Place of the faithful and C oSTANDERS Place of the Prostrates k Hearers Station L Weepers Station Plan of an Ancient Church showing the j)laces of the Catechumens and Public Penitents. A History of the AND ITS CEREMONIES IN T1IE EASTERN AND WESTERN CHURCH, BY Rev. JOHN O’BRIEN, A.M., PROFESSOR OF SACRED LITURGY IN MOUNT ST. MARY’S COLLEGE, EMMITTSBURG, MARYLAND. “ I would be willing to lay down my life for a single one of the Ceremonies of the Church.”— St. Teresa. BOSTON COLLEGE — DIKJMUx CHESTNUT hill, mass, New York THE CATHOLIC PUBLICATION SOCIETY CO., 9 BARCLAY STREET. 1S79. Xmvrfmatu?: New York, March 25, 1879. A now work, entitled “ A History of the Mass and its Ceremonies in the Eastern and Western Church/’ by the Rev. John O’Brien, of Mount St. Mary’s College, Emmittsburg, having been carefully examined and commended by competent judges, is hereby approved by us. ►P JAMES, Archbishop of Baltimore . Baltimore, Feast of St. Benedict, 1879. 1251112 3X2-330 . <9-3 Copyright, 1879, by John O’Brien. EXPLANATION OF THE FRONTISPIECE. A — The bishop’s throne in the centre of the apse, with stalls on either side for the clergy. B B — The sanctuary, or adytum. C — The altar, supported on four pillars. D — The sanctuary gates, or holy doors. t L — The altar rails, called also iconostasis from the sacred icons, or images, that used to be placed there. The entire space within these rails was called the chancel, from a low, net-work partition which sepa- rated it from the rest of the church, called in Latin cancelli. p — The prothesis, or cruet-table, veiled in by a screen. G — The diaconicum, or sacristy, generally in charge of a deacon. H — The place of the male portion of the congregation, and of that class of Public Penitents known as the Costanders. | — The ambo, where the Epistle and Gospel were chanted and the diptychs read. K — The Beautiful Gates (portae speciosae), so called from the beauty of their workmanship. Here a subdeacon stood to see that the congre- gation departed in order. Between | and K was the place of the Pros- trate Penitents. L — The second porch, or narthex; also the Hearers' Station. M — The Baptisterium. N — The Great Gates. 0 0 — The first porch and Weepers’ Station. P — Place of the females, separated by a partition from the male por- tion of the congregation, and under the surveillance of what were called in the ancient Church deaconesses. Men of note used to be sometimes buried in the porch or narthex. The precise location of the catechumens is a disputed point ; but in- asmuch as the name was very often employed in that extended sense, meaning all who were forbidden to be present at Divine Service proper, it is generally supposed that they intermingled with the Penitents in the portico. ■ . PREFACE. As the question will doubtless be asked why we have presumed to write upon a subject which lias already been treated so largely and so often by others, we make the same reply that one of the ancient Fathers did when a similar question was proposed to him. “ This advan- tage,” said he, “we owe to the multiplicity of books on the same subject : that one falls in the way of one man, and another best suits the level or comprehension of an- other. Everything that is written does not come into the hands of all, and hence, perhaps, some may meet with my book who have heard nothing of others which have treated better of the same subject.” Although it cannot be gainsaid that the subject which we have undertaken to touch has been largely treated already, and that by more eminent writers than we, still, when it is borne in mind that all those learned treatises have been written in one or other of the dead languages, and that, too, more for the sake of embellishing some public institution or library than for the enlightenment of the masses of the people, we think we owe no apo- V vi Preface . logy for writing a book of the present nature in English suited to the capacity of all. Another advantage, too, that our book has over any other which has hitherto appeared is this: that it does not confine itself to the ceremonies and liturgical customs of any church in par- ticular, such as the Latin or the Greek, but gives the reader a general survey of all the churches of the East and West where a true Sacrifice of the Mass really exists. It therefore comprehends in its scope several churches which have long been separated from the centre of unity. We wish our readers further to understand that the information embodied in these pages has been taken from the most approved sources, and but in a few cases, and these of minor note, taken second-hand. Where there was a doubt we have expressed it, and whenever we found ourselves obliged to copy the remarks of an au- thor upon whom we could place but little reliance we have always noted the fact, in order not to give as cer- tain what was at best but doubtful, and thus be made responsible for statements which could not stand the test of criticism. We wish to remark, also, that our work has not been given to the public in undue haste. It has been com- piled with a great deal of care and calm deliberation, and has been written over and over again, with new cor- rections and additions each time, in order that nothing might be asserted without proof and nothing stated at Preface . vii random ; and although we have not followed to the let- ter the advice of the pagan poet to keep it in our drawer unto the ninth year, yet we can assure our read- ers of this much at least : that seven years of earnest and anxious labor have been expended on it. There is hardly a writer on sacred liturgy that we have not con- sulted ; certainly we have passed over no one of any note ; and in order that our readers, should they feel so inclined, may be enabled to collate our remarks with the sources from which we have drawn them, besides giving our' authorities through the work, we have deemed it well also to attach an alphabetical list of them to the end of our treatise. Regarding the order of the subject-matter, we have only to say that we have endeavored to treat each particular portion as fully as possible by itself, without running one part into another, and thus embarrassing the reader ; and in order to aid the latter still more, we have appended so copious an index of words that it serves, in a measure, as a sort of compendium to the entire work. As to the book’s originality, we humbly confess that it is not new ; and this confession we make, not through fear of running counter to what the Wise Man says, that “ there is nothing new under the sun,” but simply be- cause we wish our readers to lay more stress upon the fact that it is a compilation of what the most learned writers have said upon the subject in hand rather than any effort of our own. Our book, then, can be called Preface . yiii original only in so far as its name and tlie arrangement of parts are concerned. The labor of all this is ours, and ours only ; as for the rest, we say in all sincerity with Montaigne: “I have here only made a nosegay of culled flowers, and have brought nothing of my own but the string that ties them.” the title of the book. We have called our book A History of the Mass and its Ceremonies in the Eastern and Western Church . At first sight it seems an easy matter to hit upon such a title as this, but we assure the reader that it did not seem so to us. Many an hour of serious meditation it cost us before we had satisfied ourselves that the de- signation was a happy one; and all this principally on account of the appellations of Eastern and Western Church. Almost every book that we take in hands certainly every book of travels— has something to say about the Eastern Church and its liturgical customs; yet we candidly confess that we have never met with one which told us with any degree of satisfaction or clearness what this Eastern Church was, or which did not blunder from beginning to end in attempting to describe its ceremonies. Some are perpetually confound- ing the Eastern Church with the Creek Church, and the latter with the Russian, wholly forgetting that out of Greece itself no Greek Church exists, and that the Preface. IX Russian Church is no more Greek than it is English or Irish. Others imagine that by the Eastern Church is meant that which is included within the Patriarchate of Constantinople ; but this, after all, would be only a fraction of the East, for it would leave out both the Greek Church proper and the Russian Church, each of which is wholly independent of Constantinople and independent the one of the other. We have met some even who have gravely committed it to writ- ing that by the Eastern Church is meant the Syrian and all its branches. Then add to this those never- ending and high-sounding titles that are constantly dinning our ears and seen at the head of almost every review that we take in hand, such as “Holy Orthodox Church,” “ Orthodox Imperial Church,” “ Orthodox Church of the East,” “ Holy Eastern Church,” and so on ad indefinitum j each, no doubt, meaning something, but quite unintelligible without much explanation. The fact is that since the fall of Constantinople, in 1453, there has existed no national church, if we except the Maro- nite alone, to which the appellation of Pastern could, with strictness, be given ; and it is but too well known that the correlative appellation of Western Church went into desuetude centuries before that time. The two de- signations originally sprang up naturally and necessarily from the division of Constantine’s empire in the fourth century, into that of the East, with Constantinople as capital, and that of the West, with Rome. Strictly X Preface. speaking, then, there are no such organizations now as the Eastern and Western Church, and here was our difficulty in choosing a title. “How, then/’ some- body will say, “ can you justify the name of your book ? ” The question is answered in this way : If the book were a history, or a geography, or anything of that nature, it could not be justified at all, it would be a misnomer ; but inasmuch as it is confined solely to eccle- siastical ceremonies and customs, all of which are the same to-day, with scarcely a perceptible difference, as they were when a real Eastern and Western Church ex- isted, it cannot mislead as to its meaning, nor can it be said of it that it has been unaptly chosen. But it can be justified upon other grounds : Although the Catholic Church recognizes no Church to-day to which she gives the name of Eastern in its original acceptation, still it must not be forgotten that she has at this time several within her communion whose location is wholly in the East, and which yet retain all their ancient ceremonies and customs. The Maronite Church is one of these. It celebrates Mass and the Divine Office in Syriac ; ad- ministers Holy Communion in both kinds to the laity ; has a married clergy, and enjoys the privilege of elect- ing its own patriarch. The Chaldean Church is another : it says Mass in the ancient Syro-Chaldaic ; uses leav- ened bread in the Holy Eucharist ; has a married clergy also ; and, like all the other churches of the East, is under the immediate jurisdiction of a patriarch. Then Preface. xi there is the Church of the Uniat or Melchite Greeks ; it still celebrates in the ancient Greek ; like the Maronite and Chaldean, it has a married clergy ; like them, also, it administers Holy Communion under both species, and enjoys the singular privilege of reciting the Creed, even in presence of the Pope himself, without being obliged to add the celebrated “ Filioque.” These are but a few of the many churches in the East which still retain their ancient ceremonies and customs; but as we shall have frequent occasion to refer to them again in course of the present work, this passing notice must suffice here. THE ORIENTAL SCHISMATIC CHURCH. Our duty would be but half discharged did we pass by unnoticed the Oriental Schismatic Church, which forms so large a part of Eastern Christendom and runs side by side with the Catholic Church in all the Eastern regions. This Church may be thus divided : First, into the Church of the Russian Empire ; secondly, into that within the Turkish Empire, with Constantinople as capital ; thirdly, into the Church of the kingdom of Greece. We ask the reader to bear this division care- fully in mind, for numberless mistakes are made for want of due attention to it, and to remember at the same time that all these churches are wholly independent of one .another, in temporals as well as in spirituals ; and Preface . xii that they hold no intercommunion whatever, unless in so far as common charity or civility would dictate. The Church of the Russian Empire, at one time under the immediate control of the Archbishop of Moscow, and subsequently ruled by a patriarch, is now at the sole mercy of the “ Holy Synod of St. Petersburg,” and, though it would scorn to avow it, is to all intents and purposes a tool in the hands of the Czar, for without his sanc- tion no change in the existing order of things can be made — not even can a council be convoked without first humbly asking his permission. This church uses the same liturgies and ceremonies as the Greek Church, and agrees with it in every point of discipline, save that it says Mass in the Sclavonic language. The church within the Turkish Empire is made up of the four Patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. Constantinople, the headquar- ters of the Ottoman Empire, is also the chief patriarchal seat, and still rejoices in the proud title of New Rome. The Sultan is virtually the head of this church, and, though they would fain deny it, its bishops and patri- archs are forced to confess that he is the supreme and final arbiter in every important dispute. Of so vast an extent is this division of the Eastern Church that it in- cludes within its jurisdiction people who celebrate Mass in nine different languages — viz., in Latin, Greek, Syriac, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopic, Chaldean, Sclavonic, and 'Wallachian, Preface. xiii The Church of the kingdom of Greece, though nomi- nally governed by the Synod of Athens, is as much a creature of the state as that of Constantinople or Rus- sia, for it depends for its entire movement and being upon the will of the reigning monarch. It acknow- ledges no submission whatever to Constantinople, nor to any other branch of the Eastern Church. Although these three great divisions of the Oriental Church include within their jurisdiction several churches which are both heretical and schismatical at the same time, still, as far as validity of orders is concerned, the Holy See has expressed her doubt of none save of the Abyssinian. The so-called Eastern Church has, therefore, a true priesthood, a true sacrifice of the Mass, and valid sacraments ; hence its claim to our attention. But it has another claim which ought not to be passed by unnoticed here ; its singular devotion to the ever-blessed Mother of God. This may be considered the great redeeming fea- ture of the Eastern Church, and it is to be hoped that, in consideration of it, she whose glorious prerogative it is to destroy all heresies in the Church may, by her powerful intercession at the throne of her Divine Son, establish a lasting union between the East and West, so that Christ’s Vicar may sing once more, as he sang at the Council of Florence, “ Let the heavens rejoice and the earth burst forth in songs of gladness.” In concluding our Preface we beg leave to remark that no attempt whatever at what is called style has XI Y Preface . been made in the following pages. Our aim has been, from beginning to end, to give the reader plain facts, with little or no dressing, and to keep steadily in view that golden advice of St. Augustine, to wit, that it is better to endure blame at the hands of the critics than say anything which the people might not understand — “ Me- lius est reprehendant nos grammatici, quam non intelli- gent populi ” (ad Ps. cxxxviii. ) Whatever we have stated may be relied upon — if not relied upon as absolutely true, yet at least in the sense that it is a faithful rendering of the views of the author from whom it was taken. Further than this it would not be fair to hold us responsible. J. O’B. Mt. St. Mart’s College, Emmittsburg, Maryland, Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 1878. A BRIEF DISSERTATION ON THE Principal Liturgies in use in the Past and West at the Present Day. For the better understanding of the matter treated of in the following pages we deem it well to give the reader a brief account of the Liturgies in use in the Eastern and Western Church at the present day. To give anything like a full history of the various Eastern Liturgies would, indeed, be a very laborious undertaking, and, we have serious reasons to fear, a very unsuccessful one also, for their name is legion — the Jacobites alone using as many as forty. We shall, therefore, wholly confine ourselves to such as are in general and daily use, and leave the rest to be treated of by those writers who make pure Liturgy the burden of their writing. It would not be very bold to assert that the only living Liturgies in free circulation throughout the East at the pre- sent day are those of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great. Both of these are used now in their entirety, such as they were when they came from the hands of the great men whose names they bear ; and this can be said of none of the other Eastern Liturgies. The Liturgy of St. Basil is very often called the Caesarean Office, from the fact that its author was Bishop of Caesarea, in Cappadocia. It is the XV xvi A brief Dissertation on the Principal Liturgies. parent of the Armeno- Gregorian Rite. The Liturgy of St. Chrysostom is usually inscribed “ the Divine Liturgy of our Holy Father among the Saints, John of the Golden Mouth.” From this many of the later forms in use among the Nesto- rians are derived. The Liturgy of St. James, first Bishop of Jerusalem, is very frequently spoken of in connection with the Maronites and Syrians, but it is a well-known fact that the living Liturgies of both these peoples have little more of St. James’s in them than a few shreds. The Maro- nites are very fond of referring their Liturgy to that vene- rable norma because it has the impress of antiquity, it being the general opinion of liturgical writers that it is the oldest in existence ; but in reality their Liturgy as it stands now is nothing else but a collection of excerpta taken from other Liturgies, and as often called by the name of St. John Maro as by that of St. James the Apostle. The fact is that, if we except the Church of Jerusalem and a few islands in the Archipelago which employ it on certain occasions, the Litur- gy of St. James has no circulation to-day in its original form anywhere. The same may be said of the Liturgy of St. Mark, at one time in exclusive use throughout the Patriarchate of Alexandria, and, in fact, of every other primitive Liturgy known ; so that we repeat what we stated at the outset, that the Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great have almost undisturbed sway in the East to-day. They are used by Catholics and schismatics alike. Dr. Neale attributes all this to the influence of Balsamon, Ca- tholic Patriarch of Antioch in the beginning of the thir- teenth century, who, it appears, went heart and soul for shaping everything Eastern by the standard of the New Rome. Although Neale speaks somewhat disparagingly of this learned prelate, still, as he tells the story in full of how the Liturgies of Constantinople made their way into the East, we give his words without change of any kind. He A brief Dissertation on the Principal Liturgies, xvii speak? as follows : “ Of the normal Liturgies, those of St. James and St. Mark were used by the churches of Antioch and Alexandria, respectively, till the time of Theodore Bal- samon. This prelate was a complete Oriental Ultramon- tane ; everything was to be judged by and squared to the rule of Constantinople. The Bellarmine or Orsi of the Eastern Church, he was for abolishing every formulary not adopted by the oecumenical patriarch, and endeavored suc- cessfully to intrude the forms of Constantinople on the whole East. Consulted by Mark of Alexandria as to the degree of authority which attached to the Liturgies of St. James and St. Mark, he wholly condemns them as not mentioned by Holy Scripture or the Canons, ‘but chiefly beoause,’ says he, ‘the Catholic Church of the most holy oecumenical throne of Constantinople does in nowise ac- knowledge them. ’ The way in which Balsamon treats these oflices, more venerable than his own, and that in which Rome has abrogated the Gallican and Mozarabic missals, are surely marvellously alike. From that time the Constan- tinopolitan Liturgies of St. Basil and St. Chrysostom have prevailed over the whole orthodox East, except that the Office of St. James is used in the Church of Jerusalem and in some of the islands of the Archipelago on the festival of that Apostle 99 ( History of the Holy Eastern Church , General Introduction, vol. i. p. 318). To enter, then, into more specific detail, the Liturgy of St. Chrysostom is used, first, by the Russian Church in the empire of Russia itself and throughout all the imperial dominions ; not, indeed, in its Greek form, but in the Sclavonic, for that is the liturgical language in all those parts. It is also used in the kingdom of Greece and its dependencies, and possesses universal sway among the Min- grelians, AVallachians, Ruthenians, Rascians, Bulgarians, and Albanians, as well as with all the Uniat or Melchite Greeks xviii A brief Dissertation on the Principal Liturgies. of the four Patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The United Greeks of Italy and those of the Austrian Empire use it also. Together with this Liturgy, in all the places mentioned, runs that of St. Basil the Great, but it is not called as often into requisition. The Liturgy of St. Chrysostom is employed throughout the entire year, on week-days as well as on Sun- days and festivals, with the following exceptions : viz., the vigils of Christmas and the Epiphany, the Feast of St. Basil (January 1), all the Sundays of Lent except Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday. On these excepted oc- casions the Liturgy of St. Basil is used, and on the ferial days of Lent the service of the Presanctified — called also the Presanctified Liturgy — is used instead of both. THE LITURGIES OF THE WESTERN CHURCH. The Liturgies of the Western, or Latin, Church need no- thing more at our hands than a passing notice ; for, with the exception of one or two normas, which are better called rites than Liturgies — viz., the Ambrosian and Mozarabic — the Ro- man has undisturbed and universal sway. Of the two ex- ceptions named — the former peculiar to the ancient Church of Milan, the latter confined to the city of Toledo, in Spain — a full account is given in another part of our work, so that more need not be said of them here. As for the so-called Gallican and Lyonese Liturgies, they are now things of the past. The few vestiges that yet remain to tell that they had at one time a place in the Church will be noticed in due course ; as will also the fragments that are left us of the celebrated Rite of Sarum, which at one time formed the chief glory of the English Church. In concluding our dissertation we beg leave to direct the reader’s attention to the following important fact : viz.. A brief Dissertation on the Principal Liturgies . xix that throughout the entire East the word Liturgy (from the Greek Xsirov , public, and epyov, a work) means always the norma of the Mass, and no more ; but in the West it is the complexus of all the rites and ceremonies that are used by the Church in the administration of the Sacraments and in all her sacred offices. It is well to keep this in mind, for some are perpetually confounding Liturgy and Rubrics , thinking that both mean one and the same thing. There is about the same difference between them as between mathematics and arithmetic. The one includes the other and a great deal more besides. The Bubrics, accord- ing to the primitive acceptation of the word, are nothing but the directions given in red letters for the due per- formance of any particular ceremony ; when reduced to a regular system or science they are the elucidation of these directions, and nothing more. But the aim of Liturgy is of a far more comprehensive and elevated nature, for it takes in everything that is in any way connected with the sacred functions of the Church. HISTORY OF THE MASS, CHAPTER I. THE MASS— ORIGIN OF THE WORD , ETC. As to tlie origin of the word Mass liturgical writers are not entirely agreed. According to some, it comes from the Hebrew Massah , a debt or obligation; others derive its name from the Greek “ ftvrj a zs,” Myesis, initia- tion ; whilst a third class maintain that it is nothing else but an improved form of the old obsolete Mes or Messe, 1 which, with the people of Northern Europe, meant a ban- quet or convivial gathering, and not unfrequently also a sacrifice. The great body, however, of liturgical writers are in favor of deriving it from the Latin “ Missa” or “ Missio,” a dis- missal, referring to the custom in vogue during the first five or six centuries of the Christian Church— when the Disci- plina Arcani, or Discipline of the Secret , 2 prevailed — of dis- 1 From the same root are the affixes in such words as Christmas , Childermas , Michaelmas , Lammas , etc. (Holy Days of the English Church, p. 154). 2 The Disciplina Arcani, or Discipline of the Secret, was a law enforced by the early Christian Church, in virtue of which the principal mysteries of our holy faith were concealed from pagans, infidels, and all who had not been regenerated by the saving waters of baptism ; and this in accordance with the solemn admonition of our Divine Lord himself not to cast pearls before swine or give what was holy to dogs (Matt. vii. 6). This discipline prevailed in the Eastern Church until the end of the fifth century, and in the Western until about the middle of the sixth (Ferraris, art. Discip. Arcani , 735-12), 2 The Mass — Origin of the Word , Etc . missing the Catechumens 3 and Public Penitents 4 from the house of God before the more solemn part of divine service began. From the twofold dismissal — viz., that of the Catechu- mens at the beginning of Mass, and the other, of the faith- ful, at the end — the entire service used to be known by the plural appellations of Missce or Missiones (that is, the dis- missals) ; and hence the import of such phrases so often to be met with in the writings of the early Fathers, as “ inter Missarum solemnia,” “ Missas facere,” and “ Missas tenere.” Hence, also, the twofold division known as the “ Mass of the Catechumens” and the “Mass of the Faithful,” the former extending from the beginning to the Offertory, the latter from the Offertory to the end. THE NAMES BY WHICH THE MASS WAS KNOWN IN THE GREEK CHURCH IN EARLY TIMES. One of the strongest arguments against the Hebrew origin of the word Mass is that none of the Oriental Fathers ever made use of Massah , but always employed a different word. With them it was styled indifferently by the following names : Mystagogia , Synaxis, Anaphora , Eulogia , Hiernr- gia , Mysterion, Deipnon, Teleion, Agathon, Prosphora, and Liturgia . It was called Mystagogia by St. Dionysius, from the fact 3 Catechumen, from the Greek icanjxew, I teach by word of mouth. Under the de- nomination of Catechumens came all those who were undergoing instructions at the hands of catechists previous to their reception of baptism. According to the most generally received opinion, there were two orders of Catechumens : the Hearers, or those who merely expressed a wish to become Christians ; and the Elect or Competent, who had passed through the course of training that was necessary for the reception of baptism. 4 Of the Public Penitents there were four distinct classes, viz. : the Weepers, whose place was in the porch, or first narthex ; the Hearers , who stood in the second narthex ; the Prostrates, whose place was near the ambo ; and the Costanders, who stood with the faithful in the lower part of the nave. (See frontispiece,) Different Kinds of Mass. 3 that it was a divine participation of, or initiation into, the sacred mysteries. It was termed Synaxis , or the union , because in virtue of it we are all united with Christ our Saviour. The name Anaphora was applied to it from the fact that it raises our minds and hearts to God. The term Eulogia was given it from its propitiatory nature ; Hierur - gia, because it was a sacred action ; Mysterion , from the mys- teries it contained ; and Deipnon , or banquet , from the fact that it gave us the living Bread unto the eternal nourish- ment of our souls. Then, again, it was called Teleion , or ; perfection , because it was the sacrifice of that Holy Lamb, without spot or blemish, who came upon earth to be the perfection and completion of the ancient law. Its name Agatlion , or good, was given it because it is the only lasting good upon which man can count ; and from the fact that it finally conducts us to the happy end for which we were created, the appellation of Prospliora was given it also. Of all these names enumerated, that of Liturgia was most frequently used, and is exclusively used at the present day throughout the entire East. DIFFERENT KINDS OF MASS. From the various circumstances attending the celebration of Mass, from the ceremonies 5 employed, and the peculiar end for which it is offered, different names have been given to qualify it, such as Solemn High Mass, Simple High Mass, Low Mass, Conventual Mass, Bridal or Nuptial Mass, Golden Mass, Private Mass, Solitary Mass, Votive Mass, Dry Mass, 6 The word ceremony owes its origin to a singular circumstance. When Rome was sacked by the Gauls, the Vestal Virgins, in order to escape with their lives and preserve their honor, fled the city, carrying with them all their sacred utensils, and repaired to the ancient city of Caere, in Tuscany. Here they received a most cordial reception, and here they remained until quietness reigned at Rome. To perpetuate the kind hospi- tality of the people of Caere towards the Vestals, the sacred rites, and all pertaining to them, were called ceremonies ever after (Gavantus, T/iesaur. Sacr, Hit,, 2), 4 The Mass — Origin of the Word , Etc . Evening and Midnight Mass, Mass of the Presanctified, Mass of Requiem, and Mass of Judgment. Solemn High Mass. — When Mass is celebrated with deacon and subdeacon and a full corps of inferior min- isters, it is denominated a Solemn High Mass. In many places of Europe the name grand is given it on account of its ritualistic display. It is called high from the fact that the greater part of it is chanted in a high tone of voice. When there is neither deacon nor subdeacon ministering, a Mass of this kind receives the name of Simple High Mass, or Missa Cantata. Low Mass. — Low Mass is so called from its being said in a low tone of voice, in contradistinction to High Mass, which is chanted aloud. At a Mass of this kind the usual marks of solemnity are dispensed with. It is, in great part, read by the priest in an ordinary tone of voice, without any assistants save the server, who answers the responses in the name of the people and administers to the wants of the altar. Conventual Mass. — Conventual Mass, strictly speaking, is that which the rectors and canons attached to a cathedral are required to celebrate daily after the hour of Tierce — that is, at about nine o’clock. According to several authorities of note, this Mass is also of obligation in convents where the Blessed Sacrament is kept, and even in rural churches which enjoy the same pri- vilege (De Herdt, i. 14). Conventual Mass is also known by the several names of Canonical , Public, Common , and Major. The last appellation is given it on account of the peculiar privileges it enjoys over ordinary Masses. Bridal or Nuptial Mass. — It has always been the wish of the Church that at the solemnization of holy matrimony Mass should, if possible, be offered in behalf of the newly- married couple, in order that Almighty God may bless their Different Kinds of Mass. 5 union and favor them with a happy offspring. A special service is set apart in the Missal for this end, called in La- tin “ Missa pro Sponso et Sponsa” — i.e., Mass for the Bride- groom and Bride — and the Mass itself is considered among the privileged, for it may be celebrated on days of great- er rite (Bouvry, Expositio Rubricarum , ii. 601). At a Mass of this kind a few ceremonies may be seen which are peculiar to it alone. As far as the “ Pater Fos- ter ” it differs in nothing from an ordinary Mass; but when the priest has come to that part of the service immediately before the “ Libera nos,” he stands at the Epistle corner of the altar, and, having turned towards the bride and bride- groom, who are kneeling in front of him, reads over them from the Missal two prayers upon the nature and solemnity of their union. This being done, the bridal party retire to their places, and the Mass goes on as usual until the time of the last blessing. Here the priest turns round to the party again, and reads over them the following prayer : “ The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob be with you ; may he shower his blessing upon you, that you may behold your children’s children unto the third and fourth generation ; and may you enjoy afterwards eter- nal, unending life through the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth God, world without end. Amen.” After this the priest is directed to admonish the newly-married pair of the mutual faith and love they owe each other, and of the obligations they are under to remain continent on those occasions that the Church has set apart for special prayer and fasting. They are finally exhorted to live in the fear of God. The priest then sprinkles them with holy water, and Mass con- cludes as usual. Bridal Mass according to the Sarum Rite. — According to the Sarum rite, of which we shall give a full account fur- 6 The Mass — Origin of the Word , Etc. ther on, Bridal Mass was celebrated with peculiar and inte- resting ceremonies. The marriage itself was performed at the church door, in order that all might witness it. From this the priest led up the married couple to the altar-steps, where he prayed over them and begged also the prayers of the peo- ple in their behalf. Mass was then begun, and the moment the “ Sanctus ” bell sounded the newly-married knelt near the foot of the altar, while some of the clerics of the sanc- tuary held over them a large pall commonly called the care cloth. This cloth was not removed until a little before the “ Pax.” The bride was required on this occasion to allow her hair to flow moderately upon her shoulders, and wear, if her circumstances allowed it, a wreath of jewels, or at least of flowers, upon her head.® The dress of Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII., King of England, when going to be married to King James of Scotland, is thus described by Pauper : “ She had a varey riche coller of gold, of pyerrery and perles round her neck, and the cronne apon hyr hed, her hayre hangyng.” Just before the “ Pax ” the priest turned round to the new couple and imparted the marriage blessing, after which the care cloth was removed. The “ Pax ” was then given according to the ancient mode, and not with the Pacifical. The bride- groom received it first from the priest at the altar, and then bestowed it on his spouse. After Mass bread and wine, hal- lowed by the priest’s blessing, used to be distributed among all the friends of the newly-married couple who happened to be in church during the ceremonies. According to the rite followed at York, the nuptial bless- ing was generally given by the priest with the chalice, and this on account of the great dignity of the Sacrament of Matrimony. (The reader who wishes to see more upon this subject will do well to consult that excellent work of G In mediaeval art the Blessed Virgin is always represented in this way. Different Kinds of Mass . 7 Dr. Rock known as the Church of our Fathers, yoI. iii. part 2, 172.) Golden Mass (Missa aurea). — Golden Mass was one that used to be celebrated formerly on the Wednesdays of the quarter tenses of Advent in honor of the Mother of God. It used to be a Solemn High Mass of the most gorgeous kind, and was often protracted three or four hours, in order to give full sway to the ceremonies and musical pieces em- ployed on the occasion. The bishop and all his canons assisted at it, as well as the members of the different reli- gious communities of the place where it was celebrated. It was customary, too, to distribute gifts, and those very often of the costliest kind, among the people who assisted at it ; and, from the nature and excellence of the mystery in honor of which it was offered, it used to be written in letters of gold, hence its name (Gavantus, Thesaur. Sacr. Rit., 27 ; Bouvry, ii. 105). Traces of this Mass may be witnessed yet here and there through Germany ; but at the Church of St. Gudule, in Brussels, the regular Mass is celebrated every year on the 23d of December. Thousands assist at it on this occasion. Private Mass. — -Whenever the expression “ Missa pri- vata ” is used by the rubrics, Low Mass, in contradistinc- tion to High Mass, is always, or nearly always, meant. But by Private Mass we mean something entirely different. Strictly speaking, a Private Mass is one in which only the priest himself communicates (Gavantus. p. 29). It receives its name oi private from the fact that no concourse of peo- ple assists at it, and that it is celebrated in some private ora- tory or chapel to which all have not access. According to the mind of the Council of Trent (session 22, chap. 6), no Mass is private in the Catholic acceptation of the word ; for all, whether private or public, are offered by a public minister of the Church, not for himself alone, but for the entire household of faith ( ilidem ). 8 The Mass — Origin of the Word, Etc . And that Masses of this kind have been practised from the very days of the Apostles themselves the most indubi- table testimony proves ; although the heretics of the six- teenth century would fain have it that such Masses were un- heard of, nay, even forbidden, by the early Church. But Cardinal Bona shows to a demonstration that Private Masses have been in use always, and mentions, among others, the testimony of Tertullian, who lived away back in the sec- ond century, in proof of his assertion (Bona, Rer . Liturg., p. 231). The first daring attack made upon Masses of this kind was by the arch-heretic Luther himself, who declared that, in a conversation which he had had with the devil, it was re- vealed to him that such Masses were real idolatry (Bouvier, Theol. Moral., iii. 224). To put an end to all cavil on this subject, the Holy Council of Trent, in its 22d session, canon 8, thus de- creed : “ Si quis dixerit Missas in quibus solus sacerdos sacramen tali ter communicat illicitas esse ideoque abrogan- das, anathema sit.” That is, If any one shall say that those Masses in which only the priest communicates sacra- mentally are illicit, and that hence they should be abolished, let him be anathema . Solitary Mass. — When Mass is said by a priest alone, without the attendance of people, or even of a server, it is called a Solitary Mass. Masses of this kind were once very common in monasteries and religious communities (Bona, p. 230), and they are still practised to a great extent in missionary countries. They cannot, however, be said with- out grave necessity ; for it is considered a serious offence hy theologians to celebrate without a server, and this server must be always a male, never a female, no matter how pressing the necessity be. Strangely enough, Solitary Masses were forbidden in days Different Kinds of Mass. 9 gone by by several local councils, and this principally for the reason that it seemed ridiculous to say “ Dominus vo- biscum,” the Lord be ivith you; “ Oremus,” let us pray ; and “ Orate fratres,” pray, brethren , when there were no persons present. The Council of Mayence, held in the time of Pope Leo III. (a.d. 815), directly forbade a priest to sing Mass alone. The prohibition not merely to sing it, but to celebrate at all without witnesses, was re- peated by the Council of Nantes, and for the reasons alleged. Gratian cites a canon in virtue of which two wit- nesses at least were required for the due celebration of every Mass ; and this we find to be the rule among the early Cistercians. Cardinal Bona (Rer. Liturg., p. 230), from whom I copy these remarks, seems much in doubt as to whether Solitary Masses were wholly abrogated in his day. He instances, however, a well-known exception in case of a certain mo- nastery which enjoyed the privilege from the Holy See of celebrating without having any person to respond. According to the present discipline of the Church, when- ever necessity compels a priest to celebrate alone he must recite the responses himself, and otherwise act as if he had a full congregation listening to him. He must not omit, abridge, add, or change anything to suit the peculiar cir- cumstances of the occasion, but must do everything that the rubrics prescribe for ordinary Mass, and this under pain of sin. Votive Mass. — As every day in the year has a Mass more or less peculiar to itself, whenever this order is broken in upon the Mass introduced is denominated Votive. Rubri- cists define it as a Mass not in accordance with the office of the day ; and it receives its name Votive from the fact that it is celebrated + o satisfy either the pious wishes of the priest himself or of some member of his congregation. 10 The Mass — Origin of the Word, Etc. Masses of this kind are subject to various restrictions. They cannot be celebrated unless on days of minor rite, nor without a reasonable cause ; for the rubrics of the Missal are very explicit, in saying that, as far as can be done, the Mass ought to agree with the office of the day. St. Liguori says that a Votive Mass cannot be said merely on the plea that it is shorter than the Mass of the day, but that a more serious reason is required (Book vi., No. 419). A sufficient reason, however, would be if either the person asking such a Mass, or the person offering it, had a special devotion to some particular saint or mystery (De Herdt, i. 27). Dry Mass. — When neither the consecration nor consump- tion of either element takes place the Mass is said to be a Dry Mass. In ancient times the word Nautical was applied to it, from the fact of its being confined principally to voyages on sea, where the difficulty of celebrating ordinary Mass would be very great on account of the rolling of the vessel and other causes. In celebrating a Mass of this kind all the sacred vestments were allowed ; but, inasmuch as no consecration took place, the use of a chalice was forbidden. All those prayers which did not bear directly on the Offer- tory or Consecration could be recited, such as the opening psalm, the “Introit,” “Kyrie eleison,” “ Gloria in excelsis,” “ Credo,” Epistle and Gospel, as well as the “ Preface.” It was also allowed to impart the usual blessing at the end. It was customary, too, in some places to employ the services of deacon and subdeacon, in order to give it as solemn an air as possible. Genebrard, a Benedictine monk, who died to- wards the end of the sixteenth century, testifies that he him- self was present at a Solemn Dry Mass celebrated at Turin one evening for the repose of the soul of a certain nobleman who had just departed life. These Masses were often said for the special gratification of the sick who could not attend church on account of their infirmities ; also for prisoners, Different Kinds of Mass. 11 and, as lias already been said, for seafaring people. But such Masses have long passed into desuetude. They are practised no more, and deservedly, for many well-meaning but simple-minded people were often led to put as much faith in their efficacy as in a real Mass (see Durandus, Rationale Divinorum, § par. 23 ; Bona, Rer. Liturg., 235, 230; and Gavantus, Tliesaur . S. Rit., 33). Evening Mass (Missa vespertina). — In the time of St. Augustine (fifth century) it was customary throughout Af- rica to celebrate Mass on Holy Thursday evening in mem- ory of the institution of the Blessed Sacrament on that day. It used to be said by a priest who had already broken his fast (Martene, De Antiquis Eccl. Ritibus ; Bona, Rer. Liturg. y 255). Touching this Mass the fourth Council of Carthage decreed as follows : “ The Sacrament of the Altar must not be celebrated unless by a priest who is fasting, except on the anniversary of the institution of the Holy Eucharist.” Another custom, too, that prevailed in certain places was to say Mass for the dead at any time of the day that one of the faithful died, and this whether the priest had broken his fast or not (see article on the Offertorium of Masses for the Dead). But this practice was condemned almost as soon as its introduction by several councils, and among others by those of Carthage in Africa and Braga in Spain (Bona, 255). Evening Mass in the Eastern Church. — As the majority of the Oriental churches do not reserve the Blessed Eu- charist as we do, and this principally for the reason that leavened bread will soon corrupt in such climates as theirs, they are necessitated, in order to give the Holy Viaticum to the dying, to celebrate frequently in the evening, which, of course, they will do after having broken their fast. The Copts never reserve the Blessed Sacrament from one 12 The Mass — Origin of the Word , Etc. Mass to another, for reasons which we shall give when treating of Holy Communion, but will celebrate any hour of the day or night that they are called on to communi- cate the dying (Denzinger, llitus Orientalium, p. 85). Midnight Mass. — Midnight Masses, and Nocturnal Masses generally, were very frequent during the days of persecution, when the Christians were forbidden to assemble anywhere in daytime. There were certain festivals, also, in later times for which Midnight Mass was prescribed, but all these privileges have long since been taken away, the only one remaining being that attached to Christmas, upon which night a Nocturnal Mass, as of old, is yet celebrated in many places. In the Eastern Church Midnight Mass has never been much in vogue. One of the most gorgeous displays, however, of ritual ever known is to be witnessed in Rus- sia at the Midnight Mass of Easter. As soon as twelve o’clock is announced all the bells of the Kremlin, whose number is legion, begin to toll, and they are immediately answered by all the other bells in Moscow. At the sound of these bells every inhabitant rises from sleep and repairs to church to hear the news of the risen Saviour. The whole city is in a blaze, for every window has a light, and a torch burns at the corner of every street. The great tower of the cathedral is illuminated from base to summit with myriads of lights, and lights burn in the hands of every man, wo- man, and child. The scene inside the different churches, but especially in the cathedral, defies description. The most costly vestments are used on this occasion, and neither labor nor expense is spared to make it worthy, in some way, of the great mystery it commemorates (Bur- der, Religious Rites and Ceremonies , p. 154). Mass of the Presanctified. — This Mass receives its name, Presanctified , from the fact that it is celebrated with a Host Different Kinds of Mass . 13 consecrated on a previous occasion, and has no consecration of either element itself. In the Latin Church this Mass is celebrated but once a year— viz., on Good Friday— but in the Greek Church it is peculiar to every day in Lent ex- cept Saturdays, Sundays, and the Feast of the Annuncia- tion, when the regular Mass is offered (Goar, Euchologium OrcBCorum , p. 205). This custom of not celebrating daily in the East during Lent is as old at least as the Council of Laodicea, held in a.d. 314. When the custom began in the Latin Church it is not easy to determine. Another dif- ference in discipline between the Latin and Greek Church in regard to this Mass is this : that in the former no Com- munion is given during the service, but in the latter it is customary to communicate always on such occasions. The service in the Russian Church is thus spoken of by Romanoff : “ In the early days of the Christian Church the Fathers did not consider it seemly to celebrate the comforting feast on days of humiliation and mourning for sin, and permitted Mass to be sung on Saturdays and Sundays only during Lent, and on the Annunciation and Holy Thursday. 7 But as many pious Christians, accustomed to daily Com- ^ munion, could not bring themselves to forego the strength- ening and refreshing of their souls by the Body and Blood o*f Christ, the holy Church granted them the indulgence of the Liturgy of Preconsecrated Elements, when the bread and wine consecrated on the Sunday preceding are adminis- 7 Whether there is a regular service in the Greek Church on Holy Thursday, as on the three other days mentioned, I have been unable to find. Goar says nothing about it. In the Primitive Liturgies (Introduction, xxxvii., note), by Neale and Littledale, a statement is made to the effect that the Liturgy of the Presanctifled is not used on Holy Thursday at all, but only that of St. Basil, which is the one used also on Holy Saturday (Neale’s Holy Eastern Church , vol. ii. p. 713). Whether we are to infer from this that the regular Mass is celebrated or not I am at a loss to determine ; but I strongly incline in favor of saying that it is not, for the Eastern canons only mention Saturdays, Sundays, and the Feast of the Annunciation, n The Mass — Origin of the Word , Etc . tered on Wednesdays and Fridays to those who desire them ” (Romanoff, Rites and Customs of the Greco- Russian Church , p. 123). Mass of Requiem.— This is a Mass celebrated in behalf of the dead, and is subject almost to the same rules as a regular Votive Mass. If the body of the deceased be j^resent dur- ing its celebration, it enjoys privileges that it otherwise would not, for it cannot be celebrated unless within certain restrictions. Masses of this kind are accustomed to be said in memory of the departed faithful, first, when the person dies — or, as the Latin phrase has it, “ dies obitus sen depo- sitions, ” which means any day that intervenes from the day of one’s demise to his burial ; secondly, on the third day after death, in memory of our Divine Lord’s resurrection after three days’ interval ; thirdly, on the seventh day, in memory of the mourning of the Israelites seven days for Joseph (Genesis 1. 10) ; fourthly, on the thirtieth day, in memory of Moses and Aaron, whom the Israelites lamented this length of time (Numb. xx. ; Deut. xxxiv.) ; and, finally, at the end of a year, or on the anniversary day itself (Ga- vant., Tliesaur. Rit., 62). This custom also prevails with the Orientals. Mass of Judgment. — The Book of Numbers, in its fifth chapter, has special directions for establishing the guilt or innocence of the wife who, whether justly or unjustly, had fallen under the suspicion of her husband. She was first to be taken before the priest with an offering of barley. The priest “ took her before the Lord,” as the expression goes, and put into her hand holy water mingled with some of the dust of the floor of the tabernacle. In this solemn condition the nature and enormity of the charges preferred were clearly explained to her, and she was assured that, if guilty of them, the water she held in her hand would, when she drank it, cause her t( belly to swell and her thigh to rot,” and she Different Kinds of Mass . 15 ✓ would be as a curse among the people ; but if she were in- nocent she had nothing to fear. This was called the trial by the “ waters of jealousy ” (see Bannister’s Temples of the Hebrews, p. 305), from which, no doubt, we are to trace what we are now going to treat of — the Mass of Judgment. That Masses of this kind were at one time very common we can- not deny, but we can deny, and that most emphatically, that they ever had the free sanction of the Church. They were altogether local abuses, and, when permitted to go on, it was wholly because, under the pressing circumstances of the times, better could not be done. Dr. Lingard, in his History of the Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, ii. 130, thus speaks upon this subject : “ Before I conclude this chapter I must notice an extraordinary practice which united the most solemn rites of religion with the public administration of justice. To elicit, in judicial proceedings, a truth from a mass of unsatisfactory and often discordant evidence de- mands a power of discrimination and accuracy of judgment which it were vain to exj^ect from the magistrates of a nation just emerging from ignorance and barbarity. The jurisprudence of an illiterate people is generally satisfied with a shorter and more simple process. While the Anglo- Saxons adored the gods of their fathers, the decision of criminal prosecution was frequently entrusted to the wisdom of Woden. When they became Christians they confidently expected from the true God that miraculous interposition which they had before sought from an imaginary deity.” A little further on the author thus describes what used to take place on such occasions : “ Three nights before the day appointed for the trial the accused was led to the priest ; on the three following mornings lie assisted and made his offering at Mass ; and during the three days he fasted on bread, herbs, salt, and water. At the Mass on the third day the priest called him to the altar before the Communion, 16 The Mass — Origin of the Word, Etc . and adjured him by the God whom he adored, by the re- ligion which he professed, by the baptism with which he had been regenerated, and by the holy relics that reposed in the church, not to receive the Eucharist or go to the ordeal if his conscience reproached him with the crime of which he had been accused.” The priest then administered Holy Communion with these words : “ May this Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ prove thee innocent or guilty this day.” When Mass was finished the accused was again ex- pected to deny the charge and take the following oath : “In the Lord I am guiltless, both in word and deed, of the crime of which I am accused.” Dr. Lingard remarks in a foot- note (p. 131) that the practice of ordeal prevailed among all the northern nations that embraced Christianity after the fifth century. But Masses of Judgment were by no means confined to the illiterate or to those newly emerging from barbarism. The most cultivated and civilized had recourse to them, and they were in vogue among some of the most refined nations of Europe. St. Cunegunda, wife of King Henry II. of Germany, proved herself innocent in this way of a charge of adultery. She went through the ordeal of walking over a number of red-hot ploughshares, from which she escaped unhurt (Butler’s Lives of the Saints ; Gavantus, Thesaur . Sacr. Lit., p. 38). Queen Emma, mother of Ed- ward the Confessor, subjected herself to a similar test, in order to establish her innocence of a foul calumny circulated of her. Lingard, however, seems to discredit this latter story ; but authorities of good standing make mention of it (see the Month, February, 1874, p. 214, for full particulars). We have said that this practice of detecting crime by hav- ing immediate recourse to God through the holy sacrifice of the Mass was never directly sanctioned by the supreme authority of the Church, but only permitted because of the great difficulty and danger of eradicating it all at once. Days upon which Mass is not Celebrated. 17 Our proofs of this are the following : Pope Gregory the Great condemned it as far back as a.d. 592 ; it was con- demned expressly by the Council of Worms in 829, and Pope Nicholas I. repeated the condemnation upon his eleva- tion to the chair of St. Peter in 858 ; Pope St. Stephen condemned it, too, and so did several other popes and coun- cils (see Butler’s Lives of the Saints and Alzog’s Universal Church History, vol. ii. p. 155, by Pabish and Byrne). It is hardly necessary to add that Masses of this kind are now unknown in the Church. DAYS UPON WHICH MASS IS NOT CELEBRATED. From time immemorial it has been customary in the La- tin Church to abstain from celebrating regular Mass on Good Friday, from the fact that it is the great mourning day of the year, and in a regular Mass there is more or less rejoicing ; and also because, as St. Thomas Aquinas says (p. 3, q. 83, art. 2), it is not becoming to represent the Passion of Christ mystically by the consecration of the Eucharist whilst the Church is celebrating it as if really happening. Those who follow the Ambrosian rite (viz., the priests , of Milan) have no service at all upon any Friday of Lent. This dates at least from the time of St. Charles Borromeo. They will not even on these days say Mass for the dead or to satisfy any demand, no matter how urgent it be (Bona, \Rer. Liturg ., p. 219). Mass is also forbidden, unless Solemn High Mass, on Holy Thursday, but an exception is made in case of minor churches where a sufficient number of priests cannot be had to go through the regular ceremonies. In such cases a Low Mass is permitted. Holy Saturday is another day upon which Mass is not allowed — that is, Low Mass — unless in particular cases ; and 18 The Mass — Origin of the Word, Etc. although it is customary to celebrate Solemn High Mass on this day, yet, strictly speaking, this Mass belongs to Holy Saturday night or Easter eve, and not to the day itself, as may be clearly seen from its wording, where frequent men- tion is made of the time at which it used* to be celebrated. Thus the first Collect reads : “ 0 God ! who enlightenest this most sacred night by the glory of the Resurrection of our Lord, preserve in the new offspring of thy family the spirit of adoption thou hast given them ; that, being re- newed in body and soul, they may serve thee with purity of heart.” Allusion is also made to the night in the Preface, and in that prayer of the Canon called the “ Communi- cantes.” THE FIRST MASS — BY WHOM CELEBRATED — WHEN, WHERE, AMD IN WHAT LANGUAGE. The opinion is sustained by the ablest liturgical writers that it was St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles and head of Christ’s Church, who said the first Mass, and this after the descent of the Holy Ghost, in the very same Cenacle 8 at Jerusalem where the Blessed Eucharist was instituted, and where our Lord uttered the words, “Do this in commemora- tion of me.” And as it will be asked why Mass was not celebrated before Pentecost, we give what the best authorities say upon 8 The Cenacle, which stands upon Mt. Sion, is to-day one of the greatest objects of veneration in the Holy Land. It is remarkable as being the supposed place where the Last Supper was held ; where our Lord appeared to his disciples after his glorious resurrection on Easter morning ; where the Sacrament of Penance was first instituted, and where our Lord was seen to converse for the last time with his chosen band before he ascended into heaven. It was in this blessed spot also that St. James the Less, styled the brother of our Lord, was consecrated first bishop of Jerusalem ; and a pious tradition has it that it was here the “ Beloved Disciple” said Mass in presence of the Blessed Virgin, who, it is said, departed this life there. Father Vetromile, Travels in Europe and the Holy Land , p. 200, describes the Cenacle as a large room divided by a kind of alcove, and says that a plenary indulgence is attached to a visit paid it, with, of course, the usual conditions. Language in which the First Mass teas Celebrated . 19 the matter — viz., that, in the first place the Apostles would not presume to perform so august an action before they had received the plenitude of the Holy Ghost ; and, in the second place, that inasmuch as the Ancient Law was not wholly abrogated in what pertained to the priesthood until after the descent on Pentecost, it was not deemed expedient to begin the sacred ministrations of the New Law until this abrogation had taken effect. The Holy Scriptures seem to corroborate this statement also, for we read in the Acts of the Apostles (i. 14) that before the descent of the Holy Ghost “they were all persevering with one mind in prayer,” but after the descent the “breaking of bread” — i.e., the celebration of Holy Communion — is mentioned (Acts ii. 42 and 46 ; see Gavantus and Merati, Tliesaur. Sacr. Rit., pp. 7, 12, 14 ; and Bona, Rer. Liturg ., book i. p. 206). THE LANGUAGE IN WHICH THE FIRST MASS WAS CELE- BRATED. In the time of our Lord three particular languages were common throughout Judea. They were, in some sense of the word, the languages of the earth in those days — viz., the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. The first , better known as the Syro-Chaldaic, or more properly the Syriac, was the lan- guage of the greater part of Judea, especially of Jerusalem itself and its environs, and, without a doubt, was the ver- nacular of our Divine Lord and his Blessed Mother. This can be proved almost to a demonstration, both from the common consent of critics and from the numerous Syriac expressions that we find here and there in the New Testa- ment yet in their original dress, such as “ talitha cumi,” “eloi, eloi, lamma sabacthani,” and “ ephphetha,” all of which are Syriac, with a few euphonic changes made to suit Greek ears. 20 The Mass — Origin of the Word, Etc. \ The second, or the Greek, obtained a large sway in Pales- tine also, as St. Jerome testifies (Proem, 1. 2, Com. Epist. ad Gal.) and various records show. “ And this glory,” says Brerewood in his Languages and Religions, p. 9 — “this glory the Greek tongue held in the Apostles’ time, and long after in the Eastern parts.” The third , or the Latin, had obtained a far wider sway in the Holy Land in the time of our Lord and his Apostles than either of the other two, for it was the lan- guage of imperial Home ; and as Judea was a Roman pro- vince at that time, and for years previous, it was but natural to expect that the language of Rome would be forced on the conquered people. But as we shall have occasion to treat of these languages more fully a little further on, we dismiss them with these brief remarks, and take up the subject that heads our article, viz. : In what language was the first mass offered ? Eckius, a learned German divine and antiquarian of the sixteenth century, was the first who broached the opinion that Mass was celebrated everywhere, in the beginning, in Hebrew. But this cannot be sustained, for the ablest litur- gical writers and linguists hold that in the days of the Apos- tles Mass was celebrated in the language that prevailed in those places whither the Apostles went to spread the light of the Gospel ; hence, that at Jerusalem it was celebrated in Syriac ; at Antioch, Alexandria, and other Grecian cities, in Greek ; and at Rome, and throughout the entire West, in Latin. As the first Mass, then, was celebrated at Jerusalem, it is an opinion which it would be rash to differ from that the language in which it was offered was the Syriac (Bona, Rer. Liturg., 207 ; Gavantus, Thesaur. Sacr. Rit., 16, 17 ; Kozma, Liturg. Sacr. Cathol., p. 111). Apparatus used at the First Mass. 21 APPARATUS USED AT THE FIRST MASS. Although neither Scripture nor history says anything de- finite about the apparatus or ceremonies employed by the Apostles in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, still it is most probable that such an august sacrifice was not offered without what was suitable and becoming. The Apostles knew too well with what a gorgeous display of ritual the sacrifices of the Mosaic law used to be offered, and how Almighty God himself expressly regulated the kind of garments the priests should use and the special ceremonies that were to be employed on every occasion ; and if this were done where the sacrifice consisted of nothing but bulls, goats, and oxen, how much more ought to be expected when the victim offered was none else than the Son of God himself ? It is very likely, then, that the apparatus used in the first Mass, and the ceremonies observed thereat, were communicated orally to the Apostles by our Lord himself, and that they did exactly as he prescribed. Cardinal Bona, in treating this question, says that, with- out a doubt, lights were used after the manner of the ancient Hebrews ; that vestments also were employed dif- ferent from those of every-day life ; and he mentions the ? fact that St. Peter’s chasuble was conveyed from Antioch to the Church of St. Genevieve at Paris, and there carefully preserved (Rer. Liturg ., p. 206). THE LANGUAGES IN WHICH MASS IS CELEBRATED TO-DAY THROUGHOUT CHRISTENDOM. The Catholic Church of to-day celebrates the holy sacri- fice of the Mass in nine different languages — viz., in Latin, Greek, Syriac, Chaldaic, Sclavonic, Wallachian, Armenian, Coptic, and Ethiopic. Latin. — This is the language of the Mass in the entire 22 The Mass — Origin of the Word, Etc . West and in a few places in the East, and lias been so, without change, from the beginning of Christianity. It may, in fact, be called the vernacular language of the Western Church. Greek. — At the present day Mass is said in Greek by the Uniat or Melchite 9 Catholics of the East. They are to be found in Syria, Jerusalem, Russia, in the kingdom of Greece, in Italy, and in several places of Europe ; and they com- prise the Mingrelians, Georgians, Bulgarians, Muscovites, and others. These Catholics are allowed by Rome to retain all their ancient rites, such as consecrating the Holy Eucha- rist in leavened bread, giving Communion in both kinds, saying the Creed without the “ Filioque,” and putting warm water into the chalice after Consecration. Nay, more, the Holy See even allows their clergy to marry . 10 They have three patriarchs, residing respectively at Antioch, Alexan- dria, and Jerusalem ; and they use three different Liturgies for the celebration of the Mass — viz., the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, or that most generally used ; the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, used on all Sundays in Lent except 9 The term Melchite , from the Syriac Malko , a king, was first applied at the Coun- cil of Chalcedon (451) to designate the orthodox party, at whose head was the Emperor Marcian. It has nearly the same meaning now in the East that the word Papist has through the West. The schismatics, however, often apply it to their body because of its expressing orthodoxy, for they rejoice in the title of the “ Holy Orthodox Church of the East.” 10 When I say the Holy See allows the Eastern clergy in her Communion to marry, I must not be understood as implying that she allows those who are in Sacred Orders to do so. This would not be true. Her discipline in this matter is precisely as follows: Marriage is allowed all the inferior clergy from the subdeacon, exclusive , down. Should any member, then, of this inferior body be promoted to Sacred Orders, whether to the subdiaconate, diaconate, or priesthood, he is allowed to retain his wife and do for her as best he can from his living, but he can never marry again. Should he do so he would be degraded and forbidden ever to officiate. There is no such thing allowed or heard of as a clergyman getting married in Sacred Orders. If he is not married when a sub- deacon he never can be afterwards. And as for bishops, patriarchs, metropolitans, and the other great dignitaries of the Oriental hierarchy, the rule is that they must all be single men. Hence it is that all, or nearly all, the Oriental bishops aie taken from the monasteries ; and this is the rule with the schismatics also. Languages in which Mass is Celebrated To-day. 23 Palm Sunday, on Holy Thursday, Holy Saturday, the Vigils of Christmas day and of the Epiphany, and, finally, on the Feast of St. Basil, January 1. The third Liturgy is deno- minated the Presanctified. It is only used during those days of Lent upon which there is no Consecration, but only a Mass similar to that which we have on Good Friday. Syriac. — Mass is said in Syriac by the Maronites 11 of Mount Lebanon and the Syrian Melchites of the East. It is, in fact, the liturgical language of all those places where the Liturgy of St. James is used as the norma. It is the proud boast (and truly it is something to be proud of) of the people who say Mass in this language that they are using the very same language that was spoken by our Divine Lord himself and his Blessed Mother, as well as by the majority of the Apostles. The Maronites are allowed by the Holy See to retain all their ancient ecclesiastical rites and customs. They are governed by a patriarch, whose style is “Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites.” This dignitary is elected by the people themselves ; but before he is installed in office his election has to await the confirmation of Rome. They use unleavened bread, as we do, in confecting the Holy Eucharist, and, like the rest of the Orientals, they communicate the people under both kinds ; but when communicating the sick only the species of bread is used. They use incense at Low Mass as well as at High Mass, and read the Gospel in Arabic after it has first been read in the Syriac, for Arabic is the language of the day in those parts. 11 This people received the name of Maronite from a holy monk, St. Maro, who in- habited the Lebanon in the fifth century, and became celebrated all over the East for his eminent sanctity. Some say that they fell at one time into the Monothelite heresy, but they themselves deny the charge, maintaining that their faith has always been or- thodox. By way of derision they are called the “ Eastern Papists,” so great is their loyalty to the Holy See. 24 The Mass — Origin of the Word, Etc. Their secular clergy number about twelve thousand, and their regular about fourteen thousand. All the latter live in monasteries ; and as they must be unmarried (for it is only the seculars who are allowed to have wives), it is from their body that the patriarchs and bishops are taken (Yetromile, Travels in Europe and the Holy Land, 77 ). Chaldaic. — This language is peculiar to the Babylonian Catholics, who are chiefly converts from Nestorianism, 12 and who inhabit principally Mesopotamia, Armenia, and Kur- distan. They have a patriarch, who is titled 66 Patriarch of Babylonia.” His residence is at Bagdad. All the lit- urgical books of this people are written in the Chaldaic, in that peculiar character known as the E strang clo 13 — for the Chaldaic itself has as many different alphabets as eigh- teen (Antrim’s Science of Letters, p. 88). Sclavonic. — Mass is said in this language by the Catholics of Istria, Liburnia, and the maritime parts of ancient Dal- matia. It is, in fact, the liturgical language of all in union with Rome who belong to the Sclavonic nation. This privilege the Sclavonians first received from Pope Adrian 12 Tlie Nestorians, so called from Nestorius, a native of Germanicia, in Syria, and Patriarch of ‘Constantinople in the fifth century, arc found in great numbers to-day throughout the entire East. They have twenty- five metropolitans, and a patriarch who resides at Mosul, the ancient Nineveh. Strangely enough, they consider it an insult to he styled Nestoriam, their proper name being, as they strenuously maintain them- selves, Soordye—i.e., Syrians. According to some they sometimes style themselves Nusrani— that is, “ of Nazareth”— but this, if anything, must be a subterfuge to escape the name of the heretic Nestorius, which they disdain being called by (see Nestorians and their Eitvals, vol. i. p. 178, by Kev. Geo. Percy Badger ; and Vetromile, Travels in Europe and the Holy Land , p. 90). The reader need hardly be told that the heresy for which Nestorius was condemned at the General Council of Ephesus in 431 was the ascribing of two distinct persons to our Lord instead of one, and refusing the title of “ Mother of God ” to the Blessed Virgin. 13 According to Assemani ( Bibl . Orient ., tom. iv. p. 378), this word comes from the Greek , I separate or choose for a religious purpose. Why the Church retains the use of the Latin . 33 most critical mind can be satisfied by looking into the pages of antiquity and examining the religious customs of any ancient people. In nearly every case the liturgical language will be found different from that in use among the common people. The principal reason why Protestants reprobate our use of a language not understood by the people is, as far as they themselves are concerned, very rational, but, as far as Catholics are concerned, highly absurd. A Protestant goes to church to utter a few prayers, or at least to hear the minister utter them, and nothing more. His service is essentially prayer, and nothing but prayer. Not so with the Catholic. His service is something higher and greater than mere prayer : it is a tremendous sacrifice ; and as the sacri- fice may be offered entirely independent of prayer, it matters but little whether the share prayer takes in it be little or great, provided everything else is duly ordered. For which reason some of the ablest spiritual writers have said again and again that one of the most efficacious ways of hearing Mass is to watch the actions of the priest at the altar with great attention from beginning to end, and look as little at the prayer-book as possible. A person who could do this without distraction would reap incalculable spiritual fruit from it, and would, without a doubt, be assisting at Mass in the strictest sense of the word. WHY THE CHURCH RETAINS THE USE OF THE LATIN IN HER SERVICE. The Catholic Church celebrates in Latin for a variety of reasons : First. Because she did so in the beginning ; and as she never changes her faith, she has never deemed it advisable to change her language. If her sacred language changed 34 The Mass — Origin of the Word , Etc. with those that are changing around her, there would be no end to the confusion that would result, and much disedifi- cation would unavoidably be given by using words and phrases in the hearing of the people to which the grossest meanings are sometimes attached. Secondly. As order is heaven’s first law, uniformity seems to he the first law of the Church, for which reason she makes it her endeavor to have her greatest charge, the due and respectful celebration of the Adorable Sacrifice of the Altar, conducted with the same ceremonies and said in the. same language everywhere. This she could not do unless she had fixed on a common language. Thirdly. Unity in respect to language goes a very great way in preserving unity of belief. A writer of high repute (Porubszky, Jure suo Ecclesiast., p. 854) declares as his firm conviction that the various churches of the East which have severed their connection with the centre of unity, Rome, would hardly ever have done so had they been re- quired from the beginning to make Latin their liturgical language. National languages always pave the way for na- tional churches. Fourthly. By preserving the Latin in her Liturgy, and requiring her ministers to cultivate it, the Catholic Church has secured for herself the accumulated literary treasures of eighteen centuries of Christianity. By this she has free access to the writings of some of the most illustrious doctors of the Church, to canon and civil law, to the decrees of ancient councils, and to many other documents of value which would have otherwise been totally out of reach. For which reason alone our Holy Church should receive the praise of Christendom. Hallam, in his Middle Ages , could not hide the fact that the sole hope of literature in these times depended principally on the Catholic Church, for wherever it existed the Latin language was preserved. ✓ R1EST0FTHEM1NBHURCH. ^Vested for Mass. CHAPTER II. SACRED VESTMENTS. The sacred vestments employed by a priest in celebrating the Holy Sacrifice are six in number — viz., Amice, Alb, Cincture, Maniple, Stole, and Chasuble. THE AMICE. The Amice, so called from the Latin amicire , to clothe or cover, is a rectangular piece of linen about three feet long and two feet wide. It has a string at each of its two upper corners by which to fasten it on the shoulders of the wearer, and a cross in the middle of the upper edge, which the priest kisses when vesting. Erom the office which the Amice serves various names have been given it, such as Humeral, from the Latin hume- rus, a shoulder ; Anabolagium, from the Greek avafioXi} (anabole), a cloak ; and Ephod, from its resemblance to the Aaronic garment of that name. The Greek Church uses no article of this kind at the pre- sent time, although it did formerly. The priests of the Am- brosian or Milanese rite, also the canons of the Cathedral of Lyons, put on the Amice after the Alb, and not before it, as we do. This is also the discipline of the Maronites of Mt. Lebanon. The Amice of the Armenians, called by them Vahass, has a breastplate attached, upon which are inscribed the names of the twelve Apostles, in imitation of the Jewish Ephod, whose breastplate displayed, in shining colors, the names of '36 Sacred Vestments. the twelve tribes of Israel (Neale’s Holy Eastern Church , vol. i. p. 306). Early History of the Amice. — Liturgical writers tell us that the Amice, in early days, served as a covering for the head and neck, and that it continued to be so used until about the tenth century, when its place was supplied by the ecclesiastical cap, or berretta then introduced (Bouvry, Ex- positio Rubricarum , vol. ii. 216). This is corroborated by the practice yet prevailing with some of the religious orders, such as the Capuchins and Dominicans, of wearing the Amice over the head until the beginning of Mass, when they cast it hack on their shoulders and adjust it around the neck. A vestige of its ancient use may also he seen in the ordination of a subdea- con, where the bishop draws the article first over the candi- date’s head, and then lets it fall loosely over his shoulders. Mystical Meaning of the Amice. — The mystical meaning of the Amice may be gathered from the prayer recited in don- ning it : (( Place upon my head, 0 Lord ! the helmet of sal- vation for repelling the attacks of the evil one.” It is, then, part of the armor of a soldier of Christ, and serves to remind the priest of the obligation he is under of being ready at all times to fight the good fight of faith in accord- ance with that sacred admonition of the Apostle of the Gen- tiles, “ Put ye on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. . . . And take unto you the helmet of salvation ” ( Ejpliesians vi. 11-17). THE ALB. The second vestment the priest clothes himself with is the Alb, so called from its white color — albus in Latin meaning white. It is an ample, loosely-fitting garment of pure linen, entirely enveloping the body, and fastened at the neck by means of strings. The Alb. 37 The use of a vestment of this kind is of the highest anti- quity, for we find it employed by all nations in their reli- gious services. It is the same as the linen garment ordered to be worn by the priests of the Old Law ( Exod . xxviii. ; Levit. viii. ) King David wore a linen Alb when translating the Ark of the Covenant from the house of Obededom to Jerusalem (1 Paral. xv. 27). We have said that the Alb is made of linen ; this, at least, is the present discipline in regard to it, but formerly it was often made of silk and ornamented with gold. King Etliel- wolf, of Anglo-Saxon times, and father of Alfred the Great, presented the Church of St. Peter’s at Rome, in a.d. 855, with a number of silken Albs richly ornamented in this way (Church of Our Fathers , by Dr. Rock, vol. i. p. 426). An ancient Roman ordo, published by Ilittorp, prescribes silken Albs for Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday (ibid.) The Alb, too, changed in color to suit particular occa- sions. The monks of Cluny used to wear one of pure cloth of gold in the High Masses of the greater festivals ; and we find some of green, blue, and red in an old inventory of the celebrated monastery of Peterborough, in England (ibid., pp. 430-433 et passim). ^ Pope Benedict XIV., De Sacr. Missce, is our authority for saying that a garment of this kind, but of a black color, used to be formerly worn on Good Friday. Figurative Signification of the Alb. — According to Pope Innocent III. (De Sacr. Altaris Mysterio, 57), the Alb, from the purity of its color, denotes newness of life, and reminds us of St. Paul’s admonition to the Ephesians, chap. iv. : “ Put off the old man with all his acts, and clothe yourselves with the new man, who, according to God, is created in justice and holiness of truth.” This beautiful idea of a new life, as signified by the Alb, is very forcibly presented to us in Holy Baptism, where the newly-regenerated 38 Sacred Vestments. receives a white garment with these significant words : “Receive this white and spotless garment which you are to bear before the tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you may possess eternal life. Amen.” Oriental Usage. — The Greeks call the Alb Poderis , from its reaching to the feet (Bona, Per. Liturg ., 281). This, however, is not the name that it is generally known by, for we find it mentioned in nearly all the Oriental Liturgies as the Stoicharion (Denzinger, Ritus Orientalium , pp. 129-405 y Renaudot, Liturg. Orient., i. 161). It is the first vestment of all the orders of the clergy, and, though anciently made of linen, is now, with many of the Oriental churches, of nothing else hut white silk (Denzinger, 129). In the Russian Church a Stoicharion of purple is pre- scribed for all days in Lent except the Feast of the Annun- ciation, Palm Sunday, and Holy Saturday (Neale’s Holy Eastern Church, vol. i. p. 307). With the Copto-Jacobites (or Monophysites of Egypt) it is known indifferently by the names Jabat and Touniat ; and with those of Syria as the Koutino, evidently from the Greek jzrcJz'zor, an under-garment (Renaudot, i. 161, ii. 54). The Copts, too, sometimes call it Kamis (Denzinger, 129), from the Latin camisia and the French chemise , x an under-goivn. They are very strict in their discipline re- garding the wearing of it. No priest would dare enter the sanctuary without it. Should he present himself for Holy Communion, and neglect to have himself clothed with it, he is at once ordered to depart and communicate at the rails with the common people. One of their disciplinary 1 It will interest the reader to know that the camisia, or under-gown, of Our Blessed Lady is yet preserved, with affectionate veneration, in a silver case at Chartres, in France. It is inscribed “La Chemise de la Sainte Vierge,” and so well authenticated that it would he rash to entertain a doubt about it. For a full account of its miracu- lous history see Nicephorus Calixtus, Hist. Eccl., lib. xv. chap, xxxiv. ; or the Truth of Supposed Legends , by Cardinal Wiseman, The Cincture . 39 canons on this head runs thus : “ It is unlawful for a priest to pray or receive Holy Communion 2 without his being- vested with a Chitonion. The thing would be unbecom- ing and at variance with the canon of holy faith.” And another : “ Let not a priest approach Holy Communion on the steps of the altar unless vested with the Stoicharion. Should he not have this he must communicate outside the rails ” (Renaudot, Liturg. Orient ., i. 160). Priests of the Latin Church put on the Alb with the prayer : “ Purify me, 0 Lord ! and make me clean of heart, that, washed in the Blood of the Lamb, I may possess eternal joy.” In the Russian Church the prayer is : “My soul doth magnify the Lord, who clothed me in the gar- ment of salvation” [Greco- Russian Church , by Romanoff, p. 89). THE CIHCTURE. The Cincture occupies the third place in the catalogue of sacred vestments. It is of as high antiquity as the Alb, which it always accompanies ; its chief, in fact its only, office being to keep that garment in its proper place on the person of the wearer. Different writers give it different ^ names, such as zone , girdle, band, belt, and the like. It is required to be of linen, and of such a length that, when doubled, it may encircle the body of the priest. Formerly it was wide like a sash, and was often made of the most precious materials — such as cloth of gold, silk, etc. — and * 2 We here beg to inform the reader that it is cv r.tomary for all the priests of the East who assist at Mass, whether as concelebrants ^that is, celebrating the self-same liturgy with the celebrant of the day) or as mere lookers-on, to receive Holy Com- munion from the hands of the priest at the altar. Should, however, the patriarch he present at such a Mass, but not celebrant, he approaches the altar and communicates himself (Denzinger, Hit. Oriental ., p. 405). The practice of thus receiving from the hands of the priest celebrating is observed in our Church on Holy Thursday, but on no other occasion. 40 Sacred Vestments. used to be studded with gems ( Church of Our Fathers, vol. i. p. 488, by Dr. Eock). A cincture found upon the body of a deceased bishop taken up in Durham Cathedral in 1829 is thus described by Eaine : “Of the girdle, or cingulum , the portion which we were enabled to preserve measures twenty-five inches in length ; its breadth is exactly seven-eighths of an inch. It has evidently pro- ceeded from the loom ; and its two component parts are a flattish thread of pure gold and a thread of scarlet silk, which are not combined in any particular pattern, save that, at a very short distance from each selvage, there run two or three longitudinal lines, which serve to break the uniformity of the whole. The lining is of silk ” (ibid. 489, note 22). It varied also in color formerly, to suit the dif- ferent colors of the vestments ; but now it is rarely seen of any other color but ichite , although the rubrics do not forbid other colors to be used at the option of the priest. And as regards its material, according to the present dis- cipline, it is required to be of pure linen, and of nothing else. Terminating both ends are two large tassels, which hang down equally on each side of 'the priest when vested. Mentioned in Holy Scripture. — The Cincture is frequently alluded to in Holy Scripture, where many moral significa- tions are attached to it. The prophet Isaias, in describing the Messias, says of him : “ Justice shall be the girdle of his loins, and faith the girdle of his reins” (xi. 5). Our Divine Lord himself, when addressing his disciples, thus exhorted them : “Let your loins be girt, and lamps burn- ing in your hands” (Luke xii. 35) ; and St. John, in th§ Apocalypse, says that he saw “ in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle” (i. 13). Cincture in the Old Law. — In the Old Law, as well as in The Cincture . 41 the New, the Cincture occupied a prominent place among the priestly vestments. According to the Jewish historian Jose- phus (p. 74), its width was four fingers, and it was woven in such a manner as to exhibit the appearance of serpents’ scales. It used to be ornamented with floral embroidery in purple, dark-blue, scarlet, and white. The manner of weaving it was as now. The name given it by Moses was Abaneth ; but the more recent Jews called it, in accordance with Babylonic usage, Emia. Cincture of the Orientals. — The Cinctures of the Greeks and Syrians are much broader than ours, and, instead of being knotted on the person of the wearer, are buckled in front with a hook or clasp. These Cinctures are sometimes made of very precious silk, studded with precious stones. A gilt hook, shaped like an “ S,” is employed to fasten them around the waist (Dr. Rock, Church of Our Fathers , i. 490, 491). Renaudot ( Comment, ad Liturg. Copt. S. Basilii, p. 161) tells us that, to draw as broad a line as possible between the followers of the Koran and the Chris- tians of Egypt, some of the Caliphs 3 used to oblige the latter to wear a certain kind of Cincture always in common life. To exhort the faithful to bear this intended humil- * iation with true Christian fortitude, the Fathers of those days delivered many touching homilies to them. While this state of things lasted the Christians of those parts were commonly styled “ Christiani de Cingulo ” — that is, Cincture-wearing Christians. The prayer recited in putting on the Cincture is worded as follows : “ Gird me, 0 Lord ! with the Cincture of purity, and extinguish in my loins the heat of concupis- 8 Caliph — from the Arabic kaleefah , and the Chaldaic chalaph, to change, to succeed; hence, a rnler— is the official title of the highest Mahometan dignitary in spirituals and temporals. He is regarded as actually holding the place of Mahomet himself ; therefore he must be considered jn point of fact as his vicar on earth. 42 Sacred Vestments . cence, that the virtue of continence and chastity may abide in me.” The Russian priests, who wear a Cincture exactly like ours, recite the following prayer in vesting themselves with it : “ Blessed be the Lord, who girdeth me with strength, and maketh my path undefiled ” (Romanoff, Greco-Russian Church, p. 89). Venerable Relics . — Among the many sacred relics yet pre- served, and exhibited every seven years for the veneration of the faithful, in the great church of Aix-la-Chapelle, in France, is the veritable Cincture worn by our Blessed Redeemer. It is entirely of leather, and bears at its extremities the imperial seal of Constantine the Great. Thousands flock thither from all quarters of the globe to behold this pre- cious curiosity ( Catholic World, Sept., 1872). The Cincture worn by Our Blessed Lady is said to be preserved also in the Church of Our Lady of Montserrat at Prato, in Tus- cany (Burder, Religious Ceremonies and Customs, 235). Moral Lesson taught by the Cincture. — The moral lesson intended to be conveyed by the wearing of the Cincture is easily gathered from the prayer recited in putting it on. It reminds the wearer of the great purity of mind and heart that he ought to be filled with in his ministrations before a God of infinite holiness and sanctity. The liigh- priests of the Old Law were reminded of this solemn obli- gation by being obliged to wear on their foreheads a golden plate with the words “tnrb vtp Kadesh la Jehovah (Bannister, Temples of the Hebrews, p. 180) — inscribed upon it ; that is, Holiness to Jehovah. How much more holiness is required in priests of the New Law, where the Victim of sacrifice is none other than the Son of God himself, the Jehovah of the New Covenant ? Other mystical meanings were also attached to the Cinc- ture, such as promptitude iii executing the commands of The Maniple . 43 ✓ God ; exactness in religious observances ; and watchfulness in regard to our eternal salvation, in accordance with that solemn admonition of our Divine Lord himself : “ Let your loins be girt, and lamps burning in your hands ” (Luke xii. 35). That is, be ready at all times to appear before the tribunal of divine justice. THE MANIPLE. The Maniple is the fourth article which the priest vests himself with. It is a small strip of precious cloth, of the same material as the Stole and Chasuble, having three crosses embroidered upon it — one in the middle, and one at each of its extremities. It is worn on the left wrist, to which it is fastened either by a pin or a string. Its whole length is generally about two feet, and its breadth about four inches. When fastened on, it hangs equally on both sides. Ancient Names given the Maniple.— The Maniple was anciently known by as many as ten different names — viz., Mappula , Sudarium, Brachial Cincture, Mantile, Linteum , Aer, Sacerdotale Cincticulum, Mhniple, Mappa Parva, and Phanon (Gavantus, Tliesaur. Baer. Rit., p. 130). Originally it was intended solely for wiping the perspira- tion from the face of the wearer, and drying the hands so that the sacred vestments may not be soiled by them. In fact, it served in every way as a handkerchief, as we see from what the ancients have written about it. Thus Alcuin, in the ninth century, speaks of it as follows : “The little kerchief which is worn on the left hand, wherewith we wipe off the moisture of the eyes and nose, designates the present life, in which we suffer from superfluous humors ” (Bona, Per. Liturg., 281). Amalarius also, who lived about the same period, writes 44 Sacred Vestments, of it thus : “ We cany a handkerchief ( Sudarium ) for the purpose of wiping the perspiration ” (ibid.) The Maniple, as we have said, was fastened to the left wrist. The ancient form of the Chasuble, of which we shall give a full account further on, required this disposition ; for if it were kept anywhere else it would be almost wholly out of reach of the priest, who was enveloped on all sides, as our print will show (see figure). As long as the ancient ample Chasuble remained in use the Maniple was not allowed to rest on the wrist until the priest was about to ascend the altar-steps. Then the Chasuble was folded up by the deacon and subdeacon, and the left arm being thus entirely free, the Maniple was fastened to it, and thus did it remain until the end of Mass. A vestige of this ancient practice is yet preserved in a Bishop’s Mass, where the Maniple is not fastened to the prelate’s wrist until the “ indulgentiam ” — that is, a little before he ascends the steps. According to the best authorities, the Maniple served the purpose of a handkerchief until about the twelfth century. After this it became a liturgical ornament (Kozma, Liturg. Sacr . Cathol ., 44), with no other office but a symbolic one. Our holy Church is always loath to part with any of her ancient apparel. Material of the Maniple. — Whilst the Maniple served as a. handkerchief it used to be made of fine white linen, and was frequently carried in the hand during divine service instead of being fastened to the wrist ; but when it passed into a liturgical ornament, then the material of which it was made changed to suit that of the Stole and Chasuble. In some parts of England it was customary to attach little bells of gold and silver to its edging (Dr. Rock, Church of Our Fathers, i. 422). The Maniple is put on with the following prayer : <La," but “ Sancta Sophia ” in Latin. This world-renowned church was first built by Constantine the Great in the year 325. The second of the same name, and on the same foundation, was built by Constantius in 359. Theodosius the Great built a third one on the same site in 415. The fourth and last was the temple of Justinian. It was com- menced at eight o’clock a.m., February 23, a. d. 532 The architects were Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus, both eminent mechanicians. Artists from the four quarters of the globe w r ere invited to take part in its construction, and foremost among the workmen, we are told, was the emperor himself, girt in a tunic and equipped with hammer and trowel. From the date of its commencement to its completion was five years, ten months, and three days. When Justinian saw it finished, and beheld what a magnificent edifice it was, he cried out in a transport of admiration, “I have con- quered thee, O Solomon 1 Glory be to God, who hath accounted me worthy of such a work 1 ” In 1453, when Constantinople fell into the hands of the Turks, this famous church was converted into a Mahometan Jami, or greater mosque, and most of its em- bellishments, bnt not all, were destroyed (Neale, Holy Eastern Church, i. 235, 236 ; Catholic World, August, 1865 ; Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Horn. Emp., vii. 117). 116 The Altar. and crucified for our sakes ; keep us in the true orthodox faith ; and this empire which thou hast committed to our trust augment and preserve to thine own glory, through the intercession of the Holy Mother of God and Virgin Mary ” (Martene, De Antiquis Ecclesice Ritibus , art. “ Altare ”). SACRED SYMBOLISM OF ALTARS. The precise symbolism of the altar is that it denotes Christ our Lord, in accordance with what St. Paul says in his first Epistle to the Corinthians : “ They drank of the spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ ” (Bouvry, ii. 222). According to Venerable Bede, the altar is the body of Christ, or all the saints in whom a divine fire ever burns, consuming all that is flesh. RIGHT AMD LEFT OF THE ALTAR. IJp to the fifteenth century the right and left of the altar were settled by the position of the priest standing before it. The part which was opposite his right hand was the altar’s right, and that opposite his left the altar’s left. This or- dinance is now exactly the reverse, for the designations of right and left are taken from the Crucifix, and not from the position of the priest ; so that the right of the altar now is the part to the right of the Crucifix — that is, the Gospel side ; and the left, the left of the Crucifix, or Epistle side. According to Father Le Brun {Explication de la Messe , i. 171, note), this change was first introduced by Patricius, Bishop of Pienza, in Italy, about the year 1488, and Pope Pius V. adopted it afterwards in his recension of the missal. It is well to bear this in mind when reading such works as ‘those of Durandus and Pope Innocent III., who wrote prior to this time, for what they invariably call right is the left according to the present discipline. This rule also holds good in every other case, at Mass and out of Mass, Altars of the Orientals. 117 where it becomes necessary to make a distinction of this kind — such, for instance, as in sprinkling with holy water, in putting incense in the thurible, and in incensing any- thing. COVERING AND FURNITURE OF THE ALTAR. It is of strict obligation that every altar upon which the Holy Sacrifice is offered should be covered with three linen cloths. The first two must be large enough to cover the entire table or upper surface ; the third, or outer one, must cover the latter two and hang down on both sides so as to touch the ground. In case three cannot be had, it is per- mitted to fold the under cloth in two, and thus make up the complement. Before these cloths are used they must he blessed by the bishop, or by one to whom he delegates his power in this matter. Three are used in honor of the Blessed Trinity (Gavantus, p. 115), as well as to com- memorate the linen cloths in which our Lord’s Body was wrapped when laid in the sepulchre (Kozma, 32). They are mentioned as far back as the fourth century, at which period they were not spread on the altar until after the exclusion of the catechumens — i.e., before the Offertory (ibid.) ALTARS OF THE ORIENTALS. The discipline of the Oriental Church on the subject of altars differs but little from our own. With them the altars must be of stone also. However, in the absence of a regular altar they will say Mass on certain cloths called Antimens ; nay, even on a leaf of the Gospel, if necessity presses. Antimens. — This word is sometimes written Antimins , and nearly always so by the Greeks ; but as it is evidently derived from anti , instead of, and mensa , a table or altar, we prefer writing it as here, because it is more suggestive 118 The Altar . of its origin. These anti mens are held in great veneration by the Orientals. Their material is generally silk, but in some cases linen also is used, after the mannei of our coi- porals. They are consecrated with much ceremony, relics being pounded up with fragrant gum, and holy oil being poured out together with them by the bishop and cast upon them. Then the Office of the Holy Eucharist is celebrated on them for seven successive days before they are fully con- secrated. The date of their consecration is generally worked upon them, also the name of the consecrating pi elate (Neale, Holy Eastern Church , vol. i. p. 186 ; Hierurgia , 504 ; Goal, Euchol. Grcec. ., 653). They measure about sixteen inches square, and have generally a figure stamped upon them repre- senting the burial of our Lord by Joseph of Arimathea and the holy women (Romanoff, Rites and Customs of the Greco - Russian Church , pp. 84, 85). The discipline of the Russian Church is so strict regarding these sacred cloths that no church can be consecrated without them. When not in ac- tual use, they are carefully folded up in a silken cloth called the lliton (ibid.) Instead of these antimens, the Syrians use, when pressed by necessity, slabs of wood called Mensce, which they also employ, when the notion takes them, even though regularly consecrated altars can be had (Neale, 187). HOW THE ALTARS OF THE ORIENTALS ARE DRESSED. The Orientals also, like ourselves, use three coverings. The manner in which they vest the altar is thus described by Neale : “ At the angles of the mensa are placed four small pieces of cloth, symbolizing the four Evangelists, and adorned with their respective emblems. Over these the catasarTca of silk or stuff is spread, having four strings or tassels at its extremities, and over this the snevdv- e read. Add to all this that there is no such thing 144 The Missal . known with them as a translation of a feast ; and hence when an occurrence 4 of feasts happens all are celebrated together, with a jumble of rubrics which it is impossible to describe. The Typicon, or Ordo, for the feast of St. George, for example, fills about ten pages of a quarto volume, and this on account of all the other feasts that occur with it or fall on the same day. NESTORIAM MISSALS. The Nestorians also employ a vast number of service- books, but they do not trouble themselves much about ru- brics. In the first place, they have what is termed the Euanghelion , or book of the Gospels. This they read at every Mass. Second, the Sliho (in Syriac, j ...v A or book of Epistles, containing nothing but extracts from the Epistles of St. Paul. Third, the Karyane (Syriac, lio?s =Tcoruzo, a preacher, hence the word Koran), which con- tains extracts from the Old Testament and from the Acts of the Apostles. Fourth, the Turgama (Syriac, —turgmo, interpretation, whence Targum), consisting of a variety of hymns chanted responsively around the altar by the deacons before the Epistle and Gospel, calling upon the people to give ear to the words of the New Testament. The Karyane is read by the Karoya, or lector, at the altar door, on the south side ; the Sliho, on the north side, by the subdeacon ; the celebrant himself reads the Euanghe- lion at the centre of the altar. During the reading of all these the sacred ministers are facing the congregation. In case a Shammasha, or full deacon, is present the onus of reading the Gospel devolves on him. The pulpit in which 4 In liturgical language, when two or more feasts fall on the same day there is said to be an occurrence of feasts ; when one feast meets another only at Vespers it is said to constitute a concurrence. It is well to bear in mind that the ecclesiastical day always begins in the evening and ends the evening following. Coptic Missal. 145 the Nestorians formerly read the Sliho was denominated Gagolta (same as Golgotha, the name of Mount Calvary), from the steps by which it was ascended. The Chaldeans 5 use the same books in divine service, with little difference, as the Nestorians (Badger, Nestorians and their Rituals, vol. ii. p. 19). This difference touches, of course, the Nestorian heresy of holding that there are two Persons in our Divine Saviour instead of one. COPTIC MISSAL. All that we know of the Coptic Missal is that it is printed throughout in the ancient Coptic language, and that its rubrics are in the native Arabic, the language spoken by the people ; for, as Dr. Neale very justly remarks, hardly three persons can be found in all Cairo (the headquarters of the Copts) who can speak the Coptic of the Missal, not except- ing even the clergy, and hence the necessity of having the rubrics printed in the vernacular. 6 The name Chaldean is generally used in the East as the distinctive appellation of all who join our communion from Nestorianism. The Chaldean Catholics, as we have said in another place, are governed by a patriarch with the title of “ Patriarch of Baby- lon of the Chaldean Kite.” This prelate generally resides at Bagdad. CHAPTER XV. BELLS. The use of bells in divine service is very ancient. We find mention made of them in the books of Exodus and Ecclesiasticus, where they are enumerated among the ornaments of the high-priest’s ephod, in order that “their s*)und might be heard whenever he goeth in and cometh out of the sanctuary.” (We have stated in another place that this ancient custom of attaching little bells to the fringes of the priestly garments is yet very common in the Eastern Church. ) Besides these little bells the ancient Hebrews em- ployed others of a larger kind, called Megeruphita , which used to be sounded by the Levites on certain occasions. Of these the Mishna 1 says that when they were struck their noise was so deafening that you could not hear a person speak in all Jerusalem. They were sounded principally for three purposes : First, to summon the priests to service ; secondly, to summon the choir of Levites to sing ; thirdly, to invite the stationary-men to bring the unclean to the gate called Xicanor (Bannister, Temples of the HebreivSj p. 101). The Mishna further states that when these megeruphita were sounded to their full capacity they could be heard at Jeri- cho, eighteen miles from Jerusalem. For the first three or four centuries of the Christian 1 The Mishna, or oral law of the Jews, consists of various traditions respecting the law of Moses. The Mishna and Gemara (or commentary on the Mishna) form what is called the Talmud, of which there are two kinds — viz., that of Jerusalem and that of Babylon. The latter is held to be the greater of the two. 146 Ancient Substitute for Bells. 147 Church’s existence the faithful were compelled to assemble at divine service with as little noise as possible, for fear of attracting the attention of their pagan enemies, and thus bringing about fresh persecution ; hence we must not ex- pect to find bells in use during those days. According to Polydore Virgil it was Pope Sabinian (sev- enth century), the immediate successor of Pope Gregory the Great, who first introduced the practice of ringing bells at Mass (Bona, Her. Liturg., 259). The same thing is corrobo- rated by Onuphrius Panvinius, who, when writing of this pontiff, says : “ Hie Papa campanarum usum invenit, jus- si tque ut ad horas canonica’s, et Missarum sacrificia pulsaren- tur in ecclesia ” — that is, “ This pontiff introduced the use of bells, and ordained that they be rung in the church at the canonical hours and during the Sacrifice of the Mass.” The usual ascription of the introduction of bells to St. Paulinus of Kola stands upon little or no foundation. The name campance , sometimes given to bells, from Cam- pana, in Italy, where large quantities of them were made, generally denotes the larger kind, and nolce (also from an Italian town) the smaller kind. Small bells went generally by the name of tintinnabula , from their peculiar tinkling sound. ANCIENT SUBSTITUTE FOR BELLS. Before the use of bells had become general in the Church it was customary to employ in their stead signal or sound- ing boards, called semantrons, which used to be struck with a mallet of hard wood. These are yet in use in most of the Oriental churches, especially in those within the Turkish dominions ; for it is the belief of the followers of the Koran that the ringing of regular bells disquiets the souls of the departed dead. Hence it is considered a great privilege in the East, wherever Mahometanism prevails, to be allowed 148 Bells . the use of bells in divine service, and but few churches enjoy it. Ali Pasha, in order to conciliate his Christian subjects and win their esteem, granted the privilege to the churches of Joannina, capital of Albania (Neale, Holy East- ern Church, i. p. 216). They were also allowed at Argen- tiera, or Khimoli, in the Archipelago (ibid.) ; and of late their use was extended to the Church of the Holy Se- pulchre at Jerusalem, where the sound of a bell had not been heard since the time of the Crusades. Of the semantrons there were two kinds, one made of wood, the other of iron. The former consisted for the most part of a long piece of ‘hard, well-planed timber, usually of the heart of maple, of from ten to twelve feet in length, a foot and a half in breadth, and about nine inches thick. In the centre of this piece of wood was a catch in which to insert the hand while striking with the mallet. Persons who have heard these semantrons assure us that the noise they make when struck by this mallet is perfectly deafening. The sound emitted by the semantrons called hagiosidera (because made of iron) is generally very musi- cal, and consequently less grating on the ear than that produced by those made of wood. These hagiosidera are generally shaped like a crescent, and their sound differs little from that of a Chinese gong. They are much in use in the East. With the Syrians the semantron is held in the greatest veneration, for the reason that a tradition of long standing among them ascribes its invention to Noe, who, according to them, was thus addressed by Almighty God on the eve of the building of the ark : “ Make for yourself a bell of box- wood, which is not liable to corruption, three cubits long and one and a half wide, and also a mallet from the same wood. Strike this instrument three separate times every day : once in the morning to summon the hands to the ark, Ancient Substitute for Bells . 149 once at midday to call tliem to dinner, and once in tlie evening to invite them to rest.” The Syrians strike their semantrons when the Divine Office is going to begin and when it is time to summon the people to public prayer (Lamy, Be Fide Syrorum et Discip . in re Eucharistice). The peculiar symbolism attached to this “Holy Wood,” as the semantron is often denominated, is, to say the least, very significant and touching. The sound of the wood, for instance, recalls to mind the fact that it was the wood of the Garden of Eden which caused Adam to fall when he plucked its fruit contrary to the command of God ; now the same sound recalls another great event to mind — viz., the noise made in nailing to the wood of the cross the Saviour of the world who came to atone for Adam’s transgression. This idea is beautifully expressed in the “Preface of the Cross.” That the Nestorians use bells in their service we are in- formed by Smith and Dwight ( Researches in Armenia , ii. p. 261), who, though rather dangerous to follow on account of their narrow-minded bigotry, yet may be relied on when treating of subjects which do not excite their prejudices. They tell us that when the small bell is sounded the people cross themselves and bow their heads a minute or two in silent adoration. This is, very likely, at the Elevation. With the Armenians there is an almost incessant ringing of bells during Mass. These bells are for the most part en- trusted to the custody of deacons, who carry them attached to the circumference of circular plates held in the hand by long handles. Large bells suspended from the domes of their churches are also employed (ibid. ii. p. 101). The Abyssinians, or Ethiopians, ring large bells during the elevation of the Sacred Species. According to Goar ( Eucliol ., p. 560), bells were not used by the Oriental Church before the end of the ninth century, 150 Bells . when TTrso, Doge of Venice, sent twelve as a present to the Emperor Michael, who afterwards placed them in the cam- panile of the Church of Holy Wisdom at Constantinople (Bona, p. 259). At Mount Athos — called in the East the “ Holy Moun- tain,” from the vast number of its monasteries — bells are very much in vogue. The Monastery of St. Elias, on the island of Crete, has some of rare excellence ; and that they are held in general esteem by the Cretans themselves may be inferred from one. of their ancient ballads, a stanza of which runs thus (Neale, 216) : “ It was a Sunday morning, And the bells were chiming free To welcome in the Easter At Hagio Kostandi .” 2 The attachment of the Russians to bells is known the world over. Every church in the Kremlin 3 is loaded with them ; and they are of such enormous size that several men are required to ring one of them. The great tower of Ivan Veliki has as many as thirty-three, among which is the famous bell of Novgorod, whose sound used to call people together from very distant parts. This immense bell is, however, but a. hand-bell in comparison to the great monster bell of the world, known as “Ivan Veliki,” or Big John, of Moscow, for which no belfry could be built strong enough. It weighs 216 tons — that is, 432,000 pounds. It is yet on ex- hibition in the Kremlin, where for years past it has been 2 The words “Hagio Kostandi” refer to Constantinople — i.e., the Holy City of Constantine. 3 As there is nothing more contemptible than pedantry, we follow general custom in spelling this word as it Is spelled here, although we know it is properly spelled Kreml, which in Arabic means a fortified place. The Kremlin at Moscow is two miles in circumference, and contains a vast number of magnificent churches ; that of the Assumption is where the czars are always crowned. Bells silent in Holy Week . 151 serving as a chapel, the people entering through the large crack made in its side when in process of casting (Boma- noif, Rites and Customs of the Greco-Russian Church, p. 259 ; Porter’s Travels , p. 163 ; Encyclopedia Britannica, art. “ Bell ”). 4 HOW THE FAITHFUL WERE SUMMONED TO CHURCH DURING THE DAYS OF PERSECUTION. Some writers have asserted, but altogether gratuitously, that duriug the days of persecution the faithful were sum- moned to divine service by the sound of those boards called semantrons, of which we have been speaking ; but a moment’s reflection will convince us that this cannot be true, for it is well known that in those times of trouble the utmost care had to be taken in order that the gatherings of the faithful might be entirely private, lest the pagans, hearing of them, might make them a pretext for new persecution. It is false, then, to assert that any public signal was given for gathering together the Christians, but rather that they were assembled by some secret signs known among themselves, or carried from one quarter to another by specially-deputed persons. This is the view taken by Cardinal Bona (see Rer. Liturg., p. 259), by Baronius, and many other eminent writers. We have stated already that semantrons were used instead of bells in the early days, but by early days we meant not the days of persecution, but only those which followed closely upon the age of Constantine the Great. BELLS SILENT IN HOLY WEEK. As there is a mixture more or less of joy and solemnity in the ringing of bells, it has been customary from time imme- 4 The largest bells in the world in actual nse are : the second Moscow bell, which weighs 128 tons ; the Kaiserglocke of Cologne Cathedral, 25 tons ; the great bell of Pekin, 53 tons ; the bell of Notre Dame, 17 tons ; Big Ben of Westminster, 14 tons ; Tom of Lincoln, 5 tons. 152 Bells. morial to suspend their use during the last days of Holy Week, when the entire Church is in mourning for the Passion and death of our Divine Saviour. Hence it is that in many ancient documents this week is called the “ Still Week”; in others, the “Week of Suffering.” The bells are silent from the “ Gloria in excelsis ” in the Mass of Holy Thursday until the “ Gloria ” on Holy Saturday, when a joyful and solemn peal is rung in memory of the glorious resurrection of our Saviour. During the silence of the bells little wooden clappers are used after the manner of the ancient semantrons, and are rung at all those parts of the Mass, such as at the “ Sanctus,” Elevation, Communion, etc., at which the usual bell would be sounded. According to Pope Benedict XIV. (De Festis , No. 174), bells are silent this week for the mystic reason that they typify the preachers of the word of God, and all preaching was suspended from ou*r Lord’s apprehension until after he had risen from the dead. The apostles, too, when they saw his bitter torments, and the indignities he was subjected to by the Jews, stole away from him silently and left him alone. Durandus gives many more mystic reasons for the silence observed these three days ( Rationale , p. 512). The reader will do well to bear in mind that inasmuch as the divine offices of Holy Week have a greater antiquity than any others within the annual cycle, they bear the im- press yet of many early liturgical customs, all of which, as we have taken care to note elsewhere, the Church clings to with fond tenacity. CHAPTER XVI. BREAD USED FOR CONSECRATION, For the valid consecration of the Holy Eucharist bread made of wheat ( panis triticeus), and no other, must be em- ployed. According to the discipline of the Latin Church, this bread must be unleavened , must have nothing temper- ing or mixing it but water, and must be baked after the manner of ordinary bread, and not stewed, fried, or boiled. LEAVENED AND UNLEAVENED BREAD. No question has given rise to more warm dispute than that which touches the use of leavened or unleavened bread in the confection of the Holy Eucharist. Cardinal Bona tells us in his wonted modest way what a storm of indig- nation he brought down upon himself when he stated in his great work on the Mass and its ceremonies that the use of leavened and unleavened bread was common in the Latin Church until the beginning of the tenth century, when unleavened bread became obligatory on all. We shall not now go over the ground which the learned cardinal did to prove this assertion, but we shall simply say for the instruction of the reader that his opinion is embraced by almost all writers on sacred liturgy. That the use of un- leavened bread, or azymes, was never intermitted in the Latin Church from the very institution of the Blessed Eucharist itself all are willing to admit ; but it is very commonly held that when the Ebionite heretics taught 153 154 Bread used for Consecration . that the precepts of the ancient law were binding upon Christian people, and that, in consequence, the Eucharist could not be celebrated at all unless the bread our Lord used — viz., unleavened — were employed, the Church also sanc- tioned the use of leavened bread to confound this teaching, and that this remained in force until all traces of the Ebio- nites had died away. This statement has for its supporters several eminent theologians, among whom are Alexander of Hales, Duns Scotus, St. Bonaventure, and St. Thomas Aqui- nas (see Cardinal Bona, Rer. Liturg ,, lib. i. cap. xxiii. ; Kozma, 238 ; Neale, Holy Eastern Church , “ On the Con- troversy concerning the Azymes,” vol. ii.) In so far as the validity of the sacrament is concerned, both the Latin and Greek churches have always held that consecration takes place in either kind, and that the use of leavened or unleavened bread is altogether a matter of dis- cipline and not of dogma. The latter Church, too, acknow- ledges (at least the ancient Greek Church did), equally with the former, that our Lord used unleavened bread at the Last Supper, but that for very wise reasons the early Church thought well to introduce leavened bread, and that when itself (i.e., the Greek Church) adopted this custom it held on to it without change (Neale, ii. 1059, and 1073-34). It must not be concealed that the turbulent Michael Cerula- rius, Patriarch of Constantinople in 1043, in order to make the rupture between the two churches as great as possible, went so far as to assert that consecration in any other bread but leavened was invalid, and that hence the whole Latin Church was heretical because it used unleavened. But the Eastern theologians never adopted this teaching ; nor is it held to-day, although, with the exception of the Armenians and Maronites, all the Oriental churches follow the Greek discipline in the use of leavened bread. We have said that, according to the consent of both Devices used in Stamping the Bread, 155 churches, consecration is valid in either kind ; the disci- pline, however, of the Latin Church is so strict in the mat- ter of unleavened bread that, were a priest of her com- munion to consecrate in any other kind without a special dispensation, he would sin mortally. He could not even do so were it to fulfil the precept of hearing Mass on Sun- day or give the Holy Viaticum to the dying. The only case in which it is allowed is when, through some accident or other, the Sacred Host disappears immediately after conse- cration, and no other bread is at hand but leavened. The latter may then be used in order to the completion of the Sacrifice (De Herdt, ii. p. 167, No. 3). HOW THE BREADS ARE BARED. The breads for the use of the altar are baked between heated irons upon which are stamped some pious device, such as the Crucifixion, the Lamb of God, or a simple cross. The instrument used for this purpose somewhat resembles a large forceps in appearance. It has two long handles, and at its extremities are a pair of circular heads, one overlap- ping the other. After this instrument has been sufficiently heated in the fire a little lard or butter is rubbed over its surface to keep the paste from adhering. A thin coating of this paste is then spread over the surface of the under disc, and the upper one being allowed to rest on it a moment or two, it is taken out perfectly baked. The irons are then separated, and the bread is taken out and trimmed for use. DEVICES USED IR" STAMPING THE BREAD. At the present day there is no particular device pre- scribed to be impressed upon the altar-breads. Every church is allowed to abound in its own choice in this re- spect. In some places a representation of our Lord cruci- 156 Bread used for Consecration . lied is the impression; in others the “ Agnus Dei.” We have also seen breads upon which the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet were stamped, in allusion to our Lord’s saying in the Apocalypse, “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” The most gene- ral device, however, is, as we believe, the ancient and sacred monogram “IHS,” or, as it was formerly written, “IHC.” As to the precise interpretation of this “IHS” there lists been much dispute; some contending that it means (at least that its letters are the initials of) “ Jesus Hominum Salvator” — Jesus , the Saviour of Men — others that they are the initials of “ I Have Suffered.” Other in- terpretations are given of them which we do not deem ne- cessary to state. The truth, however, is that they are the three first letters of our Lord’s sacred name in Greek, viz., IH20T2, and that as such they were very commonly em- ployed as a sacred device on the Christian tombs during the days of persecution. They are yet to he seen inscribed in many places in the Roman catacombs (see Justorum Semita; or, The Holydays of the English Church, p. 335 ; Holy Name of Jesus; also, Dublin Review, vol. xliv., 1858, art. “Pri- macy of St. Peter”). The interpretation “Jesus, the Saviour of Men” first originated with St. Bernardine of Sienna, in 1443, and was brought about in this way : The saint, it seems, had oc- casion to reprove a certain man for selling cards with dan- gerous devices impressed upon them. The man tried to de- fend his cause by saying that he could not earn a living in any other manner, but that if Saint Bernardine offered a device instead of those he himself used, and assured him that he would not be a loser in adopting it, he would at once abandon those he had ; whereupon the saint re- commended the letters “IHS,” telling the man that they stood for “Jesus Hominum Salvator.” They were at once By ivhom the Breads are Made . 157 adopted, and their success was complete (see Gleanings for the Curious, by C. C. Bombaugh, A.M., pp. 98, 99). BY WHOM THE BREADS ARE MADE. Although it would he more proper that the breads for altar purposes should be made by the sacred ministers them- selves, yet, as the modern way of making and preparing them for use is open to no abuse, the duty is often entrusted to pious members of the congregation — for the most part to the Sisters who may be attached to any particular church. In ancient times it was considered a great honor to be allowed to make these breads, and we find some of the nobles of the land offering their services for this pious work. It is related of St. Wenceslaus, Duke of Bohemia (tenth century), that he used to sow the wheat in the field with his own hands, cut it down afterwards when ripe, winnow it himself, grind it into flour, and finally make it into bread for the use of the Holy Sacrifice (Martene, De Antiquis Eccl. Ritihus, f. 13 ; Lives of the Saints, Sept. 28). The same is related in the life of St. Radegunde, Queen of France, in the sixth century. In the good old days of Catholic England the synodical decrees relating to the making of the altar-bread were very strict, as the following will show : “ We also command that the ofletes 1 which in the Holy Mystery ye offer to God ye either bake yourselves or your servants before you, that ye may know that it is neatly and cleanly done ” (Dr. Rock, Church of Our Fathers, vol. i. p. 156, note). The Bishop of Lincoln (thirteenth century) thus addressed the clergy 1 This was the Anglo-Saxon name for the altar-bread. It was also called obley (evidently from the Latin oblata) and “ singing-bread.” Dr. Rock conjectures that the latter name must have been given it from the fact that it was used at nigh Mass ; but I venture to say that it was so named because during its preparation a constant singing of psalms and hymns was kept up, which, as wc shall see, is yet the practice in the 158 Bread used for Consecration . of his diocese : “ More care than ordinary must be taken to see that the ofletes be made of pure wheat. While the work of preparing them is going on the ministers of the church who make them ought to sit in a decent place and be dressed in surplices. The instrument for baking these ofletes ought to be anointed with wax only, not with oil or any greasy material ” (ibid.) SIZE OF THE ALTAR-BREAD. Up to the eleventh century the custom was almost gene- ral of communicating the people from particles of the large Host which the priest used ; hence this must have been of far greater proportions than it is now (Kozma, 239). When the custom of thus communicating the people ceased, small Hosts were introduced, which still bore the name of parti- cles, and the priest’s Host became smaller in size. FORM OF THE HOST. Erom time immemorial it has been customary to have the Host, or altar-bread, of a circular form. This can be traced as far back at least as the third century, for Pope Zephy- rinus, who died a.d. 217, calls the bread a “crown of a spherical figure ” — Corona sive oblata sphericoe figures (Benedict XIV., c. 5). Severus of Alexandria, styled the “ Christian Sallust,” who flourished in the fourth century, calls it simply the “ circle” (Martene, De Antiquis Ecclesm Ritibus, 14). According to Durandus, who is never at a loss for a mystical meaning, the bread is circular, in the shape of a coin, to remind us that the true Bread of Life, our Divine Redeemer, was sold by Judas for thirty pieces of silver (Rationale Bivinorum , p. 256). BREADS OF THE EASTERN CHURCH. It is very generally known that the entire Eastern Church, Ceremonies attending the Making of Altar-Bread. 159 with the sole exception of the Armenians and Maronites, uses leavened bread in the confection of the Holy Eucha- rist. Whether it has kept up this practice from the begin- ning or not we leave others to settle. Some are of opin- ion that it has, and others, for very weighty reasons, say that it has not ; hut the point is one of small consequence so long as all agree in admitting that consecration takes place, no matter which of the two kinds is used. According to Pococke ( Travels in Egypt), the Copts also use unleavened bread ; but this is certainly a mistake, for no author that we have seen makes such an assertion. If this were the case, Renaudot, who describes the Coptic cere- monies and customs most minutely, would certainly have made mention of it, or it would be referred to by Denzinger in his Ritus Orientalium. Brerewood, in that hodge-podge which he wrote, entitled Enquiries touching the Diversity of Languages and Reli- gions, London, 1674, says that the Abyssinians do the same — i.e., consecrate in unleavened bread. But as this author paid little or no attention to what he said, and took his in- formation, in most cases, second hand, little reliance is to be placed on any statement that he makes which does not square with what has been said by approved authorities. He sdys also that Tliecla Haimonout, an Abyssinian priest, stated that they celebrate ordinarily in leavened bread, but that they use unleavened on Holy Thursday (p. 203). This may have been done at one time, but it is not now. CEREMONIES ATTENDING THE MAKING OF TIIE ALTAR- BREAD IN THE EAST. The respect manifested by the Orientals even for the un- consecrated bread, to say nothing of the Holy Eucharist itself, is worthy of all admiration. And to begin with the Copts, of whom we have been speaking: So very particular 160 Bread used for Consecration . are they about the sacrificial bread that they deem it pro- fane to purchase the grain used in making it with any other money than that which has been set aside for church pur- poses. The wheat, too, when made into flour, must always be kept in the church, where is also the oven in which the breads are baked. During the process of making these breads a constant chanting of psalms is kept up by the clerics to whom the work is entrusted, and the whole thing is looked upon as a sacred duty (Pococke, Travels in Egypt). Their discipline requires that the bread be new , fresh, and pure ; in fact, according to their canons, that of yesterday’s making could not be used in saying Mass to-day, but newly- made bread must be offered — i.e., bread made the same morning that Mass is said. On no account must this be made by a female. A violation of this rule would subject the offender to excommunication. “ It is meet,” says one of their constitutionary laws, “ that the Eucharistic bread should be baked nowhere else but in the oven of the church. Let not a female knead it or bake it. He who acts con- trary to this, let him be anathema” (Renaudot, Liturg. Oriental. Coll., i. p. 172). The Syrian bread, called Xatha, is made of the finest and purest flour, and is tempered with water, oil of olives, salt, and leaven. They defend the use of oil in making it by saying that it is merely employed in order that the paste may not adhere to the hands. The entire operation is car- ried on within the church by a priest or deacon ; it is wholly forbidden to entrust its preparation to any one not in sa- cred orders (ibid. ; and Lamy, De Fide Syrorum et Discip. in re Eucharist ice). One of the Syrian canons on this head runs as follows: “Let the priest or deacon who prepares the bread of oblation take care to have the mould clean, and to have a vessel for the purpose of straining the water and oil ; he must be careful not to let it be handled by a Bread used by the Greek Church . 161 lay person. Besides this, he must have his loins girt, shoes on his feet, be turned towards the east, and have his face veiled with an amice. Psalms must accompany this minis- try” (Lamy, ibid.) The discipline of the Armenians also requires that the bread be made by the sacred ministers. Their bread is un- leavened, like ours. BREAD USED BY THE GREEK CHURCH. The bread used by the Greeks is round, like a large griddle-cake, and rising from its surface is a square pro- jection denominated the Holy Lamb, which, when cut off & Holt Lance. afterwards by the Holy Lance, becomes, properly speaking, the sacrificial Host. What remains of the loaf when the square projection has been taken away is divided into seve- ral small particles, which are arranged in groups and dedi- cated to the Blessed Virgin, the apostles, saints, and mar- tyrs, as well as the living and the dead (Goar, Eu- cliol. Grcec., p. 116 ; Prim- itive Liturgies, pp. 120 and 183, by Neale and Little- dale). The square projec- tion itself is divided into four equal portions after consecration. When cut- ■ ill 1 (f|!l 1 I"':, i'll IS | • \| il l 1 '-Vjv : isfll ill'll 1 il| III Host op the Greeks. ting off the Holy Lamb from the large loaf the Greek 162 Bread used for Consecration . priest says, as he inserts the lance in the right side of the seal (that is, the impression stamped upon the bread), “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter ”; when insert- ing it into the left, “And as a blameless lamb dumb before his shearers, he opened not his mouth.” Inserting it into the upper part, he says, “ In his humiliation his judgment was taken away”; into the lower, “And who shall declare his generation ? ” The deacon says at each incision, “Let us make our supplications to the Lord.” By the quadrangular form of the holy bread the Greeks intend to signify that Christ our Lord suffered for the four quarters of the globe (Martene, De Antiquis Eccl. Ritibus , f. 15). I INSCRIPTION'S IMPRESSED ON" THE HOLY BREAD. Considerable diversity exists in the East in relation to the devices employed in stamping the altar-bread. The Syrians use only a number of small crosses ; the Nestorians the same. The Coptic Host has upon one side, “A"yioS, AfyioS, A r 'yio? , KvpioS 'EapeGoS ” — that is, Holy , Holy , Holy, Lord of Hosts ; and upon the other, “A r 'yio$ Iaxvpoz” — Holy Strong One. The latter is part of the famous Trisagion which the Eastern Church employs in every day’s service, but which the Latin Church only re- peats once a year, in the Mass of Good Friday. This sacred hymn has a peculiar and interesting history attached to it. In the time of Theodosius the Younger, A.D. 446, Constan- tinople was threatened by so dreadful an earthquake that all believed the end of the world at hand. The wildest con- fusion reigned throughout the city as the first signs of this untoward calamity manifested themselves. Men, women, and children ran frantic through the streets, and the utmost consternation was depicted on every countenance. In this Inscriptions impressed on the Holy Bread . 163 dreadful juncture Theodosius addressed a petition to St. Proclus, archbishop of the imperial city, earnestly beseech- ing him to ask of Almighty God to avert the impending calamity. The saintly man acceded at once to the emperor’s wishes. He according- mm mm M jiil 00 ii lili mm 88 N Host of the Copts. ly formed a procession of all his clergy and people, and, with the attendance of all the members of the royal court, marched a little outside the city, and then knelt down with the entire multitude in solemn and earnest prayer. They had not been . kneeling long when, to the great astonishment of all, a child was seen in the clouds above them, moving from one place to another, and singing loud enough to be heard by the spectators. After the lapse of about an hour the child descended, singing, “ A r 'yio? I or cruet-table, to the main altar amid fumes of incense and a multitude of blazing torches. An army of deacons and acolytes accompanies the procession, and the people of the congregation as it passes along prostrate them- selves in silent adoration. It was this latter feature that formed the chief cause of complaint, and that led the cen- sors sent out by the Holy See to the Eastern regions to abolish this rite in the liturgies of the orthodox. The Orientals attempt a defence of their seemingly strange cus- tom by saying that no adoration whatever is here intended, but only what may be termed a sort of anticipatory reverence in view of what the elements will be changed into in course of the Holy Sacrifice — viz., the Body and Blood of Christ. This is the explanation given by Gabriel, Exarch of 8 Although the ceremony of expelling the catechumens has long since ceased in the East as well as in the West still these expressions are yet retained by the Orientals. Kyrie Eleison. &0i Philadelphia, in Lydia, Asia Minor (Neale, Holy Eastern Church , i. 3?5). KYKIE ELEISOH. When the priest has finished the Introit he proceeds to the centre of the altar, and there recites alternately with the server the “Kyrie eleison,” or Minor Litany, as it used to be called in the early days. When it is a Solemn High Mass this is recited at the book. “ Kyrie eleison,” and its accompanying “ Christe eleison,” are two Greek expressions meaning “ Lord have mercy on us,” “ Christ have mercy on us.” Including what is said by the priest of this solemn peti- tion for mercy, and what is said by the clerk or server, we have in all nine separate petitions, which liturgical writers interpret as follows : “ Kyrie eleison ” is said three times to God the Father for his manifold mercies ; “ Christe eleison ” is said three times to God the Son, the author of our redemp- tion ; and “Kyrie eleison ” is thrice repeated again to God the Holy Ghost, the sanctifier and consoler (Kozma, 168). There is a very ancient tradition, and, to say the least of it, a very beautiful one, to the effect that our Divine Lord, on the occasion of his glorious ascension into heaven, tarried one day with each of the nine choirs of angels before he reached the celestial throne, and that in memory of this the “ Kyrie ” is repeated nine times (Neale, Song of Songs , p. 86). This tradition, according to some of the early Fathers, furnishes a key to the interpretation of that passage in the Canticle of Canticles where the spouse is represented as “leaping upon the mountains” and “skipping over the hills” (chap. ii. 8). The mountains and hills, say they, are the grades of the angelic choir through which our Lord passed (ibid.) Some attribute the introduction of the “ Kyrie ” into the Mass to Pope Gregory the Great ; but this cannot be correct. m The Celebration of Mass. for that holy pontiff himself said that he only caused it to be recited by both priest and people, because in the Greek Church it was solely confined to the latter, and even then there was no mention whatever of the “Christe eleison.” Another very strong proof of the earlier introduction of it is that the Fathers of the second Council of Vaison, held in a.d. 529, speak of it as if well known throughout the whole Church ; and this was at least sixty years before Pope Gregory’s pontificate. We deem it well to quote the words of this council : “Let that beautiful custom of all the pro- vinces of the East and of Italy be kept up — viz., that of sing- ing with grand effect and compunction the ‘ Kyrie eleison ’ at Mass, Matins, and Vespers — because so sweet and pleas- ing a chant, even though continued day and night with- out interruption, could never produce disgust or weariness” (Summa Conciliorum , p. 89). In many churches the custom prevailed for some time of intermingling with the “Kyrie,” certain intercalary expres- sions touching the nature of the feast of the occasion. Thus, on feasts of the Blessed Virgin it would read after this manner : “0 Lord, thou lover of virginity, illustrious Fa- ther and Mary’s Creator, have mercy on us”; and so on with the rest of it (Romsee, p. 84). The Ambrosians, or those who follow the Milanese Rite, recite the “Kyrie” at three different periods of the Mass — viz., after the “Gloria in excelsis,” after the Gospel, and at the conclusion of divine service. Why said in Greek. — There are certain words and expres- sions so peculiarly adapted to the language in which they were first conceived that they lose all their force and beauty when translated into another. Of such a nature are the words “alleluia,” “hosanna,” and “Kyrie eleison.” But there is a deeper reason than this for retaining them in the Mass. Originally the Church was principally formed out of Kyrie Eleison. 203 three different nations — viz., the Latin, the Greek, and the Hebrew — and in order to testify that the belief of these three nations was one and the same, the Western or Latin Church thought it proper to preserve the memory of the fact by adopting phrases from each of them. From the Greek we have “Kyrie eleison, Chris te eleison,” and in the Impro- peria of Good Friday, “Agios Theos, Agios Ischuros, Agios Athanatos ” ; and from the Hebrew, “ amen,” “ alleluia,” “ hosanna,” “ Sabaoth,” “cherubim ” and “ seraphim,” and several others which occur now and then in the Epis- tles and Gospels. But liturgical writers give several other reasons for the retention of these languages in the Mass, foremost of which is that they have ever been looked upon as venerable and sacred, from the fact that the title of the cross was written in them ; and as the sacrifice of the Mass and that offered on the cross are one and the same, except that the former is offered in an unbloody manner, what could be more appropriate than to give these hallowed lan- guages a place in it ? The Greek has innumerable other claims to the place it holds. It was the vernacular of some, in fact wo might say of the vast majority, of the early heroes and defenders of the faith — of St. John Chrysostom, St. Gre- gory Nazianzen, St. Basil the Great, St. John Damascene, and hosts of others. It was in it that the very valuable and venerable translation of the Scriptures called the Sep- tuagint was made, from which our Lord and his blessed Apostles drew so largely in their addresses to the people (Dixon, Introduction to the Sacred Scrip., p. 98). One thing alone, to pass over all others, should entitle the Hebrew to a place in the Mass — viz., it was the language of Melchisedec, the prototype in the old law of our Divine Lord himself in relation to his sacred and eternal priesthood. It was also the vernacular of our Lord and his ever-blessed Mother, not to say of the majority of his disciples in the 204 The Celebration of Mass . new law. We do hot think it necessary to enter here into a full history of the ancient Hebrew and what it is so often known by — viz., the Syro-Clialdaic, or Syriac. Let it suffice to say that since the Babylonic captivity there has been no true Hebrew spoken by the Jews ; and that what goes by that name in the New Testament was an Aramean branch of the Semitic family of languages known as the Syriac. It can be proved, almost to a demonstration, that this was the language our Lord spoke. Oriental Usage regarding the “Kyrie eleison.” — The Li- turgy of St. James 4 * is the only Eastern Liturgy which enjoins the recital of the “Kyrie” on the priest. In all the others it is solely confined to the choir and peo- ple, who, however, on no occasion say “ Christe eleison,” as we do. The Liturgy of St. Chrysostom 4 prescribes the recital of the “ Kyrie ” after all the principal supplications. GLORIA IK EXCELSIS. After the recital of the “Kyrie” follows that of the “ Gloria in exeelsis,” or major doxology, during which the priest makes several reverences by bowing the head slightly at some of its principal clauses, and terminates it by making the sign of the cross upon his person. 4 The Liturgy of St. James lays claim to the first place among all the liturgies of the East. It is said to be the oldest in existence, having been committed to writing some- where about the beginning of the third century. Though now rarely used in its en- tirety, still it is the basis of all those liturgies used by the Maronites, Syrians, and Nestorians, and is the one accredited to the churches within the patriarchate of Jerusa- lem. It is used in some of the islands of the Archipelago on St. James’ day. 6 The Lit- urgy of St. Chrysostom, derived and abbreviated from that of St. Basil, as the latter is from that of St. James, has the largest circulation at present of any known Liturgy in the East. It is in general use wherever the Greek Rite, no matter what the language be, prevails. It is therefore the Liturgy of Russia and of the four patriarchates, Con- stantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, as well as of the kingdom of Greece. On those occasions upon which it is not employed — viz., on the Sundays of Lent, ex- cept Palm Sunday, and Holy Thursday, Holy Saturday, and the vigils of Christmas and the Epiphany— the Liturgy of St. Basil supplies its place. Gloria in Excelsis . 205 Regarding the authorship of the opening words of this sublime anthem no doubts can be entertained, for the Evangelists record them as having been sung by the Heavenly Host over Bethlehem on Christmas morning. Much dispute, however, has arisen regarding the remain- der ; some attributing them to one author, others to an- other. A very widely circulated opinion accredits it to St. Hilary, Bishop of Poictiers, in Erance, a.d. 353. Whoever be its author, this much is certain : that it existed word for word as it stands now before the Coun- cil of Nicaea, held in a.d. 325 (Kozma, p. 170; Bona). Bather, then, than ascribe it to any one in particular, in the absence of substantial proof, it is better to say, with the Fathers of the fourth Council of Toledo, in Spain, held a.d. 633, that the remainder was composed by doctors of the Church, whoever these were (Merati, Thesaur. Sacr. Rit.j p. 72). So careful was the ancient Church of securing for this sacred anthem all the veneration that was due to it that she restricted its recital to very grand occasions, and even then confined it solely to bishops. But it was not at its introduction confined exclusively to the Mass, for we find it prescribed for the Morning Service, or Matins, of the Divine Office (Romsee, iv. 90). The precise date of its introduction into the Mass, or who introduced it, is not easy to settle. Those who ascribe its introduction to Pope Telesphorus are evidently incorrect in so doing, for it is. now very well ascertained that he only caused to be said the initial sentence, or the part chanted by the angels, and had nothing to do with the rest of it (Bona, p. 317). Until the entire hymn was composed, the first part of it, or the angelic words, used to be sung — not, however, in every Mass, but only in the Midnight Mass of Christmas, as tbo above-named pontiff decreed (ibid.) According to Pope 206 The Celebration of Mass . Innocent III. ( Be Sacr. Altaris Mysterio, cap. xx. p. 113), it was Pope Symmaclius (498-514) who extended it in its present form to every Sunday in the year and to the feasts of all the holy martyrs. Some maintain that the decree regulating this discipline was to be viewed as a general one, and that hence it included priests as well as bishops ; oth- ers hold that it affected the latter only. Whether it did or did not, this much is certain : that when Pope Gregory the Great attained to the pontificate (590-604) no priest was accustomed to say it in any Mass, unless in that of Easter Sunday ; and bishops were not allowed to recite it except on Sundays and festivals. From a very ancient Eoman directory yet preserved in the Vatican Library we derive the following information in point : 44 Bicitur 4 Glo- ria in excelsis Deo,’ si epi scopus fuerit, tantummodo die Dominico, sive diebus festis. A presbyteris autem minime dicitur nisi in solo Pascha ” (Bona, p. 317) — that is, 44 If the bishop celebrates, the 4 Gloria in excelsis ’ is said only on Sundays and festivals. On no account must it be said by priests, unless on Easter Sunday alone.” This same re- striction was approved of and enjoined by Pope Gregory, who also caused it to be inserted in a conspicuous place in the missal made out under his supervision ; and in this way did it continue, according to Cardinal Bona, until about the middle of the eleventh century, when the restriction was taken away and the privilege of reciting it extended to priests and bishops alike in every Mass that admitted of it. According to Martene and others, this hymn used to be chanted in early times at Rome on Christmas morning, in Greek first and then in Latin. The same custom prevailed also among the clergy of Tours, where it was said in Greek at the first Mass, and at the second in Latin ( Enchiridion de Sacr. Mis see ex op ere Ben. XIV., p. 31). Gloria in Excelsis . 207 When the “ Gloria in excelsis” may be said. — As the An- gelic Hymn is one of joy and festivity, its recital is forbid- den to all during seasons of penance and mourning. Hence it is not heard during Lent or in Masses for the dead. Du- randus tells us, with no small amount of holy indignation, that in times gone by the bishop of Bethlehem arrogated to himself the right of reciting it on every occasion, no matter whether it was a joyful or a sorrowful one, and this for the reason that an exception should be made in case of the city where the sacred anthem had first been heard ( Rationale Divinorum , p. 172). The present rule regarding its recital is that which was laid down by Pope Pius V. — viz., that whenever the “ Te Deum” is recited in the Divine Office this hymn is said in the Mass. This, however, admits of a few exceptions ; hut as we are not writing a ceremonial, we do not think it our duty to name what they are, and we wish our readers to hear this in mind in similar cases. How the Dominicans, Carthusians, and Others recite it. — The Carthusians and Dominicans, as their ceremonials direct, go to the centre of the altar, as we do, to recite this hymn, hut after they have said its initial words they return and finish the remainder at the missal. This custom pre- vailed also in the Mass according to the Sarum Rite ( Church of Our Fathers , iii. 148). Practice of the Oriental Church. — Singularly enough, the Nestorians are the only Christians of the East who recite this hymn in the Mass (Neale, Holy Eastern Church , i. 471). The Greek Church recites it frequently in the Divine Office, hut never in the Liturgy or Mass. It appears, to he sure, in the Liturgy of St. James, hut not the entire hymn, only the angelic part, or that which used to he said at first in the Latin Church. And this cannot hut he a strong argu- ment against those who would have the authorship of it accredited to Pope Telespliorus, who died in a.d. 154 ; for 208 The Celebration of Mass . undoubtedly, if it existed in its entirety then as now, it would be so adopted in that Liturgy, which, in the opinion of the ablest critics, was not edited earlier than the year 200. DOMIXUS VOBISCUM. At the conclusion of the “ Gloria in excelsis ” the priest stoops down and kisses the altar; then, having turned to the people, salutes them with “ Dominus vobiscum” — “ The Lord be with you” — words evidently taken from the Old Testament, where we see them employed on various occasions (see Ruth ii. 4 ; 2 Paral. xvi. et passim). The Jews were very particular in having the name of God in all their salu- tations, or at least an allusion to some one of God’s good gifts. Their other salutations used to be : 1, The blessing of Jehovah upon thee ; 2, May God be with thee ; 3, Be thou blessed of Jehovah ; 4, Peace be to thee. It was this last form that the Angel Gabriel used when he announced to our Blessed Lady that she was to be the favored Mother of the “ Long-expected of nations,” our Saviour and Re- deemer. What in English is rendered by “ Hail to thee ” is in Syriac — the vernacular of the Blessed Virgin at that time, and evidently the language in which the angel addressed her — ua! Siam lek — “ Peace to thee.” PAX VOBIS. We have seen that the recital of the “ Gloria in excelsis ” was at its introduction into the Mass solely confined to bish- ops, and continued to be peculiar to them for many centu- ries afterwards. Now, inasmuch as peace — i.e., the peace of God, which, as the apostle saith,“ surpasseth all understand- ing ” — is the most prominent feature set forth in this sacred anthem ; and as our Divine Lord always made use of the word in his salutations to his disciples after his resurrec- Pax Vobis, 209 tion, it was deemed appropriate to deviate from the usual “Dominus vobiscum” after the recital of this hymn, and say in its stead, ’“ Pax vobis ”— “ Peace be to you.” To keep up an old custom, and to establish a slight difference be- tween a bishop’s manner of saying Mass and that of a priest, the former was allowed to retain the use of “Pax vobis” after the privilege of reciting the “Gloria” had been extended to the latter (Bona, p. 318 ; Le Brun, i. 205). But it is only at the end of this anthem that the bishop salutes with “Pax vobis”; upon every other occasion he says “Dominus vobiscum” like an ordinary priest. Some Spanish bishops, it is true, arrogated to themselves the right of saying it upon every occasion, but we see how severely they were reprehended for so doing by the first Council of Braga, in a.d. 561 (Bona, ibid. ) Oriental Customs. — The Greeks never use the salutation “ Dominus vobiscum,” but always say in its stead “ Eiprjyrj naGiv ,” eirene pasin — that is, “Peace to all” ; to which is responded, “Kart tco nvev^iari gov,” Kai to pneumati sou — “And to thy spirit.” The same forms are observed in all the other churches of the East, with very little difference. At several parts of the Mass it is customary with the Nes- torian priests to make the sign of the cross upon themselves when using this salutation, which is generally, “ Peace be with you all.” Their deacons, for the most part, say, “Peace be with us” (Badger, Nestorians and tlieir Rituals , ii. 237 et passim). After having said the “ Dominus vobiscum,” the priest returns to the Epistle corner of the altar, and there, extend- ing his hands in the manner of a suppliant, reads from the missal before him the prayers proper to the occasion. Ashe is about to rend the first he invites all to unite with him in the sacred act byreciting aloud “Oremus” — “Let us pray.” In former times it was customary to turn entirely around to 210 The Celebration of Mass . tlie congregation after this invitation had been pronounced, and explain to them the precise nature of the prayer that followed, a vestige of which is still retained in the long series of prayers recited in the Mass of Good Friday, where we see a particular object prefixed to each. Another custom, too, that obtained in ancient times was for the people to enter into a sort of silent prayer after they had heard “ Oremus,” and remain in this quiet meditation until the general prayer was announced. This general prayer was denominated “ iniKXrfGis” epiklesis , by the Greeks, from eni, upon, and MaXeao, I call — that is, an invocation — but in Latin it received the name of collectus , or collect, from the verb colligere, to gather together ; because the common wants of the whole people were, as it were, brought together in it and laid before Almighty God. These pray- ers go by the name of collects even to-day (Bona, p. 319 ; Selvaggio, Inst . Christian Antiq ., i. p. 1). MANXEK OF RECITIHG THE PRAYERS. The priest recites all the prayers with outstretched and ex- tended hands. This practice is not new, for we find that it was observed also in the old law. Moses thus prayed in the wilderness, and the Holy Scripture tells us that as long as he kept his hands thus uplifted on high while his kinsmen fought against the Amalekites in the valley of Raphidim, the former were always victorious, but that when he let them down a little, victory fell to the latter ( Exod . xvii. ) Many touching allusions are made to this extending of hands in prayer throughout the Old Testament ; and we see it also strongly recommended in the New, for St. Paul says, “ I will that men pray lifting up pure hands ” (1 Tim. ii. 8). And that this holy and venerable attitude was observed by the ancient Christians in their devotions, innumerable testimonies prove. The Catacombs bear witness of the fact in the pictures they Manner of reciting the Prayer's . 211 furnish us of men and women praying in this way. But it is only the priest at Mass who observes this practice now. The people pray that way no longer, but rather with hands united. Dr. Rock tells us in his Hierurgia (p. 61) that while travelling in Europe he noticed the people in many of the churches of Munich praying after the ancient manner. In the mystic interpretation of this posture there is reference, first, to Adam’s uplifting of his hand in reach- ing for the forbidden fruit ; and, secondly, to the lifting up and outstretching of our Divine Lord’s hands on the cross, by which Adam’s transgression was atoned for (Bona, p. 322). Praying with the hands fully extended in the form of a cross is yet observed at certain parts of the Mass by the Carthusians, Carmelites, and Dominicans, as w*e see from their ceremonials. The reader, no doubt, will be curious to know something more about the manner in which the ancient Christians assisted at Mass than what we have given. As a general rule the ancient churches had no seats for the people to sit on, as that position was deemed ill in keeping with the gravity becoming the house of God. As the services, how- ever, in the very early days were much longer than at pre- sent, those who, througli feebleness of health or other cau- ses, could not stand, were allowed the use of staves to lean upon, and in some rare cases even of cushions to sit upon, a practice which is yet quite common in the churches of Spain, and in many of those of the rest of Europe. It was the rule to stand always on Sunday, in memory of our Lord’s glorious resurrection, and to kneel the rest of the week (Selvaggio, b. 10). As kneeling is a sign of humiliation, it was the rule to observe it during the penitential seasons and on all occasions of mourning. According to St. Jerome, St. Basil the Great, Tertullian, and others, these rules were de- rived from the Apostles themselves ; but because some would 212 The Celebration of Mass . sit when they ought to stand, and some stand when they ought to kneel, the Sacrosanct Council of Nicaea, in or- der to establish uniformity, thus decreed in its twentieth canon : “In order that all things may be done alike in every parish, it has seemed good to this Holy Synod [to decree] that the people pour out their prayers standing ” ( Summa Conciliorum , p. 35 ; Selvaggio, 8). Of course this rule did not affect the Public Penitents, who were obliged to remain kneeling during the entire time that they were permitted to be present in the house of God. The fourth Council of Carthage strictly forbade them ever to change this posture. Whenever any important prayer or lesson was to be read, and the people had been kneeling beforehand, the deacon invited them now to stand by the words, “Erecti stemus honeste ” — that is, “ Let us become erect and stand in a be- coming manner.” During the penitential season the con- gregation were invited to kneel by saying, “ Flectamus genua,” and to stand up afterwards by “Levate.” The same custom may yet be observed in Lent and on some other occasions. The Catholic reader need not, of course, be told that during the actual celebration of Mass the priest is always standing. At Solemn High Mass he and his min- isters are allowed to sit down while the choir are chanting the “Kyrie eleison,” “Gloria in excelsis,” and “Credo,” but never at any other part of the service. Two singular instances of saying Holy Mass in a sitting posture are upon record. Pope Benedict XIV. did so in his declining years, when through great feebleness of health he could neither stand nor kneel, and the same is recorded of the saintly and ever-memorable pontiff, Pope Pius VII. Praying towards the East. — The custom prevailed very generally with the Christians of early days of turning to the east in prayer, whether at Mass or out of Mass, and the ma- jority of ancient churches were built with a view to favor Number of Collects said in the Mass . 213 this custom. The reasons given for this practice are the following: First, because the east is symbolic of our Lord, who is styled in Scripture the “ Orient from on high,” the “ Light,” and the “ Sun of Justice.” Secondly, the Garden of Eden was situated in that region, and thence did the Magi come to lay their gifts at the crib of our Lord on Christmas morning. Thirdly, according to St. John Da- mascene, when our Lord hung on the cross his back was turned to the east and his face to the west ; we therefore pray to the east that we may, as it were, be looking in his face. Fourthly, the ancients prayed in this direction, in order not to resemble the pagans, who moved in every direc- tion — now praying towards the sun at mid-day, now towards the moon, and again towards the stars ; the Saracens prayed towards the south, the Jews towards Jerusalem, and the Mahometans towards Mecca. Fifthly, it has always been looked upon as an established thing that at the last day our Lord, with his effulgent cross sparkling in the heavens, will come to judge mankind from the eastern quarter (see Bona, Divina Psalmodia , p. 441 ; Kiddle’s Christian Antiquities , p. 795). NUMBER OF COLLECTS SAID IN THE MASS. On occasions of great solemnity the general rule pre- scribes but one Collect, but on ordinary occasions three is the number. It is forbidden to say more than seven at any time, and this number is rarely reached unless when some special commemorations are made. According to liturgical commentators, one prayer mystically represents the unity of our faitli ; three are said in honor of the Blessed Trinity, and in memory of our Lord’s praying thrice in the Garden of Olives ; five commemorate his five wounds; and by seven we are reminded of the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost (Bouvry, ii. 128 ; Durandus, Rationale Divin ., p. 181). 214 The Celebration of Mass . Whatever be the number of the Collects, none others may be said unless those given in the missal. As far back as the year 416 laws were made by the Council of Milevi, in Africa, forbidding under severe censures the introduction of any prayers into the Mass unless those approved of by legitimate authority. This discipline is yet strictly observed. Prayers of the Oriental Church. — The prayers used by the Orientals are much more numerous than ours, as may be readily seen from any one of their liturgies. In length, too, they far exceed those that we employ, for which reason alone the service of Mass in the East occupies nearly twice the time that ours does. The Copts generally add prayers for the favorable flow of the Nile, which is to them one of the chief sources of temporal blessings, for the entire vegetation and fecundity of Egypt depends upon its inundations. 5 The “ Oratio fluminis,” or Prayer of the River, is thus worded : “ Remember, 0 Lord ! the waters of the river, and bless and increase them according to their measure.” AMEN. At the conclusion of the prayers the server answers “Amen,” a Hebrew word meaning “may it be so.” The custom of thus answering amen at the end of the prayers is evidently derived from the old law, for we find it in nearly every book of the Old Testament, and it is also very common in the New. According to Cardinal Bona (Divina Psalm o- dia, p. 532), it is one of those words which the translators of the Bible left untouched, lest by rendering it in any other 6 There is an instrument for measuring the rise of the Nile in the isle of Rhoda, called the nilometer, hat by the Arabs Dir-d-Mekias — place of measure. According to Kalkasendas, if the river rose but twelve pikes there would be a famine ; fourteen pikes caused a year of plenty ; sixteen gave abundance for two years ; and when it reached seventeen it had attained its full limit. Great fears were always entertained of its going beyond this boundary, for a serious inundation would be the result ; and hence the earnestness with which the Copts prayed for a due disposition of these waters (cfr. Pococke’s Travels in Egypt). The Epistle, 215 language but its native Hebrew its power and beauty might be lost. THE EPISTLE. The reading of the Epistle immediately follows the last Collect. To this end, instead of keeping his hands spread out as heretofore, the priest now rests them on the missal- stand, while he reads the Epistle in an audible tone. Nor is this change in the position of the hands without a mystic meaning. By it the priest is made aware of the obligation he is under of not only reading the law, but also of doing what it prescribes, the hands being indicative of labor (Romsee, jv. 101). The particular part of Scripture from which the Epistle is taken, as well as the Apostle’s name to whom it is ac- credited, both of which form the title, are first read before the text itself ; thus, for example, “ the reading of the Epistle of blessed Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians,” “to the Hebrews,” “to the Romans,” etc., as the case may be. If the lesson to be read be taken from any one of the three books, viz., Proverbs, the Canticle of Can- ticles, or Ecclesiasticus, its title is always, “ the reading of the Book of Wisdom,” without any further specification, for the reason that these three books were always denominated the “Sapiential Writings” by the ancient Fathers (De Herdt, Sacr, Liturg ., ii. No. 63). The ancient Hebrews — and the practice is yet kept up by the modern Jews — always began the reading of the Law with the forty-fourth verse of the fourth chapter of Deuteron- omy, viz., “this is the law that Moses set before the chil- dren of Israel” (Burder, Relig. Cerm. and Customs , p. 39). Before the Epistles were in circulation, the custom of read- ing portions of the Old Testament was always observed in the early Church, as can be proved by numberless testimo- 216 The Celebration of Mass . nies. The Acts of the Apostles refer frequently to this practice. But as soon as the Epistles were written the cus- tom of reading the Old Testament gradually died away, and gave place to the custom which is now in vogue. St. Paul strictly ordained that his Epistles should be read in all the churches under his charge. In his Epistle to the Colos- sians, chapter iv., he writes thus: “ And when this Epistle shall have been read with you, cause that it he read also in the Church of the Laodiceans.” And at the end of his first Epistle to the Thessalonians he thus expresses himself : “ I charge you by the Lord that this Epistle be read to all the holy brethren.” St. Justin Martyr (second century) informs us that this practice was general in his time (Apol., 2) ; and Tertullian refers to it also (Apol., c. 39). In many of the churches of early days it was custom- ary to read first a lesson from the Old Testament, and then an Epistle from the New, in order to show that both the one and the other are entitled to much respect ; and that although the new law is much more perfect than the old, still the moral teaching of the latter remains yet in all its vigor. This custom is yet kept up in the Mozarabic and Ambrosian rites ; and the Carthusians and Domini- cans observe it on Christmas day and its vigil. A vestige of the practice may be seen in our own missal, also, in the Masses of the Quarter Tenses — with this difference, how- ever : that instead of one lesson several are read, in order to show the aspirant for the holy ministry the necessity he is under of becoming thoroughly conversant with the law and the prophets, as well as with what the New Testament contains ; for it was during these days that orders were conferred in ancient times, and even according to the pre- sent discipline of the Church they are yet set apart for this purpose in the majority of places in Europe (Gavantus, Thesaur . Sacr. Bit,, p. 338). The Council of Laodicea, The Epistle. 217 held in the fourth century, and the third Council of Car- thage forbade the reading of anything in the Mass which was not taken from Holy Scripture. An exception, how- ever, seems to have been made in some cases, for we see that the letters of the Supreme Pontiffs and the Acts of the Martyrs, also the letters of the bishop of the diocese, used to be read yery frequently (Martene, De Antiquis Eccl. Ritibus). With the ancient Hebrews, the Pentateuch, or Sepher Tor a, 6 as they called it, was held in such high estimation that they made it a practice to read as much of it on every Sabbath as would enable them to finish it in the course of a year. For which reason they divided the entire five books into portions called parshizoth , fifty-three or fifty-four in number, corresponding with the entire number of ser- vice days, and read one at every service. The Jews of to- day keep up this custom (Bannister, Temples of the He- brews, p. 351). It is universally admitted, we believe, that the series and order of the Epistles read to-day in the Mass were drawn up by St. Jerome at the request of the Sovereign Pontiff Pope Damasus (Cardinal Bona, Rer. Liturg ., p. 324). They were first inserted in a book by themselves, called by St. Jerome the Companion, but when plenary missals came into use the Companion was superseded by them, and in this way it lost its individuality. At High Mass the Epistle is chanted by the subdeacon in a loud tone of voice, with only one modulation at the con- 6 We deem it well to inform the reader at this place that the Hebrews made three great divisions of the entire Bible, which they denominated respectively Sepher Torn, or the Book of the Law— i.e., the Pentateuch ; Nebiim, or the Book of the Prophets ; and Ketobiim, or the Sacred Writings. This last division was what the ancient Fa- thers called Ilagiographa. The reading of the Sepher Tora began at Nisan, the first month of the Jewish ecclesiastical year, and continued up to the end of Adar, the h t month. Much display attended this reading. 218 The Celebration of Mass . elusion. It is chanted facing the altar and not the congre- gation, as is the case when the Gospel is chanted, because the latter, being the words of our Lord, is entitled to more respect, and, besides, it is principally designed for the in- struction of the people. The custom of sitting down during the reading of the Epistle is very ancient, being evidently derived from the synagogue and early Christians (Romsee, iv. p. 103). According to Durandus, the Epistle is read before the Gospel on account of its symbolizing the mission of St. John the Baptist, who was the precursor of our Lord (. Rationale , p. 183). Deo Gratias. — At the conclusion of the Epistle the server answers, “ Deo gratias ” — “ Thanks be to God” — as an evi- dence of the gratitude we owe to our Creator for the spiri- tual nourishment of his sacred words. According to the Mozarabic Rite, this response is made as soon as the title of the Epistle is announced. In ancient times the expression “ Deo gratias ” was in very common use among the faithful. It was, in fact, one of their principal forms of salutation whenever they met, as we learn from St. Augustine, who also tells us that the impious Donatists endeavored to turn it into ridicule. When the proconsul Galerius Maximus read out the decree, “ Thasius Cyprianus shall die by the sword,” the saintly bishop received the -sentence by exclaiming, “ Deo gratias ! ” Epistle in the Eastern Church. — The practice of reading the Epistle in the Mass is also observed by all the Oriental churches, as their liturgies show us. The Copts at this place read five different portions of the Sacred Writings, each of which, in accordance with Oriental usage, they de- nominate the Apostle. These five portions are taken respec- tively from the Epistles of St. Paul, the Catholic Epistles, the Acts of the Apostles, the Psalter, and the Evangels The Epistle. 219 (Renaudot, Liturg. Orient ., i. 186). Their canons are so strict in this matter that, were a priest to omit any of these designedly, he would subject himself to excommunication ; and as the ancient Coptic, or that in which their service is carried on, is entirely unknown among the people, after the Epistle has been read in that tongue, it is again read in Arabic, the language of the day in those parts. All through the East the Apostle — as they call the Epistle — is listened to and read with a very great amount of respect. The Ambo. — Whenever there was Solemn High Mass, which was the case nearly always in the early Church, the Epistle used to be chanted, not in the sanctuary as now, but from an elevated lectern or pulpit known as the Ambo, from the Greek avafaivoo — anabaino, I ascend — placed generally in the nave of the church. In some places there were as many as three appurtenances of this kind : one for the read- ing of the Epistle, another for the reading of the Gospel, and the third for the Prophecies. Specimens of these may yet be seen in that ancient church at Rome known as St. Clement’s. Though many churches possessed two of these amboes, one set apart for the chanting of the Epistle, the other for the chanting of the Gospel, still the general rule was to make one ambo serve for both these purposes ; and we find but one employed in the great church of Holy Wisdom at Constantinople, which all regarded as the most perfect temple of worship then in existence. Material of which the Amboes were made . — The material as well as the workmanship of the amboes varied, of course, according to the means of the chijrch. Some were plain and made wholly of wood, while others were formed of the costliest materials. That in the Church of Holy Wisdom was constructed of pure alabaster, and enriched with columns of silver and gold sparkling with gems (Neale, Holy Eastern Church, i. 203). The celebrated 220 The Celebration of Mass . ambo of the ancient Cathedral of Durham, in England, was made of solid brass, and so beautifully finished was it that persons came from afar to see it. It is described in the Ancient Moyiuments of Durham as having a gilt peli- can, feeding its young with blood from its breast. These annals describe it as the “goodlyest letteron of brass that was in all the countrye ” ( Church of Our Fathers , vol. iii. 191). (The reference in the figure of the pelican is to a vision had by St. Gertrude, where our Divine Lord ap- peared to her in the form of this bird with his Precious Blood flowing from his Sacred Heart for the nourishment of mankind. The pelican is said to open its breast with its bill when all other means of feeding its young fail, and keep them from utter starvation by administering its life-blood for their food.) Many of the ancient amboes had curious figures engraved and constructed upon them. In some the Archangel St. Michael with the last trumpet could be seen ; in others a huge eagle with its eyes turned aloft, to signify the sublimity of the Word of God. This was generally the device used in the Gospel ambo. But the ambo w r as not exclusively used for the Epistle and Gospel. Sermons were preached from it sometimes, and in the churches of Egypt it was thence that the an- nouncement regarding the time of Easter and the other movable feasts was made. The ambo was also the place where the diptychs w r ere read ; and at Constantinople it was there that the emperors were generally crowned (Neale, Holy Eastern Church , i. 205). Although these ancient appurtenances have long been discontinued, traces of them may yet be seen in some of the European churches, particularly in those of Rome. At Lyons, too, not only are amboes seen, but the old custom of chanting the Epistle and Gospel from them is still strictly observed, The Gradual . 221 THE GRADUAL* After the Epistle comes the Gradual, so called not, as some suppose, from the steps of the altar — for it was never read from these — but rather from the steps of the ambo, which was the place always assigned it. The Roman Ordo is very explicit on this point. “ After the lesson has been finished,” it says, “let those who are going to sing the Gradual and Alleluia stand on the lower step by the pul- pit” (i.e., the ambo). The remarks of Cassander regarding this are to the same effect. “ The responsory,” says he, “which is said at Mass is called, in contradistinction to the others, the Gradual, because this is sung on the steps, the others wherever the clergy please” (Bona, p. 325). It is called a responsory from the fact that it is a kind of reply to the Epistle, after which it is sung to stir up the hearts of the people to the salutary truths the latter con- tains (Kozma, p. 178). The principal literal reason for introducing singing at this place was to keep the attention of the people from flagging in the interval that elapsed while the procession for the chanting of the Gospel was forming {ibid., and Romsee, iv. 105). The Gradual is made up of two verses taken from the Psalms or some other part of Holy Scripture, followed by an Alleluia repeated twice, to which is added another verse with one Alleluia at the end of it. Alleluia. — Alleluia is a Hebrew word translated generally by “praise the Lord.” Its precise derivation is “allelu,” to praise with jubilation, and “ Jah,” one of the names of the Almighty. This sacred word was held in so much es- teem by the early Christians that it was only pronounced on very solemn occasions. St. Jerome tells us in his twenty- seventh Epistle that in a convent founded at Jerusalem by the pious St. Paula it used to be the signal for assem- The Celebration of Mass. 222 bling all the nuns to their exercises of devotion. To this end it used to be chanted along the corridors several times in a loud tone of voice. 7 St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109, held a strange opinion regarding the origin of this Avord. According to him, it belonged to no language upon earth, and could not be properly rendered into any one, but was altogether angelic in its formation. Cardinal Bona, wondering at this strange deception, humorously Avrites (Divina Psalmodia, p. 511) : “ Omnis homo aliquid hu- manum patitur, et quandoque bonus dormitat Homer us that is, “ Every man has a little of the frailty of human nature in him ; even the good Homer sometimes nods.” During the penitential seasons and on occasions of mourning Alleluia is not said, according to the Roman Rite, but in the Mozarabic it is ahvays said even in Masses for the dead ; and this is the rule, too, in the Greek Church. The Tract. — When the Alleluia is not said, what is known as the Tract is added to the Gradual in its place. This Tract, which is made up of three or four verses taken from the Psalms — though sometimes the entire psalm is recited, as on Palm Sunday and Good Friday— derives its name from the Latin tr alter e, to draAV, agreeably to which liturgical writers inform us that in ancient times it used to be drawn out in a sIoav, measured tone without any interruption wliat- eA r er on the part of the choir (Romsee, iv. 105; Durandus, Rationale , book iv. chap, xxi.) 7 According to St. Jerome, Almighty God was known to the ancient Hebrews under ten different names, viz. : “El”or“Al,” the Strong One • “Eloah,” the Adorable ,* “ Adonai” (plural of Adon), the Great Lord • “ Tsabaoth,” God of Hosts ,* “ Jah,” the Ever-Living ; “ Nghelion,” the Most High ; “Elohim,” Gods (plural form— suggestive, as some maintain, of the Blessed Trinity) ; “ Havah,” lie who is ; “ Shaddai,” the AU Mighty ; and “ Jehovah,” or He who is, was, and will be. This last name the Jews would never pronounce, out of the great respect they had for it, but would always use Adonai in its stead. Sequences . m SEQUENCES. On particular occasions of the year there are added imme- diately after the Gradual certain rhythmical pieces of com- position called by the several names of Proses , Jubilations , and Sequences . They are denominated Proses because, though written like verse, yet they are destitute of the quali- fications that are looked for in regular metrical composi- tions, for they are formed more with a view to accent than quantity — a very striking characteristic of the poetry of the early ages of the Christian Church. The name Jubilations was given them from their having been for the most part employed on occasions of great solemnity and rejoicing ; and that of Sequences, or Sequels, from their following the Alleluia (Bona, p. 326). Formerly it was customary to pro- long the singing after the last note of the Alleluia for quite a considerable time, without using any words what- ever, but merely the notes themselves. This was what re- ceived the name of the Pneuma, or breathing ; and, strictly speaking, it was the origin of what we now call Jubila- tions or Sequences (ibid.) For a considerable time every Sunday in the year, except those of the penitential season, had a Sequence of its own, as may be seen from any ancient missal, and the rite ob- served at Lyons keeps up this custom yet. But as a great deal of abuse crept in on account of having to use such a multiplicity of Sequences, and as many were carelessly written, the Church thought it well to subject the en- tire number to a rigid examination, and retain only those which were remarkable for their rare excellence. The principal step in this matter was first taken by the Coun- cil of Cologne, held in a.d. 1536, and its measures were seconded by that of Rheims in 1564 ; so that of the entire number which obtained in the Church up to these dates five only were deemed worthy of a place in the Mass, viz.: 1, The Celebration of Mass. m the “ Victimae Paschali,” proper to Easter; 2, the “Veni Sancte Spiritus,” proper to Pentecost ; 3, the “ Lauda Sion,” proper to Corpus Christi ; 4, the “ Stabat Mater,” proper to the Eeast of the Seven Dolors of B.Y.M. ; 5, the “ Dies Irse,” proper to Masses for the dead. In addition to these it may be well to add that which the Eriars Minor were allowed to retain on the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, the first lines of which begin thus (Gavantus, p. 355) : “Lauda, Sion, Saivatoris Jesu Nomen et Amoris.’' Authors of the Sequences. — Much variety of opinion exists regarding the authors of these Sequences, but, as we are un- able to settle the question, we shall simply name those to whom they have been attributed from time to time. The first, or the “ Victimce Paschali,” is, we believe, by the vast majority of critics accredited to a monk, Notker by name, of the celebrated monastery of St. Gall, in Switzer- land, who flourished in the ninth century, and attained to much renown by his talent for writing sacred poetry. Ac- cording to some, he is said to have been the first who caused this species of composition to be introduced into the Mass; and, if we are to believe Durandus, he was i couraged in this by Pope Nicholas the Great (858-867). Others ascribe its introduction to Alcuin, the preceptor of Charlemagne. The “Victimae Paschali” is also sometimes attributed to Bobert, King of the Franks. “ Veni, Sancte Spiritus .” — This beautiful hymn is gene- rally accredited to the Blessed Hermann, usually styled Con- tractus, or the Cripple, from the deformity of his limbs. As the early history of this remarkable man is very interesting, we presume that the reader will not think it amiss if we give a brief sketch of it, as it bears much upon our subject : “ Hermannus Contractus, the son of Count AYeringen, in &25 Sequences . Livonia, was, at the age of fourteen, sent to the monastery of St. Gall to be educated. He was lame and contracted in body, and made little progress in learning on account of bis slowness of mind. Hilperic, bis master, seeing bow bitterly be bewailed bis misfortunes, pitied him, and advised him to apply himself to prayer, and to implore the assistance of the Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God. Hermannus obeyed bis master, and about two years after thought he saw the holy Virgin one night whilst he was asleep, and that she thus ad- dressed him : ‘ 0 good child ! I have beard your prayers, and at your request have come to assist you. Now, there- fore, choose whichever of these two things you please, and you shall certainly obtain it ^ either to have your body cured, or to become master of all the science you desire , 9 Hermannus did not hesitate to prefer the gifts of the mind to those of the body, and such from this period was his pro- gress in human and divine science that he was esteemed the most learned of his contemporaries. He excelled them all in philosophy, rhetoric, astronomy, poetry, music, and theology ; composed books upon geometry, music, and as- tronomy, the eclipses of the sun and moon, the astrolabe, the quadrant, the horologue, and quadrature of the circle ; wrote commentaries on Aristotle and Cicero ; translated some Greek and Arabic works into Latin; composed a chronicle from the creation of the world to the year 1052, a treatise on physiognomy, and several hymns, amongst which the ‘ Salve Regina/ ‘ Alma Redemptoris/ and ‘Veni, Sancte Spiritus 9 are enumerated. He died in 1054, aged forty-one years” ( Dublin Review , vol. xxx., June, 1851; Gavantus, ii. p. 166). The “Veni, Sancte Spiritus” is also ascribed to Pope Innocent III., to St. Bonaventure, and to Robert, King of the Franks. “Lauda Sion .” — All are unanimous in ascribing this to the “ Angelic Doctor,” St. Thomas Aquinas, who, at the re- 226 The Celebration of Mass . quest of Pope Urban IV., composed it for the solemnity of Corpus Christi, of which we have already spoken at length. “ Stabat Mater .” — A good deal of dispute has arisen regarding the author of this sublime production, some as- cribing it to Pope Innocent III., some to Jacoponi (1306) — sometimes called Jacobus de Benedictis, a Franciscan monk — and others to St. Bonaventure. We follow the majority, however, in ascribing it to Pope Innocent III. To our mind Jacoponi’s claims to this hymn are not very strong ; and if there were no other reason to justify our opinion but that founded on his parody of it in his hymn for Christmas morning, beginning with “ Stabat Mater speciosa Juxta fcenum gaudiosa Dum jacebat parvulus,” we think that would be sufficient. (( Dies Irce — The authorship of the “Dies Irae” seems the most difficult to settle. This much, however, is certain : that he who has the strongest claims to it is Latino Orsini, generally styled Frangipani, whom his maternal uncle, Pope Nicholas III. (Gaetano Orsini), raised to the cardinal- ate in 1278. He was more generally known by the name of Cardinal Malabranca, and was at first a member of the Order of St. Dominic (see Dublin Review , vol. xx., 1846 ; Gavantus, Tliesaur. Sacr. Rit., p. 490). As this sacred hymn is conceded to be one of the grandest that has ever been written, it is but natural to expect that the number of authors claiming it would be very large. Some even have attributed it to Pope Gregory the Great, who lived as far back as the year 604. St. Bernard, too, is mentioned in connection with it, and so are several others ; but as it is hardly necessary to mention all, we shall only Sequences. 22 7 say that, after Cardinal Orsini, the claims to it on the part of Thomas de Celano, of the Order of Franciscans Minor, are the greatest. There is very little reason for attributing it to Father Humbert, the fifth general of the Dominicans, in 1273 ; and hardly any at all for accrediting it to Augus tinus de Biella,^of the Order of Augustinian Eremites. A very widely circulated opinion is that the 1 6 Dies Irse” as it stands now is hut an improved form of a Sequence which was long in use before the age of any of those authors whom we have cited. Gavantus gives us, at page 490 of his The - saurus of Sacred Rites , a few stanzas of this ancient Se- quence, which we deem well to place before the reader : “ Cum recordor moriturus, Quid post mortem sim futurus , Terror terret me venturus. Quern expecto non securus: Terret dies me terroris. Dies irse, ac furoris, Dies luctus, ac moeroris, Dies ultrix peccatoris, Dies irae, dies ilia,” etc., etc. As late as 1576 the “ Dies Irae” was forbidden to he said by the Dominicans of Salamanca, in Spain. Maldonatus, also, the great Jesuit commentator, objected to its use in Masses for the dead, for the reason that a composition of that kind was unsuited to mournful occasions. Others, too, made similar complaints against it. To repeat what learned critics of every denomination under heaven have said in praise of this marvellous hymn would indeed be a difficult task. One of its greatest encomiums is that there is hardly a language in Europe into which it has not been translated , and it has even found its way into Greek and Hebrew — into m The Celebration of Mass . tlie former through an English missionary of Syria named Hildner, and into the latter by Splieth, a celebrated Orien- talist. Mozart avowed his extreme admiration of it, and so did Dr. Johnson, Sir Walter Scott, and Jeremy Taylor, be- sides hosts of others. The encomium passed upon it by Schaff is thus given in his own words : “ This marvellous hymn is the acknowledged masterpiece of Latin poetry and the most sublime of all uninspired hymns. The secret of its irresistible power lies in the awful grandeur of the theme, the intense earnestness and pathos of the poet, the simple majesty and solemn music of its language, the stately metre, the triple rhyme, and the vocal assonances, chosen in striking adaptation — all combining to produce an over- whelming effect, as if we heard the final crash of the universe, the commotion of the opening graves, the trumpet of the archangel summoning the quick and the dead, and saw the King of ‘tremendous majesty’ seated on the throne of justice and mercy, and ready to dispense everlasting life or everlasting woe ” (see Latin Hymns , vol. i. p. 292, by Professor March, of Lafayette College, Pa.) The music of this hymn formed the chief part of the fame of Mozart; and it is said, and not without reason, that it contributed in no small degree to hasten his death, for so excited did he become over its awe-enkindling sentiments while writing his celebrated “ Mass of Requiem ” that a sort of minor paralysis seized his whole frame, so that he was heard to say : “I am certain that T am writing this Requiem for myself. It will be my funeral service.” lie never lived to finish it ; the credit of having done that belongs to Sussmayer, a man of great musical attainments, and a most intimate friend of the Mozart family ( Dublin Review , vol. i., May, 1836). The allusion to the sibyl in the third line of the first stanza has given rise to- a good deal of anxious enquiry ; and Sequences . 229 so very strange did it sound to French ears at its introduc- tion into the sacred hymnology of the Church that the Parisian rituals substituted in its place the line “ Crucis expandens vexilla.” The difficulty, however, is easily over- come if we bear in mind that many of the early Fathers held that Almighty God made use of these sibyls to promul- gate his truths in just the same way as he did of Balaam of old, and many others like him. The great St. Augustine has written much on this subject in his City of God ; and the reader may form some idea of the estimation in which these sibyls were held when he is told that the world-re- nowned Michael Angelo made them the subject of one of his greatest paintings. In the Sistine Chapel at Rome may yet be seen his celebrated delineation of both the sibyl of Erythrea and that of Delphi. In the opinion of the ablest critics it was the first-mentioned, or the Erythrean sibyl, that uttered the celebrated prediction about the advent of our Divine Lord, and his final coming at the last day to judge the living and the dead. This prediction, it is said, was given in verse, and written as an acrostic on one of the ancient designations of our Divine Lord in Greek — viz., iX^vZ, ichthus, a fish, referring to our spiritual regene- ration through the efficacy of the saving waters of holy Baptism established by our Saviour for our sakes. The letters of this word when taken separately form the initials of the sacred name and official character of our Divine Lord, thus: “I” stands for Jesus ; “X” for Christ ; “O” for Theos, or God ; “ T” for TioS, or Son ; and “2” for GGQTijp, or Saviour — that is, “ Jesus Christ, Son of God, the Saviour.” The part of the sibyl’s response which re- ferred particularly to the Day of Judgment was written on the letters of Soter, or Saviour. It is given as follows in the translation of the City of God of St. Augustine (edited by Clarke, of Edinburgh, 1871); 230 The Celebration of Mass. “ bounding, the archangel’s trumpet shall peal down from heaven Over the wicked who groan in their guilt and their manifold sorrows; ^Trembling, the earth shall be opened, revealing chaos and hell. Every king before God shall stand on that day to be judged; iZivers of fire and of brimstone shall fall from the heavens.” There are in all twenty-seven lines. -I he <( Stabat Mater,” too, deserves more than a mere pass- ing notice, for, in the estimation of able critics, it is one of the most pathetic hymns ever written. Hogarth called it “a divine emanation of an afflicted and purified spirit,” and the encomiums lavished upon it by other men of genius are numberless. As far as concerns its musical merits, the chief credit is due to Pergolesi and Rossini, both. of whom im- mortalized themselves in their rendition of it. The precise merits of the “ Lauda Sion ” lie in this : that it is one of the most able theological exegeses that have ever been written on the doctrine of the Real Presence. Every possible objection that could be raised concerning the Blessed Sacrament is comprehended in it. Sequences of the Oriental Church. — By way of compensat- ing for the entire absence of all instrumental music from the service of the Oriental Church, sacred hymnology is made to act a far more conspicuous part there than it is with us. Not a Mass is celebrated without at least half a dozen of Troparia , as they are called, nearly all of which end with a doxology in honor of the Mother of Cod, to whom, as we have already said, the Orientals are very devout. To give the reader an idea of the intrinsic beauty of some of the Oriental Sequences, we copy the following, inscribed “ for a Sunday of the First Tone.” It, of course, is written and sung in Creek, and the work from which we copy it ( Hymns of the Eastern Church , by Rev. Dr. Neale) ascribes it to St. Anatolius, a.d. 458. It refers to that scene on the Sea of Calilee where the disciples are out in a boat and our “ Munda cor meum.” 231 Lord comes to them walking upon the waters (Matthew xiv.) : “ Fierce was the wild billow, Dark was the night ; Oars labored heavily. Foam glimmered white Trembled the mariners, Peril was nigh ; Then said the God of God, ‘ Peace ! it is I,’ Ridge of the mountain-wave. Lower thy crest ! Wail of Euroclydon, Be thou at rest ! Sorrow can never be, Darkness must fly, Where saith the Light of Light. ‘Peace ! it is I.’ Jesu, Deliverer ! Come thou to me Soothe thou my voyaging Over life’s sea ! Thou, when the storm of death Roars sweeping by, Whisper, 0 Truth of Truth ! ‘Peace! it is I.’” “MUNDA COR MEUM.” After the Epistle and the responses following it have been read, the priest goes to the centre of the altar, and, having bowed profoundly, recites the prayer “ Munda cor meum,” by which he begs of God to purify his heart and lips, as ho did those of Isaias of old, in order that he may announce the good truths of the Gospel in a befitting manner. In the meantime the missal is removed by the server from the 232 The Celebration of Mass. Epistle to the Gospel side, and so placed that the priest may be a little turned towards the congregation while reading it, and this to preserve a vestige of the ancient custom of reading the Holy Evangel from the ambo in the hearing and sight of all. The literal or natural meaning of removing the missal at this place is that the Epistle corner of the altar may be entirely free for receiving the gifts presented and placed there by the people at the Offertory, and to make room for the paten, which in former times was much larger than it is now (Romsee, iv. 107 ; Kozma, p. 182). Mystically, this ceremony is intended to remind us of the translation of the word of God from the Jews, represented by the Epistle side, to the Gentiles, represented by the Gospel side, in accordance with what is said by SS. Paul and Barnabas in the Acts of the Apostles (xiii. 46) : “ To you it behoved us first to speak the word of God ; but because you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold we turn to the Gentiles.” The bringing back of the missal afterwards denotes the final return of the Jews to Chris- tianity at the preaching of Enoch and Elias (Durandus, Rationale , p. 195). We have said that the Missal is placed at the Gospel side, a little turned towards the congregation, and that this is with a view to preserve a vestige of the ancient practice of reading the Gospel from the ambo. As it may be objected that the Epistle, too, was formerly read there, and why not now be read as the Gospel is ? we reply by saying that -whenever the Epistle was read from the ambo it was always from an inferior stand to that set apart for the Gospel, generally from the steps themselves, and always facing the altar ; for it was not, at its introduction into the Mass, designed so much for the instruction of the people as the Gospel was, nor did it ever occupy the same place of The Gospel. 233 honor, although the honor shown it was very great (Mar- tene, De Antiquis Eccl. Ritibus, f. 24). THE GOSPEL. When the priest has arrived at the missal after the prayer “Munda cor meum,” he pronounces in an audible tone the salutation, “ Dominus vobiscum,” without, however, turn- ing to the people — for he is partly turned already — and then announces the title of the Gospel he is going to read. To- gether with doing so be makes the sign of the cross with his thumb on the missal itself at the beginning of the Gospel, and then upon himself in three separate places — viz., on the forehead, mouth, and breast respectively. That made upon the book is intended to teach us that the Holy Gospel contains the words of Him who died upon the cross for our salvation ; that made upon the forehead is intended to remind us that we must never be ashamed of the Word of God, for our Lord himself says : “ He who is ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he shall come in his majesty ” (Luke ix. 26) ; and the cross upon the breast reminds us of the holy ad- monition in the Canticle of Canticles : “ Put me as a seal upon thy heart ” (chap, viii.) (For other mystical mean- ings see Durandus, p. 202. ) When the priest has announced the title of the Gospel, the server answers: “Gloria tibi, Domine” — Glory be to thee, 0 Lord — and the congregation sign themselves after the manner of the priest. The re- sponse, “ Glory be to thee, 0 Lord,” is made to thank God for the spiritual blessings contained in the holy Gospel. The Acts of the Apostles, chap. xiii. 48, tell us how the Gentiles glorified the word of God, and expressed their heartfelt thanks to SS. Paul and Barnabas for having brought them the salutary truths which the Jews rejected. Standing up at the Gospel. — At the reading of the Holy 234 The Celebration of Mass . Gospel all stand up out of respect for the sacred words of our Divine Lord, as well as to testify their readiness to fol- low out all that the Gospel teaches. This custom is very ancient, as we find the Jews observed it when Esdras the Scribe read them the Law after the return from the Baby- lonian captivity (2 Esdras , viii. 4). When the custom was in vogue of bringing staves to church for the purpose of leaning on them during certain parts of the service, their use was never permitted during the reading of the Holy Gospel. They were at that time to be put aside, and with them all insignia of royalty, such as sceptres, crowns, and things of that sort, in order that all may appear in the humble posture of servants before the Lord (Bona, p. 328 ; Bomsee, p. 114). Certain military knights, and among others the Knights of St. John, 8 were accustomed to un- sheath their swords at this place, as evidence of their readi- ness to defend the interests of the sacred words even unto the shedding of blood (Bona, ibid.) When the priest has finished reading the Gospel he kisses the sacred text out of reverence for the words of our Lord — for the Gospel is pre-eminently “ Christ’s Book,” as it used to be styled in ancient times — and as he performs this act he says : “In virtue of the evangelical words may our sins be blotted out.” The Carthusians kiss the margin of the mis- sal instead of the text itself. Should some great dignitary 8 The Knights of St. John, established first at Jerusalem about the year 1098, were also known by the several names of Hospitalers, from the fact that their first house was a hospital specially built for the care of the sick ; Knights of Bhodes, from their temporary residence in that island ; and Knights of Malta, from their last stronghold at Malta, in the Mediterranean Sea. They exist no longer as a distinctive military body, but several yet bearing the name, and observing to a great extent their original vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, may be met with throughout Italy, England, and other parts of Europe, and their honorary grand-master has a right to the high title of “ Most Eminent.” Their patron saint is St. John the Baptist ; and their badge a white cross, with eight points in it, in memory of the eight beatitudes (see Lives of the Saints , vol. i. 571, note ; Ferraris, Bibliotheca / Knights of Malta, bp Taaffe). The Gospel . 235 be present in the sanctuary, it is the rule to present him the .book first, in which case the priest celebrating would not kiss it at all. In ancient times not only did the priest kiss the book at this stage of the Mass, but every member of the congregation did so (Bona, p. 329). In the Sarum Rite a special codex was set apart for this purpose ( Church of Our Fathers , iii. 192). The custom of kissing documents of im- portance is very ancient, and prevails yet in the majority of royal courts, especially in those of the East. Those that come direct from our Holy Father the Pope are always shown this mark of respect ; and that the pious practice of kissing not only the book of the Gospels, but almost every utensil in the house of God, even the very door-posts and pillars, was generally observed by the primitive Chris- tians we learn from numerous sources (Riddle, Christian Antiquities, p. 739 ; Life of Cardinal Ximenes, by Hefele, p. 37). At the conclusion of the Gospel the server answers, “ Laus tibi, Christe” — “Praise be to thee, 0 Christ ! ” — but in the Mozarabic Rite the old custom of answering “Amen” at this place is yet kept up (see Liturgia Mozarabica , ed. Migne). Another ancient custom — viz., that of making the sign of the cross here — is still retained by the Carmel- ites. At Solemn High Mass. — At Solemn High Mass, where the Gospel is chanted in a loud tone of voice, the ceremonies are imposing and full of deep meaning : As soon as the celebrant has passed from the centre of the altar, after the “Munda cor meum,” to the Gospel side, the deacon receives from the master of ceremonies the book of the Holy Evan- gels, which he carries to the altar with much reverence, and places in front of the tabernacle in a horizontal position. He does not return immediately, hut remains there to assist the celebrant at the blessing of the incense for the forth- 236 The Celebration of Mass . coming procession. The incense having been put in the censer and blessed, the deacon descends one step and recites the prayer “ Munda cor meuin,” at the conclusion of which he rises from his knees, and, having taken the book from the altar, kneels down with it before the celebrant and asks the latter to bless him. Having received the blessing, he kisses the celebrant’s hand, and then descends to the floor, where he awaits the signal for the procession to move to that part of the Gospel side of the sanctuary where the Holy Evangel is chanted. A full corps of acolytes with lighted candles, incense, etc., head the procession, and the deacon, walking immediately behind the subdeacon, moves in a slow and dignified manner, carrying the sacred codex elevated before his face. This is afterwards given to the subdeacon, who holds it resting against his forehead during the entire time of chanting. Having given the usual salutation of “ Dominus vobiscum,” and announced the title of the Gos- pel, the deacon receives the thurible, or censer, and incenses the book in three different places — viz., in the centre, at the right, and at the left. He then chants the text in a loud tone of voice, and, having finished, receives the censer again and incenses the celebrant at the altar, who stood facing the Gospel the whole tim<‘ that the deacon was chanting it. Explanation. — The taking of the book of the Gospels from the altar is intended to remind us, according to Pope Innocent III., that the laiv has come forth from Sion , and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem ; not so much the law of Moses, but the law of the New Covenant, of which the prophet Jeremias wrote : “ Behold the days shall come,” saith the Lord, “ and I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Juda. ... I will give my law in their bowels, and I will write it in then- heart, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people ” (chap, xxxi.) The deacon, kneeling at the feet of the The Gospel . 237 priest in tlie manner of an humble suppliant to receive his blessing, teaches us the necessity of first asking permission to preach the Gospel, and then a blessing for the sacred work in order that it may produce the proper fruit. To take upon ourselves the heavy onus of preaching without having been divinely called to that sacred office would be to incur God’s wrath, and, instead of a blessing, draw down his con- demnation. The Apostle St. Paul lays particular stress upon the necessity of receiving a special call to discharge this duty ( Romans , chap, x.) Then, again, this taking of the book from the altar and reading it aloud in the hearing of the people forcibly recalls to mind what Moses did of old on Sinai, whence he brought down the tables of the law and read them before the chosen people at the mountain’s edge. The subdeacon goes before the deacon to the place where the Gospel is chanted to remind us that John the Baptist, whose ministry the Epistle, and consequently the subdeacon, typi- fies, went before our Lord, who is represented by the Gospel (Durandus, p. 199). Incense is used on this occasion to commemorate what St. Paul says (2 Cor. ii.), that we are the good odor of Christ unto God in every place. And lighted candles are employed to testify our joy at receiving the glad Gospel tidings, as well as to show our respect for Him who is the “ Light of the World” (Innocent III., Sacrif. Miss ., p. 141). Finally, the Gospel is chanted at the corner of the sanctuary, with the sacred text facing the north, to show that the preaching of our Lord was specially directed against Lucifer, who said, “ I will establish my seat in the north, and will be like the Most High” (Isaias ; ibid.) When, according to the ancient discipline, the Gos- pel was chanted from those elevated pulpits called amboes, it was in remembrance of that sacred admonition of our Lord to his disciples when he charged them regarding the ministry of the word, “ That which I tell you in the 238 The Celebration of Mass . dark,” said lie, “ speak ye in the light ; and that which you hear in the ear, preach ye on the housetops ” (Matthew x. ; Durandus, Rationale, p. 200). The last-named author speaks of the custom that prevailed in his day (thirteenth century) of chanting the Gospel from the eagle, referring to the ap- purtenance in the shape of this bird that used to be em- ployed in the embellishment of the ancient book-stands, and this with a view to the fulfilment of the words, “ He flew upon the wings of the wind” (Ps. xvii.) ; for the wings of the eagle are aptly compared to the wings of the wind, as that bird can fly highest of all the feathered race, and the Gospel is the highest of all the inspired writings. For many other interesting facts about what we have been speaking the reader is referred to Durandus, chap, xxiv.. Rationale Divi norum. Respect shown to the Gospels in Ancient Times. — The re- spect shown to the Gospels in ancient times is evinced from the fact that the sacred codex used to be bound in massive covers of gold, silver, and precious stones, as we learn from many sources. The cases, too, in which the sacred volumes used to be enclosed when not in use, were made of the cost- liest materials, often of beaten gold, and the most exquisite workmanship was displayed in finishing them (Kozma, p. 105). Dr. Rock (Church of Our Fathers, iii. 31) tells us that sheets of gold, studded with large pearls and precious stones, were not thought too good to be the binding of these books, and that their printing used to be often in letters of gold upon a purple ground. At all great ecclesiastical meetings the holy Gospels were assigned a very conspicu- ous position. At the General Council of Ephesus, held in the Church of St. Mary in that city a.d. 431, the book of the Gospels was placed upon an elevated throne in view of all the assembled Fathers (Bona, p. 329). At a Solemn High Mass celebrated by the Pope the Epistle and Gospel The Gospel . 239 are first chanted in Latin, then in Greek, to express the union of the two churches (Kozma, p. 183). The Gospel in the Oriental Church. — The ceremonies at- tending the reading of the Gospel in the East resemble our own very closely. In the Liturgy of St. Chrysostom the deacon, kneeling down at the feet of the celebrant before the procession moves, asks the customary blessing in these words : “ Sir, bless the preacher of the holy Apostle and Evangelist N.” (here the name of the Gospel is mentioned) ; then the priest, making the sign of the cross upon him, says : “ May God, through the preaching of the holy and glorious Apostle and Evangelist N., give the word with much power to thee, who evangelizest to the accomplishment of the Gospel of his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.” After this the procession moves to the ambo, and everything goes on much in the same way as with ourselves at Solemn High Mass. With the Abyssinians, the deacon makes a cir- cuit of the entire church at .this place, saying with a loud voice as he goes along : “ Arise ! hear the Gospel and the good tidings of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” This circuit is intended to signify the promulgation of the Gos- pel by the Apostles throughout the entire globe, in accord- ance with the sacred text, “ Their sound has gone forth into every land, and their words unto the end of the world ” ( Ps . xviii. 5). The Copts, instead of making the circuit of the church in this way, go around the altar in a procession, headed by an immense number of acolytes and other ministers bearing torches and incense. The display is very imposing. After the Gospel has been chanted it is first kissed by the clergy, it is then covered with a silken veil and presented to be kissed by the people (Renaudot, Liturg. Orient., i. 190). It is customary also with the Coptic prelates, should any be present, to put aside their mitres and crosiers at this time, 240 The Celebration of Mass . and remain slightly bowed down during the entire chant- ing. The Greek bishops, besides rising up to hear the holy Evangel, also put aside their omophorion , e testifying there- by, according to St. Simeon of Thessalonica, their total sub- jection to the Lord (Goar, Eucliol. Groec ., p. 223). 9 The omophorion of the Greeks serves the same end as our pallium, only that it is common to every bishop, instead of being restricted to archbishops, as with us. Like the pallium it is made of wool, but is much broader, and, instead of hanging down freely, is fastened round the neck in a knot. It is usually ornamented with silver and silken threads, and symbolizes the “ Lost Sheep ” (Neale, Holy Eastern Church , i. 312 ; Komanoff, Greco-Russian Church , p. 400). CHAPTER XXII. THE SERMON. According to the present discipline of the Church, regu- lated in a great measure by the General Council of Trent, it is required that at every parochial Mass on Sundays and holydays of obligation a sermon touching the great truths of our holy faith should be preached to the people. To do this the more effectually it is recommended to follow the line of thought expressed in the Gospel of the day, as it is the wish of the Church that this portion of the sacred writings should be carefully expounded and developed in all its bearing. The custom of thus preaching at Mass is of the highest antiquity, the ablest critics maintaining that it is of aposto- lic origin ; and the Holy Scriptures themselves would seem to warrant this assertion. St. Justin Martyr (a.d. 167) tells us in his Apology , i. 67, that it was the practice in his day to read portions of the Sacred Scriptures first in the assemblies of the people, and then explain their application and meaning afterwards. The ancient Hebrews always preached to the people after the reading of the Sepher Torn, or book of the Law (Bannister, Temples of the Hebrews , p. 351). WIIOSE DUTY IT WAS TO PREACH. Whenever the bishop presided, as used to be the case in nearly all the cathedral churches, the duty of preaching 242 The Sermon . devolved upon him. This duty was, indeed, regarded in early times as so peculiar to a bishop that whenever a priest addressed the people in any public church it was looked upon as a sort of great concession and favor. “Episcopi proprium munus,” says St. Ambrose {Be Off. Sac ., lib. i. c. i.), “ docere populum” — “It is the peculiar office of the bishop to teach the people ” ; and St. Chrysostom, com- menting on this faculty, says that the bishop who does not possess it should be deposed from his office (Horn. x. in I. Ep. ad Tim.) During the prevalence of the early heresies, the greatest care was taken to see that no one should ascend the pulpit unless he possessed the rarest qualities as a preacher and theologian. This was especially the case when the heresy of Arius broke out. So dangerous was this considered to he that it was thought well all through the East to confine preaching solely to bishops, and forbid priests under severe penalties to take upon themselves this task. The Council of Chalcedon (a.d. 451), as is well known, interdicted preach- ing to monks, on account of the fall of Eutyches, one of the heads of this body ( Comment . in Pontiff. Romanum , Cata- lani ; Muhlbauer, i. 133). LAYMEN ALLOWED TO PREACH. Although the ancient Fathers were very strict on the sub- ject of preaching, and always insisted on having it entrusted to men of tried ability and worth among the higher grades of the hierarchy, still we find a little relaxation of this rigor in certain rare cases ; for not only did members of the in- ferior orders of the clergy discharge this duty, hut even those who were not ranked among the clergy at all. The celebrated Origen, as we learn from Eusebius, preached fre- quently in Jerusalem while yet a layman ; and we are assured by the same author that this permission was also granted on Posture of the Preacher . 243 certain occasions to Constantine the Great ( Be Vita Const., lib. iv. c. xxix,-xxxiv.) DEPORTMENT OE THE PEOPLE DURING THE SERMON. The behavior of the people during the sermon was nearly always of the most edifying kind. Sometimes a little inat- tention or carelessness would be observed in some, while others in rare instances might be seen engaged in frivolous conversation. Whenever this was noticed it was the duty of the deacon to stand up in the sanctuary and call for at- tention and order by exclaiming : “ Silentium liabete !” — 66 Keep silence.” St. Ambrose had frequent occasion to give this order at Milan, and many bitter complaints did he make of the people of that city for their want of propriety in this respect. POSTURE OF THE PREACHER. As a general rule, the preacher stood while delivering his sermon, and this generally in the sanctuary. The custom of preaching from the ambo, where the Gospel used to be read, is said to have been introduced by St. John Chrysos- tom (Socrates, Hist . Eccles., lib. vi. c. v. ; Sozomen, Hist . Eccl . , viii. v.) When, through feebleness of health or other causes, the preacher could not stand, he was allowed to sit upon a chair. This practice was often resorted to by St. Augustine in his declining years, and many of the early Fa- thers rather favored it, even when there was no special need of having recourse to it, in memory of our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. Bishops of the present day observe this prac- tice yet in many places. But, whether the preacher stood or sat, the general rule was, as we learn from St. Gregory Nazianzen, Eusebius, and St. Chrysostom, that the people of the congregation should stand. Whenever the preacher said anything that deserved special approbation slight indi- 24:4 The Sermon, cations of appreciation used to be manifested, such as bow- ing the head, making gestures with the hands, sometimes even clapping the hands or waving the garments. The people were so carried away upon one occasion by the gol- t den eloquence of St. Chrysostom that they cried out with one acclaim : “ Thou art worthy of the priesthood ; thou art the thirteenth apostle ; Christ hath sent thee to save our souls” (Riddle, Christian Antiquities , p. 455). The custom of offering up a short prayer before the ser- mon was observed by the early Fathers. Sometimes this was nothing more than an ejaculation or a salutation to the people, under such forms as “ Peace be to you,” “May God bless you,” “ The Lord be with you ” (ibid.) The cus- tom now in vogue in many countries, especially in France, of saying a “ Hail Mary,” or some other prayer to Our Blessed Lady, was introduced by St. Vincent Ferrer in the sixteenth century as a protest against the indignities of- fered the Mother of God by the heretics of that time (see Man alum’s Triumph of the Catholic Church). Regarding the delivery of the sermon the ancient Fathers were very exact. Earnestness on the part of the preacher and sympathy with his people were looked upon as the great redeeming features of every discourse. Too much gesticula- tion was always severely reprehended ; and if the preacher manifested any signs of levity in the pulpit, or indulged in any actions which were not considered entirely in keeping with the dignity of the place and occasion, he was at once commanded to desist, and silence was imposed upon him ever afterwards. It is said of the heretic Paul of Samosata that he carried gesticulation so far as to stamp the pulpit with his feet, beat his thighs with his hands, and act while preaching in a most unbecoming manner, for which reason the Council of Antioch, in a.d. 272, bitterly complained of him to Pope Dionysius, the reigning pontiff. Influence of the Discipline of the Secret on Preaching, 245 INFLUENCE OF THE DISCIPLINE OF THE SECRET ON THE PREACHING. We wish here to call the particular attention of the reader to a fact which is too often lost sight of in treating of the customs of the early Church. We refer to the Disciplina Arcani, as it was called, or the Discipline of the Secret, in virtue of which the principal mysteries of our holy faith and the nature of many of the public prayers of the Church were carefully concealed from all who were not considered as be- longing to the household of faith, and this with a view to follow out to the letter that sacred admonition of our Divine Lord himself, viz. : not to “ cast pearls before swine or give what was holy to dogs.” “The mysteries,” says St. Athanasius, “ ought not to be publicly exhibited to the un- initiated, lest the Gentiles, who understand them not, scoff at them, and the catechumens, becoming curious, be scan- dalized” (Apol. contra Arian,, p. 105). The caution which was to be observed during the preva- lence of this discipline — which, as we have said in another place, lasted during the first five centuries — influenced the preachers of those days very considerably, from the fact that their audiences were often made up of Jews, Gentiles, pagans, and others who were wholly ignorant of the nature of our belief, and who would, had they but understood it in all its hearings, have made it a pretext for inciting fresh persecution. This accounts for the thick veil of mys- tification that hung over many of the sermons of the early Fathers, and for the abruptness with which several of them ended. Many a time did St. Chrysostom break off his discourse with some such expression as this : “The initiated know what I mean.” This he would do if he saw any per- sons in the audience who did not belong to the faithful. “ I wish to speak openly,” said he upon a certain occasion while addressing his flock, “hut I dare not on account of those 246 The Sermon . who are not initiated. These persons render explanation more difficult by obliging us to speak in obscure terms or to unveil the things that are secret ; yet I shall endeavor, as far as possible, to explain myself in disguised terms ” (Horn, xl. in I. Corinth.) Tertullian, who lived in the second century under the Emperors Severus and Caracalla, says upon this subject : “ The profane are excluded from the sight of the most holy mysteries, and those are carefully selected who are permitted to be spectators’’ ( Apol . adver- sus Gentes). The extreme reserve of St. Epiphanius (fourth century) when speaking upon the Blessed Eucharist is very remark- able. Lest he might make use of the slightest expression that would be calculated to excite the curiosity of the unini- tiated, he has recourse to the following guarded language : “ We see that our Lord took a thing into his hands, that he rose from the table, that he resumed the thing , and, having given thanks, said : { This is that of mine.'” “ We should rather shed our blood,” says St. Gregory Nazianzen, “ than publish our mysteries to strangers ” ( Or at pp. 35 and 42). Nor must we omit to mention that during those times swift-hand writers (o^vypdcpoi) were sent around in bands by the pagans to take down whatever they heard preached in the Christian assemblies. Erequent mention of these is made by Sozomen and other historians ; and, according to the testimony of St. Gregory Nazianzen (Thirty ■‘third Ser- mon), he himself saw men of this kind, while preaching, stealing among the people and hiding, so as not to be de- tected in their work ; and when they could hear nothing worthy of noting they would fabricate something, and often make the preacher say what was farthest from his intention. St. Gaudentius (427) bitterly inveighed against this clandes- tine practice (Riddle, Christian Antiquities , p. 457). We have designedly dwelt upon this subject for the reason Dismissal of the Catechumens . 247 that Protestants are fond of saying that the early Fathers say little or nothing about the Real Presence of our Lord in the Holy Eucharist. Let them but remember that until the sixth century it was strictly forbidden to teach this doctrine openly, in virtue of the Discipline of the Secret, and they will cease to be surprised at this prudent silence. The his- torian Sozomen had so scrupulous a regard for this sacred Discipline that he would not commit to writing the Creed framed by the Council of Nicaea in a.d. 325, for this also came under the Secret. PREACHING IN THE ORIENTAL CHURCH. If we are to credit the reports of travellers and tourists, preaching in the Oriental Church has gone almost into des- uetude, at least among the schismatics ; and at this we cannot wonder when we see the superficial training that candidates for the sacred ministry there receive. They are ordained in some places upon the sole qualification of being able to recite a few prayers in addition to the Creed ; and so low is their status among the Copts that it has been found necessary to print all the rubrics of the missal in Arabic, in order that they might know what to do. (For a corrobo- ration of this statement concerning the wide-spread igno- rance among the Oriental clergy see Smith and Dwight, Researches in Armenia , vol. ii. p. 34 et passim.) So careless are the Russians in regard to preaching that they entrust the duty not unfrequently to the most illite- rate persons, even to laymen, and attach very little impor- tance to the orthodoxy of the preacher’s views. DISMISSAL OF THE CATECHUMENS. The moment the sermon was ended, or, in the absence of a sermon, at the end of the Gospel, the catechumens were dismissed from the church, and then the Mass of the Faith- 248 The Sermon * ful began with closed doors. “ Ecce post sermonem,” says St. Augustine, “ fit missa catechumenis ; manebunt fideles ” — that is, “ After the sermon the Mass for the catechumens terminates ; the faithful will remain ” (Sermo 237). To- gether with the catechumens were also dismissed the ener- gumens , or those troubled with unclean spirits ; the lapsed , or those who had denied the faith openly ; public sinners whose term of penance had not yet expired ; and, finally, Jews, Gentiles, and pagans. As the going out of these caused no small commotion in the church in the early days — for their number was very great — it was usual to place porters at the outer doors to see that the strictest decorum was observed, and that nothing was done out of keeping with the dignity of the place. The forms of dismissal varied with different churches. Sometimes it was, “Si quis est catechumenus exeat foras ” — “ If there be any catechumen present let him go out” — at other times, “ Catechumens de- part ! Catechumens depart ! ” This was vociferated seve- ral times by the deacon. For a while the phrase used to be, “ Si quis non communicat det locum” — “If any one does not intend to communicate let him depart.” We shall see by- and-by that all who assisted at Mass in the early days were expected to approach Holy Communion, or be considered among the excommunicated. According to the Liturgy of St. James, the form of dismissal was, “ Let none of the cate- chumens remain ; let none of the uninitiated, let none of those who are not able to join with us in prayer, remain !” After which the deacon cried : “ The doors ! the doors ! All upright ! ” The Mozarabic is the only rite in the Latin Church which yet retains in divine service the appellations of “ Mass of the Catechumens” and “Mass of the Faithful.” Neither in the East nor in the West are these dismissals anything more now than mere commemorations of an ancient practice. CHAPTER XXIII. THE CELEBRATION OF MASS. THE SYMBOL, OB CKEEI). Thebe are few words that have a greater variety of meanings than the word symbol, but there seems to be an almost unanimous opinion that its application to the Creed has been owing to the fact that it was at its formation the joint contribution of the Apostles before their separa- tion to evangelize the different portions of the globe. In its original acceptation, coming as it does from the Greek Gvv {sun, or syn, with or together) and fiaWoo {hallo, I throw), it means the portion subscribed by any one in- dividual towards some common fund. Thus, with the an- cient Romans the part contributed by a person in getting up a public dinner or banquet went by' this name. The application, then, of the term to the Creed is very appro- priate, seeing that it has been formed, as the constant tradi- tion of the Church and the unanimous consent of the early Fathers testify, by the Apostles themselves, from whom it derives its name (Bona, Rer . Liturg., p. 330 ; Divina Psalmodia, p. 501). the pabt composed by each apostle. At the end of the Missal of St. Columbanus (an Irish saint of the sixth century) there is a very curious tract on the Creed, which, among other things, assigns the portion 219 250 The Celebration Of Mass. composed by each of the twelve Apostles. The order is as follows : 1st, St. Peter — I believe in God the Father Almighty , Crea- tor of heaven and earth. 2d, St. J ohn — And in Jesus Christ , his only Son, our Lord. 3d, St. James — Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary. 4th, St. Andrew — Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was cru- cified, dead, and buried. 5th, St. Philip — He descended into hell. 6th, St. Thomas — The third day he arose again from the dead. 7th, St. Bartholomew — He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. 8th, St. Matthew — From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. 9 th, St. James, son of Alphaeus — I believe in the Holy Ghost. 10th, St. Simon Zelotes — The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints. 11th, St. Thaddeus — The forgiveness of sins. 12th, St. Matthias — The resurrection of the body and life everlasting. According to Ferraris, this analysis of the symbol was worked out by Duns Scotus, familiarly known as the “ Sub- tile Doctor ” on account of his keen intellect ; but as the Missal of St. Columbanus was composed long before the thirteenth century, when Scotus flourished, it is not easy to see how he could be accredited with this work. As the Creed was one of the public prayers of the Church which the catechumens were not allowed to hear, it was not recited until they had left the house of God, and prior to the Council of Nicaea it was never committed to writing, but only confided by word of mouth. This we clearly learn Creed of iSFiccea. 251 from St. Cyril among others, who in his catechetical instruc- tions (v. 1-12, pp. 77, 78) thus addresses his pupils : “ This \i.e., the Creed] I wish you to remember in the very phra- seology, and to rehearse it with all diligence amongst your- selves, not writing it on paper, but graving it by memory on your hearts, being on your guard in your exercise lest a cate- chumen should overhear the things delivered to you.” St. Ambrose speaks to the same effect : “ This warning I give you,” says he, “that the symbol ought not to be written” ( Explanatio Symb. ad Initiandos). According to several authors of note, the Apostles’ Creed was used in the Mass up to the year 325, when that framed by the Fathers of the Council of Nicaea superseded it, as being more explicit and complete on the dogmas of our holy faith (Gavantus, Thesaur. Sacr. Rit ., p. 86). CREED OF NIC2EA. This was framed in the year 325 at the General Council of Nicaea, a town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, where three hundred and eighteen Fathers assembled at the call of Pope Sylvester for the purpose of condemning the heretic Arius, who denied the divinity of our Lord. Among the Fathers present at this famous synod, known throughout the East as the “ Council of the three hundred and eighteen,” were several upon whose persons could yet be seen the wounds they had received for the faith in the previous persecutions. The great Paplmutius, Bishop of the Thebaid, was there with his right eye plucked out, and his right hand burned into the very socket of the arm, in the persecution of Maximilian. So deeply affected was the Emperor Constantine the Great at the appearance of this saintly hero of the faith that he never took leave of him without first having kissed his wounds. Another venerable spectacle was St. Paul of Nova Caesarea, whose two hands 252 The Celebration of Mass . were burned off by order of Licinius. There was present, too, the great St. Potamon, Bishop of Heraclea, whose right eye was plucked out during another persecution. All these venerable men, old and feeble as they were, braved the perils of sea and land in order to defend the integrity of the apostolic faith against the most daring heresy that was ever broached in the Church. The Council; Constantine the Great, etc. — Pope Sylvester was the reigning pontiff at this time, but he did not preside in person. Vitus and Vincent, priests of Rome, and Hosius, Bishop of Cordova, in Spain, represented him. It is gene- rally believed that the last-named prelate presided over the deliberations of the Fathers ; and there is an almost unani- mous agreement among ecclesiastical historians that it was he who drew up the famous Creed, which the reader need hardly be told was written in Creek. Constantine the Great was present a few moments after all the Fathers had assembled. When his arrival was an- nounced all rose to their feet to welcome him, and he was forthwith conducted to the magnificent golden throne pre- pared for him in the assembly-room. The emperor forbade any of his court to follow him, except those who had been baptized. The entire scene is so beautifully described by Eusebius that we cannot refrain from giving it in full : “ The emperor appeared as a messenger of God, covered with gold and precious stones — a magnificent figure, tall and slender, and full of grace and majesty. To this majesty he united great modesty and devout humility, so that he kept his eyes reverently bent upon the ground, and only sat down upon the golden seat which had been prepared for him w T hen the bishops gave him the signal to do so. As soon as he had taken his place all the bishops took theirs 99 ( Vita Constan ., iii. p. 10). After the congratulatory ad- dress had been delivered to the emperor, the latter in a Creed of Niccea. 253 gentle voice addressed the Fathers. He spoke in Latin, which a scribe at his side immediately turned into Greek. At the end of the speech the articles touching the heresy of Arius were read and examined, and then the heretic himself was called to stand at the tribunal. Description of Arius . — Arius is described as tall and thin, of austere appearance, serious hearing, but yet of very fascinating manners. He is represented as a learned man, a clever and subtle logician— proud, ambitious, insincere, and cunning. St. Epiphanius called him a perfidious serpent. What his Error really was . — Like Philo, Arius admitted an intermediate being, who, being less than God, was the divine organ of the creation of the world, like the gods of Plato. Furthermore, he transferred the idea of time which rules every human generation to the divine generation, and drew from that, as he himself supposed, by logical necessity, the proposition that the Son could not he co-eternal with the Father. It was precisely this that condemned him. Regarding the celebrated word that the Fathers employed as the great weapon of defence against his heresy — viz., oyLoovaioS ( Homoousios ) — a very considerable amount of discussion has been set on foot, owing to its different shades of meaning, for in its own language it may he interpreted in various ways ; nor can it be proved so easily that the Fathers of Isicaea intended it to signify, in a theological point of view, all that it really does, for it is well known that the numerical unity of the three Persons of the Adorable Trinity was not defined until the Fourth Council of Late- ran, in 1215, condemned the opposite error of the Abbot Joachim. To translate “ Homoousios ” by consubstantial is not enough without considerable explanation, for it is equally true that the Son of God is consubstantial with his Blessed Mother and with us. His consubstantiality with God the 254 The Celebration of Mass . Father must be something higher. Neither will it do to translate it, as may be done, by the same being , for this would be the heresy of Sabellius, who maintained that the Father and the Son were one and the same person, but differing in name only. But although it is not certain what the exact ground was that the Fathers of Nicaea in- tended to cover by their use of Homoousios, this much we know and believe, that no better word could have been chosen under the circumstances as a crucial test for the heresy of Arius ; and this Arius himself perfectly under- stood, for he moved heaven and earth to try and escape its force. The least ambiguous term for rendering this cele- brated word into English is co- eternal, or co-equal, as the word consubstantial is very liable to be misinterpreted (see Dublin Review, June, 1845, vol. xviii., art. “Difficulties of the Ante-Mcene Fathers”; Alzog’s Church History, vol. i., “ Arian Controversy,” translated by Pabisch and Byrne ; History of the Christian Councils, by Hefele, vol. i. ; and Tracts , Theological and Ecclesiastical, by Bev. Dr. New- man). We must remark here that the Nicene Creed had for its basis the Apostles’ Creed, and that only those clauses were added which bore upon the heresy of Arius and his heretical predecessors. Another remark, too, that it will not be amiss to make is this : that although Arianism at one time shook the whole earth to its foundations, still it never formed a church of itself, as did Nestorianism and Eutyclii- anism. There are thousands in the East to-day who belong to both of these sects, but not an Arian can be found any- where. We shall now give the principal clauses of the Creed that the Fathers of Nicaea inserted in their new symbol of faith, as well as the names of the principal heresies against which they were directed : Creed of Niccea. 255 “ Qiov akrjGivov in Gsov aXr/Oivov.” Deum Verum de Deo Vero. True God of True God. This was inserted against the Arians and Eunomians, both of whom denied that our Divine Lord was very God by natural property, but only in the same way in which certain classes of men are styled gods in the Scripture ; as, for instance, in the Eighty-first Psalm. “ rewriderra ov noiqQsvra.” Genitum , non factum. Begotten, not made. This is to show that our Lord was not a creature, as some heretics implied by their phraseology, and others, such as Arius, asserted. “ ' Opootxnov rc3 liar pi.” Consubstantialem Patri. Consubstantial with the Father. The “ opoovGioS,” as we have said already, was the wea- pon which prostrated Arius, for it took from him the last prop upon which his heresy rested. Besides his, there were also included in the anathema fulminated by this council the teachings of the Manichaeans, Basilians, Ebion- ites, Simonians, and those of Paul of Samosata. Ci di’ ov ra navra iyevero.” Per quem omnia facta sunt. Through whom all things were made. Many of the early heretics maintained that God the Father was the maker of all tilings, to the total exclusion of the Son, contrary to what our Divine Lord himself says in St. John, chapter v. : “ What things soever he [i.e., the 256 The Celebration of Mass. Father] doth, these the Son also doth in like manner.” In their works ad extra , say theologians, the three divine Per- sons are concerned and united. “ Kai GapKojOerray nai evavO f>Gom)6avta” Et incarnatus est, et homo f actus est. And became incarnate, and was made man. This was inserted against the many who maintained that our Lord’s body was not, strictly speaking, a real human body, and that his divinity supplied the place of a human soul. According to Cardinal Bona ( Rer . Liturg ., p. 331), as soon as this famous Creed was promulgated all the churches of the East adopted it ; the faithful and the catechumens were taught it ; and those who did not profess it openly were stigmatized at once as Arians. CONSTANTINOPOLITAN CREED. We have just seen how Arius was condemned at Eicaea for denying the divinity of our Lord. Another great here- tic now started up, Macedonius by name, denying the divinity of the Holy Ghost, for which he was condemned at the second general council — viz., that of Constantinople, held in the year 381. This council was entirely Oriental in its nature, and only became general, or oecumenical, 1 by a subsequent decree of the Eoman Pontiff, or, as theologians say, ex post facto. In the condemnation of Macedonius were included also Apollinaris, Bishop of Laodicea, and Eunomius, of whom we have spoken already. As the Symbol of Faith received an additional accretion at this Council, and as it was considered a very important 1 The word ecumenical, coming from the Greek oiicew {oikeo, to dwell), in its original acceptation means habitable; but as the habitable globe is, in a certain sense, the whole world, it has in a secondary way come to mean universal or general. When the Nicene Creed became jpart of the Mass. 257 one at that period of the Church’s existence, it was deemed advisable to construct a new Creed on the basis of the Nicene, in which the distinctive prerogatives of each of the three Persons of the Adorable Trinity would be fully set forth. The opinion is almost universal that the composi- tion of this Creed was the work of St. Gregory Nazianzen. After this had been drawn up and submitted to the council for inspection it is said that all the Fathers cried out with one acclaim : “ This is the faith of all ; this is the ortho- dox faith ; this we all believe ” (St. Liguori, History of Heresies , i. 84). This Creed is more specific, too, than the Nicene on the incarnation, death, and resurrection of our Saviour ; for it inserts the clauses in italics of “ born of the Virgin Mary,” “ suffered under Pontius Pilate ,” “ rose on the third day according to the Scriptures .” In its Latin form the Creed of Nicaea contains in all ninety-five words, whilst that of Constantinople has as many as one hundred and sixty-seven. The two are fre- quently confounded ; and even to-day it is believed by many that the Creed we use in the Mass is that which was framed at Nicaea. Strictly speaking, it is neither the Nicene nor Constantinopolitan, but the one which was prepared by the Fathers of the Council of Trent in the fifteenth century. Of course we must not be understood as saying that this council added anything new to the Creed in the way of a dogma. The changes that it made wholly respected its grammatical construction (see Ferraris, Biblio- theca, art. “Symb.”) WHEN" TIIE NICENE CREED BECAME PART OF TITE MASS. According to Renaudot ( Liturg . Orient., i. p. 200), the Nicene Creed was introduced into the Mass of the Eastern Church immediately after its formation by the “ Three 258 The Celebration of Mass. hundred and eighteen,” and its recital was never inter- rupted. But it did not find its way into the Mass of the Western Church at so early a period, for the reason, given by some, that this Church never fell into any of the errors spoken of, and that, therefore, since its faith was evident to all, there was no necessity of making open profession of it. Indeed, it may be asserted without fear of contradiction that the Nicene Creed, strictly so called, was never recited in the Mass of the Western Church ; for when the practice of recit- ing one at all came into use, which, according to Pope Ben- edict XIY. {Be Sacr. Miss., p. 46), was soon after the year 471, the Creed was not the Xicene but that of Constanti- nople. The custom of singing the Creed at Mass was not, according to the same pontiff, introduced into the Roman Church until the time of Benedict VIII. (1012-1024), and it was only introduced then in order to gratify the most earnest wishes of Henry II., Emperor of Germany. Pre- vious to this, the Creed was simply recited. ADDITION OF THE “ FILIOQUE.” We have now come to one of the most interesting ques- tions that we possibly could be engaged in considering, and the most difficult, perhaps, that has ever been raised in the Church ; but, inasmuch as we are not writing an ecclesi- astical history or dealing with purely dogmatical questions, we think our duty will be discharged if we give the reader the leading facts of the great controversy that this celebrated clause gave rise to. We preface our remarks by correcting an error which too many have fallen into for want of a thorough examination of the case — to wit, that of ascribing the separation of the Eastern Church from the Western to the doctrine involved in the “Filioque.” Every student of ecclesiastical history knows that the original cause of this separation was the Addition of the “ Filioque 259 refusal on the part of Rome to acquiesce in the impious action of the Emperor Bardas, who thrust into the See of Constantinople the audacious Photius, a mere layman, in place of St. Ignatius, the legitimate bishop. This happened about the year 858, and from this dates the separation of the two churches. 2 Photius, finding that his sacrilegious act would not be countenanced at Rome, moved heaven and earth to stir up as bitter feelings as he could between the two churches, and so began to arouse the suspicions of the Greeks by representing to them that the Latins were favoring the Manichaean heresy, inasmuch as they admitted two principles in the Deity ; furthermore, that the Latin Church, in holding that the Holy Ghost pro- ceeded from the Father and the Son, acted contrary to the express wishes and declarations of the previous general councils, and that, in consequence, it had fallen from the faith and become heretical. The Latin Church foresaw from the beginning that the state of affairs in the Greek Church would eventually take this turn, for the Greeks were always hot-headed and difficult to manage ; but she wisely abstained from aggravating the case by making any public parade of the “ Filioque ” until things would assume a more tranquil appearance. It is now very well understood that there never existed anything more between these churches on the doctrine in- volved in the clause in question than a mere misunderstand- ing in regard to some theological technicalities. “The 3 To show how fickle-minded the Greeks were, and how very ill they bore being separated from the Western Church, which they well knew contained the centre of unity and the divinely-appointed teacher and expositor of all that pertained to faith and morals, they sought to be reunited no less than fourteen different times prior to the Gene- ral Council of Florence, where the last union between the two churches was effected. Unhappily for themselves, none of these unions lasted long. The Greeks returned again to their errors, and so they remain to-day, like the Jews, a spectacle to the rest of mankind- 260 The Celebration of Mass. Greeks/'” says the late Dr. Brownson in an article in the Ave Maria of June, 1868, “ never denied that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Son as medium ; what they denied was — what they understood by the * Filioque ? — that he pro- ceeds from the Son as a principle distinct from the Fa- ther. . . . There was a misunderstanding- between the La- tins and the Greeks. The Latins supposed that the Greeks excluded the Son, and made the Holy Ghost proceed from the Father alone without any participation of the Son, which is unquestionably a heresy ; the Greeks, on the other hand, supposed that the Latins by their ‘ Filioque ’ represented the Holy Ghost as proceeding from the Father and the Son as two distinct original principles, which was equally a here- sy.” The depositions made at the Council of Florence in 1439 clearly show that both Greeks and Latins were alike orthodox on this celebrated question. When the Filioque was inserted. — The reader need hardly be told, but we think it well to call his particular atten- tion to the fact, that the early ages of the Church and those we now live in differ very widely. There were no swift ships then to cross the ocean and bear despatches from place to place ; nor had such things been heard of as railroads and telegraphs. Hews travelled very slowly ; and things went on in their own way, unknown and unobserved by any save those in whose locality they occurred. That Rome, the centre of unity and orthodoxy, always kept a vigilant watch over the whole of Christendom nobody attempts to deny ; but as Rome was often very far away, it could not be ex- pected that she would become cognizant of local events as soon as they occurred. For this reason customs were intro- duced into many remote churches and allowed to take deep root there before the Holy See even knew of their existence. The “Filioque 99 first took rise in this way, and forced itself into the Creed without either the knowledge or consent of Addition of the “ Filioque ” 261 Rome. The precise date at which this happened remains yet among the disputed points — some say in the year 400 ; others, 589. All, however, are unanimous in saying that the addition, was .first made in Spain ; that thence it made its way into Francej from France it was introduced into Ger- many, and so continued its course until it was deemed necessary at last to authorize its final insertion. When the Spanish Church was called upon to answer for its conduct in this matter, it alleged as a plea that it was necessitated to place the divinity of our Lord in as strong a light as possible, in order to check the rapid strides that Arianism was making in its territories at the hands of the Goths and Visigoths, who had then almost undisturbed possession of the country, and who were avowed professors of this dangerous heresy. As the French Church had some misgivings about the propriety of following the example of the Spanish in a matter so very delicate, a council was sum- moned at Aix-la-Chapelle, in December, 809, by order of Charlemagne, to see what steps should be taken. Pope Leo III. was the reigning pontiff at the time. The council unanimously agreed tnat the proper way to act was first to consult the Holy See and abide by its decision. Bernhar, Bishop of Worms, and Adelard, Abbot of Corby, were ac- cordingly despatched to the Pope with instructions to ask whether it would be pleasing to his Holiness or not to have the Church of France, after the example of its Spanish sister, add the “ Filioque ” to the Creed. From the manner in which the Holy Father, Pope Leo, acted with the legates it is easy to see how displeased he was at learning that any Church should dare to tamper with the Creed without the supreme authority of the Holy See. He did not say to the legates that they might add it, nor did he say that they might not. If he said the first, he clearly foresaw the un- pleasant results that would ensue when the thing came to 262 The Celebration of Mass. the knowledge of the troublesome Greeks, who would not hear of any intermeddling whatever with the Creed of Nicaea, or Constantinople ; and if he said the second, he feared very much that the Spaniards and others might accuse him of favoring the Arians. He evaded a direct answer by saying to the legates : “ Had I been asked before the* insertion took place, I should have been against it; but now — which, however, I do not say decidedly, but merely as discussing the matter with you — as far as I see both things may thus be accomplished : Let the custom of singing that Creed cease in the palace, since it is not sung in our holy Church, and thus it will come to pass that what is given up by you will be given up by all ; and so, perhaps, as far as may be, both advantages will be secured.” The legates departed satisfied with this response, and Pope Leo, to evince his determination to preserve the Creed inviolate, caused two silver plates to be cast, upon which he had the symbol engraved in Latin and Greek and affixed to the gate of the Church of St. Paul. Por a full and interesting account of the entire interview between the legates of Charlemagne on this occasion and the Sovereign Pontiff, the reader is requested to consult Baronius, tome ix., or Neale’s Holy Eastern Church, ii. p. 1163. According to some, the final insertion of the “Filioque” was made by Pope Nicholas the Great somewhere between the years 858 and 867 ; others maintain that this was not authoritatively done until the time of Pope Benedict VIII. — that is, about the beginning of the eleventh century (see Perrone, P reelect tones Tlieol., iv. p. 346, note 8). It will interest the reader to know that the Uniat Greeks, or those in communion with Rome, are not required to recite the €C Filioque ” in the Creed at the present day, even though saying Mass in presence of the Supreme Pontiff. All that the Holy See requires of them in this matter is that they Part of the Mass at which the Creed is Recited. 2G3 believe in the doctrine involved in it, and be ready to make open profession of it when called upon to do so (ibid. p. 350, note 16). PART OF THE MASS AT WHICH THE CREED IS RECITED. According to the Roman Rite, the Creed is recited im- mediately after the Gospel, or after the sermon, if there should have been one. In the Mozarabic Rite it is recited just before the “ Pater Noster,” in accordance with a decree of the third Council of Toledo, a.d. 589, and this in order that the people may receive the Body and Blood of our Lord in Holy Communion with hearts full of fresh faith and love (Samma Conciliorum , p. 124; Liturg. Mozar ., Migne, p. 118, note). Eastern Practice regarding its Recital. — The Armenians recite the Creed at the same part of the Mass that we do — viz., after the Gospel. In the Liturgy of St. James it fol- lows soon after the expulsion of the catechumens. It is a little further on in the Liturgy of St. Chrysostom. The Nestorians recite it close upon the Canon, and the Copts immediately before the prayer of the “ Kiss of peace.” So great a veneration has the Russian Church for the Creed that the great bell of the Kremlin tolls the entire time of its chanting, and with many of the nobles of the land it is cus- tomary to have it worked in pearls upon their robes of state ( Holy Eastern Church , by Neale and Littledale, p. 32). Ceremonies attending the Recital of the Creed. — With very little exception the Creed is recited precisely as the “ Gloria in excelsis.” When the priest has come to the “et incar- natus est ” he begins to incline the knee so as to touch the ground at “homo factus est,” and this to recall more inti- mately to mind the profound humility of our Divine Lord in coming upon earth for our sakes and taking our nature upon 264 The Celebration of Mass. him (Romsee, iv. 118). The Carthusians make only a simple bow of the knee at this place, without touching the ground. According to the Roman Rite, the priest says the entire Creed at the centre of the altar before the crucifix. The Dominicans begin its initial words there, but finish the rest of it at the Gospel side, where the missal is. When they come to the place where the genuflection is to be made they move to the centre, and, having spread out the anterior part of the chasuble on the altar in front of them, kneel down and touch the ground as we do. They then return to the missal and finish the rest there. In the Masses that are said in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jersusalem — which, it is well to state, are always de Resurrections — instead of simply saying “et sepultus est,” it is of obligation to add the adverb “hie,” and say “was buried here” by way of specification of place (Yetromile, Travels in Europe and the Holy Land , p. 211). TO WHAT MASSES THE CREED IS PROPER. The Creed is said on all the Sundays of the year, in memory of our Lord’s resurrection on that day, and also out of deference to the Adorable Trinity, to whom Sunday, as being the principal liturgical day, is dedicated. During the rest of the week the Creed, as a general rule, is not said. Formerly it was not said on the feasts of the Holy Angels, inasmuch as they had nothing to do with it, but it is said now because they come under the “ invisibilium omnium” (Ferraris, p. 751). It will interest the reader to know that St. Mary Magdalene is the only female saint in heaven — the Mother of God alone excepted— who enjoys the privilege of having a Credo in her Mass, and this because, in the lan- guage of the Church, she is styled “ Apostola Apostolorum ” — the Apostle of Apostles — for it was to her, as the Scriptures testify, that our Lord first appeared after his resurrection. To what Masses the Creed is Proper . 265 The other occasions upon which the Credo is said are, with few exceptions, comprehended under the old dictum of rubricists, “ Muc non credunt.” Taking the letters of Muc apart, we have “m,” which stands for martyrs; “u,” or “v,” for virgins , ividows, and non-virgins; and “ c,” for confessors, all of whom have no Credo special to them. As exceptions to this rule may be mentioned the feasts of the apostles and doctors of the Church, also those of our Lord and his Blessed Mother. With us the Creed is never said in Masses for the dead, but it is with the Greeks, who also on such occasions celebrate in red vestments instead of in black, as is our custom. CHAPTER XXIV. OFFERTORY. The word Offertory — from the Latin offerre , to offer — is now used in two special senses, the first, meaning the prayer called in the Missal the Offertorium , which the priest reads immediately after the Creed ; the second, all that takes place at the altar from the end of this prayer to the end of the oblation of the bread and wine. In the early ages of the Church it was customary for the people to present here bread and wine for the use of the altar, oil for the sanctuary-lamp, incense for Solemn High Mass, and ears of corn and clusters of grapes as the first- fruits of the land (Bona, p. 332). By the third of the Apostolic Canons, nothing but what was required for the Holy Sacrifice could he placed on the altar ; all the other offerings were usually received on a side-table prepared for the purpose, and called in ancient books, and yet so styled by the Greeks, the Gazopliilacium. The Council of Trullo, 1 in the year 692, forbade the offering of milk and honey. The Council of Carthage, in 397, allowed these commodities to be offered once a year — viz., at Easter — because it was customary at that time especially to give milk and honey to the newly baptized ; a custom which is yet almost univer- sally observed in the East. In presenting these gifts the 1 So called because the room of the emperor’s palace at Constantinople where this council was held was shaped after the manner of a trutta, or basin. It was this council that forbade the making of the cross on the pavements, lest people walking upon it may desecrate it. The Order in which the Offerings were Presented. 207 people usually gave in their names also, in order that they might be recorded among those for whom the priest made a special memento ; and it served, too, for determining who it was that intended going to Holy Communion on that occasion, for, as a general rule, all who presented offerings approached the Blessed Eucharist (ibid., p. 333). This ancient custom is yet kept up in many European churches, at Lyons especially ; and vestiges of it may be seen in the Masses of ordination, where the elect to orders present wax candles at this place to the ordaining bishop ; also in the Mass of the consecration of a bishop-elect, where the newly-appointed offers two lighted candles, two loaves of bread, and two ornamental small barrels of wine. Accord- ing to Kozma (p. 186), this ancient custom continued, with little interruption, up to the thirteenth century, when it gave place to that in vogue to-day of receiving the people’s offerings in the pews throughout the church. THE ORDER IN WHICH THE OFFERINGS TVERE PRESENTED. The Roman Ordo, describing the Offertory as it was ob- served in the ninth century, tells us that the people pre- sented their gifts in a clean linen cloth, the male portion of the congregation leading the way, and the females after them with their cakes of fine flour and cruses of wine. The priests and deacons presented gifts after the people, but these were of bread simply. When the bishop was present the onus of receiving the gifts devolved always upon him. For this reason, as soon as the time for presenting them had arrived, his lordship walked over to the end of the altar- rail, followed by an archdeacon, a subdeacon, and two aco- lytes. The subdeacon, with an empty chalice, followed immediately after the archdeacon, who, upon receiving the offerings of wine from the hands of the bishop (who himself 268 The Celebration of Mass. had received them first from the people), poured them into the large chalice held by the subdeacon. The offerings of bread were handed direct by the bishop to the subdeacon, who placed them in a large linen cloth carried by two aco- lytes. When all was ended the bishop washed his hands (a custom yet observed in a Bishop’s Mass), and, having returned to the altar, there received the offerings of the priests and deacons. All that remained over and above what was necessary for the immediate wants of the altar on these occasions, went into a common fund for the suste- nance of the clergy and the poor of the parish (Kozma, ibid . ) A question that is not easily settled is this : Did any of the congregation approach the altar at the Offertory and place their gifts upon it, instead of presenting them at the rails, as we have described ? The discipline of allowing no one inside the sanctuary but the ministers of the altar was always very strictly observed in the Greek Church, except in case of the emperors of Constantinople, in whose favor an exception was made ; and that it was strictly observed, too, in the Latin Church, at least for quite a long time, may be Clearly seen from the conciliar statutes that were made con- cerning it. But that there were places and times when a re- laxation of this discipline was allowed to be made, there is every reason to believe, and it is generally understood that at least the male portion of the congregation went up with their gifts to the altar itself, but that the female portion presented them at the rails. This, certainly, was the cus- tom throughout the diocese of Orleans, in France, as we learn from the capitulary of Theodulf, bishop of that see. Cardinal Bona says that in course of time this whole disci- pline was so relaxed that both males and females approached the altar indiscriminately when the Offertory was at hand {ller. Litnrg., p. 336). Music during the Offertory. • 269 ANCIENT LOCAL CUSTOMS REGARDING THE OFFERING OF GIFTS. As late as the sixteenth century a very singular custom prevailed in England — viz., that of presenting at the altar during a Mass of Requiem all the armor and military equipments of deceased knights and noblemen, as well as their chargers. Dr. Eock ( Church of Our Fathers , ii. 507) tells us that as many as eight horses, fully capari- soned, used to be brought into the church for this pur- pose at the burial of some of the higher nobility. At the funeral of Henry VII., in Westminster Abbey, after the royal arms had first been presented at the foot of the altar, we are told that Sir Edward Howard rode into church upon “agoodlie courser,” with the arms of England em- broidered upon his trappings, and delivered him to the abbots of the monastery (ibid.) Something similar hap- pened at the Mass of Requiem for the repose of the soul of Lord Bray, in a.d. 1557, and at that celebrated for Prince Arthur, son of Henry VII. (ibid.) MUSIC DURING THE OFFERTORY. IJp to the fourth century the presentation of gifts took place in silence, but after this period the custom of singing psalms at this place, in order to relieve the tedium of the people, was introduced (Kozma, pp. 186, 187). St. Augustine alludes particularly to this custom in his works (see Retract ., 1. ii. c. xi.), and a precedent for it may be seen in the old law, where the sons of Aaron, while the high-priest was offering the blood of the grape, sounded their silver trum- pets, and the singers lifted up their voices and caused the great house to resound with sweet melody ( Ecclesiasticus , chap. 1.) The custom very generally prevails here to-day of singing, 270 The Celebration of Mass . instead of the Offertorium itself, a certain musical composi- tion called a motet,* in which several voices join, accom- panied by instruments. These motets must be always sung in Latin, never in English, or any other language, without the permission of the Holy See. They must be character- ized, too, by gravity and dignity both as to wording and rendition, so as to be qualified to raise the feelings to a con- templation of heavenly things rather than excite in them earthly desires (Benedict XIV., 1. c., § 89). The Offertorium , according to the present disposition of the Roman Missal, is, for the most part, very short, seldom exceeding half a dozen lines. It is generally taken from the Psalter of David, and was formerly called an antiphon , for the reason that in the Antiphonary of Pope Gregory the Great certain verses used to *be attached to it after the manner of a versicle and response. Whenever the offer- ing of the gifts on the part of the people took up more time than usual, it was customary to sing the entire psalm here, or at least as much of it as would occupy the whole time that elapsed from the reading of the Offertorium by the priest to the end of the offering of gifts (Romsee, iv. 125 ; Kozma, pp. 186, 187). The Offertorium common to all Masses for the dead is yet formed after the ancient manner of an antiphon, a versicle, and a response, though it is not, like the great ma- jority, taken from the psalms. In fact, it is from no part of 2 The word motet comes originally from the Latin movere , to move ; but whether this name has been given it from its moving effect upon the feelings, or from its some- what lively and more sprightly nature in opposition to the slow, measured motion of plain chant, authors are not prepared to say. Morley, in his Introduction to Har- mony, p. 179, thus writes of it : “A motet is properly a song made for the Church, either upon some hymn or anthem, or such like ; and that name I take to have been given to that kind of musicke, in opposition to the other, which they call ‘ canto flrmo,’ and we do commonlie call plain chant ; for as nothing is more opposite to standing and firmness than motion, so did they give the motet that name of moving, because it is, in a manner, quite contrarie to the other.” The Offertorium . 271 Holy Scripture. As this same Offertorium, on account of its strange wording, has given rise to much curious ques- tioning, some going so far as to say that the Church in- tends by it the liberation of the souls of the damned from hell, we deem it well to give it entire to the reader, and make the necessary comments afterwards : “ Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hell and the deep lake ; deliver them from the mouth of the lion, lest Tartarus swal- low them up, lest they fall into the dark place ; but let the standard-bearer, St. Michael, bring them into the holy light which thou didst of old promise to Abraham and his posterity. ” In a secondary way all this may he applied to Purgatory ; but to our mind the intrinsic beauty and effect of the whole prayer would be lost if this were its exclusive application. Its true explanation is this : In the very early days of the Church Masses for the faithful departed were accustomed to be celebrated the moment it became known that any given soul was in its last agony, and, consequently, past all chance of recovery. It made no difference what time of the day this happened, or whether the priest who said the Mass was fast- ing or not. The virtue of the Holy Sacrifice was then sup- posed to ascend before the throne of God simultaneously with the departure of the soul of the deceased to the tribunal of judgment, and the merciful God was besought, in consideration of this, not to condemn it to hell’s flames. (The authors who say that this view may be taken of it are Pope Benedict XIV., Dc Sacros. Misses Sacrif.; Romsee, iv. 126 ; Cavalieri, tom. iii. dec. 19 ; Grancolas, De Missis Mortuorum , p. 536; Gavantus, Thesaur . Sacr. Rit., p. 92.) A moment’s consideration would enable any one to see that Purgatory never could have been directly meant by the word- ing of this Offertorium. For what fear, it might be asked, 272 The Celebration of Mass. could there be entertained of having a soul swallowed up by Tartarus, or drowned in the “deep lake/’ who was already secure in that middle state, and whose eternal happiness was certain ? The souls in Purgatory are in a state of grace, and, as there is no danger of their ever falling from it, it would be idle, nay, heretical, to pray for them as if such danger existed. To this interpretation it is sometimes objected that the entire tenor of these Masses would lead a person to suppose that the soul for whom they are designed to be offered had been some time dead ; how, then, it is asked, can this view be reconciled ? Although the ancient custom of saying these Masses when the soul was in its last agony no longer exists, still the Church has not deemed it necessary to change their wording, inasmuch as it may yet be easily veri- fied by supposing the time at which these Masses are now offered withdrawn to that very moment in the past when the soul was leaving the body. Instances of thus withdraw- ing from the present time, and representing an event as yet to take place which has really already taken place, is by no means uncommon in the offices of the Church. The whole of Advent time, for example, is framed upon this principle. We pray then for the coming of the great Messias with as much earnestness as if he were yet to appear. We ask the heavens to open and rain down the Just One. We beg of God to send us a Redeemer, and we ask the aid of His divine grace to enable us to prepare in our hearts a suitable dwell- ing into which to receive Him. Many more examples may be cited to show that this mode of praying is by no means unusual. St. Michael is here styled God’s standard- bearer because chief of the heavenly host ; and it was to him, as ancient tradition states, that the duty of hurling Satan and the rest of the fallen angels from heaven was entrusted. He is called the “Winged Angel,” and is gene- Lli e Offertory proper . 273 rally represented in art with a shield and lance. When depicted as the conqueror of Satan he stands in armor with his foot upon the demon, who is represented prostrate in the shape of a fierce dragon. As lord of souls St. Michael holds a balance in his hand. According to an ancient legend, it was he who appeared to our Blessed Lady to announce the time of her death, and conduct her afterwards to the throne of her Divine Son in heaven. It may interest the reader to be told that the old English coin called an angel received its name from the fact that St. Michael was depicted upon it (see Legends and Stories Illus- trated in Art, by Clara E. Hemans, p. 228). After the priest has recited the Offertorium he proceeds without delay to the Offertory proper. The chalice, which had stood up to this time on the corporal in the centre of the altar, is now uncovered, and the oblation of the Host, resting on the paten, is made with the following words : “ Accept, Holy Father, Omnipotent, Eternal God, this im- maculate Host which I, thy unworthy servant, offer thee, my living and true God, for my innumerable sins, offences, and negligences, and for all who are present ; moreover, for all faithful Christians, living and dead, that it may avail both me and them unto salvation and life everlasting.” Having finished this prayer, the priest lowers the paten, and, having made the sign of the cross with it over the corporal, places the Host upon the latter, near its anterior edge, where it re- mains until the time of Communion. 3 He places the paten itself at his right, partially covering it with the corporal, and lays the purificator over the rest of it. At Solemn High Mass the paten is not placed here, but is wrapped up by the subdeacon in a corner of the humeral veil, and held * The reader must not suppose that it remains so undisturbed until the time of Communion. This would not be true, for at the consecration the priest takes it in his hands, and docs so frequently afterwards. 274 The Celebration of Mass . partially elevated by him below near the altar-rails until the end of the “ Pater nos ter.” This ceremony is intended to preserve a vestige of a very ancient rite, the explanation of which is generally given as follows: For the first six centuries of the Christian Church it was on the paten that the Hosts used to be consecrated and broken, and from it distributed to the people at Holy Communion. This we clearly see from the words of the Sacramentary of Pope Gregory the Great, to wit : “ We consecrate and sanctify this paten for confecting in it the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ.” But when this custom ceased, in order that the paten may not lie uselessly on the altar and impede the operations of the priest (for in ancient times, as we have already stated else- where, it was of very large proportions), it used to be given in charge to the subdeacon until it was needed again. Why the subdeacon held it rather than any of the other ministers was to remind him of his office, because it was his duty to see always to the bread of oblation, as may clearly be understood from the words addressed him at his ordina- tion ; and then, again, he was more free from this part of the Mass to the time of Communion than any of the rest in the sanctuary (see Romsee, ii. 32, note ; Catalanus, Com- ment. in Pontif. Eomanumj Muhlbauer, De Or dim Subd ., i. 41). Regarding the expression “ immaculate host,” applied here to what is as yet but mere bread, enquiries are often made ; the answer to all of which is that the appellation is given solely by way of anticipation of what is going to take place at consecration. “We do not call the bread and wine an immaculate host,” says Hofmeister, “ but the Body and Blood of the Lord which they are changed into. Therefore, not from what they now are, but from what they are going to be, are they dignified with such a title ” (Bona, Rer. Litarg., p. 337). The Offertory proper. 275 Having completed the oblation of the bread > the priest takes the chalice in hand and goes to the Epistle corner to receive the wine and water from the server. The amount of wine placed in the chalice on the occasion is, as a general rule, about as much as would fill a small wine-glass, and the water added must never exceed two or three drops. To ap- proach as nearly as possible to the proper quantity, and have an exact measure to go by, it is customary to use a small spoon in many places of Europe for this purpose. The wine is poured into the chalice without either a blessing or a prayer ; but as the water is added the priest makes the sign of the cross over it and recites the following prayer in the meantime : “ 0 God ! who didst wonderfully form the sub- stance of human nature, and more wonderfully still regene- rate it, grant us, by the mystery of this water and wine, to be united with the divinity of Him who deigned to become partaker of our humanity, thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.” Liturgical writers seem to be unanimous in holding that the literal reason for mixing a few drops of water here with the wine is to commemorate what our Lord himself most probably did at the Last Supper ; for it was always customary in his time, and the custom remains yet unchanged through- out the entire East, to temper the wine, before drinking it, with a little water. A neglect of this was looked upon by the Jews as a great breach of etiquette. 4 But besides this literal reason there are several mystical reasons for this very ancient ceremony. In the first place, as the prayer recited while adding the water implies, it is intended to remind us 4 Bannister, in his Temple* of the HeJrrew*, p. 233, tells us that water was always mingled with the wine at the Feast of the Passover, and that the master of the assem- bly offered a form of thanksgiving on the occasion by using these words : “ Blessed be thon, O Lord ! who hast created the fruit of the vine.” %% The Celebration of Mass. of the very close union that exists between ourselves and our Lord — so close, indeed, that we are said to partake in a mea- sure of his divinity, as he partook of our humanity and became like unto us in all things, as the apostle says, sin alone excepted. Secondly, this mixture recalls to mind the blood and water which issued from our Lord’s side on the cross wdien pierced by the spear. Thirdly, it has a reference, according to some, to Holy Baptism, in virtue of which we are all regenerated. The small quantity of water added on this occasion is said to be intended as a reminder of the few- ness of the elect at the last day (Gavantus, p. 199). WHY THE WATER IS BLESSED BEFORE PUTTIHG IT IHTO THE CHALICE. It will always remain a wonder to us why the blessing of the water here has occasioned so much anxious enquiry, and given rise to an almost interminable amount of discussion, when the reason is so close at hand. It is blessed here simply because it cannot be found by itself afterwards. The wine is not blessed until immediately before the con- secration — that is, when the priest makes the sign of the cross over it at the word “benedixit.” It is at this part of the Mass that the bread also receives its special blessing, and not at the Offertory. Formerly the water w T as not blessed at this place — and is not even now in Masses for the dead— but was let fall into the chalice in the form of a cross, a custom which we see yet in vogue with the Car- thusians. The Carmelites and Dominicans place the wine and the water in the chalice at the beginning of Mass ; the Carthusians put the wine in at that place, too, hut not until the Offertory. The reason usually alleged for putting the wine and water into the chalice at this early stage is that sufficient time maybe given for the water to be converted into the substance of the wine before consecra- Why the Water is Blessed before Using. 277 tion takes place. A rubric to this effect thus reads in the Dominican Missal : “ Tantam quantitatem. aquse distillet in calicem, quae facillime tota possit in vinum converti” — “ He drops as much water into the chalice as may very easily be converted, in its entirety, into the substance of the wine.” Few questions gave rise to more spirited argu- mentation in the middle ages, especially towards the latter part, than that which respected the mingling of the water with the wine, as here alluded to ; some holding that the water was immediately taken up by the wine and made part of its own substance, while others maintained that the water always remained as it was, even after consecration, and was not transubstantiated at all, as the wine was. Pope Innocent III. discusses the question at full length in his treatise on the Mass, but abstains from giving any definite decision in the matter. According to St. Thomas Aquinas (par. 3., quest. 74, art. 8) and St. Bonaventure (dis. ii. par. 2, art. 1, q. 3), the water is not converted immediately into the Body and Blood of our Lord in this case, but me- diately only — that is, it is first converted into wine, and then both, as one entire body, are transubstantiated. All the Thomists and Scotists alike held this. Local Customs. — -The priests of the Ambrosian Rite, in pouring the water into the chalice, say : “ Out of the side of Christ there flowed blood and water at the same time. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” The priests of Lyons Cathedral say : “From the side of our Lord Jesus Christ there issued blood and water at the time of his Passion ; this is a mys- tery of the Blessed Trinity. John the Evangelist saw it and bore witness of the fact, and we know that his testi- mony is true.” In the Mozarabic Rite the formula is : “ From the side of our Lord Jesus Christ blood and water are said to have flowed ; and, therefore, we mix them, in 278 The Celebration of Mass. order that the merciful God may vouchsafe to sanctify both for the salvation of our souls.” OBLATION OF THE CHALICE. The priest, in making this oblation, holds the chalice with both hands raised before his face while he recites the fol- lowing prayer : “We offer thee, 0 Lord! the chalice of sal- vation, beseeching thy clemency that it may ascend in the sight of thy divine Majesty with the odor of sweetness for our salvation and for that of the whole world. Amen.” He then lowers the chalice, and, placing it on the corporal immediately behind the Host, covers it with the pall. Up to the fifteenth century the practice was very much in vogue of placing the chalice not behind the Host, as now, but at the right of it — that is, opposite the left of the priest — and this with a view to catch the Precious Blood, as it were, as it flowed from the body of our Lord when opened by the sol- dier’s spear. The tradition in the Eastern Church as well as the Western, has always been that it was our Lord’s right side that was pierced on the cross, and not the left (Rock, Church of Our Fathers , i. 261 ; Translation of the Primitive Liturgies, p. 182, note 12, by Neale and Littledale). The plural form “we offer” used in this prayer, instead of the singular “ I offer,” is retained here, some say, from Solemn High Mass, where the deacon touches the chalice with his hand while the celebrant is making its oblation, and thus offers it conjointly with him (Romsee, iv. 141). Others see in the retention of the plural a special reference to the duty of the deacon — viz., of dispensing the chalice to the people when the custom of communicating under both spe- cies was in vogue (Bona, Per. Liturg., p. 338). And as to the retention of the plural form when no deacon assists, as is the case in Low Mass, authors tell us that Pope Gregory the Great was very fond of employing the plural instead of the Oblation of the Chalice . 279 singular, and that very likely he allowed this to stand un- touched, as he did the form “ benedicite, Pater reverende,” instead of “benedic, Pater ” (Le Brun, Explication des Prieres et des Ceremonies de la Messe, ii. p. 60, note a). After the oblation of the chalice the priest inclines slightly, and, placing his hands united, palm to palm, on the altar, recites the following prayer : ‘‘In a spirit of hu- mility and with contrite heart may we be received by thee, 0 Lord ! and grant that the sacrifice we offer this day in thy sight may be pleasing to thee, 0 Lord God ! ” The priest then becomes erect, and presently, raising, then lowering his hands, invokes the Holy Ghost, saying : “ Come, 0 Sanctifier, Omnipotent, Eternal God! and bless this sacrifice prepared to thy holy name.” Upon saying “bless” he makes the sign of the cross over the Host and chalice con- jointly. This prayer affords the only instance in the whole Mass where the Holy Ghost is invoked expressly by name, for which reason some have supposed that it is God the Father who is meant ; but, as Romsee very well says, we do not apply the term come to the Father, but only to God the Son, or God the Holy Ghost, both of whom are always sent, or implored that they might come ; but God the Father, who sends them, is never addressed in this way (Romsee, iv. p. 146). In many ancient missals the Holy Ghost used to be mentioned in this prayer expressly, and is so mentioned yet in the Mozarabic Rite, where the prayer of invocation thus begins: “Come, 0 Holy Ghost, Sanctifier!” etc. In commenting on this prayer Pope Benedict XIV. says, in his treatise on the Mass, that it is addressed to the Third Per- son of the Blessed Trinity, in order that, as the Body of our Blessed Lord was formed by the power and operation of this Holy Spirit in the chaste womb of the Blessed Virgin, it may be formed anew by the same Spirit upon the altar of God ( Enchiridion de Sacrif. Missce , p. 5-3). 280 'lice Celebration of Mass. At Solemn High Mass incense is brought on the altar after this prayer, and the oblation, as well as the altar it- self and its ministers, are incensed. Then follows the in- censation of all in the sanctuary, and, finally, of the people of the congregation. We have not deemed it necessary to enter more minutely into this ceremony, as our book is not a treatise on rubrics. Having recited the prayer “ Come, 0 Sanctifier!” the priest goes to the Epistle corner, and there washes the tips of his fingers — not of all his fingers, but only of the thumb and index-finger of each hand, as it is these, and these only, that are allowed to touch the Blessed Sacrament, for which reason they are sometimes called the canoni- cal fingers ; and it is they which were anointed with holy oil by the bishop when the priest was ordained. While per- forming this ablution the priest recites that portion of the twenty-fifth Psalm which begins with “ I will wash my hands among the innocents.” Besides the literal reason of this ablution, there is a beautiful mystical reason also — to wit, that in order to offer so tremendous a sacrifice as that in which the victim is none else than the Son of God himself, the priest’s conscience must be free from the slightest stain of sin. “This signifies,” says St. Cyril of Jerusalem, in his fifth book of Catechesis , “ that our souls must be purified from all sins and wickedness. For, as the hands are the instruments of action, the washing of them shows the purity of our desires.” St. Hermanns says to the same effect: “The washing of a priest’s hands should re- mind him that we must approach the holy table with a clean conscience, mind, and thoughts (the hands of the soul), with fear, meekness, and heartfelt sincerity.” It is worth noting here that the priest does not remain at the centre of the altar while washing his hands, but goes to the Epistle corner, and this out of respect for the Blessed Sacrament “Orate Fratres.” 281 enclosed in the tabernacle and for the crucifix. In case the Blessed Sacrament should be exposed, to show a still greater degree of respect, he descends one step at the Epistle side, and, standing so as to have his back turned to the wall and not to the altar, performs the ablution there. The Church is very particular in all that concerns the reverence due to the Holy Eucharist. Having performed this ablution, the priest returns to the centre of the altar, where, bowing down slightly, he recites the following prayer: “ Receive, 0 Holy Trinity! this obla- tion, which we offer thee in memory of the passion, resurrec- tion, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ ; in honor of Blessed Mary ever Virgin ; of blessed John the Baptist ; and of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, of these and of all the Saints, that it may tend to their honor and to our salvation, and that they whose memory we celebrate upon earth may deign to intercede for us in heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.” During the first four centuries the Church was very careful in alluding to the Blessed Trinity, for the reason that she feared it might lead the pagans and infidels to suppose that she worshipped a plurality of Gods. She wisely abstained, therefore, from addressing her public prayers to any of the three Divine Persons but the Father only. This prayer, although not of as high antiquity as some of the others, is yet very old, for we find it in the so-called Illyric Missal, supposed to date as far back as the seventh century (Romsee, p. 15G). “ ORATE FRATRES.” Having finished this prayer, the priest turns round to the congregation and salutes them with “ Orate fratres,” or “ Pray, brethren,” which he continues reciting as follows : “ That my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Father Almighty.” The reason generally assigned for 282 The Celebration of Mass . only saying the first two words of this prayer in an audible tone is that the singers may not be disturbed while going through their offertorial pieces {ibid.) To this prayer the server answers, “ May the Lord receive this Sacrifice from thy hands, to the praise and glory of his name, for our bene- fit also, and that of his entire holy Church. ” At the end the priest says “Amen” secretly. Although there should be none but females assisting at a priest’s Mass, as is frequently the case in convents, still the form of salutation must not be changed from the masculine gender ; nor must any addition whatever be made to it by reason of the attendance of the opposite sex. In ancient times, however, such a change used to be made in some places, for we find that the Sarum Rite used to say, “ Orate fratres et sorores ” — “Pray, brethren and sisters”; and the form may also be seen in a Missal of Cologne 5 printed in the year 1133. THE “ SECRETJE,” OR SECRET PRATERS. Having said “Amen” after the server’s response to the “ Orate fratres,” the priest, standing at the centre of the altar, reads from the missal, placed at his left (Gospel side), the prayers called “ Secretse,” which always correspond in number with the collects read at the beginning of Mass. As to how the term secret came to be applied to these prayers much diversity of opinion exists. According to some, this I 6 The Cathedral of Cologne is the finest specimen of Gothic architecture in the world. It was begun in 1248, and is yet in process of building. Its two massive towers will, when completed, be each 500 feet high— that is, about 50 feet higher than St. Peter’s at Rome, and 25 feet higher than the tower of the great Cathedral of Strass- burg, which ranks now as the highest structure in the world. The Cathedral of Cologne has the rare privilege of possessing the skulls of the Magi who came to adore our Lord on Christmas morning. They are preserved in silver cases studded with gems, and their names— viz., Gaspar, Melchior, and Baltassar — are wrought upon them ja rubies, Offertory in the Oriental Church. 283 name was given them because they were the first prayers re- cited after the catechumens had been dismissed or set apart (secret i) from the rest of the congregation, the Latin origin of the word — viz., secernere — favoring this interpretation. Others say they are so called from the fact that they are re- cited- over that part of the offerings presented by the peo- ple, according to the ancient rite, which was separated and set aside from the rest for altar purposes. The great weight of authority, however, inclines towards attributing their name to the fact that they were recited secretly — that is, in a sort of whisper — in order not to disturb the singers, who in ancient times were stationed in the choir quite close to the altar. In order to have as little difference as possible between one kind of Mass and another, the Church has allowed many things to remain in Low Mass which really had their origin in High Mass, and, as we have taken care to state already, the majority of Masses in the early days were of the latter kind (Romsee, p. 162 ; Enchi- ridion Sac. Missce, ex Opere Bened. XIV., p. 55). At the end of the last secret prayer the Offertory is said, strictly speak- ing, to conclude. OFFERTORY IN THE ORIENTAL CHURCH. From what we have said in another place regarding the singular care which is taken by the Orientals in the matter of the sacrificial oblations, it will be easy to understand why the custom so long prevalent in the Western Church — viz., of receiving bread and wine from the people for altar pur- poses — never gained any ground with them. The Orientals take nothing for the holy Mass except what has been first prepared and presented by their own clergy. There is, then, strictly speaking, no offering on the part of the people in the Oriental Church, but donations in the shape of money are handed in for the sustenance of the ^lcrgy. “ Refore 284 The Celebration of Mass . they go to the Prothesis ” (the cruet- table), says Dr. Covel, “ to begin the liturgy, all good people who are disposed to have their absent friends, living or dead, commemorated go to them that celebrate and get their names set down there being two catalogues, one for the living, one for the dead— for which they deposit some aspers, or richer presents in silver or gold, as they are able or disposed, this being a great part of the common maintenance of a priest, especially in country villages” (Neale and Littledale, Primitive Litur- gies, p. 186, note). This offering, then, takes place in the East at the beginning of Mass, at what is called the Lit- tle Entrance , or Introit, and there is no offering whatever made at the Offertory proper. Before we pass on to the next portion of the Mass we beg to delay the reader here a while, in order to say a few words about certain liturgical appurtenances that were in quite general use in days gone by. We refer to the Holy Fan (, Sacrum Flabellum ), the Colum or Strainer, and the Comb . THE HOLY FAN. For quite a long time the custom prevailed in the Western Church, and we see it continues yet in the Eastern, of em- ploying a fan at the Offertory, and up to the end of Com- munion, for the purpose of driving away flies and other troublesome insects from the priest and the sacred oblation. The charge of this fan was entrusted to the deacon, and its delivery to him at his ordination formed, in early days, one of the necessary things, and is still so considered in the Greek Rite. In the ancient Rite of Sarum these fans were remarkable for the beauty and costliness of their workmanship, being sometimes made of the purest silver and gold curiously wrought. In an inventory found in the Cathedral of Salis- The Holy Fan, 285 bury, in 1222, a fan of pure silver is mentioned. In the great Cathedral of York there was a precious fan which ex- hibited on one side an enamelled picture of the bishop of that see ( Church of Our Fathers, iii. p. 200). Sometimes these fans were made of parchment finely wrought, and sometimes again of peacock’s feathers. They had a long handle attached, which was, for the most part, made of ivory. Hano, Bishop of Rochester, gave a fan to his cathe- dral in 1346 which was made of precious silk, with an ivory handle (ibid.) The earliest definite account that we have of these fans is that which is furnished by the so-called Apostolic Constitu- tions. These give the following directions concerning their use : “ Let two deacons stand on both sides of the altar, holding a small fan made of parchment, peacock’s feathers, or fine linen, and with a gentle motion let them keep away the flies, in order that none of them may fall into the cha- lice ” (Riddle, Christian Antiquities, p. 603). We have said that the use of the fan is yet kept up by the Orientals during divine service. That employed by the Maronites is circular in shape, and has a number of little bells round its rim. It is generally made of silver or brass ( Church of Our Fathers, p. 179). The Greek fan — of which Goar gives a full account, with a print on the opposite page, in his Eucliol. Grcec., p. 136 — is made in the shape of the winged face of a cherub. In the Western Church fans were symbolic of the Holy Spirit, and the flies and other troublesome insects which the fan was made to banish were supposed to be vain and distracting thoughts (Durandus, Rationale Divinorum, iv. p. 35). As the fan of the Greek Church resembled a cherub in shape, its motion during Mass symbolized the flitting about of these blessed spirits before the throne of God (Prim. Liturgies, by Neale and Little- dale, Introduction, p. xxix.) 286 The Celebration of Mass, THE STRAIKER. In order to have the wine for the service of the altar wholly free from all manner of impurity, it was customary in the early days to pass it into the chalice through a litur- gical appurtenance called a colam , or strainer. This strainer, like all the other sacred utensils used about the altar, was frequently made of the most costly material, and was looked upon as filling a very important part in the service of the Mass. As a general rule it was made of silver, shaped like a spoon, and perforated with a number of very minute holes through which the pure wine was passed into the chalice in a filtered state. Cardinal Bona speaks at some length of these in his Rer, Liturg., p. 293. THE COMB. Another ancient liturgical utensil, which perhaps we should have spoken of sooner, was the comb, employed for the purpose of keeping the celebrant’s hair in order during divine service. These were for the most part made of ivory, but we find them of silver and gold very frequently, and studded in many cases with pearls. The Cathedral of Sens has yet among its ancient curiosities a liturgical comb of ivory, with the inscription, “Pecten sancti Lupi ” — “ The comb of St. Lupus” — engraved upon it. St. Lupus was bishop of this place in the year 609, from which we see that the comb is of a very high antiquity ( Church of Our Fa- thers, ii. p. 124). The Cathedral of Sarum, in England, had a vast number of ivory combs of this nature beautifully finished ; and as a curious bit of information we mention that among the spoils carried away from Glastonbury Abbey by the English Nabuchodonosor, Henry VIII., there is mentioned “ a combe The Comb. 287 of golde, garnishede with small turquases and other course stones” (Dugdale, Mon. Ang ., tom. i. p. 63, from Dr. Rock). When the bishop officiated the deacon and subdeacon combed his hair as soon as his sandals had been put on ; when the celebrant was a priest the office of combing was first performed for him in the vestry, and then at stated times during Mass. The rule in this respect was that when- ever the officiating minister stood up after having been seat- ed for some time, and took otf his cap, his hair was combed before he ascended the altar. While the process of combing was going on a cloth was spread over the shoulders to pre- vent the sacred vestments from being soiled. Durandus, who is always ready with a mystic meaning for everything, says that the stray hairs which lie upon the head now and then are the superfluous thoughts which trouble us from time to time and hinder us from paying the attention that we ought to our sacred duties ( Rationale , pp. 149, 150). The use of the comb in the Western Church is now en- tirely unknown, but it may yet be seen in some churches of the East, for nearly all the Eastern clergy allow the beard to grow freely down the face after the manner of the ancient patriarchs (see Romanoff, Rites and Customs of the Greco- Russian Church , p. 401), for which reason combing be- comes frequently necessary in order to jn*esent a neat and becoming appearance. CHAPTER XXV. THE CELEBRATION OF MASS. THE PREFACE. At the end of the last secret prayer the priest raises his yoice and says, “Per omnia saecula saeculorum,” to which the server answers, “ Amen.” He then says, “ Dominus vo- biscum,” without, however, turning to the people, and now enters upon the Preface, so called because it is, as it were, a preparation for the most solemn part of the whole Mass — viz., the Canon. The reason why the priest does not turn round to the people at this place when he says “Dominus vobiscum ” is founded on that ancient custom which once prevailed in the West, and still continues in the East, of drawing aside the sanctuary curtains so as to hide the altar from the congregation the moment the Preface began. As there were no persons in sight then to salute, it was not deemed necessary to turn round, and a vestige of this ancient practice is here kept up (Kozma, p. 193). After the “ Dominus vobiscum ” the priest raises his hands aloft and says, “ Sursum corda” — “Your hearts up- wards ”; that is, “ Lift your thoughts to heaven ” — to which the server responds, “We have lifted them up to the Lord.” The “ Sursum corda ” is, no doubt, taken from the Lamen- tations of Jeremias (iii. 41), and is found in all the litur- gies of the East and West. The solemn motion of the priest’s hands, as he raises them on high while pronounc- ing this sacred admonition, is aptly compared by several Antiquity of Hie Preface. 289 liturgical writers to the outspreading wings of a dove when going to fly, and forcibly recalls to mind that beautiful say- ing of King David, “ Who will give me the wings of a dove, and I will fly and be at rest ?•” ( Ps . liv.) After the “Sur- sum corda ” the priest says, “ Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro ” — Let us return thanks to the Lord our God ” — to which the server answers, i( Dignum et justum est ” — “It is meet and just.” The priest then enters on the Pre- face proper, and continues reciting it to the end without fur- ther interruption. The question is sometimes asked. Where does the Preface really begin ? Strictly speaking, not till the “Sursum cor- da,” for the “ Per omnia saecula saeculorum” belongs to the conclusion of the last secret prayer, and the “Dominus vo- biscum ” is a salutation to the people ; but as all our missals begin the Preface at the “ Per omnia saecula saeculorum,” it is well that this should be considered its true beginning. In the Mozarabic Liturgy the Preface is called the Inlatio , or Inference, from the fact, as Cardinal Bona conjectures, that the priest infers from the responses of the people that it is meet and just to give thanks to the Lord. In some ancient manuscripts it is called the Immolation, for the reason that it is, as it were, an introduction to that most sacred part of the Mass where Christ our Lord, the Immaculate Lamb, is newly immolated as on Calvary of old. ANTIQUITY OF THE PREFACE, AND THE NUMBER OF PRE- FACES NOW USED. The use of the Preface in the Mass is, according to the best authorities, of apostolic origin. For quite a long time it was customary to have a special one for every feast that occurred, so that the number was once very great. Ac- cording to Keale, as many as two hundred and forty are yet preserved. 290 The Celebration of Mass . In the Mozarabic Rite there is still a proper Preface for every Sunday and festival ; and the Ambrosians, or Milanese, have a different one every day in the week (Neale, Holy Eastern Church , i. p. 467). Towards the eleventh century the Roman Church reduced the entire number to nine, to which two others were subsequently added, making in all eleven, which is the number of distinct Prefaces that we use to-day. Their names are as follows : 1st, the Preface of the Nativity, or Christmas day ; 2d, the Preface of the Epiphany, or 6th of January ; 3d, the Preface of Quadra- gesima, or Lent ; 4th, the Preface of the Cross and Pas- sion ; 5th, the Preface of Easter Sunday ; 6th, the Preface of the Ascension ; 7th, the Preface of Pentecost ; 8th, the Preface of the Blessed Trinity; 9th, the Preface of the Blessed Virgin ; 10th, the Preface of the Apostles ; 11th, the Preface of the Common. Preface of the Blessed Trinity. — It is admitted by all that this Preface is a masterpiece of composition. It reads very like a work of inspiration, and is, as far as its theology goes, the most profound of the eleven. We subjoin a trans- lation of it in full, but we beg to remind the reader that to be fully appreciated it must be read in its original tongue, the Latin. When rendered into English much of its sub- limity is lost : “ It is truly meet and just, right and salu- tary, that we should always, and in all places, give thanks to thee, 0 Holy Lord, Father omnipotent, Eternal God, who, together with thy Only-Begotten Son and the Holy Ghost, art one God and one Lord ; not in the singularity of one Person, but in a Trinity of one substance. For what we believe of thy glory as thou hast revealed, the same we believe of thy Son and of the Holy Ghost, without any difference or distinction. So that in the confession of the True and Eternal Deity we adore a distinction in the Persons, a unity in the Essence, an equality in the Majesty. Prefaces of the Blessed Trinity and of the B. V. M. 291 Whom the Angels and Archangels praise, the Cherubim also and the Seraphim, who without ceasing cry out daily with one accord, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest ! Blessed be he who comefh in the name of the Lord ! Hosanna in the highest ! ” Looking at this Preface •from a theological point of view, it would appear that some of its phraseology must have been changed subsequent to the General Council of Nicsea, held in the year 325, for it is a well-known fact that, prior to that period, the Church, as we have already intimated in another place, wisely abstained from giving too much publicity to her doctrine concerning the exact relations existing between the three Persons of the Adorable Trinity. She declared, it is true, by her solemn definition against Arius at the above-mentioned council, that the Son of God was homoousios — that is, consubstantial with the Father ; but it was not until nine hundred years and more had passed away that she openly defined as de fide Catholica that the unity of the Godhead was a numeri- cal unity, and not a generic or specific nnity, as the writ- ings of many of the ancient Fathers would be apt to lead one to suppose. “Not till the thirteenth century,” says Hr. Newman, “ was there any direct and distinct avowal on the part of the Church of the numerical unity of the Divine Nature, which the language of some of the principal Greek Fathers, prima facie , though not really, denies ” ( University Sermons , p. 324). The cause that led to the definition of this numerical unity in the thirteenth century —that is, at the fourth Council of Lateran, a.d. 1215 — was the opposite teaching of the Abbot Joachim (Dublin Re- view, 1845, “Difficulties of the Ante-Nicene Fathers”). The Preface of the Blessed Virgin. — This is called the Miraculous Preface ; for, as the story goes, the greater part was miraculously put in the mouth of Pope Urban II. as he 292 The Celebration of Mass . was one day singing High Mass in the Church of our Blessed Lady at Placentia. He began by chanting the Common Preface, but when he had come to that part where the Prefaces generally turn off to suit the occasion he heard angels above him singing as follows : “Who, by the over- shadowing of the Holy Ghost, conceived thine Only- Begotten Son, and, the glory of her virginity still remaining intact, brought into the world the Eternal Light, Christ Jesus, our Lord.” The holy pontiff caused these words to be after- wards inserted in the Common Preface at the council held in the above place in 1095, and for this reason the Preface of the Blessed Virgin is ascribed to him (Ferraris, Bibliotheca ; Bona, p. 341; Merati, Thesaur. Sacr.Bit., p. 94). A custom once prevailed in many places of bowing solemn- ly to the ground at the words, “ Adorant dominationes.” There was a rubric to this effect in a Roman ordo of the eighth century, composed for the use of monasteries (Mar- tene, Be Antiq. Bccl. Rit., f. 31). TERMINATION OF THE PREFACE. All the Prefaces terminate with the “ Holy, holy, holy. Lord God of Hosts,” etc. This is called the triumphal hymn, sometimes the seraphic , and is taken from Isaias, vi. 3 ; St. John also mentions it in the fourth chapter of his Apocalypse. The Mozarabics recite the termination of the Preface — that is, the “Holy, holy, holy,” etc. — in Greek as well as in Latin. At Solemn High Mass, as the reader knows, the Preface is chanted throughout by the celebrant. The music is of the simplest kind of plain chant, but very soul-stirring. We have shown in our chapter on “ Church Music” how deeply affected some of the ancient Fathers used to be when sing- ing this part of the Mass, and what abundance of tears its celestial melody often drew from their hearts, The chant Prefaces of the Oriental Church. 293 used at Lyons and Milan differs a little from ours, as does also the Mozarabic, but tlie same divine fascination is in- herent in all of them. PREFACES OF THE ORIENTAL CHURCH. The Orientals have no variety of Preface at all. Every liturgy has one peculiar to itself, and this is employed the whole year round without any change whatever. It is called by the Easterns the Anaphora (although this word also includes the Canon of the Mass), and begins and ends almost precisely like our own. According to a ritual of Gabriel, Patriarch of Alexandria, directions are given to the priest to make the sign of the cross three different times at the “ Sursum corda ” : first, upon himself ; secondly, upon the attending deacons ; and, thirdly, upon the congregation (Renaudot, i. p. 206). In the East, as well as in the West with ourselves, it is customary to stand up always the mo- ment this portion of the Mass begins, and this as a testi- mony of the great respect that is due it. At Low Mass, however, the rule is to remain kneeling. The Greeks call the “ Holy, holy, holy,” etc., the Tri- umphal Hymn , as we do. The “ Gloria in excelsis ” they call the Angelic Hymn. Their Trisagion , or Thrice Holy, which we recite on 'Good Friday, and of which we have given a full history already, is that which begins with “Holy God, Holy Strong One, Holy Immortal One.” They have another hymn, called the Cherubic , which they recite in the Mass soon after the expulsion of the catechumens. It is worded as follows : “ Let us, who mystically represent the Cherubim, and sing the Holy Hymn to the Life-giving Trinity, lay by at this time all worldly cares, that we may receive the King of glory invisibly attended by the angelic orders. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.” In the Ethiopic Liturgy four archangels are particularized 294 The Celebration of Mass. in the Preface — viz., Michael, Gabriel, Kaphael, and Suriel, or, as he is more commonly styled, Uriel. The Syriac Liturgy of Philoxenus mentions the celestial spirits after a somewhat singular manner, thus : “ The jubilees of Angels ; the songs of Archangels ; the lyres of Powers ; the pure and grateful voices of Dominations ; the clamors of Thrones; the thunders of Cherubim ; and the swift motion of Sera- phim.” Immediately before the conclusion of the Preface in the Liturgy of St. Chrysostom mention is made of the celestial spirits as singing ( adorra ), bellowing (foc^rra), crying (usupaydra), and speaking (Xsyovra). According to some Oriental commentators, the four Evangelists are here mystically represented. The singing with a loud voice alludes to St. John, who, on account of the lofty flight of his genius, is aptly compared to the eagle, and is generally repre- sented in art with this bird by his side. The bellowing re- fers to St. Luke, who, on account of his setting forth the priesthood of our Lord so conspicuously, has been always represented by an ox, the symbol of sacrifice. By the crying or roaring like a lion St. Mark is meant, as he is said to be pre-eminently the historian of our Lord’s resurrection ; and an Eastern tradition has it that young lions are born dead and are brought to life after three days (the time our Saviour was in the grave) by the roaring of their sire. And by the speak- ing — that is, like a man — St. Matthew is meant, on account of his dwelling so much on the human nature of our Lord. In art he is generally represented by the figure of a cherub, which is supposed to resemble a human being so much (Neale, Holy Eastern Church, i. p. 470 ; Symbolism in Art, by Clara E. Clement, p. 18 ; also St. Jerome on the Four Evangelists). At the conclusion of the Preface the little sanctuary bell is rung to remind the people of the approach of the most solemn part of the Mass, in order that their attention may be fixed upon it more earnestly. CHAPTER XXVI. TEE CELEBRATION OF MASS . THE CANON. We have now come to the most sacred portion of the entire Mass — sacred by reason of its great antiquity, for it carries us away back to the days of the apostles ; and doubly sacred because it contains those blessed words uttered by our Divine Redeemer at the Last Supper, in virtue of which the bread and wine are changed into his own Body and Blood, soul and divinity. For the latter reason alone the Canon should be treated of on bended knees. WHY CALLED BY THE NAME OF CANON. The word Canon , from the Greek nav&v , was used in a variety of senses by ancient authors. Originally it meant a rule or contrivance by which other things were kept straight ; but in a secondary sense it was variously applied according to the nature of the case, always, however, pre- serving the idea inherent in its original meaning. In ar- chitecture it was the plumb-line or level ; in weights and measures it was the tongue of the balance ; in chronology it was the chief epoch or era ; in music it was the mono- chord, or basis of all the intervals ; and when applied in a literary sense it served to designate those writings which were to be distinguished from all others by the elegance and excellence of their diction. The Doruphoros of Polycletus was called by this name, and for this reason also the select 295 29G The Celebration of Mass . extracts of many of the ancient Greek authors (Muller, Ar* clidol. d. Kunst, § 120, 4 ; Ruhnken, Mist. Crit. Orat. Grcec. ; Quintilian, Inst . Rhet ., 10). To this last acceptation of the word the Canon of the Mass has a thousand claims, for all admit that it is a work of rare worth — in fact, a model of perfection; for which reason, to pass over many others, it used to be formerly written in letters of gold (Martene, De Antiquis Eccl. Rit f. 34). Many writers, however, say that it is called the Canon because of its unchangeable nature ; but to our mind this has never seemed a good reason, nor is it strictly true. The Canon does change on some oc- casions. THE EXTRAORDINARY CARE TAKEN BY THE CHURCH OF THIS PART OF THE MASS. So careful is the Church to prevent innovations from en- tering into this part of the Mass that she forbids any one to meddle with it under pain of incurring her most severe cen- sures. She will not even permit a .correction to be made in it for fear of destroying its antiquity. We shall mention a few cases in point. It is a well-known fact that the Canon terminates at the “ Pater noster yet we find the word Canon printed in every missal from the first prayer, or “Te igitur,” to the end of the Gospel of St. John. This is evidently a printer’s blunder ; but because it is of a very ancient date the Church has allowed it to stand, and printers to the Holy See are strictly forbidden to change it in print- ing new missals. A still more striking instance is the fol- lowing: As far back as the year 1815, when devotion to St. Joseph, the spouse of the Blessed Virgin and foster-father of our Divine Lord, was making rapid headway, the Sacred Con- gregation of Rites was earnestly besought to grant permission to add the name of this venerable patriarch to this part of the Mass, one of the reasons assigned for making the request The Canon— its Antiquity, former Names, etc . 297 being that many persons had a particular devotion to him. The request was not granted, the reply to the petition being negative; and this was denominated a response urbis et orbis — that is, one binding in Rome and everywhere else. ITS GREAT ANTIQUITY. That the Canon is of very great antiquity all writers and critics admit. The precise date at which it was composed, and who its real author was, still remain among the dis- puted questions. Certain it is, however, that a hand has not touched it since the time of Pope Gregory the Great — that is, since the early part of the seventh century — and what that pontiff! added to it was so very little that we would be almost justified in saying that it takes us back, in its present form, to those days in the past when we could converse with men who spoke face to face with our Divine Lord himself and his blessed apostles. The Church pos- sesses nothing more venerable than this sacred memorial. NAMES BY WHICH THE CANON WAS FORMERLY KNOWN. The Canon was known in early times by a variety of names. Pope Gregory the Great always called it the Prayer ; by St. Cyprian it was styled the Oration ; by St. Ambrose, the Ecclesiastical Rule; and by St. Basil, the Secret. To indicate its great excellence, many of the ancient Fathers called it the Action, and we see this word yet retained as the heading of the prayer “ Communicantes.” WHERE THE CANON ANCIENTLY BEGAN. That the Canon formerly included the Preface, just as it does to-day in the Oriental Church, we have the most in- dubitable proofs. In the Sacramentary of Pope Gelasius, for instance, it is thus introduced • “Incipifc canon actionis j 298 The Celebration of Mass. Sursum corda ; habemus ad Dominum,” etc. (Le Brun, Ex- plicat. de la Messe, ii. p. Ill, note). MANNER OF READING THE CANON. Out of the great respect that is due to this most solemn portion of the Mass, as well as to secure the utmost recol- lection on the part of the priest and people, it has been cus- tomary from time immemorial to recite it throughout in secret. Another reason, too, that is often given for this laudable practice is that the sacred words may be kept from becoming too common — a thing which could hardly be avoid- ed if they were read in a tone audible to all ; for, inasmuch as the Canon seldom changes, the same words would be heard upon every occasion, and in process of time thoughtless per- sons would have committed them to memory, and perhaps might use them in common parlance, to the great disedifica- tion of our holy religion. (For a very low misapplication of the sacred words of institution, which originally took rise in the way we are speaking of, the reader is referred to Disraeli’s Amenities of Literature.) A very singular story touching the silence observed in reciting the Canon is related in the Spiritual Meadow , a book written about the year 630 by a holy recluse named John Moschus. The book received the encomiums of the Fathers of the seventh General Council, held at Nicaea in 787, and it therefore carries some authority with it. It is therein stated that a party of boys guarding flocks in Apamea, in Syria, took it into their heads one day to while away a portion of their time by going through the cere- monies of Mass. One acted as celebrant, another as deacon, and a third as subdeacon. All went along pleasantly, as the story relates, until he who personated the celebrant pro- nounced the sacred words of consecration, when suddenly a Manner of Reading the Canon. 299 ball of fire, rapid and fierce as a meteor, fell down from heaven, and so stunned the boys that they fell prostrate on the ground. When this singular occurrence was afterwards related to the bishop of the place, he went to examine the spot, and, having learned all the particulars of the case, caused a church to be built thereon to commemorate so remarkable an event. From this circumstance, it is said, the Church derives her custom of reciting the Canon in secret. Be this as it may, the ablest liturgical writers maintain that the Canon has been recited in secret from its very institution (Romsee, iv. p. 175). As a precedent for this solemn silence many examples may be adduced from Holy Writ. On the great day of Atonement, for instance, while the liigh-priest was offering incense to Jehovah on the golden altar, a deep silence pre- vailed throughout the entire temple, and all the people re- cited their prayers in secret. To this solemn silence St. John evidently alludes when lie says that at the opening of the seventh seal “there was silence in heaven, as it were for half an hour” ( Apoc . viii. 1). Mention is also made of it in the Mishna in describing the “ drink offering ” : “ Then came the time of the drink offering, when, having given him the wine of which it consisted, the Sagan, 1 who stood beside the horn of the altar, observed the time for pouring it out, and with a napkin gave the signal for the music to begin. The reason of their being so long was that the perfect sacrifice might be before God, and that silence best suited so solemn a duty ” (Bannister, Temples of the Hebrews, pp. 211, 329 ; see also Habacuc , ii. 20). 1 The Sagan , though not mentioned by name in the Holy Scriptures, was neverthless looked upon as a very important minister by the Jews, for it was he who discharged the duties of the high-priest whenever the latter, through any indisposition or legal defile- ment, was unable to act (Bannister, p. 190). 306 The Celebration of Mass . THE PICTURE AT THE BEGIHHING OP THE CAHOPL In all the missals of the present day a picture represent- ing our Lord crucified, and gazed at in sorrowful contem- plation by the three Marys — viz., Mary of Cleoplias, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the Mother of God — is inserted, in order to recall vividly to the mind of the priest that, at this most solemn part of the Mass, he should be wholly intent on his crucified Redeemer. That the practice of inserting a picture here is very ancient may be seen from several early manuscripts, and almost every liturgist of note refers to it. Honorius of. An tun, who flourished towards the beginning of the twelfth century, thus writes of it : “ Hie in libris crucifixum ideo depingitur quia per illud passio Christi oculis cordis ingeritur” ( Gemma Anirnce, cap. 103, “ De Canone ”)— that is, Here a crucifix is painted in the missals, in order that by it the Passion of Christ may be fixed in the eyes of the heart. Pope Innocent III. also alludes to the practice, and dwells particularly on the striking coincidence that the very first prayer of the Canon begins with one of the ancient representations of the cross — viz., the letter T. In many early missals this letter was beautifully illuminated and made very large, in order that the eye of the priest might rest upon it, and, in doing so, that he might remem- ber the mysterious Thau of the prophet Ezechiel, which was ordered to be made on the foreheads of the men “that sigh and mourn for all the abominations that are committed in the midst.” In Leofric’s Missal, of Anglo-Saxon times, this letter is splendidly illuminated in gold, and so very long that it nearly stretches the whole length of the page. In a folio vellum copy of the Salisbury Missal, which was written towards the middle of the fourteenth century, the letter is so drawn out as to hold within it an illuminated picture of Abraham about to sacrifice his only son, Isaac (Church of Our Fathers, i. p. 103). “ Te Igitur” 301 In many churches the custom prevailed of kissing the picture at the beginning of the Canon, when the priest came to that part, and at Milan, where the Ambrosian Rite is kept up, the custom is in vogue of washing the hands here. “ TE IGITUR.” While reciting the opening words of this prayer the priest is profoundly inclined, with hands resting upon the altar; but when he comes to the words, “these gifts, these presents, these holy and unspotted sacrifices,” he becomes erect and makes three crosses over the oblation. The crosses made at this place now more strongly than ever re- mind us that we are fast approaching that solemn moment at which He who wrought our salvation on the cross of Cal- vary will be present on our altar. The reader who wishes to see their various mystic interpretations will do well to consult Durandus ( Rationale Divin., p. 241). The literal meaning of these three crosses is, according to De Vert ( Explic . Rub. Miss., tome iii. p. 1, rub. 122), founded On a very ancient custom yet in vogue with the members of the Carthusian Order — viz., of making two equal divisions of the Hosts used for Communion, and placing one on each side of the large Host. When the breads were so arranged the priest would make a separate cross over each portion and over the large Host placed in the centre, thus forming three crosses in all. Although this custom went into desue- tude soon after its introduction, De Vert still maintains that the three crosses have been retained as a vestige of it. There was great diversity of usage in former times about the number of crosses made here, as may be seen from some of the ancient sacramentaries. In the Gallican there was but one cross prescribed. In the Gelasian there were as many as five, and these, it is supposed, in memory of the 302 The Celebration of Mass . Five Wounds. So great was the diversity of practice in this matter that St. Boniface, the Apostle of Germany, wrote for advice upon the subject to Pope Zachary (741 to 752), and received a response to the effect that wherever a cross was required to be made it would be marked for him in the Canon. According to Romsee, whenever there is but one cross it signifies the unity of the Divine Essence ; when two are made, the duality of natures in our Divine Lord is signified ; three crosses are typical of the Blessed Trinity, and five of the Five Wounds (iv. p. 180). In the first prayer of the Canon the priest prays for the Universal Church at large, and for its visible head upon earth, the Supreme Pontiff, by name ; then for the bishop of the diocese in which he is celebrating ; and, finally, for all the orthodox upholders of the Catholic Faith. In men- tioning the reigning Pope he gives him the first part of his official title, without adding anything else to particularize him — thus, “ Pius,” “ Gregory,” “ Leo,” or whatever else the name be — and makes a slight bow to the missal as he pronounces it, out of reverence for the name of the Vicar of Christ. The bishop of the diocese is mentioned in the same way, but without any bow of the head. In case the diocese should be ruled by a bishop administrator or co- adjutor while the real bishop, through some indisposition, is unable to attend to it, the name of the indisposed bishop must, nevertheless, be inserted, and not that of the admin- istrator or coadjutor. When a bishop himself says Mass, instead of saying, “and our bishop, N.,” he says, “and I, thy unworthy servant,” without expressing his name. When the Holy Father celebrates he says, “ I, thy un- worthy servant, whom thou hast wished should preside over thy flock.” If the Mass be celebrated at Rome no bishop’s name is mentioned after the Pope’s, for there is no other bishop of Rome but the Holy Father himself. “ Te Igitur” 303 What has been said here of bishops, of course, applies also to archbishops, patriarchs, and cardinals, no matter of what grade. The members of religious orders are not permitted to insert here the name of their superior, but must, like secular priests, add that of the bishop of the diocese. “ Pro omnibus orthodoxis ” — “ For all the orthodox.” Since there are two expressions in the latter part of this first prayer which mean one and the same thing, many writers have supposed that by the word orthodox are here meant all those who are outside the visible unity of the Church by schism only ; according to which the present Greek Church with its offshoot, that of the Russian Empire, would be included. The reader need hardly be told that any given Church may be schismatic without being heretical at the same time. The one neither means nor necessarily implies the other. The one may, theologically speaking, be sound in the faith ; the other never can be. A heretic, from the very derivation of the word (aipeco), is one who consti- tutes himself a judge and chooses his faith upon the strength of his own private authority. A schismatic, strictly speak- ing, is one who separates or cuts himself off (< rxiZoo ) from the outward unity of the Church by refusing assent to some point of discipline, or authority to the chief pastor. Now, although the so-called Greek Church has been schismatic since the ninth century, with little exception, still it has never by any formal act been declared heretical by the Holy See ; and until the Holy See passes judgment upon it and pronounces it heretical no private authority has a right to do so. Some think, therefore, that it is no distortion of the meaning of this prayer to suppose that it refers to, or at least includes, schismatics when it speaks of the orthodox , 304 The Celebration of Mass . for, as they say, a person may be orthodox — that is, sound in the faith — and still be outside the visible unity of the Church. The principal objection to this interpretation is, that the Church is not accustomed to share the Holy Sacri- fice of the Mass with those who are wilfully out of her Communion. (See the Catholic World for the months of March and April, 1877 ; articles, “The Russian Chancellor” and “Natalie Narisclikin.”) PRAYING FOR TEMPORAL RULERS. In countries where Catholicity is the established religion it is customary in this prayer to add the name of the sove- reign on the throne immediately after that of the diocesan bishop. The Venetians used to insert the name of the grand doge here. For some time the Hungarians prayed at this place for the king, but by a recent decree of the Holy See the title of emperor has been substituted instead (Koz- nia, p. 198). A priest celebrating in any part of the Aus- trian dominions, therefore, is bound to observe this rule. It is hardly necessary to add that without the express per- mission of the Holy See it is unlawful to insert any name whatever in this place. CANON OF THE ORIENTAL CHURCH. We have already stated that the Canon of the Oriental Church begins at the Preface. That of the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great is ushered in with this solemn admonition : “ Come forward, 0 men ! Stand with trembling awe and look towards the east.” According to nearly all the Orien- tal liturgies, some such warning precedes the Canon, and the moment the people hear it they become at once erect and attentive. The Maronite laity, who use staves in church to lean upon, as the modern custom of sitting down at Mass is not in vogue with them, are required to stand up Canon of the Oriental Church . 305 here without any support whatever, as a mark of great re- spect for this most solemn part of divine service. The form of prayer for the spiritual and temporal ruler with the Ar- menians is thus worded : “For our lord the most holy Pa- triarch N., for his health and the salvation of his soul.” Then the minor clergy are mentioned : “for all vartabeds, 5 priests, deacons, and subdeacons.” After this comes the name of the sovereign on the throne: “the emperor, the imperial family, the court, and the camp.” This prayer as- sumes formidable proportions in the Russian Church, for every member of the imperial family must be mentioned in it by name, and woe to the poor priest or bishop who would dare to omit one of them ; for the czar is supreme in spi- rituals as well as in temporals throughout that empire, and arrogates the right to himself of having his name and title, wherever they appear, always written in capital' letters (Ton- dini, The Pope of Rome and the Eastern Popes, p. 95). The prayer for the temporal ruler in the Liturgy of St. Mark is very beautiful. It runs thus : “ The orthodox and Christ-loving king : . . . lay hands upon the shield and buckler, and stand up to help him ; . . . cover his head in the day of battle ; speak good things to his heart for thy Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and all the people that loveth Christ.” The prayer in St. Clement’s Liturgy is thus expressed : “ For every episcopate under heaven of those who rightly divide the word of thy truth let us make our supplication ; and for our Bishop James and his parishes let us make our supplication ; for the Bishop Clement and his parishes let us make our supplication ; for our Bishop Evodius and his parishes let us make our supplication, that the merciful God may vouchsafe them to their holy churches, safe, hon- a By Vartabed the Armenians understand a monastic or celibate priest. They are generally the preachers of the Word in the East, 306 The Celebration of Mass. orable, full of length of days, and may afford them an hon- orable old age in piety and righteousness.” THE SECOND PRAYER OF THE CANON, OR THE MEMENTO FOR THE LIVING. As the priest begins this prayer he moves his hands slowly before his face, and, having united them, rests in meditation awhile, pausing over those for whom he intends to pray particularly. He is at liberty to remember here — privately, of course — whomsoever he pleases, no matter whether he be in the Church or out of it ; for the prayer is private, and the Church exercises no jurisdiction over private prayers. This memento is worded as follows : “Remember, 0 Lord, thy servants, male and female, N.N. [pause], and all here present, whose faith is known to thee and devotion manifest ; for whom we offer, or who offer to thee, this sacrifice of praise, for themselves and all that belong to them, for the redemption of their souls, for the hope of their salvation and safety, and who render their vows to thee, the Eternal, Living, and True God.” Regarding the expression, “ who offer to thee,” as applied to the people, the reader must not suppose that the right or power of offering sacrifice in the true sense is meant, for the people cannot do this, but only the priest. The expres- sion is a familiar form for signifying co-operation in the sacred mystery, and directly refers to the ancient practice of receiving offerings from the people in the shape of bre.id and wine for altar purposes. According to Romsee (p. 187), * the particle “ or ” in this prayer must be considered a copu- lative conjunction, and not a disjunctive one ; and that hence the wording in its true sense would be, “for whom we offer, and who offer unto thee,” etc. Regarding the word “vo- ta,” translated by us as vows , it is well to remark that what are technically called by that name, whether they be Dissertation on the Diptychs. 307 simple vows or solemn ones, are here meant only in a very remote sense ; the direct application of the word is to be taken in the sense of pious desires , thanksgivings , and pri- vate intentions (Romsee, p. 189). Formerly it was customary to read aloud at the letters “N.N.” of this memento the names of all those who were entitled to special mention. In Solemn High Mass the duty of doing this devolved upon the deacon, who would stand for this purpose on the altar-steps, or ascend the ambo, which was the more general way ; but in Low Mass the duty devolved upon the priest, who turned round to the congre- gation at this place, and read the names from folded tablets called diptychs. According to the general opinion of litur- gists, this custom lasted, with little interruption, up to the eleventh century, when, on account of the excessive vain- glory that many indulged in at hearing their names and offerings read out in public, the Church thought well to discontinue it (Romsee, p. 185). DISSERTATION ON THE DIPTYCHS. The diptychs, from the Greek 6i s', twice, and nrvGGoo, I fold, were, agreeably to their derivation, tablets folding in two somewhat after the manner of a writing portfolio, and having three separate columns of equal extent. In the first of these columns were inscribed the names of the holy martyrs who openly died for the faith, and who, from the fact of their being mentioned here, were said to be canonized — that is, worthy of being named in the Canon of the Mass. This was the primitive way of bringing about canonization ; and a vestige of it is yet kept up, for, according to the present discipline, when any servant of God has been declared a saint it is customary for our Holy Father the Pope to invoke him in the Mass said on that occasion, after the other saints mentioned 308 The Celebration of Mass . ( Hierurgia , p. 480, note). The second column contained the names of those who were illustrious among the living, or held places of eminence either in the temporal or spiritual order, such as the Supreme Pontiff, the patriarch, arch- bishop, or bishop of the diocese, and after these the ruling prince or sovereign. In this same column were also inserted the names of those for whose special intention the Mass was offered, or who contributed bountifully towards the wants of the altar and the support of its sacred ministers. As it was strictly forbidden to receive gifts from those whose lives were in any way scandalous, or who were not considered, strictly speaking, practical Catholics, so it was also forbid- den to insert their names in the sacred tablets, no matter how exalted a position in life they otherwise held. In the third column of the diptychs were enrolled those of the dead who departed life in full communion with the Church, but who were not otherwise in any degree remarkably. The substance of these three columns is now distributed among the following prayers, viz. : the first memento, the “ Com- municantes,” the “Nobis quoque peccatoribus,” and the second memento. Here we call the reader’s attention again to yet another proof of the reluctance of the Church to make any altera- tion in the Canon. Although the custom of reading the names of the living and the dead has long since ceased, still the letters “N. N.,” where this reading occurred, have never been removed, although they serve no particular purpose now, nor is the priest required to pause at them in celebrat- ing, as he was of old. Ceremonies attending the Reading of the Diptychs. — In many of the ancient cathedral churches a very great dis- play used to be made — almost as great as that made at the Gospel — when the time for reading the diptychs had arrived. Wq have said that, as a general rule, they were read from Dissertation on the Diptychs . 309 the ambo. For this reason it was customary for the entire congregation to turn their eyes in this direction ; and such of them as could conveniently do it would flock around the ambo and remain there until all the names had been read. Whenever any name was read out which was entitled to special veneration it was usual to exclaim : “ Gloria tibi, Domini ” — “ Glory be to thee, 0 Lord ” — as if to thank God for the favors bestowed on such individuals. This was done at a Mass celebrated during the session of the fifth General Council, held in 553 at Constantinople, when the names of Pope Leo the Great and those of the saintly bishops Macedonius and Eupliemius were read out (Selvaggio, i. p. 21 ; Bona, p. 345). Sometimes, too, the names of those general councils in which some remarkable dogma of faith was defined or heresy condemned were also read for the gratification of the people {ibid . ) When the names of the persons to be prayed for reached a very high figure, in order not to increase the tedium of the people, a catalogue of them was drawn up and placed on the altar before the eyes of the priest, who would remember them in this man- ner : “ Remember, 0 Lord ! thy servants, male and fe- male, and those also who have a special claim to be men- tioned in the sight of thy Divine Majesty ; of those, too, whose names we are looking at or express in words.” Martene tells us that in some churches the practice pre- vailed through the ninth century of having the subdeacon recite, in a low whisper, to the celebrant the names of those who deserved special commemoration {De Antiquis Eccl. Ritibus, f. 37). The only rite which yet retains the reading of the diptychs in the Latin Church is the Mozarabic. Diptychs of the Oriental Church. — That the reading of the diptychs is yet kept up in all the churches of the East may be seen from a glance at any of their liturgies, where we find special directions given on this head to the deacon 310 The Celebration of Mass. of the Mass. The order of the memento in the Coptic diptychs is, first, for the Church at large, then for bishops in general, after this for their patriarch and all the orders of the clergy, and, finally, for the favorable flow of the Nile. In the Greek Liturgy of St. Basil mention of the Pope is made ; but this is not, as some have supposed, the Pope of Rome, but rather the Patriarch of Alexandria, to whom this title is always given in the East. In some of the churches of Syria it is customary to say “ Kyrie eleison ” after every name read from the diptychs (Renaudot, Liturg. Orient., ii. p. 96). As there is nothing else of any great importance in this second prayer of the Canon, we now pass on to the third prayer, or the “ Communicantes.” THIRD PRAYER, OR THE