"une musique enragee\".\n\nThe distinguished missionary and pilgrim D. Casto Gonzalez recounts\nother disorders of the Greeks during Holy Week, and profanations of\nthe most holy sanctuaries of Palestine. In the year 1833 he exposed,\nbut not without great risk, the fraud of the \"holy fire\". On the\nholy-Saturday of the Greeks the officiating Bishop accompanied by an\nArmenian and a Coptic Bishop and their respective clergy had already\nwalked thrice round the holy Sepulchre, when the missionary ignited a\nmatch with phosphorus, and holding it up exclaimed \"Look, the heavenly\nfire has fallen into my hands\": he then extinguished it and lighted\nit again several times to the great astonishment of the assembled\nmultitude. He was protected by the Turks from the dangers which\nsurrounded him. So manifest was the fraud of the pretended \"holy fire\"\nthat even the schismatical Armenian patriarch issued a circular letter\nforbidding his spiritual subjects to be present at the disgraceful\nexhibition.\n\nThe Pere Abbe de Geramb gives a glowing account of the Catholic\nservice and mass on holy saturday; and we most warmly recommend to our\nreaders the perusal of the 34th _Lettre_ of his _Pelerinage_, in which\nhe describes all the ceremonies of holy week at Jerusalem, where they\nare invested with the peculiar charm arising from spots so sacred,\nwhere Christ suffered, and died, and rose again. Though in other\nrespects the Roman ceremonies are of a more exalted nature, yet here\nmust we be contented to transport ourselves in imagination to those\nbeloved sanctuaries, and to see the _representation_ of the holy\nSepulchre at S. Maria Egiziaca. We shall conclude with the words of\nthe distinguished writer: \"Jamais douleur n'affecta plus vivement mon\name, que celle qui s'en empara au moment ou je m'arrachai pour jamais\nde l'eglise du saint Sepulcre. Taut que je vivrai elle sera aussi\npresente a mon esprit que profondement gravee dans mon coeur; toujours\nsouvenir me fera tressaillir, parce que toujours, et plus qu' aucun\nautre souvenir, il me rappellera Jesus, crucifie pour mon salut, pour\nla salut du genre humain, a l'amour duquel nous devons repondre par le\nplus vif, le plus tendre, le plus absolu de tous les amours; ce Jesus\nauquel je dois l'ineffable bonheur de comprendre, de sentir cette\ngrande verite, que je voudrais faire comprendre et sentir a l'univers\nentier, que lui seul est tout, que tout ce qui n'est pas lui, n'est\nrien, n'est que neant\". Pelerinage a Jerusalem, Lett. 36.","title":"The Ceremonies of the Holy-Week at Rome","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":45041}