Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN c Catholic Stanbavb library. A Series of Standard Works, consisting of Foreign Translations, Original Works, and Reprints, printed in the best style of the typographic art, demy 8vo, of from 450 to 600 pages, and issued at short intervals, price 1 2s. each Volume, post free to any part of the world ; or twelve Volumes may be selected for 5, 5s. The Great Commentary on the Gospels of Cornelius a Lapide. Translated and Edited by the Rev. T. "NV. MOSSMAX, B.A., D.D., assisted by various Scholars. SS. MATTHEW AND MARK'S GOSPELS. 3 Vols. Fourth Edition. S. JOHN'S GOSPEL AND THREE EPISTLES. 2 Vols. Third Edition. S. LUKE'S GOSPEL. 1 Vol. Third Edition. Henry VIII. and the English Monasteries. An Attempt to Illustrate the History of their Suppression, with an Appendix and Maps showing the situation of the religious houses at the time of their dissolution. By FRANCIS AIDAN GASQUET, D.D., O.S.B. 2 Vols. Fourth Edition. A Commentary on the Holy Gospels. In 4 Vols. By JOHN MAL- DONATUS, S.J. Translated and Edited from the original Latin by GEORGE J. DAVIE, M.A., Exeter College, Oxford, one of the Translators of the Library of the Fathers. Vols. I. and II. (St. Matthews Gospel). Picinio (Bernardine a). Exposition on St. Paul's Epistles. Trans- lated and Edited by A. H. PfiiCHARD, B.A., Merton College, Oxford. 3 Vols. The History and Fate of Sacrilege. By Sir HEXRY SPELMAN, Kt. Edited, in part, from two MSS. , Revised and Corrected. \Vith a Continuation, large Additions, and an Introductory Essay. By Two Priests of the Church of England. Fourth Edition, with Additional Notes by Rev. S. J. EALES, D.C.L. The Dark Ages : A Series of Essays illustrating the State of Eeligion and Literature in the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Centuries. By the late Dr. MAITLAND, Keeper of the MSS. at Lambeth. Fifth Edition, with an Introduction by FREDERICK STOKES, M.A. Historical Portraits of the Tudor Dynasty and the Refor- mation Period. By S. HUBERT BURKE. 4 Vols. demy 8vo. Second Edition. Edward VI. and the Book of Common Prayer. Its Origin illustrated by hitherto Unpublished Documents. With four Facsimile Pages of the MS. By FRANCIS AIDAN GASQUET, D.D., O.S.B., and EDMUND BISHOP. Third Thousand. History Of the Popes, from the Close of the Middle Ages. By Professor Dr. L. PASTOR. Translated from the German. Edited by FREDERICK ANTROBDS, of the London Oratory. Vols. I. and II. Vols. III. and IV. in the Press. The Relations of the Church to Society : A Series of Essays by EDMUND J. O'REILLY, S.J. Edited by the Rev. MATTHEW RUSSELL. The Complete Works of St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux. Translated into English from the Edition of DOM. JOANNES MABILLON, of the Benedictine Congregation of St. Maur (Paris, 1690), and Edited by SAMUEL J. EALES, D.C.L., sometime Principal of St. Boniface College, "\Varminster. Vols. I. and II., the Letters of St. Bernard. Vol. III. and IV. in the Press. The Hierurgia ; or, The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. With Notes and Dissertations elucidating its Doctrines and Ceremonies. By Dr. DANIEL ROCK. A New and thoroughly Revised Edition, with Illustrations. Edited, with a Preface, by W. H. JAMES WEALE. 2 Vols. The Church of the Fathers. By the late Rev. Dr. ROCK. A New and Revised Edition. 4 Vols. Edited by the Benedictines of Downside. Preparing. JOHN HODGES, AGAB STREET, CHARING CROSS, LONDON. (^ . '* c,V~&CT/\SLc*tsc&i/' frtTfv^t/t <3^ 7 ' CATHOLIC STANDARD LIBRARY. DR. ROCK'S HIERURGIA. VOL. T. THK ELKVATIOX ViV THK HOST. HIERURGIA; OR, THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS WITH NOTES AND DISSERTATIONS ELUCIDATING ITS DOCTRINES AND CEREMONIES, AND NUMEPOUS ILLUSTRATIONS. BY DANIEL ROCK, D.D. iTfjtrti (Edition, &cbisrt BY W. H. JAMES WEALE. VOLUME I. JOHN HODGES, AGAR STREET, CHARING CROSS, LONDON. 1892. PREFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION. THIS work, published in 1833, and now long out of print, has become scarce, and as it appears to be sought after, it has been decided to reprint it in order to meet the growing desire, on the part both of Catholics and Anglicans, for information as to the use and meaning of the ceremonies of the Mass. Both parts of the book have been carefully revised, the references verified, and the quotations, when necessary, corrected and occa- sionally amplified. In the first part, especially in the Notes on the Rubrics, a good many alterations have been made. These will, it is hoped, be found to add to the usefulness of the work, by helping those who assist at Mass to enter more closely into the spirit of the Liturgy, and to follow the holy rite in all its details. There can be no doubt that a thorough knowledge of the Liturgy will be found helpful to the devotion of all, whether they follow the office of the day or assist at the Holy Sacrifice by meditation and acts of mental prayer. 2000602 vi PREFACE. Holy Church leaves her children free, when assisting at Low Mass, to follow the bent of their private devotion, only prescribing that they should kneel throughout the whole service, except during the recital of the Gospel of the day, which ought always to be listened to, or read in the vernacular. But High Mass is a public act of homage, and here private devotion should give way to public edification. Catholics ought at least to stand, sit, and kneel at the proper times, and when able, join in singing the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo and Responses, and in reading the Collects, etc., proper to the office of the day. The prayers of the Liturgy are incomparably superior to all others, the best of which are after all but the inventions of individuals, and inasmuch as they do not initiate those who use them into the spirit of the Church offices, far from uniting tend to isolate them. The practice moreover of saying the same prayers at Mass Sunday after Sunday often ends by becoming wearisome and destroying devotion. Catholics cannot do better than follow the way marked out by the Church ; and in order to derive as much profit as possible, we would strongly recommend them to read some book on the office of the ensuing Sunday, such as the Liturgical Year of the late Abbot of Solesmes, Dom Prosper Gueranger, of which there is an excellent English translation. PEEFATOEY NOTICE TO THE FIRST EDITION. OF the more intelligent and inquiring amongst our Protestant fellow-countrymen, several have occa- sionally manifested a desire to see a manual which not only contained the prayers, but explained the ceremonies and elucidated the doctrine of the Mass. The purport of these pages is to fill up such a deficiency in the number of those well- composed and highly useful expositions of Catholic doctrine which we already possess. The work is divided into two parts ; the first of which embraces the Ordinary of the Mass, in Latin and in English, to which are appended notes ex- planatory of the ceremonies and the ritual of the Liturgy. The second part contains dissertations on the doctrine of the Eucharist, as a sacrifice and a sacrament ; on the Invocation of Saints ; on Pur- gatory ; on Images ; on Ceremonies ; on the Vest- ments, and the history of their origin and gradual change to their present form ; and on the several points of ritual and disciplinary observance. viii PREFATORY NOTICE. The Roman Catacombs are precious and highly interesting to every true believer in the Gospel, from their having been the burial-place of the holy martyrs and primitive Christians from their still exhibiting the very subterraneous chambers in which the earliest followers of Christ at Rome were accustomed to assemble on the Lord's Day, in order to assist at and partake of the Eucharistic Sacrifice and from furnishing a residence and refuge to the Popes, the clergy, and the faithful in general, during more than twelve fiery per- secutions. The Basilicae erected by Constantine in the old capital of the Roman empire, and by his immediate successors and pious individuals in the same city and in other parts of the Italian peninsula, are also highly valuable. United to- gether, the catacombs and ancient churches of Rome and of Italy in general constitute a wide and fertile field of monuments, both curiously interesting and serviceable alike to the theologian, the ecclesiastical antiquary, and the artist. Over any part of this diversified region the British reader has seldom, perhaps never, been conducted, while making those inquiries, and prosecuting those investigations, on litigated articles of doctrine and discipline, which in every other quarter have been directed in the most masterly and able manner, and display the fruits of long and toil- some research over a widely extended field of erudition. The author has broken up this new and PREFATORY NOTICE. ix prolific ground, and has not unfrequently alleged an inscription from a martyr's tomb, to fortify his argument in vindication of some tenet of the ancient faith ; and produced a fresco-fainting, or a piece of sculpture, from the subterranean chambers of the catacombs, and a mosaic from some ancient church, to explain the origin of our present sacerdotal vestments, or in illustration of the rites and ceremonies still practised at the cele- bration of our holy Liturgy. A repeated inspection of many of those venerable monuments, during a college residence of almost seven delightful years, in the centre of Christianity, convinced the author of their inestimable value and importance, at the same time that it awakened a desire to study and investigate them. Such impressions were more deeply imprinted on his mind at a second visit to Rome, in which he was indulged for the improve- ment of his health, during the winter of 1828-29, by the liberality of his kind and noble patron, the Earl of Shrewsbury, who procured and placed at his disposal, during the composition of the present volumes, works not only highly interesting, but necessary, yet so expensive as to be entirely beyond the author's means of purchase. Knowing, from self-experience, that the oculus fidelis the faithful eye can collect much more information by a single glance at the drawing of a pictorial or sculptured monument of antiquity, x PREFATORY NOTICE. than from perusing whole chapters taken up with the most minute and elaborate descriptions of it, he was determined to enrich his labours with copies of those monuments referred to in the text or accompanying notes. The reader will, therefore, find these pages embellished with several copper- plate and wood engravings, executed by Mr. Moses, and other artists of the first order in the respective branches of their profession, and whom the author must congratulate on the able manner in which they have acquitted themselves of the task confided to their care. The reader will, no doubt, detect the absence of true perspective remark several obvious faults in the drawing of the human figure and notice other seeming deficiencies in some at least of the engravings which are scattered through these volumes. He should, however, bear in mind that of these graphic illustrations of the text many were selected from monuments executed at a period when painting and sculpture, together with the sister arts and sciences, were sinking into, or emerging from, that night of ignorance which darkened Europe during the Middle Ages. 1 As these monuments were produced to elucidate an 1 No admirer of the fine arts should be without the talented and elaborate works of Seroux d'Agincourt and Cicognara. The learned Frenchman employed thirty years in the compilation of his ' His- toire de I' Art par les Monumens, depuis sa Decadence au ^eme siecle, PREFATORY NOTICE xi ancient custom, or to corroborate some argument, by noticing the accordance in Catholic belief at the present moment with that of early times, the author considered it a religious duty to exhibit as accurate transcripts of them as he could, possibly procure. Hence he solicited those friends who so kindly furnished him with tracings and copies of these ancient monuments, and directed the artists who engraved them, to be as minutely faithful in their respective delineations, and transcribe them with every fault, however glaring. The object, in this instance, was not to improve nor decorate, but to render fac-similes of those curious originals which, notwithstanding their defects, are interest- ing to the artist and antiquary. jitsqu'd son renouvellement au i6eme;' and the patriotic Italian has eloquently advanced the claims of his own Italy as the nurse of all the family of the arts in his ' Storia della Scultura dal suo Risoryi- mento in Italia fino al secolo di Canova' How deeply it is to be regretted that no Englishman has hitherto been stimulated by the patriotism of Cicognara, or warmed by a love for the arts similar to that which quickened Seroux d'Agincourt, to achieve for Great Britain what these authors, with small fortunes and no patronage, have done for Italy for Europe. Materials are abundant, since not only are our native productions, especially from the tenth century, most numerous in architecture, sculpture, and painting in illumin- ated MSS., but many of them still exist in the highest state of preservation. Nothing is wanting but some individual, with sufficient abilities and the necessary acquirements, with the will to collect and arrange those splendid national monuments, to vindicate the honour of Britain, and prove the ancient success with which she cultivated the arts, at least from the tenth up to the commencement of the sixteenth century, and hence demonstrate her actual capability of recovering her former glory, and adding to it new splendours, if animated to such a meritorious enterprise by due encouragement. CONTENTS OF VOL, I. PART I. THE LITURGY OF THE MASS. PACK SPRINKLING OP HOLY WATER I ORDINARY OP THE MASS 3 BENEDICTION WITH THE BLESSED SACRAMENT AFTER MASS . 64 NOTES ON THK RUBRICS 67 PART II. CHAPTER I. SECTION I. ON SACRIFICE IN GENERAL. i. The necessity of interior and exterior worship. 2. Sacrifice offered from the beginning of the world. 3. What sacrifice is. 4. The four ends of sacrifice. 5. The legal sacrifices were of no avail when unconnected with the future death of the Redeemer. 6. A new sacrifice was necessary. 7. The sacrifice of the Cross a true sacrifice. 8. All the ancient sacrifices comprised in it. 9. The unbloody sacrifice of the New Law 1 59 SECTION II. THE MASS A SACRIFICE. 10. The Mass a true sacrifice. u. Sacrifice of Melcliisedech. 12. The sacrifice of Melchisedech elucidated by the xiv CONTENTS. PAOK writings of the Fathers. 13. Illustrated by an ancient mosaic at Ravenna. 14. The Paschal Lamb a figure of the Sacrifice of the Mass. 1 5. Accomplishment of the prophecy of Malachias in the Sacrifice of the Mass. 16. Christ announces a new sacrifice. 17. The Sacrifice of the Mass proved from S. Paul 170 SECTION III. ON THE REAL PRESENCE. 1 8. The Heal Presence. 19. The promise made by Christ that He would give us His Flesh and Blood to eat and drink. 20. Objection answered. 21. Proof from the Insti- tution. Objections explained. 22. The Real Presence proved from S. Paul. 23. Taught by the rest of the Apostles. 24. All the ancient Liturgies attest the Real Presence 192 SECTION IV. TRANSUBSTANTIATION. 25. What is meant by the term. 26. Transubstantiation proved from Scripture. 27. Attested by S. Cyril. 28. Illustrated by a practice of the modern Greek Church. Objections answered. 29. From S. Paul. 30. Objection to the term Transubstantiation. 31. Recapitulation . 228 CHAPTER II. SECTION I. HISTORY OF THE MASS. Christ said the first Mass. 2. Christ directed the Apostles to celebrate Mass. 3. The Apostles said Mass. 4. A cere- monial instituted by the Apostles for offering up Mass. 5. Attested by S. John. 6. The remarks of some Pro- testants noticed. 7. The Liturgy indicated by S. Ignatius. 8. Noticed by Pliny. 9. Described by S. Justin . . 246 CONTENTS. xv SECTION II. LAY COMMUNION. MM 10. Belief of the Church on lay Communion. n. Com- munion under one kind of Apostolic institution. 12. When and why generally adopted by the Latin Church. 13. Agreeable to Scripture. 14. Objection from Scripture answered. 15. Unleavened bread used at the Last Supper. 16. Unleavened bread used by the Latin Church, by the Maronites, and Armenians. 17. The Sacrament hinted at in the Apocalypse. 18. The circular form of the Host very ancient 260 CHAPTER III. ON THE TERM MASS. i. Meaning of the word Mass. 2. Origin of it. 3. The anti- quity of its use 281 CHAPTER IV. ON THE USE OF LATIN AT MASS. An unknown tongue used in the Jewish Temple. 2. Not blamed by Christ, who prayed in an unknown tongue. 3. Reasons why the Catholic Church uses Latin at Mass. 4. Tiie people not necessarily obliged to understand the language of the Mass. 5. Latin at Mass nowise preju- dicial to the people. 6. Greeks, Syrians, Copts, and Armenians use an unknown tongue at Mass. 7. Objec- tion answered. 8. Stricture on the Protestant version of the words of S. Paul 288 VOL. I. 6 xvi CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. ON THE INVOCATION OF SAINTS AND ANGELS. PAGE i. Immeasurable distance between the worship given to God and the reverence shown to the saints. 2. Religious re- spect may be rendered to saints and angels. 3. The angels and saints make intercession for men. 4. Inferred from the communion of saints in the Apostles' Creed. 5. From the charity which animates the saints. 6. The invocation of angels proved from Scripture ; from the Psalms ; from Genesis ; from the Apocalypse. 7. The invocation of saints proved from Scripture. 8. Holy men have, even in this life, been invoked by others. 9. Invocation of saints in the primitive Church proved from ancient in- scriptions. 10. Invocation of saints in the Anglo-Saxon Church. ii. Contained in all the Liturgies. 12. Objec- tions answered. 13. Charity engages the saints to pray for iis. 14. They have 'the power of doing it. 15. They know what passes upon earth. 16. Their intercession not derogatory to the mediatorship of Christ. 1 7. Manner of addressing God through the saints. 18. Similarity of Catholic and Protestant prayers. 19. Inconsistency of an objection 302 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. VOL. I. 1. Engraving. THE ELEVATION . . ' . . Frontispiece. The lower part represents the Elevation of the Host, immediately after the Consecration. The upper portion of the engraving was suggested by various passages in the Apocalypse, respecting the mystic sacrifice of the Lamb, which S. John saw in vision. The beautiful passage extracted from the writings of S. John Chrysostom (p. 135) will furnish an appropriate elucidation of the subject of this en- graving. 2. Engraving. THE CRUCIFIXION . . . facing page i After Michael Angelo. The original design was in the possession of the Prince of Lucca, and preserved in the ducal palace of that city. 3. Woodcut. The painting which usually ornaments the ceiling over the altar, in Greek churches . . page 233 During the time that M. de Nointel was ambas- sador of France at the Porte, he visited many of the churches belonging to the Greeks. Excepting in those which were extremely poor, he invariably ob- served a lamp suspended and burning before the place in which the Blessed Sacrament was deposited. His attention was attracted by certain paintings re- presenting sometimes an altar on which lay an open volume exhibiting these words, ' Take, eat ; this is My Body ; ' at other times a chalice, out of which Jesus Christ was issuing, under the form of a little infant, having the book of the Gospels opened, and XV111 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 4. Woodcuts. Woodcut. showing the words of consecration on the right, and on the left the Eucharistic bread. In some churches the ambassador observed, over the altar, a painting in which there appeared the chalice, the Host, and the book of the Gospels, with figures on both sides, each holding in his hand a scroll, on which was written, 'O God, our God, who hast sent us Thy celestial bread which is the nourishment of the world.' The pictures that are to be more generally seen are those which represent angels and saints adoring the Host made in the form of a human figure, and the chalice on an altar. P. LE BRUN, Explication des Pri&res et des Ceremonies de la Messe, tome in, p. 660. Arculae, little boxes used in the first ages of the Church by the faithful for carrying home the Blessed Eucharist after Mass . . . page 260 The various forms of the Host, or Eucharistic bread, i. Form of the Eucharistic bread in the Latin Church. 2. Its form in the Greek Church. 3. Cor ban, or Eucharistic bread used by the Copts page 280 Mis,bael Any eta Ct de Ctautton. d THE CRUCIFIXION. Sf Most.t /c. THE LITURGY OF THE MASS. SPRINKLING OF HOLY WATER. I Before High Mass on Sundays, the following Antiphon is commonly sung : Aspe'rges me Ddmine hyss6po, et mundabor : lavabis me, et super ni- vem dealbabor. Misere're mei Deus, seciindum magnam mi- sericordiam Tuam. V. G16ria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. R. Sicut erat in prin- ciple, et nunc, et sem- per, et in saecula saecu- lorum. Amen. Ant. Aspe'rges me, etc. VOL. I. Thou shalt sprinkle me, O Lord, with hys- sop, (1) and I shall be cleansed : Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy. V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Ant. Thou shalt sprinkle me, etc. THE LITUKGY From Easter to Whitsunday, inclusively, in- stead of the foregoing Antiphon, the following is sung : Vidi aquam egredien tern de templo a latere dextro, Allehiia : et om- nes ad quos pervenit aqua ista, salvi facti sunt, et dicent, Alleluia, Alleluia. Ps. ConfiteminiDomi- no, qu6niam bonus: qu6- niam in saeculum mise- ricordia Eius. Gloria, etc. I saw water flowing from the right side of the temple, Alleluia : and all to whom that water came, were saved, and they shall say, Alle- luia, Alleluia. Ps. Give praise to the Lord, for He is good : for His mercy endureth for ever. Glory, etc. 11 The Priest, having returned to the foot of the Altar, says: V. Ost^nde nobis Ddmine misericordiam Tuam. (T. P. .-Alleluia.) R. Et salutare Tuurn da nobis. (T. P.: Alle- luia.) V. D<5mine exaudi orati6nem meam. R. Et clamor meus ad Te veniat. V. Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy. (In Pas- chal time: Alleluia.) R. And grant us Thy salvation. (In Paschal time: Alleluia.) V. O Lord, hear my prayer. R. And let my cry come unto Thee. OF THE MASS. V. Dominus vobls- cum. R. Et cum spiritu tuo. Oremus. Exaiidi nos, Domine sancte, Pater omnfpo- tens, aete'rne Deus ; et mittere digne*ris sanc- tum Angelum Tuum de caelis, qui custodiat, fo- veat, protegat, visitet, atque defe*ndat omnes habitantes in hoc habi- taculo. Per Christum Dominum nostmm. R. Amen. V. The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. Graciously hear us, O holy Lord, Father al- mighty, eternal God ; and vouchsafe to send Thy holy Angel from heaven, to guard, che- rish, protect, visit, and defend, all who are as- sembled in this house. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen. THE ORDINARY OF THE MASS. (2) IF Standing at the foot of the Altar, and having bowed to the Cross or the Altar ^ the Priest signs himself with the sign of the Cross from the forehead to the breast, and says with a distinct voice : t At Solemn High Mass, (4) the Priest is accom- panied by a Deacon and Sub-deacon. At High Mass, in churches to which only one priest is attached, and at Low Mass, he is THE LITURGY attended by clerks in minor orders,^ or failing these, by lay individuals. In nomine Patris, ^ et Filii, et Spiritus Sanc- ti. Amen. In the name of the Father, (6) *fr and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Then, with his hands joined before his breast, he begins the Antiphon : (7) Introibo ad altare I will go in to the Dei. altar of God. R. Ad Deum, qui laeti- ficat iuventutem meam. Ps. ludica me, Deus, et discern e causam meam de gente non sancta : ab h6mine iniquo, et doldso erne me. B. Quia Tu es, Deus, fortitude mea: quare me repulisti, et quare tristis incedo, dum affligit me inimicus ? Emitte lucem Tuarn, et veritatem Tuam : ipsa me deduxerunt, et ad- duxerunt in montem E. To God, who giv- eth joy to my youth. Ps. (8) Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy : deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man. B, For Thou, O God, art my strength : why hast Thou cast me off, and why do I go sorrow- ful whilst the enemy afflicteth me ? Send forth Thy light and Thy truth : they have led me, and brought me unto Thyholymount, OF THE MASS. sanctum Tuum, et in taberna"cula Tua. R. Et introibo ad al- tare Dei : ad Deum, qui laetificat iuventiitem meam. Confite"bor Tibi in cithara, Deus, Deus me- us : quare tristis es ani- ma mea, et quare con- turbas me ? R. Spera in Deo, qud- niam adhuc confite'bor Illi : salutHre vultus mei, et Deus meus. G16ria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. R. Sicut erat in prin- cipio, et nunc, et sem- per, et in saecula saecu- lorum. Amen. Introibo ad altdre Dei. R. Ad Deum qui lae- tificat iuventutemmeam. Adiutdrium f< nos- trum in nomine D6mini. and into Thy taberna- cles. R. And I will go in to the altar of God : to God, who giveth joy to my youth. I will give praise to Thee on the harp, O God, my God : why art thou sad, O my soul, and why disquietest thou me? R. Hope in God, for I will still give praise to Him : the salvation of my countenance, and my God. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. (9) I will go in to the altar of God. R. To God, who giv- eth joy to my youth. Our help ^ is in the name of the Lord. THE LITUKGY R. Qui fecit caelum et terrain. R. Who hath made heaven and earth. IT Inclining his head profoundly^ the Priest says : Confiteor Deo omni- pote'nti, beatae Mariae semper Virgin!, beato Michaeli Archangelo ; beato lohanni Baptistae, sanctis Ap6stolis Petro et Paulo, omnibus Sanc- tis, et vobis fratres : quia peccavi nimis cogitatio- ne, verbo, et opere, (Per- I confess to Almighty God, to blessed Mary, ever Virgin, to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed John the Bap- tist, to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, to all the Saints, and to you, breth- ren, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, cutit sibi pectus ter, di- word, and deed, (Here cens) mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima cul- pa. Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper Virgi- nem, beatum Michaelem Archaiigelum, beatum lohannem Baptistam, sanctos Ap6stolos Pe- trum et Paulum, omnes Sanctos, et vos fratres, orare pro me ad Domi- num Deum nostrum. he strikes his breast thrice, (H) ) through my fault, through my fault, through my most griev- ousfault. Therefore I be- seech blessed Mary, ever Virgin, (12) blessed Mi- chael the Archangel, (13) blessed John the Bap- tist, (14) the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, (15) all the Saints, (16) and you, breth- ren/ 1 ^ to pray to the Lord our God for me. (18) OF THE MASS. 7 R. Misereatur tui om- R. May Almighty God nipotens Deus, et dimis- be merciful unto thee, sispecctistuis,perd\icat and forgiving thee thy sins, bring thee to life everlasting. P. Amen. te ad vitam aete'rnam. S. Amen. f At Solemn High Mass, the Deacon and Sub- deacon, and, at other Masses, the Acolytes, repeat the Confiteor (I confess, etc.) with this variation, that they substitute tibi pater, and te pater (" thee, father "), for vobis fratres, and vos fratres (" you, brethren"). S. Misereatur vestri omnipotens Deus, et dimissis peccdtis ves- tris, perdiicat vos ad vitam aete'rnam. R. Amen. S. Indulgentiam, ^ absolutionem, et remis- si6nem peccatdrum no- str<5rum, tribuat nobis, omnipotens, et miseri- corsD6minus. R.Amen. S. Deus Tu conve"rsus vivificabis nos. R. Et plebs Tua laeta- bitur in Te. P. May Almighty God be merciful unto you, and, forgiving you your sins, bring you to life everlasting. R. Amen. P. May the Almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon, >%* absolution, and remission of our sins. R. Amen. P. Turn to us, God, and Thou wilt quicken us. R. And Thy people shall rejoice in Thee. 8 THE LITURGY S. Ostdnde nobis, Do- mine, misericordiam Tu- am. R. Et salutare Tuum da nobis. S. Domine, exaiidi oratidnem meam. R. Et clamor rneus ad Te vdniat. S. Ddminus vobis- cum. R. Et cum spiritu tuo. P. Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy. R. And grant us Thy salvation. P. O Lord, hear my prayer. R. And let my cry come unto Thee. P. The Lord be with you. (10) R. And with thy spirit. First extending, and then joining his hands, he says : Ore'mus. Let us pray. II Then ascending to the Aufer a nobis quae- sumus, Domine, iniqui- tates nostras ; ut ad Sancta Sanct6rum, puris mereamur me'ntibus in- troire: per Christum D6- minum nostrum. Amen. Altar, he says secretly : Take away from us our iniquities, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that we may be worthy to enter with pure minds into the Holy of Holies : through Christ our Lord. Amen. IF Having arrived at the Altar, he bows down, and kisses ^, (20) saying : OF THE MASS. Ordmus Te, D6mine, per me"rita Sanctorum Tu6rum, quorum reli- quiae hie simt, et omni- um Sanctorum, ut in- dulgere digneris 6mnia peccata mea. Amen. We beseech Thee, Lord, by the merits of Thy Saints, whose relics are here, and of all the Saints, that Thou wouldst vouchsafe to forgive me all my sins. Amen. 1i Here, at High Mass, the Priest blesses the Incense (21) by making the sign of the Cross over it, ivhile he recites the following words: Ab illo bene t%t dica- ris, in cuius hon<5re cre- maberis. Amen. Mayest thou be bless- ed >J< by Him in whose honour thou shalt be bumed. Amen. And afterwards he incenses the Altar. TJien turning to the Missal, he makes the sign of the Cross, and reads the Introit, ivhich differs according to the day. The following Introit properly belongs to Trinity Sunday. INTROIT. (22) sancta Blessed be the holy Benedicta sit Trinitas, atque indivisa Unitas : confitebimurEi, quia fecit nobiscum mi- serictfrdiam Suam. D6mine, D6minusnos- Trinity, and undivided Unity : we will give praise to Him, because He hath shown us His mercy. O Lord, our Lord, how 10 THE LITURGY ter, quam admirabile est nomenTuum in uni versa terra. G16ria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicuterat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. S. Kyrie ele"ison.< 23) R. Kyrie eleison. S. Kyrie eleison. R. Christe eleison. S. Christe eleison. R. Christe eldison. S. Kyrie eleison. R. Kyrie eleison. S. Kyrie eleison. admirable is Thy name in all the earth. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the be- ginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. P. Lord have mercy upon us. R. Lord have mercy upon us. P. Lord have mercy upon us. R. Christ have mercy upon us. P. Christ have mercy upon us. R. Christ have mercy upon us. P. Lord have mercy upon us. R. Lord have mercy upon us. P. Lord have mercy upon us. OF THE MASS. ii 1F The Pmest goes to the middle of the Altar, ivhere, extending both his arms, he recites the Gloria in excelsis, if it is to be said, and bows his head at the ivords Deo ; Adoramus Te ; Gra- tias agimus Tibi ; lesu ; and suscipe depre- cationem. (24) Gloria in excelsis Deo. Et in terra pax homini- bus bonae voluntatis. Laudamus Te. Benedi- cimus Te. Adoramus Te. Glorificamus Te. Grd- tias agimus Tibi prop'ter magnara gloriam Tuam. D6mine Deus, Rex cae- lestis, Deus Pater om- nipotens. D6mine Fili unige'nite, lesu Christe. D<5mine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris. Qui tollis peccata mundi, mi- sere're nobis. Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecati6nem nostram. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, misere're nobis. Quoniam tu solus sanc- tus. Tu solus D6minus. Tu solus altfssimus, lesu Glory be to God on high. And on earth peace to men of good will. We praise Thee. We bless Thee. We adore Thee. We glorify Thee. We give Thee thanks for Thy great glory. O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father almighty. Lord, only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father. Thou who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Thou who tak- est away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou who sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us. For 12 THE LITUEGY Christe. Cum ^ Sancto Thou only art holy. Thou Spiritu, in gloria Dei only art Lord. Thou only Patris. Amen. mosthigh,OJesus Christ. With ^ the Holy Ghost, in the glory of God the Father. Amen. 1" Immediately after reciting the Gloria in excelsis at Low Mass, and at High Mass ivhen the people have concluded singing it, the Priest kisses the middle of the Altar, and, turning with outstretched arms to the people, says : (25) Dominus vobiscum. The Lord be with you. E. Et cum spiritu R. And with thy tuo. spirit. IT Afterwards he turns to the Missal, and with uplifted hands (26) recites the Collect, (27) or Col- lects for the day, making a slight inclination of the head towards the Cross ( ' 8) each time he says Oremus, or pronounces the holy name of Jesus. COLLECT. Oremus. Let us pray.^ Omnipotens sempi- almighty, everlast- terne Deus, qui dedisti ing God, who hast given famulis Tuis in confessi- to Thy servants to ac- dne verae fidei, aetemae knowledge in the con- Trinitatis gloriam ag- fession of the true faith, OF THE MASS. noscere, et in potentia maiestatis adorare uni- tatem : quaesumus, ut eiusdem fidei firmitate, ab omnibus semper mu- niamur adve'rsis. PerDo- minum nostrum lesum Christum Filium Tuum : qui Tecum vivit et reg- nat in imitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. R. Amen. the glory, and to adore in the power of Thy majesty, the unity of the eternal Trinity : we be- seech Thee, that, by the strength of this faith, we may ever be de- fended from all adver- sities. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son : who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world with- out end. R. Amen. (30) OCCASIONAL COLLECTS. IT From the first Sunday in Advent to Christmas- eve, after the Collect of the day, the following is said : Deus, qui de beatae Mariae Virginis \itero Verbum Tuum, Angel o nuntiante, camem sus- cipere voluisti ; praesta supplicibus Tuis : ut qui vere earn genitricem Dei cre'dimus, eius apud Te God, who wast pleased that Thy Word, when the Angel deliver- ed his message, should take flesh from the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary ; grant to Thy sup- pliants, that we who be- THE LITUKGY intercessionibus adiuve- lieve her to be truly the mur. mother of God, may be assisted by her interces- sion with Thee. IF From Candlemas-day to Passion-Sunday, and from the third Sunday after Pentecost till Advent, except on those Feasts ivhich are called Doubles, or within Octaves, the following is the second Collect : Oremus. A cunctis nos, quae- sumus Domine, mentis et corporis defende pe- riculis : et intercedente beata et gloriosa sem- per Virgine Dei Geni- trice Maria, cum beato Joseph, beatis Apostolis Tuis Petro et Paulo, at- que beato N., et omnibus Sanctis, salutem nobis tribue benignus et pa- cem : ut destructis ad- versitatibus et err6ribus universis, Ecclesia Tua secilra Tibi serviat liber- tate. Let us pray. Defend us, we be- seech Thee, Lord, from all dangers of mind and body; and the blessed and glorious ever Virgin Mother of God Mary in- tercedingfor us, together with blessed Joseph, Thy blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and blessed N. (the patron of the church is here named), and all the Saints interceding for us ; graciously grant us health and peace, that all adversities and er- rors being removed, Thy Church may serve Thee in secure liberty. OF THE MASS. To this is added a third, which is left to the choice of the Priest, who in general selects one of the two following : Omnipotens sempi- terne Deus, cuius Spi- ritu totum corpus Ec- cle'siae sanctificatur et r^gitur : exaudi nos pro unive'rsis ordinibus sup- plicdntes : ut gratiae Tuae munere, ab omni- bus Tibi grddibus fideli- ter servidtur. Per D6- minum nostrum lesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et reg- nat in unitate eiusdem Spiritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saecu- lorum. R. Amen. O Almighty and ever- lasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is sanc- tified and governed ; graciously hear our sup- plication for all orders thereof, that by the as- sistance of Thy grace, all ranks may faithfully serve Thee. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son: Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the same Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen. IF Or, Deus omnium fide'- lium pastor et rector, fa- mulum Tuum N., quern pastorem Ecclesiae Tuae praeesse voluisti, propi- tius re'spice : da ei, quae- O God, the pastor and governor of all the faith- ful, graciously look down on Thy servant N., whom Thou hast been pleased to set over Thy Church i6 THE LITURGY sumus, verbo et exemplo quibus praeest profi- cere : ut ad vitam, una cum grege sibi credito, perveniat sempiternam. Per Dominum nostrum lesum Christum Filium Tuum : qui Tecum vivit et regnat in imitate Spi- ritus Sancti, Deus, per omnia saecula saeculo- rum. R. Amen. as pastor : grant him, we beseech Thee, both by word and example, to benefit those over whom he is set : that, toge- ther with the flock en- trusted to him, he may attain to life everlasting. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son : who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. R. Amen. EPISTLE.^ 1 ' Lectio Epistolae beati Pauli Apostoli ad Ro- manos. (xi, 33~3 6 -) O altitude divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei : quam incompre- hensibilia sunt iudicia Eius, et investigabiles viae Eius ! Quis enim cognovit sensum Do- mini ? Aut quis con- siliarius Eius fuit ? Aut quis prior dedit Illi, et Epistle of S. Paul to the Romans, (xi, 33- 36.) O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God ! How incompre- hensible are His judge- ments, and how un- searchable His ways ! For who hath known the mind of the Lord ? Or who hath been His OF THE MASS. retribue'tur ei ? Quo- niam ex Ipso, et per Ipsura, et in Ipso sunt omnia. Ipsi honor et gloria, in saecula saecu- lorum. Amen. R. Deo Gratias. counsellor ? Or who hath first given to Him, and recompense shall be made him ? For of Him, and by Him, and in Him are all things. To Him be glory for ever. Amen. R. Thanks be to God. IT At Solemn High Mass, the Sub-deacon chants the Epistle, ivhich varies according to the Sunday or Festival. GRADUAL, i 321 Benedictus es, Do- mine, qui intue'ris abys- sos, et sedes super Che'rubim. V. Benedictus es, Do- mine, in firmame'nto caeli, et laudabilis in saecula. Alleluia, Alleluia. V. Benedictus es, Domine, Deus patrum nostrorum : et laudabilis in saecula. Alleluia. VOL. I. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who beholdest the deeps, and sittest on the Cherubim. V. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, in the firma- ment of the heaven, and worthy of praise for ever. Alleluia, Alleluia. V. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, God of our fathers, and worthy of praise for ever. Alleluia. B 1 8 THE LITURGY !f Both the Gradual and Alleluia (33) vary ivith the Sunday ; but from Septuagesima Sunday until the Saturday in Holy Week the Alleluia is omitted, and replaced by the Tract, (34) consisting of some verses of the Psalms. 1" At High Mass the Priest here blesses the Incense with the usual prayer: and standing at the middle of the Altar, inclines his head pro- foundly, and then with his hands joined before his breast, and his eyes lifted towards heaven, says : Munda cor meum, ac Cleanse my heart, and labia mea, omnipotens my lips, O almighty Deus, qui labia Isaiae God, who didst cleanse prophe'tae calculo mun- the lips of the prophet dasti ignito : ita me Tua Isaiah with a burning grata miseratione dig- coal : and vouchsafe, nare mundare, ut sane- through Thy gracious turn Evangelium Tuum mercy, so to purify me, digne valeam nuntiare. that I may worthily an- Per Christum Dominum nounce Thy holy Gos- nostrum. Amen. pel. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Dominus sit in corde May the Lord be in meo, et in labiis meis : my heart, and on my ut digne et competen- lips, that I may wor- ter annuntiem Evan- thily and in a becoming are'lium Suum. Amen. manner announce His o holy Gospel. Amen. OF THE MASS. 19 ff In the interim, the Acolytes, bearing their tapers elevated, , (35) and the Thurifer, with the In- cense,^ proceed to the Gospel-side of the sanc- tuary, ivhere they remain during the chant- ing or lecture of the Gospel, at ivhich time the whole of the congregation stands up. (y!) r At Solemn High Mass, the Deacon places the book of the Gospels on the Altar ; (38) and then recites, upon his knees, before the Altar, the prayer Munda cor meum (Cleanse my heart), etc. Having taken the book of the Gospels from the Altar, and received the Priest's blessing, he kisses his hand, and then, accompanied by the Sub-deacon, Thurifer, and Acolytes, goes to the right side of the Altar, ivhere he chants the Gospel. GOSPEL. P. Dominus vobis- P. The Lord be with cum. you. R. Et cum spiritu R. And with thy tuo. spirit. >Ji Seque'ntia (vel Ini- ^ The continuation tium) sancti Evang^lii (or the beginning) of secundum N. the holy Gospel accord- ing to N. R. Gloria Tibi, 1)6- R. Glory be to Thee, mine. O Lord. 20 THE LITURGY 1F At these latter ivords, the Priest makes the sign of the Cross, ^ first upon the book, and then upon his own forehead, mouth, and breast, and, in this last ceremony, is imitated by the peopled H At High Mass, he aftenvards bows to the book, and incenses it three times. (lil) Matt, xxvin. In illo t^mpore : Dixit lesus discipulis Suis : Data est Mihi omnis potestas in caelo, et in terra. Euntes ergo doce'te om- nes gentes : baptizan- tes eos in nomine Pa- tris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti : docentes eos servare omnia quae- ciimque mandavi vobis. Et ecce Ego vobiscum sum omnibus didbus, usque ad consumma- tionem saeculi. R, LausTibi, Christe. Matt, xxvin. At that time Jesus said to His disciples : All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations : baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : teaching them to ob- serve all things whatso- ever I have commanded you : And behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. R. Praise be to Thee, O Christ. At the end of the Gospel, which varies accord- ing to the Feast, or Sunday, the Priest, while OF THE MASS. 21 repeating to himself this aspiration: Per Evan- ge'lica dicta deled-ntur nostra delicta, May our sins be blotted out by the words of the Gos- pel, <42) kisses (43) the book, and the assistant an- swers, Laus Tibi, Christe. Praise be to Thee, Christ. At Masses for the Dead, the book is not kissed; lights are not borne; nor is incense used, because every mark of joy and solemnity is omitted. At Solemn High Mass, the Sub- deacon carries the book of the Gospels to the Priest to be kissed by him : and afterwards the Deacon incenses Aim, (44) and in his turn, is incensed by the Thurifer. *[ Then the Priest, standing in front of the Cru- cifix, repeats the Credo or Creed : (if it is to be said.) (45) As he commences, he outstretches his arwi5, (46) but immediately afterwards joins his hands together, ivhile he at the same time makes an inclination of his head (t>) on pro- nouncing the ivord Deo or God, and then goes on reciting the Creed, ivhich he concludes by signing himself with the sign of the Cross. THE CREED. Credo in unum Deum, I believe in one God, Patrem omnipotentem, the Father almighty, factorem caeli et terrae, maker of heaven and visibilium omnium et in- earth, and of all things visibilium. Et in unum visible and invisible. Dominum, lesum Chris- And in one Lord Jesus THE LITURGY turn, Filium Dei unige'- nitum. Et ex Patre na- tum ante omnia saecula. Deum de Deo, lumen de Itimine, Deum verum de Deo vero. Genitum non factum, consubstan- tialem Patri : per quern omnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos homines, et propter nostram salutem desce'ndit de caelis.* (Hie genujtectitur.) ET INCARNATUS EST DE RITU SANCTO EX VfRGINE : ET HOMO FAC- TUSEST. Crucifixusetiam pro nobis ; sub Pontio Pilato passus, et sepultus est. Et resurre'xit tertia die, secundum Scriptu*- ras. Et ascendit in cae- lum : sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum ven- tilrus est cum gloria, iu- dicare vivos et mortuos : cuius regni non erit finis. Et in Spiritum Sanc- tum, D<5minum et vivifi- cfintem : qui ex Patre Christ, the only begotten Son of God. And born of the Father before all ages. God of God, light of light, true God of true God. Begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven.* (Here alUmeel.) (4S) AND BECAME INCARNATE BY THE HOLY GHOST, OF THE VIRGIN MARY : AND WAS MADE MAN. Was crucified also for us ; suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was buried. And the third day He rose again, ac- cording to the Scrip- tures. And ascended into heaven : sitteth at the right hand of the Father. And shall come again with glory, to judge the living and the dead: of whose kingdom there shall be no end. OF THE MASS. Filioque proce'dit. Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur, et conglorificd- tur : qui lociitus est per prophetas. Et unam sanctam Catholicam, et Apostolicam Ecclesiam. Confiteor unum baptis- ma in remissionem pec- catorum. Et exspe'cto resurrectionem mortuo- rum. Et vitam J ven- tfiri saeculi. Amen. P. Ddminus vobis- cum. R. Et cum spiritu tuo. Oremus. And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and life-giver : who proceedeth from the Father and the Son. Who with the Father and the Son together is adored and glorified : who spoke by the pro- phets. And one holy Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remis- sion of sins. And I expect the resurrection of the dead. And the life (49) of the world to come. Amen. P. The Lord be with you.< 50) R. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. OFFERTORY. 151 ' Benedictus sit Deus Pater, unigenitiisque Dei Filius, Sanctus quo- que Spiritus : quia fecit nobiscum misericordiam Suam. Blessed be God the Father, and the only be- gotten Son of God, as likewise the Holy Ghost, because He hath shown His mercy to us. THE LITURGY OBLATION OF THE HOST. (52 > At Low Mass, the Priest here unveils the Cha- lice, and unfolds the Corporal ; (53) then taking the Paten (54) with the Host, (56) elevates it ivith both hands, reciting, at the same time, the fol- lowing prayer. At Solemn High Mass, the Chalice is deposited on the Altar by the Sub-deacon, and the Cor- poral is unfolded by the Deacon. Suscipe, sancte Pater, omnipotens aeterne De- us, hanc immaculatam Hostiam, quam ego in- dignus famulus Tuus 6f- fero Tibi Deo meo vivo, et vero, pro innumera- bilibus peccatis, et of- fensionibus, et negligen- tiis meis, et pro omnibus circumstantibus, sed et pro omnibus fidelibus Christianis vivis atque defunctis ; ut mihi et illis proficiat ad salu- tem in vitam aete'rnam. Amen. Accept, O holy Father, almighty eternal God, this unspotted Host, (56) which I, Thy unworthy servant, offer unto Thee, my living and true God, (57) for my innumer- able sins, offences, and negligences, (58) and for all here present ; as also for all faithful Chris- tians/ 5 ^ both living and dead ; (60) that to me and to them it may be profit- able unto life everlast- ing. Amen. Having made the sign of the Cross ivith the Paten, the Priest places the Host upon the OF THE MASS. Corporal, the Deacon pours wine, and the Sub- deacon a small quantity of water (61) into the Chalice, at Solemn High Mass ; at Low Mass, the Priest does it himself. Before the water is poured, he makes (excepting at Masses for the Dead) the sign of the Cross over it, and says : Deus, J qui humanae substantiae dignitatem mirabiliter condidisti, et mirabilius reformasti: da nobis per hums aquae et vim myste'rium, Eius divinitatis esse consor- tes, qui humanitatis nos- trae fieri digmitus est particeps, lesus Christus Filius Tuus Dominus noster : Qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spi- ritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculo- rum. Amen. O God, >J who hast wonderfully created and dignified human nature, and hast still more won- derfully reformed it : grant that by the mys- tery of this water and wine, we may be made partakers of His divinity, who vouchsafed to be- come partaker of our human nature, Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen. OBLATION OF THE CHALICE. Offerimus Tibi, Domi- ne, Calicem salutaris, Tuam deprecantes cle- We offer unto Thee, O Lord, the Chalice of Sal- vation, beseeching Thy 26 THE LITURGY mdntiam, ut in conspec- tu divinae Maiestatis Tuae, pro nostra et totius mundi salute cum odore suavitatis ascdndat. A- men. clemency, that in the sight of Thy divine Ma- jesty, it may ascend with the odour of sweetness for our salvation, and for that of the whole world. Amen. Then the Priest makes the sign of the Cross over the Corporal with the Chalice, places it in the middle, and covers it with the pall. IT At Solemn High Mass, the Sub-deacon here receives the Paten, wliicli lie envelops in the extremities of the veil with which his shoulders are mantled, and then goes and stands behind the Celebrant, holding it up in an elevated posi- tion until the conclusion of the Pater Noster, when he again deposits it upon the Altar. IF When the Priest bows before the Altar, he says: In spiritu humilitatis, et in animo contrito sus- cipiamur a Te, Domine : et sic fiat sacrificium nostrum in conspe'ctu Tuo hddie, ut placeat Tibi Domine Deus. In the spirit of humi- lity, and with a contrite heart, let us be received by Thee, O Lord ; and so let our sacrifice be made in Thy sight to-day, that it may be pleasing to Thee, O Lord God. OF THE MASS. "i Here the Priest elevates his eyes towards heaven, (GS) and outstretching his hands, ( ** } which he afterwards joins, makes the sign of the Cross over the Host and Chalice^ at the same time that he repeats the following prayer : Veni, sanctificator om- Come, O sanctifier, nipotens aeterne Deus, almighty eternal God, et be'ne >J die hoc sacri- ficium Tuo sancto nomi- ni praeparatum. and bless ^ this sacri- fice, prepared for Thy holy name. r At High Mass, he then, in the following prayer, blesses the Incense. m Per intercessidnem bead Michadlis Archan- geli stantis a dextris al- taris incensi, et omnium elect6rum Suorum, in- cdnsum istud digne'tur D6minus bene >fc dicere, et in odorem suavitatis accipere. Per Christ- um Ddminum nostrum. Amen. Through the interces- sion of blessed Michael the Archangel stand- ing (67) at the right hand of the altar of incense, and of all His elect, may the Lord vouchsafe to bless I this incense, and receive it as an odour of sweetness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen . Receiving the Thurible, he incenses the Bread and Wine, saying : Ince'nsum istud a Te May this incense, blest benedictum, ascendat ad by Thee, O Lord, ascend 28 THE LITURGY Te D6mine, et descen- dat super nos misericdr- dia Tua. to Thee, and may Thy mercy descend upon us. He then incenses the Altar, at the same time saying the following Psalm : Dirigatur Domine ora- tio mea, sicut incensum in conspectu Tuo : ele- vatio manuum mearum sacrificium vespertinum. Pone, Domine, custo- diam ori meo, et ostium circumstantiae labiis me- is : ut non declinet cor meum in verba malitiae, ad excusandas excusati- ones in peccatis. Let my prayer, (68) O Lord, be directed as in- cense in Thy sight ; the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice. Set a watch, O Lord, be- fore my mouth, and a door round about my lips, that my heart may not incline to evil words, to make excuses in sins. When the Priest returns the Censer, at Solemn High Mass, to the Deacon, at others to the Thurifer, he recites to himself these words; and is afterwards incensed (69) by the attendant minister. Accendat in nobis Dominus ignem Sui a- moris, et flammam aeter- nae charitatis. Amen. May the Lord en- kindle within us the fire of His love, and the flame of everlasting charity. Amen. OF THE MASS. 29 IF The Priest, with his hands joined, goes to the Epistle side of the Altar where he washes the tips of his finger s (ll) as he recites the fol- lowing verses of Psalm xxv, which, excepting at Masses for the Dead, and during Passion- time, he concludes with the minor Doxology : Glory be to the Father, etc. (72) Lavabo inter inno- ce'ntes manus meas : et circumdabo altareTuum, Domine. Ut aiidiam vocem lau- dis : et enarrem univer- sa mirabilia Tua. Domine, dil^xi deco- rem domus Tuae, et lo- cum habitations gloriae Tuae. Ne perdas cum impiis, Deus, animam meam : et cum viris sanguinum vitam meam. In quorum manibus iniquitates sunt : de"x- tera e6rum reple'ta est muneribus. Ego autem in inno- ce*ntia mea ingrdssus I will wash my hands among the innocent : and will compass Thy altar, O Lord. That I may hear the voice of Thy praise : and tell of all Thy wondrous works. Lord, I have loved the beauty of Thy house ; and the place where Thy glory dwelleth. Take not away my soul, O God, with the wicked : nor my life with men of blood. In whose hands are iniquities : their right hand is filled with gifts. But I have walked in my innocence : redeem THE LITURGY sum : re'dime me, et mi- sere're mei. Pes meus stetit in di- rdcto : in ecclesiis be- nedicam Te, D6mine. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in prmci- pio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. me, and have mercy on me. My foot hath stood in the direct way : in the churches I will bless Thee, O Lord. Glory be to the Fa- ther, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the be- ginning, is now, and ever shall be, world with- out end. Amen. IF Returning and standing before the middle of the Altar, the Priest, with his head slightly bowed down, and his hands joined, recites to himself the following prayer : Suscipe, sancta Trini- tas, hanc oblationem, quam Tibi offerimus ob memoriam passionis, re- surrecti6nis, et ascen- sionis lesu Christi Do- mini nostri : et in honore beatae Mariae semper Virginis,et beati loannis Baptistse, et sanctorum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli, et istorum, et Receive, O holy Tri- nity, (73) this oblation, which we make to Thee in memory of the pas- sion, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ : and in honour of blessed Mary ever Virgin, of blessed John Baptist, of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, of these and of all OF THE MASS. omnium Sanctorum : ut illis proficiat ad hono- rem, nobis autem ad salutem ; et illi pro no- bis interce'dere digne*n- tur in caelis, quorum memoriam agimus in terris. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nos- trum. Amen. Saints ; (74) that it may be available to their honour and our salva- tion ; and may they vouchsafe to intercede for us in heaven, whose memory we celebrate on earth. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. 1" The Priest kisses the Altar, and then, turning himself towards the people, he says : Orate, fratres, ut me- Brethren, (76) pray that um ac vestrum sacri- my sacrifice and yours ficium acceptable fiat may be acceptable to apud Deum Patrem om- God the Father Al- nipotdntem. mighty. K. Suscipiat Dominus R. May the Lord re- sacrificium de manibus ceive the sacrifice from tuis, ad laudem et glo- thy hands, to the praise riam nominis Sui, ad and glory of His name, utilitatem quoque nos- and to our benefit, and tram, totiiisque Eccle- to that of all His holy siae Suae sanctae. Church. THE SECRET. (7C) Sanctifica, qusesumus, Sanctify, we beseech Domine Deus noster, Thee, O Lord our God, 3 2 THE LITURGY per Tui sancti nominis invocationem, huius ob- lationis h<5stiam : et per earn nosmetipsos Tibi perfice munus aeternum. Per Dominum, etc. by the invocation of Thy holy name, the victim of this oblation : and through it perfect us an eternal gift to Thee. Through, etc. IF The Secret varies according to the Festival or Sunday. OCCASIONAL SECRETS. Which follow the Rubrics, and correspond with the Collects, etc. In mentibus nostris, quaesumus, Domine, ve- rae fidei sacrame'nta confirma : ut qui con- cdptum de VirgineDeum verum et hominem con- fitemur ; per Eius salu- tiferae resurrectionis po- te'ntiam, ad aete'rnam mereamur pervenire lae- titiam. Exaudi nos, Deus sa- lutdris noster : ut per huius sacrame'nti virtu- tern, a cunctis nos men- tis et corporis h6stibus Confirm, we beseech Thee, O Lord, in our minds the mysteries of the true faith : that we who confess Him who was conceived of a Virgin to be true God and man, may, by the power of His saving resurrection, deserve to attain to eternal joy. Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation : that by virtue of this sacrament, Thou mayest defend us from all eue- OF THE MASS. 33 tuearis, gratiam tribu- ens in praese'nti, et glo- riam in futriro. Da famulis Tuis, Do- mine, indulge'ntiam pec- catdrum, consolationem vitae, gubernati6nem perpe'tuam : ut Tibi ser- vie*ntes, ad Tuam itigiter misericordiam pervenire mereantur. Per Domi- num nostrum, etc. mies of both mind and body : granting us grace in this life, and glory in the next. Grant Thy servants, O Lord, pardon of their sins, comfort in life, and perpetual direction ; that, serving Thee, they may deserve ever to obtain Thy mercy. Through our Lord, etc. Or, Oblatis, quaesumus, Domine, placare mune'- ribus : et famulum Tu- um N., quern pastorem Eccle'siae Tuae praeesse voluisti, assidua protec- ti6ne gub&rna. Per D6- minum nostrum lesum Christum Filium Tuum : qui Tecum vivit et reg- nat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus : VOL. i. Be appeased, we be- seech Thee, O Lord, with the gifts we have offered, and with con- stant protection direct Thy servant N., whom Thou hast been pleased to set as pastor over Thy Church. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son : who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God : c 34 THE LITURGY IF Here he raises his voice, and says in an audible- tone : P. Per 6mnia saecula P. World without saeculorum. end. (77) R. Amen. 11. Amen. P. Dominus vobis- P. The Lord be with cum. you. R. Et cum spiritu R. And with thy tuo. spirit. IF Here he uplifts his hands. P. Sursum corda. P. Lift up your hearts. R. Habe'mus ad Do- R. We have lifted minum. them up to the Lord. IF He joins his hands before his breast, and boivs his head, while lie says : (79) P. Gratias agamus P. Let us give thanks Domino Deo nostro. to the Lord our God. R. Dignum etjustum R. It is meet and just, est. 1F He disjoins his hands, and says : THE PREFACE. (80) Vere dignum et ius- It is truly meet and turn est, aequum et salu- just, right and salutary, ta"re, nos Tibi semper et that we should always, OF THE MASS. 35 ubique gratias agere : Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, aeterne De- us. Qui cum unige'nito Filio Tuo, et Spiritu Sancto, unus es Deus, unus es Dominus : non in unius singularitate personae, sed in unius trinitate substdntiae. Quod enimdeTua gloria, revelante Te cre'dimus, hoc de Filio Tuo, hoc de Spiritu Sancto, sine dif- fere'ntia discretionis sen- timus. Ut in confessione verae, sempiternaeque Deitatis, et in personis proprietas, et in essdntia unitas, et in maj estate a- dore'turaequalitas. Quam laudant Angeli, atque Archangeli, Cherubim quoque ac Se'raphim : qui non cessant clamare quotidie, una voce di- c^ntes : and in all places give thanks to Thee, holy Lord, Father almighty, eternal God. Who to- gether with Thy only begotten Sou, and the Holy Ghost, art one God, and one Lord : not in the singularity of one person, but in the trinity of one substance. For that which, revealed by Thee, we believe of Thy glory, that same of Thy Son, that same of the Holy Ghost, we hold without difference or distinction. That, in the confession of the true and eternal Deity, distinction in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty may be adored. Which the Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim also and Seraphim praise, who cease not daily to cry out with one voice say- ing : THE LITURGY Here the Priest loivers the tone of his voice, ivhich, hoivever, still continues audible; and ivith his hands joined, and his head boived down, he recites the following hymn, (Sl) while the bell (8Z) is rung by the Acolyte. Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Ddminus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria Tua. Hosanna in exce'lsis. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Ho- sanna in exce'lsis. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth. (83) Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Hosanna in the high- est. Blessed is He that cometh in the name of theLord. (84) Hosanna (85) in the highest. H On all Sundays in the year ivhich have no proper Preface, the foregoing is recited. The following Preface is said on all Festivals, and other days, which have no proper Preface, and in all Masses for the Dead: Vere dignum et ius- tum est, aequum et sa- lutare, nos Tibi semper et ubique gratias agere : D6mine sancte, Pater omnipotens, aete'rne De- us : per Christum Domi- num nostrum. Per quern It is truly meet and just, right and salutary, that we should always, and in all places give thanks to Thee, holy Lord, Father almighty, eternal God, through Christ ourLord. Through OF THE MASS. 37 maiestatem Tuam lau- dant Angeli, adorant Dominationes, tremunt Potestates. Caeli, caelo- rtimque Virtiites, ac be- ata Seraphim, socia ex- sultatione concelebrant. Cum quibus et nostras voces, ut admitti iiibeas deprecamur, siipplici confessione dice'ntes, Sanctus, Sanctus, etc. Sanctus, whom the Angels praise Thy majesty, the Do- minations adore, the Powers tremble. The Heavens, and the Powers of the heavens, and the blessed Seraphim unite in celebrating with com- mon exultation. With whom, we beseech Thee, that Thou wouldest com- mand our voices also to be admitted, with sup- pliant confession saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, etc. IT The Priest lifts up his eyes and hands towards heaven^ and after kissing the Altar, (87) makes the sign of the Cross three times over the Oblation. THE CANON (89) OF THE MASS. Te igitur, clementis- sime Pater, per lesum Christum Filium Tuum Dominum nostrum, supplices rogamus ac pe'timus, uti acce'pta ha- beas, et benedicas, haec Thee, therefore, most merciful Father, we humbly pray and be- seech, through Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord, that Thou wouldst accept and bless these THE LITURGY {dona, haec >J miinera, haec *fr sancta sacrificia illibata, in primis quae Tibi offdrimus pro Ec- cldsia Tua sancta ca- tholica : quam pacificare, custodire, adunare, et rdgere digneris toto orbe terrarum : una cum fa- mulo Tuo papa nostro N. et antistite nostro N. et omnibus orthodoxis, at- que cath61icae et apos- tolicae fidei cultdribus. *fc gifts, (90) these J pre- sents, these J holy un- spotted sacrifices, which, in the first place, we offer to Thee for Thy holy ca- tholic Church, (91) which vouchsafe to maintain in peace ; as also to guard, unite, and govern throughout the whole world, together with Thy servant N. our pope, (92) N. our bishop, and all orthodox believers and professors of the catho- lic and apostolic faith. COMMEMORATION OF THE LIVING. Memento, Domine, famulorum famularum- que N. et N. Be mindful, O Lord, of Thy servants and handmaids, N. and N. He silently mentions those ivhom he intends specially to pray for. Et 6mnium circum- stantium, quorum Tibi fides cognita est, et nota devotio, pro quibus Tibi And of all here pre- sent, whose faith and de- votion are known unto Thee, for whom we offer OF THE MASS. 39 offe'rimus : vel qui Tibi offerunt hoc sacrificium laudis, pro se, suisque omnibus : pro redemp- tione animarum suarum, pro spe salutis et inco- lumitatis suae : Tibique reddunt vota sua aeteV no Deo, vivo et vero. Communicantes, et memdriam venerantes, in primis gloriosae semper Virginis Mariae, Geni- tricis Dei et Domini nostri lesu Christi : sed et beatorum apostolo- rum, ac martyrum Tuo- rum, Petri et Pauli, An- dre'ae, lacobi, lod-nnis, Thomae, Iac<5bi, Philip- pi, Bartholomaei, Mat- thaei, Simonis et Thad- daei, Lini, Cleti, de- mentis, Xysti, Cornd- lii, Cypriani, Laurdntii, Chrysogoni, loannis et Pauli, Cosmae et Dami- ani, et omnium Sancto- rum Tuorum : quorum to Thee, or who offer to Thee this sacrifice of praise for themselves, and all their relations, for the redemption of their souls, for the hope of their salvation and wel- fare, and who pay their vows to Thee, the eter- nal, living and true God. Communicating (93) with and venerating, in the first place, the me- mory (94) of the glorious ever Virgin Mary, Mo- ther of our Lord and God Jesus Christ, as also of Thy blessed apostles and martyrs, Peter and Paul, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon and Thaddeus : Linus, Cle- tus, Clement, Xystus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lau- rence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian, and of all Thy Saints ; by whose THE LITURGY me'ritis precibiisque con- cddas, ut in omnibus protections Tuae muni- amur auxilio. Per eun- dem Christum Ddminum nostrum. Amen. merits and prayers, grant that we may be always defended by the help of Thy protection. (95) Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. IT Spreading his hands says : Hanc igitur oblatio- nem servitutis nostrae, sed et cunctae familiae Tuae, quaesumus Domi- ne, ut placatus accipias, die'sque nostros in Tua pace disponas, atque ab aeterna damnatione nos e'ripi, et in electorum Tuorum iubeas grege numerari. Per Chris- tum Dominum nostrum. Amen. Quam oblatiouem Tu Deus in omnibus, quae- sumus, belief dictam, adscri^ptam, ra^tam, rationabilem, accepta- bilemque facere digne- ris : ut nobis Cor^pus, over the Oblation, he (96) This oblation, there- fore, of our service, as also of that of Thy whole family, we beseech Thee, Lord, graciously to accept ; dispose our days in Thy peace, bid us to be delivered from eternal damnation, and num- bered in the flock of Thy elect. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Which oblation do Thou, O God, vouchsafe in all things to make blessed *J, approved J, ratified ^, and accept- able, that it may be made for us the Body J and OF THE MASS. et San^guis fiat dilec- tissimi Filii Tui Domini nostri lesu Christi. Qui pridie quam pa- terdtur, accepit panem in sanctas ac venerabiles manus Suas, et elevatis oculis in caelum ad Te Deum Patrem Suum om- nipoteiitem: Tibigratias agens, bene >f dixit, fre- git, deditque discipulis Suis, dicens : Accipite, et manducate ex hoc omnes : HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEDM. Blood t^t of Thy most beloved Son our Lord Jesus Christ. Who the day before He suffered, took bread into His holy and vener- able hands, and with His eyes lifted up to- wards heaven to Thee, God, His almighty Fa- ther: giving thanks to Thee, blessed *%*, brake, and gave it to His disci- ples, saying : Take, and eat ye all of this : FOR THIS is MY BODY. 1F After pronouncing the Words of Consecration, the Priest kneeling adores^ and elevates (98) the sacred Host : and the Acolyte rings the bell. Simili modo postquam coenatum est, accipiens et hunc praeclarum cali- cem in sanctas ac vene- rabiles manus Suas : item Tibi gratias agens, bene- t% dixit, deditque disci- pulis Suis, dicens : Ac- In like manner, after He had supped, taking also this excellent Cha- lice into His holy and venerable hands ; giving thanks also to Thee, He blessed >J, and gave to His disciples, saying : THE LITURGY cipite et bibite ex eo Take and drink ye all omnes : Hie EST ENIM of this : FOR THIS is THE CALIX SANGUINIS MEI, CHALICE OF MY BLOOD NOVI ET AETERNI TESTA- MENTI : MYSTERIUM FI- DEI : QUI PRO VOBIS ET PRO MULTIS EFFUNDETUR IN REMISSIONEM PECCA- OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL TESTAMENT : THE MYS- TERY OF FAITH I WHICH SHALL BE SHED FOR YOU, AND FOR MANY, TO THE TORUM. Haec quoties- REMISSION OF SINS. As cunque fec^ritis, in Mei often as you shall do memoriam facietis. these things, you shall do them in remembrance of Me. IF The following is in some churches sung imme- diately after the Elevation : salutaris Hostia ! quae caeli pandis ostium : bell a premunt liostilia : da robnr, fer auxilium. Uni trinoque Domino, sit sempiterna gloria, qui vitam sine termino, nobis donet in patria. Amen. O saving Victim ! opening wide the gate of heaven to man below ! our foes press on from every side ; Thine aid supply, Thy strength bestow : To Thy great name be endless praise, immortal Godhead, one in three ! Oh, grant us endless length of days in our true native land with Thee. Amen. OF THE MASS. 43 IT Here also kneeling, he adores ; and elevates the Chalice. The Acolyte rings the belL (W) Unde et mdmores, Domine, nos servi Tui, sed et plebs Tua sancta, eiusdem Christ! Filii Tui Domini nostritambeatae Passionis, nee non et ab inferis Resurrectionis sed et in caelos gloriosae Ascensionis : offerimus praeclarae maiestatiTuae de Tuis donis ac datis, Hostiam J puram, Hos- tiam Jsanctam, Hostiam fummaculatam : Panem J sanctum vitae aetdr- nae et Calicem *J salfitis perpe*tuae. Supra quae, propitio ac sere'no vultu respicere digndris ; et accdpta ha- bdre, sicuti acc^pta ha- bere dignatus es miinera pueri Tui iusti Abel, et sacrificium Patriarchae nostri Abrahae : et quod Wherefore, O Lord, we Thy servants, as also Thy holy people, mind- ful of the blessed Pas- sion of the same Christ Thy Son our Lord, as also of His Resurrection from hell, (100) and of His glorious Ascension into heaven : offer unto Thy most excellent majesty, of Thy gifts and presents a pure J Victim, (101) a holy *J Victim, a spot- less >J< Victim, the holy >J4 Bread of eternal life and the Chalice ^ of perpetual salvation. Upon which, vouch- safe to look, with a pro- pitious and serene coun- tenance, and to accept them, as Thou wast pleased to accept the gifts of Thy just servant Abel, and the sacrifice 44 THE LITUKGY Tibi 6btulit summus sa- cerdos Tuus Melchise- dech, sanctum sacrifi- cium, immaculatam Hos- tiam. of our patriarch Abra- ham, and that which Thy high Priest Melchise- dech offered to Thee, a holy Sacrifice, a spotless Victim/ 102 ' IF He profoundly inclines himself: Supplices Te rogd- mus, omnipotens Deus: iube haec perferri per manus sancti Angeli Tui in sublime altare Tuum, in conspectu divinae MaiestatisTuae : utquot- quot, ex hac altaris par- ticipatione, sacrosanc- tum Filii Tui Cor^pus, et Sang^uinem sump- s^rimus, omni benedic- tione caelesti, et gratia repleamur. Per eum- dem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. We humbly beseech Thee, almighty God, command these things to be carried by the hands of Thy holy Angel to Thy altar on high, in the sight of Thy divine Majesty: that whosoever of us, by participation at this altar, shall receive the most sacred Body ^ and Blood ^ of Thy Son, may be filled with every heavenly blessing and grace. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. OF THE MASS. 45 COMMEMORATION OF THE DEAD. 1103 ' Be mindful also, O Memento e"tiam, Do- mine, famulorum famu- larumque Tuarum N. et N. qui nos praecesserunt cum signo fidei, et dor- miunt in somno pads. Lord, of Thy servants and handmaids, N. and N., who are gone before us, with the sign of faith, and slumber in the sleep of peace. (104) Here particular mention is silently made of such of the Dead as are to be prayed for. Ipsis, Domine, et om- nibus in Christo quies- ce'ntibus, locum refri- ge'rii, lucis et pacis, ut indulgeas, deprecdmur. Per eiimdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. 1 Here, striking his Nobis quoque pecca- toribus fdmulis Tuis, de multitudine miseratio- num Tu&rum spernti- bus, partem dliquam et societdtem donare dig- n^ris, cum Tuis sanctis apostolis et martyribus : To these, O Lord, and to all (105) who rest in Christ, grant, we beseech Thee, a place of refresh- ment, light, and peace. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. breast, he says : (106) To us sinners also Thy servants, who hope in the multitude of Thy mercies, vouchsafe to grant some part and fel- lowship 00 ^ with Thy holy apostles and martyrs ; with John, Stephen, THE LITURGY cum loanne, Ste'phano, Mathia, Bdrnaba, Igna"- tio, Alexandro, Marcel- Kno, Petro, Felicitate, Perpe'tua, Agatha, Lii- cia, Agndte, Caecilia, Anastasia, et omnibus sanctis Tuis : intra quo- rum nos consortium, non aestimdtor me'riti, sed vdniae, quaesumus largi- tor admitte. Per Chris- tum Dominum nostrum. Per quern haec omnia, Domine, semper bona creas, sancti^ficas, vi- viJficas,beneIdicis, et praestas nobis. Per Ip- >^sum, et cum IpJJ, bless *p, and give us all these good things. Through Him tfc, and with Rimbaud in Him >f, is to Thee, God the Father J< Almighty, in the unity of the Holy J Ghost, all honour and glory. (los) T Here he raises his voice : P. Per omnia saecula P. World saeculorum. end. R. Amen. E. Amen. without OF THE MASS. 47 Oremus. Praece'ptis salutaribus moniti, et divina insti- tutioue formati, aude'- mus dicere : Pater noster, qui es in caelis ; sanctifice'tur no- men Tuum : adve"niat regnum Tuum : fiat voliintas Tua sicut in caelo, et in terra. Pa- nem nostrum quotidia"- num da nobis hodie : et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos di- mittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos in- diicas in tentationem. R. Sed libera nos a malo. P. Amen. Let us pray. Admonished by sav- ing precepts, and in- structed by divine in- stitution, we presume to say: Our Father, (109) who art in heaven ; hallowed be Thy name : Thy king- dom come : Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread : and forgive us our tres- passes, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation. R. But deliver us from evil. P. Amen. H At Solemn High Mass, the Deacon, towards the conclusion of the Pater noster, goes to the right hand of the Priest, where he aivaits the ap- proach of the Sub-deacon, from whom he receives the Paten, which he puts into the hand of the Priest, who then says : 4 8 THE LITURGY Libera nos, quaesu- mus, Domine, ab om- nibus mails, praete'ritis, praese'ntibus et futuris : et interceddnte beata et gloriosa semper Vir- gine Dei Genitrice Maria, cum beatis apostolis Tuis Petro et Paulo, atque Andrea, et omnibus sanctis : da propitius pacem in die- bus nostris : ut ope misericordiae Tuae ad- iuti, et a peccato simus semper liberi, et ab omni perturbations se- curi. Per eiimdem D6- minum nostrum lesum Christum Filium Tuum : qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unit&te Spl- ritus Sancti, Deus. Deliver us, we be- seech thee, O Lord, from all evils past, pre- sent, and to come ; and the blessed and glorious ever Virgin Mother of God Mary, (110) together with Thy blessed apos- tles Peter and Paul, and Andrew, and all the Saints interceding for us, mercifully grant peace (111) in our days : that assisted by the help of Thy mercy, we may be always free from sin, and secure from all dis- turbance. Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son : who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God. IF Here he elevates his voice, and says : P. Per omnia saecula P. World without saeculorum. end. R. Amen. K. Amen. P. Pax Domini semper vobiscum. R. Et cum spiritu tuo. OF THE MASS, sit 49 P. May the peace of the Lord be always with you. R. And with thy spirit. If Here the Priest breaks the Sacred Host (112) into two parts, from one of which he detaches a little particle; and having deposited the two larger ones upon the Paten, he puts the small one into the Chalice, saying : (113) Haec commixtio et consecratio Corporis et Sanguinis D6mini nos- tri lesu Christi, fiat ac- cipie'ntibus nobis in vi- tam aete'rnam. Amen. 1F Then having made a breast, Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, misere're nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, misere're nobis. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona no- bis pacem. VOL. I. May this mingling and consecration of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, be to us who receive it, effectual to eternal life. Amen. genuflection, striking his he says : Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. (1U) Lamb of God, who tak- est away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant us peace. THE LITURGY IT In Masses for Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis re'quiem. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata inundi, dona eis re'quiem sempiternam. the Dead, he says : Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant them rest. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant them rest. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant them eternal rest. If Standing in an inclined position, with his hands joined and resting on the Altar, and his eyes reverently fixed upon the Sacred Host, the Priest recites the following Prayers, the first of which is omitted in Masses for the Dead. Domine lesu Christe, qui dixisti apostolis Tuis : Pacem relinquo vobis, pacein Meam do vobis : ne respicias pec- cata mea, sed fidem Eccl^siae Tuae : eamque secundum voluntatem Tuam pacificare et coa- dundre digneris. Qui vivis et regnas Deus, Lord Jesus Christ, who saidst to Thy apos- tles : Peace I leave you, My peace I give you ; regard not my sins, but the faith of Thy Church ; and vouchsafe to main- tain her in peace and unity agreeably to Thy will : Who livest and reignest God, world OF THE MASS. 51 per omnia saecula sae- without end. Amen, culorum. Amen. 1F At Solemn High Mass, the Deacon kisses the Altar at tJie same time with the celebrating Priest, by whom he is saluted with the kiss of peace, (U5) accompanied by these words : P. Pax tecum. P. Peace be with thee. IF To which the Deacon answers : R. Et cum spiritu tuo. R. And with thy spirit. IF And then salutes, in like manner, the Sub- deacon, ivho conveys the kiss of peace to those amongst the clergy ivho may be assisting at Mass. Domine lesu Christe, Lord Jesus Christ, Fili Dei vivi, qui ex Son of the living God, voluntate Patris, coope- who, by the will of Thy rante Spiritu Sancto, per Father, with the co- mortem Tuam mundum operation of the Holy vivificasti : libera me per Ghost, hast by Thy hoc sacrosanctum Cor- death given life to the pus, et Sdnguinem Tu- world: deliver me by this um, ab omnibus iniqui- Thy most sacred Body tatibus meis, et unive'rsis and Blood from all my malis : et fac me Tuis iniquities, and from all semper inhaere're man- evils : and make me al- datis, et a Te nunquam ways adhere to Thy com- THE LITURGY separari permittas ; Qui cum eodem Deo Patre et Spiritu Sancto vivis et regnas Deus in saecula saecu!6rum. Amen. Perceptio C orpori s Tui, Domine lesu Christe, quod ego indignus sume- re praesiimo, non mihi proveniat in iudicium et condemnationem : sed pro tua pietate, prosit mihi ad tutamentum mentis et corporis, et ad medelam percipidndam : qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula sae- culorum. Amen. mandments, and never suffer me to be separated from Thee : Who with the same God the Father and the Holy Ghost, liv- est and reignest God, for ever and ever. Amen. Let not the partici- pation of Thy Body, O Lord Jesus Christ, which I, though unworthy, pre- sume to receive, turn to my judgment and con- demnation; but through Thy goodness, may it be to me a safeguard and remedy of mind and body : who with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, livest and reignest God, world without end. Amen. H Taking the Host in his hands, he says : Panem caele'stem ac- I will take the bread cipiam, et nomen D<5- of heaven, and call upon mini invoc&bo. the name of the Lord. 1 Striking his breast in humility and with devo- tion, he says three times : (116) OF THE MASS. 53 Domine, non sum dig- Lord, I am not worthy nus, ut intres sub tectum that Thou shouldest en- meum : sed tantum die ter under my roof ; but verbo, et sanabitur ani- only say the word, and ma mea. my soul shall be healed. IF Taking reverently both parts of the Sacred Host in his right hand, and. signing with it the sign of the Cross on himself, | (117) he says the following prayer, and then receives. Corpus Domini nostri May the Body of our lesu Christi custodiat Lord Jesus Christ pre- animam meam in vitam serve my soul unto life aeternam. Amen. everlasting. Amen. IF After a short meditation on the stupendous mystery, he uncovers the Chalice ; adores, genu- flecting, the sacred Blood : and then, with the most religious diligence, gathers upon the Paten, or silver Disk, the very smallest atoms (11S) of the Host ivhich remain upon the Corporal (this is the small linen cloth upon ivhich the species are deposited) ; these fragments he puts into the Chalice, ivhich he then takes (119) in his hands, saying : Quid retribuam Do- What shall I render mino pro omnibus quae to the Lord, for all He retribuit mihi ? Cdlicem hath rendered to me ? I salutaris accipiam, et no- will take the chalice of men Domini invocdbo. salvation, and call upon 54 THE LITURGY Laudans invocabo Do- the name of the Lord, minum, et ab inimicis Praising I will call upon meis salvus ero. the Lord, and I shall be saved from my enemies. H Receiving the Blood of our Saviour, he says : Sanguis Domini nos- The Blood of our Lord tri lesu Christi, custo- Jesus Christ preserve diat diiimam meam in my soul to life everlast- vitam aeternam. Amen. ing. Amen. H Taking the first Ablution, he says : Quod ore sumpsimus, What we have taken Domine, pura mente ca- with our mouth, O Lord, piamus, et de munere may we receive with a tempordli, fiat nobis re- pure mind, and of a tern- medium sempitdrnum. poral gift, may it become to us an eternal remedy. IF Taking the second Ablution, he says : Corpus Tuum, Domi- May Thy Body, O ne, quod sumpsi, et San- Lord, which I have re- guis quern potavi, adhae- ceived, and Thy Blood reat visceribus meis : et which I have drunk, praesta, ut in me non cleave to my bowels ; remaneat scelerum ma- and grant that no stain cula, quem pura et sane- of sin may remain in ta refecerunt sacramen- me, whom Thy pure ta. Qui vivis et regnas and holy sacraments OF THE MASS. 55 in saecula saeculorum. have refreshed. Who Amen. livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Then he returns to the Book and reads the Communion, which varies with the day. THE COMMUNION.*" Benedicimus Deum caeli, et coram omnibus vivdntibus confite'bimur Ei : quia fecit nobiscum misericordiam Suam. P. Dominus vobis- cum. K. Et cum spiritu tuo. We bless the God of heaven, and will praise Him in the sight of all the living : because He hath shown His mercy to us. P. The Lord be with you. K. And with thy spirit. POST-COMMUNION. (1J1 > Oremus. Proficiat nobis ad sa- id tern corporis et animae, Domine Deus noster, huius sacrame'nti sus- ceptio : et sempite'rnae sanctae Trinitatis eius- de'mque individuae uni- tdtis conf^ssio. Per D6- Let us pray. O Lord our God, may the reception of this sacrament, and the con- fession of the everlasting holy Trinity and of the undivided unity of the same, profit us, unto the health of body and soul. THE LITURGY minum nostrum lesum Christum Filium Tuum : Qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiri- tus Sancti Deus : per 6m- nia saecula saeculorum. Amen. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son ; who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen. OCCASIONAL POST-COMMUNIONS. Oremus. Mundet et rminiat nos, quaesumus Domine, divini sacrame'nti munus oblatum : et intercede'nte beata Virgine Dei Gene- trice Maria, cum beato Joseph, beatis apostolis Tuis Petro et Paulo, atque bea"to N. et omni- bus sanctis ; a cunctis nos redd at et perver- sitdtibus expidtos, et ad- versitatibus expeditos. Gratiam Tuam, quae- sumus, Domine, me'nti- bus nostris infunde : ut Let us pray. May the offered up gift of this divine sacra- ment, we beseech Thee, O Lord, cleanse and de- fend us ; and the blessed Virgin Mother of God, Maiy, interceding for us, together with blessed Joseph, Thy blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and blessed N. and all the saints ; render us both purified from all perversities, and freed from all adversities. Pour forth, we be- seech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our OF THE MASS. 57 qui, Angelo nuntmnte, Christ! Filii Tui incarna- tionem cognovimus ; per passionem Eius et cru- cem, ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur. Libera, quaesumus, Domine, a peccatis et hostibus, famulos Tuos, Tibi supplicantes : ut in sancta conversatione vi- ve'ntes, nullis afficiantur adve'rsis. Per Dominum nostrum lesum Chris- tum Filium Tuum : Qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus : per omnia saecu- la saeculorum. Amen. Haec nos, quaesumus Domine, divini sacra- menti perc^ptio pr6te- gat : et famulum Tuum hearts, that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, has been made known by the message of an Angel, may by His passion and cross be brought to the glory of His resurrec- tion. Deliver, O Lord, we beseech Thee, from all sin, and from all ene- mies, Thy servants, who offer their humble pray- ers to Thee; that leading holy lives, they may be attacked by no misfor- tunes. Through ourLord Jesus Christ Thy Son : who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen. May the participation of this divine sacrament protect us, we beseech Thee, Lord ; and al- N. quern pastdrem Eccle- ways procure safety and 5 8 THE LITURGY siae Tuae praeesse volu- defence to Thy servant isti ; una cum commisso N. whom Thou hast ap- sibi grege, salvet semper, pointed pastor over Thy etmiiniat. PerDominum Church, together with nostrum lesum Chris- the flock committed to turn Filium Tuum : qui his charge. Through our Tecum vivit et regnat in Lord Jesus Christ Thy unitate Spiritus Sancti, Son ; who liveth and Deus : per dmnia saecula reigneth with Thee in saeculorum. Amen. the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen. IF Proceeding to the middle of the Altar, which he kisses, the Priest turns round and greets the People ivith : P. Dominus vobis- P. The Lord be with cum. you. IT To which the Choir, or the Acolyte, ansivers : R. Et cum spiritu tuo. R. And with thy spirit. IF Then continuing with his face towards the People, he announces to them leave to depart. P. Ite, missa est. P. Go, you are dis- missed. II To which is answered : R. Deo gratias. R. Thanks be to God. OF THE MASS. 59 H On those days, however, on ivhich the Angelic Hymn, Glory be to God on high, is omitted ; instead of dismissing the people with these words, the Priest, after having turned round towards the Altar, says: P. Benedicamus D6- P. Let us bless the mino. Lord. 1T In Masses for the Dead, instead of either of the foregoing salutations, is said : P. Requie'scant in P. May they rest in pace. peace. f To ivhich is answered: R. Amen. R. Amen. IF At Solemn High Mass, it is the Deacon who chants the Ite, missa est, etc. etc. (l22} IF Then bowing before the Altar, the Priest says : Placeat Tibi, sancta May the performance Trinitas, obsequium ser- of my homage be pleas- vitutis meae, et praesta : ing to Thee, holy Tri- ut sacrificium, quod ocu- nity, and grant that the lis Tuae maiestatis in- sacrifice which I, though dignus obtuli, Tibi sit unworthy, have offered acceptable, mihique, et up in the sight of Thy omnibus, pro quibus il- majesty, may be accept- lud obtuli, sit, Te mise- able to Thee, and through 60 THE LITURGY rante, propitiabile. Per Thy mercy be a propitia- Christum Dominum nos- tion for me, and all those trum. Amen. for whom it has been offered. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. IF Then having kissed the Altar, he looks up towards Heaven and elevates his hands, which he afterwards joins, at the same time that he bows his head, saying in an audible voice : Benedicat vos omni- May almighty God potens Deus, Pater, et bless you : the Father, Filius, *fc et Spiritus and the Son, *{ and the Sanctus. Holy Ghost. R. Amen. K. Amen. II And having turned himself to the People, before he has entirely completed this prayer, he gives his blessing, (123) by making the sign of the Cross over them with his outstretched right hand just as he invokes the Persons of the Holy Trinity. (The Benediction is omitted at Masses for the Dead.) Then turning to the Gospel-side of the Altar, he says: P. D<5minus vobis- P. The Lord be with cum. you. E. Et cum spiritu tuo. R. And with thy spirit. IF He then traces the sign of the Cross, first upon the Altar on the commencement of the Gospel; OF THE MASS. 61 then upon his forehead, lips, and breast; and, afterwards, reads the particular Gospel ap- pointed for the occasion ; but more generally it happens that the Gospel of S. John is the proper one to be recited. P. >J Initium sancti Evangelii secundum lo- P. >J< The beginning of the holy Gospel ac- cording to John. R. Glory be to Thee, O Lord. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word annem. R. G16ria Tibi, D6- mine. In principio erat Ver- bum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat was with God, and the Verbum. Hoc erat in Word was God : the principio apud Deum. same was in the begin- Omnia per Ipsum facta ning with God. All sunt : et sine Ipso fac- things were made by turn est nihil, quod fac- Him ; and without Him turn est; in Ipso vita was made nothing that erat, et vita erat lux ho- was made. In Him was minum : et lux in teiie- life, and the life was the bris lucet, et tenebrae light of men ; and the earn non comprehend^- light shineth in dark- runt. Fuit homo missus ness, and the darkness a Deo, cui nomen erat did not comprehend it. loannes. Hie venit in There was a man sent testimonium, ut testimo- from God, whose name nium perhibe'ret de lu- was John. This man mine.utomnescre'derent came for a witness, to per ilium. Non erat ille give testimony of the 62 THE LITURGY lux : sed ut testimonium perhibe'ret de lumine. Erat lux vera, quae illii- minat omnem hominem venidntem in hunc mun- dum. In mundo erat, et mundus per Ipsum factus est, et mundus Eum non cognovit : in propria venit, et sui Eum non receperunt. Quotquot autem rece- pe'runt Eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri, his qui credunt in nomine Eius : qui non ex sanguinibus, neque ex voluntate carnis, ne- que ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo nati sunt. ET VERBUM CARD FACTUM EST, et habitavit in nobis : et vidimus gloriam Eius, gloriam quasi Unigdniti a Patre, plenum grdtiae et veritatis. R. Deo gratias. light, that all men might believe through him. He was not the light : but was to give testi- mony of the light. That was the true light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, He gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in His name, who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH, (124) and dwelt among us ; and we saw His glory, the glory as it were of the Only- begotten of the Father ; full of grace and truth. R. Thanks be to God. OF THE MASS. IF The following V. R. and Prayer are in some places said every Sunday and Holiday after V. O Lord, save N. our king. R. And hear us in the day on which we call upon Thee. V. O Lord, hear my prayer. R. And let my cry come unto Thee. V. The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. We beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that Thy servant N. our king, who by Thy mercy hath undertaken the govern- ment of these realms, may also receive an in- crease of all virtues, wherewith being adorn- ed, he may avoid every enormity of sin ; and come at length to Thee, V. Ddmine, salvum fac regem nostrum N. K. Et exatidi nos in die qua invocave'rimus Te. V. Domine, exaiidi orationem meam. R. Et clamor meus ad Te veniat. V. Dominus vobis- cum. R. Et cum spiritu tuo. Oremus. Quaesumus omnipo- tens Deus : ut famulus Tuus N. rex noster, qui Tua miseratione susce- pit regni gubernacula, virtutum etiam omnium percipiat incrementa : quibus decenter ornatus, et vitiorum monstra de- vitare, et ad Te, qui via, veritas, et vita es, gra- tiosus valeat pervenire. 64 THE LITURGY Per Dominum nostrum, who art the way, the etc. truth, and the life. Through Christ our Lord, etc. R. Amen. R. Amen. BENEDICTION WITH THE BLESSED SACRA- MENT' 126 ' AFTER MASS. If The Priest having opened the Tabernacle (127) and drawn aside the little curtain, returns to the foot of the Altar-steps, puts incense into the thurible without blessing it, and kneeling, incenses the Blessed Sacrament. He intones the Hymn: Tantum ergo Sacramentum, which the Choir finishes. At the Genitori Genitoque he again incenses the Blessed Sacrament, and then re- cites the Collect : Deus, qui nobis, etc. He then puts on the Humeral Veil, and going up to the Altar, adores, (128) and muffling his hands in the extremities of the Veil, takes up the Pyx; (l29) and turning round sloivly, and with the most religious reverence, blesses with it the people, who are the ivhile profoundly bending in silent worship. The bell is rung during this cere- mony, to announce when the solemn act of bless- ing commences and finishes, that all may know how long to continue bowed down in adoration. The Priest having given the Benediction, de- posits the Pyx on the Corporal, takes off the OF THE MASS. Humeral Veil, replaces the Pyx in the Taber- nacle, genuflects, and closes the door. Tantum ergo Sacramentum veneremur c6rnui : et antiquum documentum novo cedat ritui : praestet fides supplementum sensuuin defectui : Genitori, Genitoque laus et iubilatio : salus, honor, virtus quoque, sit et benedictio : precedent! ab utroque compar sit laudatio. Amen. To this mysterious table now our knees, our hearts, and sense we bow : let ancient rites resign their place to nobler elements of grace : what our weak senses can't descry let stronger faith the want supply. To God the Father born of none, to Christ His co-eternal Son, and Holy Ghost whose equal ray.s from both proceed, be equal praise : one honour, jubilee, and fame, for ever bless His glorious name. Amen. V. Panem de caelo praestitisti eis. \_T. P. Alleluia.] R. Omne delectame'n- tum in se habentem. [T. P. Alleluia.] Oremus. Deus, qui nobis, sub sacram^nto mirabili,pas- sionis Tuae memoriam reliquisti : tribue quae- sumus, ita nos Corporis et Sanguinis Tui sacra myste'ria venerari, ut re- VOL. i. V. Thou hast given them bread from hea- ven. [In Paschal time: Alleluia.] E. Replenished with whatever is delicious. [In Paschal time : Alle- luia.] Let us pray. O God, who in this wonderful sacrament, hast left us a perpetual memorial of Thy passion: grant us, we beseech Thee, so to reverence the sacred mysteries of Thy 66 THE LITURGY OF THE MASS. demptidnis Tuae fruc- Body and Blood, as in turn in nobis itigiter sen- our souls to be always tidmus. Qui vivis et sensible of the redemp- regnas, etc. tion Thou hast purchased for us. Who livest and reignest, etc. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS NOTES ON THE RUBRICS, ETC. (i) A SPRIG of the hyssop-plant was used for sprink- ling the water of purification on the people under the Mosaic dispensation; 1 and at the going out of the children of Israel, they were com- manded to dip a bunch of hyssop in the blood of the paschal lamb, and sprinkle their door-posts with it. 8 (2) The English word Mass, in Latin Missa, is derived from the word missio, dismissal. It was the practice in the primitive Church, during the celebration of the mysteries of the Lord's Supper, to dismiss from the assembly, before the Creed, all those who had not been perfectly initiated into the truths of the Gospel and admitted to the communion of the faithful : this was denominated the Missio or Dismissal, whence is formed the Latin abbreviation Missa, and the English Mass. 3 1 Numbers, xix, 18. * Exodus, xn, 22. 3 The earliest instance of the use of the word Missa for the Liturgy occurs in the Letters of S. Ambrose ; see Epistle xx, 4. 69 70 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. The derivation of the term by which the prin- cipal afternoon service is designated is somewhat similar. Vespers, or Evening Song, constitute the sixth amongst the Seven Canonical Hours, as those forms of prayer are called which each ecclesiastic, from the Sub-deacon upwards, is bound to repeat every day, either in public or in private. The term Vespers is derived from Vesper, the star that appears towards sunset, the time appointed by ancient usage for the recital of Evening Song. 1 The antiquity of this form of prayer may be traced back to the earlier ages of the Church, since it is not only especially noticed in the Apostolic Constitutions, 2 but mentioned by S. Basil, S. Ambrose, and S. Hierome, the last of whom denominates it the ' Hora Lucernaris,' or time of lighting lamps at the decline of day. It may be proper to observe that the Vestment which, in most places, is worn by the officiating priest at Vespers is the Cope. (3) The use of Images in the house of God is authorised by Scripture. Moses was commanded 1 Vespera fit quando Sol occidit. S. AUGUSTINI in Psalmum xxix Enarratio 2. Vesperum autem nominatur a sidere, qui Vesper vocatur, et decidente sole exoritur. S. ISIDOKI de Ecclesiasticis Officiis lib. I, cap. xx, 2 ; Etymologiarum lib. vi, cap. xix, 2. 2 'E(T7r^/)oy yevontvys, ffwaffpolfffis rr)v fKKXrjfflav, S> eirlffKove' (cot /xera. rb fa6i)vai rbv f-m\>jxviov \f/a\fj.ov. Lib. VIII, cap. 35, apud IiABBEUM, Condi. Gen. t torn. I, col. 584. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 71 to place the images of two Cherubim upon the Ark ; l and Solomon ' carved all the walls of the Temple round about with divers figures and carvings.' 2 By making a reverence before the Crucifix, Catholics do not intend to worship the image of their Divine Redeemer, but the Redeemer Himself. All Christians bow the head when they hear the holy name of Jesus pronounced ; Catholics bow also when they behold His figure. The sound and the figure are both images of Jesus. ' . (4) There are two forms which the Church employs for offering up the Eucharistic Sacrifice one called High Mass; the other, Low Mass. Both are the same in essence, and differ in the cere- monies only, which are more numerous and solemn in the celebration of High than in that of Low Mass. By Solemn High Mass it is intended to signify the Mass at which a Deacon and Sub- deacon minister. The Roman Missal prescribes that we should kneel during the whole of Low Mass, except at the recital of the Gospel. 3 If, therefore, ill health or weakness do not compel us to sit down occa- sionally, we ought to comply with the Rubric, and 1 Exodus, xxv and xxvi. 2 3 Kings, vi, 29. 3 ' Circumstantes in Missis privatis semper genuflectunt, prae- terquam ad Evangelium.' Ritus servandus in celebrations Missae. 72 NOTES ON THE KUBRICS. hear Mass in a kneeling posture, which is the one most becoming a sinner who is present at the commemoration of the death of his crucified Redeemer. Through a devotional respect for the Blessed Eucharist, the priest who celebrates Mass, as also those who receive the Holy Communion, are fasting from the previous midnight. That this custom of receiving the Blessed Sacrament fasting was instituted by the Apostles may be gathered from a passage in the writings of Tertullian. 1 (5) Acolytes constitute the highest of the four minor orders in the Latin Church, in which they have been employed, from the remotest antiquity, to perform the inferior ministry at the Altar. S. Cornelius, who suffered martyrdom in 254, and his African contemporary, S. Cyprian, 2 in their epistles severally mention these subordinate clerks. The Roman Pontiff, in that part of his letter to Fabius, 3 Bishop of Antioch, where he enumerates the clergy of Rome, says that there were ' forty- six priests, seven deacons, seven sub-deacons, forty- two acolytes, together with fifty-two exorcists, lectors, and doorkeepers.' The Fourth Council of Carthage, celebrated in the year 398, takes especial 1 Ad Uxorem, lib. n, cap. 5. 2 Epist. LV. 3 EUSEBII Hist. Eccl., lib. vi, cap. 43. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 73 notice of the form of their ordination, and directs that ' when an acolyte is ordained, let him be instructed by the bishop how he is to perform his office. But let him receive from the archdeacon the candlestick, with a wax taper, that he may know that to him has been consigned the duty of lighting the lights of the church. And let him receive an empty cruet, to supply wine for the Eucharist of the Blood of Christ.' 1 The same formula is recited in the Sacramentary of S. Gregory. The term is Greek, and derived from the word &&oUfa which signifies a young ser- vant or attendant. One amongst their most con- spicuous offices within the sanctuary is, as S. Isidore informs us, 2 to bear about the wax tapers. It has been the custom for several centuries to allow lay persons, even youths, to discharge the ministry at the Holy Sacrifice and other functions, without having the ordination of acolytes. (6) This mark ^< , whenever it is found, expresses that the Priest, at those words to which it is affixed, makes the sign of the Cross. 1 Acolythus cum ordinatur, ab episcopo quidem doceatur, qualiter in officio suo agere debeat. Sed ab archidiacono accipiat ceroferarium cum cereo, ut sciat se ad accendeuda ecclesiae luminaria mancipari. Accipiat et urceolum vacuum, ad suggerendum vinum in eucharistiam Sanguinis Christi. LABBEI Concil. Gen., tom. in, col. 951. 3 See Note 35, p. 97. 74 KOTES ON THE RUBRICS. (7) Before commencing the Psalm, the Priest re- cites a versicle of it : 'I will go/ etc., called the Antiphon, which, as its two Greek component words indicate, signifies alternate utterance or sound. He and his two assistants alternately repeat the verses of this introductory Psalm. Such an alternation in singing or reciting Psalms and Hymns may be traced up to the earliest ages of the Church. So ancient is it, that its introduc- tion is attributed l to S. Ignatius, a disciple of the Apostles. 2 In the Church service it is usual to select, very often from the Psalm itself about to be commenced, some verse which is repeated both before and after saying it. Sometimes the same verse or Antiphon is repeated by one side of the choir, at the closing of each verse of the Psalm, the whole of which is recited by the other. As there is no portion of the Psalter more appropriate for the ministers of God to recite when about to offer up sacrifice than this verse : * I will go unto the Altar of God,' it has in consequence been chosen as the Antiphon to the Psalm : ' Judge me,' etc., and directed to be said on every 1 SOCRATIS Hist, Eccl., lib. vi, cap. 8. * S. Ignatius, who suffered martyrdom at Rome under Trajan, was appointed by S. Peter to fill the episcopal chair of Antioch on the death of Evodius, the immediate successor, in that see, of the Prince of the Apostles. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 75 occasion by the Priest at the commencement of Mass. (8) This Psalm, on account of the expressions of joy which it contains, is omitted at Masses for the Dead ; and during Passion-time, that is, the fortnight before Easter. (9) This is denominated the minor Doxology, or short hymn of Glory. The first part of it : ' Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost/ is presumed to have been framed by the Apostles. 1 The second portion : 'As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen/ is ascribed to the Council of Nice assembled in the year 325, and was ap- pended by the Nicene Fathers as a contradiction to the doctrines of Arius, who maintained that the Son was not in the beginning, nor equal to the Father. 2 The custom still observed by the people of standing up at Vespers, during the * Glory be to 1 That the first of the two versicles which compose the ' Glory be to the Father ' was in use as a prayer amongst the faithful anterior to the Council of Nice is certain. S. Basil, who lived a little more than forty years after it was held, notices, in his letter to Amphilo- chius, this hymn as ancient ; and the illustrious S. Athanasius, who flourished at the time the Council of Nice was celebrated, in referring to this Doxology, makes no mention of its being then but recently introduced. * BENEDICTI xiv de Sacrificio Missae lib. n, cap. in, 3 76 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. the Father,' etc., and of the choir bursting out into a louder chorus, no doubt owes its origin to the same cause which introduced this Doxology at the close of each Psalm. To express their belief in the doctrine of the holy and undivided Trinity, it appears that the people were instructed to stand up, and mingle their voices with the swelling strain of the choir, and thus proclaim their loud and unanimous assent to that dogma, as it were by acclamation. The antiquity of this rite is attested by Cassian, who flourished about the year 424, when he incidentally mentions it, not as if of recent introduction, but as a ceremony estab- lished throughout Gaul at the time when he was writing. ' In this province ' (Gaul), remarks that author, * at the conclusion of a Psalm, all standing up, unite in singing together, in a loud strain : " Glory be to the Father," etc.' l At a later period, Theodemar, twelfth Abbot of Monte Casino (778-797), notices the standing up, and the inclination of the head during the recital of the ' Glory be to the Father,' as a rite of ancient institution. 2 1 Illud etiam quod in hac provincia (Narbonensi nempe) vidimus, ut uno cantante in clausula psalmi, omnes astantes concinaut cum clamore : Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto, nusquam per omnem Orientem audivimus. lo. CASSIANI de Coenobiorum Insti- tutis lib. n, cap. 8. 2 Sunt et alia quae a maioribus instituta servamus : nudato ex- ceptis infirmis capite ad officium stamus : flectimus cervicem, quoties Gloria canitur. Epist. ad Theodonctim, quoted by LE LORRAIN, De Vancienne coutume deprier et d'adorer debout, torn. I, p. 189. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 77 (.0) While reciting the prayer: 'I confess,' etc., the Priest, with his hands joined, bends down his head profoundly, to express his confusion for his sinfulness, and to imitate the humble ' Publican, who would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven.' l At these words he strikes his breast. This manner of expressing grief for sin is both ancient and scriptural. The Publican mentioned in the Gospel 2 struck his breast, saying, ' O God, be merciful to me a sinner ; ' and at the Crucifixion, ' the multitude that saw the things that were done, returned striking their breasts.' 3 The striking of the breast is meant to signify, not only that we are indignant against this bosom of ours, which has so often rebelled against heaven, but that we desire that it may be bruised and softened by compunction, and that the stony heart may be exchanged for one of flesh.* In the Old as well as in the New Law, the confession of sins has invariably preceded Sacrifice. The High Priest under the Mosaic dispensation, before 1 S. Luke, xvin, 13. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid., xxill, 48. 4 Ezekiel, xi, 19. 78 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. he offered the emissary goat, was directed ' to con- fess all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their offences and sins.' l Some Protestants have objected that in this prayer Catholics make a confession of their sins, not only to God, but also to the Saints. In answer to this, it should be observed that we here confess, not only to the Saints in heaven, but also to our brethren upon earth ; and, in both instances, we employ the same expression : and thus we comply with the injunction of S. James, who says, ' Confess your sins one to another.' 2 Now, as it is not the slightest derogation from God's honour to confess to sinners on earth, it is impossible to conceive how it can be unlawful to confess our guilt and acknowledge our transgres- sions to the Saints in heaven, who are, at the day of final retribution, to sit in judgement on us ; for it was thus that our Divine Redeemer addressed His Apostles : ' Amen, I say to you, when the Son of Man shall sit on the seat of His Majesty, you also shall sit on twelve seats, judging the twelve tribes of Israel ; ' ' and S. Paul exclaims : ' Know you not that the Saints shall judge this world ? ' ' The present form of the Confiteor came into general use during the thirteenth century. 1 Leviticus, xvi, 21. 2 & James, v, 16. 3 S. Matthew, xix, 28. 4 i Corinthians, vi, 2. NOTES ON THE KUBKICS. 79 Not only did the Archangel Gabriel salute the Blessed Virgin Mary with this respectful language : ' Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee ; blessed art thou amongst women ; ' * but she herself, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, declared that 'all generations should call her blessed.' 2 By this prayer Catholics partly realise this prophetic declaration uttered by ' the Mother of our Lord.' (13) Of the Archangel Michael it is said in the prophecy of Daniel : ' Michael shall rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the children of Thy people.' 3 S. John Baptist was, as it were, the conclusion of the Old and the beginning of the New Testa- ment. He was ' the Angel sent before the face ' of the Redeemer ; ' the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight His paths.' It was he who preached the Baptism of penance unto the remission of sins. 4 (-5) It was to S. Peter that Jesus Christ made this splendid promise : ' Thou art Peter, and upon this 1 S. Luke, I, 28. 2 Ibid., I, 48. 3 Daniel, xn, i. * S. Mark, I, 2, 3, 4. 8o NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.' l S. Paul was associated with S. Peter in preaching the Gospel at Rome, and in founding the Roman Church, of which the first Pope or Bishop was S. Peter. (16) The Saints in heaven are addressed in this prayer for three reasons : I. Because their perfect charity, or love of God, induces them to feel a concern about every offence perpetrated against their heavenly Sovereign. II. Because they take particular interest about everything which regards us here below, and participate in that 'joy which is in heaven upon one sinner doing penance.' 2 III. Because it not unfrequently happens that Almighty God grants, through the intercession of His favourites, the pardon which He denies to the sinner himself. The Lord thus spoke to Abimelech : ' Abraham shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live ; ' 3 and He likewise said to the friends of Job : ' Go to My servant Job ; and My 1 S. Matthew, xvi, 18, 19. 2 S. Luke, xv, 7. 3 Genesis, xx, 7. NOTES OX THE RUBRICS. 81 servant Job shall pray for you ; his face I will accept, that folly be not imputed to yon.' l 07) S. James bids us confess our sins ' one to another.' 2 (18) When we address ourselves to God, we say : ' Have mercy on us.' When we address ourselves to Saints, to Angels, or to men, we say : * Pray for us.' ' Jesu mercy, Lady help.' The words : ' Dominus vobiscum,' or ' the Lord be with you,' are found in several passages of the Old Testament. ' Booz said to the reapers : The Lord be with you. And they answered him : The Lord bless thee.' 3 Such, too, was the salutation of the Angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 4 The response : ' And with thy spirit,' is furnished by those words of S. Paul to Timothy : ' The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit.' 5 Anciently, when travellers met, they greeted one another thus in passing, a custom still kept up in some parts of Germany and Spain. 1 Job, XLII, 8. 2 S. James, v, 16. 3 Ruth, n, 4. 4 S. Luke, i, 28. 6 2 Timothy, iv, 22. VOL. I. F 8 2 NOTES OX THE RUBRICS. (20) The Priest kisses the Altar, out of respect and affection towards that spot on which Jesus Christ is daily immolated ; for we may well exclaim with S. Optatus, Bishop of Milevis, who flourished to- wards the year 365 : c What is the Altar but the seat of the Body and Blood of Christ?' 1 The use of Altars in the Church, and the respect which has been invariably manifested towards them from the earliest ages, will be noticed in a separate chapter. The Priest is directed to kiss 2 that part of the Altar under which are deposited the Relics of some Martyr or other Saint. Thus there is fur- nished another testimonial of reverence to our Divine Redeemer, through the respect which is exhibited towards the earthly remains of those who have exemplified His precepts by their virtues, or sealed the profession of His doctrines with their blood. In the earliest ages of the Church, the holy Sacrifice of the Mass used to be offered on the tombs of the Martyrs ; hence arose the custom of enclosing a portion of their Relics beneath the table of the Altar. It is but 1 Quid est enim Altare, nisi sedes et s Corporis et Sanguinis Christi. S. OPTATUS de Schismate Donatistarum, lib. vi. 2 The meaning of kissing sacred things is well explained by Pope Nicolas I., Responsio ad Bulgaros, apud LABBEUM, Condi. Gen., torn, xv, col. 405. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 83 becoming that beneath our earthly Altars should repose the Relics of the Saints, since S. John remarks of them in his vision of the Heavenly Sacrifice : ' I saw under the Altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.' l By the express command of God, the use of Incense was very frequent in the service of the Jewish Temple. 2 This portion of the Service derives its name from its having originally been sung when the Priest entered the Church from the Sacristy, on his way to the Altar. According to present use, the Choir at High Mass chants it as the Priest is approaching the Altar, but the Priest reads it at the Altar immediately before the Kyrie. The Introit as a rule consists of an Antiphon, a verse, or verses, of a Psalm the version usually the old Latin, not the Vulgate and the * Gloria Patri.' Some Introits, called irregular, are taken from other parts of Scripture ; this is the case with thirty-five out of the hundred and fifty-nine Introits in the Pian Missal, whilst seven others are by uninspired writers. The introduction of 1 Apocalypse, vi, 9. 2 Exodus, XL, 5 ; S. Luke, l, 10, u. 84 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. Introits is attributed by some to S. Celestine, by others to S. Gregory the Great. ' Kyrie eleisou ' are two Greek words, which signify 'Lord have mercy.' Such a petition is most appropriately recited at the commencement of the tremendous mysteries. Then it is that we should supplicate the mercies of Heaven in cries like those of the blind men of Jericho, 1 with the perseverance of the Canaanean mother, 2 and as humbly as the ten lepers. 3 ' Kyrie eleison ' is said thrice, in honour of God the Father ; ' Christe eleison ' thrice, in honour of God the Son ; and ' Kyrie eleison ' thrice, in honour of God the Holy Ghost. (24) This has been denominated the Angelic Hymn, because it commences with the words chanted by Angelic voices in the midnight air at the birth of our Divine Redeemer, which was announced to the shepherds by an Angel zoned in light, with whom 'there was a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying : Glory be to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.' 4 This Canticle, as the Fathers of the 1 S. Matthew, xx, 30. * Ibid., xv, 22-27. 3 S. Luke, xvn, 13. 4 Ibid., IT, 13, 14. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 85 Fourth Council of Toledo, celebrated in the year 633, observed, consists of the strain sung by the multitude of the heavenly army, and of pious aspirations composed by the pastors of the Church. The Greeks call it the greater Doxo- logy. Its author is unknown, but it is found nearly, though not quite, in its present form in the Apostolic Constitutions. 1 It was introduced into the Mass by the Roman Church, first of all on Christmas Day, when it was sung at the first Mass in Greek, at the second in Latin. After- wards bishops said it on Sundays and festivals,' priests only on Easter Sunday ; this restricted use was maintained until the end of the tenth century. The ' Gloria in excelsis ' is now said in all Masses except those of the Sundays in Advent and from Septuagesima to Palm Sunday inclusive, and of all ferias outside the Paschal season. It is not said in votive Masses, except in those of the Angels, and of the Blessed Virgin on Saturday. Being a canticle of gladness, it is also omitted in Masses for the Dead. In commencing this hymn, so beautiful for its devout sentiments, and venerable for its antiquity, the Priest outstretches and elevates his hands, 1 Constitution.** Apost., lib. vn, c. 48, apud LABBEUM, Condi. Gen., torn. I, col. 530. 2 The Liber Pontifical-is attributes its introduction to Pope S. Telesphorus ; its use on Sundays and feasts of Martyrs to S. Sym- machu$>. 86 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. and turns his eyes towards heaven. A pious sensibility naturally dictates such gestures. They exhibit in a feeling manner those inward pro- found emotions, and that religious elevation of the soul, experienced by the fervent Christian ; and testify, that whilst his lips are resounding with those angel-notes of praise, ' Glory be to God on high,' they echo but the accents of a heart that sighs to embrace and retain the joys of Heaven for all eternity. The inclination of the head at the name of God is to manifest our worship of God, made man for our redemption. At the conclusion, the Priest makes the sign of the Cross, according to the custom of the ancient Christians, who sanctified all their prin- cipal actions by calling to their minds the sacri- fice of Christ's atonement by this holy symbol. The Priest bows down before the Altar, because he who wishes to communicate a benediction to others must first of all, by his humility, incline Heaven to bestow the blessing he desires to im- part. He kisses the Altar because it is the throne of Jesus. He turns round towards the congregation, because he speaks a holy greeting ; and he holds his arms extended to signify, by such a natural expression of sincere and warm affection, that he is acting in the name of Jesus, the loving Father of the faithful. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 87 (26) Nothing can be more impressive than this scrip- tural and very ancient custom of extending the arms during the time of prayer in a way which represents the form of a cross. It was thus that Moses prayed upon the mountain, while the chil- dren of Israel were combating on the plain with the Amalekites. 1 The Psalmist makes frequent mention of it : ' Hear, O Lord,' he cries, ' the voice of my supplication when I lift my hands to Thy holy temple.' 2 'Lift up your hands to the holy place.' 3 'I stretched forth my hands to Thee.' 4 S. Paul refers to this ceremony when he says : * I will that men pray . . . lifting up pure hands.' 5 That this was the ordinary attitude of Christians when praying is evident both from the testimony of the earliest writers of the Church, 6 and from those monuments of Christian antiquity which are extant. Tertullian, in his book on prayer, 7 and Prudentius, in his hymn on the Martyrdom of S. Fructuosus, 8 particularly men- tion it. S. Ambrose died praying with his arms 1 Exodus, xvn, ii. - Psalm, xxvn, 2. a Ibid., cxxxm, 2. 4 Ibid., CXLII, vi. 5 Timothy, n, 8. 6 Thus S. Cyprian : ' Hierarcha plus . . . elevatione manuura crucis mysterium representans, confidenter orat.' See PAMELIUS, Liturgica Latinorum, torn, i, p. 194. See also S. ATHANASIUS, Epistola ail Castor em de canonicis coenobiorum constitutionibus. 7 De Oratione, cap. 14 : 'Nos non attollimus tan turn, sed etiam expandiinus, et de Dominica Passione modulamur et orantes con- fitenmr.' See also Apologeticus, cap. 30. * TltplffTt^dvuv liber, Hynnius vi, v. 107. 88 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. extended in the form of a cross. 1 In the fresco- paintings with which the Christians of the first ages adorned the chambers of their Catacombs at Rome are still visible many figures with out- stretched hands, in the act of praying. 2 The Sarcophagi which contained the bodies, 3 and the Cippi or marble slabs that covered the tombs of the Martyrs, 4 as well as articles of domestic furniture, 5 exhibit figures in similar positions. Anciently this gesture was common both to the Clergy and Laity during the time of prayer ; but now, with the exception of some places in Belgium, Holland, and Germany, where the people still employ it in the Churches, especially during the prayers recited after the Way of the Cross, it is observed by the Priest only. Amongst ancient ecclesiastical authors the word ' Collect ' signifies a meeting of the faithful for the purposes of prayer. 6 1 Ab hora circiter unclecima diei usque ad illaiu horaiu in qua emisit spiritum, expansis manibus in moclum crucis oravit. PAULINUS. Vita S. Ambrosii. 2 ARINGHI Roma Sulterranea, torn, i, pp. 541, 565, 581, and 585. NoETHCOTEand BROWNLOW, Roma Sotterranea, vol. n, plates xir, xm, xiv,and xvm, and pp. 139, 156, 158, 162, 168, 196, and 209. See also Part 2 of this work, chap, xn, 29. 3 BOTTARI, Roma Sotterranea, plate cxxxvi. 4 ARINGHI, torn, i, p. 606. 5 F. BtroNARRUOTi, Osservazioni sopra alcuni frammenti di Vasi Antichidivetro,~FiTenze, 1716, plates xvm and xxi; NORTHCOTE and BROWNLOW, vol. n, plate xxn. 6 In the writings of the Fathers the following expressions : col- NOTES OX THE RUBRICS. 89 In the early times of Christianity it was usual for the people to assemble in a particular Church on fast-days, but ' especially during seasons of public calamity, in order afterwards to proceed in regular procession to another Church previously determined upon, for the celebration of what was called, in the language of the period, a station. 1 When the Clergy and the people had assembled at the place appointed, the Bishop, or the Priest who was to officiate, recited over the collected multitude a short prayer, which, from the cir- cumstance, was denominated the Collect, or the gathering prayer. 2 As the Mass is the principal service of the Church, for the celebration of which the faithful are collected, we see the propriety of denominat- ing by the term Collect that prayer which the Priest puts up to God in behalf of those amongst His servants who have come together to adore Him. In fact, the ancient mode of saying the lectas agere congregari ad collectam which are of frequent occur- rence, are to be understood in this sense. 1 The ceremony was denominated ' Station,' because it was at the second Church that the procession stopped to hear Mass and listen to a sermon. It was on occasion of these stations that Pope S. Gregory the Great preached the greater number of his Homilies to the Roman people. 2 In the Sacramentary of S. Gregory there are two prayers for the Feast of the Purification : the first is entitled, The Collect at S. Adrian's the church at which the Clergy and people met, before proceeding to S. Mary Major's, where the second was recited as the Collect in the Mass of the Festival. 90 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. Collect furnishes another warrant for the pro- priety of such a designation. Before the Cele- brant began the prayer itself, he exhorted, as he does now, the people to offer their petitions to Heaven by saying : ' Let us pray.' The Deacon then proclaimed aloud : ' Let us kneel down ; ' and after a pause, which was employed by all present in silent supplication, that minister a second time cried out : ' Stand up again.' The Priest then, rising from his knees, prayed aloud. 1 Though not the name, the form, however, of prayer which we have in the Collect may be traced up to Apostolic origin. Many of the occasional Collects now in use are proved, by referring to the Sacramentaries of Popes Gelasius and Gregory, to have been composed more than thirteen hundred years ago. It may in conclusion be observed, that as it is the official duty of the Priest to stand between the Altar of God and the people, to collect the vows and the petitions of those around him, and offer them up all together to the throne of grace and mercy, hence the formula employed for such a purport has been very properly, from this 1 An illustrious Father of the Greek Church, S. Basil, who died in the year 379, refers, in his book on the Holy Ghost, c. xxvii, to this ceremony, which is still observed throughout the Latin Church at the Quatuor Tempera or Ember days, on Good Friday and on Holy Saturday ; with this only difference, that at High Mass the Sub-deacon, and at Low Mass the Acolyte, without allowing any time to transpire in silence, says : " Stand up again/'' NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 91 circumstance alone, denominated Collect, from the collection which the pastor makes of the prayers of his flock, and from his afterwards com- pressing in one common summary the requests of each single individual. By making a reverence before the Crucifix, by bowing his head as he pronounces the holy name of Jesus, and by kissing the text of the Gospel, the Priest intends to honour and worship, not an image, nor a book, nor a sound, but Jesus Christ Himself in Heaven, who is represented and called to his remembrance by these several sensible signs and figures. To these symbols of Jesus the Priest exhibits no more honour than the Jewish priesthood, by an express command of God, manifested to the Ark of the Testament, and to the Temple. Catholics neither worship nor pray to, nor repose any trust in images, as the heathens did in their idols ; nor do they believe any power or virtue to reside in them. They are expressly taught by the Church, ' that images have neither life nor sense to help them.' l Such an admonition is addressed by the Priest to his congregation for the purpose of warning Concilium Tridentinum, Sessio xxv. 92 NOTES ON THE EUBRICS. them that his prayers are for the common benefit ; and of assuring them that it will be in vain for him to lift up his hands towards Heaven in their behalf unless they also elevate their hearts at the same moment. (30) The Acolyte in the name of the people answers ' Amen ' at the end of the Collect, Secret and Post-Communion, and thus ratifies what the Priest has been saying, according to the custom of the Jews and primitive Christians. Amen is a Hebrew word, employed to confirm what has been an- nounced, and, according to the tenor of the dis- course to which it is appended, signifies either ' That is true,' or * May it be so,' or ' I agree to that.' It is, in reality, a form of speech indicative of an assertion, a desire, or a consent, i . When the Amen is uttered after a declaration of the truths of Faith, such as, for instance, the Creed, it is a simple assertion, and signifies 'That is true.' 2. When it follows a prayer for some blessing or spiritual good, such as the conver- sion of nations, health of soul and body, or rest to the spirits of departed brethren, the Amen expresses a wish. 3. After a prayer pledging us to the performance of anything, the Amen declares our determination to comply with the engagement. NOTES ON THK KUBR1CS. 93 (31) The Jews commenced the public service of their Sabbath by reading Moses and the Pro- phets : l the first Christians followed their example, and during Divine worship on the Sunday read passages from the Old or New Testament. 2 But as these extracts were more generally made from the letters of S. Paul, the Doctor of the Gentiles, this scriptural lecture received the appellation of the Epistle. 3 The Epistle of each Sunday is taken from the letters of S. Paul, or of the other Apostles, and not without a spiritual meaning ; for in causing the writings of God's envoys to be recited previous to the reading of the Gospel, the Church appears to imitate the example of Jesus Christ, who deputed some among His disciples to go before Him into those quarters which He was about to honour with a visit. 4 It is thought that the present distribution of Epistles and Gospels of the Sundays throughout the year was arranged by S. Hierome at the desire of Pope Damasus about the year 376. 1 Acts, xni, 1 5. 2 TERTULLIANI Apologettcus, cap. 39. In the Ambrosian and Mozarabic Missals, two lessons one from the Old, the other from the New Testament are appointed to be read before the Gospel. 1 RABANUS MADRUS de Sacris Ordinibus, cap. 19. He died in 856. * See the Treatise, De Divinis Officiis, written in the eleventh century, cap. 40, II, in MIGNE, Patrologiae Cursus, torn, cr, col. 1250. 94 NOTES ON THE KTJBRICS. Portions of the sacred writings are read during the recital of all the other offices of the Church. At Vespers, for instance, is said the Little Chapter, which is a short lesson, containing a few sen- tences selected from some portion of the Old or New Testament. It is mentioned as early as the sixth century, by the Council of Agde, in Gaul, celebrated in the year 506. The Venerable Bede says, 'that in imitation of the children of Israel, who, in the time of Ezra, used to read four times during the day out of the Volume of the Law, a practice was introduced into the Church of reciting a lesson from the Sacred Scriptures, after each portion of the daily psalmody, known at present under the appellation of the Canonical Hours.' l (32) After the Epistle, in order to unite prayer with instruction, part of one of the Psalms is recited ; this is called the Responsory, because it answers to the Epistle, or more commonly the GRADUAL, from the custom which anciently pre- vailed of chanting it whilst the Deacon ascended the steps (in Latin, gradus) of the Ambo, 2 in 1 BEDAE Allegorica Expositio in Esdram, lib. in, cap. 28. 2 These Ambones are still to be seen in some of the oldest churches at Rome, such as S. Clement's, S. Laurence's, and several others. In the church at Aachen the Epistle and Gospel are still sung in an Ambo on the south side of the choir. The custom of singing them in the Roodloft which is nothing else but a double Ambo is still kept up in some churches on the Continent. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 95 which the Gospel used to be recited. 1 The versicles composing the Gradual were chanted alternately and by many voices, which responded one to another. The Gradual is always used at Mass except in Paschal time from Low Sunday to the Octave of Pentecost. (33) After the Responsory or Gradual is sung the ALLELUIA, which consists of a verse of a Psalm preceded by two Alleluias and followed by a third, to which, from Low Sunday to the Octave of Pentecost, is added a second verse of a Psalm and a fourth Alleluia. ALLELUIA is a Hebrew term which signifies ' Praise the Lord ; ' but as it expresses a transport of joy which cannot be adequately rendered by any term in Greek or Latin, it has been retained in its original form. Tobias, wishing to signify the joy which is to distinguish the flourishing periods of the Church of Christ, or of the New Jerusalem, proclaims that ' Alleluia shall be sung in all its streets ; ' and S. John assures us that the inhabitants of heaven hymn their praises in Alleluias. 3 In very early times the Alleluia was followed by a long series of jubilant notes sung to its last vowel without any words. This series of 1 RABANUS MAURUS de Sacris Ordinibus, cap. 19. 2 Tobias, xni, 22. * Apocalypse, xix, 1-6. 96 M)TES OX THE RUBRICS. notes was called the Sequence, but owing to the difficulty of remembering these vocalisations, ex- perienced by even the most skilful cantors, a custom arose in the North of Gaul of setting words to these notes. About the year 860 a monk of the Abbey of Jumieges, which had been laid waste by the Normans, sought refuge at the Monastery of S. Gall in the diocese of Con- stance. He brought with him the Antiphoner of his monastery, which contained several of these Sequences with words set to them. This volume was a source of inspiration to a young monk of S. Gall named Notker, 1 who at once set to work to imitate and improve on them. Notker's work found favour, and his compositions were introduced into the use of most Churches and Orders, and were called ' Prosae ad sequentia,' and later on * Prosae.' Of the many Proses com- posed during the Middle Ages four only were retained in the Pian Missal. The first of these is the ' Victimae Paschali,' sung at Easter, the author of which was Wipo, chaplain of the Emperors Conrad n. and Henry in. (d. 1050) ; the second is the 'Veni, Sancte Spiritus,' for Pentecost, which, according to Duranti, 2 is the production of Robert, king of the Franks (d. 1031); the third is the 'Lauda Sion,' for the 1 The B. Notker died abbot of the monastery in 912. 2 Rationale, lib. IV, cap. 22. NOTES ON THE KUBRICS. 97 feast of Corpus Christi, composed by S. Thomas of Aquin (d. 1274) ; the fourth is the 'Dies irae/ ascribed by some to Cardinal Latino Malabranca, a Dominican friar who died in 1294, but with better reason to Thomas of Celano, a Franciscan who lived in the middle of the thirteenth century. The ' Stabat mater dolorosa,' attributed by some to Pope Innocent III. (d. 1216), is more probably by the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi (d. 1306). It was restored to the Roman Missal by Benedict XIII. in 1727. (34) In all Masses from Septuagesima till Holy Saturday, on week-days in Advent, and on all vigils l observed as fasts, the ALLELUIA is omitted, and replaced by a portion of a Psalm called the Tract, from being sung by the Cantor alone tractim, that is, without break or interruption of other voices. (35) S. Jerome, in his able answer to Vigilantius, written about the year 406, thus refers to this ceremony : ' Throughout all the churches of the East, whenever the Gospel is recited, they bring forth lights, though it be at noonday ; not certainly to drive away the darkness, but to 1 Except on Holy Saturday and Whitsun-eve ; the reason being that these Masses were originally celebrated in the night, as may be gathered from the Collects and Preface. VOL. I. G 98 KOTES ON THE RUBRICS. manifest some sign of joy.' x Those attendants who answer and wait on the Priest, and at High Mass carry the lights, are thus noticed by S. Isidore, Bishop of Seville from 599 to 636 : ' Those who in the Greek tongue are denomi- nated Acolytes, are, in Latin, called Taper-bearers, from their carrying wax-candles at the reading of the Gospel, or the offering of the Sacrifice. Then tapers are lighted and borne by them.' 2 (36) Amongst the nations of antiquity, an offering of perfumes was regarded as a token of the most profound respect and homage. Moses received particular instructions from God to erect an Altar of Incense in the Tabernacle. The early Christians imitated the example of the Jews, and used incense at the celebration of their Liturgy. The ceremony of burning incense at this part of the Holy Sacrifice should figure to us, that as a grateful perfume exhales from the glowing thurible, so a sweet odour is diffused throughout the soul by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, whose bosom glowed with love for man. (37) By standing up during the Gospel, we express our readiness to answer the call of the inspired volume, and to obey the precepts which it delivers to us. 1 S. HIERONYMI contra Vigilantium liber. 2 S. ISIDORI de Ecclesiasticis Officiis lib. ir, cap. xiv. NOTES OK THE RUBRICS. 99 (38) This is the remnant of a very ancient ceremony practised in the Greek l and Latin Churches. At the General Councils, a copy of the sacred volume was placed upon an elevated and richly orna- mented throne. 2 At other times, the holy book was laid on the Altar, as may be perceived in a mosaic executed about the year 45 r, 3 which still ornaments the cupola of S. John's Church at Ravenna. In his Annotations on the Greek Liturgies, Goar has the following note on this ceremony of depositing the volume of the Gospels on the middle part of the Altar, as on a royal throne : ' Evangelium altaris medio perpetuo accumbens, Christum Regem throno Suo insi- dentem manifestat : et Sacerdos primo ad altare appulsu, in Evangelio Christum veneratur : Dia- cono humilitatis et status sui conscio, thronum ilium regium adorare contento.' * (39) j Pr Gospel he is about to read is the book of Jesus It is thus that the Priest signifies that the 1 See the Liturgies which bear the names of S. James, of S. Basil, and of S. John Chrysostom. Precisely the same ceremonies as we observe immediately before and at the chanting of the Gospel are also prescribed by the Greek Church. 2 CYRILLI Apolog. ad Theodosium. 3 CIAMPINI Vetera Monimenta, torn. I, p. 236, tab. LXX. 4 GOAR, Ei/xoXo^toj', sive Rituale Graeconim, p. 122. ioo NOTES ON THE EUBRICS. crucified ; and by this action he imitates the piety of the early Christians, who never com- menced any work without first making the sign of the Cross. (40) The Priest and people here, and at the last Gospel, sign, first, their foreheads with this emblem of Christianity, to manifest, as S. Augustine observes, that, so far from blushing at the Cross, they not only do not conceal this instrument of redemption in any secret place, but bear it on their foreheads, 1 and with S. Paul, glory in it ; 2 then, their mouths : ' For with the heart we believe unto justice ; but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation ; ' 3 and lastly, their bosoms, by way of admonition that the precepts of Christ should be imprinted in indelible characters on the heart of every true believer in the Cross. (4') This is done both out of reverence for the Word of God, and to signify that everything which emanates from such a hallowed source is sweet and venerable. 1 Usque adeo de Cruce non erubesco, ut non in occulto loco habeam Crucem Christi, sed in fronte portem. S. AUGUSTINI in Psalmum, CXLI Enarratio, v. 4. 2 Galatians, vi, 14. 3 Romans, x, 10. XOTES ON THE KUBEICS. 101 (42) This is in accordance with what we read of ' the great multitude of people who came to hear Jesus, and to be healed of their diseases.' l (43) Such a ceremony testifies our reverence, and expresses our joy in the Gospel, and affection towards Jesus, inspired by His divine words. (44) This tribute of respect is offered to the Priest, because he is the principal sacrificing minister who should ' manifest the odour of his knowledge in every place,' according to the language of S. Paul. 2 ' (45) The Creed is said every Sunday during the year, and on all those feasts the objects of which are in a manner comprehended in it ; such as the different festivals instituted in honour of Christ, and of His Mother the Blessed Virgin Mary ; of the Apostles and Doctors of the Church, by whose arduous labours and writings the doctrine in- cluded in this symbol of Christianity has been disseminated through the world. It is not known 1 S. Luke, vi, 1 8. 2 2 Corinthians, n, 14. 102 NOTES ON THE KUBEICS. when the recitation of the Creed was first intro- duced into the Latin Mass, though certainly not later than the ninth century. The practice of singing it appears to have sprung up in the tenth. There is a liturgical peculiarity which must be interesting to the reader. The custom of saying the ' Our Father ' and the ' Creed ' in silence at Compline, and at the other portions of the divine service, excepting at Mass when they are recited aloud, appears to be a remnant of that ancient law, denominated the 'Discipline of the Secret,' which was most religiously observed by the faith- ful throughout the world during the first five ages of the Church, and in countries where there was a mixed population of heathens and Christians, until the twelfth century. 1 According to this apostolical institution, neither the Lord's Prayer nor the Creed 2 was permitted to be recited aloud at those parts of the public service at which it was possible for any unbeliever or uninitiated person to be present. 3 It was only after the Catechumens had been diligently instructed, and were about to receive baptism, that they were 1 EMANUELIS A SCHELSTRATE Dissertatio de Disciplina Arcani, Romae, 1685, c. vi. 2 BENEDICTI XIV. de Sacrificio Missae lib. n, cap. xix, 4. 3 Writing to his sister Marcellina in 385, S. Ambrose observes : ' Post lectiones atque tractatum, dimissis Catechumenis, Symbolum aliquibus competentibus in baptisteriis tradebam basilicae.' Epist. xx, Marcellinae sorori. 103 taught these prayers. Hence may be readily per- ceived the original reason why the Lord's Prayer is recited, at Mass, in an elevated tone of voice, and at Vespers, and the Canonical Hours, 1 in perfect silence. The presence of the unbeliever, the Jew, and the Catechumen was willingly tolerated during the recital of various parts of the public service, and of the commencement of the Liturgy or Mass. But it was one of the official duties of the Deacon to see that all such persons had withdrawn from the assembly before the Creed was recited. 2 (46) Whenever we address ourselves to the Divinity, we ought to elevate our hearts towards Heaven. The exterior lifting up of the hands is a figure of the interior elevation of the mind towards God. (47) This inclination of the head is to exhibit our profound respect for the ineffable perfections of the Deity. 1 That the Benedictines have always recited the Lord's Prayer at Lauds and Vespers aloud is simply owing to the fact that none but monks and inmates of the monastery were present at their offices. 2 A canon of the Fourth Council of Carthage enacts that the Bishop shall not forbid anyone, whether he be heathen, heretic, or Jew, from coming into the church, and staying there to hear the Word of God until the dismissal of the Catechumens. ' Ut episcopus nullum pro- hibeat ingredi ecclesiam et audire verbum Dei, sive gentilem, sive haereticum, give ludaeum, usque ad Missam Catechumenorum.' io 4 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. (48) At these words, all kneel down to venerate the mystery of the Incarnation, and to adore God made man : * Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God ; but debased Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of a man, for which cause God also hath exalted Him, and hath given Him a name which is above all names : that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.' l (49) By making the sign of the Cross we express that our hopes of a joyful resurrection, and of the happiness of eternal life, are founded solely on the merits of Jesus crucified. (50) As long as the Discipline of the Secret 2 was enforced, the Catechumens were dismissed from the Assembly immediately after the recitation of the Creed. Not only were the Catechumens or persons who had not been purified by the re- generating waters of Baptism excluded from the 1 Philippians, II, 6-10. 2 See above, N? 45, and Part 2, ch. I, N9 xxiii, p. 222. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 105 Sacrifice of the Mass, but also the public peni- tents, or Christians who had defiled the robe of baptismal innocence by the blacker stains of sin, and were, in consequence, considered, in those times of primitive fervour, unworthy to remain and attend at the Eucharistic Sacrifice. When they had left the church, what was called the Mass of the Faithful commenced with the salutation, ' Dominus vobiscum.' The faithful must assist at this portion of the Mass on all Sundays and days of obligation under pain of mortal sin. (sO The Offertory is an Antiphon which the Priest recites prior to the Oblation, and which is chanted by the choir immediately after the ' Dominus vobiscum.' It owes its name to a practice which was anciently observed in the Church by the faithful, who, at this part of the Mass, presented their offerings of bread and wine to be consecrated at the Holy Sacrifice, a practice which began to fall into disuse in the eleventh century, but was still kept up in some churches on the greater festivals until the end of the last century. The choir, in singing this Antiphon whilst the Priest is offering the bread and wine, imitates the chant of the Jewish sanctuary at the celebration of the Aaronic sacrifice : ' For when the High Priest stretched forth his hand to make io6 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. a libation, and offered of the blood of the grape, lie poured out at the foot of the Altar a divine odour to the most high Prince. Then the sons of Aaron shouted, they sounded with beaten trumpets, and made a great noise, to be heard for a remembrance before God. Then all the people together made haste and fell down to the earth upon their faces, to adore the Lord their God, and to pray to the Almighty the Most High. And the singers lifted up their voices, and in the great house the sound of sweet melody was in- creased.' l It should be remembered that, although all the ancient Liturgies contain an oblation of the gifts before consecration, the five prayers with which this oblation is now made are of comparatively recent date. Hence the variety in the various diocesan uses which since the sixteenth century have gradually fallen out of use and been replaced by the Pian Missal. (53) The matter, as it is called, of the Sacrifice is composed of wheaten bread and wine of the grape. The Latin Church, in imitation of our Divine Redeemer, 2 employs unleavened bread in the celebration of the Blessed Eucharist ; a 1 Ecclesiasticus, L, 16-20. 2 S. Matthew, xxvi, 17 ; S. Mark, xiv, 12 ; and S. Luke, xxn, 7. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 107 practice which is mentioned by our countryman Alcuin, in a letter written in the year 798. 1 (53) ' ' : .;. The Corporal is a square piece of fine linen on which the Host is consecrated. It is so called because it touches the Body 2 of our Lord. It has been known by such an appellation for more than ten centuries. 3 In the Ambrosian rite, the Corporal is likened to the linen cloths in which the Body of our Saviour was shrouded in the sepulchre, and on unfolding it at the Offertory, the Priest recites what is termed the ' Oratio super sindonem.' Anciently the Chalice also was covered by the Corporal, a practice still retained by the Carthusians. The Greeks make use of a similar square piece of linen cloth, which they spread out as we do. 4 In their Liturgies it is called eiXirov, a word which implies precisely the same meaning as our Corporal. 5 In explaining what is to be understood by the etXirrov, or Corporal, 1 Panis, qui in corpus Christi consecratur, absque fermento ullius alterius infectionis, debet esse mundissimus. Epist. xc, Ad Fratres Luqdunenses. 3 In Latin Corpus. 3 ' Sindon quam eolemus Corporate nominare.' AMALARII, presb. Metensis, De, JScclesiasticis Officiis lib. ill, cap. 19. 4 GOAR, ~Evxo\6ytov, pp. 70, 162. It should not escape the learned reader's notice, that, in the Greek Liturgies, the word by which the Priest is designated is lepefa, an appellation which the classic writers anciently employed to signify, not merely a minister of religion, but more especially a sacrificing priest. 6 Ibid., p. 70. io8 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople (1222), says : ' It signifies the linen cloth in which was wrapped the Body of Christ when it was taken down from the Cross, and deposited in the monument.' * At a much earlier period Pope S. Silvester (314-336) attached the same meaning to the Corporal when he decreed that the Sacrifice of the Altar should be consecrated not on silk nor on dyed cloth, but only on pure linen. 2 An eminent saint of the Greek Church, S. Isidore (c. 412), who spent the greater part of his life at Pelusium on the Nile, and was at first the disciple, afterwards the bosom friend and strenuous vindi- cator of S. John Chrysostom, observes, in one of his epistles, when speaking of the Corporal : ' That this piece of linen cloth which is spread under the divine gifts, serves the same purpose as the one employed by Joseph of Arimathea. For as that holy man envelopeb! with a winding- sheet, and deposited in the sepulchre, the Body of the Lord, through which the universal race of mortals participated in the resurrection : in the same manner we, who consecrate bread of pro- 1 T6 el\7)Tbv ffrjfj.aiveL rijv ffivftbva, iv ^ eveiX^Orj rb crw/xa TOV XpicrroO, e'/c roO ffravpov Kara^av ical & (J.V/I/J.O.TI TeBtv. TJieoria mystica, apud GALLANDIUM, Bill. vet. patr., torn, xili, p. 209. The Theory is an exposition of the symbolism of the Greek Liturgy. 2 'Hie constituit ut Sacrificium altaris non in serico neque in panno tincto celebraretur, nisi tantum in linteo ex terreno lino procreato, sicut Corpus Domini nostri lesu Christi in sindone lintea munda sepultum est, sic Missa celebraretur.' ANASTASII Biblio- thecarii Hist, de vitis Rom. Pont. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 109 position on the linen cloth (or Corporal), without doubt find the Body of Christ.' l This spiritual signification, which has been attributed from all antiquity to the piece of linen called the Corporal, as well as the very term itself, by which it is denominated in the Greek and Latin Churches, though an indirect, is a very convincing argument in demonstration of the belief of the real and corporeal presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, which has been professed at every age, and by every nation of the Christian world. The Corporal must be blessed by a bishop, or a priest having special faculties. (54) A circular plate of silver gilt, or gold, used from the earliest times to receive the Host con- secrated at Mass. It is consecrated with chrism by the Bishop. (55) From the Latin Hostia, Victim. (56) Though merely bread, still, by anticipation, it is called an unspotted Host or Victim, as it is 1 ' Pura ilia sindon, quae sub divinorum donorum ministerio ex- pansa est, losephi Arimathensis est ministerium. Ut enim ille Domini Corpus sindone involutum sepulturae mandavit, per quod universum mortalium genus resurrectionem percepit : eodem modo nos propositionis panem in sindone sanctificantes, Christi Corpus sine dubitatione reperimus.' Lib. I, Epist. 123. TIO NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. about to be converted by Almighty God during the consecration into the Body of Jesus Christ the one the only Victim without stain or im- perfection. (57) The Sacrifice of the Mass is never offered to any Saint, but to God only. (58) ' In many things we all offend.' l (59) ' First for his own sins, and then for the people's.' 2 (60) Hence it is evident that prayer is made, at every Mass, for all the faithful departed, as well as for the particular individual whom the Priest may especially commemorate afterwards, and in suffrage of whose soul he is offering up the holy Sacrifice to God. (61) A small quantity of water is mixed with the wine, according to a tradition of the Church which teaches us that water was mingled with the wine in the eucharistic cup by our Divine Redeemer. Indeed the Paschal wine which He used at the institution of the Holy Eucharist was always so 1 S. James, in, 2. 2 Hebrews, vn, 27. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. in mixed. That such was the general practice of the ancient Church is evident from S. Justin (d. I68), 1 S. Irenaeus (d. 202),' S. Gregory Nyssen (d. 394), 3 and numerous other early writers. This practice has been maintained not only in every rite according to which Mass is celebrated through- out the Catholic Church, but, with the solitary exception of the Armenian Monophysites, by every heretical sect that has preserved the priesthood. (62) This Prayer is modelled upon the words of the Prophet Daniel, ch. in, 39, 40. (63) On this, as on most other occasions, the Priest lifts up his eyes in imitation of Christ, who thus invoked the omnipotent power of His Heavenly Father. (64) This act naturally expresses of itself a suppli- cation of the Most High. (65) The sign of the Cross is so frequently made during the celebration of Mass, and in blessing anything dedicated to the service of Almighty 1 Apologia, I, 65, written about the year 150. 2 Contra haereses, lib. v, cap. u, 3. 3 Oratio catedietica, cap. xxxvu. 1 12 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. God, to indicate that all our hopes for the bless- ings prayed for are founded solely on the merits of Christ's passion, which He endured on the Cross. (66) In all the Greek Liturgies the oblations are here incensed. 1 Who standeth, etc. ' There appeared unto him (Zachary) an Angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And the Angel said to him : Fear not, Zachary ; for thy prayer is heard.' 2 S. John, in his book of the Apocalypse, mentions that ' another Angel came and stood before the altar which is before the throne of God.' 3 No wonder that the Church, with these texts of Scripture before her eyes, implores the intercession of the Angels at this part of her Liturgy. (68) Dirigatur, etc. This Prayer, recited by the Priest while incensing the Altar, is composed of the second, third, and fourth verses of Psalm CXL. (69) These several incensings are, in the first in- stance, intended as so many tokens of respect for 1 See the Liturgy of S. Chrysostom in GOAR, 'Ei>xo\6yiov, p. 73. 2 S. Luke, I, ii, 13. 3 Apocalypse, viu, 3. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 113 those objects towards which they are employed ; but, in the second, there may be derived from them much public instruction. The incense which is burnt in honour of the Deity, is a symbol of what our prayers should be, and of the oblation which we ought to make of ourselves to Heaven. The incense with which the bread and wine are perfumed, is meant to indicate that the assistants unite their vows and prayers with those of the Celebrant who offers this oblation. The Priest encircles the Altar with the fuming thurible, to signify that, as the Altar is the throne of Jesus Christ, an odour of sweetness is diffused around it. The ministers of the sanctuary are incensed : first, to admonish them to raise their hearts, and to make their prayers ascend like grateful incense in the sight of God ; and, secondly, to put them in mind that they are those members of the Church who should continually strive to be able to say with truth : ' We are the good odour of Christ unto God in them that are saved ; ' 1 and of whom it may be truly observed by men : ' God always manifesteth the odour of His knowledge by them in every place.' 2 (70) In all the cathedrals and old churches erected when England was Catholic, may be still observed, 1 2 Corinthians, 11, 15. 2 Ibid., u, 14. VOL. I. H ii4 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. on the Epistle, or south side of the Altar, or rather, of the spot where the Altar once stood in the chancel, as well as in the side-chapels, a small niche in the wall, with a shallow basin of stone, with a hole at the bottom, through which was poured the water used at the washing of the Priest's fingers. It is indifferently called Piscina, or Lavacrum. (70 S. Cyril of Jerusalem, who flourished towards the middle of the fourth century, assigns to this ablution a spiritual meaning. This holy catechist observes : ' You have seen the deacon give to the sacrificing priest, and to the presbyters stand- ing round God's altar, water to wash. He gave it, not at all because of bodily defilement ; by -no means. For we do not enter into the church with defiled bodies. But that washing of hands is a symbol that you ought to be pure from every sin and prevarication. For since the hands are a symbol of action, by washing them we represent the purity and blamelessness of our conduct.' l The Apostolic Constitutions, 2 and the author of 1 'Ew^d/care roivvv TOV SI.O.KOVOV rbv vi\j/a fKK\yfflat>. d\Xd avp,fio\t>v IITTL TOV oelv v[j.as KaOapfijetv irdvruv a.fj.apTij/JLdTdji' Kal d.vo/J.T]fJ.dT(i)i> TO mJHHffett* tireidr) yap at. xeTpes ati^fio\ov Trpd^eus, viipaff6a.i rai/ras TO K0.0a.pbv SyXovoTi /cat &/J.W/J.QV TUV irpd^wv alviTT6/j.e6a. S. CYRILLI Catech. Myst., V, 2. vos 5t56rw a.irbvi.\{/iv ^ei/nDy TO?S iepevcri, ffv/J.po\ovKa6apf>Tt]ros NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 115 the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, 1 a work which bears upon it the name of S. Dionysius the Areopagite, but is thought by many to have been written in the fourth or fifth century, affix a similar mystic signification to this ceremony. In the Ambrosian rite the Priest washed his hands in silence, but the Psalm now recited accompanied the washing in the liturgies of S. Chrysostom and S. Basil. In the various uses of Latin Christendom there is great variety, as indeed in all the prayers between the Offertory and the Secret. According to Sarum use, the washing was accompanied by a prayer, preceded both in the Hereford and York use by the Veni Creator, and, in the last, by the sixth verse of Psalm xxv. (72) As this is a hymn of joy, as was before re- marked, it is properly omitted in the service for the Dead ; and at a time when the pains and sufferings of Christ are commemorated. (73) The Sacrifice of the Mass cannot be offered to any being except the Deity alone ; it would be impious and blasphemous to offer up Mass to any \J/vx&i> Oecj? &>a.Ket/di>uv. Constitutiones Apost., lib. vm, c. n, apud LABBEDM, Condi. Gen., torn. I, col. 552. 1 (Jap. in, 10. n6 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. Saint or Martyr, however illustrious for virtue. What S. Augustine asserted more than 1400 years ago on this same subject, we reiterate at this moment : ' What priest, at the tombs of the Saints assisting at the Altar, ever said, We offer to thee, Peter, or Paul, or Cyprian? but what is offered is offered to God who crowned the Martyrs, at the sepulchres of those whom He crowned.' * (74) By the devotion which we here manifest towards the Saints, we exhibit our reverence towards Jesus Christ, and His Eternal Father, and the Holy Ghost ; for it is purely through the merits of our Redeemer, and by the grace afforded by God, that the Saints are what they are, the favourites of Heaven, and brethren of Jesus Christ. We do not honour them for anything they possess of themselves, but we honour in them God's gracious gifts, which wrought their holiness, and formed the sacred spring of all their virtue. We therefore make them one of the mediums through which we convey our homage to the Almighty. (75) This prayer calls to our remembrance an ex- pression of apostolical antiquity. Such was the 1 S. AUGUSTINI contra Faustum, lib. xx, cap. 21. See also De Civitate Dei, lib. vni, cap. 27. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 1 1 7 appellative with which S. Peter addressed the people at Jerusalem ; l and it is a favourite ex- pression of S. Paul. (76) So called, because these prayers are recited by the Priest in an under voice, audible to himself, but not heard by the surrounding congregation. (77) These words form the conclusion of the SECRET. The Priest elevates his voice when reciting them at Low Mass, in order to fix the attention of the people, and to invite them to unite their prayers with his. At High Mass he chants them. (78) Here the Priest elevates his hands, to impress upon the people, by this outward sign, the ex- hortation which he then delivers for the interior elevation of the heart to God. (79) Whilst pronouncing these words, he joins his hands and bows his head, to express as signifi- cantly as possible, by this corporal homage, that it is the worship of the spirit which God insists upon. 1 Acts, ii, 29. nS NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. (80) It is called the Preface, from its being the in- troduction to the Canon of the Mass. It is an invitation to elevate our hearts to God, and to offer Him our thanksgivings for the stupendous work which He is about to accomplish through the ministry of His priest, by the words of consecra- tion. In this instance, the Church proposes to imitate her founder, Jesus Christ, who returned thanks to His Eternal Father before He called Lazarus back to life from the tomb in which he had been four days buried ; and when He multi- plied the loaves, 1 and converted bread and wine into His own Body and Blood. 2 That the form of prayer called the Preface is very ancient is certain ; that it owes its introduc- tion into the Liturgy to the Apostles is more than probable. This may be gathered from a variety of sources. S. Cyprian (A.D. 252), in his book on the Lord's Prayer, particularises the ante- cedent Preface by which the Priest prepared the minds of the brethren for the more solemn portions of the Mass. 3 It is also noticed in the Liturgy of the Mass contained in the Apostolical Constitu- 1 S. John, vi, ii. 2 I Corinthians, xi, 24. 3 Ideo et Sacerdos, ante Orationem Praefatione praemissa, parat fratrum mentes, dicendo : ' Sursuiri corda ; ' ut, duni respondet plebs : ' Habemus ad Dominum ; ' adnioiieatur, nihil aliud se, quam Doiuinum cogitare debere. Cap. xxxi. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 119 tions, where we find it thus described : * Then the High Priest standing at the Altar with the presbyters makes a private prayer by himself, having on his white or bright vestment, and signing himself with the sign of the Cross on his forehead. Having done this, he says : ' The grace of Almighty God, and the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.' And the people answer with one voice : ' And with thy spirit ! * Then the High Priest says : ' Lift up your hearts ; ' and they all answer : ' We lift them up to the Lord.' The High Priest says again : ' Let us give thanks to the Lord ; ' and the people answer : ' It is meet and right so to do.' Then the High Priest says : ' It is very meet and right above all things to praise Thee, the true God,' etc. 1 The frequent allusions which S. Augustine makes to the Preface will recur to everyone who is at all familiar with his writings. The Greek Church has but one Preface in its Evdnevos ovv Ka.0' eavrbv 6 dpx<-epev$ a/j.a rots lepeviri. Kal \afj.irpai> ra /j.eTfvous Kal ffrds irpos T<$ OvfftaaTT/pitf), TO Tpoiraiov TOV ffTavpov Kara TOV titrwirov TTJ X el pl iroir/ffd/jLevos (efc iravras) flirdru ''H X-P l * T v "favTO- Kp&ropcs Qeov Kal TJ dydirr) TOV KvpLov r)/j.&v 'Irjffov X/oterroC Kal TI Koivwvla TOV 'Aylov Hvfv/JMTOS HffTU fj.eTa TTOLVTUV vfiQv' Kal TrdvTes avfj-t^uvu^ Xfy^rowav firt ' Kal fj.fTa TOV irvtvfjLaT6s oov.' Kai 6 dpxitpevs ''Avu rbv vovv'' Kal irdvrts '"ExofLfv irpbs TOV 'K.vpiov. ' Kai 6 dpxiepevs ' EvxapiffTriffWfj.^i' T^ Kvpup'' Kal irdvres' '"Al-iov Kal dlKatov.' Kai 6 dpxifpei/s e/Trdrw '"A^iov wj aXjj^ws Kai SiKaiov irpb irdvrwv avvfivflv at TOV KVTUS 6vra Qebt>. ! Con- gtitutiones Apost., lib. vnr, c. 12, apud LABBEUM, Condi. Gen., torn. I, col. 553. i2o NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. Liturgy. In the Galilean, Mozarabic, and older Roman Liturgies there are proper Prefaces for nearly every festival. The purport of this variety was, that in each particular Preface might be designated some amongst the chief characteristics of that especial mystery for which thanks were rendered to God by the Church on that annual festival. In the Roman Church the number of Prefaces was about the end of the eleventh century reduced to ten, namely : the Common Preface, probably the most ancient one we have, since it may be found in the Sacramentary of Pope S. Gelasius (492) ; and those of Easter, the Ascension, Pentecost, Christmas, the Epiphany, the Apostles, the Holy Trinity, the Cross, and Lent. 1 The Preface recited on feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary is attributed to Pope Urban II. (A.D. 1095) ; if it ^e not the com- position of that pontiff, it at least received his approbation. (8,) Everyone will immediately appreciate the ex- pressive propriety of this part of the ceremonial, 1 These are enumerated in a letter to the Bishops of Germany and Gaul falsely attributed to Pelagius II. (d. 590), quoted in the Micrologus de ecclesiasticis observationibus, a work written at the end of the eleventh century, after 1085. In the Missal of Leofric, the first Bishop of Exeter (d. 1072), this letter is cited, but the Prefaces enume- rated are those of Christmas, Lent, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, the Holy Trinity, the Holy Cross, the Apostles, and the dead. NOTES ON THE RUBRIC& 121 at the same time that he recognises in the prayer which accompanies these actions various passages adopted from the Scriptures. The prophet Isaias, in the description of his vision, says : ' The Seraphim cried one to another and said : Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord God of Hosts, all the earth is full of His glory ; ' ] and S. John heard the same jubilations hymned by the four living creatures ' who rested not day and night saying : Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.' 2 This seraphic hymn, denominated, in the Latin Church, the SANCTUS, is to be found in all the Oriental Liturgies ; 3 it is distinguished in most of the Greek Liturgies by the appellation of Epini- cion* or hymn of triumph. In the Liturgy which we have in the Apostolic Constitutions, it is par- ticularly specified that all the congregation shall unite in reciting it at the end of the Preface. That prayer which is there given is beautiful, and concludes thus : ' The innumerable armies of angels adore Thee ; the archangels, thrones, 1 Isaias, vi, 3. 2 Apocalypse, iv, 8. 8 In his observations on the Syriac Liturgies, Renaudot remark?, when speaking of the Preface : ' Terminatur Oratio (Praefatio) per hymnum triumphalem, Sanctus. Tulis est Praefationum omnium Graecarum et Orientalium dispositio, absque ullo, praeterquam ex verborum copia, discrimine, et quod omnes gratiarum actionem continent, et in hymnum triumphalem desimmt, Latinis ea in parte similes sunt.' RENAUDOT, Liturgiarum, Orientalium Collectio, torn. II, p. 78. 4 See the Liturgies of SS. Chrysostom and Basil in GOAR, Evxo\6yior (pp. 76, 1 66), where what we call the Sanctus is denominated the 122 NOTES OX THE RUBRICS. dominions, principalities, dignities, powers, hosts, and ages ; the cherubim and seraphim also with six wings, with two of which they cover their feet, and with two their faces, and with two fly, saying, with thousand thousands of archangels, and ten thousand times ten thousand angels, all crying out without rest and intermission : and let all the people say together with them : Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Hosts : heaven and earth are full of Thy glory : blessed art Thou for ever. Amen.' x S. Cyril of Jerusalem takes particular notice also of this triumphal hymn in his explanation of the Liturgy. The Catechist observes : ' We also mention the seraphim whom Isaias by the Holy Ghost saw standing round about the throne of God, and with two of their wings veiling their faces, and with two their feet, and with two flying, and crying: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts.' 2 The celebrated hymn called the Trisagion, 3 chanted in the Latin Church on Good Friday only, during the adoration of the Cross, is inserted in several of the Oriental 1 Kcu iras 6 Xaos dfj.a etVaTw' "Ayios, dyios. ayios Kvpios 2a/3au?0, Tr\-qp-r)S 6 ovpavbs /cat ij yr} rfjs 86ijs ai)ro5' ev\oyr)Tos et's TO>S aluvas' a^v. Constitutiones Apost., lib. vin, c. 12, apud LABBEUM, Concil. Gen., torn. I, col. 560. ~ M.vr)/j,ovevo/jifv Kal T&V fffpa^i/j., & iv irvevfj.a.TL ayiif fdedcraro Hcrcuas irapffTi)K6Ta KwcAy TOV 6povov rov OeoO, /cat ratj /J.fv ovffl irr^pv^i /cara/caX('/7r- TOVTO. TO Trpocrwirov, mis 5^ Svffl T0i)s 7r65ay, /cat raty Svcrl Trer^eya /cai \iyovra, "AFI02, 'AFI02, "AFIOS, KT'PIOS SABAO'O. Catech. MysL, v, 6. 3 "Ayios 6 0eos, iiyios Icrxvpbs, &ytos aOa.va.Tos, e NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 123 Liturgies, and is frequently recited by the Greek and Oriental Christians in their public offices and private devotions. 1 This hymn was first intro- duced, as a public prayer, at Constantinople in the reign of Theodosius the younger, during the supplications offered up by the whole city to avert the horrors of an earthquake. 2 (82) The bell is rung as an admonition to the people that the Priest is about to enter upon the most awful portion of the Mass, namely, the Canon, or Invocation, which immediately pre- cedes the Consecration ; and for this reason, they are invited, by this ceremony, to redouble their attention, their reverence, and their fervour, from the moment that the ' Sanctus,' or seraphic hymn, commences. Instead of distracting, the ringing of the bell fixes the religious attention of the people ; and if we may, without presumption, reason on the will of the all-wise Deity, it would seem that the observance of a similar practice was enjoined in the service of the Jewish Sanc- tuary for the like intent ; since we read that the Lord thus commanded Moses : ' Thou shalt make the Tunic of the ephod all of violet . . . and beneath, at the feet of the same tunic, thou shalt 1 RENAUDOT, Liturg. Orient. Coll., toin. n, p. 169. 2 S. IOANNES DAMASCENUS, Expositio Fidei orthodoxae, lib. HI, cap. 10, De hymno trisagio. 124 NOTES 0^ THE RUBRICS. make as it were pomegranates, of violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, with little bells set between : so that there shall be a golden bell and a pomegranate, and again another golden bell and a pomegranate ; and Aaron shall be vested with it in the office of his ministry, that the sound may be heard when he goeth in and cometh out of the Sanctuary.' l The author of the book of Ecclesiasticus also notices, ' the ephod with many little bells of gold all round about, that as Aaron went in there might be a sound and a noise made, that might be heard in the temple, for a memorial to the children of the people.' 2 (83) Sabaoth is one of those Hebrew words which were left untranslated in the earliest Latin version of the Holy Scriptures, called the Vetus Itala, and has been preserved in three places in the translation by S. Jerome. Sabaoth is a plural, and signifies ' Armies.' As the Eoman Missal has always followed the ancient Italic version, it has consequently preserved the word Sabaoth, instead of adopting the Vulgate translation of it, exercituum, that is, ' of armies.' (84) These words are borrowed from the Gospels of S. Matthew and S. Mark, who inform us that 1 Exodus, xxviii, 31-35. 2 Ecclesiasticits, XLV. 10, n. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 125 our Divine Redeemer triumphantly entered into Jerusalem amid the acclamations of the people, who applied to him the words of the Psalmist, 1 and shouted ' Hosanna to the Son of David : Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord : Hosanna in the highest.' 2 (85) .,; Hosanna is another of those Hebrew expres- sions 3 which have been inserted, without trans- lation, in the Liturgies of all the Churches. It is, in fact, two Hebrew words contracted by the Greeks into one ; and signifies ' save now,' or * save, we pray thee.' It was one of those favourite exclamations of joy in use amongst the Jews at the celebration of the feast of Taber- nacles, when they went about with green boughs in their hands. 4 (86) The propriety of such gestures will be recog- nised when it is remembered that at the same time the Priest invokes the celestial Father in these words, ' Most merciful Father,' with which the Canon commences. 1 Psalm CXVII, 26. 2 Matthew, XXI, 9. 3 Amen, Alleluia, and Sabaoth have already been enumerated as such. 4 Hebrew and Talmudical Exercitations on S. Matthew, xxi, 8, iu LIGHTFOOT, Horae Hebraicae. 126 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. '(87) The Priest exhibits this sign of reverence and affection towards the Altar, under the persuasion that in a few seconds it is to be made the throne on which will repose the Body and Blood of Jesus, verily and indeed present, but veiled under the appearances of bread and wine. (88) The Priest makes the sign of the Cross over the Host and Chalice as he repeats these words : ' Bless these gifts, these present, these unspotted sacrifices,' because we neither demand, nor do we hope to obtain, the benedictions of Heaven, except through the merits of Jesus, who paid our ransom on the Cross. The frequent use of the sign of the Cross during the celebration of the Sacrifice of the Mass is attested by the most authentic testi- monies. The Apostolic Constitutions remark how the Priest, standing at the Altar, signed himself with the trophy of the Cross. 1 S. Chry- sostom informs us that the sign of the Cross was not only in perpetual use amongst Christians every hour, but more especially employed at the holy table, and in the ordination of priests ; and that its splendour beamed forth with the 1 See p. 119, n. i. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 127 Body of Christ at the mystic supper.' l With regard to its use in the Latin Church, S. Augustine asserts that it was united with every pious and religious office. ' What,' demands the Saint, * is the Sign of Christ if not the Cross of Christ ? which sign, unless it be applied either to the brows of the believers, or to the water out of which they are regenerated, or to the oil by which they are anointed with Chrism, or to the Sacrifice with which they are nourished, none of these rites is properly performed.' 2 (89) To this part of the Mass, beginning with ' Te igitur,' and finishing with the ' Pater Noster,' the whole of which is recited in an inaudible tone of voice by the Celebrant, has been affixed the term Canon ; because, as the native meaning of this Greek word imports, this prayer has been laid down as the Rule, or Canon, which is to be rigidly followed by the Priest who offers up the Holy Sacrifice. The minutest variation from it can never be tolerated. The Canon of the Mass OCroi iv T?I Itpa rpairtfri, oOroj iv TCUJ TWV itpfuv \eiporoviais, oCroj /xeri rov ffufjutros TOV XpurroO 1*1 rb nvffTinbv Sflirvov 5ia\d/tir. S. CHRYSOSTOMI Demonslratio quod Christus sit, Deus, 9. 2 Quid est Signum Christ! nisi Crux Christi ? Quod signum nisi adhibeatur sive frontibns credentium, sive ipsi aquae ex qua rege- nerantur, sive oleo quo chrismate unguntur, sive sacrificio quo aluntur, nihil eorum rite perficitur. S. AUGUSTINI in loannis Evangelium tract, ex nil. 128 NOTES OX THE KUBRICS. according to the use of Rome was certainly written before the middle of the fifth century, probably as early as 416; prior to which it had been handed down by oral tradition. (90) These gifts and these presents are by anticipa- tion called unspotted sacrifices, because they are shortly to become the Body and Blood of Christ, the Lamb of God, the only victim without stain or spot. (91) S. Paul says of the Church, that ' Christ loved it, and delivered Himself up for it, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy, and without blemish.' l As the God of Truth cannot violate His promises, the Church has ever been, is, and will be, holy. (92) In praying for the Unity of the Church, it is but just that we should, in the first place, re- member its visible head and centre upon earth, the Bishop of Rome or Pope ; since, as long ago as the year 177, S. Irenaeus, in noticing the suc- cessors of those Bishops who had been appointed 1 Ephesians, v, 25. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 129 by the Apostles, says : ' As it would be tedious to enumerate the whole list of successions, I shall confine myself to that of Rome ; the greatest, and most ancient, and most illustrious Church, founded by the glorious apostles Peter and Paul ; receiving from them her doctrine, which was announced to all men, and which, through the succession of her bishops, is come down to us. . . . For, to this Church, on account of its superior Headship, 1 every other must have re- course, that is, the faithful of all countries ; in which Church has been preserved the doctrine delivered by the Apostles.' 2 One of the bonds which connect us with the Chair of Peter the centre of Unity is prayer for its actual occupant. (93) The Apostles' Creed teaches us to believe in the Communion of Saints. (94) The Lord announced to King Ezechias, by the mouth of the prophet Isaias, that He would pro- tect and save Jerusalem against the Assyrians for His own sake, and for David His servant's sake. 3 The Israelites frequently entreated the Almighty to hear their prayers, for the sake of Abraham, 1 Propter potiorem principalitateni. 2 Contra haereses, lib. in, cup. in. 3 4 King, xir, 34. VOL. I. I 1 30 NOTES ON THE RUBKICS. Isaac, and Jacob. The Church, in like manner, refers to the memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary, ' the Mother of our Lord,' and of the other Saints of the New Law, to render God more propitious to her supplications, for their sakes. In the very ancient liturgy, called of S. James, and which was used in the church of Jerusalem, we find the following commemoration of the Saints : Solving down, the priest says : Lord, do Thou vouchsafe to make us worthy to celebrate the memory of the holy fathers and patriarchs ; of the prophets and apostles, of John the precur- sor and Baptist, of Stephen the first of deacons and first of martyrs, and of the holy Mother of God and ever Virgin, Blessed Mary, and of all the Saints. Raising his voice : Wherefore we celebrate their memory, that whilst they are standing before the throne they may be mindful of our poverty and weakness ; and may, together with us, offer to Thee this tremendous and un- bloody sacrifice, for the protection of the living, for the consolation of the weak and unworthy, such as we are, etc. 1 S. Cyril, c. A.D. 350, in his instructions on this very liturgy, observes : ' We make a commemora- tion of all those who have fallen asleep before us, first of the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs that God, by their prayers and inter- 1 RENAUDOT, Liturg. Orient. Coll., torn, n, p. 36. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 131 cession, may receive our supplications. After- wards also we pray for the holy fathers and bishops who have fallen asleep before us, and lastly for all who have in past years fallen asleep amongst us.' l (95) To the twelve Apostles are united twelve from amongst the most illustrious martyrs who watered the foundation of the Church with their blood. Linus, Cletus, and Clement were fellow-labourers with S. Peter in the preaching of the Gospel at Rome ; and all three severally became his successors in the Pontifical Chair. Xystus and Cornelius were two other popes ; the first was martyred in the reign of Trajan, the latter in the year 252. Cyprian was the celebrated martyr, and bishop of Carthage. Laurence was deacon to Pope Sixtus II. Chrysogonus was an illus- trious Roman, martyred at Aquileia, under Dio- cletian. John and Paul were brothers, who, rather than worship marble gods and idols, under- went a cruel death, by order of Julian the Apostate. Cosmas and Damian were physicians, who, for the love of God and of their neighbour, exercised their profession gratis. 1 Efra fj.vrjtMVfvofJi.ei> Kal TU>V TrpOKeKoifj.irifJ.tvui>, irpurov, Tra.Tpia.pxuv, irpoi)- rC>v, a.Troffr6\uv, fj.aprvpuv, STWS 6 Oeij rais evxa.it CLUTUV KO.I irpeffflflaa irpoffSt^TjTai T)fj,u>v rj]v SetjffiV tiro. Kal virep ruv TrpoKeKOifJ.Tjfj.evuv ayiuv irartpuv Ka.1 eirioKoiruv *al Trdvruv ctTrXws rwv ev TJ/MV TrpoK(KOifj.rjfUvuv, S. CYRILLI Catech. Myst., v, 9. 132 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. (96) It was a very common ceremony in the Old Law for the priest to hold his hands over the victim which was about to be offered up as a sacrifice. 1 (97) The adoration of the Eucharist is attested by all antiquity. S. Cyril of Jerusalem, a father of the Greek Church, thus addresses the recently baptized who were about to make their first Com- munion : ' After having thus partaken of the Body of Christ, approach also to the Chalice of His Blood, not stretching out thine hands, but bowing down, and in the attitude of homage and adora- tion, saying, Amen.' 2 S. Ambrose (d. 397) says: ' The very flesh of Jesus Christ, which, to this day, we adore in our sacred mysteries.' 3 S. Augustine remarks that ' Christ received flesh from the flesh of Mary : And because He walked here in that very flesh, and gave that same flesh to us to eat, for our salvation ; no one eateth this flesh unless he have first adored it. We have 1 Exodus, xxix, 10, and Leviticus, i, 4. 2 "ETra fjiera rb K0ivuvij d\\a KVTTTUV, /ecu rpoiry irpoffKwriaews /cat ffepdei)5. To, &yia TO?S ayiois. '0 xPs- Ets ayios, efs "Kijpios Irjffovs Xjoioris ei's 56^av Qeov liar/sis. GoAR, JZvxo\6yLoi>. p. 8l. 1 In the Greek liturgy, the elevation does not take place until just before the Communion. In the Latin liturgy, the elevation did not take place anciently until the Pater Noster. 2 Ibid., pp. 83, 84. On this point we possess the admission of a candid French Protestant, who says : ' Des docteurs si illustres, ont avance que les Grecs ne regoivent point la Transsubstantiation, que je me fais une peine de vous dire le contraire. Cependant, il le faut bien, puisque c'est la verite ; apparemment qu'ils ont eu de inauvais memoires, ou qu'on leur a voulu parler de qiielque secte qui n'est pas connue en ces quartiers ici, car je puis vous assurer que les Grecs de Constantinople, et de Smyrne, la croient purement et simplement comme les Latins, et s'ils ne se mettent pas a genoux, lors de 1'elevation de 1'Hostie, c'est que leur faon d'adorer n'est pas telle.' Voyage de M. Do MONT, torn, iv, lettre i, p. 16. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 135 people. To this ceremony S. Chrysostom refers in a stream of beautiful language, worthy of the golden-mouthed fountain of eloquence from which it flowed. Discoursing on the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, the Saint exclaims : ' Here when the Sacrifice is offered up, and Christ is immolated, the victim of the Lord ; as soon as thou shalt hear the words : Let us all pray in common ; as soon as thou shalt perceive that the veils before the altar are drawn aside, then figure to your- selves that the heavens are let down from above, and that the angels are descending.' 1 And in another homily : ' Before that awful moment, be moved ; nay, tremble to the very soul, before you behold, as the veils are drawn aside, the angelic choir advancing yes, mount spontaneously to heaven itself.' 2 (98) Up to the eleventh century, the elevation did not take place until about the end of the Canon. Towards the year 1047, Berengarius began to broach his errors concerning the Holy Eucharist. Not only were the heterodox opinions of this innovator immediately anathematised by several councils ; but the whole Latin Church unani- TTJS Ovaias, nal TOU JLpiffrou TfOvfitvov, Kai rov ov TOV AfffirortKov, 6rav ci/iowjs, AcijOufUfv irdvTft KOIVTJ, &TO.V tigi dve\K6/j.(va TO. dfj.i6vpa, rbrt vbfjwrov 5tao-TeAX6r0a: T&V ovpavbv HvwOfv, /cat Karifvai TOI>S dyyAovs. In Epist. ad Ephesios cap. /, Homil. Ill, 5. 2 In Epist. I ad Corinth. Homil. XXIV. 136 NOTES OX THE RUBEICS. mously adopted a ceremonial at the celebration of Mass the elevation which should furnish a most significant condemnation of the new doctrine of Berengarius, and at the same time be an un- equivocal and practical profession of faith concern- ing the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament, in which bread and wine are transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Jesus, uplifted by the priest, and adored by the people at the elevation. In the Greek and Eastern Churches, the ceremony of the elevation, which has always been observed by them, does not take place until just before the Communion. 1 (99) The bell is rung to fix the attention of the people, and to give them warning to prostrate soul and body, and to adore their crucified Redeemer concealed under the appearances of bread and wine. All Catholics should study to manifest, by their outward demeanour, the inward belief and consequent reverence which they cherish towards the Eucharistic mysteries. They should kneel on both knees in silent adoration, and avoid either suspending their own, or interrupting the devotion of their neighbours, by coughing, etc. etc., which sometimes violates the silence which ought pro- foundly to reign at the moment of the elevation. To excite their own devotion, let them occupy 1 GoAR, TLv-x.oMrfi.ov, p. 8 1. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 137 their thoughts with the real though veiled presence of Jesus, now throned upon the altar around which Cherubim and Seraphim are bending down in worship : let them call to remembrance the description just now quoted 1 from S. John Chrysostom, who, in such splendid strains of eloquence, sketches what takes place, at this tremendous time, within the sanctuaiy. There is something indescribably impressive in the sus- pension of the music, as well as of the singing, and in the silent pause which is observed in some places at the consecration and elevation, during which not one sound is audible, save only the tink- ling of the bell and each one is prostrate in the most profound adoration. 2 There is a sublimity of worship produced by such a silence, that cannot be too earnestly recom- mended where music accompanies the celebration of the Mass. (100) Not the Hell of the damned, but that Hell into which, as we are taught to believe by the apostles, Jesus Christ descended ' after He was dead and buried ; ' a place between Heaven and the Hell of the damned, denominated by Catholics the Limbus Patnim. To this middle state S. Peter 1 See Note 97, p. 135. 8 According to the Roman Ceremonial : ' Silet chorus, et cum aliis adorat. Organum vero si habetur, cum omni tune melodia et gravitate pulsandum est.' Lib. n, cap. vm, 70. 138 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. refers, when he says that ' Christ being put to death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the spirit. In which also coming, He preached to those spirits that were in prison ; which were sometime incredulous.' * (101) The Church avails herself of every occasion to impress upon the minds of the priest and of the people this truth, that the sacrifice of the altar is the very same with that which was offered on the Cross. She is solicitous that the priest, especially after the consecration, should behold, with an eye of faith, Jesus Christ immolated on the Cross, as S. Paul observes to the Galatians, ' before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been set forth, crucified among you.' 2 To produce this effect, she has ordained in her liturgy that all these words which designate the Body or the Blood of Jesus Christ should be accompanied by the sign of the Cross, to signify that the consecrated Host and contents of the Chalice are the same Body which was crucified, and the same Blood which w r as shed upon the Cross. These words, ' Sanctum sacrificium, im- maculatam Hostiam,' were added to the Canon by S. Leo the Great (440-461). I Peter, m, 18-20. 2 Galatians, ill, i. NOTES Otf THE RUBRICS. 139 (102) In all the ancient Liturgies, of the Eastern as well as the Western Church, prayer is invariably made for the souls of the faithful departed. 1 (103) According to the language of Christian anti- quity, to die in peace is to die with the sign of ecclesiastical communion, in union and society with Jesus Christ and His Church. (104) After having prayed for certain persons in par- ticular, the Church instructs us to pray for the souls of all the faithful departed in general, in order, as S. Augustine observes : ' That such re- ligious duty, whenever it becomes neglected by parents, children, relations, or friends, may be supplied by our pious and common mother, the Church.' 2 In the primitive Church, the names of those for whom the priest was to pray more especially, were enrolled on ivory tablets, called diptychs. 1 Extracts from these several liturgies are given in Ch. xv on the Diptychs. 2 Non sunt praetermittendae supplicationes pro spiritibus niortu- orum, quas faciendas pro omnibus in Christiana et Catholica societate defunctis etiam tacitis nominibus eorum sub general! commemora- tione suscepit Ecclesia ; ut quibus ad ista desunt parentes, aut filii, aut quicumque cognati vel amici, ab una eis exhibeantur pia matre communi. S. ACGUSTISI de euro, pro mortuis gerenda, cap. iv. 1 40 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. Prayer for the dead is made, at this part of the holy Sacrifice, in the liturgy which we have in the Apostolic Constitutions ; l and S. Cyril of Jerusalem, in his catechetical instructions to the recently baptized concerning the Mass of the faithful, at which they were about to be, for the first time, present, tells them that ' first, com- memoration of the Saints is made, that God, by their prayers and intercession, may receive our supplications ; and that then we pray for our holy fathers and bishops, and all who are fallen asleep before us, believing it to be a considerable advantage to their souls to be prayed for, whilst the holy and tremendous Sacrifice lies upon the altar.' 2 (105) In imitation of the publican who is described by our Redeemer in the Gospel as striking his breast and saying : ' O God, be merciful to me a sinner.' 3 (106) Mention is here made of several martyrs and saints belonging to the several orders and states 1 Lib. vin, cap. 13, apud LABBEUM, Condi. Gen., torn, i, col. 564. 2 Bird /cot virtp (/j.V7jfj.oveuo/j,ei>) rutv irpOKfKOitJ.riiJi.tvuv aylwv vartpwv /cat riffKOiruiv Kal irdvTwv O.TT\US TUV ei> TJ/MV Trpo/ce/cot/u^Ai&'aw, /jieylffTyv ovrjcnv iffTetiovres ZffecrOai TOIS \ftvxais iiirtp &v i] S^ycris dva^perai. TTJS ayias KO.I /3t/cw5e7s TTpoKifj.^vr]s Ovffias. S. CYRILLI Catech. Myst., v, 9. 3 S. Luke, xvin, 13. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 141 of holy personages in the Church. S. John Baptist is of the order of Prophets ; S. Stephen, of the order of Deacons ; S. Matthias, of the order of Apostles ; S. Ignatius, who suffered martyrdom at Rome, in the year 107, is of the order of Bishops ; S. Alexander, who was put to death for the faith, at Rome, in the year 117, is of the rank of Popes ; S. Marcellinus, who was martyred in the reign of Diocletian, is of the order of Priests ; S. Peter, the fellow martyr of S. Marcellinus, of the order of Clerks ; SS. Perpetua and Felicitas are of the state of married persons ; S. Agatha, S. Lucy, S. Agnes, S. Cecily, and S. Anastasia are of the state of Virgins. (107) Here the priest holds the sacred Host in his right hand over the Chalice, which he takes in his left, and then elevates a little both the Host and the Chalice. Up to the eleventh century the Body and Blood of Christ were here held up to receive the adoration of the people. But, as has been already observed, about the year 1047 a more solemn elevation was adopted by the Church, to furnish a public and daily profession of its ancient faith concerning the Real Presence, in contradiction to the impious novelties of Beren- garius. This, in consequence, is now denominated the minor or second elevation, in contradistinction to the first, which precedes it, and takes place 1 42 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS'. immediately after the consecration. Le Brun des Marettes remarks that at the cathedral of Rouen a formal elevation was still observed at this part of the Canon, at the beginning of the last century. 1 (.08) In the Latin Church, the ' Our Father ' is recited at Low, and sung at High Mass ; in the Greek Church, it is repeated or chanted by all the people. In many parts of Asia, the Sacrifice of the Mass is offered up in ancient Syriac ; in Africa, especially in Egypt, in ancient Coptic, once the common, but. both for many centuries past, dead languages. Though the Asiatic and African Chris- tians of the present day talk a dialect quite dif- ferent from the ancient Syriac and Coptic, with which they are utterly unacquainted, still, in join- ing in the public offices and liturgy of the Church, they recite the ' Our Father,' etc., in the obsolete language, although they possess vernacular trans- lations of this prayer into modern Arabic, which they use in their private devotions. 2 (109) The priest invokes the suffrage first of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom S. Elisabeth, filled 1 Voyages Liturgiques de France. Paris, 1718, p. 368. 2 RENAUDOT, Liturg. Orient. Coll., torn, n, p. 113. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 143 with the Holy Ghost, denominated the ' Mother of our Lord.' l That the Blessed Virgin is the mother of Jesus Christ, is indubitable : but Jesus Christ is God ; consequently, she is properly styled the Mother of God (OeoroVo?), a title which was approved of by a general council held at Ephesus in the year 431. S. Peter and S. Paul conjointly founded the Church of Rome by their labours and their preaching ; and both of them cemented the foundation with their blood. Rome has ever exhibited especial veneration towards S. Andrew, as he was the brother of S. Peter, the prince of the Apostles. (no) At these words the priest makes on himself the sign of the Cross with the paten, which he after- wards kisses as the instrument of peace, and the disc on which is about to be deposited the Blessed Eucharist, the peace of Christians. He employs it in making the sign of the Cross, because it was by the Cross that Christ became ' our peace . . . and hath reconciled us to God in one body by the Cross, killing the enmities in Himself, and coming, He preached peace.' 2 (in) The fraction of the Host is one of the principal 1 S. Luke, I, 41-43. 2 Ephesians, n, 14-17. 144 NOTES ON THE EUBRICS. ceremonies in the Canon of the Mass, and is found in every ancient liturgy, either of the Western or Eastern Churches. The fraction or breaking of bread by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper is particularly mentioned by three of the Evangelists, and by S. Paul, who tells us that Jesus took bread, and broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying : ' Take ye and eat, this is My Body.' That this rite was ordained by Christ, and was something more than ordinary breaking of bread, may be inferred from the stress which the Apostle of the Gentiles lays upon it, when he thus interrogates the Corinthians : ' The bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the Body of the Lord ? ' and from the circumstance, that not only was Christ recognised by the two disciples at Emmaus in the breaking of bread, 1 but in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, the breaking of bread is synonymous with consecrat- ing the Blessed Eucharist ; for S. Luke informs us that it was on the first day of the week they assembled to break bread. 2 This ceremony is interesting from its connec- tion with a practice once followed by the Church. It was anciently a custom for the Sovereign 1 S. Luke, xxiv, 35. 2 Acts, xx, 7. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 145 Pontiff at Rome, and for the bishops of the other cities in Italy, to send by acolytes, 1 deputed for that purpose, a small portion of the Holy Eucharist which they had consecrated, to the various titular churches of the city. 2 The priest who was celebrating the Holy Sacrifice used to put this particle into the chalice, at the same time that he recited the prayer, 'The peace of our Lord,' etc. That the Roman Pontiffs, on the other hand, were accustomed to receive the Holy Eucharist which was sent to them by bishops of distant churches, is attested in a letter concerning the churches of Asia, addressed by S. Irenaeus to Pope Victor. The object of such a practice was to signify that communion of the same sacrifice and sacrament by which the head and members of the Church were spiritually united ; so that, in the words of S. Paul, they might address each other : ' for we, being many, are one bread, one body, all that partake of one bread.' 3 1 S. Tharsicius was one of those acolytes, who, rather than betray what he was carrying to the Pagans who had seized him, suffered himself to be beaten to death with clubs. See Martyrologium Romanum, August 15. 2 This is said to have been introduced by Pope Melchiades, who died in the year 314. See the Liber Pontificalis, xxxm. S. Siricius (d. 398) further ordered that no Priest should celebrate Mass unless he had received the fermentum from the Bishop. See also a letter of Innocent I. to Decentius, Bishop of Eugubio, in HIGNE, Patrologiae CursTis, torn, xx, col. 556. 3 i Corinthians, x, 17. VOL. I. K 146 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. ("3) Every time that these words are repeated, all strike their breasts to testify a sorrow for their sins, of which, by this ceremony, they implore forgiveness from a merciful Redeemer. ("4) S. Peter l and S. Paul 2 instruct the faithful to whom they directed their epistles, to ' salute one another with a holy kiss.' This ceremony was, in consequence, especially observed at the cele- bration of the Holy Eucharist, as we gather from all the public liturgies, and most ancient Christian writers. Justin Martyr, 3 Tertullian, 4 S. Cyril of Jerusalem, 5 as well as several others, particularly notice it ; and in the Apostolical Constitutions is contained the direction : ' After the bishop has said : May the peace of God be with you all, and the people have answered : And with thy spirit ; let the deacon say to all : Salute ye one another with a holy kiss ; and let the clergy salute the bishop, the laymen their fellow lay- men, and the women likewise one another.' 6 1 i Peter, v, 14. 2 Romans, xvi, 16; i Corinthians, xvi, 20; 2 Corinthians, xin, 12 ; I Thessalonians, v, 26. 3 Apologia I, 65. * Ad Uxorem, lib. ir, cap. 4. 5 Catech. Myst., v, 3. 6 Constitutions Apost., lib. vui, c. u, apud LABBEUM, Condi. Gen., torn. I, col. 552. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 147 Hence arose the custom, which is still kept up in many places upon the Continent, and in several countiy congregations in England, of men and women occupying separate sides of the church. ("5) Here those who have complied with the in- struction of the Apostle, and have proved them- selves, 1 and who are not conscious to themselves of sin, or have obtained pardon of it by the sacrament of Penance, accompanied with a firm purpose of amendment, advance towards the rails to receive the Holy Communion. As the Post- communion is the prayer of thanksgiving after Communion, and is common both to priest and people, it is greatly to be desired that such as receive the Blessed Sacrament would present themselves at the proper time, which is at the Domine, non sum dignus. It is to invite com- municants to approach the altar that the acolyte or minister rings the bell at this part of the Mass. The Communion is given in the follow- ing manner. The acolyte, kneeling on the epistle side of the altar, repeats the Confiteor (see page 6), as a public declaration of sorrow for sin on the part of those who are about to receive the 1 But let a man prove himself. . . . For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment (in the Pro- testant translation, damnation) to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord, i Corinthians, xi, 28, 29. 148 NOTES ON THE EUBRICS. Blessed Eucharist. The priest then turns round to the people, and says : ' May Almighty God be merciful unto you, and, forgiving you your sins, bring you to life everlasting.' R. 'Amen.' ' May the Almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, ^ absolution, and remission of your sins! R. ' Amen.' Having adored on his knees, he then takes the sacred Host into his hands, and turning about says : ' Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who taketh away the sins of the world. Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest enter under my roof; but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed.' This last sentence he re- peats thrice, which is as oftentimes recited along with the priest by the communicants, who, at each repetition, strike their breasts, in attestation of their sorrow for having ever sinned, and of their unworthiness to receive the Body and Blood of their Redeemer. The priest then descends to the rails, bearing within a kind of vase, called the Pyx, or upon the Paten, the Blessed Eucharist. Holding the communion-cloth spread over their hands, with their eyes reverently closed, the head modestly raised, the mouth conveniently opened, and the tip of the tongue resting upon the lip, the communicants successively receive the Body of Christ, which is administered to them in the following manner : the priest, holding one of the consecrated particles in his right hand, makes with it the sign of the Cross over the communi- NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 149 cant, to call to his remembrance that it is the very Body of Jesus Christ which hung upon the Cross ; and afterwards imparts it to him with these words : *%* ' The Body of our Lord Jesus CJirist preserve thy soul unto life everlasting. Amen.' The communicants, on receiving the Sacrament, bend down and adore in silent but most fervent worship. They then retire from the rails, not with a hasty, but decorous step, with downcast eyes, and a becoming gravity. (1,6) To express in a lively manner that the sacred Body which he is about to take, is the very same which was sacrificed upon the Cross. ("7) In the Greek Church each Eucharistic particle is called napyapiTw, or ' a pearl,' to signify that the smallest part of the Blessed Sacrament is a jewel of the greatest price. In the rubric of S. John Chrysostom's liturgy, ' the deacon, or in his ab- sence, the priest, is directed to wipe the sacred Chalice thrice, and to take most particular care lest the particle called the " pearl " remain.' * S. Cyril of Jerusalem, who lived about A.D. 350, in his instructions for receiving the Holy Eucha- rist, thus exhorts the recently initiated : ' lleceive 1 QOAR, Evxo\6ytov, p. 86. 150 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. the holy Body with such care, that you do not suffer any part of it to be unhappily lost ; for should you let any of it fall, regard it as much as the loss of one of your own members. Let not one single crumb of that which is much more precious than gold or gems, escape you. 1 Such anxious solicitude would not have been exhibited by the author of the liturgy, nor would the sainted catechist have insisted on such scrupulous attention about an atom of common bread. Both, consequently, believed each particle of the Blessed Eucharist to be no longer a crumb of bread, but the real Body of Christ Jesus. (118) The priest who celebrates Mass receives under both kinds, because he must consume the sacrifice offered up under two species. At the Last Supper, when Christ commissioned His Apostles to do as He had done, He said to them : ' Drink ye all of this.' No one, however, was present but the Apostles, all of whom were then ordained sacrific- ing priests. The priest or bishop, nay, even the Pope himself, who partakes of the Blessed Eucha- rist without saying Mass, receives the Communion like any layman, under one kind only. v, /J.TJ IT a pair o\t ays TL K TOIJTOV avrov. &irep 701/5 eav ai ws airb oUeiov 8ij\ov6Ti tft/juwOnjs yi^Xofs. S. CYRILLI Catech. Myst., V, 21. NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. 151 ("9) The antiphon called the Communion varies with each Sunday and festival, and is generally, though not always, a versicle extracted from the Psalms. It is thus denominated because anciently it used to be chanted whilst the people com- municated. In the Apostolic Constitutions 1 it is prescribed that the thirty-third Psalm should be employed for this purpose. In his exposition of the liturgy used at his time in the ancient Church of Jerusa- lem, S. Cyril thus notices the chanting of the Communion : ' After this you hear one singing with a sacred melody, inviting you to the Com- munion of the holy mysteries, and saying : " O taste, and see that the Lord is good." ' (120) This prayer received its name from being recited just after the Communion ; and because it is an act of thanksgiving to God for the ineffable favour of having participated in the sacred mysteries. The form used in the ancient Church may be seen in the Apostolic Constitutions. 3 1 Lib. vin, c. 13, apud LABBEDM, Condi. Gen., torn, i, col. 565. 3 S. CYRILLI CaUch. Myst., v, 20. 3 Lib. vni, c. 14, where it is called 'The declaration after Com- munion,' llpouvT)ffis fj.ra ri]v nerd\ri\f/tv. 152 NOTES ON THE RUBRICS. (121) The same ceremony is observed in the Greek liturgy, which directs the deacon to proclaim to the people : 'Let us proceed in peace.' l Anciently the people were expected to remain for instruction on ferial days and on the Sundays in Lent, on which days the words of dismissal were replaced by the invitation : ' Let us bless the Lord.' (122) In the Old Testament we frequently read that the priest, stretching forth his hands to the people, blessed them. Leviticus, ix, 22. (123) All make a genuflexion at these words, to adore the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, who was pleased to take flesh for our redemption. Not only do Catholics honour the King, 2 because, as S. Paul observes, ' he is God's minister to thee for good ; but if thou do that which is evil, fear : for he beareth not the sword in vain,' 3 but how- 1 'Ev etpfy-r) irpofft\0u/ji,ei>. GOAB, Ei>xo\6yioi>, p. 85. According to the Apostolic Constitutions, the deacon declared to the people that Mass was finished by announcing : ' Depart in peace ' aTroMedira, ' once,' but very seldom occurs in the New Testament, and only in the writings of S. Paul. The only passages, besides the one at present under observation, in which it is to be found are the following: Romans, vi, 10 ; Hebrews, ix, 12; i Corinthians, xv, 6. In all these places, the Protestant translators have rendered it by ' once,' or ' at once;' they, therefore, knew its proper force, and could when they chose render it according to its native meaning. 2. The unwarrantable introduction of these two words, l for all,' essentially corrupts this text, and perverts its sense against the Catholic, in THE MASS A SACRIFICE. 175 and blessed him and his companions ; but the Levitical priesthood also collected tithes, and bestowed their benedictions ; if Melchisedech had not been anointed with oil, had succeeded no one in the priestly office, nor was followed by any suc- cessor, the same may be observed in Abel ; if his genealogy was unknown an incident, however, quite extraneous to the priesthood this was com- mon to Job, and others who were priests. The only way in which the priesthood of Melchisedech differed from every other priesthood before the promulgation of the second law, was in the oblation of bread and wine. This, therefore, must consti- tute the agreement between the sacrifice of Mel- favour of the Protestant doctrine on the Holy Eucharist. No doubt, therefore, but they were advisedly inserted, to procure a scriptural authority for one of the novelties introduced by what is miscalled the Keformation. In fact, this citation from the writings of S. Paul is invariably adduced in its vitiated form, as a warrant for that modern doctrine first promulgated in England by the framers of the thirty-first amongst those articles of religion recognised by the Esta- blishment, which teaches that 'The Sacrifices of Masses, in the which it was commonly said, that the priest did offer Christ for the quick and the dead to have remission of pain and guilt, were blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits.' When the intelligent and sensible Protestant reflects that there is not one single personage registered in that Calendar of Saints appended to his Book of Common Prayer who did not live and die, or win the palm of martyrdom, in the belief of the Catholic doctrine of the Mass ; and that many of them were in the habit of daily offering up that Eucharistic sacrifice he will censure the temerity, at the same time that he blushes for the inconsistency of his sect, in designating the practice of those very men whom she herself has recognised for Saints as a blasphemous fable, and pronouncing the most venerable and best authenticated tenet amongst the articles of genuine Christianity as a 'dangerous deceit.' 176 THE MASS A SACRIFICE. chisedech and the sacrifice of Christ, who selected wheaten bread and wine of the grape, as the matter which should be transubstantiated into His Body and His Blood by the words of consecration. That the motive which induced Melchisedech to bring forth bread and wine was not to present refreshment to the soldiers of Abraham, but to offer sacrifice to God in celebration of that Patriarch's victory, is evident, both from the language and the context of this passage in the Book of Genesis. If Abraham and his servants partook of Melchi- sedech's oblation of bread and wine, it was for them a sacred refection, similar to those observed amongst the Israelites in their sacrifices of thanks- giving. It could not have been by way of cor- poral refreshment, since the sacred text informs us that Abraham's soldiers had already feasted on the provisions which they found among the spoils that they captured from the vanquished kings. 1 1 Genesis, xiv, 24. Some Protestants quarrel with the reading of this passage in our Catholic Bibles, and contend that the Hebrew particle 'van' should be rendered as it is in the Protestant version, ' and he was a priest,' instead of '/or he was,' etc. In defence of the Catholic translation of the particle 'WH,' as preferable to the one followed in this particular passage by the authorised Bible of the Church of England, we may observe : ist, That S. Jerome, a most eminent Biblical scholar, and a thorough master of the Hebrew language, has thus given the passage in his vulgate : 'Erat enim sacerdos,' i for he was a priest.' With consistent Pro- testants, S. Jerome's authority must possess great weight, as they refer to his opinion with so much deference in the sixth of the Thirty- THE MASS A SACRIFICE. 177 XII. THE SACRIFICE OF MELCHISEDECH ELUCIDATED BY THE WRITINGS OF THE FATHERS. That the Church has invariably considered this passage in the Book of Genesis as demonstrative, not only of Melchisedech's having sacrificed in bread and wine, but also that his oblation was beautifully typical of the Eucharistic Sacrifice peculiar to the Christian dispensation, is evident from the attestations of the holy Fathers. For a proof of this, the curious reader is referred to a learned and invaluable work containing extracts from the writings of those early and venerable witnesses of the Faith. 1 In that work are recited the observations on this subject delivered by S. Cyprian, 2 Eusebius of Ca3sarea, 3 S. Epiphanius, 4 S. Jerome, 8 S. Augustine, 6 and Theodoret. 7 nine Articles. 2nd, Grammarians inform us that this particle is not only copulative, but indicative of a cause, and that the manner of construing it must be collected from the context of the passage. Parker, in his Hebrew Lexicon, enumerates as many as seventeen different ways in which it is employed in Scripture. 3rd, The English Protestant, like the Catholic Bible, has the particle 'vau ' translated by the word '/or,' instead of 'and,' in the very same Book of Genesis (Genesis, xx, 3) ; the Hebrew text is 7V2 n?J?3 Nini literally thus, 'and she is married to a husband,' but which is rendered in the Protestant version, 'for she is a man's wife.' No Protestant can therefore rationally object to a mode of translation which is approved by the Establishment in her authorised version of the Sacred Scriptures. 1 J. BERINGTON and J. KIRK, The Faith of Catholics on certain Points of Controversy confirmed by Scripture and attested by the Fathers of the first five Centuries of the Church. 3rd edition, London, 1846. 2 Ibid., vol. II, p. 418. 3 Ibid., p. 428. * Ibid., p. 451. 6 Ibid., p. 456. 8 Ibid., pp. 483, 484. 7 Ibid., p. 498. VOL. I. M 178 THE MASS A SACRIFICE. XIII. ILLUSTRATED BY AN ANCIENT MOSAIC AT RAVENNA. But there is another curious and highly inter- esting illustration of this text, which, as far as the writer is aware, has hitherto never been in- troduced to notice. This is furnished by one amongst those numerous pictorial monuments of early Christian piety which decorate the ancient church of S. Vitalis at Ravenna. 1 The wall about the apse or recess, which overhangs the sanctuary, is encrusted with mosaic-work in which are represented various subjects chosen from the Old and New Testaments. Amongst those Scripture histories, two are prominently discernible : they are, the sacrifice of Abel, and the sacrifice of Melchisedech. The King of Salem is represented as standing by an altar covered with a cloth, on which are two small circular loaves or cakes, between which stands a small two-handled chalice ; a nimbus, or glory, surrounds his head ; his arms are out- stretched as he holds up a third cake. His robes resemble our vestments ; the under one descends to the ankles like an alb, and the mantle is fashioned precisely as the ancient cope. At the opposite side stands Abel holding up a lamb. 1 The church of S. Vitalis was built in the year 547, and adorned with mosaics at the same epoch. THE MASS A SACRIFICE. 179 Another mosaic in the church of S. Apollinaris in Classe represents Melchisedech similarly attired, standing at the back of an altar facing the spectator, holding a loaf with both hands slightly raised above the table, on which stands a two- handled chalice between two loaves. At the left or north end of the altar stands Abel holding up a lamb, and at the opposite end Abraham with Isaac before him, whom he is presenting. There can be no doubt that these three subjects, and particularly the sacrifice of Melchisedech, were selected to indicate that they were ancient types of the sacrifice of the new Law, called the Mass. S. Theophilus, patriarch of Antioch, 1 remarks that Melchisedech was the first man who became a priest; and S. Cyprian 2 notices that the bread and little vessel are symbols of the Blessed Sacra- ment. Indeed, these observations on these three sacrifices are all but asserted in that prayer which almost immediately succeeds the consecration : ' Upon which (the holy bread of eternal life and the chalice of our everlasting salvation) vouchsafe to look down with a propitious and serene coun- tenance, and accept them, as Thou wast pleased to accept the gifts of Thy just servant Abel, and the sacrifice of our patriarch Abraham, and that which Thy high-priest Melchisedech offered to 1 Lib. n, Ad Avidly cum. 2 Epist. LXIII, Ad Caecilium de Sacramento Dominici calicis. i8o THE MASS A SACEIFICE. Thee, a holy sacrifice and immaculate victim. This representation, therefore, of the offering of bread and wine by Melchisedech, affords another ancient warrant for regarding it as a prefiguration of the Sacrifice of the Mass. 1 XIV. THE PASCHAL LAMB A FIGURE OF THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. A second argument to prove the Mass to be a real sacrifice, may be drawn from the ceremony of 1 In those ages, when printing was unknown, the pastors of the Church availed themselves of the arts to represent to their people, by means of fresco-painting, mosaic-work, and sculpture, executed on the walls of the churches, the scripture-history, and the truths of our holy religion. The reason was obvious : to the faithful, these were instructive volumes, written in intelligible and self-speaking characters. But as their religious instructors justly conceived that the guardians of the faith were the best expounders of its mysteries, instead of permitting the artist to select and treat the subjects accord- ing to his own imagination, they rather employed his pencil to inscribe in colours what they dictated to him ; and it is a well- attested fact that, in the first twelve centuries of the Church, painters, and those who wrought in mosaic, and artists in general, were, in the execution of their works, permitted to exercise their own liberty and invention no further than in the drawing of their pieces. The bishop or pastor of the edifice which was to be ornamented, not merely fixed upon the subjects, but invariably prescribed the precise manner in which each one should be treated in all its several, and even its smallest parts. (ANASTASII Bibliothecarii de vitis Roma- norum Pontificum torn, in, curante F. Slanchino, p. 1 24.) Nor did they permit themselves to be directed by their own caprice, while guiding the labours of the painter or the sculptor ; but most religiously adhered to the traditions which had been handed down to them. We may, therefore, rest assured, that these ancient monuments are faithful and authentic records, not of the opinion of laymen and private individuals, but of the public doctrine of the Church at the period when they were executed. THE MASS A SACRIFICE. 181 the Paschal Lamb. 1 That the oblation of this victim was a figure of the Eucharist is evident from the words of the Apostle, who tells us : ' Christ our Pasch is sacrificed ; therefore let us feast, not with the old leaven, but with the un- leavened bread of sincerity and truth.' 2 From the Evangelists we learn that, immediately after our Divine Redeemer had concluded the legal observ- ance of the Passover, He proceeded to celebrate the Eucharist. By the identity of place and time, He more unequivocally assured His followers that the substance had, at length, arrived to realise the shadow, and that the old law, with its ceremonies, was abrogated, and made to yield its place to a new and better Testament. If we consider the circumstances attending on both these solemn rites, we shall observe that there was no one single figure of the ancient law bearing reference to Jesus the Messiah, which was so accurately ful- filled by Him, in the institution of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, as the ceremonial of the Paschal Lamb, i. It was directed that the Paschal Lamb should be sacrificed on the evening of the four- teenth day of the first month : 3 a circumstance of which particular notice was taken by the law, and, in consequence, the Jews most diligently observed it : now it was immediately after having 1 Exodus, XIL 2 i Corinthians, v, 7, 8. 3 Exodus, xn, 6. 182 THE MASS A SACRIFICE. celebrated the Passover with legal exactness, that our Divine Redeemer instituted the Blessed Eucharist. 2. The Paschal Lamb was immo- lated in remembrance of the passage of the Lord, and the liberation of the Israelites from their Egyptian bondage : the Eucharist is offered to commemorate the passage of our Saviour, by His bloody passion, from this world to the kingdom of His Father, and to celebrate our redemption from the tyranny of Satan, over whom Christ Jesus triumphed by His glorious death upon the Cross. 3. The Paschal Lamb was offered that it might be eaten, and be, as it were, the sustenance to fortify the traveller for a lengthened journey on which he was about to enter ; since it was in the guise of travellers that the Jews partook of it, with their loins girt up, holding staves in their hands, and having sandals on their feet : and what is the Eucharist but a strengthening food, a sacred refection for men while on their pilgrim- age through this desert-world, and journeying towards the land of promise Heaven, their real and celestial country ? 4. The Paschal Lamb could not be eaten except by the clean and cir- cumcised, and within the precincts of the holy city ; so the Eucharist cannot be partaken of with profit, but by those who have been baptized, are clean of heart and purified from sin, and by being associated with the Catholic Church, are * come to Mount Sion, and to the City of the THE MASS A SACRIFICE. 183 living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of Angels, and to the Church of the first born, who are written in the heavens, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the just made perfect/ l The Paschal Lamb was at the same time a sacrifice and a sacrament ; because, after it had been offered up, it was eaten by the Israelites ; so likewise the Eucharistic oblation is a sacrifice and a sacrament a sacrifice, because our Pasch, Christ Jesus, is presented to His Father on our altars ; and a sacrament, because the faithful re- ceive Him there, whose ' Flesh is meat indeed, and whose Blood is drink indeed/ XV. ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE PEOPHECY OF MALA- CHIAS, IN THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. Another and most conclusive proof in favour of the Sacrifice of the Mass is furnished by the Prophet Malachias, who was commissioned to pro- mulgate the following commination to the Jewish people. ' I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of Hosts. For, from the rising of the sun even to the going down, My name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My name a clean oblation : for My name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of Hosts/ 2 This illustrious prediction cannot be applicable 1 Hebrews, XH, 22, 25. a Malachias, i, 10, n. 1 84 THE MASS A SACRIFICE. to the Jewish sacrifices, because they are pointedly rejected, and so far from being offered up in every place, they were exclusively confined to the temple of Jerusalem ; while the clean oblation which Malachias speaks of was to be made in every region of the earth, and not by Israelites, but by Gentiles. It cannot be referable to the unhal- lowed and impure rites of Paganism, which pro- faned, instead of glorifying, the name of the Almighty. It cannot be applied to designate that bloody sacrifice immolated on the altar of the Cross at Calvary, since that was offered once only, and in one place. It is, therefore, verified in no other way than by the unbloody sacrifice, by that clean oblation which is, and will be offered up by the Christian priesthood to the end of time, and in every nation that the sun can gaze upon, from his rising to his setting. This prophecy, therefore, refers to the Eucharistic sacrifice of our altars, called the Mass, which now supplies the place of all the ancient victims, and has been unceasingly celebrated from the death of Christ until the present moment, and continues to be everywhere duly celebrated. Some amongst the innovators of the sixteenth century, to neutralise the force of this triumphant argument, endeavoured to affix a spiritual mean- ing to the prophet's declaration, and therefore interpreted it as expressive of a sacrifice, im- properly so called, of praise and thanksgiving, of THE MASS A SACRIFICE. 185 prayer, good works, and patience. Nothing, how- ever, could be more erroneous than this modern gloss upon the inspired pages. i. The word nn?n, which occurs in the original Hebrew text of this prophecy, indicates a particular species of sacrifice, in which fine flour, oil, and frankincense, commingled together, were employed as the obla- tion : l and it should be remarked that the Holy Scriptures, whenever the term ' sacrifice ' is used in a figurative sense, invariably attach some adjunct to it, which immediately discriminates the meta- phoric meaning ; and hence, in various portions of the sacred volume, we meet with the following expressions : ' a sacrifice of praise,' ' a sacrifice of righteousness,' ' a sacrifice of joy,' etc. The Minchah* of the Hebrew scripture is translated by the word Ova-la, or sacrifice, in the Septuagint, and is the term employed to signify the oblation of Cain and of Abel. 3 2. That it cannot be, with accuracy, understood of a spiritual offering com- posed of prayer, devotion, or thanksgivings, will immediately be evident, when we remember that such a kind of sacrifice had, after the days of 1 Leviticus, n, i, and vi, 14, 15. 8 GESENIUS, iu his Hebrew Lexicon (as translated by Christopher Leo, Cambridge, 1825), says of this word: 'In the Mosaic ritual, it is applied especially to the unbloody sacrifices, as offerings of meat and driuk, which were offered with the animal sacrifices. Hence Sacrifice and offering, Psalm xxxix, 7 ; Jeremiah, xvn, 26 ; Daniel, IX, 27.' 3 Genesis, iv, 4, 5. 1 86 THE MASS A SACRIFICE. Malachias, who lived about four hundred years anterior to the coming of the Messiah, been ren- dered very frequently, by Jew as well as Gentile, and had indeed been made from the earliest period of the human race, by every sincere adorer of the Deity ; whereas the prophet announces the future institution of a pure oblation a sacrifice peculiar to a subsequent covenant, and which was not only to be exclusively offered up by Gentile believers, but should supersede all the various Levitical sacrifices which would then be abrogated. XVI. CHRIST ANNOUNCES A NEW SACRIFICE. That a new sacrifice, which should be offered up ' in spirit and in truth,' l was requisite, our Divine Redeemer proclaimed to the Samaritan woman, who proposed to Him the question about the place on which it was necessary to adore. Now that the adoration indicated by our Blessed Redeemer is synonymous with sacrifice, may be inferred from a variety of circumstances : for the difference between the Jews and the Samaritans was about the place on which the exterior wor- ship of sacrifice could legally be exhibited, since both were thoroughly persuaded that man could invoke the Lord by supplications and by prayers, could observe the various forms of simple adoration, and present his heart to Heaven, in 1 S. John, iv, 23. THE MASS A SACRIFICE. 187 every region of the earth. Our Divine Redeemer entered into the idea of the Samaritan woman, and answered her by saying : ' The hour cometh, when you shall neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, adore the Father ; ' l or, in other words, the time is fast approaching when sacrifice shall be no longer offered, either on Mount Gerizim or in the Jewish temple ; but true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth, without being circumscribed within the limits of one peculiar or favoured city, by a new and better sacrifice ; spiritual, not carnal ; true, and not typical or figurative ; effected by the Holy Spirit, and the mysterious words of consecration not by pouring out the blood of goats and of oxen, nor by sprinkling the ashes of a heifer; illus- trious, not from being a shadow of the good things to come, but because it is that very thing itself, the adorable reality. XVII. THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS PROVED FROM S. PAUL. ' Fly,' exclaims the Apostle of the Gentiles, ' fly from the service of idols. I speak as to wise men : judge ye yourselves what I say. The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ ? and the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of 1 John, iv, 21. 1 88 THE MASS A SACRIFICE. the Body of the Lord ? For we, being many, are one bread, one body, all that partake of one bread. Behold Israel according to the flesh : are not they, that eat of the sacrifices, partakers of the altar ? What then ! Do I say, that what is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything ? or, that the idol is anything ? But the things which the heathens sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God. And I would not that you should be made partakers with devils. You cannot drink the chalice of the Lord, and the chalice of devils ; you cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord, and of the table of devils.' * This passage from S. Paul proves, by a triple argument, the Mass to be a real sacrifice. i. The Apostle institutes a comparison between the table of the Lord, where the believers in Jesus receive the Holy Eucharist, and the table of the Gentiles, who sacrifice to idols, and the table of the Jews, on which the people offered up their carnal victims to the true and living God. From this parallel it follows, that the table of the Lord is an altar, and consequently, the Eucharist a proper sacrifice ; for, without a most egregious anomaly in language, an altar can never be erected, unless for the purposes of real sacrifice. 2. The Apostle institutes a comparison between the Eucharist and the sacrifices of the Jews and I Corinthians, x, 14-21. THE MASS A SACRIFICE. 189 Gentiles. He declares, by the most unequivocal expressions, that, as the faithful receive at the table of the Lord, the Body and the Blood of Christ, so the Jews and the Gentiles participate in those victims, in the immolation which they severally offer up in sacrifice upon their respective altars. S. Paul's comparison would, however, not only be quite imperfect, but utterly inapplicable, if the Eucharist were not as much a real sacrifice to the Almighty, as were the victims which the Hebrew nation sacrificed to Him, and the immola- tions and libations of the Gentiles, made in honour of their imaginary Deities. 3. The Apostle traces a resemblance between that society which the Christian has with the Godhead by a participation in the sacred Eucharist, and the society which the Gentile formed with his idols by eating those meats which had been offered in their honour. He teaches that the individual who partakes of the victim sacrificed to idols, becomes himself an idolater ; and hence he exhorts the believers at Corinth to ' fly from the service of idols.' While urging such advice, he employs this train of argument : ' those who eat of the sacrifices partake of the altar,' and conse- quently unite with the heathens, as they sacrifice to devils, and, therefore, make themselves their worshippers. If the form of argument adopted by S. Paul be just, we may pursue it in reasoning on the igo Eucharist ; and conclude, that those who eat of that venerable oblation, become partakers of ' the table of the Lord/ and, consequently, join in offering that victim immolated to God, and identify themselves with those who make it, and, in this manner, honour the Almighty, by the most solemn, as well as the highest act of adoration ; and thus verify the assertion of the Apostle of the Gentiles, who assures the Hebrews, in his Epistle to them, that we ' have an altar, whereof they have no power to eat who serve the tabernacle.' l That in the Mass there is offered a real and propitiatory sacrifice to God is a truth not only declared in Scripture, but corroborated by the history and the institutions of the Church, 2 and unanimously attested by the writings of her Pastors, in characters as brilliant as the stars that light the firmament. Volumes might be filled with such testimonies, but for want of space I must reluctantly pass on, without gleaning and 1 Hebrews, xm, 10. 2 For a triumphant illustration of those arguments in proof of the sacrifice of the Mass, deduced from the liturgies and ceremonials of the Church, the inquiring reader is referred to a work entitled Christianity ; or, The Evidences and Characters of the Christian Religion (London, 1827), the masterly performance of the late Right Rev. Dr. Poynter, a prelate conspicuous for his piety, his enlightened zeal, and profound theological learning. He who pens this notice rejoices to possess the present opportunity of recording his tribute of reverence to the memory of that venerable bishop, some extracts from whose work are found in Appendix I. THE MASS A SACRIFICE. 191 offering to the reader the most conspicuous amongst them. There is, however, one in parti- cular, so very appropriate and interesting, that it would be unpardonable not to bestow on it especial notice. Who is ignorant of the tender but afflicting scene which took place at the separation of the aged and venerable Xystus, the second of that name who filled the throne of S. Peter, and the youthful and heroic S. Laurence, while the lictors of the emperor Valerian l dragged the holy Pope to martyrdom ? As the pontiff was led away, his deacon S. Laurence followed weeping ; and, at last, burst forth into this pathetic exclamation : ' Father, whither art thou going without thy son ? whither art thou hastening, O holy priest, without thy deacon? Thou wert never wont to offer sacrifice without me thy minister : wherein have I now displeased thee ? Hast thou found me wanting in my duty? Try me now, and see whether thou hast made choice of an unfit minister for dispensing the Blood of Christ ! ' : 1 The emperor Valerian issued his cruel edicts against the Church in the year 257. 2 Ambrosiaster de Ojficiis Ministrorum, lib. i, cap. XLII, 204. A. BUTLER, Lives of the Saints, August 10. 192 SECTION III. ON THE REAL PRESENCE. XVIII. THE REAL PRESENCE. FROM reviewing the proofs which so clearly establish the Mass to be a real sacrifice, we naturally proceed to investigate another most important tenet comprehended in that doctrine. For eighteen centuries the Catholic Church has been sedulous in teaching, as one amongst those articles of faith delivered to her by the Apostles, who received it from the lips of truth itself, the Son of God, that in the sacrament of the altar usually denominated the Eucharist, 1 are received the real Body and the real Blood, together with the Soul and the Divinity of Jesus Christ the very ' Word made flesh,' which, conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was afterwards affixed to the Cross, and died for 1 The primitive Fathers denominate the sacrament instituted by our Saviour at the Last Supper by the term Eucharist, a Greek word which, signifies ' thanksgiving.' Such an appellation is most appropriate, since it intimates that our Redeemer offered up thanks- givings to the Lord at its institution ; and also instructs us concerning the necessity of presenting our grateful thanks to heaven, whenever we receive this abridgment of all God's wonders ; this standing memorial of our redemption through the Blood of Jesus ; and the pledge of a bright eternity. ON THE REAL PRESENCE. 193 our redemption. The following are some amongst the numerous arguments she exhibits for her un- varying belief in this dogma. XIX. THE PROMISE MADE BY CHRIST THAT HE WOULD GIVE US HIS FLESH AND BLOOD TO EAT AND DRINK. In the sixth chapter of S. John, we observe that Jesus, after having wrought the great miracle of feeding five thousand persons in the desert with five barley loaves and two small fishes, took occasion to unfold the doctrine of the Real Presence to the wondering multitude. The Evangelist in- forms us that the Saviour thus addressed them : * I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh, for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying : How can this man give us his flesh to eat ? Then Jesus said to them : Amen, amen, I say unto you : Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath ever- lasting life ; and I will raise him up in the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed ; and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father ; so he that eateth Me, the same also VOL. I. N i 9 4 ON THE EEAL PRESENCE. shall live by Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread shall live for ever. Many, therefore, of His dis- ciples hearing it, said : This saying is hard, and who can hear it? After this many of His dis- ciples went back, and walked no more with Him.' l This passage of Scripture claims our particular attention. Here our Divine Redeemer promises to give His followers an especial kind of nourishment a food which would surpass the manna of the desert itself a wondrous bread the bread of angels, 2 rained down from heaven, where it was miraculously produced, and which exhibited such wonders in all its several circumstances. ' When the dew fell in the night upon the camp, the manna also fell with it.' 3 It fell only round about the camp of the Israelites, and that too every day ex- cept the Sabbath. 4 In such quantities did this bread of heaven rain down upon the Jews for those forty years of their wandering through the wil- derness, that it was sufficient to nourish the whole multitude of more than a million of people, each one of whom, though he might gather, could not secure, except on the Sabbath, more than sufficient for his daily maintenance, which was a gomor, or, according to our English measure, about three quarts. 5 Every sixth day it came down in double 1 S. John, vi, 51-59, 61, 67. 2 Psalm LXXVII, 25. 3 Numbers, xi, 9. 4 E.vodus, xvi, 27. 5 Exodus, xvi, 18. '95 quantities, and though it infallibly putrified when reserved beyond one single day, yet on the Sabbath it never suffered such an alteration. 1 This same manna which melted away before the beams of the morning sun when left in the fields, on being con- veyed within the tent acquired such hardness and consistency that it could be ground in the mill or pounded in a mortar ; and would even so far resist the action and the heat of fire, as to be boiled in a pot, and made up into cakes. 2 Any bread, there- fore, which could possibly surpass it in excellence, must be wondrous indeed ; hence that food alluded to by Christ, and signified to be superior to the manna of the ancient Israelites, must, like it, not only come from heaven, but comprehend still greater wonders ; and that it did is evident from every expression of our Saviour. i . His future gift was not to be common, inert, inanimate bread, but living bread, 3 consequently with life in it, quickened with a spirit ; yes, it was to be it is the very Flesh of Jesus, animated by His radiant, spotless soul, and sanctified by its union with His divinity. 2. But this is not all : if we interrogate the sacred text concerning the nature of that bread from heaven, with which the Redeemer pledged Himself to furnish all His faithful followers ; He Himself, not merely once by accident, but oftentimes and formally repeated 1 Exodus, xvi, 20-22. J Numbers, xi, 8. 3 S.John, vi, 51. 196 ON THE REAL PRESENCE. for answer, that the food He promised was to be His true, His very Flesh; 'His Flesh indeed, His Blood indeed.' The Jews were scandalised ; they asserted that it was impossible, as they cried aloud : How can this man give us His flesh to eat ? This is a hard saying and who can hear it? Now, apart from that celestial charity, which instead of placing, would rather have removed the stone of scandal in the path of those who sought and trusted to its guidance ; apart from a sacred love for truth, even common honesty would have imperatively demanded that Christ, the Author of all truth Truth itself should not allow a portion of His disciples to abandon Him, merely through a- misrepresenta- tion of one single sentence, which, according to their unanimous and public construction of it, uttered in His presence, insisted on a tenet which He never intended to promulgate, especially since it would have cost no further trouble than a word to disabuse them of their error, had it been one ; and to develope the real meaning of His doctrine, had they misconstrued it. While it is certain that the Jews literally understood our Saviour as having intimated that He would give them His very flesh and blood to be their nourishment, it is at the same time equally evident that He in- tended to define, in clear and intelligible language, how they were to understand His words. In- stead, however, of correcting the notion that ON THE REAL PRESENCE. 197 possessed them, of His having said they were to eat His real flesh and drink His real blood, by attaching a figurative meaning to His words, He not only reiterates the selfsame expressions, and several times repeats the selfsame doctrine, but employs a most solemn formula of speech in use among the Jews, in order to affix still more deeply in their minds the impression of a Real Presence, and to satisfy them that they had rightly con- strued the import of His discourse, which was, that they should have His real flesh and blood to eat and drink. Nor does He once so much as remotely insinuate that He was to be understood as having spoken in a figurative manner. As it was fitting that He, the very truth, should not allow His chosen apostles, His numerous dis- ciples, thousands among the Jews, and millions of Christians in after ages, to mistake the meaning of His expression on a subject of primary import- ance, we may legitimately conclude that, had the multitude been wrong in interpreting His dis- course to indicate a manducation of His real flesh and blood, far from declining to resolve a diffi- culty, and remove the scandal which alienated from His preaching so many ' who walked with Him no more,' the Saviour would not have hesi- tated to rectify the error, especially in reference to His Apostles, whom He had selected to receive, and afterwards disseminate, the knowledge of His doctrines ; but would have pursued the same 198 ON THE KEAL PRESENCE. course on this occasion which He invariably followed in other less important instances. It was His custom to explain, at least to His disciples, whatever might have been at first unintelligible in His public preaching to the multitude, or in His private conferences with themselves. Nico- demus could not comprehend the words of our Divine Redeemer on the necessity of Baptism ; and this ruler of the Jews, in consequence, ob- served : ' How can a man be born when he is old?' But Jesus removed the difficulty by un- veiling the import of His words, as He answered : ' Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' x The disciples did not comprehend Him when he bade them beware of the leaven of the Pharisees ; but, while He chicled their inaccurate interpretation of this expression, he informed them that He animadverted on the pernicious doctrines of those Hebrew teachers. On another occasion, Jesus remarked to His apostles : ' I have meat to eat, which you know not.' They misconstrued the observation, and demanded if any man had brought Him anything to eat? But in explana- tion of what He had said, He answered them : ' My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me.' 2 Towards the conclusion of His discourse, our Saviour referred to His future Ascension. He 1 S. John, in, 5. 2 S. John, iv, 32-34. ON THE EEAL PRESENCE. 199 noticed it as a circumstance which would offer still greater difficulties to be surmounted by those amongst His auditors whose present incredulity refused to believe, that, although He was actually present, He could possibly give them His Flesh and Blood. Had, then, our Divine Redeemer promised to bequeath nothing more than a bit of common bread, which should represent His Body, it is impossible to imagine how the Jews would have had to experience greater difficulty in believing such a doctrine after than before Christ's Ascension. This is evident; for a sign to which a specific meaning is once unequivocally affixed is, at all times, equally intelligible to the parties initiated in its import. If, on the other hand, Christ intended, as He really did, to assure His followers that He would bestow His very Flesh and Blood to be their sacramental nourishment; then, indeed, we immediately perceive the force of our Saviour's reference to His future Ascension ; we understand how the doctrine which appeared so 'hard' to the intelligence of His followers, at the very moment while they viewed Him standing in the body visible and palpable amongst them, would necessarily become ten thousand times more difficult to their stubborn belief, at a sub- sequent period, when they should behold His Body taken up, and wafted in radiance to the throne of God. Unless our Saviour had been anxious to persuade the Jews that the bread from 200 ON THE REAL PRESENCE. heaven about to be given to the world was not a symbolic piece of bread, but His real Body, He never would have studied, by predicting the miraculous event of His elevation into heaven, to induce them, when it should be realised, ' to submit their reason to the obedience of faith.' When, therefore, we learn that Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples murmured at this, said to them : ' Doth this scandalise you ? If then you shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before?' 1 We are certain that He insisted still more pointedly in requiring belief in the Eucharist : we hear Him teaching His disciples that after the removal of His Body from among them, and in the absence of the natural appear- ances of flesh and blood, they were, however, to have no'hesitation in acquiescing in this mysterious dogma. Hence we may collect that our Lord, in promulgating this tenet of the Real Presence, noticed in its favour the very argument which its adversaries at the present hour wield in com- bating against it, whilst they assert that the Body and Blood of Christ must be as far from our altars as heaven is from earth : though they teach that 'the Body and Blood of Christ are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper.' z 1 S. John, vi, 62. 2 The last answer but three in the Protestant Catechism in the Book of Common Prayer. How the inconsistencies to say nothing ON THE REAL PRESENCE. 201 XX. OBJECTION ANSWERED. Against these arguments are advanced by the impugners of this tenet those words of Christ : * It is the spirit that quickeneth : the flesh pro- fiteth nothing.' l Such an expression, however, instead of invalidating, fortifies the doctrine of the Keal Presence. It was not until Christ had no less than six several times asserted, with much solemnity and in the most explicit language, that His Flesh and Blood should be really present and given in the sacrament, that He observed, ' It is the spirit that quickeneth,' etc. Had it, therefore, been His pur- port, in this latter sentence, to correct the inter- pretation that the multitude affixed to His former asseverations, which they construed as signifying the manducation of His very Body had He really insinuated in the faintest manner that the Eucharist did not contain, but was a figure only of His Flesh and Blood ; is it not self-evident that not only those Jews who ' strove amongst themselves,' and so loudly vociferated ' how can this man give us His flesh to eat,' but such among of the irreligion of the innovators of the sixteenth century, are exhibited when those men abridge the omnipotence of God, by deny- ing the possibility of Christ's being present in the Holy Eucharist ; and at the selfsame moment maintain that His Body and His Blood are verily and indeed taken and received, but that it is not possible for them to be verily and indeed given. 1 S. John, VI, 64. 202 ON THE REAL PRESENCE. the disciples also who experienced the belief in a real eating of His Body to be a thing so ' hard ' to recognise, would have encountered no difficulty either in comprehending such a doctrine, or in yielding their assent to it ; and, instead of walk- ing no more with their Teacher, would have been more anxious to follow Him and to listen to His precepts ; and yet, what happened ? They took scandal at His words, and abandoned Him. The retiring disciples, therefore, openly assure us by their desertion of Jesus Christ the very moment after He had uttered this expression, that they did not understand Him to indicate by it that the former parts of His discourse about the eating of His Flesh and Blood were to be explained in a figurative manner, but, on the contrary, con- ceived Him to reiterate, if possible with greater earnestness than ever, the doctrine of the Real Presence. The words of Christ on which this objection against the Real Presence has been attempted, but without success, to be erected, bear a twofold interpretation. It is not unusual with the writers of the sacred volumes to designate the carnal and human reason of man by the word ' flesh,' whilst they employ the term ' spirit ' to signify the grace of God and the inspirations of the Holy Ghost. Such a form of language is more particularly dis- cernible when their object is to oppose the one in contrast with the other. Jesus declared to ON THE EEAL PRESENCE. 203 S. Peter : ' Flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father who is in heaven.' l S. Paul admonishes the Romans that the faithful ' walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.' 2 Our Saviour, while insisting on the manducation of His real Body, in answer to the argument which the Jews, like the modern scep- tics, deduced from human reason and their senses against its possibility, observed that at the same time it was incompetent for flesh or carnal reason to decide on such a dogma ; it was only by the grace of God the light of heaven ' the quicken- ing spirit,' that it could be believed in, or dis- cerned, and hence He immediately remarked : ' There are some of you that believe not . . . therefore did I say to you, that no man can come to Me, unless it be given him by My Father.' 3 How remarkably this expression of the Saviour co- incides with that which He uttered when S. Peter acknowledged His divinity : ' Flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father who is in heaven.' 4 An extract from the commentaries of S. Augus- tine will not only furnish a second illustration of this passage, but will likewise testify what was the general belief of the Church upon the Eu- charist so far back as fourteen hundred years 1 S. Matthew, xvi, 17. 2 Romans, vm, 4. 1 S. John, vi, 65, 66. 4 S. Matthew, xvi, 17. 204 ON THE KEAL PRESENCE. ago, when that zealous and learned Father, far from perceiving that any argument could be ex- tracted against that sacrament from the words of our Redeemer, actually adduced these very words in his public instructions to the people on the Real Presence, in order to assure them that, though the Body of Christ, as mere simple flesh and blood, and separated from His Soul and Divinity, might not profit anything, yet, when animated by that Blessed Spirit and His Divine Nature, they profited a great deal. Hence it is that he exclaims : ' What means, The flesh pro- fiteth nothing? Yea, it profiteth nothing as the Jews understood it : for they understood the flesh, so as it is divided into pieces in a dead body, or as sold in the shambles, not so as it is quickened by the Spirit. If the flesh profiteth nothing, the Word would not have been made flesh, that He might dwell in us.' l XXI. PROOF FROM THE INSTITUTION. OBJECTIONS EXPLAINED. What our Divine Redeemer promised at Caphar- naum, He realised about a year afterwards at Jeru- salem, where He went to celebrate the Passover. The institution of the Blessed Eucharist is re- corded with particular precision by four among the inspired writers of the New Testament, whose 1 S. AUGUSTINI in loannis Evangelium tract, xxrn. ON THE REAL PRESENCE. 205 several recitals of this occurrence we shall care- fully notice. S. Matthew says : ' And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke ; and gave to His disciples, and said : Take ye, and eat : This is My Body. And taking the chalice, He gave thanks ; and gave to them, saying : Drink ye all of this. For this is My Blood of the New Testament which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins.' l S. Mark relates that, ' Whilst they were eating, Jesus took bread ; and blessing broke, and gave to them, and said : Take ye, this is My Body. And having taken the chalice, giving thanks He gave it to them. And they all drank of it. And He said to them : This is My Blood of the New Testament which shall be shed for many.' 2 S. Luke observes that, ' Taking bread, He gave thanks, and brake ; and gave to them, saying : This is My Body, which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of Me. In like manner the chalice also, after He had supped, saying : This is the chalice of the New Testament in My Blood which shall be shed for you.' 3 The words of the Apostle of the Gentiles are no less explicit and declaratory of the Real Presence than the words of these three Evangelists. It was thus S. Paul addressed the Corinthians : ' For I have 1 S. Matthew, xxvi, 26-28. * S. Mark, xiv, 22-24. 3 S. Luke, xxn, 19, 20. 20 6 ON THE REAL PRESENCE. received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks, broke, and said : Take ye and eat : this is My Body which shall be delivered for you : this do for the commemoration of Me. In like manner also the chalice, after He had supped, saying : This chalice is the new testament in My Blood ; this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of Me.' x It would have been practically impossible for these inspired writers to have selected clearer or more appropriate language to assure the world that Christ bestows His real Flesh and Blood to man in the Blessed Sacrament. For that these passages are to be interpreted not in a figurative, but in their obvious literal sense, is evident from the following reasons : . i. Though S. Matthew, S. Mark, S. Luke, and S. Paul wrote with different objects in view at different times, in different places, and to differ- ent people they are unanimous in describing the institution of the Sacrament, not only in the self- same manner, but almost in precisely identical expressions ; and so remote are they from letting fall one syllable, however trivial, which could in any way suggest to their readers that the Saviour's words might be figuratively understood, 1 i Corinthians, xi, 23-25. ON THE REAL PRESENCE. 207 that their narratives, on the contrary, preclude any such interpretations. According to them our Blessed Redeemer did not say : This piece of bread is nothing but a figure of My Body ; but He positively assured His apostles that what He held in His hand was His very, His real Flesh : ' This is My Body ' ; and that what was contained in the chalice was His very, His real Blood : ' This is My Blood ' ; that very Body, too, which was given for us, was nailed to the cross, and died for our redemption that very Blood which was shed for many. Since these passages from Scripture assure us that we precisely receive in the Sacrament neither more nor less than what was made to sutfer for us on the cross, they compel us, therefore, to arrive at one of these conclusions : either that the true and real Body and Blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ are sub- stantially present and given in the Sacrament ; or that it was not His true and real Body which was given not His true and real Blood that was shed for us, but the figure and the shadow only of His human nature. The pious Christian who would shudder at the notion of believing that His Saviour deceived him by a pretended and a figurative death, should not defraud himself of the invaluable treasure of the Body and the Blood of Christ, nor continue to withhold his assent to a dogma delivered to him by the lips of that same Saviour ; nor emulate the 208 ON THE REAL PRESENCE. incredulous disciples, by crying out : ' How can this man give us his flesh to eat ? ' But further investigation into the nature of the Eucharist, and a close review of all the circumstances attendant on its institution, will reveal the error of the Pro- testant, and establish the truth of the Catholic belief, concerning this stupendous mystery. 2. As the Eucharist is not only a sacrament, but the principal and most wondrous of the Sacraments, it will be difficult to conceive why Almighty God should have chosen to depart from His usual method of employing language to be literally taken whenever He has been pleased to ordain these sacred rites, both in the new and ancient law, in order to make exception with reference to the Holy Eucharist, and adopt a figurative mode of speaking in its institution. Circumcision, 1 and the eating of the Paschal Lamb, 2 together with the many sacrifices and ex- piations which we read of in Leviticus, which graced the Jewish covenant, and those sacraments which adorn the Christian dispensation, were ordained, or promulgated, in clear and simple language ; and after collating the last chapter of the Gospel of S. Matthew, and the last chapter of S. Mark, we shall discover that this observation is particularly applicable in regard to Baptism. In S. John, 3 indeed, we see that our Divine Redeemer, 1 Genesis, xvn. 2 Exodus, xn. 3 S. John, in. ON THE REAL PRESENCE. 209 referring to this sacrament of regeneration, makes use of a figurative expression ; but He hastens to explain it by assuring Nicodemus that the re- generation of which He had spoken was not carnal, but spiritual ; since, to enter heaven, man must be born again of water and the Holy Spirit. 3. That the Holy Eucharist should be con- sidered as a covenant, likewise, is demonstrable from the form of its institution. Those words, ' This is My Blood of the new testament,' employed by our Divine Redeemer when He con- secrated the wine in the chalice, bear such a manifest relation to those almost identical expres- sions which Moses used in establishing the ancient alliance, 1 that the Apostles must have actually re- ferred to them for an explanation of what the Saviour said, and consequently concluded that, as Moses spoke of real blood when he thus addressed the Israelites : ' This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you/ so Christ indicated and gave His real Flesh and Blood when He proclaimed of that covenant which He then contracted with His chosen people : ' This is My Blood of the new testament.' 4. We should particularly bear in mind that the Apostles only were present at the Last Supper ; and before them alone were pronounced 1 Exodus, xxiv, 8. VOL. I. 2io ON THE KEAL PRESENCE. the words at its institution. If the Saviour spoke to the Scribes and Pharisees in parables, He furnished an explanation of these enigmas after- wards to His Apostles, to whom He declared His mysteries in intelligible language, and instantane- ously removed the erroneous interpretation which they at first attached to anything that He might have mentioned. These, too, were the persons whom He assured : ' To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God ; but to them that are without, all things are done in parables.' l It was, moreover, after participating in the Pasch, which with desire He had desired to eat with them ; 2 and on that evening, when, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end ; 3 and, consequently, resolved to con- fer upon mankind, through them, a mark of singular affection. He was also making His last will, and instituting the most awful and august amongst His sacraments. He was realising the figurative sacrifices of the ancient law, and giving a substance to its shadows. A father, however, who takes but an ordinary interest in his chil- dren's welfare, far from expressing the most im- portant portion of his will in obscure or figurative expressions, studies, on the contrary, to explain himself in clear and intelligible terms. He who loves his friends, will, at the hour of death, 1 S. Mark, iv, 11. 2 S. Luke, xxn, 15. 3 S. John, xm, i. ON THE REAL PRESENCE. 211 address them with unequivocal sincerity, and do nothing to practise a deception on them. He who delegates a chosen few to be the messen- gers of genuine truth to others, will not, in the very last instructions to them, solemnly deliver an erroneous doctrine. As a proof that by these words : ' This is My Body,' 'This is My Blood,' Christ intended nothing more than that the sacramental species were to be considered as a figure only of His Flesh and Blood, the followers of the Church of England instance some metaphorical expressions used by our Redeemer as He preached to the multitude, when He said to them : ' I am the door,' l ' I am the vine,' 2 etc. But these and similar expressions do not prove, in any way, that those words, ' This is My Body,' etc., should also be interpreted in a figurative manner. i. Because, upon the words of institution, 'This is My Body,' 'This is My Blood,' our Divine Redeemer impressed their literal and natu- ral meaning, not merely by the emphatic way in which we may presume He pronounced them, but by circumstances which accompanied their utter- ance, by the time and place in which they were delivered, and by their announcing the accom- plishment of a former solemn promise. Corre- 1 8. John, x. 2 S. John, xv. 2i2 ON THE KEAL PRESENCE. spending circumstances are severally wanting in those expressions noticed by the opponents of the Real Presence. When Christ observed of Himself, ' I am the door,' He did not lay His hand on any individual door, and, after blessing it, declare : ' I am this door,' or, ' This door is My Body.' He never took hold of any parti- cular vine and said : ' I am this vine/ or, ' This is My Blood.' 2. Neither a door nor a vine was ever known to be employed in the solemnisation of a cere- mony which was the type of, and bore the clearest reference to, the coming of the Messiah, and for which a separate festival was annually celebrated within the walls of one distinguished city. But when Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist, He took one particular portion of bread in His hand, He blessed that particular portion, He brake it, and gave to His disciples, saying, while he held it in His hand: 'This is My Body.' This scene, moreover, took place immediately after He and His disciples had solemnised the Paschal supper, in a house within the precincts of the holy city of Jerusalem. 3. Those who refuse to recognise the doctrine of a Real Presence as included in those words of Jesus : ' This is My Body,' ' This is My Blood,' and plead, in their defence, that Christ should be figuratively understood on this occasion, as He is on those others, when He said : ' I am the door,' ON THE REAL PRESENCE. 213 ' I am the vine,' must either have taken up such an argument without examination, or employed it with a knowledge of its sophistry. First of all, Christ expressly manifests His wish to be under- stood as employing those expressions of the door and the vine in a figurative manner, and supplies upon the spot a key to their interpretation, by re- marking : ' I am the door. By Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved ; and he shall go in, and go out, and shall find pastures.' 1 And again : ' I am the true vine ; and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me, that beareth not fruit, He will take away : and every one that beareth fruit He will purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit. ... As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.' 2 When Christ at the Last Supper uttered those words, 'This is My Body,' etc., He expressly manifested, as was just now proved in the observations on the words of Institution, 3 that He wished to be understood as employing such expressions in a literal sense ; neither did He then, nor on any occasion, either before or after- wards, supply a figurative interpretation of them. It is, therefore, self-evident that no comparison can be legitimately instituted between them ; nor can it be argued that, because those first expres- 1 S. John, x, 9. 2 S. John, xv, 1-4. 3 See p. 216. 2i 4 ON THE 'REAL PRESENCE. sions should be figuratively explained, the latter also must receive a similar interpretation. In the second place, there does not exist the slightest parallel between the metaphors of the door and the vine, and the words of Institution, 'This is My Body,' etc., though we measure the latter by Protestant principles, which refuse to recognise in them an authority for the Real Presence. In order that there should be such a resem- blance between these forms of speech, as to warrant the conclusion that because one was to be under- stood figuratively the other should properly be interpreted in a like manner, it would be necessary to take for granted that our Saviour, when He said : ' I am the door,' ' I am the vine,' in- tended to express that He was the sign or figure of a door or vine. Such a supposition is obviously absurd. When He calls Himself a vine or a door, it is to indicate that He possesses qualities of which a door or a vine present im- perfect but sensible ideas. It was far from His intention to signify, either that He was an emblem of such things, or that they were figura- tive of Him. With similar facility, solutions may be severally furnished to those other difficulties which separatists have pretended to extract from Scripture, and have raised against this essential article of Christianity. Against the argument which Catholics borrow from the words of the Institution, there is another ON THE REAL PRESENCE. 215 objection which the opponents of the Real Presence have, with visible complacency, invari- ably repeated, from the time of Calvin to the present day ; and as Home has been one of the latest to exhibit this objection to public notice, it shall be recited in the words of that author. ' If the words of Institution had been spoken in English or Latin at first, there might perhaps have been some reason for supposing that our Saviour meant to be literally understood. But they were spoken in Syriac ; in which, as well as in the Hebrew and Chaldee languages, there is no word which expresses to signify, represent, or denote. Hence it is that we find the expression it is, so frequently used in the sacred writings, for it represents or signifies. ... It is further worthy of remark, that we have a complete version of the Gospels in the Syriac language, which was executed at the commencement of the second, if not at the close of the first century, and in them it is probable that we have the precise words spoken by our Lord on this occasion. Of the passage, Matt., xxvi, 26, 28, the Greek is a verbal translation : nor would any man even at the present day, speaking in the same language, use, among the people to whom it was vernacu- lar, other terms to express, " this represents my body," and " this represents my blood." ' 1 T. H. HORNE, Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures. Fifth edition, vol. n, p. 590. zi6 ON THE EEAL PRESENCE. This passage involves, in reality, two difficulties ; for while it asserts that in the Syrian or Aramaean language there are no words which mean ' to signify,' etc., it maintains that the auxiliary verb 'to be ' was, in consequence, employed in that dialect to supply the deficiency, and to indicate a symbol. Even if the observations of Home, on which he pretends to construct an argument against the Real Presence, were in reality correct, still his argument could not be made available to over- turn that doctrine the truth of which we are contending for, inasmuch as a host of venerable witnesses determined the meaning of this passage to be precisely what the Catholic Church has affixed to it for more than eighteen centuries. But the assertion of Home is perfectly erroneous. So far is the Syro-Chaldaic or Aramaean dialect from not possessing any word to express a figure, that there is not one language known to be enriched with such a multitude of synonyms to signify the very idea. The learned and labo- rious scrutiny of an able master of the oriental languages has succeeded in detecting and enume- rating no less than forty different words in Syriac, all expressive of our English substantive ' figure.' l 1 See the dissertations illustrative of Syriac literature, by the late Cardinal Wiseman, entitled : Home Syriacae, sen commenta- tiones et anecdota, res vel litteras Syriacas spectantia. Romae, 1828. ON THE REAL PRESENCE. 217 We now approach the second difficulty. It was surmised by Home that the use of the auxiliary verb ' to be,' in the sense of ' to signify,' prevailed so much amongst the Syrians as to persuade the belief that the words of Christ, at the institution of the Blessed Eucharist, were understood in a figurative manner by the Apostles. Now, it is lucidly demonstrated that the Syrians not only had morfe synonymous terms to indicate the word ' figure ' than any other people, but were accustomed to employ such expressions much more frequently. That with the Syrians it was not a practice to use the verb ' it is,' instead of 'it represents,' 'it signifies,' may be easily substantiated by collating the Syriac with the Latin version of the Scriptures ; when it will be ascertained, that in those passages in which the verb ' est ' is inserted in the Vulgate, and where the perspicuous nature of the context entirely excludes all mistake with regard to its meaning, still the corresponding words which occur in the Syriac text are type and symbol. The assumption, therefore, of Home and all his predecessors is quite erroneous. Instead of the Syriac being such a barren language as not to possess one word which would express ' figure,' it is most remarkably abundant in terms indi- cative of this very meaning, and can enumerate no less than forty in its vocabulary. Respecting the custom gratuitously presumed 2i8 ON THE REAL PRESENCE. to have prevailed amongst the Syrians, of em- ploying the auxiliary verb 'to be ' under the same acceptation as the verbs ' to represent/ ' to typify,' ' to signify/ it has been authenticated that it is of much more frequent occurrence in Latin, and used in Syriac less frequently than in any other language. Ear, therefore, from weaken- ing the argument which the Catholic deduces from the words of Institution in favour of the Real Presence, it is fortified by this attempted objection, since it is demonstrated that Christ had more than forty words at His command to express a figure, type, or symbol ; and that He passed them over to select one which, of all others, was the best adapted to declare the Real Presence, while it precluded every excuse for assigning to His words a figurative signification. XXII. THE REAL PRESENCE PROVED FROM S. PAUL. That the words of the Redeemer were intended to affix the belief in a real presence of His Body in the Sacrament, and that the minds of the Apostles received such an impress from them, may be ascertained from various testimonies ; but, first of all, from the authoritative declara- tion of S. Paul, who unequivocally asserts such a doctrine in several portions of the first Epistle which he addressed to the Corinthians. In the tenth chapter he exclaims : ' The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the com- ON THE REAL PRESENCE. 219 munion of the Blood of Christ? And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the Body of the Lord?' 1 It was the object of S. Paul to impress as forcibly as possible upon the Corinthians, that as the Israelites, according to the flesh, partook of the altar by eating of the immolated victim so the Christian, by receiv- ing the Eucharist, was made a partaker of the Body of Jesus Christ, which was sacrificed upon the altar of the Cross. The old was but a shadow of the new Law ; hence, what was pre- figured by the one, the other realised. As, therefore, the faithful under the Mosaic dispen- sation, by a real eating of the victim, partook of the sacrifice that had been offered ; so, for the accomplishing of this type in the Christian cove- nant, we are given to participate in the sacrifice upon the Cross by a real manducation of that precious Victim, immolated there for man's re- demption. Moreover, that this teacher of the Gentiles wished to signify, not a figurative, but the true and real presence of Jesus in the Sacra- ment, is corroborated by a casual remark which he makes when he says : ' We, being many, are one bread, one body, all that partake of one bread.' 2 Now, it is only in the Eucharist that, strictly speaking, we partake of one bread. There it is, indeed, that we all receive the very same, 1 i Corinthians, x, 16. 2 I Corinthians, x, 17. 220 OX THE REAL PRESENCE. identical, and heavenly nourishment the flesh of Christ, which is perfectly and entirely the same and one, though distributed to millions ; for that which the Christian feeds upon in this mysterious banquet does not, as in other repasts, differ from the bread which is given to another. We all of us become ' one bread and one body ' by receiving this great Sacrament ; since, according to the promises of Christ, all ' that eat His Flesh and drink His Blood, abide in Him, and He in them.' l The same Apostle remarks : ' For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks, broke, and said : Take ye, and eat : this is My Body, which shall be delivered for you : this do for the commemoration of Me. In like manner also the chalice, after He had supped, saying : This chalice is the new testament in My Blood ; this do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of Me. For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord, until He come. Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and of the Blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth 1 S. John, vi, 57. ON THE REAL PRESENCE. 221 and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgement to himself, not discerning the Body of the Lord.' l Here S. Paul, in the most explicit terms imaginable, asserts that the sacramental species, though they have the appearances of bread and wine, are, in reality, the very Body which was delivered, and the very Blood which flowed for us. He warns the Corinthians, that unto the unworthy, as well as to the worthy com- municant, are given the Flesh and Blood of Jesus. He does not introduce one single word about ' Faith only ; ' nor does he intimate that the worthy Christian only can receive the Body of the Lord : on the contrary, he maintains that the true and real Body of Christ is given in the Sacrament to all men, whether infidels or true believers, whether saintly or sinful. Common sense persuades us that this is the doctrine of S. Paul : for if the unworthy, or such as had not proper or sufficient faith, do not receive the true Body and Blood of Christ in this Sacrament, how is it possible for them to be guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ? How, too, can they, with justice, be accused of not discerning the Body of the Lord, if it be not present? At most, they have received nothing but a simple piece of bread and drop of wine, in the place of that life-giving nourishment the real Flesh and Blood of Christ, I Corinthians, xi, 23-29. 222 ON THE EEAL PRESENCE. of which they would have, verily and indeed, partaken, had they prepared themselves by the necessary dispositions. But to insist that a man may be guilty of profaning, and of not noticing the Body of Christ, when it is not only not present, but as far from danger of profanation and neglectful slight as heaven is from earth, is about as rational as to maintain that the servant of a king may be actually guilty of murdering his royal master with his own hand, or of exhibiting an insulting levity and contemptu- ous disdain, even in the regal presence, though at the very time that contumelious subject be ten thousand miles from the person of his sovereign. XXIII. TAUGHT BY THE REST OF THE APOSTLES. The belief in the Real Presence, insisted on with so much energy by S. Paul, the rest of the Apostles also delivered, along with the other doctrines of the Gospel, to all those nations which they converted by their preaching. This is evidenced by those Liturgies l that they drew up 1 The term Liturgy is a compound of two Greek words X&Voy, public, and Zpyov, work, or action and was employed to designate the service of the altar. To veil the sacred mysteries from the gaze of vulgar ignorance and Gentile profanations, or, in Scripture language, not to cast 'pearls before swine,' the Discipline of the Secret, which is of Apostolic origin, enacted that the faithful in general should conceal the Creed, 6 the Sacraments, and the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, d from all knowledge of the uninitiated ; and the members of the priest- hood In particular were directed to convey the substance and formu- ON THE REAL PRESENCE. 223 for the Churches which they severally founded, as well as by the writings of those holy Pastors who imbibed their Christianity during a personal acquaintance with the Apostles, or who more immediately succeeded them in the office of public instruction. As each Liturgy contains the common form of prayer, and ceremonial order of public worship of that individual Church in which it was observed, it must exhibit a clear and well- laries of the Liturgy by word of mouth to one another ; and though required to learn and retain them by memory with the most scrupu- lous precision, were prohibited from committing them to writing. During the early portion of the fifth age, Nestorius attempted to engraft upon the Liturgy his errors concerning the Incarnation. To counteract this artifice, and to preclude the possibility of any future heresiarch propagating his novelties by disseminating them through the prayers and invocations of the public ritual, and for other weighty reasons, the Church resolved to vary from her ancient discipline, and ordained that all the Liturgies should be committed to writing. It was thus that S. Basil and S. Chrysostom, Popes Gelasius and S. Gregory the Great, S. Ambrose, and other learned and pious pre- lates of the Greek and Latin Churches, to adapt the public service to the discipline of the period, and the wants of such portions of the fold of Christ as were more immediately entrusted to their spiritual solicitude, in some passages retrenched, in others augmented, the prayers and ceremonies of the Liturgies ; and without adulterating in the slightest manner the substance or the doctrine of those apostolic monuments, gave them a new, and in many instances a more appro- priate form. Hence it was that those Liturgies, which, up to the period of their renovation, had been denominated by the names of those Apostles who originally framed them, exchanged their ancient for a modern appellation, and were called after those venerable pre- lates by whom they had been remodelled. a For the proofs of this, see EMANUEL A SCHELSTRATE, Dissertatio de Disciplina Arcani, Romae, 1685, the first, as well as the most able treatise which has hitherto been published on the subject. "Ibid., p. 15. "Ibid., pp. 18, 106. d Ibid., p. 20, et pastim. ' LEONT. BYSANT. contra Nett. et Eutych. 224 ON THE REAL PRESENCE. authenticated profession of the faith delivered by the clergy, and believed by the people constituting that particular portion of the flock of Christ, from the earliest period in which such a form of ritual was introduced. XXIV. ALL THE ANCIENT LITURGIES ATTEST THE REAL PRESENCE. Now, it is a most luminous fact, which should be incessantly kept in view throughout the pro- gress of this investigation, that, on collecting all the several Liturgies, which had for so many hundred years a separate existence in those various parts of Christendom, kept so far asunder by natural as well as adventitious impediments ; and on comparing these forms of prayer together, not only a great resemblance of parts, and a similarity in ceremonies, but a perfect and un- varying accordance with regard to doctrine, especi- ally on the Real Presence, is discoverable through all of them without one solitary exception. This will be evidenced by a reference to those vener- able documents. 1 1 The Abbe Renaudot made public, in the year 1716, a numerous collection of Oriental Liturgies, accompanied with notes, and a use- ful introduction the whole comprised in 2 vols. 4to. Anterior to the learned Frenchman's labours in studying the antiquities of the Eastern Church, that pious and highly-accomplished scholar, Cardinal Thomasius, had bestowed a similar attention on the several Liturgies belonging to the West ; and printed, in 1680, the ancient Sacra- mentaries of the Church of Rome, in that metropolis of Christianity. It was from this work of the Roman Cardinal that Dom Mabillon ON THE REAL PRESENCE. 225 From the fact of this perfect accordance be- tween all the Liturgies which have existed in the Christian world, from the promulgation of the Gospel to the sixteenth century, must result one of these two consequences ; either the Catholic dogma is a genuine and essential article of the extracted in 1685 the Gallican Liturgy, which he had attentively collated with a manuscript of the sixth century, and with two other very ancient manuscripts. In 1640, Dom Menard, well known by his pursuits in ecclesiastical antiquities, published the Sacrainentary of S. Gregory, to which he attached some luminous annotations. The Mozarabic 6 Missal had already been printed, through the pious care of Cardinal Ximenes, in 1500. Pere le Brun collected all those Liturgies, to which he added some others, which his precursors in this curious investigation had not been able to procure ; he com- pared them all with one another, and with those modern ones drawn up by Protestants ; so that at present nothing is wanting to assist the scholar to decide upon these venerable and most ancient monu- ments of genuine Christianity. In proof of the Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence, Transub- Btantiation, and the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, copious extracts have been made from these liturgies, and translated into English by the Bight Rev. Dr. Poynter, in his invaluable work entitled 'Chris- tianity,' for some passages of which the reader is referred to Appendix I. S. Gregory the Great, whose charitable zeal, through the ministry of S. Augustine and his associates, converted Englaud from Saxon Paganism to Christianity, was elected Pope in the year 590. A Sacramentury was anciently the volume which contained the prayers and ceremonies of the Liturgy or Mass, and of the administration of the Sacraments. It was. at the same time, a Missal, a Pontifical, and a Ritual, but contained very few rubrics. In the Greek Church it is called the Euchology. 6 Such was the denomination given to those Christians in Spain who, though they lived intermingled with their Moorish conquerors, preserved their faith from contamination, and, by an annual donative, purchased the free exercise of it from their masters, who came from Arabia, in the lan- guage of which country, such as were not descendants of Arabians, but had adopted their mode of life, and become incorporated with them, were desig- nated Most-Arabs, a term that by Spanish enunciation has been converted into Mozurabics. VOL. I. P 226 ON THE EEAL PRESENCE. faith of Jesus Christ, since it has been handed down as such by the Apostles universally be- lieved by the nations and the people whom they taught, guarded and venerated on that account with the most religious jealousy by their more immediate successors, as well as by all their legi- timate descendants in the sacred ministry to the present period or the Scriptures have deceived us, the Church, the pillar and the ground of truth, has been shaken by error, and Christ has violated His last, most solemn promise ; for, in- stead of being with the teachers of His Gospel ' all days, even to the consummation of the world,' l instead of sending the ' Spirit of truth to abide with them 2 and teach them all truth,' 3 He has, for more than eighteen hundred years, permitted them to preach erroneous doctrine, and to maintain unceasingly and everywhere that the true, the very Flesh and Blood of Christ are present, and received in the Blessed Eucharist. 4 But every sincere believer will acknowledge it to be impossible that the Scriptures could be wrong that Truth itself could speak a falsehood, or 1 Matthew, xxvm, 20. 2 S. John, xiv, 17. 3 S. John, xvi, 13. 4 So forcibly did this argument strike upon the learned Protestant Grotius, that he observes : ' I find in all the Liturgies Greek, Latin, Arabic, Syriac, and others prayers to God that He would consecrate, by His Holy Spirit, the gifts offered, and make them the Body and the Blood of His Son. I was right, therefore, in saying that a custom so ancient and universal, that it must be considered to have come down from the primitive times, ought not to have been changed.' Votum pro Pace. ON THE REAL PRESENCE. 227 that Christ should break His promise ; and there- fore His Church has invariably taught those doc- trines only which were dictated to her by the Holy Ghost, and has, consequently, preserved the genuine truth of Christ Himself, by teaching His real presence in the Eucharist. Hence, as each true follower of Jesus is commanded to hear the Church, if we be such, we shall unhesitat- ingly declare an unreserved assent to this doctrine, or otherwise incur the punishment denounced against the contumacious, and be likened to the heathen, and to the publican 1 and be guilty, not only of despising the Church, but also of despising God, who sent down from heaven His well-beloved Son, not merely to preach the truth, but to estab- lish an infallible tribunal for its perpetual pre- servation to build a sacred ark, which the Holy Spirit should guard and overshadow with His wings that beam with heavenly eifulgence and shed unerring light upon the sacred record, when the body of the ministers of the Church approach to read it. 1 Matthew, xvui, 17. 228 SECTION IV. TRANSUBSTANTIATION. FROM briefly noticing these proofs of the Real Presence, we naturally pass on to another essential dogma included in the Eucharist, namely, Tran- substantiation. XXV. WHAT IS MEANT BY THE TERM. This term the Church employs to express that by the words of consecration the whole substance of the bread is changed into the Body, and the whole substance of the wine into the Blood of Jesus Christ. The truth of this doctrine is firmly established first, by Scripture, and, secondly, by tradition. XXVI. TRANSUBSTANTIATION PROVED FROM SCRIPTURE. In the sixth chapter of S. John, as we before remarked, our Divine Redeemer promises to give His followers, not an image, nor a figure of His Body, but that very Body itself ' His Flesh to be their meat indeed, and His Blood to be their drink indeed.' 1 We are perfectly unable to dis- 1 S. John, vi, 56. TRANSUBSTANTIATION. 229 cover how Jesus ever realised a promise tendered in such a solemn manner, unless we admit that, at the institution of the Eucharist, He Himself converted, or, to use the language of the Church, transubstantiated bread and wine into His Body and Blood, and transmitted the exercise of this stupendous power to His Apostles and their con- secrated successors. A reference to the Last Supper establishes the doctrine of Transubstantia- tion on an immovable basis. ' Jesus took bread ; and blessing, broke, and gave to them, and said : Take ye, This is My Body,' * etc. Our Blessed Redeemer neither said : ' This is a figure of My Body this chalice represents My Blood ; ' nor did He observe : ' Here is My Body here is My Blood ; ' nor : ' Along with this bread is My Body along with this wine is My Blood.' No ; but He positively asserted, in the clearest way imaginable : ' This is My Body this is My Blood ; ' or, in other language : ' This which you now perceive Me holding in My hands, and which was lately bread, is now My very Body ; not My figurative, but My real Body ; that very same that true, identical, substantial Flesh of Mine, to be ere long nailed to a cross for your redemption ; this is My true, My real Blood, which shall be shed for many.' That which is the Body of Christ cannot possibly be bread ; that which is the Blood 1 S. Mark, xiv, 22. 230 TRAtfSUBSTANTIATION. of Christ cannot possibly be wine ; therefore, since we are taught by Christ Himself, in terms most positive, that in the Sacrament we receive His Body and His Blood ; since we are cautioned by S. Paul to approach the holy table in a worthy manner, lest we c eat and drink judgement 1 to ourselves not discerning the Body of the Lord ; ' since, in fine, the immediate successors of the Apostles and the universal Church have been unanimous and urgent now for more than eighteen centuries in reiterating such an admonition ; we are certain that bread and wine no longer exist there after consecration, and although we may perceive the appearances, yet the substance of the sacramental elements is changed, and what was bread and wine is transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Jesus. XXVII. PROOF FROM S. CYRIL. The language held by S. Cyril of Jerusalem, fifteen centuries ago, 2 while unfolding to the 1 i Corinthians, xi, 29. 2 In his work entitled A Concise View of the Succession of Sacred Literature, London, 1830, Dr. Adam Clarke, in the analysis of the first Apology for the Christians, addressed by Justin Martyr to the Roman Emperors, Titus, ^Elius, Hadrian, etc., passes at page 97, vol. I, the following remark: 'He (Justin Martyr, A.D. 140) tints speaks of the Eucharist, p. 98 : 01) y&.p o>s KOLVOV &proi> oudt KOIVOV wo^a. ravra \afj.j3dvo/j.ei> ; dXX' dv rpoirov dia \6jov OeoO and Alpha and Omega. Behind there is a dove, another symbol of our Redeemer. 260 LAY COMMUNION". 261 Divinity ; but all and the whole living Christ is entirely contained under each species ; so that whoever receives under one kind becomes truly partaker of the whole Sacrament : nor is he deprived either of the Body or of the Blood of Christ. 1 The receiving of the Holy Communion under one or both kinds is an article of discipline which the Sovereign Pontiff can vary as he may deem expedient. 2 It is true, indeed, that the reception of the Blessed Eucharist under both kinds is an article of discipline which is still observed by the orthodox as well as the schis- matical followers of the Greek ritual. So far, however, is the Greek Church from considering Communion under the two species as essential to the integrity of the sacrament, that during the whole of Lent, except on Saturdays and Sundays, and the feast of the Annunciation, the Mass, as it is called, of the Presanctified 3 is 1 See J. BERINGTON and J. KIKK, The Faith of Catholics, p. 259. 2 Concilium Tridentinum, Sessio xxn, De Reformalione et depetitione concessi&nis calicis, cap. xi. 3 It is so denominated because it is a Mass in which the priest does not perform the consecration, but receives the Blessed Eucharist under one kind alone that of bread, which was consecrated at a preceding Mass, and reserved for the occasion. By the Greeks the Mass of the Presanctified is called \eirovpyla T&V vpytftiaantvuv, ol irporjyiaffntvoi, or simply i) irporjyiafffj^vri. This Mass is not peculiar to them, but is said throughout the Latin Church on Good Friday. Allacci assigns as a reason for the observance of this rite in the East, that the consecration being proper for festivals only, and all the days in Lent except Saturday and Sunday being fasting-days, they do not consecrate on the other days of the week, but receive the Holy Eucharist which had been reserved from the preceding 262 LAY COMMUNION. alone permitted by its rubrics to be celebrated ; 1 consequently the Greek priest who offers up Mass, as well as those amongst the laity who may choose to receive the Blessed Eucharist on any other day but Saturday or Sunday or the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, during the whole penitential season, take the Holy Com- munion under one kind only that of bread. 2 In the Church of Constantinople, which is followed as their guide by most of the other Sunday. For it should be observed that, when primitive fervour cooled, and all who attended at Mass did not, as formerly, partake of the Holy Sacrifice, a rite was introduced of merely blessing, not consecrating, small pieces of bread, which were afterwards distributed to those amongst the people who did not receive the Eucharist, as a symbol of mutual love and religiou^ communion. The bread so blessed, though quite distinct from the Eucharist, was deno- minated EvXoyta, Eulogia, or Blessing, a term originally employed to signify the Blessed Sacrament itself. In the Greek Liturgy, whenever the Eucharist is consecrated, the Eulogia is still distri- buted ; and a similar custom is observed in France at the parochial Mass, but instead of Eulogia it is called by the French Pain benit. That the people, therefore, may not break their fast by eating the Eulogia, the Greeks do not consecrate the Eucharist on fasting days. By their Mass of the Presanctified they demonstrate that, in opposi- tion to Protestants, they, as well as Catholics of the Latin Church, believe not only in the real and corporeal, but permanent presence, of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. 1 LEO ALLATIUS, De utriusque Ecclesiae Occidentalis atque Orientalis perpetua in dogmate de Purgatorio consensione. Romae, 1655, p. 867, Epist. ad Nihusium. 2 Haec Liturgia Praesanctificatorum toto maximi ieiunii tempore, exceptis Sabbatis, Dominicis, et die Annunciation! sacro, diebus singulis a volentibus peragitur, ergo toto eo tempore Sacerdos cele- brans, et administri altari inservientes, et quicumque alius religionis causa communionem accipiens, siib sola specie panis, cum panis ille sanguine tinctus non est, vel si tinctus, species vini, et consequenter etiam sanguis evanuerint, communicant. Ibid., p. 876. LAY COMMUNION. 263 Churches of the Greek schismatical denomina- tion, the Eucharistic species under the form of bread, reserved for the Mass of the Presanctified and the communion of the people, is never sprinkled with the Sacred Blood. 1 Moreover, in the Greek Church, the Viaticum or Eucharist given to the dying is administered on all occa- sions, and at every season of the year, under the sole form of bread alone. 2 Of the Maronites and other Oriental Christians, Abraham Ecchel- lensis, himself a Maronite, testifies that amongst them the Blessed Sacrament is administered under one kind only that of bread to the sick, to the country people, and to such as on account of the distance of residence cannot come to church fbr Communion. 3 With regard to the Latin Church, it is an historical fact that during many centuries Communion was 1 LEO ALLATIUS, Ibid., p. 874. 2 Magna Feria quinta quilibet Sacerdos, ritu a me iani alio in loco descripto, quos censet pro infirmis et morientibus necessaries futuros panes consecrat, eosque postmodum collectos, et in pyxide vel alio vasculo repositos in Sanctuario, donee necessitas fuerit, conservat. Eos quemadmodum et de Praesanctificatis dictum est, alii cochleari Sanguine Christi madido tangunt, alii non tangunt. Cum opus est inter annum, ex eo vasculo micam panis arreptam, et reverenter ad innrrnum depurtatam, in aquam vel vinum si est in cochleari immer- gunt, ut mollior facta, facilius deglutiri possit a valde debilitatis, et turn infirmo, recitatis ad hoc praescriptis precibus, porrigant. Et hoc est Graecorum aegrotantium, morientiumque viaticum. Sed hie nullae species sauguinis sunt, neque separatus sanguis. Ergo Graeci morientes per totum annum in sola specie panis communicant. LEO ALLATIUS, Ibid., p. 879. 3 BON A, Rer. Lit. lib. II, eh. xvm, num. 2. 264 LAY COMMUNION. generally, though not exclusively, administered under both kinds to the faithful, both men and women, who assisted at the public celebra- tion of the Holy Sacrifice, at which they had made their offering of bread and wine to be conse- crated. 1 XI. COMMUNION UNDER ONE KIND OF APOSTOLIC INSTITUTION. That from the time, however, of the Apostles, Communion has been administered under one kind only that of bread in the manner which is now practised throughout the Latin Church, is attested by all antiquity. In the first ages, when the faithful suffered such grievous persecutions, it was customary to entrust the Blessed Eucharist, under the form of bread, to their pious care, for the purpose of being conveyed to the sick, and to those confined in prison for the faith ; or to be privately received by themselves at home, when the danger of being apprehended should prevent them from attending the celebration of the holy mysteries in the catacombs, or other places of assemblv. 2 In his exhortations to a Christian 1 BONA, Rer. Lit. lib. n, ch. xvm, num. i. 2 The Acolyte S. Tharsicius was arrested by the Pagans as he was carrying the Blessed Sacrament on one of these occasions, and stoned to death because he would not betray it to them. Romae via Appia sancti Tharsicii acolythi, quern Pagani cum invenissent Corporis Christi Sacramenta portantem, coeperunt disquirere quid gereret : at ille indignum iudicans porcis prodere raargaritas, tarn LAY COMMUNION. 265 woman not to marry a Pagan husband, Tertullian observes : ' Will he not know what you receive in secret, before you take any food ? l And if he shall perceive bread, will he not believe it to be what it is called ? ' The same author, in another part of his writings, to obviate the difficulty which was started by some scrupulous persons against receiving the Blessed Eucharist upon a fasting day, lest the fast should be broken by the Com- munion, suggests that ' they take the Body of the Lord, and reserve it, and thus participate of the sacrifice, as well as comply with the obliga- tion of fasting.' 3 The testimony of S. Cyprian is equally lucid on the same subject. That illustrious Bishop of Carthage relates an astonishing event which happened to a Christian woman, who, having been guilty of an act of idolatry at a diu ab illis innctatus est ftistibus et lapidibus, donee exhalaret epiritum. Martyrologium Romanum, 18 Kal. Sept. To the memory of this martyr were composed the following verses, which are a-cribed to Pope S. Damasus, anno 366 : Tarsicium sanctum Christ! Sacramenta gerentera, cum male sana manus peteret vulgare profanis, ipse animam potius voluit dimittere caesus prodere quain canibus rabidis caelestia membra. 1 This proves the primitive Christian custom of receiving the Blessed Sacrament fasting. 2 Non sciet maritus, quid secreto ante omnem cibum gustes ? Et si sciverit panem, non ilium credit esse qui dicitur? Ad Uxorem, lib. n, cap. 5. 3 Accepto corpore Domini et reservato, utrumque salvum est, et participatio sacrificii, et executio officii. De Oratione, cap. 19. Ter- tullian flourished about the year 194. 266 LAY COMMUNION. Pagan altar, immediately afterwards presumed ' to take in her unhallowed hands and endeavour to open her ark or little box which contained the Sacrament of the Lord, but was so terrified by a burst of fire flashing from within, that she dare not lay hold on it.' l S. Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria about the year 247, in his letter to the Roman pontiff Fabianus, relates that a cer- tain old man, called Serapion, when at the point of death, despatched a youth for the priest, who happening also to be confined to his bed by sick- ness, sent to the dying Serapion a particle of the Blessed Eucharist by the messenger, whom he directed first to moisten the Sacrament with a little water, and then put it into the mouth of the old man, who expired just after receiving the Holy Communion. 2 S. Gregory Nazianzen testifies of his sister Gorgonia, in the funeral oration he pronounced at her obsequies, that she always kept the Body of the Lord the Blessed Sacra- ment in her chamber. The Anchorites, who retired into the desert that they might become more perfect by leading a solitary life, used to communicate themselves under the form of bread. 3 To afford the sick the consolation of participating 1 Cum quaedam (mulier) arcam suam, in qua Domini sanctum fuit, manibus indignis tentasset aperire, igne inde surgente deterrita est ne auderet attingere. Lib. de lapsis, xxvi. S. Cyprian suffered martyrdom in the year 258. 2 EUSEBIUS, Hist. Eccl., Kb. vi, cap. 44. 3 MARTENE, de Ant. Eccl. Bit., lib. i, cap. 5, art. i. LAY COMMUNIOX. 267 in the Sacrament, and to provide the Viaticum l in cases of emergency for the dying, particles of the Eucharist, under the species of bread, were re- served in a pyx, as is the present custom, in the church. The pyx was either enclosed within a golden vessel, made in the form of a tower or of a dove and suspended by a chain over the altar ; z or was deposited in one of the two chambers which, in ancient churches, stood on each side 1 Viaticum signifies a provision and [(reparation for a journey into the other world. By the First Council of Nice, celebrated in 325, it is decreed, 'That all penitents shall have their final and necessary 'Eodiou fir] airo- ffTepciffOcu. Canon 13, apud LABBEUM, Condi. Gen., toni. II, col. 673. 2 MARTENE, de Ant. Eccl. Rit., lib. i, cup. 5, art. in. S. Amphilochius, or whoever was ihe author of the life of S. Basil, remarks concerning the illustrious prelate, that once, after having consecrated and elevated the Sacred Host, he divided it into three parts ; one of which he received with much fear the second he reserved for his funeral and the third he enclosed within a golden dove, and suspended over the altar. Amongst the various accusa- tions preferred against Severus, the heretical Bishop of Antioch, by the clergy and monks of that city at the Council of Constantinople held in 536, one was, having appropriated to his own private use not only the treasures of his church, but the gold and silver doves which were suspended over the baptistery and at the altar. Tds y&p /j rvirov rov ayiov irvtv/jiaros \pvaas rt, xal a/5-yupas irtpiffrcpis Kpefiaptvas vwepdvu rCiv 6dwKO\vfi^dpS)v, Kal Ovfftaffrijpiwv, jierct rS>v &\\wi> taerf- piffa.ro. Condi. Constant., Act. 5, apud LABBEUM, torn, vin, col. 1039. The place at the altar where the dove used to be suspended was called ' Peristerion,' from the Greek word irepttrrepi, or dove. The 268 LAY COMMUNION. of the altar, 1 and were called Pastophoria ; ~ or was placed, as at this day in England, upon or immediately behind the altar itself, within an ark or tabernacle surmounted by a cross. 3 Christian poet Sedulius refers to these doves in the following verses : Sanctus Columbae Spiritus in specie Christum vestivit honore. The same custom of reserving the Eucharist in a suspended dove prevailed in many churches in France until a few years ago. 1 See CIAMPINI, Vetera Monimenta, tab. xi, vol. I, for the ichno- graphy, or ground plan, of S. Clement's Church at Rome, one of the most ancient and venerable monuments of Christian antiquity in existence. 2 From the Greek iraoplov, or inner chamber. Anciently there were two small recesses, one on each side of the tribune or sanctuary. In the first of these chambers the Blessed Eucharist was kept ; and hence, no doubt, arose the pious custom, now so general in Catholic countries, of having a special and richly de- corated chapel for the Blessed Sacrament. In the second of these chambers were deposited the Holy Scriptures, the liturgical books, together with the sacred vessels, and the vestments of the priests and ministers, who used to robe themselves within this recess, and retire thither to pray in private, and make their act of thanksgiving after the Holy Sacrifice. While these chambers answered all the purposes of our modern Sacristy, they were also denominated Secretarium, Vestiarium, Scenophylacium, and Cimelia. S. Paulinus of Nola, in the graphic description (Epist. xxxil, ad Severum) which he has bequeathed to us of his church, informs us that it had two Secretaria, one on the right, the other on the left-hand side of the apse ; over the entrance to the first were inscribed these verses : Hie locus est veneranda penus qua conditur, et qua promitur alma sacri pompa ministerii. and the two following over the second : Si quern sancta tenet meditanda in lege voluntas, hie poterit residens sacris intendere libris. 3 The Second Council of Tours, held in 567, enacted : ' That the Body of the Lord should be placed upon the altar, not amid the row of images, but beneath the figure of the Cross.' Ut Corpus LAY COMMUNION. From these, and numerous other testimonies which might be accumulated from ecclesiastical history, it is evident that from the earliest periods Com- munion was very often administered under one kind only. 1 XII. WHEN AND WHY GENERALLY ADOPTED BY THE LATIN CHURCH. Towards the commencement of the twelfth cen- tury an alteration took place in the administra- tion of the Sacrament, which then began to be administered, in public as well as in private, under one kind only that of bread. The reasons for such a variation were the several accidents and abuses which happened through awkwardness and inattention in partaking of the consecrated Domini in altari, non in imaginario ordine, sed sub crucis titulo componatur. Condi. Turon. can. in, apud LABBEUM, torn, v, p. 853. MABILLON (de Liturgia Gallicana, lib. I, cap. 9, and Tractatus de Azymo, cap. 8) interprets this as forbidding the Blessed Sacrament to be kept in a chamber, or in a recess in the wall of the apse, which was usually adorned with figures painted or carved, but under the title of the cross, which surmounted the ciborium over the altar. 1 The various facts enumerated in the text demonstrate that Catholics of the present time precisely agree in faith and practice with Catholics of the primitive ages, since, like them, they believe not merely in the real but permanent presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Eucharist. Luther, therefore, by admitting but a transitory presence of Christ, which he limited to the moment \vhen the communicant receives the Sacrament, not only differed with the Church at his day, but with the Church from all antiquity, and was, in consequence, guilty of a notorious innovation. 270 LAY COMMOTIOfr. cup. 1 A becoming reverence towards the Blessed Eucharist demanded such a change in discipline ; and the belief that Christ was wholly present under one as well as under both species, pre- vented the faithful from erroneously imagining that such a practice could in any wise deprive them of a portion of the Sacrament. Nothing, however, was authoritatively promulgated by the Church concerning this regulation until the year 1414, when the Council of Constance, in opposi- tion to John Huss in Bohemia and his partisans, who erroneously asserted that the use of the cup was absolutely necessary, decreed that, as the Body and Blood of Christ were wholly contained under each species, the custom, introduced for weighty and just reasons, and long observed in the Church, of communicating in one kind, should be received as a law which no one, without the authority of the Church, might reject or alter. 2 In this instance we cannot too loudly applaud the wise economy of the Church, which has more than once opposed error in faith and such was that of the Hussites by an article of discipline 1 The Abbot Rodulf, who lived in the year mo, thus dissuades the use of the cup amongst the laity : Hie et ibi cautela fiat, ne presbyter aegris aut sanis tribuat laicis de Sanguine Christi. Nam fundi posset leviter, simplexque putaret, quod non sub specie sit totus lesus utraqne. 2 Condi. Constantiense, apud LABBEUM, torn, xn, p. 100. LAY COMMUNION. 271 or a ritual observance ; and no doubt, if circum- stances required it, she would not only change this discipline again, but do as Pope Gelasius l did, and insist upon Communion being received by all the faithful not under one, but both kinds, if there were any of her members who, like the Manicheeans, at the time that pontiff occupied the see of S. Peter, abstained from the cup through superstition. 2 XIII. AGREEABLE TO SCRIPTURE. That Communion under one kind, that of bread, is authorised by the words of Christ Himself may be easily demonstrated. In the sixth chapter of S. John, where the mystery of the Holy Eucharist is promised, not only is there made a separate mention of eating ; but precisely the same pro- mises of future life which are announced to those who both eat and drink are also given to such as eat only. ' If any man/ says our Divine Re- deemer, ' eat of this bread, he shall live for ever ; 1 Apud GRATIANUM, De Consec.. Diss. 2. 2 Pope S. Leo the Great, in one of his sermons, after animadvert- ing on the extravagant opinions concerning the creation of some kinds of matter by the evil spirit advocated amongst the Manichseans, testifies that one of the many superstitious practices dictated to those heretics l>y such an error was an abstinence from the Eucharistic cup : Cumque ad tegendam infidelitatem suam nostris audeant interesse conventibus, ita in sacramentorum communione se tem- perant, ut interdum, ne penitus latere non possint, ore indigno Christi Corpus accipiant, Sanguinem autem redemptiouis nostrae haurire omnino declinent. S. LEO MAGNUS, Sermo XLII, De Quadra- gesima iv. 2 72 LAY COMMUNION. and the bread that I will give is My Flesh, for the life of the world. 1 He that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me. 2 He that eateth this bread shall live for ever. 3 S. Paul, in speaking of the Eucharist, repre- sents it under one kind only, for he says : ' Whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and of the Blood of the Lord.' 4 XIV. OBJECTION FROM SCRIPTURE ANSWERED. It is in vain to pretend that Christ ordained Communion under both kinds when He said, ' Drink ye all of this,' 5 for who were the ' all ' actu- ally present when "Christ pronounced these words, and who ' all ' drank of the chalice ? 6 Not an indis- criminate crowd of the faithful ; not the seventy- two disciples with His Blessed Mother, but the Apostles only those chosen few to whom only Jesus, in the same place, and on the same occasion, delivered this mandate : ' Do this for a commem- oration of Me.' He who contends that by these words, 'Drink ye all of this,' Communion under both kinds was enjoined by our Redeemer upon 1 S. John, vi, 52. 2 Ibid., 58. 3 Ibid.. 59. 4 i Corinthians, xi, 27. The Protestant version of this passage is corrupted by putting 'and drink' instead of 'or drink.' Such a translation is warranted neither by the Latin Vulgate, ' vel biberit,' nor by the Greek $ irivi), that is, ' or drink.' 6 S. Matthew, xxvi, 27. 6 S. Mark, xiv, 23. LAY COMMUNION. 273 all, must, by a similar process of argument, like- wise necessarily admit : first, that the sacrament may be given to Turks, and Jews, and Pagans, for they constitute an integral part of ' all ' men ; se- condly, that all persons, not only men, but women even children are, like the Apostles, to become priests, and are commanded to consecrate the bread and wine. By parity of reasoning this would be- come indisputable ; for the same individuals to whom it was said : ' Drink ye all of this,' were also commanded thus : ' Do this for a commemo- ration of me.' It is, however, allowed on every side that the consecration of the sacramental spe- cies was intended by our Saviour to be performed by those only who should succeed to the powers and the functions of the Apostles, because to these, and through them to their ministerial successors, such a commission was exclusively directed. Pre- cisely in the same manner, it must be acknow- ledged that the injunction of drinking of the cup was delivered as a precept, not to the faithful in general, but exclusively to the Apostles and their lawful successors, to be observed by them when- ever they should offer up the sacrifice of the Mass, and thus fulfil the commands of Christ, who said : ' Do this for a commemoration of Me.' The Eucharist is both a sacrifice and a sacra- ment. In the sacrifice it is, by Divine institution, necessary for the sacrificing priest to consecrate and drink of the chalice in order to complete the VOL. i. s 274 LAY COMMUNION. sacrifice the mystic oblation of Christ's Body, and the shedding of His Blood upon the Cross. In the sacrament this is not required of the com- municant. There it is sufficient for him, in order to parti- cipate in its substance and its grace, to receive, in a worthy manner, the Body and Blood of Christ hidden under the appearance of only one outward sign. This sign exists in the appearance of bread. But as Christ is now immortal and impassible, His Blood cannot be separated from His Body, nor His Body from His Blood ; he, therefore, who receives His Body, must necessarily receive His Blood, and vice versa. It should not be forgotten, moreover, that at the Last Supper Christ took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and distributed to each Apostle a distinct and separate portion ; He did not present them with one whole sacramental bread to be divided amongst them all. Not so with the cup ; He blessed and gave but one and the same chalice for them all to drink from. His command that all should drink of it was naturally suggested by this very circumstance ; He said to them, there- fore : ' Drink ye all of this,' that He might ad- monish those who were the first to partake of the consecrated cup that there were others to parti- cipate of it also ; and hence it was to be shared amongst them all in such a manner that each one might be able to receive a portion. For as He then imparted the power, nay, issued His commands to LAY COMMUNION. 275 them all, to ' do for a commemoration of Him ' what He had just done converted bread and wine into His real Body and His real Blood, and mysti- cally immolated in sacrifice that very Body which was given for us, 1 and that very Blood which was shed for us ; 2 He wished them to receive under both kinds, then, that afterwards, when reiterating that same sacrifice in the Mass, they might com- prehend the import of those words : ' Do this for a commemoration of Me/ Hence it must be acknowledged, to borrow the words of the Council of Trent, 3 that ' the whole and entire Christ, and the true sacrament, are taken under either kind ; and therefore, as to the fruit, that they who thus receive are deprived of no necessary grace.' XV. UNLEAVENED BREAD USED AT THE LAST SUPPER. Whether the bread employed at the sacrifice of the Mass be leavened or unleavened is a circum- stance of pure discipline which does not touch the essence of the Eucharist. That our Divine Redeemer, however, used unleavened bread at its institution is a fact concerning which no doubt can be for a moment entertained ; for the Evange- lists particularly notice that Christ instituted the Blessed Sacrament on the first day of the Azymes, 1 S. Luke, xxii, 19. 2 Ibid., 20. 3 Sessio xxi, De Communione sub utraque specie, cup. in. 276 LAY COMMUNION. or of the unleavened bread, 1 and after He had, with His Apostles, partaken of the Paschal lamb, at which sacrifice it was unlawful to make use of any other than unleavened bread. XVI. UNLEAVENED BREAD USED BY THE LATIN CHURCH, BY THE MARONITES, AND ARMENIANS. Throughout the Latin Church unleavened bread is used at Mass, as more in conformity with the example furnished by our Kedeemer. It is made thin and circular, and bears upon it either the ,/"v figure of Christ, or the Holy Name, IHS. The Maronites and Armenians also always observe the same practice ; the Ethiopian Christians consider it proper to employ unleavened bread at their Mass on Maunday Thursday. The Greek and other Oriental Churches, orthodox and schismatical, use unleavened bread, which, however, is not common household bread, but made with much more scrupulous attention, and stamped with a multi- tude of crosses and an inscription. XVII. THE SACRAMENT HINTED AT IN THE APOCALYPSE. The Sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist under the appearance of bread is beautifully alluded to by S. John in the second chapter and seventeenth 1 S. Matthew, xxvi, 17 ; S. Mark, xiv, 12 ; S. Luke, xxn, 7. LAY COMMUNION. 277 verse of his Apocalypse, where it is said : ' To him that overcometh I will give the hidden manna, and will give him a white counter, 1 and in the counter a new name written, which no man knoweth but he that receiveth it.' It is necessary to premise that amongst the ancient Greeks it was a custom to vote, on public occasions, with white and black pebbles 2 gathered on the sea-shore or the banks of a river. In pro- cess of time these little stones were exchanged for small circular pieces of wood or ivory, fashioned like our modern counters. At the election of the magistracy, each citizen inscribed the name of his favourite candidate upon the pebble or the counter supplied for such a purpose, and thus gave his suffrage in his support. While the application of such a usage to the Eucharist is so happy, it cannot be satisfactorily explained? excepting by a belief in the real presence, and a 1 The Protestant version renders the Greek if/rjos by the term ' stone,' the Catholic by the word ' counter.' The latter translation is to be preferred, as more conformable to the manners of the period in which S. John wrote, and consequently better calculated to express his meaning. As little pebble stones were originally used in Greece to announce a public sentence, afterwards it happened that whatever might be casually substituted in their place, although of wood or ivory, as well as the vote or sentence itself, was indis- criminately denominated by the term ^0os, a pebble. Hence this word is employed in the Acts of the Apostles (xxvi, 10) to signify a judicial sentence, and is translated in the Protestant version by the word ' voice,' and not ' stone.' 2 Mos erat antiquus, niveis atrisque lapillis his damnare reos, illis absolvere culpa. OVIDII Met., lib. xv, 42. 278 LAY COMMUNION. reference to the Catholic form of celebrating that tremendous mystery. According to the doctrine of the Church, it is here the victor over sin is given to feed upon the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, the real manna, hidden, it is true, but for that very reason truly present under the appearances of bread and wine. The sacramental host resembles, in colour and in form, the white counter of the ancients ; and bears upon it the impress of the sacred name which no man rightly estimates or can accurately know except the true believer. If in the sacra- ment there were nothing but a common piece of bread not transubstantiated into the Body of our Lord but quite unchanged, dead, inanimate bread, not that living bread which came from Heaven how could the Christian's manna, the Flesh and Blood of Jesus, be hidden under it? How could a new name be written on such bread when it still continued to remain what it was before ; or what name would it be ? The Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist can alone give sense and meaning to this passage, which, at the same time that it derives its true interpretation from such a tenet, reciprocally ren- ders an important suffrage in favour of this mysterious article of faith. LAY COMMUNION. 279 XVIII. CIRCULAR FORM OF THE HOST VERY ANCIENT. The custom of forming the Eucharistic host flat and circular may be traced back to the remotest periods of Christian antiquity. The holy pontiff S. Zephyrinus, who flourished in the third century, denominates the sacramental bread a crown or oblation of a spherical figure : ' Corona sive oblata sphaericae figurae/ l Honorius of Autun in France, 2 about the year 1130, and Duranti, 3 towards 1286, both assign to this orbicular form of the host a mystic signifi- cation. The Greeks prepare their hosts occasionally square as well as circular, 4 for which the follow- ing mystic reason is furnished. The circle is allusive to the divinity which the bread and wine receive when they are transubstantiated ; the square expresses that, by the sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross, salvation is imparted to the four quarters of the earth, to east and west, and north and south. Whether the host be round or square, the allusion to it in the book of Apo- calypse, under the designation of a counter, is equally appropriate. 1 BENEDICTVS XIV., De Sacrificio Missae lib. i, cap. vr, 4. 2 Gemma Animae, cap. xu, num. 8. 3 Rationale, lib. iv, cap. 30, num. 8. 4 GABRIEL PHILADELPHIENSIS, Apologia pro Ecclesia Orieiitali. The Corban or Eucharistic Bread used by the Copts. Form of the Eucharistic Bread in the Latin Church. Forms of the Eucharistic Bread in the Greek Church. CHAPTER III. OX THE TERM MASS. THE unbloody sacrifice of the new law, predicted with so much emphasis by Malachias when the Prophet says : ' From the rising of the sun even to the going down, My name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My name a clean oblation,' l has been designated by a variety of expressions at the several periods of the Christian era. It has, however, been for more than fifteen hundred years denominated almost exclusively by the word Mass 2 throughout the Latin Church ; and for the same period has gone under the appropriate term of Liturgy amongst the Greeks. I. MEANING OF THE WORD MASS. The Latin word Missa is derived from Missio, which signifies a dismissal or permission to depart 1 Malachias, I, II. 2 In the first edition of the Book of Common Prayer the Com- munion service is entitled 'The supper of the Lorde, and the holy Communion, commonly called the Masse.' 282 ON THE TERM MASS. as soon as the sacrifice is completed. Such abbreviations are not unusual with profane l as well as ecclesiastical writers. II. ORIGIN OF IT. The origin of denominating the holy Euchar- istic sacrifice by the term Mass or dismissal arose from a ceremony which in the earliest ages of the Church was observed on two several occasions, and still continues to be practised once, during its celebration. Immediately after the reading of the Gospel, and the delivery of the sermon by the Bishop, the Deacon turned about to the assembly, and in an elevated tone of voice admonished the differ- ent persons who composed it that the initiated only might remain, and consequently the unbap- tized and unbeliever were required to depart. The formula common to the Greek as well as to the Latin Church, employed on this occasion, was to the following effect : ' The Catechumens 1 The classic reader will have noticed examples of this in the writings of Cicero, Vergil, Ovid, and Suetonius. In the works of the Fathers may be discovered similar expressions. Tertullian and S. Cyprian use 'remissa' for 'remissio.' The first observes : Diximus de remissa peccatorum. TERTULLIANI lib. iv adversus Marcionem, cap. xvm. The Bishop of Carthage says : Dominus baptizatur a servo ; et, remissam peccatorum daturus, ipse non dedignatur lavacro regenerationis corpus abluere. S. CYPRIAN: de bono Patientiae, vi. In both these passages ' remissa ' is used instead of 'remissio,' like 'Missu' for 'Missio.' ON THE TERM MASS. 283 are dismissed ; the faithful shall remain.' l Hence it was that the portion of the Liturgy or common service which preceded the Creed and Offertory was denominated ' the Mass of the Catechumens,' 2 since those who were distinguished by such an appellation were dismissed from the church, 3 and not permitted to assist at the sacrifice which was then beginning. 4 As soon as the Eucharistic sacrifice was termi- nated, the Deacon proclaimed to the congregated faithful that they might withdraw. This he announced by a form of speech which to the present day remains in use : Ite Missa est ' Go, 1 This we gather from S. Isidore, who wrote in the year 595 : ' Missa,' says that writer, 'tempore sacrificii, est quando catechumeni foras niittuntur, clamante levita : Si quis catechumenus remansit, exeat foras, et inde missa, quia Sacramentis altaris interesse lion possunt qui nondum regenerati noscuntur.' Etymologiarum lib. vi, cap. xix, 4. 2 The Catechumens were such as had abandoned the synagogue, or passed over from Gentilism to become Christians ; and, as their name implies, were under a course of catechetical instructions previously to their being admitted to the sacrament of Baptism. 3 They were dismissed with the following formulas by the Deacon in the Latin Church : Catechumeni recedant : si quis Catechu- menus est, recedat ; omnes Catechumeni r^cedant foras. The style of the Greek Church was similar. The Deacon first of all intimated to all heathens and heretics to withdraw : Mi; ra TWV 6.Kpo^vuv fj.-rj m TWV airi (Constitutiones Apost., lib. vm, cap. 5). Then were recited the prayers over the Catechumens and public penitents. Afterwards the Deacon proclaimed to all who were not communicants to retire : ol O.KOIVUVTITOI. irtpiirarriffaTe. Constitutiones Apost., lib. vm, cap. 12. 4 Here commenced the more solemn part of the service, in which were included the prayers of the faithful, Ev\al TTICTUV, as they are called by the Council of Laodicea (Can. xix). 284 ON THE TERM MASS. leave is given to depart.' * Hence arose, in the earliest ages amongst our venerable predecessors in the faith, a custom of denominating the second part of the sacred Liturgy ' the Mass of the Faithful.' From this we gather that the whole of the Liturgy or public service was by the ancients comprehended under two general divi- sions, to each of which they assigned a distinc- tive appellation. The first was termed the Mass of the Catechumens, ' Missa Catechumenorum ; ' the second the Mass of the Faithful, ' Missa Fidelium.' In order to express these two portions of the Liturgy in the language of the present time, we should denominate the one, Ante- communion service, the latter, the Communion service. When the discipline of the secret fell into disuse, and public penance was abolished, an exclusion from the sacred mysteries, and consequently the distinction between the Mass of the Catechumens and the Mass of the Faithful, ceased to be observed ; and the entire form of prayer, from the beginning to the end, em- ployed in offering up the Eucharistic sacrifice, was denominated by the one term, Mass, as at present. That the whole of the Liturgy should have re- ceived its name from an incidental ceremony will 1 The ' Ite Missa est ' of the Latin Church corresponds with the roMeffOe and irpo^XGere in th'e Greek Liturgy. ON THE TERM MASS. 285 cease to awaken our surprise when we remember that reasons almost similar have determined those appellations which usage has affixed to certain other functions of the Church. The service chanted at the solemn obsequies for the repose of a departed soul is called a Dirge, from the antiphon of the first nocturn at Matins, which begins with the word ' Dirige.' The Thursday in Holy Week, which is more generally known by the appellation of Maunday Thursday, received its name from a corresponding circumstance, as the ceremony of the washing of feet commences with the chant of the anthem : ' Mandatum,' etc. III. THE ANTIQUITY OF ITS USE. Of the antiquity of the word Mass it may be observed, in respect to England, that the employ- ment of this appellation is coeval with the re- introduction and establishment of the Christian faith in Britain during the sixth century, through the zeal of the Roman pontiff S. Gregory the Great, and the labours and the preaching of the monk S. Augustine and his Roman brethren. This is attested by almost every document belong- ing to the earliest periods of our ecclesiastical or civil history, as well as by the canons extant of those national and provincial Councils which have been celebrated amongst us. In reference to Rome, to whom we are indebted for our earliest 2 36 ON THE TERM MASS. knowledge of the faith of Christ ; in reference to Italy, and to the Western Church in general, we have authorities that certify the employment of the word Mass to designate the public Liturgy as far back as the second age. Pius, the first of that name who filled the chair of S. Peter, addressed a letter, about the year 166, to the Bishop of Vienne, in Gaul. The Roman pontiff commences his epistle by observing to the Gallican prelate : ' As you well remember, our sister Euprepia conveyed over to the poor her house in which we are now residing, and where we celebrate Mass.' 1 In the year 254 Pope Cornelius also addressed a letter to Lupicinus, another bishop of the same city, and informs him such was the fury of the persecution then kindled against the Christians at Rome, that they durst not venture to offer up Mass, even in the catacombs which were anywise noted. 2 In the acts of S. Stephen it is mentioned that this holy Pope and martyr went about celebrating Mass in the catacombs of Rome. 3 1 Soror nostra Euprepia, sicut bene recordaris, titulum domus 8uae pauperibus assignavit ubi nunc cum pauperibus nostris com- morantes, Missas agimus. Pn I. Epist. ad lustum Episc. Viennen. Apud LABBEUM, Condi. Gen., torn, i, col. 677. 2 The pontiff thus begins his letter : Scias, frater carissime, aream dominicam vento persecutionis acerrime commoveri . . . unde publice neque in cryptis notioribus Missas agere Christianis licet. CORNELII Epist. ad Lupicinium. Apud LABBEOM, Condi. Gen., col. 829. 3 During the persecution lighted up by Valerian in the year 257, S. Stephen was beheaded in the catacombs by a band of soldiers sent ON THE TERM MASS. 287 Writing in the year 385 to his sister Marcel - lina, and detailing some disturbances which took place at Milan on Palm Sunday, when an attempt was made to seize upon a church, S. Ambrose says : * The next day, which was Sunday, whilst I was expounding the Creed, information was brought me that officers had been deputed to seize the Portian Church ; nevertheless, I continued to perform my duty, and began Mass.' 1 In the year 390 was celebrated the second Council of Carthage, which had been assembled by Genethlius, and was composed of all the prelates of the Church through Africa. In the third amongst those thirteen canons enacted by that synod we find it was prohibited for ecclesiastics who were simply priests to receive again to the communion of the Church and to reconcile any- one at public Mass? to apprehend him. This pontiff was discovered in the act of offering up the Eucharistic sacrifice, which was scarcely concluded when he was thrust into his pontifical chair, and his head severed from his body. This chair is still preserved at Pisa. 1 Ego niansi in munere, Missam facere coepi. S. AMBROSII Epist. xx, MarceUinae sorori. * Reconciliare quemquam publica Missa, presbytero non licere, hoc omnibus placet LABBEI Concil. Gen., torn, in, col. 693. CHAPTER IV. ON THE USE OF LATIN AT MASS. THOUGH the Church has never pretended that it was necessary to write and celebrate the Liturgy in a language not understood by the people, she has never considered it as imperatively requisite that her service should be performed in the vulgar tongue, and that the language which she speaks in her public service should follow the changes and variations incidental to the vernacular idioms of those several nations which compose her household. This Babel-like com- mixture, variety, and dissonance would have been productive of much confusion and serious incon- venience. I. AN UNKNOWN TONGUE USED IN THE JEWISH TEMPLE. In this respect the spouse of Christ has imi- tated the example furnished to her by the ancient synagogue. From the commencement of the Jewish dispensation, up to the conquest of Jeru- salem by Nabuchodonosor, 1 genuine Hebrew, the language in which the Pentateuch and most of 1 4 Kings, xxv. USE OF LATIN AT MASS. 289 the old Scriptures are written, was the only tongue familiar to the Israelites. The sacred volume was recited and the service of the Temple was performed in the language common to the nation. But during their seventy years' captivity the Jews forgot their ancient Hebrew, and adopted the Syriac, or Chaldaic, as their ordinary language. On their return, however, to Jerusalem, no change was made in the language of the sanctuary. The Law and the Prophets were still read in pure Hebrew to the people assembled in the synagogues, and the public service of the Temple was celebrated before them in the same language, although they did not understand it. A practice so religiously observed after the Babylonish captivity is continued with the same scrupulous exactitude to the present day amongst the Jews, who have their ritual performed and recite their prayers in ancient Hebrew, in what- ever country they happen to reside. II. NOT BLAMED BY CHRIST, WHO PRAYED IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. Had there been any blame attached to the custom of praying in a strange or unknown tongue, Christ w r ould undoubtedly have enume- rated this amongst the other accusations which He so unhesitatingly advanced against the Scribes and Pharisees. Not only, however, did VOL. I. T 2 9 o USE OF LATIX AT MASS. He tacitly approve of such a practice, as He did not pass a stricture on it, but He exhibited His public approbation of its use by frequenting the Temple on occasions when it was observed ; and more than this, the very moment He was offering up Himself a bloody sacrifice upon the Cross, He prayed, and prayed aloud, in the hearing of the multitude around Him, in a language which they did not understand : ' Eli, Eli, lama sabac- thani,' Pie ejaculated, as He yielded up the spirit ; and the people, mistaking the pure Hebrew word Eli for the name of one of the prophets, said : ' This man calleth Elias.' l III. REASONS WHY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH USES LATIN AT MASS, ETC. The Catholic Church has been induced by several persuasive reasons to celebrate the holy sacrifice of the Mass in the Latin language throughout almost all the nations of Europe. ist. Latin was the ancient language employed by S. Peter when he first said Mass at Rome ; and such was the language in which that Prince of the Apostles drew up the Liturgy which, along with the knowledge of the Gospel, he, or his successors the Popes, imparted to the different people of Italy, of France and Belgium, 1 S. Matthew, xxvn, 46, 47. Eli, in Hebrew vN, is a compound of ?N, God, and the suffix of the first person *, of me. USE OF LATIN AT MASS. 291 of Spain, of Portugal, of England, Ireland, and Scotland, of Germany, of Hungary, and of Poland. 1 2nd. From the time of the Apostles Latin has been invariably employed at the altar through the western parts of Christendom, though their in- habitants very frequently did not understand that language. Hence the Catholic Church, through an aversion to innovations, carefully continues to celebrate her Liturgy in that same tongue which apostolic men and saints have used for a similar purpose during more than eighteen centuries. 2 3rd. A uniformity in public worship is thus 1 LE BRUN, Explication des Prieres et des Ceremonies de la Messe, tome in, pp. 137, 138. 2 The inhabitants of the British isles and of all the northern parts of Europe knew nothing of the Latin language when they were converted to the Christian faith. This, however, did not prevent their religious instructors from always celebrating the Mass and administering the sacraments in Latin, though the people could not understand it. In reference to this subject Dr. Lingard makes the following remarks in his valuable work, The History and Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, vol. I, p. 308 : 'Both the sacrificial service and the canonical hours were performed in the Latin language. For the instruction of the people, the Epistle and Gospel were read and the sermon was delivered in their native tongue, but God was publicly addressed by the ministers of religion in the language of Rome. ... It was the language to which the missionaries, Italians, Gauls, and Scots, had been always accustomed in their own countries ; they would have deemed it a degradation of the sacrifice and of the Liturgy to subject them to the variations and caprice of a barbarous idiom ; and their disciples, who never felt the thirst of innovation, were content to tread in the footsteps of their apostles.' The practice of the Catholics of England at the present day perfectly coincides with that followed, a thousand years ago, by their Anglo-Saxon ancestors. 292 USE OF LATIN AT MASS. more securely preserved, since a Christian, in whatever country he may chance to be, will encounter no inconvenience with regard to his attendance at church; for he still beholds the service performed in every place according to the self-same rite, and in precisely the same language, to which he has been accustomed at home from his early childhood. Supposing it were the practice of the Church to celebrate her Liturgy in each of the several languages common to those respective nations that dwell within her widely extended pale, instead of possessing, as at present, the advan- tages of understanding the offices of religion when a thousand miles from home, the English- man, for example, would find himself a stranger at their celebration in more than one spot within the narrow circuit of the British Islands ; and would perceive it to be as difficult to comprehend the service when performed in Irish in Ireland, in Welsh in Wales, in the Manx language in the Isle of Man, in the Gaelic or in the Lowland tongue in Scotland, as if recited in Persian, or in any of the Oriental dialects. Although the same order and distribution in the prayers of the Liturgy, and the same cere- monies in celebrating it, might indeed supply an index to guide the foreigner in accompanying the priest who was saying Mass in the idiom USE OF LATIN AT MASS. 293 of the country, still, however, this advantage would be comparatively little. It would be more than neutralised by the distractions to which this foreigner's devotion would be almost necessarily exposed. For not only his attention must be interrupted, but his religious gravity might stand in danger of being discomposed by the novel, and, to a stranger, sometimes ludicrous sounds of those uncouth dialects which are pecu- liar to certain portions not only of Great Britain, but of every other empire. The same difficulty does not apply to the use of Latin. A Catholic of the Western Church, whether he be a Mos- quito Indian or a Chinese, an Italian or an Icelander, never hears any other language but Latin spoken in the sanctuary. He grows up accustomed to it. To him it has nothing strange or curious ; on the contrary, his ear becomes familiarised with it, and he listens to its accents with religious veneration. 4th. To avoid those changes to which all living languages, as we find by experience in our own, are perpetually exposed, 1 the Church 1 This remark has been corroborated by a passage in a sermon, preached in S. Luke's Church, Liverpool, on Sunday, June 5th, 1831, by the Rev. James Aspinall, A.M., in which that gentleman, speaking on the services of the Church of England, observes : ' The omission of some obsolete words and phrases, of which time has changed the meaning, or to whicli it has given a stronger mean- ing than they bore when adopted, is a point in which criticism demands improvement ' (p. 5). 294 USE OF LATIN AT MASS. has prudently determined to retain the Latin as the language of the altar; for she perceives the danger and inconvenience of altering the ex- pressions of her Liturgy at every change and variation in language. IV. THE PEOPLE NOT NECESSARILY OBLIGED TO UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE OF THE MASS. The same reasons which prevented the Jewish priesthood from allowing any alteration in the language of their service have at all times per- suaded the whole Catholic Church, whether dis- tinguished under the appellations of Latin, Greek, or Armenian, not to permit the slightest change or variation in the idioms in which her respective Liturgies were originally composed. During the Mosaic Law the public service of the Temple was sacrifice. In the Gospel dispensation the Mass, or public service of the Church, is also sacrifice. But in the performance of this sacred function no office is assigned to the people. The sacrifice is offered up by the priest in their name and on their behalf. The whole action is between God and the priest. So far is it from being necessary that the people should understand the language of the sacrifice, that they are not allowed even to hear the most important and solemn part of it ; and in the Eastern Churches they are not permitted so much as to see either priest or USE OF LATIN AT MASS. 295 altar. 1 They attend indeed, and pray, as the crowd did while Zachary was within the Temple, but they do not act ; they do not say the prayers of the priest ; they have nothing to do with the actual performance of the holy sacrifice. V. LATIN AT MASS NOWISE PREJUDICIAL TO THE PEOPLE. It cannot be prejudicial to the poor Catholic who is ignorant of Latin that the Mass is cele- brated in that tongue. Because, in the first place, the Pastors of the Church are very careful to comply with the injunctions of the Council of Trent, 2 and to instruct their flocks in the nature of that great sacrifice, and to explain to them in what manner they should accompany the officiat- ing priest with prayers and devotions best adapted to every portion of the Mass. In the second place, the faithful in the old Law could derive much edification, and exhibited a great deal of real piety, when assisting at the service of the Temple, though they could neither understand the words, nor oftentimes so much as observe the actions of the officiating minister. No one but the high-priest, and he but once a year, might 1 The Greek and Oriental Liturgies direct the sanctuary to be separated from the body of the church by a partition wall in which there are three doors. As soon as the more solemn portion of the Mass, the Canon, commences, veils are drawn over these doors, so that the priest and his assistants remain unseen. 2 Concilium Tridwtinum, Sessio xxn, De sacrificio Missae, cap. vm. 296 USE OF LATIN AT MASS. enter into the sanctuary, which was within the veil before the Propitiatory ; and it was par- ticularly enjoined that no man should be in the Tabernacle at the time, as may be learned from the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus. In the first chapter of S. Luke we read that ' all the multi- tude of the people was praying without, at the hour of incense, while, according to the custom of the priestly office, it was Zachary's lot to offer incense, going into the Temple.' In a similar way a devout Christian may assist, with much profit and fervent devotion, at the celebration of the great Eucharistic sacrifice of the new Law the Mass though he may not understand the language of the prayers which the priest is re- citing. Imagine, reader, you, or any other faithful believer in Jesus, had been present on Mount Calvary at the time our Divine Redeemer was immolating Himself upon the Cross, a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world ; supposing that you had the same lively faith in Christ which animates you now, would not the view of all that painful scene have been sufficient to awaken in your soul the most lively sensations of the love of God, and have made you utter thanksgivings for such tenderness of mercy, at the same time that you avowed a detestation of your former sinful- ness, though indeed you were not able to catch one word from the lips of Christ, your High Priest, or if you did hear His prayer on the Cross, USE OF LATIN AT MASS. 297 like the surrounding Jews, could not understand its language ? l Just so in the Mass, which is the self-same sacrifice as that which Christ presented to His Father on the Cross, because both the Priest and the Victim are the same. It is abun- dantly sufficient to kindle the devotion of the people that they be well instructed in what is going forward, and that they excite in their souls appropriate acts of adoration, thanksgiving, and repentance, though they may not understand the prayers which the priest is uttering. VI. GREEKS, SYRIANS, COPTS, AND ARMENIANS USE AN UNKNOWN TONGUE AT MASS. From the days of the Apostles the Liturgy of the Mass has been celebrated in Greek and in Latin, in Syriac and in Coptic. Since the fourth centuiy it has also been solemnised in Ethiopic and Armenian. The language of those liturgies was never changed, although the people for whom they were originally drawn up, and amongst whom they still continue to be celebrated, have entirely transformed their ancient language, and are per- fectly incapable of understanding it at the present time in its original form. Hence it follows, as a consequence, that the Latin Church acts only in the spirit of all the 1 S. Matthew, xxvn, 46, 47, 49. 298 USE OF LATIN AT MASS. ancient Churches from the days of the Apostles, since, like them, she refuses to exchange her ancient for a modern language. VII. OBJECTION ANSWERED. Against the practice of saying Mass in Latin the fourteenth chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians, in which S. Paul condemns the use of some unknown tongues in the assemblies of the Church, is not unfrequently quoted. But on this subject it may be observed, in the first place, S. Paul does not utter one single word, from the commencement to the conclusion of this letter, concerning the Liturgy of the Church. In the second place, the purport of the Apostle in this portion of his writings is only to repre- hend the abuse of the gift of tongues, a fault committed by some amongst the Corinthians, who out of idle ostentation affected to deliver exhortations, and to pour forth extemporary prayers, at their assemblies, in a language en- tirely unknown, which, for want of an interpreter, could furnish no edification to the rest of the faithful. Such, however, is far from being the practice of the Catholic Church, where all ex- hortations, sermons, and similar instructions are delivered to the people in a language which they understand ; where no unknown, extemporary, or modern prayers are recited, but an ancient public Liturgy is performed, which, by daily use, has USE OF LATIN AT MASS. 299 not only become familiar, but is well known, at least as to the substance, to all the faithful ; where in fine there is no want of interpreters, since the people have the Church service trans- lated for them in her ordinary prayer-books, and the pastors are commanded to explain to them the mysteries and doctrines comprehended in the Mass. 1 In the third place, S. Paul, far from reprehending the use of an unknown tongue, when employed with devotion and humility, ap- proved of it in the clearest manner nay, abso- lutely requires that no one should prohibit such a custom for the Apostle in the thirty-ninth verse of that same chapter commands : ' Forbid not to speak with tongues.' VIII. STRICTURE ON THE PROTESTANT VERSION OF THE WORDS OF S. PAUL. Before dismissing this subject, it may be proper to remark the disingenuous conduct resorted to by the authors of the authorised English version of the Scriptures, in their translation of the four- teenth chapter of S. Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians. It should be sedulously kept in view that a reference is made in this chapter to certain languages unknown to the people, which S. Paul condemns some amongst the Corinthians 1 Concilium Tridentinum, Sessio xxn, De sacrificio Missae, cap. vm. 300 USE OF LATIN AT MASS. for employing at their public assemblies ; and to other languages equally unknown, but the use of which is entirely approved of by the Apostle. The Protestant translators have superadded to the original Greek text the word ' unknown ' in verses 2, 4, 13, 14, 19, and 27; but in verses 18 and 39, where the use of a language, though it be unknown to the people, is approved of, notwithstanding precisely the same phrase occurs in the Greek original, they have not inserted the word ' unknown,' as in the other verses. It would appear from history that the English Protestant Church is not entirely hostile to the celebration of her Liturgy, when convenience or caprice may suggest it, in a language unknown to the people, for Dr. Heylyn informs us that, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the Irish Parlia- ment passed ' an Act for the uniformity of Common Prayer, etc., with a permission for saying the same in Latin, in such church or place where the minister had not the knowledge of the English tongue. But for translating it into Irish there was no care taken. . . . The people by that statute are required, under several penalties, to frequent their churches and to be present at the reading of the English liturgy, which they understand no more than they do the Mass ; by which means ... we have furnished the Papists with an excellent argument against ourselves, for having the Divine USE OF LATIN AT MASS. 301 service celebrated in such a language as the people do not understand.' l 'The universities of Oxford and Cambridge, together with the colleges of Eton and Win- chester, obtained permission from the head of their Church to celebrate the Divine service in the Latin language.' 2 In the Sun newspaper appeared the following paragraph : ' The clergy, as usual on the open- ing of a Session, assembled yesterday morning in convocation at the Chapter-house in S. Paul's Churchyard, whence they went in procession to the Cathedral. The Archbishop of Canterbury took his seat in the dean's stall, the Bishop of London on his throne, and the Bishops of Salis- bury and Bangor in the prebendal stalls to the right of His Grace. The latter then, as the junior bishop, read the Latin Litany. A Latin sermon was delivered by Dr. Burton, of Christ Church, Oxford ; at its conclusion, " Gloria in Excelsis " was chaunted by the choir, after which the Arch- bishop dismissed the congregation with the usual blessing, also in Latin, and the procession re- turned to the Chapter-house.' 3 1 P. HEYLYN, Hist, of the Reformation. London, 1661, p. 128. 2 WILKINS, Concilia, torn, iv, p. 217. 3 Sun, Oct. 28, 1830. CHAPTER V. ON THE INVOCATION OF SAINTS AND ANGELS. THE Catholic Church teaches that 'the Saints, reigning with Christ, offer up their prayers to God for men ; that it is good and profitable sup- pliantly to invoke them, and to have recourse to their prayers and assistance, in order to obtain favours from God, through His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is our only Redeemer and Saviour ! ' * From announcing in her own language this tenet of the Church of Christ concerning the invo- cation of the angels and saints, we will now pro- ceed to enumerate some few of the many passages from Scripture which so forcibly confirm this doctrine, and at the same time endeavour to arrange these proofs in such a way as to estab- lish the necessity of its belief, w r hile we overthrow 1 Mundat sancta Synodus omnibus episcopis, et caeteris docendi inunus, curamque sustinentibus, ut, . . . fideles diligenter instruant, docentes eos, Sanctos, una cum Christo regnantes, orationes suas pro hominibus Deo offerre ; bonum, atque utile esse, suppliciter eos invocare ; et ob beneficia impetranda a Deo per Filium Eius lesum Christum, Dominum nostrum, qui solus noster Redemptor et Salvator est, ad eorum orationes, opem, auxiliumque confugere. Concilium Tridentinum, Sessio xxv, De invocatione, veneratione, et reliquiis Sanctorum. 302 INVOCATION OF SAINTS AND ANGELS. 303 those objections raised against the Divine truth of this dogma in the same order which its impugners follow in assailing it. I. IMMEASURABLE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE WOR- SHIP GIVEN TO GOD AND THE REVERENCE SHOWN TO THE SAINTS. It has been unwarrantably assumed by Protes- tants that the Catholic, by invoking, must neces- sarily worship the saints and angels as divinities, and therefore, as often as he entrusts his prayers to any one amongst them, transfers to the creature that divine and superior homage which belongs to God alone. But this is false ; and as the pre- mises, so the consequences deduced from them are equally erroneous. The Catholic believes that the most flagitious of all crimes would be to ex- hibit the slightest particle of that respect and adoration pertaining to the Divine Being towards any creature, however pre-eminent for sanctity amongst his fellow-men, or highly exalted in heaven amid the hierarchy of angels or the choir of blessed saints. The Catholic, however, can easily point out a difference between Divine worship and the honour he manifests towards the saints. There is a supreme and sovereign homage, which belongs exclusively to God, by reason of His deity and infinite perfections. The exhibition of this sovereign homage constitutes Divine worship, which may not at any time, or for any reason, 3 o 4 ON THE INVOCATION" be yielded to any other being whatsoever. Such supreme religious homage has in the language of the Schools been denominated Latria. 1 There is an infinitely inferior honour which may be law- fully rendered to many of God's creatures. By an express and separate injunction of the Deca- logue we are directly commanded to honour our father and our mother, and, indirectly, to show all becoming honour and deference to our supe- riors, both spiritual and civil. We honour all those whose rank and dignity challenge, or whose virtues and whose talents induce us to yield them our spontaneous tribute ; and yet in all these instances we neither transfer the honour which belongs to God to a creature, nor defraud Him of any portion of that reverence and worship which belong to Him by Divine right. There is something intermediate between Divine perfection and human excellence ; for instance, grace and the glory of the saints. These are supernatural and most transcendent gifts ; and the Church, to ex- press her gratitude towards God for such unmerited benefits, pays an honour and a reverence infinitely inferior to Divine worship, but more elevated than human respect, to all those departed servants of Heaven, who have been distinguished by such favours and hallowed with such extraordinary 1 From the Greek \arpeia, the worship due to God only from \arpevu, to serve, to worship. OF SAINTS AND ANGELS. 305 sanctity. In other words, instead of honouring the creature, she honours those rays of grace and holiness which emanate from the throne of the Creator, and are reflected in those mirrors of virtue and righteousness His saints. Such a reverence is called 'Dulia.' 1 II. A RELIGIOUS RESPECT MAY BE RENDERED TO SAINTS AND ANGELS. That we may manifest our inferior, though religious veneration towards the angels and the saints is demonstrated by the most unequivocal authorities in Scripture, and warranted by the example of the most faithful and the holiest servants of Heaven. ist. It was God Himself who first directed man to reverence the angels, as He thus addressed the Israelites through Moses : ' Behold, I will send My angel, who shall go before thee, and keep thee in thy journey, and bring thee into the place that I have prepared. Take notice of him, and hear his voice, and do not think him one to be con- temned ; for he will not forgive when thou hast sinned, and My name is in him.' 2 2nd. We behold the patriarchs and the saints of old bowing down before the angels and rendering , service, an inferior kind of respect or homage. 2 Exodus xxm, 20, 21. VOL. I. U 306 ON THE INVOCATION them the most profound respect. Abraham, on receiving the three angels into his tent, fell prostrate at their feet. 1 Lot, on seeing the two angels that came to Sodom, rose up and went to meet them, and worshipped prostrate on the ground. 2 Josue displayed an equal reverence towards the angel-spirit whom he beheld, when ' as he was in the field of the city of Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, and saw a man standing over against him, holding a drawn sword, and he went to him, and said : Art thou one of ours, or of our adversaries ? And he answered : No, but I am prince of the host of the Lord, and now I am come. Josue fell on his face to the ground, and worshipping, said : What saith my Lord to his servant? Loose, said he, thy shoes from off thy feet : for the place whereon thou standest is holy.' 3 Protestants, to escape the pressure of these passages, observe that it was God Himself, under the form of an angel, that appeared to these ancient saints on these several occasions. This is quite a gratuitous assumption, not warranted by any part of Scripture, and directly contradicted by its internal evidence. God had never taught those venerable men to anticipate a visit from Him in this manner, and the angels did not announce it ; on the contrary, God suggested to them quite an opposite belief; for first of all He 1 Genesis, xvin, 2. 2 Genesis, xix, i. 3 Josue, v, 13-16. OF SAINTS AND ANGELS. 307 promises the Israelites that He will send His angel to precede them, 1 then immediately de- clares that He Himself will also go before them, 2 thus tracing out a marked distinction between His angels and Himself. The homage, therefore, that they exhibited to the angels, must have been intended for the angels as created beings and messengers of God, and not immediately for God Himself. Again, the angel who spoke to Josue does not claim any attribute of the Godhead, but on the contrary, by declaring himself to be the prince of the host of the Lord, signifies that he is not the Lord Himself, but the servant, the mere minister of Heaven. Moreover, in the Hebrew text of the quotations from the books of Genesis and Josue, whenever the Deity is intended to be spoken of, the uncommunicable term Jehovah in English, Lord is employed, as the appro- priate name of God, and expressing a title of the Divinity. When, however, the angels, and consequently creatures, are mentioned, then the appellation with which Abraham, Lot, and Josue severally salute these messengers from Heaven is Adonai, likewise translated Lord a term applied to men, and employed here to indicate that dignity and delegated power with which creatures are invested. The servant, who was sent by Abraham to bring 1 Exodus, xxm, 20. 2 Exodus, xxxm, 14, etc. 3 o8 ON THE INVOCATION home a wife for his son Isaac, thus prayed as he halted with his camels in the evening : ' O Lord (Jehovah) the God of my master or Lord (Adonai) Abraham,' etc. The same servant when he found Rebecca, is described as having bowed himself down and adored the Lord, saying : ' Blessed be the Lord (Jehovah) God of my master or Lord (Adonai) Abraham.' * The substantive ^bo, or messenger, the word by which those spirits who visited the patriarchs and holy men of old are designated, clearly indi- cates that they were not apparitions of the Deity under human form, since God is not a messenger. Thus the sacred text expressly notifies that those angels that appeared to Abraham and Lot, to Josue, to Balaam, and to Daniel, were mere creatures, who were honoured by men with a religious veneration on account of Him who sent them, and who accepted of such an inferior homage instead of refusing it, which they would have done had it been unlawful. We may like- wise be certain that these spirits were real and created beings, not visible manifestations of the Godhead under human form, since on some occasions two, on others, three angels appeared at the same time. God would never have chosen to reveal Himself in a manner most directly calculated to convey the notion that there was 1 Genesis, xxiv, 26, 27. OF SAINTS AND ANGELS. 309 not one God but many Gods, an idea which the Decalogue most studiously endeavoured to banish from among the Jews. III. THE ANGELS AND SAINTS MAKE INTERCESSION FOR MEN. That the angels and saints have manifested their concern for the spiritual happiness and earthly prosperity of men is evident from Scripture, in- dependent of the proof to be deduced from the public and practical belief of the Church and the doctrine of her pastors. We gather from the prophecy of Zacharias how earnestly the angel of the Lord interceded for the Jews : * O Lord of hosts, how long wilt Thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of Juda, with which Thou hast been angry ? ' : The Angel Raphael told Tobias : ' When thou didst pray with tears, and didst bury the dead ... I offered thy prayer to the Lord ! ' : The angel (probably Gabriel) who came to make a revelation unto Daniel 3 thus addressed that prophet : ' But the prince of the kingdom of the Persians resisted me one and twenty days : 1 Zacharias, i, 12. 2 Tobias, xn, 12. For the canonicity of this book, see Appendix n. at the end of the volume. 3 Gabriel appeared twice before to Daniel. See vnr, 16, and IX, 21. 3 io ON THE INVOCATION and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there by the king of the Persians.' l The Psalmist, speaking of the man who dwelleth in 'the aid of the Most High,' attests that God ' hath given His angels a charge over thee ; to keep thee in all thy ways.' 2 Jeremias announced to the Jews that the Lord had said : ' If Moses and Samuel shall stand before me, my soul is not towards this people.' 3 God, therefore, must have given the Israelites to understand such was His wrath against them, that though Moses and Samuel were actually to intercede in their favour, still He would cast them from His sight. That Moses and Samuel could, therefore, pray for the Jews that those holy men did pray for them is positive, unless indeed we be willing to suppose that the Eternal Truth and Wisdom held out idle and unmeaning threats. Judas Machabeus 4 related a vision, in which he saw how ' Onias, who had been high-priest, a good and virtuous man, holding up his hands, prayed for all the people of the Jews, and after this there appeared also another man, admirable for age and glory, and environed with great beauty and majesty. Then Onias said : This is 1 Daniel, x, 13. 2 Psalm xc, n. 3 Jeremias, xv, i. 4 As to the canonic! ty of the books of Macliabees, consult Ap- pendix n. OF SAINTS AND ANGELS. 311 a lover of his brethren, and of the people of Israel : this is he that prayeth much for the people, and for all the holy city Jeremias the prophet of God.' l Not only the Old, but the New Testament can bear witness to this doctrine. It was thus that our Blessed Redeemer closed one of those para- bles which He delivered to the multitude : ' Make unto you friends of the mammon of iniquity ; that when you shall fail, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings.' 2 There is no one so ignorant as not to know that by the ' mammon of iniquity ' is signified riches. 3 Alms- deeds are, therefore, strongly recommended by our Divine Redeemer in this passage ; and we are taught to secure the future friendship of the poor and indigent by our munificence towards them at the present moment ; while we are in- structed such will be the efficacy of our charities, that the poor, whom we are thus enabled to secure as friends, will have it in their power to serve us after they have departed from this world, and become inhabitants of the everlasting dwell- ings of the heavenly kingdom, where they will receive us, though we ourselves ' should fail ' without their assistance. As only God is the 1 2 Machabees, xv, 12-14. 2 & Luke, zvr, 9. 3 Mammona apud Hebraeos divitiae appellari dicuntur. Con- a'vwv liber, Hymn. I, v. 10 et seq. The stranger hither hies with pious haste, for sounding fame all earth around has paced, and told, the patrons of the world were here, that we should, trusting, supplicate their prayer. For man these advocates ne'er came to try, but home returned with joy-enkindled eye and tears dried up to tell to all around his just request was with a blessing crowned. Such, 'gainst our evils, is their saintly care, no plaints we sigh are wasted on the air ; but straight they heed them ; hurrying they bring our supplications to the heav'nly King ; from whose deep fountains copious blessing flows, and yields a cure to every suppliant's woes : for nought has bounteous Christ e'er yet denied to prayer of martyrs saints who've testified the true belief in one eternal God, in galling fetters, 'neath the flaying rod, while fiercest death stood by with brandished dart ; then wrung the life-blood from the fearless heart. 1 1 Prudentius has repeatedly mentioned, in various other parts of his poems, the then prevailing religious practice of invoking the aid of the saints, and has eloquently asserted the efficacy of their inter- cession in behalf of those who address themselves to their fraternal charity. The invocation of saints is clearly pointed out in the following verses : Adesto nnnc, et percipe voces precantum supplices, nostri reatus efficax orator ad thronum Patris. 326 OX THE INVOCATION IX. INVOCATION OF SAINTS IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH PROVED FROM ANCIENT INSCRIPTIONS. In favour of the belief and practice of the in- vocation of saints by the primitive Church, there Miserere nostramm precum, placatus ut Christus suis inclinet aurem prosperam, noxas nee omnes imputet. Ilepl 2,Tfui> lib., Hymn. V, r. 545 ct seq. Talking of the tomb of S. Agnes at Rome, he says : Servat salutem virgo Quiritium : necnon et ipsos protegit advenas, puro ac fideli pectore supplices. Ilepl I,Teavuv lib., Hymn. XIV, v. 5. In noticing the protection to be derived from the intercession of the saints, Prudentius gratefully observes of the city of Calahorra : O triplex honor, O triforme culmen, quo nostrae caput excitatur urbis, cunctis urbibus eminens Iberis ! Exsultare tribus libet patronis : quorum praesidio fovemur omnes terrarum populi Pyrenearum. Ilfpl 'Zre^dvuv lib., Hymn. VI, v. 145. Le Clerc, an eminent French Protestant writer, passes the follow- ing remark upon the Peristephanon of Prudentius : ' It is very evident from various passages in these hymns, that Christians in- voked the martyrs at that period, and believed that they had been assigned by the Almighty as the especial patrons of some particular places. Certain Protestant writers, who admit that along with the Scripture should be united the tradition of the first four or five centuries, have denied that prayer was ever made to the saints before the fifth age of the Church. They should, however, not have erected such an imaginary system without having first of all in- vestigated facts, since it is easy to refute their supposition by several parts of the writings of Prudentius.' Bibliotheqiie universelle et historique de Vannee 1689, p. 167. OF SAINTS AND AXGELS. 327 is a species of proof which has been seldom, per- haps never before, introduced to the notice of the English reader. The Roman catacombs are per- petually exhibiting such lucid evidence upon this article of apostolic doctrine as to dispel the faint- est shadow of doubt or uncertainty from about the subject. For whenever that burial-place of the primitive and persecuted witnesses to the faith is explored, it almost invariably happens that an in- scription is discovered over some martyred saint, in which the prayers of the Christian champion who sleeps within are desired by those who with religious reverence interred his mangled body and composed his epitaph. 1 In the year 1694 was discovered, in the cemetery of SS. Gordian and Epimachus, 2 the grave of the holy martyr Sabba- tius, along with the following inscription on a marble slab which closed up the oblong niche in the wall or sepulchre containing the martyr's bones : 3 1 The religious zeal which prompted many of the faithful to expend large sums of money, and even risk their lives to rescue the bodies of the martyrs from insult, and to possess themselves even of the earth which was sprinkled with their blood, will be noticed in the next chapter ; see vol. n, pp. 7-16. 2 This cemetery is on the Latin Way, and about a mile from Rome. 3 See note, vol. n, p. 14, for a description of the manner in which the graves were made in the catacombs. Concerning these ancient cemeteries, the reader is referred to Appendix iv. ON THE INVOCATION SABBATI DVLCIS ANIMA PETE ET ROGA PRO FRATRES ET SOD ALES TVOS. 1 Sabbatius, sweet soul, petition and pray for thy brethren and companions. 1 Grammatical inaccuracies are of frequent occurrence in ancient inscriptions, hence we must not be surprised to find ' pro f ratres ' instead of 'pro fratribus,' etc. This inscription was afterwards pre- sented by Cardinal di Carpegna to the learned Florentine senator Buonarruoti, who has inserted it in his interesting work entitled, Osservazioni sopra alcuni frammenti di Vasi Antichi di vetro, where the reader may see it at p. 167. In the works of the poets and the orators of Paganism, a palm-branch and wreath were emblematical of victory. The sacred writers also have noticed the palm-branch as a symbol of the triumph gained by the martyr and the true believer (Apocalypse, vn, 9), and the crown or garland as indicative of that eternal glory which the saints enjoy in heaven (Isaias, xxviu, 5 ; i Corinthians, ix, 25 ; 2 Timothy, iv, 8 ; S. James, I, 12 ; i S. Peter, v, 4 ; Apocalypse, ir, 10). Hence it is that a palm -branch and a Avreath of laurel are usually traced in the mortar, scratched on the tile, or sculptured on the marble slab, which may have been severally employed by the first Christians to seal the martyrs' graves in the catacombs. Both these types of victory are mentioned by the Christian poet Prudentius, who lived so near to the times of per- secution. In his hymn in honour of S. Vincent he says of that illustrious martyr : ' Tu solus, o bis inclyte Solus brabii duplicis Palmam tulisti : tu duas Simul parasti laureas.' Ilepl 2,Ted.v