Altar Servers Handbook Definition of Terms
1.
The main areas of the church with
which you should be concerned:
a.
The sanctuary is the area in the
center and toward the front of the church where the altar, the ambo, and the
priest’s and deacon’s chairs are located.
b.
The sacristy is the room where
the priest, deacon and altar servers vest and prepare for Mass. Many of
the items used in the celebration of the Mass are stored there.
c.
Other areas include the baptistry,
where the baptismal font is located and where baptisms may be celebrated; the chapel
of reservation, where the consecrated Holy Eucharist is kept outside of
Mass; and one or more reconciliation chapels, where the sacrament of
penance is celebrated.
2.
Special books that are used
during the celebration:
a.
The Lectionary is the large book
containing the Bible readings. There may be a separate Book of the
Gospels, called the evangelary.
b.
The Roman Missal is the
large book used by the priest when standing at his chair and at the altar
during Mass. (The former name for this book was the Sacramentary.)
c.
Other books may be used too in the
sanctuary, including a hymnal, a book containing general intercessions, ritual
books for the various sacraments, and a book of announcements.
3.
Special vessels used in Mass:
a.
The chalice is the cup that holds
the wine for consecration and communion.
b.
The paten is a plate that holds
the breads for consecration and communion.
c.
The ciborium is a special vessel
used to hold the breads for communion of the people. It has a lid or cover.
d.
The cruet is the small jar that
contains the water to be used at Mass. Cruets are usually made of glass
or ceramic, with a handle.
e.
The decanter is a large jar that
contains the wine to be used at Mass. A decanter is usually made of glass
or ceramic.
4.
The vestments and linens
used in Mass:
a.
The alb is a long white robe worn
by the priest, and (in some parishes) by other ministers too, including altar
servers.
b.
The cincture is a rope or cord
worn around the waist over the alb,
c.
The stole is a garment in the
form of a long, narrow band of cloth which the priest wears draped over his
shoulders and hanging down in front, or a deacon wears draped over one shoulder
and fastened at his side. It may be white or colored.
d.
The chasuble is the outer garment
worn by the priest at Mass. It may be white or another liturgical color
and usually matches the color of the stole.
e.
The dalmatic is the outer garment
worn by the deacon.
f.
The corporal is a white cloth
that is spread upon the altar during Mass to hold the chalice, paten and
ciboria.
g.
The pall is a small, square,
protective cover of stiffened cloth placed on the chalice during Mass.
h.
The purificator is a white linen
cloth which the priest or deacon used to wipe out the chalice during Mass.
i.
The chalice veil is a cloth that
covers the chalice during the Mass when the chalice is not being used.
j.
The finger towel, or hand towel,
is a cloth napkin used to dry the priest’s hands.
Other vestments which may be worn in certain
circumstances include the following:
k.
The amice is an oblong white
linen cloth worn about the neck and shoulders, under the alb, by a priest or
deacon.
l.
The cassock is a robe (usually
black) worn in some parishes by the priest and other ministers during
liturgical functions. The surplice is worn over it.
m.
The surplice is a white garment,
shorter than an alb, worn over the cassock.
n.
The miter is a ceremonial hat
sometimes worn by a bishop on special occasions. The crosier (more
often referred to as "staff") is the shepherd’s staff carried by the
bishop.
5.
The following furniture items may
be found in the sanctuary:
a.
The presidential chair is the
chair from which the priest presides during the liturgy of the word and during
the concluding prayers of the Mass.
b.
The lecturn is a stand from which
the priest or another minister reads or speaks to the congregation. The
stand used for the scripture readings and the homily is also called the pulpit
or an ambo.
c.
The altar is the holy table from
which the priest presides over the liturgy of the Eucharist. It is
covered with an altar cloth.
d.
The credence table is another
name for the side table in the sanctuary where the wine and water cruets,
communion patens, etc., are kept during Mass when they are not being used.
e.
The gifts table is the table that
holds the bread and wine before it is presented to the altar. (This is
also called the offertory table.)
6.
Some other items with which to be
concerned:
a.
The ambry is the cabinet that
holds the holy oils, usually near the font.
b.
The tabernacle is the large,
ornate safe in which consecrated Eucharistic Bread is kept for the communion of
the sick and for adoration by the people outside of Mass. It is usually
located in an area apart from the sanctuary. The tabernacle key,
when not in use, is kept in a safe place, usually locked in a safe place in the
sacristy.
c.
The censer (or thurible)
is a metal container on a chain in which incense is burned on a piece of
charcoal.
d.
The incense boat is a covered
container, with a spoon, for the incense that will be burned in the censer.
e.
The funeral pall is a large
decorated cloth that covers the casket during a funeral Mass.
f.
The holy water sprinkler (or aspergill)
is a device, usually a metal stick or the branch from a bush, used by the
priest to sprinkle holy water on the people or objects that he blesses.
g.
The hosts is another term for the
breads that are consecrated at Mass for the communion of the priest and the
people. Many parishes continue to follow the practice of having a large
host for the priest and small individual hosts for the people.
h.
Chrism
is the holy oil used to anoint people in baptism, confirmation and ordination.
It is made from olive oil and a special perfume. The chrism is kept
in the ambry.
i.
The monstrance is a large,
standing vessel used to show people the holy bread that is the body of
Christ. The lunette is a small glass container that holds the host
and is put inside the monstrance.
Sanctuary
(Santo Spirito in Sassia)
The space in the church for the high altar and the
clergy. It is variously designated apsis or concha (from the shell-like,
hemispherical dome), and since the Middle Ages especially it has been called
"choir", from the choir of singers who are here stationed. Other
names are presbyterium, concessus chori, tribuna or tribunal, hagion, hasyton,
sanctum, sanctuarium.
From the architectural standpoint the sanctuary has
undergone manifold alterations. In Christian antiquity it was confined to the
apse, into the wall of which the stone benches for the clergy were let after
the fashion of an amphitheatre, while in the middle rose up the bishop's chair
(cathedra). It would however be wrong to believe that this ancient Christian
sanctuary had always a semicircular formation, since recent investigations
(especially in the East) have revealed very various shapes. Over a dozen
different shapes have already been discovered. In Syria the semicircular
development advances very little or not at all from the outer wall, while
beside it are situated two rooms which serve respectively for the offering
(prothesis) and for the clergy (diaconicum). The sanctuary was often formed by
three interconnected apses (Dreiconchensystem); the quite straight termination
also occurs. An important difference between the Roman and Oriental churches
consisted in the fact that in the case of the latter the wall of the sanctuary
was interrupted by a window through which the sunlight freely entered, while
the windowless Roman apse was shrouded. in a mysterious darkness.
As the semicircular niche could no longer in all
cases hold the numbers of the higher and Lower clergy, a portion of the middle
nave was often enclosed with rails and added to the sanctuary, as may be seen
today in the San Clemente at Rome. Outside Rome this necessity of enlarging the
sanctuary was met in another way, by introducing between the longitudinal (or
cross) aisle and the apse a compartment or square, the basilica thus receiving
(instead of the Roman T-shape) the form of a cross. This innovation was of
far-reaching importance, since the sanctuary could not develop freely. This
development proceeded from the beginning to the close of the Middle Ages in
what may be declared as an almost wanton fashion. The time at which this
innovation was introduced has been for a long time the subject of a violent
literary feud, since it is most intimately connected with the development of
the cruciform arrangement of churches. Some investigators hold that this form
is first found in the Monastery of Fulda under Abbot Bangulf about the year
800; according to others it occurred before the time of Charlemagne in the
French monasteries of Jumièges and Rebais. In recent times Strzygowski has
maintained that both views are incorrect, and that the extended sanctuary, or
in other words the cruciform church, was already common in the early Christian
period in Asia Minor, and was thence transplanted to the West by Basilian monks
as early as the fourth or fifth century.
A second very important alteration, which occurred
during the Carlovingian Renaissance, consisted in the introduction or rather
transplantation from the East to the West of the "double sanctuary".
By this is meant the construction of a second sanctuary or west choir opposite
the east; this arrangement was found even in ancient times in isolated
instances, but its introduction in the case of larger churches gradually became
universal in the West. Concerning the reasons for this innovation various
theories have been put forward. It must, however, be recognized that the
reasons were not everywhere the same. They were three in particular: the
duplication of the titular saints, the construction of a place for the remains
of a saint, and the need of a nuns' or winter choir. In addition, Strzygowski
has also maintained the influence exercised by the change of
"orientation", that is the erection of the altar, which in the East
originally stood in the west of the church, at the eastern end. The second
reason seems to have given incentive most frequently to the construction of the
second choir. Thus in 819 Abbot Ansger built a west choir with a crypt to
receive the remains of St. Boniface; in Mittelzell (Richenau) this choir was
constructed for the relics of St. Mark, in Eichstätt (1060) for the remains of
St. Willibald. Especially suitable for nuns' convents was the west choir with a
gallery, since from it the nuns could follow Divine Service unobserved; for
this reason the church built at Essen (Prussia) in 874 received a west choir in
947.
The increase of the clergy, in conjunction with the
striving (in the Romanesque period) after as large crypts as possible, led to
the repeated increase of the sanctuary, which, however, exercised a very
prejudicial influence on the architectural arrangement of space. The sanctuary
was extended especially westwards — thus into the longitudinal aisle, but at
times also into the cross aisle. Examples of this excessively great extension
are supplied by the cathedrals of Paderborn and Speyer. The walls of this
sanctuary, which had thus become a formal enclosure, were often decorated with
Biblical reliefs; here, in fact, are preserved some very important Romanesque
reliefs, as on the Georgentor at Bamberg and in the Church of St. Michael at
Hildesheim. But even in the Romanesque period began the war against this elevated
sanctuary, waged mainly by the monks of Hirsan (Germany), then highly
influential, and the Cistercians. The former as opponents of the crypts,
restored the sanctuary to the same level as the nave or made it only a few
steps higher; they also ended the sanctuary in a straight line, and gave it
only a small round apse. More important was the change made by the Cistercians,
who, to enable so many priests to read Mass simultaneously, resolved the
eastern portion into a number of chapels standing in a straight line at either
side of the sanctuary. This alteration began in the mother-house of Cisteaux,
and extended with the monks everywhere even to the East.
These alterations paved the way for the third great
transformation of the sanctuary: this was accomplished by Gothic architecture,
which, in consequence of the improved vaulting, found it easier to conduct the
side aisles around the choir, as the Romanesque architects had already done in
individual cases. The sanctuary indeed was not thereby essentially altered, but
it was now accessible on all sides, and the faithful could attain to the
immediate vicinity of the high altar, When it was not separated by a wall, an
entirely free view of the sanctuary was offered. For the most part, however,
the termination of the sanctuary with walls was retained, while in front was
still erected the screen, which enjoyed in the Gothic period its special vogue.
This arrangement of the sanctuary is usually found in the great cathedrals
after the French models, and may thus be designated the "cathedral
type", although it also occurs in the larger parish and monastery
churches. Frequently the sanctuary has an exceptional length; this is
especially the case in England, and influenced the architectonic arrangement of
space if the sanctuary was enclosed with walls. Its effect was most
unfavourable in the canon's choir (called the Trascoro) in the cathedrals of
Spain, which was transferred to the middle nave as a separate construction and
was cut off by high walls with grated entrances. This enclosure was most
magnificently decorated with architectural and other ornamentations, but it
entirely destroyed the view of the glorious architecture. Side by side with
this "cathedral type" was retained the old simple type, in which the
sanctuary was not accessible on all sides; this was found especially in parish
churches and in the churches of the mendicant orders. When the church had three
naves, the choirs of the side naves lay beside the chief choir. This kind of a
sanctuary remained the most popular, especially in Germany and Italy.
The Renaissance to a great extent restored to the
sanctuary its original form. In the effort to increase the middle nave as much
as possible, Renaissance architecture in many cases neglected the side naves or
limited them to the narrowest aisles. The free approach to the sanctuary from
all sides thus lost its justification. The sanctuary necessarily received a
great breadth, but lost its earlier depth. In its preference for bright and
airy spaces, the Renaissance also abandoned the method of separating the
sanctuary from the rest of the church by means of a screen; at a subsequent
period, the latter was replaced by the low Communion bench. Thus a person
entering the church through the main door commanded a free view of the
sanctuary, which, especially in Italy, was gloriously decorated with marble
incrustations. As the sunlight, entering unchecked through the cupola covering
the intersection, brightly illuminated the edifice, the effect was entirely
different from that awakened by the Romanesque and Gothic sanctuaries. In the
medieval church the sanctuary was shut off from the congregation and was as
inaccessible as the Holy of Holies in the Temple of the Old Testament; the
sanctuary of the Renaissance church stands out before us in a brilliance of
light like Mount Tabor, but without blinding our gaze. We believe that we are
nearer the Deity, our hearts are filled with joyous sentiments, so that we
might cry out with the Apostle Peter "It is good for us to be here".
In the medieval church, on the other hand, we are penetrated with a mysterious
awe and like Moses feel urged to take off our shoes, for this is a holy place.
(Beda Kleinschmidt, "Sanctuary" Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Sacristy
(Sacristy at St. Peter’s Basilica)
A room in the church or attached thereto, where the
vestments, church furnishings and the like, sacred vessels, and other treasures
are kept, and where the clergy meet and vest for the various ecclesiastical
functions. It corresponds to the secretarium or diaconicum of old. At present
the almost universal practice is to have the sacristy directly behind the main
altar or at either side. The sacristy should contain cases, properly labelled,
for the various vestments in all the liturgical colors; a crucifix or other
suitable image in a prominent position to which the clergy bow before going to
the sanctuary and on returning (Ritus celebrandi missam, II, i); a lavatory,
where the officiating clergy may wash their hands (op. cit. I, i); a copy of the
Decree of Urban VIII prohibiting certain offices and masses (S. R. C., 460 ad
6; 555 § Et ne); a book containing the obligations of the Church regarding
foundations and their fulfillment (Innocent XII, Nuper, § 26, 21 Dec., 1699).
It is customary to have a holy water font, and a bell to admonish the
congregation of the advent of the clergy, at the door leading to the sanctuary.
The sacristy is not blessed or consecrated together with the church, and
consequently is not a sacred place in the canonical sense. However, except
where penalties are concerned, it enjoys on the whole the same prerogatives as
the church. When a sacristy directly behind the sanctuary has two entrances,
the clergy enter the sanctuary at the gospel side, and leave by the epistle
side (S.R.C., 3029 ad 12). A double sacristy is sometimes provided, one for the
clergy, one for the altar boys. Canons too usually have their own sacristy. In
cathedrals, where there is no special chapel for this purpose, there should be
a separate sacristy (secretarium) with an altar, where the bishop may assist at
Terce and prepare for pontifical Mass (Cærem. Episcoporum, I, 137; II, 74).
(Andrew Meehan, "Sacristy," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Baptistery
(The
Pisa Baptistery of St. John)
The separate building in which the Sacrament of
Baptism was once solemnly administered, or that portion of the church-edifice
later set apart for the same purpose.
In ancient times the term was applied to a basin,
pool or other place for bathing. The Latin term baptisterium was also applied
to the vessel or tank which contained the water for baptism, and in the Early
Church denoted indifferently the baptismal font and the building or chapel in
which it was enshrined. There is no means of knowing when the first
baptisteries were built; but both their name and form seem borrowed from pagan
sources. They remind one of the bathing apartments in the thermae, and the fact
that Pliny, in speaking of the latter, twice uses the word baptisteria seems to
point to this derivation. The term was also applied to the bath in the circular
chamber of the baths at Pompeii and to the tank in the triangular court of
suburban villas. The earliest extant type of baptistery is found in the
catacomb chambers in which were the baptismal-pools. (See BAPTISMAL FONT.)
These rooms were sometimes spacious; that in the Roman catacomb of Priscilla
adjoins other larger cubicula used perhaps for the adjuncts of the baptismal
rite; that of the Pontian cemetery bears traces of sixth-century mural
decoration, a beautiful crux gemmata with other Christian symbols being yet
visible. With the construction of edifices for Christian worship a special
building was erected for the ceremonies of initiation. Ordinarily circular or
polygonal, it contained in the centre the font; a circular ambulatory gave room
for the ministers and witnesses who, with the neophytes, were numerous at the
Easter and Pentecost solemnities; radiating from the structure were rooms for
the preparation of the candidates, and sometimes a chapel with altar for the
Eucharistic service following baptism (cf. BAPTISM), as may be seen in the
Lateran baptistery, The building sometimes joined, but was generally adjacent
to, the cathedral or church to which it belonged, and was usually situated near
the atrium or forecourt. Immersion gradually gave way to infusion, though in
the South the custom of immersing children in the baptisteries persisted long
after the North had commenced infusion in the small baptismal chapels. When
separate baptisteries were no longer needed, the term was then applied to that
part of the church which was set apart for an contained the baptismal font. The
font was sometimes placed in a separate chapel or compartment, sometimes in an
inclosure formed by a railing or open screen work; and often the font stands
alone, either in the vestibule of the church, or in an arm of the transept, or
at the western extremity of one of the aisles, and occasionally in the floor
chamber of the western tower.
The modern baptistery is merely that part of the church
set apart for baptism. According to the Roman Ritual, it should be railed off;
it should have a gate fastened by a lock; and should be adorned, if possible,
with a picture of the baptism of Christ by St. John. It is convenient that it
should contain a chest with two compartments, one for the holy oils, the other
for the salt, candle, etc. used in baptism. The form of the early baptisteries
seems to have been derived from the Roman circular temples of tombs. And in
adopting the plans, the early Christians modified them to some extent, for the
internal columns which, in Roman examples were generally used in a decorative
way, were now used to support the walls carrying the domes. To cover a large
area with one roof was difficult; but by the addition of an aisle in one story,
round a moderate-sized circular tomb, the inner walls could be replaced by
columns in the lower half, which gave such buildings as these early
baptisteries.
The earliest existing baptistery is that of the
Lateran, said to have been erected in its original form under Constantine.
Throughout the Roman world round or polygonal baptisteries seem to have been
constantly employed from the fourth century onwards. In many places the
Italians have preserved the separate building for baptism, while north of the
Alps the practice generally prevailed of administering the rite in the
churches. The construction of the baptistery of the Lateran is interesting
because of a direct adaptation of the columnar system of the basilica to a
concentric plan. The inner octagon is upheld by eight simple shafts, upon the
straight entablature of which a second story of columns is superimposed. The
original character of the ceiling and the roof cannot now be determined, but
the weak supports were hardly adapted to bear a vault of masonry. Although
baptisteries and mortuary chapels were generally built as simple cylindrical
halls, without surrounding passages, other examples of the two modes of
extension are not lacking.
The arrangement of the baptistery requires but brief
notice. A flight of steps descended into the round or polygonal font (piscina
or fons), which was sunk beneath the level of the floor, and sometimes raised a
little above it by a row of columns which supported curtains to insure the most
perfect privacy and decency during the immersion. The columns were united
occasionally by archivolts, more frequently by architraves adorned by metrical
inscriptions; the eight distichs in the Lateran baptistery are ascribed to
Sixtus III.
The baptistery of Pisa, designed by Dioti Salvi in
1153, is circular, 129 feet in diameter, with encircling aisle in two stories.
Built of marble, it is surrounded externally on the lower story by half
columns, connected by semicircular arches, above which is an open arcade in two
heights, supported by small detached shafts. It was not completed till A.D.
1278, and has Gothic additions of the fourteenth century, in consequence of
which it is not easy to ascertain what the original external design really was.
The structure is crowned by an outer hemispherical dome, through which
penetrates a conical dome 60 feet in diameter over the central space, and
supported on four piers and eight columns. Thus, if there were another internal
hemispherical cupola, it would resemble the constructive dome of St. Paul,
London. This baptistery bears remarkable similarity to the church of San Donato
(ninth century) at Zara, in Dalmatian, which, however, has a space only 30 feet
in diameter. The baptistery at Asti, if examined with those of San Antonio,
will give a very compete idea of Lombardic architecture in the beginning of the
eleventh century. More or less interesting examples of baptisteries exist at
Biella, Brindisi, Cremona, Galliano, near Milan, Gravedona, Monte Sant' Angelo,
Padua, Parma, Pinara, Pistoia, Spalato, Verona, and Volterra. These are very
few examples in Italy of circular or polygonal buildings of any class belonging
to the Gothic age. Baptisteries had passed out of fashion. One such building,
at Parma, commenced in 1196, deserves to be quoted, not certainly for its
beauty, but as illustrating those false principles of design shown in buildings
of this age in Italy. In later Romanesque and Gothic periods, in Italy, where
the churches were not derived from a combination of a circular Eastern church
with a Western rectangular nave, as in France, but were correct copies of the
Roman basilica, the baptistery always stands alone. In Germany, the earlier
baptistery was joined to the square church and formed a western apse. The only
examples in England are at Cranbrook and Canterbury; the latter, however, is
supposed to have been originally part of the Treasury. It is not known at what
time the baptistery became absorbed into the basilica. The change was made
earlier in Rome than elsewhere. A late example of a separate baptistery, which,
although small, is very beautiful in design, is in a court alongside the
cathedral at Bergamo. This may be regarded as a connecting link between large
buildings and fonts.
(Thomas Poole, "Baptistery" Catholic Encyclopedia)
Altar
(High
Altar of Sancta Maria supra Minervam)
The Christian altar consists of an elevated surface,
tabular in form, on which the Sacrifice of the Mass is offered. The earliest
Scripture reference to the altar is in St. Paul (1 Corinthians 10:21); the
Apostle contrasts the "table of the Lord" (trapeza Kyriou) on which
the Eucharist is offered, with the "table of devils", or pagan
altars. Trapeza continued to be the favourite term for altar among the Greek
Fathers and in Greek liturgies, either used alone or with the addition of such
reverential qualifying terms as iera, mystike, The Epistle to the Hebrews
(13:10) refers to the Christian altar as thysiasterion, the word by which the
Septuagint alludes to Noah's altar. This term occurs in several of the Epistles
of St. Ignatius (Ad Eph. v; Magnes. iv, 7; Philad. 4), as well as in the
writings of a number of fourth and fifth century Fathers and historians;
Eusebius employs it to describe the altar of the great church at Tyre (Church
History X.4.44). Trapeza, however, was the term most frequently in use. The word
bomos to designate an altar. was carefully avoided by the Christians of the
first age, because of its pagan associations; it is first used by Synesius,
Bishop of Cyrene, a writer of the early fifth century. The terms altare, mensa,
ara, altarium, with or without a genitive addition (as mensa Domini), are
employed by the Latin fathers to designate an altar. Ara, however, is more
commonly applied to pagan altars, though Tertullian speaks of the Christian
altar as ara Dei. But St. Cyprian makes a sharp distinction between ara and
altare, pagan altars being aras diaboli, while the Christian altar is altare
Dei [quasi post aras diaboli accedere ad altare Dei fas sit (Ep. lxv, ed.
Hartel, II, 722; P.L., Ep. lxiv, IV, 389)]. Altare was the word most commonly used
for altar, and was equivalent to the Greek trapeza.
Material
and form
The earliest Christian altars were of wood, and
identical in form with the ordinary house tables. The tables represented in the
Eucharistic frescoes of the catacombs enable us to obtain an idea of their
appearance. The most ancient, as well as the most remarkable, of these
frescoes, that of the Fractio Panis found in the Capella Greca, which dates
from the first decades of the second century, shows seven persons seated on a
semi-circular divan before a table of the same form. Tabular-shaped altars of
wood continued in use till well on in the Middle Ages. St. Athanasius speaks of
a wooden altar which was burned by the Count Heraclius (Athan. ad Mon., lvi),
and St. Augustine relates that the Donatists tore apart a wooden altar under
which the orthodox Bishop Maximianus had taken refuge (Ep. clxxxv, ch. vii,
P.L., XXXIII, 805). The first legislation against such altars dates from the
year 517, when the Council of Epaon, in Gaul, forbade the consecration of any
but stone Altars (Mansi, Coll. Conc., VIII, 562). But this prohibition
concerned only a small part of the Christian world, and for several centuries
afterwards altars of wood were used, until the growing preference for altars of
more durable material finally supplanted them. The two table altars preserved
in the churches of St. John Lateran and St. Pudentiana are the only ancient
altars of wood that have been preserved. According to a local tradition, St.
Peter offered the Holy Sacrifice on each, but the evidence for this is not
convincing. The earliest stone altars were the tombs of the martyrs interred in
the Roman Catacombs. The practice of celebrating Mass on the tombs of martyrs
can be traced with a large degree of probability to the first quarter of the
second century. The Fractio Panis fresco of the Capella Greca, which belongs to
this period is located in the apse directly above a small cavity which Wilpert
supposes (Fractio Panis, 18) to have contained the relics of a martyr, and it
is highly probable that the stone covering this tomb served as an altar. But
the celebration of the Eucharist on the tombs of martyrs in the Catacombs was,
even in the first age, the exception rather than the rule. (See ARCOSOLIUM) The
regular Sunday services were held in the private houses which were the churches
of the period. Nevertheless. the idea of the stone altar, the use of which
afterwards became universal in the West, is evidently derived from the custom
of celebrating the anniversaries and other feasts in honour of those who died
for the Faith. Probably, the custom itself was suggested by the message in the
Apocalypse (vi, 9) "I saw under the altar the souls of them that were
slain for the word of God." With the age of peace, and especially under
the pontificate of Pope Damasus (366-384), basilicas and chapels were erected
in Rome and elsewhere in honour of the most famous martyrs, and the altars,
when at all possible, were located directly above their tombs. The "Liber
Pontificalis" attributes to Pope Felix I (269-274) a decree to the effect
that Mass should be celebrated on the tombs of the martyrs (constituit supra
memorias martyrum missas celebrare, "Lib. Pont.", ed. Duchesne, I,
158). However this may be, it is clear from the testimony of this authority
that the custom alluded to was regarded at the beginning of the sixth century
as very ancient (op. cit., loc. cit., note 2). For the fourth century we have
abundant testimony, literary and monumental. The altars of the basilicas of St.
Peter and St. Paul, erected by Constantine, were directly above the Apostles'
tombs. Speaking of St. Hippolytus, the poet Prudentius refers to the altar
above his tomb as follows:
Talibus
Hippolyei corpus mandatur opertis
Propter
ubi apposita est ara dicata Deo.
Finally, the translation of the bodies of the
martyrs Sts. Gervasius and Protasius by St. Ambrose to the Ambrosian basilica
in Milan is an evidence that the practice of offering the Holy Sacrifice on the
tombs of martyrs was long established. The great veneration in which the
martyrs were held from the fourth century had considerable influence in
effecting two changes of importance with regard to altars. The stone slab
enclosing the martyr's grave suggested the stone altar, and the presence of the
martyr's relics beneath the altar was responsible for the tomblike
under-structure known as the confessio. The use of stone altars in the East in
the fourth century is attested by St. Gregory of Nyssa (P.G., XLVI, 581) and
St. John Chrysostom (Hom. in I Cor., xx); and in the West, from the sixth
century, the sentiment in favour of their exclusive use is indicated by the
Decree of the Council of Epaon alluded to above. Yet even in the West wooden
altars existed as late as the reign of Charlemagne, as we infer from a
capitulary of this emperor forbidding the celebration of Mass except on stone
tables consecrated by the bishop [in mensis lapideis ab episcopis consecratis
(P.L., XCVII, 124)]. From the ninth century, however, few traces of the use of
wooden altars are found in the domain of Latin Christianity, but the Greek
Church, up to the present time, permits the employment of wood, stone, or
metal.
(Maurice Hassett, "History of the Christian
Altar," Catholic Encyclopedia)
Altar stone
A solid piece of natural stone, consecrated by a
bishop, large enough to hold the Sacred Host and chalice. It is inserted into
or placed on the surface of a structure which answers the purpose of an altar,
when the whole altar is not consecrated. Sometimes the whole table (mensa)
takes the place of the smaller altar-stone. It is called a portable altar. (Augustin
Joseph Schulte, "Altar Stone," Catholic Encyclopedia)
Eucharistic Hosts
Archaeological
and historical aspects
The bread destined to receive Eucharistic Consecration
is commonly called the host, and though this term may likewise be applied to
the bread and wine of the Sacrifice, it is more especially reserved to the
bread.
According to Ovid the word comes from hostis, enemy:
"Hostibus a domitis hostia nomen habet", because the ancients offered
their vanquished enemies as victims to the gods. However, it is possible that
hostia is derived from hostire, to strike, as found in Pacuvius. In the West
the term became general chiefly because of the use made of it in the Vulgate
and the Liturgy (Romans 12:1; Philippians 4:18; Ephesians 5:2; Hebrews 10:12;
Mabillon, "Liturg. Gall. vetus", pp. 235, 237, 257; "Missale
Mozarab.", ed. Leslie, p. 39; "Missale Gothicum", p. 253). It
was applied to Christ, the Immolated Victim, and, by way of anticipation, to
the still unconsecrated bread destined to become Christ's Body. In the Middle
Ages it was also known as "hoiste", "oiste",
"oite".
In time the word acquired its actual special
significance; by reason of its general liturgical use it no longer conveyed the
original idea of victim. Many other names were given to the host, e.g.
"bucellae", "circuli", "coronae", "crustulae
ferraceae", "denaria", "fermentum", "formatae",
"formulae", "panes altaris, eucharistici, divini, dominici,
mysteriorum, nummularii, obiculares, reticularii, sancti, sanctorum,
tessellati, vitae"; "nummi", "particulae",
"placentae", "placentulae obiculares",
"portiones", "rotulae", "sensibilia", etc.
The Greeks call the host artos (bread), dora
(gifts), meridia (particles), and prosphora (oblations). After Consecration the
particles take the name of margaritai (pearls). Prior to its Consecration the
Copts call the host "baraco"; the Syrians "paristo"
(bread), "burschan" (first-fruits), and "kourbano" (oblation);
the Nestorians "xatha" (first-born) or "agnus" (lamb), and
the Mingrelians "sabisquiri". After Consecration the Copts call the
Host "corban" (oblation); the Jacobites "tabho" (seals);
the Syrians "gamouro" (burning coals), and, by anticipation, these
names are sometimes applied to the bread even before its Consecration.
Material
The valid material of the Eucharistic host is
unadulterated wheat reduced to flour, diluted with natural water, and baked
with fire. Some theologians have discussed the use of various flours, but if we
except Paludanus, who considers as valid bread made with starch, and Cajetan,
who allows bread made with any kind of grain and diluted with milk, we may say
that theologians agree upon the rejection of buckwheat, barley, oats, etc. St.
Thomas authorizes the use of siligo, but this term seems obscure. In Pliny and
Celsus it signifies wheaten flour, but St. Thomas does not invest siligo with
the same meaning, else why should there be question of tolerating it? Moreover,
had he alluded to rye, he would have used the word secale. Perhaps by siligo he
intended to designate an inferior kind of wheat grown in bad soil.
Elements
The preparation of the host gave rise among certain
Gnostic sects to abominable and shocking practices, of which there is a
detailed account in the writings of St. Epiphanius. Sometimes the flesh of a
foetus was ground and mixed with aromatics; sometimes flour was kneaded with
the blood of a child, and there were other proceedings too obnoxious to
mention. But these horrors were perpetrated only by a few degraded groups
(Epiphanius, "Haer.", c. xxvi, 5; Augustinus, "Haer.",
xxvi, xxvii). Less offensive were the Artotyrites and those who, like them,
compounded a mixture of bread and cheese, or, after the fashion of the
Barsanians, used a pinch of undiluted flour.
All the Oriental communions, with the exception of
the Armenians and Maronites, use leavened bread. We know how seriously the
Greeks have considered the question of unleavened bread (see AZYMES). But whether
leavened or unleavened, bread is the element, and a large number of Greeks
admit that both kinds constitute valid material for the sacrament. In the
Western Church it is the uniform practice to use unleavened bread. Properly
speaking, Lutherans attach but little importance to whether the bread is
leavened or not, but generally they use it unleavened. The Calvinists use only
common bread, although, when their sect was in its infancy, there was some
indecision on this point. At Geneva leavened bread was used exclusively for
several years and Theodore Beza maintained that any kind of bread, no matter
what its origin, was suitable for the Eucharist. The Anglican Liturgy of 1549
prescribes the use of unleavened bread. In the East the Syrian Jacobites and the
Nestorians knead their altar-bread with a paste of oil and salt, a custom
censured by the Egyptians. The Sabaites or Christians of St. John make their
hosts out of flour, wine, and oil; the Copts and the Abyssinians consecrate
with leavened bread except on Holy Thursday and the twelfth day of June, and
the Mingrelians use all kinds of bread, their hosts being usually made of flour
mixed with water and wine.
Preparation
There is nothing to indicate that the first
Christians thought of reproducing the appearance of the "loaves of
proposition" of the Jewish Liturgy; they simply used the bread that served
as food. It seems that the form differed but little from what it is in our day.
The loaves discovered in an oven of a bakery at Pompeii weighed about a pound
each. One of these, being perfectly preserved, measured about seven inches in
diameter and was creased with seven ridges which facilitated the breaking of
the loaf without the aid of a knife. Other loaves represented on bas-reliefs,
chiefly in the Lateran museum, bore an incision in the form of two crossed
lines and, for this reason, were called quadra. Loaves of this kind must have
been preferred for the Eucharistic oblation because the sign of the cross was
already traced on them; indeed, the most ancient Christian monuments show us
loaves marked thus. Paintings in the catacombs and some very antique
bas-reliefs represent loaves marked with this sign and others simply marked
with a point. The ridges were intended to facilitate the breaking of the loaf and
it is probable that their number was regulated by the size of the loaf in
common use. A fresco in the cemetery of Lucina represents a fish, the symbol of
Christ, and on its back a basket containing the Eucharistic wine and loaf, the
latter marked with a point. A Modena marble shows five loaves marked with a
cross.
Out of respect for the sacrament, some of the
faithful would not consent to having the bread made by bakers, and took charge
of it themselves. Several ancient examples are cited, notably that of Candida,
the wife of one of Valerian's generals, who "laboured all night kneading
and moulding with her own hands the loaf of the oblation". In the Rule of
St. Pachomius, religious are recommended to devote themselves to meditation
while kneading the sacrificial loaf. Queen Radegunde is mentioned for the
reverence with which she attended to the preparation of the hosts intended to
be consumed in her monastery of Poitiers and in many surrounding churches.
Theodulph, Bishop of Orléans, commanded his priests either to make the
altar-breads themselves or to have the young clerics do so in their presence.
Many facts go to show the prevalence and extent of this custom. In monasteries
hosts were made principally during the weeks preceding the feasts of Christmas,
Easter, and Pentecost, and the process assumed a very solemn character. At
Cluny three priests or three deacons fasting and having recited the Office of
Lauds, the seven penitential psalms, and the litanies, took one or two lay
brothers as their assistants. Novices had picked, sorted, and ground the grains
of wheat, and the flour thus obtained was placed on a rimmed table. It was then
mixed with cold water, and a lay brother, whose hands were gloved, put this
preparation in the iron used for making hosts and baked it at a large fire of
vine branches. Two other operators took the hosts as they were baked, cut, and
pared them, and, if necessary, rejected those that were either soiled or
cracked.
In the Abbey of Saint-Denys those who made the
altar-breads were fasting. They took some of the best wheat, selected grain by
grain, washed it, and turned it into a sack to be taken to the mill, the
millstones being washed for the occasion. A religious then donned an alb and
ground the wheat himself while two priests and two deacons, vested in albs and
amices, kneaded the dough in cold water and baked the hosts. At Saint-Etienne
de Caen the religious employed in this work dined together on that day, their
table being served as was that of the abbot. Some monasteries cultivated the
Eucharistic wheat in a special field which they called the field of the
"Corpus Domini". Du Cange mentions a charter dated 1406 by which it
would seem that women, even nuns, were forbidden to make hosts; but it is
doubtful whether this measure was ever generally enforced. St. Radegunde
certainly had many imitators, despite the prejudice against the making of hosts
by laymen or women, a prejudice so rooted that in the Middle Ages there were in
the Diocese of Narbonne people who believed that hosts made by women were not
qualified for transubstantiation.
An echo of this is found in official acts. The
Council of Milan, 1576, prescribes the making of hosts in monasteries and
forbids it to laymen. A council of Cambrai in 1631 ordains that "in each city
there shall be a person charged with making the altar-breads from the best and
purest wheat and after the manner indicated to him. He must previously take an
oath to discharge faithfully the duties of his office. He shall not be
permitted to buy from others the bread to be used in the Holy Sacrifice."
As early as the fourteenth century the making of hosts had become a business.
The confraternity of the oblayers (host-makers) had a special ecclesiastical
authorization to carry on that work. The liturgist Claude de Vert mentions a
sign used by them in the eighteenth century in the city of Puy: "Céans se
font de belles hosties avec la permission de M. l'évêque du Puy." Before
the French Revolution, in many dioceses, each curé made the hosts used in his
own church. At present many parishes apply to religious communities which make
a specialty of altar-breads. This offers a guarantee against the falsifications
always to be feared when recourse is had to the trade: unscrupulous makers have
been guilty of adulterating the wheaten flour with alum, sulphates of zinc and
copper, carbonates of ammonia, potassium, or magnesia, or else of substituting
bean flour or the flour of rice or potatoes for wheaten flour.
In the Middle Ages, as stated, the baking of hosts
took place at three or four principal feasts of the year. This practice was
abandoned later on account of the possible chemical change in the substance of
the bread when kept for so long a time. St. Charles Borromeo ordered all the
priests of his diocese to use for the Holy Sacrifice only hosts made less than
twenty days previously. The Congregation of Rites condemned the abuse of
consecrating hosts which, in winter, had been made three months and in summer
six months ahead of time.
Some prescriptions of the Oriental Churches are
worthy of notice; moreover, some of them are still in use. The Constitutions
ascribed to St. Cyril of Alexandria prescribe that the Eucharistic bread be
baked in the church oven (Renaudot, "Liturg. orient. coll.", I, 189);
among the Copts, Syrians, Jacobites, Melchites, Nestorians, and Armenians, the
altar-breads must be baked on the very day of their consecration. In the
"Canonical Collection" of Bar-Salibi there are prescriptions
concerning the choice of wheat which differ but slightly from those of the
West. In Ethiopia each church must have a special oven for the making of hosts.
In Greece and Russia the altar-breads are prepared by priests, widows, the
wives or daughters of priests, or the so-called calogerae, i.e. nuns, whereas,
in Abyssinia, women are excluded. The Nestorians of Malabar, after kneading the
flour with leaven, are accustomed to work in some of the leaven left from the
preceding baking. They believe that this practice dates from the earliest
Christian times and that it preserves the leaven brought to Syria by Saints
Thomas and Thaddeus, for, according to another Nestorian tradition, the
Apostles, prior to their separation celebrated the Liturgy in common and each
carried away a portion of the bread then consecrated.
Moulds
for hosts
The moulds used for hosts are iron instruments
similar to waffle-irons, composed of two palettes which come together with the
aid of two bent handles acting as a lever. Abbé Corblet says that their
existence is established as early as the ninth century, although no specimen
earlier than the twelfth century was known to exist in recent times. The
discovery some time ago, however, of one of these moulds at Carthage carries us
back probably to the sixth or seventh century, before the destruction of that
city by the Arabs. On this mould around the monogram of Christ is the
inscription: HIC EST FLOS CAMPI ET LILIUM (Delattre, "Un pèlerinage aux
ruinesde Carthage", 31, 46). Unfortunately this precious relic of
Christian antiquity is incomplete.
The lower plate of a mould for hosts is engraved
with two, four, or six figures of hosts which, by means of pressure, are
reproduced on the paste and fixed there by baking. From the ninth to the
eleventh century the irons moulded very thick hosts about as large as the palm
of the hand. Towards the end of the eleventh century the dimensions were
considerably reduced so that, with the same instrument, four hosts, two large
and two small, could be moulded. With a thirteenth-century iron preserved at
Sainte-Croix de Poitiers, two large hosts and three small ones can be made
simultaneously, and an iron at Naintre (Vienne) moulds five hosts at once, all
varying in size. A certain number of host-irons bear the date of making, the
initial of the engraver's name, and the donor's coat-of-arms. A
fourteenth-century mould at Saint-Barban (Haute-Vienne) makes hosts of
different types for Lent and Easter time. The larger ones measure two and
one-eighth inches in diameter and the smaller ones one and one-seventh inches;
at the same period some large hosts had a diameter of two and three- fourths
inches. A fifteenth-century iron at Bethine (Vienne) makes hosts bearing the
figure of the triumphant Lamb, of the Holy Face surrounded with fleurs-de-lis,
also of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. In the sixteenth century at
Lamenay (Nievre) hosts were made representing Jesus Christ seated on His throne
and imparting His blessing, the background being studded with stars; at
Montjean (Maine-et-Loire) they were stamped with the image of Christ Crucified
and Christ Risen, delicately framed in lilies and roses and heraldic in aspect.
At Rouez (Sarthe) is an iron that moulds two hosts; the one represents Christ
carrying His cross and bears the inscription: QUI. VEULT. VENIRE. POST. ME.
TOLLAT. CRUCEM. SUAM. ET. SEQUATUR. ME.; the other represents the Crucifixion
and is thus inscribed: FODERUNT. MANUS. MEAS. ET. PEDES. MEOS. DINUMERAVERUNT.
OMNIA. OSSA. MEA.
Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century host-irons have
been preserved in large numbers, and are quite similar to those now in use,
being stamped with the Lamb lying on the book, Christ upon the Cross, or the
letters I H S emitting rays and encircled with grapes and thorns. Among the
remarkable host-irons that have escaped destruction we may mention those of
Beddes, Azy, Chassy, and Vailly (Cher), all four belonging to the thirteenth
century; those of Palluau (Indre) and of Crouzilles and Savigny
(Indre-et-Loire), etc. Notable among the collections of the imprints of
host-irons are those of M. Dumontet at Bourges, of M. Barbier de Montault at
Limoges, of the Cluny museum, and of the Eucharistic museum of Paray-le-Monial.
The Eastern Churches generally use a wooden mould. To make the hosts baked in
the mould quite round they are cut with scissors, a punch, or a compass, one of
the legs of which terminates in a knife.
Form
and dimensions
The first mention of the form of hosts is found in
St. Epiphanius in the fourth century when he says: "hoc est enim rotundae
formae", but the fact had already been placed on record by catacomb
paintings and by very ancient bas-reliefs. Unity of form and size was only
slowly established, and different customs prevailed in different provinces. At
an early date the councils attempted to introduce uniformity on this point; one
held at Arles in 554 ordered all the bishops of that province to use hosts of
the same form as those used in the church of Arles. According to Mabillon, as
early as the sixth century hosts were as small and thin as now, and it is stated
that from the eighth century it was customary to bless small hosts intended for
the faithful, an advantageous measure which dispensed with breaking the host
and consequently prevented the crumbling that ensued.
As late as the eleventh century we find some
opposition to the custom, then growing general, of reserving a large host for
the priest and a small one for each communicant. However, by the twelfth
century the new custom prevailed in France, Switzerland, and Germany; Honorius
of Autun states in a general way that the hosts were in the form of
"denarii". The monasteries held out for a longer time, and as late as
the twelfth century the ancient system was still in force at Cluny. In 1516 the
Missal of Rouen prescribed that the celebrant break the host into three parts,
the first to be put into the chalice, the second to be received in Holy
Communion by the celebrant and ministers and the third to be kept as Viaticum
for the dying. The Carthusians reserved a very large host, a particle of which
they broke off for each Viaticum. Eventually all hosts were made round and
their dimensions varied but little. However, some very large ones were at times
consecrated for monstrances, on occasion of the Exposition of the Blessed
Sacrament. Today in Rome the large hosts are nine centimetres in diameter and
the small ones four centimetres. In other countries they are usually not so
large. In 1865 Pius IX authorized the priests exiled to Siberia to consecrate
the Eucharist with wheaten bread that had not the form of a round host.
Figures
From ancient monuments in painting, sculpture, and
epigraphy we have seen the general usage of tracing a cross on the Eucharistic
loaves which were thence called decussati (Latin decussis, a coin marked X).
For the early Greek-speaking Christians the cross (X), being the initial of the
name of Christ (Xpistos [i.e. Christos]), was constantly in evidence; soon the
idea was conceived of replacing the plain cross by the monogram, and finally
there were added on either side the letters Alpha and Omega (i.e. the beginning
and the end) as on the Carthaginian moulds. In certain countries the plain
cross continued to exist for a long time; in the Diocese of Arles no other sign
was tolerated until the Revolution. Beginning with the twelfth century,
however, the crucifix was almost universally substituted for the cross, though
this iconographic form was never made obligatory. Besides the Crucifixion we
find the Resurrection, Christ at the pillar, the angel holding a chalice, the
Lamb either lying down or standing, Our Lady at Bethlehem, at Calvary, or being
assumed into heaven, the Last Supper, the Ascension, the Holy Face, St. Martin
dividing his cloak, St. Clare carrying the ciborium, the symbols of the
Evangelists, etc.
Inscriptions
The bread made by Roman bakers bore the maker's name
or initials, and it would seem that this practice extended even to Eucharistic
bread, but on this subject our information is rather vague. We often read an
inscription of a symbolical or mystical character such as that found on the
host-moulds of Carthage. Here are some of the commonest examples: "I H
S" (Jesus); "I H S X P S" (i.e. Jesus Christus); "Hoc est
corpus meum"; "Panis quem ego dabo caro mea est"; "Ego sum
panis vivus qui de coelo descendi"; "Si quis manducaverit ex hoc pane
vivet in aeternum"; "Ego sum via veritas et vita"; "Ego sum
resurrectio et vita"; "Plectentes coronam de spinis imposuerunt in
capite ejus"; "Foderunt manus meas et pedes meos; dinumeraverunt omnia
ossa mea"; "Et clamans Jesus voce magna emisit spiritum";
"Resurrectio Domini"; "In hoc signo vinces, Constantine".
Leavened
bread
The leavened hosts of the Greeks are of a large
size, sometimes round, triangular, or in the form of a cross, but oftener
square. On the under side they have a quadrangular imprint divided into four
equal parts by a Greek cross and bearing the inscription IC XC NI KA (Iesous
Christos nikai), i.e. "Jesus Christ is victor".
The corban of the Copts is a white, round, leavened
loaf, flat underneath, convex on the top, and as large as the palm of the hand.
It is stamped with twelve little squares each containing a cross in honour of
the Twelve Apostles. In the centre a larger square isbodion is marked with a
large cross divided by four small ones; it is the symbol of Christ. This
central portion is used for the Communion of the celebrant, the other parts
("pearls") being distributed among the faithful. The inscription
reads: "Agios, agios, agios Kurios"; or else "Kurios
Sabaoth" or "agios iskuros, agios athanatos, agios o theos". The
schismatic Armenians use an unleavened host about the size and thickness of a
five-franc- or dollar-piece and bearing the stamp of a crucifix having on the
right a chalice surmounted by a host and on the left a spear or a cross. The Mingrelians
have a small, round host weighing a little over an ounce with a square stamp,
the inscription signifying: "Jesus Christ is victor." The Confession
of Augsburg maintained the use of small round hosts which the Calvinists
rejected under pretext that they were not bread. In Germany the Evangelical
Churches use round, white breads eight centimetres in diameter by nine in
thickness. Christian antiquity has transmitted to us pyxes or boxes intended to
hold the Eucharist, but as these should be considered in connection with sacred
vessels, it is not necessary here to dwell upon them but simply upon the boxes
in which the altar-breads are kept prior to consecration and which are
generally very plain. In the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance these boxes
were very rich, being made of silver, ivory, and enamel. Ancient host-boxes are
very rare, but those now in use are of tin-plate or pasteboard, generally with
some trimming.
Miraculous
hosts
The Eucharist has been the object of a great many
miracles often referred to in ecclesiastical history; not all, however, have
been well enough authenticated to place them beyond doubt. In some of the
miracles the host appears as transformed into a new substance; sometimes it has
remained intact during a considerable period; sometimes blood has flowed from
it, etc.
In the third century St. Cyprian mentions that a man
was preparing to Communicate in mortal sin; for this purpose he received the
Eucharist in his hands when instantly the bread turned to ashes. Sozomen, a
fifth-century historian, relates a miracle that took place at Constantinople
where a heretic had undertaken to convert his wife. Simulating a change of life
she went to Communion, but had barely attempted to eat a piece of bread, which
she had substituted for the Eucharist, when she perceived that the said piece
had changed to stone.
About the ninth century, when anti-Eucharistic
heresies began to appear, accounts of miracles multiplied in a way to convince
even the most obstinate. John the Deacon ascribed a most extraordinary act to
Gregory the Great when he related that, with the point of a knife, this pope
had caused blood to issue from a corporal. In the ninth century Paschasius
Radbertus, writing of the Body and Blood of the Saviour, recounts that a priest
named Plegilus beheld, instead of the Host, Jesus Christ under the sensible
form of a child, and pressed Him to his heart. At his request the Lord again
veiled Himself under the appearance of wine. At Fécamp a legend dating back to
the tenth century related that the priest of a little chapel situated about
three miles from the abbey found at the moment of Communion neither bread nor
wine but the Flesh and Blood of Christ. Appalled, he reported the fact at the
abbey, the miracle was confirmed, and the chalice and paten, together with the
species, were enclosed beneath the high altar of the church.
Occasionally hosts have been preserved for a very
long time. It is related that St. Norbert deposited in the church of St.
Michael at Antwerp hosts that had remained intact for fifteen years,
notwithstanding the fact that, through contempt, they had been left in damp
places by partisans of the heretic Tanchelin. The feast called
"Saint-Sacrement du Miracle" was for centuries solemnly celebrated at
Douai where, from Easter Tuesday, 14 April, 1254, until the time of the
Revolution, an annual procession took place in commemoration of the host in
which the people declared that they distinctly beheld the Body of the Lord. In
1792 the miraculous host disappeared; it was believed to have been found again
in a bequest made by one of the faithful but, for want of certainty, no honour
was afterwards paid it. The collegiate church of Sainte-Gudule at Brussels
preserves miraculous hosts which, after the perpetration of many outrages by
the Jews in 1370, were collected and, subsequently to 1529, became the occasion
of an annual procession still celebrated.
It is said that, in the thirteenth century,
miraculous blood issued from a Host and that for a long time afterwards it
lasted without the slightest alteration. Miracles of bleeding Hosts are
reported to have occurred in many places during the Middle Ages, and both the
miracle and the sacrilege that occasioned it were sometimes commemorated by
processions or monuments. In 1290 a Parisian Jew committed a series of outrages
upon a Host and he was put to death. An expiatory chapel was erected over his
house, and this sanctuary was successively named: "La maison où Dieu fut
bouilli", "L'église du Sauveur bouillant", "La chapelle du
miracle", and finally "L'église des billettes". In 1444 this
episode was dramatized, and in 1533, on the feast of Corpus Christi, "The
Mystery of the Holy Host" was played at Laval. We might also mention the
miraculous Host that bled when touched by profane hands and was carried, in
1317, to the Abbey of Herckenrode in the County of Loos, where it was venerated
until the time of the Revolution, and the miracle of Blanot that occurred in
1331 in the Diocese of Autun (now the Diocese of Dijon), when a Host left a
bloody impress upon a cloth.
In olden times many cities possessed a miraculous
Host, but the French Revolution destroyed a certain number of them, especially
the one at Dijon where each year a Mass of expiation is yet celebrated in the
church of St. Michael. In other places the miraculous Hosts have disappeared,
but their ancient feast is still commemorated. In the seventeenth century the
Benedictine abbey at Faverney (Haute-Saône) was the scene of a noted miracle.
On the night of 23 May, 1608, while the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament was
in progress, a fire consumed the tabernacle, the linens, and the entire altar;
but the ostensorium remained stationary, being suspended in the air without any
support. This prodigy lasted for thirty-three hours, was well authenticated by
thousands of persons, and was made the object of an investigation, the
documents of which have been preserved. The ostensorium contained two Hosts, so
that the crucifix could be seen from both sides. One of the Hosts was given to the
city of Dole, where it was destroyed in 1794, and the other is preserved in the
parish church of Faverney, where the anniversary is celebrated annually on the
Monday after Pentecost.
These miracles have been selected from among a
multitude of others, and we have not pretended to emphasize either the most
authentic or the most marvellous. Moreover, the subject we have just treated is
so vast that it would be easy to compile from the historical material a work of
great theological interest, both conclusive and detailed.
(Henri Leclercq, "Host," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Tabernacle
Tabernacle signified in the Middle Ages sometimes a
ciborium-altar, a structure resting on pillars and covered with a baldachino
that was set over an altar, sometimes an ostensory or monstrance, a
tower-shaped vessel for preserving and exhibiting relics and the Blessed
Sacrament; sometimes, lastly, like today, it was the name of the vessel holding
the pyx.
That is, at the present time in ecclesiastical usage
it is only the name for the receptacle or case placed upon the table of the
high altar or of another altar in which the vessels containing the Blessed
Sacrament, as the ciborium, monstrance, custodia, are kept. As a rule, in
cathedrals and monastic churches it is not set upon the high altar but upon a
side altar, or the altar of a special sacramentary chapel; this is to be done
both on account of the reverence due the Holy Sacrament and to avoid impeding
the course of the ceremonies in solemn functions at the high altar. On the
other hand it is generally to be placed upon the high altar in parish churches
as the most befitting position ("Cærem. ep.", I, xii, No. 8;
"Rit. rom.", tit. IV, i, no. 6; S.C. Episc., 10 February, 1579).
A number of decisions have been given by the Sacred
Congregation of Rites regarding the tabernacle. According to these, to mention
the more important decisions, relics and pictures are not to be displayed for
veneration either on or before the tabernacle ("Decreta auth.", nos.
2613, 2906). Neither is it permissible to place a vase of flowers in such
manner before the door of the tabernacle as to conceal it (no. 2067). The
interior of the tabernacle must either be gilded or covered with white silk
(no. 4035, ad 4); but the exterior is to be equipped with a mantle-like
hanging, that must be either always white or is to be changed according to the
colour of the day; this hanging is called the canopeum (no. 3520; cf.
"Rit. rom., loc. cit.). A benediction of the tabernacle is customary but
is not prescribed.
History
In the Middle Ages there was no uniform custom in
regard to the place where the Blessed Sacrament was kept. The Fourth Lateran
Council and many provincial and diocesan synods held in the Middle Ages require
only that the Host be kept in a secure, well-fastened receptacle. At the most
they demand that it be put in a clean, conspicuous place. Only a few synods
designate the spot more closely, as the Synods of Cologne (1281) and of Münster
(1279) which commanded that it was to be kept above the altar and protected by
locking with a key. In general, four main methods of preserving the Blessed
Sacrament may be distinguished in medieval times:
in a
cabinet in the sacristy, a custom that is connected with early Christian usage;
in a
cupboard in the wall of the choir or in a projection from one of the walls
which was constructed like a tower, was called Sacrament-House, and sometimes
reached up to the vaulting;
in a dove
or pyx, surrounded by a cover or receptacle and generally surmounted by a small
baldachino, which hung over the altar by a chain or cord;
lastly,
upon the altar table, either in the pyx alone or in a receptacle similar to a
tabernacle, or in a small cupboard arranged in the reredos or predella of the
altar.
This last method is mentioned in the "Admonitio
synodalis" of the ninth century by Regino of Prüm (d. 915), later by
Durandus, and in the regulations issued by the Synods of Trier and Münster
already mentioned. Reredoses containing cupboards to hold the Blessed Sacrament
can be proved to have existed as early as the fourteenth century, as, for
instance, the altar of St. Clara in the Cologne cathedral, although they were
not numerous until the end of the medieval period. The high altar dating from
1424 in the Church of St. Martin at Landshut, Bavaria, is an example of the
combination of reredos and Sacrament-House. From the sixteenth century it
became gradually, although slowly, more customary to preserve the Blessed
Sacrament in a receptacle that rose above the altar table. This was the case
above all at Rome, where the custom first came into use, and in Italy in
general, influenced largely by the good example set by St. Charles Borromeo.
The change came very slowly in France, where even in the eighteenth century it was
still customary in many cathedrals to suspend the Blessed Sacrament over the
altar, and also in Belgium and Germany, where the custom of using the
Sacrament-House was maintained in many places until after the middle of the
nineteenth century, when the decision of the Sacred Congregation of Rites of 21
August, 1863, put an end to the employment of such receptacles.
(Joseph Braun, "Tabernacle," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Sanctuary / Altar Lamp
In the Old Testament God commanded that a lamp
filled with the purest oil of olives should always burn in the Tabernacle of
the Testimony without the veil (Exodus 27:20, 21). The Church prescribes that
at least one lamp should continually burn before the tabernacle (Rit. Rom. iv,
6), not only as an ornament of the altar, but for the purpose of worship. It is
also a mark of honour. It is to remind the faithful of the presence of Christ,
and is a profession of their love and affection. Mystically it signifies
Christ, for by this material light He is represented who is the "true
light which enlighteneth every man" (John 1:9). If the resources of the
church permit, it is the rule of the Caerem. Episc. (1, xii. 17) that more than
one light should burn before the altar of the Blessed Sacrament, but always in
uneven numbers, i.e. three, five, seven, or more. The lamp is usually suspended
before the tabernacle by means of a chain or rope, and it should hang
sufficiently high and removed from the altar-steps to cause no inconvenience to
those who are engaged in the sanctuary. It may also be suspended from, or
placed in a bracket at the side of the altar, provided always it be in front of
the altar within the sanctuary proper (Cong. Sac. Rit., 2 June, 1883). The
altar-lamp may be made of any kind of metal, and of any shape or form.
According to the opinion of reputable theologians, it would be a serious
neglect, involving grave sin, to leave the altar of the Blessed Sacrament
without this light for any protracted length of time, such as a day or several
nights (St. Lig., VI, 248). For symbolical reasons olive oil is prescribed for
the lamp burning before the altar of the Blessed Sacrament, for it is a symbol
of purity, peace, and godliness. Since pure olive oil, without any admixture,
causes some inconvenience in the average American climate, oil containing
between 60 and 65 per cent of pure olive oil is supposed to be legitimate
material. Where olive oil cannot be had, it is allowed, at the discretion of
the ordinary, to use other, and as far as possible vegetable, oils (Cong. Sac.
Rit., 9 July, 1864). In case of necessity, that is, in very poor churches, or
where it is practically impossible to procure olive or vegetable oils, the
ordinary, according to the general opinion of theologians, would be justified
to authorize the use of petroleum. We are of the opinion, however, that there
are but few parishes that can claim this exemption on the plea of poverty. Gas
(Ephem. Lit., IX, 176, 1895) and electric lights (Cong. Sac. Rit., 4 June,
1895) are not allowed in its stead. The Caerem. Episc. (ibid.) would have three
lights burn continually before the high altar, and one light before the other
altars, at least during Mass and Vespers. Before the Blessed Sacrament,
wherever kept, a lamp should be constantly burning. Our bishops have the power
of granting permission to a priest, under certain circumstances, to keep the
Blessed Sacrament in his house. In such cases, by virtue of Faculty, n. 24,
Form. I, the priest may keep it without a light, if otherwise it would be
exposed to the danger of irreverence or sacrilege. For the same reason we
believe It may be kept also in the church without a light during the night.
(Augustin Joseph Schulte, "Altar Lamp,"
Catholic Encyclopedia)
Altar Crucifix
The crucifix is the principal ornament of the altar.
It is placed on the altar to recall to the mind of the celebrant, and the
people, that the Victim offered on the altar is the same as was offered on the
Cross. For this reason the crucifix must be placed on the altar as often as
Mass is celebrated (Constitution, Accepimus of Benedict XIV, 16 July, 1746).
The rubric of the Roman Missal (xx) prescribes that it be placed at the middle
of the altar between the candlesticks, and that it be large enough to be
conveniently seen by both the celebrant and the people (Cong. Sac. Rit., 17
September, 1822). If for any reason this crucifix is removed, another may take
its place in a lower position; but in such cases it must always be visible to
all who assist at Mass (ibid.). We remarked above that a crucifix must be
placed on the altar during Mass. To this rule there are two exceptions:
when the
Crucifixion is the principal part of the altarpiece or picture behind the
altar. (We advisedly say the principal part of the altarpiece or picture, for
if the picture represents a saint, e.g. St. Francis Xavier holding a crucifix
in his hand, or St. Thomas kneeling before the cross, even if the cross be
large, such a picture is not sufficient to take the place of the altar-crucifix
— see Ephem. Lit., 1893, VII, 408) and
when the
Most Blessed Sacrament is exposed.
In both these cases the regular crucifix may be
placed on the altar; in the latter the local custom is to be followed (Cong.
Sac. Rit., 2 September, 1741), and if the crucifix is kept on the altar it is
not incensed (29 November, 1738). From the, first Vespers of Passion Sunday to
the unveiling of the cross on Good Friday, even if a solemn feast occur during
this interval, the altar-crucifix is covered with a violet veil (Cong. Sac.
Rit., 16 November, 1649), except during High Mass on the altar at which Mass is
celebrated on Holy Thursday when the veil is of white material (Cong. Sac.
Rit., 20 December, 1783), and on Good Friday, at the altar at which the
function takes place, when the veil may be of black material. This is the
custom in Rome (Martinucci, Van der Stappen, and others). From the beginning of
the adoration of the Cross, on Good Friday, to the hour of None, on Holy
Saturday inclusively, all, even the bishop, the canons and the celebrant, make
a simple genuflection to the cross (Cong. Sac. Rit., 9 May, 1857; 12 September,
1857). At all other times during the year a simple genuflexion is made to the
cross, even when the Blessed Sacrament is not kept in the tabernacle, during
any function, by all except the bishop, the canons of the cathedral, and the
celebrant (Cong. Sac. Rit., 30 August, 1892). The altar-crucifix need not be
blessed; but it may be blessed by any priest, by the formula "pro imaginibus"
(Rituale Rom., tit. viii, cap. xxv). It may be well to note that if, according
to the Renaissance style of architecture, the throne is a permanent structure
above the tabernacle, the altar-crucifix may never be placed under the canopy
under which the Blessed Sacrament is publicly exposed, or on the corporal which
is used at such exposition (Cong. Sac. Rit., 2 June, 1883). It is probable that
the custom of placing a crucifix on the altar did not commence long before the
sixth century. Benedict XIV (De Sacrificio Missae, P. I, 19) holds that this
custom comes down from the time of the Apostles. However, the earliest
documentary evidence of placing a cross on the altar is canon III of the
Council of Tours, held in 567: "Ut corpus Domini in Altari, non in
armario, sed sub crucis titulo componatur". Mariano Armellini (Lezioni di
Archeologia Sacra) tells us that the early Christians were not accustomed to
publicly expose the cross for fear of scandalizing the weak, and subjecting it
to the insults of the pagans, but in its stead used symbols, e.g. an anchor, a
trident, etc. A simple cross, without the figure of Christ, was fixed on the
top of the ciboria which covered the altars. (Augustin Joseph Schulte,
"Altar Crucifix," Catholic Encyclopedia)
Chalice
(Chalice
of Pope St. Pius X)
History
The chalice occupies the first place among sacred
vessels, and by a figure of speech the material cup is often used as if it were
synonymous with the Precious Blood itself. "The chalice of benediction,
which we bless", writes St. Paul, "is it not the communion of the
blood of Christ?" (1 Corinthians 10:16). No reliable tradition has been
preserved to us regarding the vessel used by Christ at the Last Supper. In the
sixth and seventh centuries pilgrims to Jerusalem were led to believe that the
actual chalice was still venerated in the church of the Holy Sepulchre, having
within it the sponge which was presented to Our Saviour on Calvary. Curiously
enough, while Antoninus of Piacenza refers to it as made of onyx, Adamnan, less
than a century later, describes it as a "silver cup holding the measure of
a Gallic sextarius and with two opposite handles" (see Geyer, Itinera,
Hierosolimitana, pp. 154, 173, 234, 305). At a much later period two other
vessels have been venerated as the chalice of the Last Supper. One, the sacro
catino of Genoa, is rather a dish than a cup and is made of green glass, though
long supposed to be an emerald, fourteen and a half inches in diameter and of
priceless value. The other, at Valencia in Spain, is a cup of agate. The fact
is that the whole tradition is untrustworthy and of late date. It will be
referred to further under the article GRAIL, and meanwhile we may be content to
quote the words of St. Chrysostom (Hom. l in Matt.): "The table was not of
silver, the chalice was not of gold in which Christ gave His blood to His
disciples to drink, and yet everything there was precious and truly fit to
inspire awe." So far as it is possible to collect any scraps of
information regarding the chalices in use among early Christians, the evidence
seems to favour the prevalence of glass, though cups of the precious and of
baser metals, of ivory, wood, and even clay were also in use. (See Hefele,
Beiträge, II, 323-5.) A passage of St. Irenæus (Hær., I, c. xiii) describing a
pretended miracle wrought by Mark the Gnostic who poured white wine into his
chalice and then after prayer showed the contents to be red, almost necessarily
supposes a vessel of glass, and the glass patens (patenas vitreas) mentioned in
the "Liber Pontificalis" under Zephyrinus (202-19) as well as certain
passages in Tertullian and St. Jerome, entirely favour the same conclusion. But
the tendency to use by preference the precious metals developed early. St.
Augustine speaks of two golden and six silver chalices dug up at Cirta in Africa,
(Contra Crescon., III, c. xxix), and St. Chrysostom of a golden chalice set
with gems (Hom. 1 in Matt.). As regards shape, our principal information at
this early period is derived from certain representations, said to be meant for
Eucharistic chalices, which are found in early mosaics, sarcophagi, and other
monuments of Christian art. The general prevalence of an almost stemless,
vase-shaped type with two handles, inclines us to believe that a glass vessel
of this nature discovered in the Ostrian catacomb on the Via Nomentana, and now
preserved in the Lateran Museum, may really have been a chalice. At an early
date it became common to inscribe the donor's name upon costly vessels
presented to churches. Thus it is known that Galla Placidia (d. 450) offered a
chalice with such an inscription to the church of Zacharias at Ravenna, and the
Emperor Valentinian III sent another to the church at Brive. Such goblets were
sometimes known as calices literati. The earliest specimen of a chalice of
whose original purpose we can feel reasonably confident is the chalice of
Chelles, preserved until the French Revolution and believed to have been
wrought by, or at least to date from the time of, the famous artificer St.
Eligius of Noyon, who died in 659. The material was gold, richly decorated with
enamels and precious stones. In shape it was without handles and like a celery
glass, with a very deep cup and no stem, but the cup was joined to the base by
a knop, which under the name of nodus or pomellum became a very characteristic
feature in the chalices of the Middle Ages. In many of the specimens described
or preserved from the Merovingian, Carlovingian, and Romanesque periods, it is
possible to make a distinction between the ordinary sacrificial chalice used by
bishops and priests in the Mass and the calices ministeriales intended for the
Communion of the faithful at Easter and other seasons when many received. These
latter chalices are of considerable size, and they are often, though not
always, fitted with handles, which, it is easy to understand, would have
afforded additional security against accidents when the sacred vessel was put
to the lips of each communicant in turn. In a rude and barbarous age the
practical difficulties of Communion under species of wine must have been
considerable, and it is not wonderful that from the Carolingian period onwards
the device was frequently adopted of using a pipe or reed (known by a variety
of names, fistula, tuellus, canna, arundo, pipa, calamus, siphon, etc.) for the
Communion of both clergy and people. To this day at the solemn papal high Mass,
the chalice is brought from the altar to the pope at his throne, and the
pontiff absorbs its contents through a golden pipe. This practice also lasted
down to the reformation among the Cistercians.
The
chalices of the Middle Ages
Of chalices earlier than the time of Charlemagne the
existing specimens are so few and so doubtful that generalization of any kind
is almost impossible. Besides the already mentioned chalice of Chelles, now destroyed,
only two of those still preserved can be referred confidently to a date earlier
than the year 800. The most remarkable of these is that of Tassilo, which bears
the inscription TASSILO DUX FORTIS + LUITPIRG VIRGA (sic) REGALIS. This
beautiful piece of metal work exhibits an egg-shaped cup joined to a small
conical base by a knop. The character of the ornamentation shows clearly the
predominance of Irish influences, even if it be not actually the work of an
Irish craftsman. Plainer in design, but very similar in form, is the chalice
said to have belonged to St. Ledger. Its Eucharistic character is proved beyond
doubt by the inscription which it bears: HIC CALIX SANGVINIS DNI IHV XTI. If,
as is possible, these words are intended to form a chronogram, they yield the
date 788. Of the succeeding period, by far the most remarkable example
preserved is the magnificent relic of Irish art known as the Chalice of Ardagh
(see picture), from the place near which it was accidentally discovered in
1868. This is a "ministerial" chalice and it has two handles. It is
seven inches in height but as much as nine and a half inches in diameter, and
the bowl is capable of containing nearly three pints of liquid. The material is
silver alloyed with copper, but gold and other metals have been used in its
wonderful ornamentation, consisting largely of interlacing patterns and rich
enamels. An inscription in very interesting ancient characters gives simply the
names of the Twelve Apostles, a list of course highly suggestive of the Last
Supper. The date conjecturally assigned to this masterpiece from the letters of
the inscription is the ninth or tenth century. But in any case the broadening
of the cup and the firm and wide base indicate a development which is
noticeable in nearly all the chalices of the Romanesque period. The chalice
known as that of St. Gozlin, Bishop of Toul (922-962), is still preserved in
the cathedral of Nancy. In its broad, low, circular form it much resembles the
last-named chalice. Another very beautiful ministerial chalice with handles,
but of later date (twelfth century?), is that of the Abbey of Wilten in the
Tyrol. It may be added that although these double-handled cups of precious
metal were no doubt primarily intended for the Communion of the people, they
were also on great occasions used by the celebrant in the Holy Sacrifice. The
fresco in the under-church of San Clemente in Rome (eleventh century?),
representing the Mass of St. Clement, shows a two-handled chalice upon the
altar, and the same may be seen in the famous liturgical ivory panel of the
Spitza collection (Kraus, Christliche Kunst, II, 18)
It is certain, however, that the chalices commonly
used for the private Masses of parish priests and monks were of a simpler
character, and in the eighth, ninth and following centuries much legislation
was devoted to securing that chalices should be made of becoming material. From
are mark attributed to St. Boniface (c. 740) that in the early ages of the
Church the priests were of gold and the chalices of wood, but that now the
chalices were of gold and the priests of wood, it might be inferred that he
would have favoured simplicity in the furniture of the altar, but the synodal
decrees of this period only aimed at promoting suitable reverence for the Mass.
England seems to have taken the lead in this matter, and in any case the
English canons may be quoted as typical of those which soon afterwards were
enforced everywhere. Thus the Council of Celchyth (Chelsea) forbade the use of
chalices or patens of horn quod de sanguine sunt, and the canons passed in the
reign of Edgar, under St. Dunstan, enjoined that all chalices in which the
"housel is hallowed" should be of molten work (calic gegoten) and
that none should be hallowed in a wooden vessel. The laws of the Northumbrian
priests imposed a fine upon all who should "hallow housel" in a
wooden chalice and the so-called canons of Ælfric repeated the injunction that
chalices of molten material, gold, silver, glass (glaesen) or tin should be
used, not horn, and especially not wood. Horn was rejected because blood had
entered into its composition. Probably, however, the most famous decree was
that included in the "Corpus Juris" (cap. xlv, dist. i, de
consecratione) "that the chalice of the Lord, together with the paten, if
not gold, must be entirely made of silver. If, however, anyone is so poor, let
him at least have a chalice of pewter. The chalice must not be made of brass or
copper, because it generates rust (i.e. verdigris) which causes nausea. And let
no one presume to say Mass with a chalice of wood or glass. This decree is
traditionally attributed to a certain council of Reims, but Hefele is unable to
identify it.
From the eleventh century onwards sufficient
chalices and representations of chalices survive to enable us to draw
conclusions regarding their evolution of form. A round knop, short stem, broad
firm base, and wide, rather shallow cup are characteristic of the earlier
period. One of the richest surviving examples is the chalice known as that of
St. Remi. It is remarkable for the maledictory inscription engraved on its
base: QUICUNQUE HUNC CALICEM INVADIAVERIT VEL AB HAC ECCLESIA REMENSI ALIQUO
MODO ALIENAVERIT ANATHEMA SIT. FIAT AMEN. In the thirteenth century, while the
cup of the ordinary chalice still remains broad and rather low, and base and
knop are circular, we find a certain development of the stem. On the other hand
the cup, in a large number of examples of the fourteenth century, tends to
assume a conical or funnel shape, while the stem and knop become angular, or
prismatic in section, generally hexagonal. The base is often divided into six
lobes to match the stem, and the knop itself is sometimes resolved into a group
of studs or bosses, which in certain fifteenth-century specimens give place to
a mass of areading and architectural ornament set with figures. The stem is at
the same time elongated and becomes much taller. Under Renaissance influences,
on the other hand, the ornamentation in the more sumptuous specimens of
chalices is often excessive, spending itself in the form of figured repoussé
work upon the base and stem. The cup almost invariably assumes a tulip shape,
which continues during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, while the
chalice greatly increases in height. With this, in the seventeenth century,
often went a very thin stem, or again a quite inadequate base, so that many
chalices of this period leave the well-founded impression of bring either
fragile or top heavy. The question of the restriction of Communion under both kinds
and the consequent withdrawal of the chalice from the laity is a matter of some
obscurity and does not belong to the present article. In many places where the
Precious Blood was no longer given to the people, it seems that to reconcile
them more easily to the change, a cup containing simple wine was presented to
each communicant as he left the sanctuary after receiving the Sacred Host.
Parish priests were enjoined to explain very carefully to the people that this
was only ordinary wine intended to enable them to swallow the Host more
readily. This practice, called purificatio, is still prescribed as part of the
rite of the General Communion on Easter Day in the "Cæremonial
Episcoporum" (II, cap. xxix). Probably a special chalice of large capacity
was reserved for this purpose. As it was very probably a chalice of large
capacity, with handles, it seems impossible to distinguish such a goblet from
the calix ministerialis of earlier times. Another kind of chalice referred to
by archæologists is that said to have been used after baptism to give milk and
honey to the neophytes, but no definite surviving example of such a vessel
seems to be known.
Present
legislation
According to the existing law of the Church the
chalice, or at least the cup of it, must be made either of gold or of silver,
and in the latter case the bowl must be gilt on the inside. In circumstances of
great poverty or in time of persecution a calix stanneus (pewter) may be
permitted, but the bowl of this also, like the upper surface of the paten, must
be gilt. Before the chalice and paten are used in the Sacrifice of the Mass
they require consecration. This rite is carried out according to a form
specially provided in the "Pontificale" and involving the use of holy
chrism. The consecration must be performed by a bishop (or in the case of
chalices intended for monastic use, by an abbot possessing the privilege), and
a bishop cannot in an ordinary way delegate any priest to perform this function
in his place. Further, if the chalice lose its consecration — which happens for
example if it be broken or the cup perforated, or even if it has had to be sent
to have the bowl regilded—it is necessary that it should be reconsecrated by
the bishop before it can again be used. Strictly speaking, only priests and
deacons are permitted to touch the chalice or paten, but leave is usually
granted to sacristans and those officially appointed to take charge of the
vestments and sacred vessels.
(Herbert Thurston, "Chalice," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Ciborium
A chalice-like vessel used to contain the Blessed
Sacrament. The word is of rather doubtful etymology, Some derive it from the
Latin word cibus, "food", because it is used to contain the Heavenly
Bread; while others trace it to the Greek kirorion, "cup", because of
the original shape of this Eucharistic receptacle. The term was also applied in
early Christian times to the Canopy that surmounted and crowned the altar (see
article ALTAR CANOPY), but according to modern liturgical usage the word
denotes exclusively the sacred vessel employed for the reservation of the
Consecrated Species. At the present day two vessels are used to reserve the
Blessed Sacrament: one, called a pyx, is a small round box and serves for
carrying the Blessed Sacrament to the sick; the other, generally styled a
ciborium, is used for distributing Holy Communion in churches and for reserving
the consecrated particles in the tabernacle. In shape the ciborium resembles a
chalice, but the cup or bowl is round rather than oblong, and provided with a
conical cover surmounted by a cross or some other appropriate device. The
bottom of the cup should be a little raised at the centre so that the last
particles may be easily removed and the purification more conveniently
performed. The material should be gold or silver (base metals are sometimes
allowed), but the interior of the cup must be always lined with gold. The
ciborium is not consecrated, but blessed by a bishop or some priest deputed by
him, according to the form given in the Roman Ritual. While containing the
Sacred Species it should be covered with small white veil of silk or cloth of
gold, and may not be handled except by sacred ministers; when empty and
purified it may be touched by all clerics (Cong. of Rites, Jan., 1907), and by
lay persons if specially authorized. In Eastern Churches the paten is commonly
used for the distribution of Communion, and the Blessed Sacrament is reserved
in gold or silver boxes covered with silk and suspended from the altar-canopy
in accordance with ancient custom.
During the first three centuries the Blessed
Eucharist was not generally reserved in churches owing to the danger of
profanation and the persecutions, but the faithful sometimes kept the Sacred
Species in Silver boxes in their homes for the purpose of receiving it at the
time of death (St. Jerome, De Afr. Pers., I; Tertullian, On Prayer 14, etc.).
In the fourth century there are evidences that it was reserved in churches, but
only for the sick. In the fifth and sixth centuries reservation was more common,
and the method adopted varied with time and place. The vessels which the Sacred
Species was kept were called indiscriminately capsa, pyxis, cuppa, turris,
columba, and ciborium, and were themselves preserved either in a chamber in the
sacristy (secretarium), in a niche in the wall or pillar (ambry), under an
altar, or in other places designated by the words diaconium, pastophorium,
vestiarium, etc. Subsequently it became the practice to reserve the Blessed
Sacrament in dove-shaped receptacles (columb) or in little towers (turres), the
former being suspended by chains from the ciborium or canopy of the altar, and
the latter being usually placed in the Armarium. In the sixteenth century the
columbæ and the towers began to disappear, and gave way to the tabernacle and
the custom which is now universal throughout the Western Church. Ancient
vessels of reservation may still be seen in the treasuries of continental
cathedrals at Milan, Cologne, Rouen, and elsewhere.
(Patrick Morrisroe, "Ciborium," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Paten
The eucharistic vessel known as the paten is a small
shallow plate or disc of precious metal upon which the element of bread is
offered to God at the Offertory of the Mass, and upon which the consecrated
Host is again placed after the Fraction. The word paten comes from a Latin form
patina or patena, evidently imitated from the Greek patane. It seems from the
beginning to have been used to denote a flat open vessel of the nature of a
plate or dish. Such vessels in the first centuries were used in the service of
the altar, and probably served to collect the offerings of bread made by the
faithful and also to distribute the consecrated fragments which, after the loaf
had been broken by the celebrant, were brought down to the communicants, who in
their own hands received each a portion from the patina. It should be noted,
however, that Duchesne, arguing from the language of the earliest Ordines
Romani (q.v.), believes that at Rome white linen bags were used for this
purpose (Duchesne, "Lib. Pont., I, introduct., p. cxliv). We have,
however, positive evidence that silver dishes were in use, which were called
patinæ ministeriales, and which seem to be closely connected with the calices
ministeriales in which the consecrated wine was brought to the people. Some of
these patinæ, as we learn from the inventories of church plate in the
"Liber Pontificalis" (I, pp. 202, 271 etc.), weighed twenty or thirty
pounds and must have been of large size. In the earliest times the patens, like
the chalices, were probably constructed of glass, wood, and copper, as well as
of gold and silver; in fact the "Liber Pontificalis" (I, 61 and 139)
speaks of glass patens in its notice of Pope Zephyrinus (A.D. 198-217).
When towards the ninth century the zeal of the
faithful regarding the frequent reception of Holy Communion very much declined,
the system of consecrating the bread offered by the faithful and of
distributing Communion from the patinæ seems gradually to have changed, and the
use of the large and proportionately deep patinæ ministeriales fell into
abeyance. It was probably about the same time that the custom grew up for the
priest himself to use a paten at the altar to contain the sacred Host, and
obviate the danger of scattered particles after the Fraction. This paten,
however, was of much smaller size and resembled those with which we are now
familiar. Some rather doubtful specimens of the old ministerial patens are
preserved in modern times. The best authenticated seems to be one discovered in
Siberia, in 1867 (see de Rossi in "Boll. di Archeol. Crist.", 1871,
153), but this measures less than seven inches in diameter. Another, of gold,
of oblong form was found at Gourdon. There is also what is believed to be a
Byzantine of alabaster in the treasury of St. Mark's at Venice. Some of these
patens are highly decorated, and this is what we should expect from the
accounts preserved in the "Liber Pontificalis". In the altar patens
of the medieval period we usually find a more marked central depression than is
now customary. This well or depression is usually set round with ornamental
lobes, seven, ten, or more in number. At the present day hardly any ornament is
used or permitted.
The paten, like the bowl of the chalice must be of
gold or silver gilt, and it cannot be used before it has been consecrated with
chrism by a bishop. The formula employed speaks of the vessel as blessed
"for the administration of the Eucharist of Jesus Christ, that the Body of
our Lord may be broken upon it." and also as "the new sepulchre of
the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ". In the Oriental liturgies there is
placed upon the altar a vessel called the discus, analogous to the paten, but
it is of considerably larger size.
(Herbert Thurston, "Paten," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Purificator
The purificator (purificatorium or more anciently
emunctorium) consists of a rectangular piece of linen usually folded twice
lengthwise and laid across the top of the chalice. It is used for wiping and
drying the chalice, or the paten, or the priest's lips, e.g. after the
ablutions. Unlike the corporal and the pall, it requires no special blessing.
In the Middles Age it was not customary, as it is nowadays, for each priest to
have a purificator of his own, frequently renewed, but it seems that a cloth of
this kind was kept at the altar which was used in common by all.
(Herbert Thurston, "Chalice," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Corporal
(From Latin corpus, body).
A square white linen cloth, now usually somewhat
smaller than the breadth of an altar, upon which the Sacred Host and chalice
are placed during the celebration of Mass. Although formal evidence is wanting,
it may fairly be assumed that something in the nature of a corporal has been in
use since the earliest days of Christianity. Naturally it is difficult in the
early stages to distinguish the corporal from the altar-cloth, and a passage of
St. Optatus (c. 375), which asks, "What Christian is unaware that in
celebrating the Sacred Mysteries the wood [of the altar] is covered with a
linen cloth?" (ipsa ligna linteamine cooperiri, Optatus, VI, ed. Ziwsa, p.
145), leaves us in doubt which he is referring to. This is probably the
earliest direct testimony; for the statement of the "Liber
Pontificalis", "He [Pope Sylvester] decreed that the Sacrifice should
not be celebrated upon a silken or dyed cloth, but only on linen, sprung from
the earth, as the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ was buried in a clean linen
shroud" (Mommsen, p. 51), cannot be relied upon. Still, the ideas
expressed in this passage are found in an authentic letter of St. Isidore of
Pelusium (Ep. i, 123) and again in the "Expositio" of St. Germanus of
Paris in the sixth century (P.L., LXXII, 93). Indeed they lasted through the
Middle Ages, as the verses attributed to Hildebert (P.L., CLXXI, 1194)
sufficiently show:
Ara crucis,
tumulique calix, lapidisque patena,
Sindonis
officium candida byssus habet.
It is quite probable that in the early centuries
only one linen cloth was used which served both for altar-cloth and corporal,
this being of large size and doubled back to cover the chalice. Much doubt must
be felt as to the original use of certain cloths of figured linen in the
treasury of Monza which Barbier de Montault sought to identify as corporals.
The corporal was described as palla corporalis, or velamen dominic mens, or
opertorium dominici corporis, etc.; and it seems generally to have been of
linen, though we hear of altar-cloths of silk (Greg. of Tours, "Hist.
Franc.", VII, 22; X, 16), or of purple (Paulus Silentiarius, "Descr.
S. Sophi", p. 758; a coloured miniature in the tenth-century Benedictional
of St. Æthelwold also seems to show a purple altar-covering), or of
cloth-of-gold (Chrysostom in Matt., Hom. l). In some of these cases it seems
difficult to decide whether altar-cloth or corporal is meant. However, there is
no doubt that a clear distinction had established itself in Carlovingian times
or even earlier. Thus, in the tenth century, Regino of Pr m (De Disc. Eccl.,
cap. cxviii) quotes a council of Reims as having decreed "that the
corporal [corporale] upon which the Holy Sacrifice was offered must be of the
finest and purest linen without admixture of any other fibre, because Our
Saviour's Body was wrapped not in silk, but in clean linen". He adds that
the corporal was never to remain on the altar, but was to be put in the Missal
[Sacramentorum libro] or shut up with the chalice and paten in some clean
receptacle. And when it was washed, it was to be washed first of all by a
priest, deacon, or subdeacon in the church itself, in a place or a vessel
specially reserved for this, because it had been impregnated with the Body and
Blood of Our Lord. Afterwards it might be sent to the laundry and treated like
other linen. The suggestion as to keeping the corporal between the leaves of
the Missal is interesting because it shows that it cannot, even in the tenth
century, have always been of that extravagant size which might be inferred from
the description in the "Second Roman Ordo" (cap. ix), where the
deacon and an assistant deacon are represented as folding it up between them.
Still it was big enough at this period to allow of its being bent back to cover
the chalice, and thus serve the purpose of our present pall. This is done by
the Carthusians to this day, who use no pall and have no proper elevation of
the chalice. As regards the size of the corporal, some change may have taken
place when it ceased to be usual for the people to bring loaves to the altar,
for there was no longer need of a large cloth to fold back over them and cover
them. Anyway, it is in the eleventh and twelfth centuries that the practice, of
doubling the corporal over the chalice gave place to a new plan of using a
second (folded) corporal to cover the mouth of the chalice when required. The
question is debated in some detail in one of the letters of St. Anselm, who
quite approves of the arrangement (P.L., CLVIII, 550); and a hundred years
later we find Pope Innocent III stating, "there are two kinds of palls or
corporals, as they are called [duplex est palla qu dicitur corporale] one which
the deacon spreads out upon the altar, the other which he places folded upon
the mouth of the chalice" (De Sacrif. Miss, II, 56). The essential unity
of the pall and the corporal is further shown by the fact that the special
blessing which both palls and corporals must always receive before use
designates the two as "linteamen ad tegendum involvendumque Corpus et
Sanguinem D.N.J.C.", i.e. to cover and enfold the Body and Blood of
Christ. This special blessing for corporals and palls is alluded to even in the
Celtic liturgical documents of the seventh century, and the actual form now
prescribed by the modern Roman Pontifical is found almost in the same words in
the Spanish "Liber Ordinum" of about the same early date.
According to existing liturgical rules, the corporal
must not be ornamented with embroidery, and must be made entirely of pure white
linen, though there seem to have been many medieval exceptions to this law. It
is not to be left to lie open upon the altar, but when not in use is to be
folded and put away in a burse, or "corporas-case", as it was
commonly called in pre-Reformation England. Upon these burses much
ornamentation is lavished, and this has been the case since medieval times, as
many existing examples survive to show. The corporal is now usually folded
twice in length and twice in breadth, so that when folded it still forms a
small square. At an earlier period, when it was larger and was used to cover
the chalice as well, it was commonly folded four times in length and thrice in
breadth. This practice is still followed by some of the older religious orders.
The corporal and pall have to pass through a triple washing at the hands of a
priest, or at least a subdeacon, before they may be sent to a laundry. Also,
when they are in use they may not be handled by any but the clergy, or
sacristans to whom special permission is given.
(Herbert Thurston, "Corporal," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Pall
The pall is a small square of stiffened linen
ornamented with a cross, which is laid upon the orifice of the chalice to
protect its contents from flies or dust. The word pallium, or palla, was
originally used of all kinds of coverings, notably of what we now call the
altar-cloths, and also of the corporal. Even in St. Gregory of Tours (Hist.
Franc., VII, xxii) we read of the sacred gifts being veiled by a pallium, which
was probably some sort of corporal. But about the time of St. Anselm (c. 1100)
the custom seems to have grown up in some places of using two corporals at the
altar. One was spread out, and upon it the chalice and host were laid. The
other, folded into smaller compass, served only to cover the chalice (sce
Giorgi, Liturgia Rom. Pont., II, 220, III, 79-81). This folded corporal is now
represented by the little disk of linen which we call the pall. At one time it
was forbidden to cover the pall with silk or rich embroidery; now the upper
surface may be of silk and embroidered, but the under-side, which is in contact
with the chalice, must still be linen. The original identity of the pall and
the corporal is further illustrated by the fact that both alike require to be
specially blessed before use.
(Herbert Thurston, "Chalice," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Chalice Veil
The chalice veil and the burse are of comparatively
recent introduction. Even Burchard, the compiler of the "Ordo Missae"
(1502), now represented by the rubricae generales of the Roman Missal, supposes
that the chalice and paten were brought by the priest to the altar in a
sacculum or lintheum, which seems to have been the ancestor of the present
veil. The burse, which is simply a cover used to keep the corporal from being
soiled, and which for that reason was known in Old English as a
"corporas-case", is somewhat older. Several medieval burses are still
preserved in the collection at Danzig. Nowadays both burse and veil are usually
made of the same material as that of the set of vestments to which they belong,
and they are similarly ornamented.
(Herbert Thurston, "Chalice," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Finger-towels
The finger towel is a cloth used to dry the priest’s
hands.
Decanter or Flagon
A decanter is a vessel that is used to hold the
decantation of a liquid (such as wine).
Cruet
A small vessel used for containing the wine and
water required for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Two are always employed. The
Roman Missal (Rubricæ Gen., XX) directs that they should be made of glass. This
is the most suitable material because easily cleaned, and its transparency
obviates danger of confounding the water and wine. Other materials, however,
are used, such as gold, silver, and other precious metals. In this case it is
advisable to have a V (Vinum) on the wine and an A (aqua) on the water cruet,
so that one may be easily distinguished from the other. In shape nothing is
prescribed, but the vessels should have a good firm base on which to stand
securely and a fairly wide neck so as to admit of being easily cleansed. They
should have a cover to keep away flies and insects. Formerly the wine for the
Holy Sacrifice was brought by the faithful in a jar-shaped vessel. It was then
received by the deacon and poured into the chalice, a vestige of which custom
is still observable at the consecration of a bishop.
(Patrick Morrisroe, “Cruet," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Credence table
A small table of wood, marble, or other suitable
material placed within the sanctuary of a church and near the wall at the
Epistle side, for the purpose of holding the cruets, acolytes' candles, and
other utensils required for the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice. The
credence, properly so called, is contemplated only in connexion with solemn
Masses; on it the chalice, paten, corporal, and veil are placed from the
beginning of the Mass until the Offertory. When a bishop celebrates, it should
be of larger dimensions than usual, the ordinary size being about forty inches
long, twenty broad, and thirty-six high. On very solemn festivals it should be
covered with a linen cloth extending to the ground on all sides, on less solemn
occasions the cloth should not extend so far, while on days of simple rite it
should merely cover the superficies. For low Masses the rubrics contemplate a
niche or bracket in the wall, or some small arrangement for holding the cruets,
finger-bowl, and towel, but custom now favours the use of a credence-table.
(Patrick Morrisroe, "Credence," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Ambry
The ambry is the cabinet that holds the holy oils
(also known as chrism), usually near the font.
Processional Cross
A processional cross is simply a crucifix which is
carried at the head of a procession, and which, that it may be more easily
seen, is usually mounted upon a long staff or handle.
From an archaeological point of view this subject
has already been briefly dealt with under Cross. It will suffice to note here
that the processional cross does not essentially differ from what may be called
the cross of jurisdiction which is borne before the pope, his legates, and
metropolitans or archbishops. The pope is entitled to have the cross borne
before him wherever he may be; a legate's cross is used only in the territory
for which he has been appointed, and that of an archbishop within the limits of
his province. All these crosses, including that of the pope, have in practice
only one bar. The double-barred cross is a sort of heraldic fiction which is
unknown in the ceremonial of the Church. It is supposed that every parish
possesses a cross of its own and that behind this, as a sort of standard, the
parishioners are marshalled when they have to take part in some general
procession. It is usual also for cathedral chapters and similar collegiate
bodies to possess a processional cross which precedes them in their corporate
capacity; and the same is true of religious, for whom usage prescribes that in
case of the monastic orders the staff of the cross should be of silver or
metal, but for the mendicant orders, of wood. In the case of these crosses of
religious orders, confraternities, etc. it is usual in Italy to attach
streamers to a sort of penthouse over the crucifix, or to the knob underneath
it. When these crosses are carried in procession the figure of Christ faces the
direction in which the procession is moving, but in the case of the papal,
legatine, and archiepiscopal crosses the figure of our Saviour is always turned
towards the prelate to whom it belongs. In England, during the Middle Ages, a
special processional cross was used during Lent. It was of wood, painted red
and had no figure of Christ upon it. It seems probable that this is identical
with the "vexillum cinericium" of which we read in the Sarum
Processional.
(Herbert Thurston, "Processional Cross," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
….
When Bede tells us that St. Augustine of England and
his companions came before Ethelbert "carrying a silver cross for a standard"
(veniebant crucem pro vexillo ferentes argenteam) while they said the litanies,
he probably touched upon the fundamental idea of the processional cross. Its
use seems to have been general in early times and it is so mentioned in the
Roman "Ordines" as to suggest that one belonged to each church. An
interesting specimen of the twelfth century still survives in the Cross of
Cong, preserved in the museum of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. This is made
of oak covered with copper plates, but much decoration is added in the form of
gold filigreework. It lacks most of the shaft, but is two feet six inches high,
and one foot six inches across the arms. In the centre is a boss of rock
crystal, which formerly enshrined a relic of the True Cross, and an inscription
tells us that it was made for Turloch O'Conor, King of Ireland (1123). It seems
never to have had any figure of Christ, but other processional crosses of the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries are for the most part true crucifixes. In a
great number of cases the shaft was removable, and the upper portion could be
set in a stand to be used as an altar-cross. Indeed it seems not impossible
that this was the actual origin of the altar-cross employed during Mass
(Rohault de Fleury, La Meese, V, 123-140). Just as the seven candlesticks
carried before the pope in Rome were deposited before or behind the altar, and
probably developed into the six altar-candlesticks (seven, it will be
remembered, when a bishop celebrates) with which we are now familiar, so the processional
cross seems also to have first been left in a stand near the altar and
ultimately to have taken its place upon the altar itself. To this day the
ritual books of the Church seem to assume that the handle of the processional
cross is detachable, for in the funeral of infants it is laid down that the
cross is to be carried without its handle. All Christians are supposed to be
the followers of Christ, hence in procession the crucifix is carried first,
with the figure turned in the direction in which the procession is moving.
(Herbert Thurston, "The Cross and Crucifix in
Liturgy," Catholic Encyclopedia)
Paschal Candle
The blessing of the "paschal candle",
which is a column of wax of exceptional size, usually fixed in a great
candlestick specially destined for that purpose, is a notable feature of the
service on Holy Saturday. The blessing is performed by the deacon, wearing a
white dalmatic. A long Eucharistic prayer, the "Præconium paschali"
or "Exultet", is chanted by him, and in the course of this chanting
the candle is first ornamented with five grains of incense and then lighted
with the newly blessed fire. At a later stage in the service, during the
blessing of the font, the same candle is plunged three times into the water
with the words: Descendat in hanc plenitudinem fontis virtus Spiritus
Sancti" (May the power of the Holy Spirit come down into the fulness of
this fountain). From Holy Saturday until Ascension Day the paschal candle is
left with its candlestick in the sanctuary, standing upon the Gospel side of
the altar, and it is lighted during high Mass and solemn Vespers on Sundays. It
is extinguished after the Gospel on Ascension Day and is then removed.
The results of recent research seem all to point to
the necessity of assigning a very high antiquity to the paschal candle. Dom
Germain Morin (Revue Bénédictine, Jan., 1891, and Sept., 1892) has successfully
vindicated, against Mgr. Duchesne and others, the authenticity of the letter of
St. Jerome to Presidius, deacon of Placentia (Migne, P.L., XXX, 188), in which
the saint replies to a request that he would compose a, carmen cerei, in other
words, a form of blessing like our "Exultet". Clearly this reference
to a carmen cerei (poem of the candle) must presuppose the existence, in 384,
of the candle itself which was to be blessed by the deacon with such a form,
and the saint's reply makes it probable that the practice was neither of recent
introduction nor peculiar to the church of Placentia. Again St. Augustine (City
of God XV.22) mentions casually that he had composed a laus cerei in verse; and
from specimens of similar compositions — all of them, however, bearing a close
family resemblance to our "Exultet "-which are found in the works of
Ennodius (Opusc., 14 and 81), it appears that there can be no sufficient ground
for doubting the correctness of this statement. Moreover, Mgr. Mercati has now
shown good reason for believing that the existing "Præconium
paschale" of the Ambrosian Rite was composed in substance by St. Ambrose
himself or else founded upon hymns of which he was the author (see "Studi
e Testi", XII, 37-38). There is, therefore, no occasion to refuse to Pope
Zosimus (c. 417) the credit of having conceded the use of the paschal candle to
the suburbicarian churches of Rome, although the mention of this fact is only
found in the second edition of the "Liber Pontificalis". Mgr.
Duchesne urges that this institution has left no trace in the earliest purely
Roman Ordines, such as the Einsiedeln Ordo and that of Saint-Amand; but these
speak of two faculæ; (torches) which were carried to the font before the pope
and were plunged into the water as is now done with the paschal candle. The
question of size or number does not seem to be very vital. The earliest council
which speaks upon the subject, viz., the Fourth of Toledo (A.D. 633, cap. ix),
seems to couple together the blessing of the lucerna and cereus as of equal
importance and seems also to connect them both symbolically with some
sacramentum, i.e. mystery of baptismal illumination and with the Resurrection
of Christ. And undoubtedly the paschal candle must have derived its origin from
the splendours of the celebration of Easter Eve in the early Christian
centuries. As pointed out in the article HOLY WEEK, our present morning service
on Holy Saturday can be shown to represent by anticipation a service which in
primitive times took place late in the evening; and which culminated in the
blessing; of the font and the baptism of the catechumens, followed immediately
by Mass shortly after midnight on Easter morning. Already in the time of
Constantine we are told by Eusebius (De Vita Constantini, IV, xxii) that the
emperor "transformed the night of the sacred vigil into the brilliancy of
day, by lighting throughout the whole city pillars of wax (kerou kionas), while
burning lamps illuminated every part, so that this mystic vigil was rendered
brighter than the brightest daylight". Other Fathers, like St. Gregory
Nazianzus and St. Gregory of Nyssa, also give vivid descriptions of the illumination
of the Easter vigil. Further, it is certain, from evidence that stretches back
as far as Tertullian and Justin Martyr, that upon this Easter eve the
catechumens were baptized and that this ceremony of baptism was spoken of as
photismos, i.e., illumination. Indeed, it seems highly probable that this is
already referred to in Hebrews 10:22, where the words "being
illuminated" seem to be used in the sense of being baptized (cf. St. Cyril
of Jerusalem, Cat. i, n. 15). Whether consciously designed for that purpose or
not, the paschal candle typified Jesus Christ, "the true light which
enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world", surrounded by His
illuminated, i.e. newly baptized disciples, each holding a smaller light. In
the virgin wax a later symbolism recognized the most pure flesh which Christ
derived from His blessed Mother, in the wick the human soul of Christ, and in
the flame the divinity of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Moreover,
the five grains of incense set cross-wise in the candle recalled the sacred
wounds retained in Christ's glorified body and the lighting of the candle with
new fire itself served as a lively image of the resurrection.
Of the practice of medieval and later times
regarding the paschal candle much might be said. We learn on the authority of
Bede, speaking of the year 701, that it was usual in Rome to inscribe the date
and other particulars of the calendar either upon the candle itself or on a
parchment affixed to it. Further, in many Italian basilicas the paschal
candlestick was a marble construction which was a permanent adjunct of the ambo
or pulpit. Several of these still survive, as in San Lorenzo fuori della mura
at Rome. Naturally the medieval tendency was to glorify the paschal candle by
making it bigger and bigger. At Durham we are told of a magnificent erection
with dragons and shields and seven branches, which was so big that it had to
stand in the centre of the choir. The Sarum Processional of 1517 directs that
the paschal candle, no doubt that of Salisbury cathedral, is to be thirty-six
feet in height, while we learn from Machyn's diary that in 1558, under Queen
Mary, three hundred weight of wax was used for the paschal candle of
Westminster Abbey. In England these great candles, after they had been used for
the last time in blessing the font on Whitsun Eve, were generally melted down
and made into tapers to be used gratuitously at the funerals of the poor (see
Wilkins, "Concilia", I, 571, and II, 298) At Rome the Agnus Deis were
made out of the remains of the paschal candles, and Mgr. Duchesne seems to
regard these consecrated discs of wax as likely to be even older than the
paschal candle itself.
(Herbert Thurston, "Paschal Candle," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Thurible (or Censer) & Incense
boat
A vessel suspended by chains, and used for burning
incense at solemn Mass, Vespers, Benediction, processions, and other important
offices of the Church. It is now commonly called a thurible. In its prevailing
shape the censer consists of a cup, or bowl, which rests on a firm base and is
provided with a hollow movable pan for holding ignited charcoal, a lid or
covering, and four chains about three feet in length, three of which unite the
bowl to a circular disc, while the fourth is used for raising the lid, to which
one end is attached, the other passing through a hole in the disc and
terminating in a small ring. To carry the censer the chains are grasped in the
hand just under the disc, care being taken to keep the base elevated to a
height of six or eight inches from the ground and to swing it gently to and fro
in order that the current of air thus created may cause the fire to burn the
fragrant gums or incense which is placed on it whenever the censer is being
used. The censer played an important part in the ancient religious worship both
of the Jews and Pagans. It is no wonder, then, that its employment in Christian
ceremonies goes back to the very earliest times. Its primitive form, however,
was quite different from what it is now, being something like a vase with a
perforated cover to emit the perfumed odours. Later on chains were added for
greater convenience in manipulation. These vessels in the Middle Ages were
often made of gold and silver and enriched with numerous details of most
elaborate ornamentation. In the archives or inventories of many Continental and
English cathedrals (such as St. John Lateran, Trier, Louvain, Lincoln, and York
Minster) minute descriptions are given of some ancient specimens in the
possession of these churches.
(Patrick Morrisroe, "Censer," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Asperges
(Latin, aspergere, to wash, sprinkle).
The rite of sprinkling the congregation with holy
water before the principal Mass on Sunday, so called from the words intoned at
the beginning of the ceremony, taken from Psalm 1, throughout the year except
at Easter-tide, when Vidi aquam, from Psalm 117, is intoned. It precedes every
other ceremony that may take place before the Mass, such as the blessing of
palms or of candles. It is performed by the celebrant priest wearing vestments
of the liturgical colour of the day. It is omitted when the Blessed Sacrament
is exposed, though many rubricists think that the sprinkling of the altar only,
not of the congregation, should then be omitted. After intoning the antiphon
the priest recites the psalm Miserere or Confitemini, according to the season,
sprinkling first the front and platform of the altar, then himself, next the
ministers and choir, and lastly the congregation, usually walking through the
main part of the church, though he need not go beyond the gate of the sanctuary
or choir. The ceremony has been in use at least from the tenth century, growing
out of the custom of early antiquity of blessing water for the faithful on
Sundays. Its object is to prepare the congregation for the celebration of the
Mass by moving them to sentiments of penance and reverence suggested by the
words of the fiftieth psalm, or by impressing on them that they are about to
assist at the sacrifice of our redemption as suggested in the psalm used at
Easter time.
(John Wynne, "Asperges" Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Altar Candles and holders
(Pantheon,
Rome)
For mystical reasons the Church prescribes that the
candles used at Mass and at other liturgical functions be made of beeswax
(luminaria cerea. — Missale Rom., De Defectibus, X, I; Cong. Sac. Rites, 4
September, 1875). The pure wax extracted by bees from flowers symbolizes the
pure flesh of Christ received from His Virgin Mother, the wick signifies the
soul of Christ, and the flame represents His divinity. Although the two latter
properties are found in all kinds of candles, the first is proper of beeswax
candles only. It is, however, not necessary that they be made of beeswax
without any admixture. The paschal candle and the two candles used at Mass
should be made ex cera apum saltem in maxima parte, but the other candles in
majori vel notabili quantitate ex eadem cera (Cong. Sac. Rit., 14 December,
1904). As a rule they should be of white bleached wax, but at funerals, at the
office of Tenebrae in Holy Week, and at the Mass of the Presanctified, on Good
Friday, they should be of yellow unbleached wax (Caerem. Episc.). De Herdt (I,
no. 183, Resp. 2) says that unbleached wax candles should be used during Advent
and Lent except on feasts, solemnities, and especially during the exposition
and procession of the Blessed Sacrament. Candles made wholly of any other
material, such as tallow (Cong. Sac. Rit., 10 December, 1857) stearine (Cong.
Sac. Rit., 4 September, 1875), paraffin, etc., are forbidden. The Cong. Sac.
Rit. (7 September, 1850) made an exception for the missionaries of Oceania,
who, on account of the impossibility of obtaining wax candles, are allowed to
use sperm-whale candles. Without an Apostolic indult it is not allowable, and
it constitutes a grievous offense to celebrate Mass without any light (Cong.
Sac. Rit., 7 September, 1850), even for the purpose of giving Holy Viaticum, or
of enabling the people to comply with their duty of assisting at Mass on
Sundays and holy days (St. Lig., bk. VI, n. 394). In these, and similar cases
of necessity it is the common opinion that Mass may be celebrated with tallow
candles or oil lamps (ibid.). It is not permitted to begin Mass before the
candles are lighted, nor are they to be extinguished until the end of Mass. If
the candles go out before the Consecration, and cannot be again lighted, most
authors say that Mass should be discontinued; if this happens after the
Consecration, Mass should not be interrupted, although some authors say that if
they can possibly be lighted again within fifteen minutes the celebrant ought
to interrupt Mass for this space of time (ibid.) If only one rubrical candle
can be had, Mass may be celebrated even ex devotione (ibid).
(Augustin Joseph Schulte, "Altar Candles,"
Catholic Encyclopedia)
Roman Missal (Sacramentary)
(Sacramentary
of Henry II)
(Latin Missale from Missa, Mass), the book which
contains the prayers said by the priest at the altar as well as all that is
officially read or sung in connection with the offering of the holy Sacrifice
of the Mass throughout the ecclesiastical year.
The present Roman Missal, now almost universally
used in the Catholic Church wherever the Latin Rite prevails, consists
essentially of two parts of very unequal length. The smaller of these divisions
containing that portion of the liturgy which is said in every Mass, the
"Ordo Missae" with the prefaces and the Canon, is placed, probably
with a view to the more convenient opening of the book, near the centre of the
volume immediately before the proper Mass for Easter Sunday. The remainder of
the book is devoted to those portions of the liturgy which vary from day to day
according to feast and season. Each Mass consists usually of Introit, Collect,
Epistle, Gradual and Alleluia or Tract, Gospel, Offertory, Secret, Communion,
and Post-Communion, the passages or prayers corresponding to each of these
titles being commonly printed in full. The beginning of the volume to the
"Ordo Missae" is devoted to the Masses of the season (Proprium de
Tempore) from Advent to the end of Lent, including the Christmas cycle. After
the "Ordo Missae" and Canon follow immediately the Masses of the
season from Easter to the last Sunday after Pentecost. Then come the proper
Masses of the separate festivals (Proprium Sanctorum) for the ecclesiastical
year; while these are often printed in full, it may also happen that only a
reference is given, indicating that the larger portion of each Mass (sometimes
everything except the collect) is to be sought in the Common of Saints (Commune
Sanctorum), printed at the conclusion of the Proprium Sanctorum (Proper of
Saints). This is supplemented by a certain number of votive Masses, among the
rest Masses for the dead, and a collection of sets of collects, secrets and post-communions
for special occasions. Here also are inserted certain benedictions and other
miscellaneous matter, while appendixes of varying bulk supply a number of
Masses conceded for use in certain localities or in certain religious orders,
and arranged according to the order of the calendar. To the whole book is
prefixed an elaborate calendar and a systematized collection of rubrics for the
guidance of priests in high and low Mass, as also prayers for the private use
of the celebrant in making his preparation and thanksgiving. It may be
mentioned here once for all that the collection of rubrics now printed under
the respective headings "Rubricae generales Missalis", "Ritus
celebrandi Missam", and "De Defectibus circa Missam occurrentibus"
are founded upon a tractate entitled "Ordo Missae" by John Burchard,
master of ceremonies to Innocent VIII and Alexander VI, at the close of the
fifteenth century. They are consequently absent from the first printed edition
of the "Missale Romanum" (1474).
Origin
of the missal
The printed Missal of the present day, reproducing
in substance the manuscript forms of the latter part of the Middle Ages, has
resulted from the amalgamation of a number of separate service books. In the
early centuries, owing to the lack of competent scribes, the scarcity of
writing materials, and various other causes, economy had greatly to be studied
in the production of books. The book used by the priest at the altar for the
prayers of the Mass usually contained no more than it belonged to him to say.
It was known commonly as a "Sacramentary" (Sacramentarium) because
all its contents centred round the great act of the consecration of the
sacrifice. On the other hand those portions of the service which, like the
Introit and the Gradual, the Offertory and the Communion, were rendered by the
choir, were inscribed in a separate book, the "Antiphonarium Missae"
or "Graduale" (q.v.). So again the passages to be read to the people
by the deacons or rectors in the ambo (pulpit) — the Epistle and Gospel, with
lessons from the Old Testament on particular occasions — were collected in the
"Epistolarium" or "Apostolus", the
"Evangeliarium", and other lectionaries. Besides this an
"Ordo" or "Directorium" (q.v.) was required to determine
the proper service. Only by a slow process of development were the contents of
the sacramentary, the gradual, the various lectionaries, and the
"Ordo" amalgamated so that all that was needed for the celebration of
Mass was to be found within the covers of one volume. The first step in this
evolution seems to have been furnished by the introduction of certain smaller
volumes called "Libelli Missae" intended for the private celebration
of Masses of devotion on ordinary days. In these only one, or at most two or
three Masses, were written; but as they were not used with choir and sacred
ministers, all the service had to be said by the priest and all was
consequently included in the one small booklet. A typical example of such a
volume is probably furnished by the famous "Stowe Missal". This
little book of Irish origin of which the leaves measure only five and a half by
four inches, is nevertheless one of our most priceless liturgical treasures.
The greater part is devoted to a single Mass of the Blessed Sacrament, in which
the Epistle and Gospel are inserted entire as well as a number of communion
anthems, the private preparation of the priest, and other matter including
rubrical directions in Irish. Thus, so far as Mass was concerned, it was in
itself a complete book and is prolix ably the type of numberless others —
fragments of similar Irish "libelli Missae" are preserved among the
manuscripts of St. Gall — which were used by missionaries in their journeys
among peoples as yet only half christianized.
The convenience of such books for the private
celebration of Mass where sacred ministers and choir were wanting, must soon
have made itself felt. When one thinks of the many hundreds and even thousands
of Masses which in the eighth and ninth centuries every large monastery was
called upon to say for deceased brethren in virtue of its compacts with other
abbeys (see details in Ebner, "Gebets — Verbrudernugen", Ratisbon,
1890), it appears obvious that there must have been great need of private
Mass-books. Consequently it soon became common to adapt even the larger
sacramentaries to the use of priests celebrating privately by inserting in some
of the "missae quotidianae votivae et diversae", or sometimes again
in the "commune sanctorum" such extracts from the "Graduale",
"Epistolare", and "Evangeliarium" as made these particular
Masses complete in themselves. Examples of Sacramentaries thus adapted may be
found as early as the ninth century. Ebner for instance, appeals to a
manuscript of this date in the capitular library of Verona (No. 86) where in
the "Missae votivae et diversae" the choral passages are written as
well as the prayers. Whether the word Missalis liber was specially employed for
service books thus completed for private use there seems no evidence to
determine. Alcuin writing in 801 certainly seems to contrast the term
"Missalis libellus" with what he calls "libelli sacratorii"
and with "sacramentaria maiora" (see Mon. Germ. Hist. Epist., IV,
370); but the phrase was older than Alcuin, for Archbishop Egbert of York in
his "Dialogus" speaks of the dispositions made by St. Gregory for the
observance of the ember-days in "Antiphonaria cum missalibus suis"
which he had consulted at Rome (Haddan and Stubbs, "Councils", III,
421), where certainly the language used seems to suggest that the
"Missalia" and "Antiphonaria" were companion volumes
separately incomplete. Certainly it may be affirmed with confidence that what
was afterwards known as the "Missale plenum", a book like our present
Missal, containing all the Epistles, Gospels, and the choral antiphons as well
as the Mass prayers, did not come into existence before the year 900. Dr.
Adalbert Ebner, who spent immense labour in examining the liturgical
manuscripts of the libraries of Italy, reports that the earliest example known
to him was one of the tenth century in the Ambrosian Library at Milan; but
although such books are of more frequent occurrence from the eleventh century
onwards, the majority of the Mass-books met with at this period have still only
an imperfect claim to be regarded as "Missalia plena".
We find instead a great variety of transition forms
belonging to the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries which may be
referred in particular to two distinct types. In the first place the
sacramentary, lectionary, and antiphonary were sometimes simply bound up
together in one volume as a matter of convenience. Codex lot in the library of
Monza offers an example of this kind in which the three component elements are
all of the ninth or tenth century, but even earlier than this in an extant
notice of the visitation of the Church of Vicus (Vieil-St-Remy) in 859 by
Bishop Hincmar of Reims we find mention of a "Missale cum evangeliis et
lectionibus seu antiphonario volumen 1". As a rule, however, the fusion
between the original sacramentary and the books used by the readers and the
choir was of a more intrinsic nature and the process of amalgamation was a very
gradual one. Sometimes we find sacramentaries in which a later hand has added
in the margin, or on any available blank space, the bare indication, consisting
of a few initial words, of the Antiphons, the Epistles, and the Gospels
belonging to the particular Mass. Sometimes the "Commune Sanctorum"
and the votive Masses have from the beginning included the passages to be sung
and read written out in full, though the "Proprium de Tempore" and
"de Sanctis" show nothing but the Mass prayers. Sometimes again, as
in the case of the celebrated Leofric Missal in the Bodleian, the original
sacramentary has had extensive later supplements bound up with it containing
new Masses which include the parts to be read and sung. In one remarkable
example, the Canterbury Missal (manuscript 270 of Corpus Christi, Cambridge), a
number of the old prefaces of the Gregorian type have been erased throughout
the volume and upon the blank spaces thus created the proper Antiphons from the
Graduale, and sometimes also the Epistles and Gospels for each Mass, have been
written entire. In not a few instances the Gospels may be found included in the
Mass-book but not the Epistles, the reason probably being that the latter could
be read by any clerk, whereas a properly ordained deacon was not always
available, in which case the priest at the altar had himself to read the
Gospel. Regarding however this development as a whole it may be said that
nearly all the Mass-books written from the latter half of the thirteenth
century onwards were in the strict sense Missalia plenaria conforming to our
modern type. The determining influence which established the arrangement of parts,
the selection of Masses, etc., with which we are familiar in the "Missale
Romanum" today, seems to have been the book produced during the latter
half of the thirteenth century under Franciscan auspices and soon made popular
in Italy under the name "Missale secundum consuetudinem Romanae
curiae" (see Radulphus de Rivo, "De Canonum Observatione", in La
Bigne, "Bib. Max. PP.", XI, 455).
Varieties
of missals
Although the "Missale secundum consuetudinem
Romanae curiae" obtained great vogue and was destined eventually to be
officially adopted and to supplant all others, throughout the Middle Ages every
province, indeed almost every diocese, had its local use, and while the Canon
of the Mass was everywhere the same, the prayers in the "Ordo
Missae", and still more the "Proprium Sanctorum" and the
"Proprium de Tempore", were apt to differ widely in the service
books. In England especially the Uses of Sarum and York showed many distinctive
characteristics, and the Ordinary of the Mass in its external features
resembled more the rite at present followed by the Dominicans than that of
Rome. After the invention of printing a great number of Missals were produced
both in England itself and especially at Paris and other French cities for use
in England. Of the Sarum Missal alone nearly seventy different editions were
issued between that of 1487 (printed for Caxton in Paris), and that of 1557
(London). After Elizabeth's accession no more Missals were published, but a
little book entitled "Missale parvum pro Sacerdotibus in Anglia, Scotia,
et Ibernia itinerantibus" was printed two or three times towards the
beginning of the seventeenth century for the use of missionary priests. Its
size allowed it to be carried about easily without attracting observation, and
as it contained relatively few Masses, only those for the Sundays and the
principal feasts, it recalled in a measure the "libelli Missae" of
the Anglo-Saxon and Irish missionaries nine centuries earlier. Even at this
date the peculiarities of the Sarum Rite were not retained and the Canon and
Masses of this "Missale parvum" were all Roman with the exception of
one special Mass of the Holy Name of Jesus which is described in the 1616
edition as "taken from the Missal according to the Use of Sarum".
Moreover, just as the Roman liturgy came in this way to prevail In England, so
in France and throughout the rest of Europe the local uses have for the most
part been surrendered by degrees, two of the principal influences at work being
no doubt the advantage of uniformity and the authority and relative purity of
the Roman Missal, as authoritatively revised and improved after the Council of
Trent.
The first printed edition of the "Missale
Romanum" lately republished by the Henry Bradshaw Society in two volumes
(1899 and 1907), was produced at Milan in 1474. Numerous editions followed, but
nothing authoritative appeared until the Council of Trent left in the hands of
the pope the charge of seeing to the revision of a Catechism, Breviary, and
Missal. This last, committed to the care of Cardinals Scotti and Sirlet with
Thomas Goldwell (an Englishman, Bishop of St. Asaph, deprived of his see upon
the accession of Elizabeth), and Julius Poggio, was published in 1570. St. Pius
V published a Bull on the occasion, still printed at the beginning of the
Missal, in which he enjoined that all dioceses and religious orders of the
Latin Rite should use the new revision and no other, excepting only such bodies
as could prove a prescription of two hundred years. In this way the older
orders like the Carthusians and the Dominicans were enabled to retain their
ancient liturgical usages, but the new book was accepted throughout the greater
part of Europe. A revised edition of the "Missale Romanum" appeared
in 1604 accompanied by a brief of Clement VIII in which the pontiff complained
among other things that the vetus Itala version of the Scripture which had been
retained in the antiphonal passages of the Pian Missal had been replaced,
through the unauthorized action of certain printers, by the text of the newly
edited Vulgate. Another revision bearing more especially upon the rubrics
followed under Urban VIII in 1634. In the early part of the nineteenth century,
owing largely to the exertions of Dom Guéranger, the Benedictine liturgist, a
number of the dioceses of France which had up to this persistently adhered to
their own distinctive uses upon a more or less valid plea of immemorial
antiquity, made a sacrifice to uniformity and accepted the "Missale
Romanum". The last authoritative revision of the Missal took place in 1884
under Leo XIII. It should be noticed finally that the term Missal has been
applied by a loose popular usage to a number of books which, strictly speaking,
have no right to the name. The "Missale Francorum", the "Missale
Gothicum", the "Missal of Robert of Jumièges", etc., are all,
properly speaking, Sacramentaries.
(Herbert Thurston, "Missal," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Ambo (or Pulpit / Lectern)
Ambo
at the Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception (Innsbruck, Austria)
A word of Greek origin, supposed to signify a
mountain or elevation; at least Innocent III so understood it, for in his work
on the Mass (III, xxxiii), after speaking of the deacon ascending the ambo to
read the Gospel, he quotes the following from Isaias (40:9): "Get thee up
upon a high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Sion: lift up thy
voice with strength". And in the same connection lie also alludes to Our
Blessed Lord preaching from a mountain: "He went up into a mountain--and
opening his mouth he taught them" (Matthew 5:1, 2). An ambo is an elevated
desk or pulpit from which in the early churches and basilicas the Gospel and
Epistle were chanted or read, and all kinds of communications were made to the
congregation; and sometimes the bishop preached from it, as in the case of St.
John Chrysostom, who, Socrates says, was accustomed to mount the ambo to
address the people, in order to be more distinctly heard (Eccl. Hist., VI, v).
Originally there was only one ambo in a church, placed in the nave, and
provided with two flights of steps; one from the east, the side towards the
altar; and the other from the west. From the eastern steps the subdeacon, with
his face to the altar, read the Epistles; and from the western steps the
deacon, facing the people, read the Gospels. The inconvenience of having one
ambo soon became manifest, and in consequence in many churches two ambones were
erected. When there were two, they were usually placed one on each side of the
choir, which was separated from the nave and aisles by a low wall. An excellent
example of this arrangement can still be seen in the church of St. Clement at
Rome. Very often the gospel ambo was provided with a permanent candlestick; the
one attached to the ambo in St. Clements is a marble spiral column, richly
decorated with mosaic, and terminated by a capital twelve feet from the floor.
Ambones are believed to have taken their origin from
the raised platform from which the Jewish rabbis read the Scriptures to the
people, and they were first introduced into churches during the fourth century,
were in universal use by the ninth, reaching their full development and
artistic beauty in the twelfth, and then gradually fell out of use, until in
the fourteenth century, when they were largely superseded by pulpits. In the
Ambrosian Rite (Milan) the Gospel is still read from the ambo. They were
usually built of white marble, enriched with carvings, inlays of coloured
marbles Cosmati and glass mosaics. The most celebrated ambo was the one erected
by the Emperor Justinian in the church of Sancta Sophia at Constantinople,
which is fully described by the contemporary poet, Paulus Silentiarius in his
work peri ktismaton. The body of the ambo was made of various precious metals,
inlaid with ivory, overlaid with plates of repoussé silver, and further
enriched with gildings and bronze. The disappearance of this magnificent
example of Christian art is involved in great obscurity. It was probably intact
down to the time of the taking of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1203, when
it was largely shorn of its beauty and wealth. In St. Mark's, at Venice, there
is a very peculiar ambo, of two stories; from the lower one was read the
Epistle, and from the upper one the Gospel. This form was copied at a later
date in what are known as "double-decker" pulpits. Very interesting
examples may be seen in many of the Italian basilicas; in Ravenna there are a
number of the sixth century; one of the seventh at Torcello; but the most
beautiful are in the Roman churches of St. Clement, St. Mary in Cosmedin, St.
Lawrence, and the Ara Cli.
(Caryl Coleman, "Ambo," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Lectionary
Lectionary is a term of somewhat vague significance,
used with a good deal of latitude by liturgical writers. It must be remembered
that in the early Middle Ages neither the Liturgy of the Mass, nor the Divine
Office recited by monks and other ecclesiastics in choir, were to be found, as
in the Missal and the Breviary of the present day, complete in one volume. Both
for the Mass and for the Office a variety of books were used, for it was
obviously a matter of convenience when books were both bulky and costly to
produce that the prayers, e.g. which the priest had to say at the altar, should
be contained in a different volume from the antiphons to be sung by the choir.
The word lectionary, then, in its wider sense, is a term which may be correctly
applied to any liturgical volume containing passages to be read aloud in the
services of the Church. In this larger signification it would include all
Scriptural books written continuously, in which readings were marked, such as
the "Evangeliaria" (also often known as "Textus"), as well
as books, known also as "Plenaria", containing both Epistles and
Gospels combined, such as are commonly employed in a high Mass at the present
day, and also those collections, either of extracts from the Fathers or of
historical narrations about the martyrs and other saints, which were read aloud
as lessons in the Divine Office. This wider signification is, however, perhaps
the less usual, and in practice the term lectionary is more commonly used to
denote one of two things: (1) the book containing the collection of Scriptural
readings which are chanted by the deacon, subdeacon, or a lector during Mass;
(2) any book from which the readings were taken which are read aloud in the
Office of Matins, after each nocturn or group of psalms. With regard to these
last the practice seems to have varied greatly. Sometimes collections were made
containing just the extracts to be used in choir, such as we find them in a
modern Breviary. Sometimes a large volume of patristic homilies (known also as
sermonarium) or historical matter was employed, in which certain passages were
marked to be used as lessons. This last custom seems more particularly to have
obtained with regard to the short biographical accounts of martyrs and other
saints, which in our modern Breviary form the lessons of the second nocturn. In
this connection the word legenda in particular is of common occurrence. The
Bollandist Poncelet is, consequently, inclined to draw a distinction between
the "Legenda" and the "Lectionarium" (see Analecta
Bollandiana, XXIX, 13). The "Legenda", also called
"Passionarium" is a collection of narratives of variable length, in
which are recounted the life, martyrdom, translation, or miracles of the
saints. This usually forms a large volume, and the order of the pieces in the
collection is commonly, though not necessarily, that of the calendar. A few
such "Legendæ" come down from quite the early Middle Ages. But the
vast majority of those now preserved in our libraries belong to the eleventh,
twelfth. and thirteenth centuries. The earliest, is the "Codex
Velseri", manuscript Lat. 3514, of the Royal Library at Munich, written
probably before the year 700. When these books were used in choir during Office
the reader either read certain definitely marked passages, indicated by
markings of which our existing manuscripts constantly show traces, or, in the
earlier periods especially, he read on until the abbot or priest who presided
gave him the signal to stop. After the thirteenth century however, this type of
book was much more rarely transcribed. It was replaced by what may conveniently
be called for distinction's sake the "Lectionarium" par excellence, a
book which consisted not of entire narratives, but only of extracts arranged
according to feasts, and made expressly to be read in the Office. It may be
added that about the same period the still more comprehensive liturgical book,
known to us so familiarly as the Breviary also began to make its appearance. In
the early centuries the Scriptural passages to be read at Mass, whether taken
from the Gospels, the Epistles, or the Old Testament, were very commonly
included in one book, often called a "Comes" or "Liber
Comicus". But no constant or uniform practice was followed, for sometimes
the Epistles and Lessons were read from a continuous text equipped with rubrics
indicating the different days for which the passages were intended — this is
the case with the famous "Epistolarium" of St. Victor of Capua in the
sixth century; sometimes Lessons, Epistles, and Gospels were all transcribed in
their proper order into one volume, as in the case of the Liber Comicus"
of the Church of Toledo lately edited by Dom Morin, or of the Lectionnaire de
Luxeuil, published by Mabillon in his "Liturgia Gallicana".
(Herbert Thurston, "Lectionary," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Evangelary
This book contains the gospel reading for each
Sunday of the three-year cycle, plus all solemnities, feats, and ritual Masses
that are celebrated throughout the liturgical year. http://www.catholicdeacon.org/mass_objects.htm
Ostensorium (Monstrance)
(From ostendere, "to show").
Ostensorium means, in accordance with its etymology,
a vessel designed for the more convenient exhibition of some object of piety.
Both the name ostensorium and the kindred word monstrance (monstrancia, from
monstrare) were originally applied to all kinds of vessels of goldsmith's or
silversmith's work in which glass, crystal, etc. were so employed as to allow
the contents to be readily distinguished, whether the object thus honoured were
the Sacred Host itself or only the relic of some saint. Modern usage, at any
rate so far as the English language is concerned, has limited both terms to
vessels intended for the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, and it is in this
sense only that we use ostensorium here.
It is plain that the introduction of ostensoria must
have been posterior to the period at which the practice of exposing the Blessed
Sacrament or carrying it in procession first became familiar in the Church.
This (as may be seen from the articles BENEDICTION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT,
CORPUS CHRISTI, and EXPOSITION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT) cannot be assigned to
an earlier date than the thirteenth century. At the same time, Lanfranc's
constitutions for the monks of Christ Church, Canterbury (c. 1070), direct that
in the Palm Sunday procession two priests vested in albs should carry a
portable shrine (feretrum) "in which also the Body of the Lord ought to be
deposited". Although there is here no suggestion that the Host should be
exposed to view but rather the contrary, still we find that this English custom
led, in at least one instance, to the construction of an elaborately decorated
shrine for the carrying of the Blessed Sacrament on this special occasion.
Simon, Abbot of St. Albans (1166-83), presented to the abbey a costly
ark-shaped vessel adorned with enamels representing scenes of the Passion,
which was to be used on Palm Sunday "that the faithful might see with what
honour the most holy Body of Christ should be treated which at this season
offered itself to be scourged, crucified and buried" ("Gesta
Abbatum", Rolls Series, I, 191-92). That this, however, was in any proper
sense an ostensorium in which the Host was exposed to view is not stated and
cannot be assumed. At the same time it is highly probable that such ostensoria
in the strict sense began to be constructed in the thirteenth century, and
there are some vessels still in existence — for example, an octagonal
monstrance at Bari, bearing: the words "Hic Corpus Domini" — which
may very well belong to that date.
A large number of medieval ostensoria have been
figured by Cahier and Martin (Mélanges Archéologiques, I and VII) and by other
authorities, and though it is often difficult to distinguish between simple
reliquaries and vessels intended for the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, a
certain line of development may be traced in the evolution of these latter.
Father Cahier suggests with some probability (Mélanges, VII, 271) that while at
first the ciborium itself was employed for carrying the Blessed Sacrament in
processions, etc., the sides of the cup of the ciborium were at first prolonged
by a cylinder of crystal or glass, and the ordinary cover superimposed. Such a
vessel might have served for either purpose, viz., either for giving Communion
or for carrying the Host visibly in procession. Soon, however, the practice of
exposition became sufficiently common to seem to require an ostensorium for
that express object, and for this the upright cylindrical vessel of crystal was
at first retained, often with supports of an architectural character and with
tabernacle work, niches, and statues. In the central cylinder a large Host was
placed, being kept upright by being held in a lunette constructed for the
purpose. Many medieval monstrances of this type are still in existence. Soon,
however, it became clear that the ostensorium could be better adapted to the
object of drawing all eyes to the Sacred Host itself by making the transparent portion
of the vessel just of the size required, and surrounded, like the sun, with
rays. Monstrances of this shape, dating from the fifteenth century, are also
not uncommon, and for several hundred years past this has been by far the
commonest form in practical use.
Of course the adoption of ostensoria for processions
of the Blessed Sacrament was a gradual process, and, if we may trust the
miniatures found in the liturgical books of the Middle Ages, the Sacred Host
was often carried on such occasions in a closed ciborium. An early example of a
special vessel constructed for this purpose is a gift made by Archbishop Robert
Courtney, an Englishman by birth, who died in 1324, to his cathedral church of
Reims. He bequeathed with other ornaments "a golden cross set with
precious stones and having a crystal in the middle, in which is placed the Body
of Christ, and is carried in procession upon the feast of the most holy
Sacrament." In a curious instance mentioned by Bergner (Handbuch d. Kirch.
Kunstaltertümer in Deutschland, 356) a casket constructed in 1205 at Augsburg,
to hold a miraculous Host from which blood had trickled, had an aperture bored
in it more than a century later to allow the Host to be seen. Very probably a
similar plan was sometimes adopted with vessels which are more strictly
Eucharistic. Early medieval inventories often allow us to form an idea, of the
rapid extension of the use of monstrances. In the inventories of the thirteenth
century they are seldom or never mentioned, but in the fifteenth century they
have become a feature in all larger churches. Thus at St. Paul's, London, in
1245 and 1298 we find no mention of anything like an ostensorium, but in 1402
we have record of the "cross of crystal to put the Body of Christ in and
to carry it upon the feast of Corpus Christi and at Easter". At Durham we
hear of "a goodly shrine ordained to be carried on Corpus Christi day in
procession, and called 'Corpus Christi Shrine', all finely gilded, a goodly
thing; to behold, and on the height of the said shrine was a four-square box
all of crystal wherein was enclosed the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, and it was
carried the same day with iiij priests" (Rites of Durham, c. lvi). But in
the greater English churches a preference seems to have been shown connected no
doubt with the ceremonial of the Easter sepulchre, for a form of monstrance
which reproduced the figure of Our Lord, the Sacred Host being inserted behind
a crystal door in the breast. This, at any rate, was case, i.e. in the Lincoln,
Salisbury, and other famous cathedrals. These statues, however, for the
exposition of the Blessed Eucharist seem to have been of comparatively late
date. On the continent, and more particularly in Spain, a fashion seems to have
been introduced in the sixteenth century of constructing ostensoria of enormous
size, standing six, seven, or even eight feet in height, and weighing many
hundreds pounds. Of course it was necessary that in such cases the shrine in
which the Blessed Sacrament was more immediately contained should be
detachable, so that it could be used for giving benediction. The great
monstrance of the cathedral of Toledo, which is more than twelve feet high, and
the construction of which occupied in all more than 100 years, is adorned with
260 statuettes, one of the largest of which is said to be made of the gold
brought by Columbus from the New World.
In the language of the older liturgical manuals
ostensorium is not infrequently called tabernaculum, and it is under that name
that a special blessing is provided for it in the "Pontificale
Romanum". Several other designations are also in use, of which the
commonest in perhaps custodia, though this is also a specially applied to the
sort of transparent pyx in which Sacred Host is immediately secured. In Scotland,
before the reformation, an ostensorium was commonly called a
"eucharist", in England a "monstre or "monstral". The
orb and rays of a monstrance should at least be of silver or silver gilt, and
it is recommended that it should be surmounted by a cross.
(Herbert Thurston, "Ostensorium
(Monstrance)," Catholic Encyclopedia)
Amice
A short linen cloth, square or oblong in shape and,
like the other sacerdotal vestments, needing to be blessed before use. The
purpose of this vestment, which is the first to be put on by the priest in
vesting for the Mass, is to cover the shoulders, and originally also the head,
of the wearer. Many of the older religious orders still wear the amice after
the fashion which prevailed in the Middle Ages; that is to say, the amice is
first laid over the head and the ends allowed to fall upon the shoulders, then
the other vestments from the alb to the chasuble are put on, and finally, on
reaching the altar, the priest folds back the amice from the head, so that it
hangs around the neck and over the chasuble like a small cowl. In this way, as
will be readily understood, the amice forms a sort of collar, effectively
protecting the precious material of the chasuble from contact with the skin. On
leaving the sanctuary, the amice is again pulled up over the head, and thus
both in coming and going it serves as a head-covering in lieu of the modern
birretta. This method of wearing the amice has fallen into desuetude for the
clergy at large, and the only surviving trace of it is the rubric directing
that, in putting it on, the amice should for a moment be laid upon the head
before it is adjusted round the neck. The subdeacon at his ordination receives
the amice from the hands of the bishop, who says to him "Receive the
amice, by which is signified the discipline of the voice" (castigatio
vocis). This seems to have reference to some primitive use of the amice as a
sort of muffler to protect the throat. On the other hand, the prayer which the
clergy are directed to say in assuming this vestment speaks of it as galeam
salutis, "the helmet of salvation against the wiles of the enemy",
thus emphasizing the use as a head covering. Strictly speaking, the amice,
being a sacred vestment, ought not to be worn by clerics below the grade of subdeacon.
In tracing the history of the amice we are
confronted by the same difficulty which meets us in the expressions used by
early writers. The word amictus, which is still the Latin name for this
vestment, and from which our word amice is derived, seems clearly to be used in
its present sense by Amalarius at the beginning of the ninth century. He tells
us that this amictus is the first vestment put on, and it enfolds the neck (De
Eccles. Offic., II, xvii, in P.L., CV, 1094). We may also probably feel
confidence in identifying with the same vestment the anagolagium spoken of in
the first Ordo Romanus, a document which belongs to the middle of the eighth
century or earlier. Anagolagium seems to be merely a corruption of the word
anabolium (or anaboladium), which is defined by St. Isidore of Seville as a
sort of linen wrap used by women to throw over their shoulders, otherwise
called a sindon. There is nothing to indicate that this last was a liturgical
garment, hence we must conclude that we cannot safely trace our present amice
farther back than the above-mentioned reference in the first Roman Ordo (P.L.,
LXVIII, 940). It is curious that this anagolagium, though it was also worn by
the papal deacon and subdeacon, was put on by the Pope over, not under, the
alb. To this day the Pope, when pontificating, wears a sort of second amice of
striped silk called a fanon, which is put on after the alb and subsequently
folded back over the upper part of the chasuble. The amice, moreover, in the
Ambrosian Rite is also put on after the alb. At what date the amice came to be
regarded as an indispensable part of the priest's liturgical attire is not
quite clear; for both Bishop Theodulph of Orléans (d. 821) and Walafrid Strabo
(d. 849) seem to ignore it under circumstances in which we should certainly
have expected it to be mentioned. On the other hand, the "Admonitio
Synodalis", a document of uncertain date, but commonly referred to the
ninth century (see, however, Revue bénédictine, 1892, p. 99), distinctly
enjoins that no one must say Mass without amice, alb, stole, maniple and
chasuble. Early liturgical writers, such, e.g. as Rabanus Maurus, were inclined
to regard the amice as derived from the ephod of the Jewish priesthood, but
modern authorities are unanimous in rejecting this theory. They trace the
origin of the amice to some utilitarian purpose, though there is considerable
difference of opinion whether it was in the beginning a neck cloth introduced
for reasons of seemliness, to hide the bare throat; or again a kerchief which protected
the richer vestment from the perspiration so apt in southern climates to stream
from the face and neck, or perhaps a winter muffler protecting the throat of
those who, in the interests of church music, had to take care of their voices.
Something may be said in favour of each of these views, but no certain
conclusion seems to be possible (see Braun, Die priesterlichen Gewänder, p. 5).
The variant names, humerale (i.e. "shoulder cloth", Germ.
Schultertuch), superhumerale anagologium, etc., by which it was known in early
times do not help us much in tracing, its history.
As in case of the alb, so for the amice, linen woven
from the fibre of flax or hemp is the only permissible material. A little cross
must be sewn to, or worked upon the amice in the middle, and this the priest is
directed to kiss in putting it on. Approved authorities (e.g. Thalhofer,
Liturgik, I, 864) direct that the amice ought to be at least 32 inches long by
24 inches broad. A slight lace edging seems to be permitted by usage in case of
amices intended for use on festal occasions, and the strings may be of white or
coloured silk (Barbier de Montault, Costume Eccl., II, 231). In the Middle Ages
when the amice was turned back over the chasuble, and thus exposed to view, it
was commonly ornamented by an "apparel", or strip of rich embroidery,
but this practice is no longer tolerated.
(Herbert Thurston, "Amice," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Alb
A white linen vestment with close fitting sleeves,
reaching nearly to the ground and secured round the waist by a girdle
(cincture). It has in the past been known by many various names: linea or
tunica linea, from the material of which it is made; poderis, tunica talaris,
or simply talaris, from the fact of its reaching to the feet (tali, ankles);
camisia, from the shirt-like nature of the garment; alba, (white) from its
colour; and finally, alba Romana, this last seemingly in contradistinction to
the shorter tunics which found favour outside of Rome (cf. Jaffé-Löwenfeld,
"Regesta", 2295). Of these the name alba almost alone survives.
Another use of the word alb, commonly in the plural albæ (vestes), occurs in
medieval writers. It refers to the white garments which the newly baptized
assumed on Holy Saturday, and wore until Low Sunday, which was consequently
known as dominica in albis (deponendis), the Sunday of the (laying aside of
the) white garments. This robe, however, will be more conveniently discussed under
the word "Chrismal". From the usage mentioned, both Low Sunday and
Trinity Sunday, together with the days preceding seem sometimes to have been
called Albæ. Possibly our Whit-Sunday, the Sunday after the Pentecost baptisms,
may derive its name from a similar practice. In this article we shall treat of
the origin, symbolism, use, form, ornamentation, material, and colour of the
alb.
It is impossible to speak positively about the
origin of this vestment. Medieval liturgists, e.g. Rupert of Deutz, favoured
the view that the Christian vestments in general were derived from those of the
Jewish priesthood, and that the alb in particular represents the Kethonet, a
white linen tunic of which we read in Exodus 28:39. But a white linen tunic
also formed part of the ordinary attire of both Romans and Greeks under the
Empire, and most modern authorities, e.g. Duchesne and Braun, think it needless
to look further for the origin of our alb. This view is confirmed, first, by
the fact that in the Eucharistic scenes of the catacomb frescoes (e.g. those
indicated by Monsignor Wilpert in his "Fractio Panis") the white
under-tunic is not always found; and, secondly, by the silence of early
Christian writers under circumstances which lead us to expect some allusion to
the relation between Jewish and Christian vestments, if any such were
recognized (cf. Hieron., "Ad Fabiolam" Ep. 64, P.L., XXII, 607). The
fact that a white linen tunic was a common feature of secular attire also makes
it difficult to determine the epoch to which we must assign the introduction of
our present alb as a distinctly liturgical garment. The word alba, indeed,
meets us not infrequently in connection with ecclesiastical vesture in the
first seven centuries, but we cannot safely argue from the identity of the name
to the identity of the thing. On the contrary, when we find mention of an alba
in the "Expositio Missæ: "of St. Germanus of Paris (d. 576), or in
the canons of the Fourth Synod of Toledo (663), it seems clear that the
vestment intended was of the nature of a dalmatic. Hence we can only say that
the words of the so-called Fourth Synod of Carthage (c. 398), "ut diaconus
tempore oblationis tantum vel lectionis albâ utatur," may or may not refer
to a vestment akin to our alb. The slender available evidence has been
carefully discussed by Braun (Priesterlichen Gewänder, 24), and he concludes
that in the early centuries some sort of special white tunic was generally worn
by priests under the chasuble, and that in course of time this came to be
regarded as liturgical. A prayer mentioning "the tunic of chastity,"
which is assigned to the priest in the Stowe Missal, helps to confirm this
view, and a similar confirmation may be drawn from the figures in the Ravenna
mosaics, though we cannot be sure that these last have been preserved to us
unaltered. Before the time of Rabanus Maurus, who wrote his "De Clericorum
Institutione" in 818, the alb had become an integral part of the priest's
sacrificial attire. Rabanus describes it fully (P.L., CVII, 306). It was to be
put on after the amice. It was made, he says, of white linen, to symbolize the
self-denial and chastity befitting a priest. It hung down to the ankles, to
remind him that he was bound to practice good works to his life's end. At
present the priest in putting on the alb says this prayer: "Purify me, O
Lord, from all stain, and cleanse my heart, that washed in the Blood of the
Lamb I may enjoy eternal delights." The symbolism has evidently changed
but little since the ninth century.
As regards the use of the alb, the practice has
varied from age to age. Until the middle of the twelfth century the alb was the
vestment which all clerics wore when exercising their functions, and Rupert of
Deutz mentions that, on great festivals, both in his own monastery and at
Cluny, not only those who officiated in the sanctuary, but all the monks in
their stalls wore albs. The alb was also worn at this period in all religious
functions, e.g. in taking Communion to the sick, or when assisting at a synod.
Since the twelfth century, however, the cotta or surplice has gradually been
substituted for the alb in the case of all clerics save those in greater
orders, i.e. subdeacon, deacon, priest, and bishop. At present the alb is
little used outside the time of Mass. At all other functions it is permissible
for priests to wear a surplice.
Beyond a certain enlargement or contraction as to
lateral dimensions, no great change has taken place in the shape of the alb
since the ninth century. In the Middle Ages the vestment seems to have been
made to fit pretty closely around the waist, but it broadened out below so that
the lower edge, in some cases, measured as much as five yards, or more, in
circumference. No doubt in practice it was pleated and made to hang tolerably
close to the figure. Towards the end of the sixteenth century again, when
voluminous garments were everywhere in vogue, St. Charles Borromeo prescribed a
circumference of over seven yards for the bottom of the alb. But his
regulation, though approved, cannot be said to make a law for the Church at
large.
Much greater diversity has been shown in the
ornamentation of the alb. In the early ages we find the lower edge decorated
with a border sometimes both rich and deep. Similar embroideries adorned the
wrists and the caputium (head opening), i.e. the neck. In the thirteenth
century the fashion of "apparels", which apparently originated in the
north of France, rapidly became general. These were oblong patches of rich
brocade, or embroidery, sewn on to the lower part of the alb both before and
behind. Similar patches were attached to the wrists, producing almost the
effect of a pair of cuffs. Another patch was often sewn on to the breast or
back, sometimes to both. To these apparels many names were given. The commonest
were paruræ, plagulæ, grammata, gemmata. This custom, though it lingered on for
centuries, and in Milan survives until the present day, gave way finally before
the introduction of lace as an ornament. The use of lace, though permitted,
ought never to lose the character of a pure decoration. Albs, with lace
reaching above the knees, are not, strictly speaking, en règle, though there is
a special decree of 16 June, 1893, tolerating albs with lace below the cincture
for canons at Mass, on solemn feast days. Formerly a decree of the Congregation
of Rites prohibited any coloured lining behind the flounce, or cuffs, or lace
with which the alb might be decorated, but a more recent decree (12 July, 1892)
sanctioned the practice. In point of material the alb must be made of linen
(woven of flax or hemp); hence cotton or wool are forbidden. The colour must
now be white. Much discussion has been caused by the frequent occurrence in
medieval inventories of albs which apparently comply with neither of these
regulations. Not only do we read of blue, red, and even black albs, but albs of
silk, velvet, and cloth of gold are frequently mentioned. It has been contended
that in many cases such designations must be regarded as referring to the
apparels with which the albs were adorned; also that the albs of silk, velvet,
etc. were probably tunicles or dalmatics. But there is a residue of cases which
it is impossible to explain satisfactorily, and the prevalence at least of blue
albs seems to be proved by the miniatures of early manuscripts. Moreover, the
use of silk and colours instead of albs of white linen has lasted on in
isolated instances, both in East and West, down to our own days. It may be
added that, like other sacerdotal vestments, the alb needs to be blessed before
use.
(Herbert Thurston, "Alb," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Cincture
(Latin Cingulum.)
The cincture (or, as it is more commonly called in
England, the girdle) is an article of liturgical attire which has certainly
been recognized as such since the ninth century. Then as now it was used to
confine the loose, flowing alb, and prevent it from impeding the movements of
the wearer. But its liturgical character appears from the prayers which even
from early times were recited in putting it on and from the symbolism of spiritual
watchfulness which then specially attached to it, according to the text,
"Sint lumbi vestri præcincti". The cingulum is enumerated among the
Mass vestments in the Stowe Missal, and this very possibly may represent the
practice of the Celtic Church in the seventh century. It seems probable,
however, that in the Celtic Church, as in the Greek Church of the present day,
the girdle was worn only by bishops and priests; the deacon's tunic was left
ungirded. Some few surviving examples of early girdles (tenth- and
eleventh-century) show that in the beginning the cincture was not always a
simple cord, as it is now. On the contrary, we find narrow bands of silk and
precious stuff, often richly embroidered, and these lasted until late in the
Middle Ages. Some such bands and sashes were again introduced for the same
purpose in the last century, but the Congregation of Sacred Rites has
disapproved of the practice, though it permitted those which existed to be used
until worn out (24 November, 1899). The material of the girdle is preferably
flax or hemp, but wool and silk — the latter especially for occasions of
solemnity — are not prohibited. This material is woven into a cord, and the
ends are usually decorated with tassels, By way of ornament strands of gold and
silver thread are sometimes introduced, particularly in the tassels at the
extremities. The prayer now recited by the priest in putting on the girdle,
"Gird me, O Lord, with the girdle of purity", etc., strongly suggests
that this vestment should be regarded as typical of priestly chastity. Like the
other Mass vestments, the girdle requires to be blessed before use.
Some kind of cincture, we may further note, is
included in almost every form of religious or ecclesiastical costume. In
certain religious orders it receives a special blessing, and in such familiar
instances as the Cord of St. Francis or the Girdle of St. Augustine it is
sanctioned and indulgenced by the Church as indicating a profession of
allegiance to a particular institute. Again, the broad sash, which forms part
of the civil attire of bishops, priests, and other ecclesiastics, has been
imitated, apparently for aesthetic reasons, in the costume of choir boys and
servers at the altar. It should be said that this last development, while not expressly
prohibited so long as certain rules are observed regarding colour and material,
is not in any way prescribed or recommended by ecclesiastical authority.
(Herbert Thurston, "Cincture," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Stole
(Priest’s Stole) (Deacon’s
Stole)
A liturgical vestment composed of a strip of
material from two to four inches wide and about eighty inches long. It has
either a uniform width throughout, or is somewhat narrower towards the middle,
widening at the ends in the shape of a trapezium or spade. A small cross is
generally sewed or embroidered on the stole at both ends and in the middle; the
cross, however, is prescribed only for the middle, where the priest kisses the
stole before putting it on. There are no express precepts concerning the
material of the stole, but silk, or at least a half-silk fabric, is most
appropriate. Stoles for festivals are generally ornamented with embroidery,
especially what are called vesper stoles".
Present
use
The stole is worn only by deacons, priests, and
bishops. For deacons and priests it is the specific mark of office, being the
badge of the diaconal and priestly orders. The wrongful use of the stole by
subdeacons, therefore, would imply the usurpation of a higher order, and would
constitute an irregularity. Deacons wear the stole like a sash, the vestment
resting on the left shoulder and thence passing across the breast and back to
the right side. The stole of the priest extends from the back of the neck
across the shoulders to the breast, where the two halves either cross each
other or fall down straight according as the stole is worn over the alb or the
surplice. The stole is worn by a bishop in the same manner as a priest, except
that it is never crossed on the breast, as a bishop wears the pectoral cross.
As a mark of order the stole is used in a special ceremony, at the ordination
of deacons and priests. At the ordination of deacons the bishop places it on
the left shoulder of the candidate, saying: "Receive from the hand of God
the white garment and fulfil thy duty, for God is mighty enough to give thee
His grace in rich measure." At the ordination of priests the bishop draws
the part of the stole that rests at the back of the candidate's neck forward
over the breast and lays the two ends crosswise, saying: "Receive the yoke
of the Lord, for His yoke is sweet and His burden is light." The Sacred
Congregation of Rites has given a large number of decisions concerning the use
of the stole. As a general rule it may be stated: the stole is only used, and
must be used, at a function peculiar to the deacon, priest, and bishop, a
function that presupposes the order (e.g., at the celebration of Mass, when the
Blessed Sacrament is touched, when the sacraments are administered), but not
for example, in processions or at Vespers. The wearing of the stole by the
bishop at Solemn Vespers is an exception; its use by a priest while preaching
depends on local custom. The stole is not a specific mark of parochial
jurisdiction. The use of the stole is also customary in the Oriental rites, in
which, as in the West, it is one of the chief liturgical vestments (Greek,
6pdpiov, the deacon's stole, and irrpaXXtop, the priest's stole; Armenian,
urar; Syrian and Chaldaic, uroro; Coptic, batrashil). According to present Oriental
custom the stole is a strip of silk about seven or eight inches wide, having at
the upper end a hole through which the head is inserted; it is either undivided
(Syrian, Coptic, and Armenian custom) or opens down the front from the opening
for the head (Greek custom). Among the Chaldeans (Nestorians) the stole of the
priest resembles that used in the West, and is, like this, crossed over the
breast. The deacon's stole generally hangs down straight from the left shoulder
both in front and at the back, but in certain rites is first wound like a sash
around the breast and back. Among the Syrians and Chaldeans the subdeacon also
uses the stole, but he first twists it like a scarf around the neck, the ends
being then let hang from the left shoulder in front and behind.
History
We possess few references to the stole anterior to
the ninth century. In the East, however, it is mentioned very early, the
deacon's stole being frequently referred to even in the fourth and fifth
centuries. The priest's stole is not mentioned in the East until the eighth
century. The stole is first mentioned in the West in the sixth and seventh
centuries (Synod of Braga, 563; Fourth Council of Toledo, 633; Gallican
explanation of the Mass), but then as a thing which had long been in use. The
earliest evidences of the use of the stole at Rome date from the second half of
the eighth century and the beginning of the ninth. But in the ninth century,
subdeacons and acolytes still wore both the planeta and the stole, although, to
distinguish them from the deacons, priests, and bishops, there were definite
limitations to their use of the latter vestment. After the ninth century the
stole is very frequently mentioned, and even then the manner of its use was
essentially the same as today. In the ninth and tenth centuries in the Frankish
Empire the priests were commanded to wear the stole constantly as a badge of
their calling, especially when on a journey. In Spain and Gaul in the
pre-Carlovingian period, the deacons wore the stole over the tunic like the
Greeks; in Southern Italy this practice was continued until at least the
thirteenth century; at Milan the stole is still worn over the dalmatic. The
custom for the priests to wear the stole crossed in front of the breast at Mass
was known as early as the Synod of Braga (675), but did not become general
until the late Middle Ages.
Development
Very little is known concerning the nature of the
stole in the pre-Carlovingian period. Originally it was probably a cloth folded
into the form of a band, and gradually developed into a simple band. In the
eleventh and twelfth centuries the stole was very long, and at the same time
extremely narrow. It was customary, even in the ninth century, to ornament the
ends with fringe, tassels, or little bells. Towards the thirteenth century the
ends came to be trapezium-shaped; in the fourteenth century this shape
disappeared, and until the sixteenth century the stole was a strip of material
of uniform width, and only ornamented with fringe at the ends. During the
course of the sixteenth century it began again to be customary to broaden the
ends of the stole; the eighteenth century produced the ugly stoles, in which
the ends seemed to spread out into huge spades; these were also called
"pocket stoles". It was not until the sixteenth century that it
became customary to place a cross in the centre and at the ends of the stole;
in the Middle Ages this practice was unusual.
Origin
Various hypotheses have been suggested concerning
the origin of the stole. The theory formerly universally held, but quite wrong,
that it originated in the ornamental trimming of a garment called
"stole", which in the course of time disappeared leaving behind only
this trimming, has been abandoned. The theory that traced the stole to the
Jewish praying mantle has also been given up. At the present time the stole is
either traced back to a liturgical napkin, which deacons are said to have
carried, or to a neckcloth formerly peculiar to priests or it is regarded as a
liturgical badge (introduced at the latest in the fourth century) which first
came into use in the East, and then in the West. It was also brought, as it
would seem, to Rome, where it was not at first adopted as a badge of the higher
orders of the clergy, but as a distinctive mark of the Roman clergy in general.
The giving of the stole to the candidate at ordination in Rome was intended to
convey a double symbolism; first, that the elevation to the clergy of the Roman
Church occurred de benedictione S. Petri, and secondly that by ordination the
candidate entered the service of St. Peter, that is of the Roman Church. It was
also customary before the ordination to lay the oraria upon the Confessio of
St. Peter. This liturgical badge was called orarium on account of its
similarity to the secular orarium both in shape and material, and in the way it
was worn. (For further details as to the various hypotheses concerning the
origin of the name, cf. J. Braun, "Die liturgische Gewandung",
608-20.) The name "stole", as the designation of the orarium, is of
Gallic origin, not Roman. As early as the ninth century the expression
"stole" prevailed in the Frankish Empire; it made its entrance into
Italy about the tenth century, and here also came rapidly into general use.
From the thirteenth century the name orarium appears only in isolated
instances.
(Joseph Braun, "Stole," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Chasuble
Called in Latin casula planeta or pænula, and in
early Gallic sources amphibalus, the principal and most conspicuous Mass
vestment, covering all the rest. Nearly all ecclesiologists are now agreed that
liturgical costume was simply an adaptation of the secular attire commonly worn
throughout the Roman Empire in the early Christian centuries. The priest in
discharging his sacred functions at the altar was dressed as in civil life, but
the custom probably grew up of reserving for this purpose garments that were
newer and cleaner than those used in his daily avocations, and out of this
gradually developed the conception of a special liturgical attire. In any case
the chasuble in particular seems to have been identical with the ordinary outer
garment of the lower orders. It consisted of a square or circular piece of
cloth in the centre of which a hole was made; through this the head was passed.
With the arms hanging down, this rude garment covered the whole figure. It was
like a little house (casula). This derivation is curiously illustrated in the
prophetic utterance of Druidical origin preserved in Muirchu's "Life of
St. Patrick", almost the oldest allusion to the chasuble and crosier which
we possess. Before St. Patrick's coming to Ireland the Druids were supposed to
have circulated this oracle:
Adze-head
[this is an allusion to the peculiar Irish form of tonsure] will come with a
crook-head staff; in his house head-holed [in suâ domu capiti perforatâ, i.e.
chasuble] he will chant impiety from his table [i.e. the altar]; from the front
[i.e. the eastern] part of his house all his household [attendant clerics] will
respond, 'So be it! So be it!'
The fact that at an early date the word casal
established itself in the Celtic language, and that St. Patrick's casal in
particular became famous, makes the allusion of the "house
head-holed" almost certain. We can hardly help being reminded of St.
Isidore's definition of casula as "a garment furnished with a hood, which
is a diminutive of casa, a cottage, as, like a small cottage or hut, it covers
the entire person". In the earliest chronicles some modification seems to
have already taken place in the primitive conception of a hole cut in round
piece of cloth. The early medieval chasubles were made of a semicircular piece
of stuff, the straight edge folded in the middle, and the two borders sewn
together, leaving an aperture for the head. From this it will be seen that the
chasuble is only a cope of which the front edges have been sewn together. The
inconvenience of the primitive chasuble will be readily appreciated. It was
impossible to use arms or hands without lifting the whole of the front part of
the vestment. To remedy this, more than one expedient was resorted to. The
sides were gradually cut away while the length before and behind remained
unaltered. Thus, after being first curtailed at the sides until it reached but
little below the elbows, it was eventually, in the sixteenth century, pared
away still farther, until it now hardly extends below the shoulders and leaves
the arms entirely free. While this shortening was still in progress, it became
the duty of the deacon and subdeacon, assisting the celebrant, to roll back the
chasuble and relieve as far as possible the weight on his arms. Directions to
this effect are still given in the "Cæremoniale Episcoporum", where
it speaks of the vesting of a bishop (Cæremon. Episc., lib. II, cap. viii, n.
19). Another device adopted in some medieval chasubles, to remedy the
inconvenience caused by the drag of the vestment upon the arms, was to insert a
cord passing through rings by which the sides of the chasuble could be drawn up
to the shoulders and secured in that position. This, however, was rare. The
chasuble, though now regarded as the priestly vestment par excellence, was in
the early centuries worn by all ranks of the clergy. "Folded
chasubles" (planetæ plicatæ), instead of dalmatics, are still prescribed
for the deacon and subdeacon at high Mass during penitential seasons. The
precise origin of this pinning up of the chasuble is still obscure, but, like
the deacon's wearing of the broad stole (stolone)--which represents the
chasuble rolled up and hung over his shoulder like a soldier's
great-coat--during the active part of his functions in the Mass, it probably
had something to do with the inconvenience caused by the medieval chasuble in
impeding the free use of the arms.
Of the chasuble as now in common usage in the
Western Church two principal types appear, which may for convenience be called
the Roman and the French. The Roman is about 46 inches deep at the back and 30
inches wide. It is ornamented with orphreys forming a pillar behind and a tall
cross in front, while the aperture for the neck is long and tapers downwards.
The French type, also common in Germany and in a more debased form in Spain, is
less ample and often artificially stiffened. It has a cross on the back and a
pillar in front. In medieval chasubles these orphrey crosses often assume a Y
form, and the crosses themselves seem really to have originated less from any
symbolical purpose than from sartorial reasons connected with the cut and
adjustment.
Like the other sacred vestments the chasuble, before
use, requires to be blessed by a priest who has faculties for that purpose.
When assumed in vesting for Mass, the act is accompanied with a prayer which
speaks of the chasuble as the "yoke of Christ". But another symbolism
is indicated by the form attached to the bestowal of the chasuble in the
ordination services: "Receive", says the bishop, "the priestly
vestment, by which is signified charity."
(Herbert Thurston, "Chasuble," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Dalmatic
Present
usage
The dalmatic is the outer liturgical vestment of the
deacon. It is worn at Mass and at solemn processions and benedictions, except
when these processions and benedictions have a penitential character, as in
Advent, during the period from Septuagesima Sunday to Easter, at the blessing
of candles and the procession on Candlemas Day, etc.; this is because the
dalmatic has been regarded from the earliest times as a festal garment. The
dalmatic is also worn by bishops under the chasuble at solemn pontifical Mass,
but not at private Masses. Priests are not permitted to wear the dalmatic under
the chasuble unless a special papal privilege to this effect has been granted,
and then only on those days and occasions for which the permission, has been
given.
At Rome, and throughout Italy, the dalmatic is a
robe with wide sleeves; it reaches to the knees, is closed in front, and is
open on the sides as far as the shoulder. Outside of Italy it is customary to
slit the under side of the sleeves so that the dalmatic becomes a mantle like a
scapular with an opening for the head and two square pieces of the material
falling from the shoulder over the upper arm. The distinctive ornamentation of
the vestment consists of two vertical stripes running from the shoulder to the
hem; according to Roman usage these stripes are narrow and united at the bottom
by two narrow cross-stripes. Outside of Rome the vertical stripes are quite
broad and the cross-piece is on the upper part of the garment. There are no
regulations as to the material of the dalmatic; it is generally made of silk
corresponding to that of the chasuble of the priest, with which it must agree
in colour, as the ordinances concerning liturgical colours include the
dalmatic. As the dalmatic is the distinguishing outer vestment of the deacon,
he is clothed with it at his ordination by the bishop, who at the same time
says: "May the Lord clothe thee with the garment of salvation and with the
vesture of praise, and may he cover thee with the dalmatic of righteousness forever".
History
According to the "Liber Pontificalis" the
dalmatic was introduced by Pope Sylvester I (314-35). It is certain that as
early as the first half of the fourth century its use was customary at Rome;
then, as today, the deacons wore it as an outer vestment, and the pope put it
on under the chasuble. In early Roman practice bishops other than the pope and
deacons other than Roman were not permitted to wear the vestment without the
express or tacit permission of the pope--such permission, for instance, as Pope
Symmachus (498-514) gave to the deacons of St. Cæsarius Arles. The Bishops of
Milan most probably wore the dalmatic as early as the fifth century; this is
shown by a mosaic of Sts. Ambrosius and Maternus in the chapel of San Satiro
near the church of San Ambrogio; mosaics in the church of San Vitale at Ravenna
show that it was worn by the archbishops of Ravenna and their deacons at least
as early as the sixth century. About the ninth century the dalmatic was adopted
almost universally for bishops and deacons in Western Europe, even including
Spain and Gaul, where instead of a dalmatic deacons had worn a tunic called an
alb. About the tenth century the Roman cardinal-priests were granted the
privilege of wearing the dalmatic, at which time also priests outside off Rome,
especially abbots, received the same as a mark of distinction. Thus, John XIII
in 970 granted the Abbot of St. Vincentius at Metz the right to wear the
dalmatic. Benedict VII in 975 granted this privilege to the cardinal-priests of
the cathedral of Trier, but limited it to occasions when they assisted the
archbishop at a pontifical Mass or celebrated the solemn high Mass in the
cathedral as his representatives. According to Roman usage the dalmatic was
only worn by prelates at the pontifical Mass, and never under the cope on other
occasions, as was often the case in Germany in the later Middle Ages.
The custom of leaving off the dalmatic on
penitential days originated, like the vestment itself, in Rome, whence it
gradually spread over the rest of Western Europe. In the twelfth century this
usage was universal. On such days the deacons either wore no vestment over the
alb or put on, instead of the dalmatic the so-called planeta plicata, a
dark-coloured chasuble folded in a particular manner. An exception was made in
the penitential season for Maundy Thursday on which it had been the custom from
ancient times, principally on account of the consecration of the holy oils, to
use the vestments appropriate to feast days, In early times the dalmatic was
seldom used by deacons at Mass for the dead, but in the latter part of the
Middle Ages it was universally worn during solemn requiem Masses. At an early
date it was customary at Rome to confer the dalmatic on a deacon at ordination;
the usage is recognized in the "Eighth Ordo" (eighth century) and the
"Ninth Ordo" (ninth century) of Mabillon. In the rest of Western
Europe the custom took root very slowly, and it did not become universal until
towards the end of the Middle Ages. The first medieval liturgist to mention it
was Sicard of Cremona (c. 1200), from whose language it is evident that the
ceremony was not everywhere prevalent. A prayer at the bestowal of the dalmatic
was not customary until a later period.
Shape
and material in earlier ages
The original form of the vestment as well shown by
the remains of the pre-Carolingian period, especially by the mosaics in San
Satiro at Milan (fifth century) in San Vitale at Ravenna (sixth century), and
in San Venanzo and Sant' Agnese at Rome (seventh century) also in various
frescoes, such as the picture of the four holy bishops in the church of San
Callisto at Rome. According to these representations it was a long, wide tunic
with very large sleeves and reached to the feet. In the above-mentioned pictorial
remains the width of the sleeves equalled the half or at least the third of the
length of the vestment. Up to the twelfth century the Italian representations
show no change in its form. After this, in the Italian remains, the vestment is
shorter and the sleeves narrower although the traces of the change are at first
only here and there noticeable. As early as the ninth century the shortening of
the vestment and the narrowing of the sleeves had begun in Northern countries,
but up to the twelfth century no important modification had taken place. In the
thirteenth century the length of the dalmatic was still about 51-55 inches. In
Italy this measurement was maintained during the fourteenth century; in the
sixteenth century the dalmatic, even in Italy, was usually only about 47 1/4
inches long. In the seventeenth century its length everywhere was only a little
more than 43 1/4 inches; in the eighteenth century it was only 39 1/3 inches,
and at times about 35 1/2 inches. The shortening of the vestment could hardly
go further and, as its length decreased, the sleeves became correspondingly
narrower. To facilitate the putting on of the dalmatic slits were made in the
sides of the vestment in the pre-Carolingian era, and in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries regularly shaped openings were often substituted for the
slits. In the latter part of the Middle Ages, especially in the fifteenth
century, the sides were very commonly opened as far as the sleeves, unless the
dalmatic was widened below by the insertion of a gore. Now and then, in the
fifteenth century, the sleeves appear to have been opened for the sake of
convenience, but this custom was not general until the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries and then it was not observed in Italy, where, in
accordance with the Roman usage, the sleeves were always closed.
Originally the dalmatic was made of linen or wool,
but when silk became more common and less expensive, the dalmatic was also made
of silk. From about the twelfth century, judging from the inventories, the vestment
seems to have been made almost altogether of silk, although up to modern times
there were also dalmatics made of fine woollen material. Until after the tenth
century the dalmatic was always white. From this time on coloured dalmatics are
more often found, especially outside of Italy, in countries where old
traditions were not so firmly rooted. Coloured dalmatics were the rule when,
about 1200, it was determined what colours should be recognized as liturgical
and in consequence their use was definitely regulated. As soon as certain
colours were prescribed for the chasuble it must have seemed only proper to
employ the same for the outer vestment of the deacon. The ornamentation of the
dalmatic at first consisted of two narrow stripes, called clavi, which went in
a straight line down the front and back, and of a narrow band on the hem of the
sleeves. In the beginning the stripes were more purple than red in shade. In
the old representations fringe is found on the dalmatic as early as the seventh
century; at times it was placed on the sleeves, at other times along the
openings on the sides. About the ninth century the curious custom arose of
setting tufts of red fringe on the clavi and on the bands of the sleeves; this
usage was kept up until the thirteenth century, but it was more common in
Northern countries than in Italy. In the later medieval period there was great
diversity in the ornamentation of the dalmatic, and very often it received no
ornamentation at all. In Italy it was customary to set a costly, and often
richly embroidered, band (aurifrisium, parura, fimbria) above the lower hem on
the back and front of the vestment and also above the sleeves; at times narrow
vertical bands were added to this adornment. In France and Germany the
preference was to ornament the two sides of the vestment with broad and
elegantly embroidered bands which were united on the breast and back by
cross-bands. Occasionally the dalmatic was entirely covered with embroidered
figures. A fine specimen of such decoration is preserved in the imperial
treasury at Vienna. This dalmatic is completely covered with a costly
ornamentation consisting of human figures very artistically executed in
fifteenth-century Burgundian embroidery and was one of the rich Mass-vestments
of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Origin
and symbolism
The dalmatic was taken from a garment of the same
name, which originated, to judge from the designation, in Dalmatia, and which
came into common use at Rome probably in the course of the second century. But
it was only the garment as such, and not the ornamental bands, that Rome
imported, for the clavi were an old Roman adornment of the tunic. The secular
dalmatic is often mentioned by writers and is frequently seen in the pictorial
remains of the later imperial epoch, e.g. in the so-called consular diptychs.
It was part of the clothing of the higher classes; consequently it is not
surprising that it was taken into ecclesiastical use and afterwards became a
liturgical vestment. The earliest symbolical interpretations of the dalmatic
occur at the beginning of the ninth century, in the writings of Rabanus
(Hrabanus) Maurus and Amalarius of Metz. On account of the cruciform shape and
the red ornamental stripes, Rabanus Maurus regarded it as symbolical of the
sufferings of Christ and said that the vestment admonished the servant of the
altar to offer himself as an acceptable sacrifice to God. Amalarius saw in the
white colour a symbol of purity of soul, and in the red stripes the emblem of
love for one's neighbour. What in later times was said of the symbolism of the
dalmatic is hardly more than a repetition of the words of Rabanus and
Amalarius.
In the Oriental rites deacons do not wear a
dalmatic; while instead of the chasuble the bishops wear an outer vestment called
the saccòs, which is similar to the dalmatic. The saccòs came into use in the
eleventh century.
(Joseph Braun, "Dalmatic" Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Cope
(Known in Latin as pluviale or cappa), a vestment
which may most conveniently be described as a long liturgical mantle, open in
front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. As existing monuments
show, whether we look at pictorial representations or at the copes of early
date which still survive, there has been remarkably little change in the
character of the vestment from the earliest ages. Then as now it was made of a
piece of silk or cloth of semicircular shape, and, as it is important to note, it
differed from the earlier form of chasuble only in this, that in the chasuble
the straight edges were sewn together in front while in the cope they were left
open. The most conspicuous external modification which the cope has undergone,
during the past thousand years and more, lies in a certain divergence in the
shape of the hood, a feature which, after all, is not in any way an essential
part of the vestment. In some early examples we find only a triangular hood,
which was no doubt intended to of practical utility in covering the head in
processions, etc. But with the lapse of time the hood has into a mere
ornamental appendage, and it is quite commonly represented by a sort of shield
of embroidery, artificially stiffened and sometimes adorned with a fringe, the
whole being fastened by buttons or by some other device to the back of the
below the broad orphrey which usually forms an upper border to the whole. The
fact that in many early chasubles, as depicted in the drawings of the eighth
and ninth centuries, we see clear traces of a primitive hood, thus bearing out
the explicit statement upon the point of Isidore of Seville, strongly confirms
the view that in their origin cope and chasuble were identical, the chasuble
being only a cope with its edges sewn together.
History
The earliest mention of a cappa seems to meet us in
Gregory of Tours, and in the "Miracula" of St. Furseus where it seems
to mean a cloak with a hood. So from a letter written in 787 by Theodemar,
Abbot of Monte Cassino, in answer to a question of Charlemagne about the dress
of the monk (see Mon. Germ. Hist.: Epist. Carol., II, 512) we learn that what
in Gaul was styled cuculla (cowl) was known to the Cassinese monks as cappa.
Moreover the word occurs more than once in Alcuin's correspondence, apparently
as denoting a garment for everyday wear. When Alcuin twice observes about a
casula which was sent him, that he meant to wear it always at Mass, we may
probably infer that such garments at this date were not distinctively
liturgical owing to anything in their material or construction, but that they
were set aside for the use of the altar at the choice of the owner, who might
equally well have used them as part of his ordinary attire. In the case of the
chasuble the process of liturgical specialization, if we may so call it, was
completed at a comparatively early date, and before the end of the ninth
century the maker of a casula probably knew quite well in most cases whether he
intended his handiwork for a Mass vestment or for an everyday outer garment.
But in the case of a cappa, or cope, this period of specialization seems to
have been delayed until much later. The two hundred capp or cope, which we read
in a Saint-Riquier inventory in the year 801, a number increased to 377 by the
year 831, were, we believe, mere cloaks, for the most part of rude material and
destined for common wear. It may be that their use in choir was believed to add
to the decorum and solemnity of the Divine Office, especially in the winter
season. In 831 one of the Saint-Riquier copes is specially mentioned as being
of chestnut colour and embroidered with gold. This, no doubt, implies use by a
dignitary, but it does not prove that it was as yet regarded as a sacred
vestment. In fact, if we follow the conclusions of Mr. Edmund Bishop (Dublin
Review, Jan., 1897), who was the first to sift the evidence thoroughly, it was
not until the twelfth century that the cope, made of rich material, was in
general use in the ceremonies of the Church, at which time it had come to be regarded
as the special vestment of cantors. Still, an ornamental cope was even then
considered a vestment that might be used by any member of the clergy from the
highest to the lowest, in fact even by one who was only about to be tonsured.
Amongst monks it was the practice to vest the whole community, except, of
course, the celebrant and the sacred ministers, in copes at high Mass on the
greatest festivals, whereas on feasts of somewhat lower grade, the community
were usually vested in albs. In this movement the Netherlands, France, and
Germany had taken the lead, as we learn from extant inventories. For example,
already in 870, in the Abbey of Saint Trond we find "thirty-three precious
copes of silk" as against only twelve chasubles, and it was clearly the Cluny
practice in the latter part of the tenth century to vest all the monks in copes
during high Mass on the great feasts, though in England the regulations of St.
Dunstan and St. Æthelwold show no signs of any such observance. The custom
spread to the secular canons of such cathedrals as Rouen, and cantors nearly
everywhere used copes of silk as their own peculiar adornment in the exercise
of their functions.
Meanwhile the old cappa nigra, or cappa choralis, a
choir cope of black stuff, open or partly open in front, and commonly provided
with a hood, still continued in use. It was worn at Divine Office by the clergy
of cathedral and collegiate churches and also by many religious, as, for
example, it is retained by the Dominicans during the winter months down to the
present day. (See CLERICAL COSTUME.) No doubt the "copes" of the
friars, to which we find so many references in the Wycliffite literature and in
the writings of Chaucer and Langland, designate their open mantles, which were,
we may say, part of their full dress, though not always black in colour. On the
other hand we may note that the cappa clausa, or close cope, was simply a cope
or cape sewn up in front for common outdoor use. "The wearing of
this", says Mr. Bishop, (loc. cit., p. 24), "instead of the 'cappa
scissa', the same cope not sewn up, is again and again enjoined on the clergy
by synods and statutes during the late Middle Ages." The cappa magna, now
worn according to Roman usage by cardinals, bishops, and certain specially
privileged prelates on occasions of ceremony, is not strictly a liturgical
vestment, but is only a glorified cappa choralis, or choir cope. Its colour for
cardinals is ordinarily red, and for bishops violet. It is ample in volume and
provided with a long train and a disproportionately large hood, the lining of
which last, ermine in winter and silk in summer, is made to show like a tippet
across the breast. Further we must note the papal mantum, which differs little
from an ordinary cope except that it is red in colour and somewhat longer. In
the eleventh and twelfth centuries the immantatio, or bestowal of the mantum on
the newly elected pope, was regarded as specially symbolical of investiture
with papal authority. "Investio te de-papatu romano ut pr sis urbi et orbi"
were the words used in conferring it (I invest thee with the Roman papacy, that
thou rule over the city and the world).
Modern
use
Under all these different forms the cope has not
substantially changed its character or shape. It was a vestment for processions,
and one worn by all ranks of the clergy when assisting at a function, but never
employed by the priest and his sacred ministers in offering the Holy Sacrifice.
At the present day it is still, as the "Cæremoniale" directs, worn by
cantors on certain festal occasions in the solemn Office; but it is also the
vestment assigned to the celebrant, whether priest or bishop, in almost all
functions in which the chasuble is not used, for example in processions, in the
greater blessings and consecrations, at solemn Vespers and Lauds, in giving
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, at the absolutions and burial of the
dead, at the Asperges before Mass, etc. At a pontifical high Mass it is worn by
the assistant priest who especially attends upon the bishop. As regards colour
the cope follows that of the day, and it may be made of any rich or becoming
material. Owing to its ample dimensions and unvarying shape, ancient copes are
preserved to us in proportionately greater numbers than other vestments and
provide the finest specimens of medieval embroidery we possess. Among these the
Syon Cope in the South Kensington Museum, London, and the Ascoli Cope are
remarkable as representing the highest excellence of that specially English
thirteenth-century embroidery known as the opus anglicanum. We are also
indebted to the use of copes for some magnificent specimens of the jeweller's
craft. The brooch or clasp, meant to fasten the cope in front, and variously
called morse, pectoral, bottone, etc., was an object often in the highest
degree precious and costly. The work which was the foundation of all the
fortunes of Benvenuto Cellini was the magnificent morse which he made for Pope
Clement VII. Some admirable examples of these clasps still survive.
(Herbert Thurston, "Cope," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Humeral veil (Benediction veil)
This is the name given to a cloth of rectangular
shape about 8 ft. long and 1 1/2 ft. wide. The "Cæremoniale Romanum (l. I,
c. x, n. 5) requires that it should be of silk. The edges are usually fringed,
while a cross, with the name "Jesus", or some other representation
adorns the centre. Humeral veils for use on festivals are often richly
embroidered. To prevent too rapid wearing out by usage, pockets or flaps
(wings) are provided well under the lower edges, towards the ends. These are
then used instead of the veil itself to hold the object which is to be covered
by the latter. Flaps (wings) are not advisable; but there can be no serious
objection to pockets. The humeral veil is worn so as to cover the back and
shoulders — hence its name — and its two ends hang down in front. To prevent
its falling from the shoulders, it is fastened across the breast with clasps or
ribbons attached to the border. The humeral veil is used:
at solemn
high Mass, by the subdeacon, who holds the paten with it from the close of the
Offertory until after the Pater Noster ("Ritus celebr.", vii, 9, in
"Missale Rom." ; "Cærem. Episc." 1. I, c. x, n. 6; II,
viii, 60);
at a
pontifical Mass, by the acolyte, who bears the bishop's mitre, unless he be
wearing the cope (Cæremon. Epis., I, xi, 6);
by the
priest or bishop in processions of the Blessed Sacrament, in giving
Benediction, in carrying the Host to its repository on Holy Thursday, and bringing
it back to the altar on Good Friday, and finally in taking the Viaticum to the
sick (see rit. for Fer. V. in Coena Domini, and Fer. VI. in Parasceve, in
"Miss. Rom."; "Cæremon. episc.", 1. II, c. xxiii, n. 11,
13; xxv, 31, 32; xxxiii, 27; "Rituale Rom.", Tit. IV, c. iv, n. 9; v,
3).
In processions of the Blessed Sacrament, and at
Benediction given with the ostensorium, only the hands are placed under the
humeral veil; in other cases it covers the sacred vessel which contains the
Host. In the cases mentioned under the third heading the humeral veil must
always be white. No specific colour is prescribed in the case: of the
mitre-bearer but the veil worn by the subdeacon who bears the paten must be of
the same colour as the other vestments. There is no black humeral veil, for the
reason that at Masses for the dead, as well as on Good Friday, the paten
remains on the altar.
History
It is impossible to determine when the Roman Ritual
first prescribed the use of the humeral veil on the occasions mentioned above
under (3). It was probably towards the close of the Middle Ages. The custom is
first alluded to in "Ordo Rom. XV" (c. lxxvii). In many places
outside of Rome the humeral veil was not adopted for the aforesaid functions
until very recent times. It was prescribed in Milan, by St. Charles Borromeo,
for processions of the Blessed Sacrament and for carrying Holy Viaticum to the
sick. Its use at high Mass dates back as far at least as the eighth century,
for it was mentioned, under the name of sindon, in the oldest Roman Ordo. It
undoubtedly goes back to a more remote antiquity. But, in those days, it was
not the subdeacon who held the paten with it; this office was performed by an
acolyte. Moreover, not only this particular acolyte, but all acolytes who had
charge of sacred vessels wore the humeral veil. That of the paten-bearer was
distinguished by a cross. One may find an interesting reproduction of acolytes
with alb and humeral veil (sindon) in a ninth century miniature of a
sacramentary (reproduced in Braun, Die liturgische Gewandung p. 62), in the
seminary of Autun sometime in the eleventh century the custom was inaugurated
of having the paten borne, no longer by an acolyte, but by the subdeacon; this
was especially the case at Rome. The subdeacon then had no humeral veil, but
rather held the paten with the pall (mappula, palla, sudarium), the forerunner
of our chalice veil, the ends of which were thrown over the right shoulder.
Thus it is prescribed by Ordo Rom. XIV (c. liii), and so it may be seen in various
reproductions. The acolyte continued, even in the later Middle Ages, to use a
humeral veil (palliolum, sindon, mantellum) when carrying the paten, and the
present Roman custom, according to which the subdeacon is vested in the humeral
veil when holding the paten, originated at the close of the Middle Ages. It was
slow in finding its way into use outside of Rome, and was not adopted in
certain countries (France, Germany) until the nineteenth century. The veil used
by the mitre-bearer is mentioned as far back as Ordo Rom. XIV (c. xlviii).
(Joseph Braun, "Humeral Veil," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Cassock
A long black garment worn by Altar Servers under the
Surplice. Also worn by Diocesan Priests (Black), Monsignors (Rose), Bishops
(Violet), Cardinals (Red), and the Pope (White).
Surplice
A large-sleeved tunic of half-length, made of fine
linen or cotton, and worn by all the clergy. The wide sleeves distinguish it
from the rochet and the alb; it differs from the alb inasmuch as it is shorter
and is never girded. It is shorter and is never girded. It is ornamented at the
hem and the sleeves either with embroidery, with lace-like insertions, or with
lace. The lace should never be more than fifteen inches wide, as otherwise the
real vestment is necessarily too much shortened by this merely ornamental
addition. The surplice belongs to the liturgical vestment in the strict sense,
and is the vestment most used. It is the choir dress, the vestment for
processions, the official priestly dress of the lower clergy, the vestment worn
by the priest in administering the sacraments, when giving blessings, at
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, etc.; in the last-mentioned cases it is
the substitute for the alb, which, according to present custom, is worn only at
Mass and a few other functions. The blessing of the surplice by the bishop or
by authorized priest is proper, but not strictly prescribed. As the distinctive
sacerdotal dress of the lower clergy the bishop, after giving the tonsure,
places it on the candidate for orders with these words: "May the Lord
clothe thee with the new man, who is created in righteousness and true holiness
after the image of God."
History
The time of the introduction of the surplice cannot
be determined. Without doubt it was originally merely a choir vestment and a
garment to be worn at processions, burials, and on similar occasions. As a
liturgical dress in this sense it is met outside of Italy (in England and
France) as early as the eleventh century, but it is not found in Italy until
the twelfth century. The surplice may have been used in isolated cases during
the twelfth century instead of the alb in administering the sacraments and at
blessings, but this use did not become general until the thirteenth century.
Towards the close of the twelfth century the surplice was already the
distinctive dress of the lower clergy, even though this was not the case
everywhere. However, the placing of the surplice on the clerics after the
giving of the tonsure (cf. above), is first testified by the Pontificals of the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The name of the surplice arises from the
fact that it was worn by the clergy, especially in northern Europe, over
(super) the universally customary fur clothing (pelliceoe). This is stated by
Durandus and by the English grammarian Gerlandus, both of whom lived to the
thirteenth century. The fur clothing not only led to the name of the surplice,
but it was probably the cause of its appearance. For it is evident that a
large-sleeved, ungirdled tunic was better suited to go over heavy fur coats
than a narrow-sleeved, girded alb. It seems most probable that the surplice
first appeared in France or England, whence its use gradually spread to Italy.
It is possible that there is a connection between the surplice and the Gallican
alb, an ungirdled liturgical tunic of the old Gallican Rite, which was
superseded during the Carlovingian era by the Roman Rite. The founding of the
Augustinian Canons in the second half of the eleventh century may have had a
special influence upon the spread of the surplice. Among the Augustinian Canons
the surplice was not only the choir vestment, but also a part of the habit of
the order. In addition to the surplice we find frequent early mention of a
"cotta". It is possible that between the superpelliceum and the cotta
there may have been some small difference (perhaps in length or width), but
most probably these terms were only different names for the same liturgical
vestment (cf. Braun, op. cit. in bibliography, p. 142). Originally the surplice
was a full-length tunic — that is, it reached to the feet. In the thirteenth
century it began to be shortened, although in the fifteenth century it still
reached halfway between the knee and the ankle. In the sixteenth century,
however, it was so short that it frequently reached only just below the hips.
As the length of the surplice was lessened, the length and breadth of the
sleeves was naturally reduced, so that in this respect also there is a great
difference between the original surplice and that of the eighteenth century.
More striking than these mere alterations of size were other changes made in
the surplice, some of which appeared as early as the thirteenth century, and by
which its entire shape and appearance was more or less altered, various forms
of the surplice being produced. Thus, surplices appeared with slit-up sleeves
(thus with wings of material rather than sleeves); then surplices which,
besides being slit up on the under side of the sleeve, were also open at the
sides, the surplices being thus like scapulars in form. Also surplices without
sleeves, having mere slits for the arms; finally surplices resembling the
medieval bell-shaped chasuble with only an opening in the middle for the head —
this shape was customary in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, especially
in Venetian territory. These variations met with the disapproval of provincial
and diocesan synods, but their prohibitions had not permanent effect. The
scapular-like band that took the place of the surplice among the Augustinian
Canons on non-liturgical occasions is not a curtailment of the surplice, but a
substitute for it.
Ornamentation
In the Middle Ages the surplice apparently seldom
received rich ornamentation. In pictures and sculpture it appears as a garment
hanging in many folds, but otherwise plain throughout. There is a surplice at
Neustift near Brixen in the Tyrol that dates back to the twelfth (or, at least,
to the thirteenth) century; it is the only medieval surplice that we possess.
This surplice shows geometrical ornaments in white linen embroidery on the
shoulders, breast, back, and below the shoulders, where, as in the albs of the
same date, large full gores have been inserted in the body of the garment.
After the lace industry developed in the sixteenth century the hem and sleeves
of the surplice were often trimmed with lace — at a later period,
unfortunately, too often at the expense of the vestment itself. It apparently
did not become customary to lay the surplice in folds until the close of the
Middle Ages. This custom had vogue especially in Italy, but it frequently
degenerated into undignified straining after effect and effeminate display.
(Joseph Braun, "Surplice," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Mitre
Form,
material, and use
The mitre is a kind of folding-cap. It consists of
two like parts, each stiffened by a lining and rising to a peak; these are sewn
together on the sides, but are united above by a piece of material that can
fold together. Two lappets trimmed on the ends with fringe hang down from the
back. The mitre is, theoretically, always supposed to be white. The official
"Cæremoniale Romanum" distinguishes three kinds of mitres: the mitra
pretiosa, auriphrygiata, and simplex. The first two differ from each other only
in the greater or less richness of the ornamentation; the mitra simplex, or
simple mitre, is one of white silk or white linen entirely without ornament.
The fringe on the lappets at the back should be red. The bishop must wear the
mitra pretiosa on those days on which the hymn Te Deum is used in the Office,
the mitre auriphrygiata in the seasons of Advent and Lent, on fast days and
during penitential processions, the mitra simplex on Good Fridays, at funerals,
and at the blessing of the candles on Candlemas-day. When bishops attend a
general council, or are present at solemn pontifical acts of the pope, they
wear a plain linen mitre, while the cardinals on occasions wear a simple mitre
of silk damask. The right to wear the mitre belongs by law only to the pope,
the cardinals, and the bishops. Others require for its use a special papal
privilege. This privilege is possessed, for example, by numerous abbots, the
dignitaries of many cathedral chapters, and by certain prelates of the papal
Curia, but, as a rule, the right is more or less limited: for instance, such
prelates can only use a simple mitre of white linen, unless the contrary is
expressly granted them. The mitre is distinguished from the other episcopal
vestments in that it is always laid aside when the bishop prays; for example,
at the orationes of the Mass, of the Office, in conferring Holy Orders, at the
Canon of the Mass, etc. The reason for this is to be found in the commandment
of the Apostle that a man should pray with uncovered head (1 Corinthians 11:4).
The giving of the mitre is a ceremony in the consecration of a bishop. It
occurs at the close of the Mass after the solemn final blessing, the
consecrator having first blessed the mitre.
Antiquity
From the seventeenth century much has been written
concerning the length of time the mitre has been worn. According to one opinion
its use extends back into the age of the Apostles; according to another, at
least as far back as the eighth or ninth century while a further view holds
that it did not appear until the beginning of the second millennium, but that
before this there was an episcopal ornament for the head, in form like a wreath
or crown. In opposition to these and similar opinions, which cannot all be
discussed here, it is, however, to be held as certain that an episcopal
ornament for the head in the shape of a fillet never existed in Western Europe,
that the mitre was first used at Rome about the middle of the tenth century,
and outside of Rome about the year 1000. Exhaustive proof for this is given in
the work (mentioned in bibliography below), "Die liturgische Gewandung im
Occident und Orient" (pp. 431-48), where all that has been brought forward
to prove the high antiquity of the mitre is exhaustively discussed and refuted.
The mitre is depicted for the first time in two miniatures of the beginning of
the eleventh century; the one is in a baptismal register, the other in
Exultet-roll of the cathedral at Bari, Italy. The first written mention of it
is found in a Bull of Leo IX of the year 1049. In this the pope, who had
formerly been Bishop of Toul, France, confirmed the primacy of the Church of
Trier to Bishop Eberhard of Trier, his former metropolitan who had accompanied
him to Rome. As a sign of this primacy, Leo granted Bishop Eberhard the Roman
mitre, in order that he might use it according to the Roman custom in
performing the offices of the church. By about 1100-50 the custom of wearing
the mitre was general among bishops.
Origin
The pontifical mitre is of Roman origin: it is
derived from a non-liturgical head-covering distinctive of the pope, the
camelaucum, to which also the tiara is to be traced. The camelaucum was worn as
early as the beginning of the eighth century, as is shown by the biography of
Pope Constantine I (708-815) in the "Liber Pontificalis". The same
headcovering is also mentioned in the so-called "Donation of
Constantine". The Ninth Ordo states that the camelaucum was made of white
stuff and shaped like a helmet. The coins of Sergius III (904-11) and of Benedict
VII (974-83), on which St. Peter is portrayed wearing a camelaucum, give the
cap the form of a cone, the original shape of the mitre. The camelaucum was
worn by the pope principally during solemn processions. The mitre developed
from the camelaucum in this way: in the course of the tenth century the pope
began to wear this head-covering not merely during processions to the church,
but also during the subsequent church service. Whether any influence was
exerted by the recollection of the sacerdotal head-ornament of the high-priest
of the Old Testament is not known, but probably not—at least there is no trace
of any such influence. It was not until the mitre was universally worn by
bishops that it was called an imitation of the Jewish sacerdotal head-ornament.
Granting
of the mitre to dignitaries other than bishops
The Roman cardinals certainly had already the right
to wear the mitre towards the end of the eleventh century. Probably they
possessed the privilege as early as in the first half of the century. For if
Leo IX granted the privilege to the cardinals of the cathedral of Besançon (see
CARDINAL: I. Cardinal Priests) in 1051, the Roman cardinals surely had it
before that date. The first authentic granting of the mitre to an abbot dates
from the year 1063, when Alexander II conferred the mitre upon Abbot Egelsinus
of the Abbey of St. Augustine at Canterbury. From this time on instances of the
granting of the mitre to abbots constantly increased in number. At times also
secular princes were granted permission to wear the mitre as a mark of
distinction; for example, Duke Wratislaw of Bohemia received this privilege
from Pope Alexander II, and Peter of Aragon from Innocent III. The right also
belonged to the German emperor.
Development
of the shape
As regards shape, there is such difference between
the mitre of the eleventh century and that of the twentieth that it is
difficult to recognize the same ornamental head-covering in the two. In its
earliest form the mitre was a simple cap of soft material, which ended above in
a point, while around the lower edge there was generally, although not always,
an ornamental band (circulus). It would also seem that lappets were not always
attached to the back of the mitre. Towards 1100 the mitre began to have a curved
shape above and to grow into a round cap. In many cases there soon appeared a
depression in the upper part similar to the one which is made when a soft felt
hat is pressed down on the head from the forehead to the back of the head. In
handsome mitres an ornamental band passed from front to back across the
indentation; this made more prominent the puffs in the upper part of the cap to
the right and left sides of the head. This calotte-shaped mitre was used until
late in the twelfth century; in some places until the last quarter of the
century. From about 1125 a mitre of another form and somewhat different
appearance is often found. In it the puffs on the sides had developed into
horns (cornua) which ended each in a point and were stiffened with parchment or
some other interlining. This mitre formed the transition to the third style of
mitre which is essentially the one still used today: the third mitre is
distinguished from its predecessor, not actually by its shape, but only by its
position on the head. While retaining its form, the mitre was henceforth so
placed upon the head that the cornua no longer arose above the temples but
above the forehead and the back of the head. The lappets had naturally, to be
fastened to the under edge below the horn at the back. The first example of
such a mitre appeared towards 1150. Elaborate mitres of this kind had not only
an ornamental band (circulus) on the lower edge, but a similar ornamental band
(titulus) went vertically over the middle of the horns. In the fourteenth
century this form of mitre began to be distorted in shape. Up to then the mitre
had been somewhat broader than high when folded together, but from this period
on it began, slowly indeed, but steadily, to increase in height until, in the
seventeenth century, it grew into an actual tower. Another change, which,
however, did not appear until the fifteenth century, was that the sides were no
longer made vertical, but diagonal. In the sixteenth century it began to be
customary to curve, more or less decidedly, the diagonal sides of the horns.
The illustration gives a summary of the development of the shape of the mitre.
It should, however, be said that the changes did not take place everywhere at
the same time, nor did the mitre everywhere pass through all the shapes of the
development. A large number of mitres of the later Middle Ages have been
preserved, but they all belong to the third form of mitre. Many have very
costly ornamentation. For even in medieval times it, was a favourite custom to
ornament especially the mitre with embroidery, rich bands (aurifrisia), pearls,
precious stones, small ornamental disks of the precious metals; and even to use
painting. Besides several hundred large and small pearls, a mitre of the late
Middle Ages in St. Peter's at Salsburg is also ornamented with about five
hundred more or less costly precious stones; it weighs over five and a half
pounds. Similar mitres are also mentioned in the inventory of 1295 of Boniface
VIII. Eight medieval mitres are preserved in the cathedral of Halberstadt. In
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the mitre was ornamented with rich,
heavy embroidery in gold, which gave it a still more imposing appearance. A
mitre of the eighteenth century preserved in the cathedral treasury at
Limburg-on-the-Lahn is remarkable for the large number of precious stones that
adorn it. The original material of the mitre appears to have been white linen
alone, but as early as the thirteenth century (with the exception of course of
the simple mitre) it was generally made of silk or ornamented with silk
embroidery.
The
liturgical head-covering in the Greek rite
In the Orthodox Greek Rite (the other Greek Rites
need not here be considered) a liturgical head-covering was not worn until the
sixteenth century. Before this only the Patriarch of Alexandria, who wore one
as early as the tenth century, made use of a head-covering, and his was only a
simple cap. The Greek pontifical mitre is a high hat which swells out towards
the top and is spanned diagonally by two hoops; on the highest point of the
dome-shaped top is a cross either standing upright or placed flat.
(Joseph Braun, "Mitre," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Crosier
The crosier is an ecclesiastical ornament which is
conferred on bishops at their consecration and on mitred abbots at their
investiture, and which is used by these prelates in performing certain solemn
functions. It is sometimes stated that archbishops do not use the crosier. This
is not so, the truth being that in addition to the pastoral staff they have also
the right to have the archiepiscopal cross borne before them within the
territory of their jurisdiction. According to present-day usage the Roman
pontiff does not use the crosier. That this practice is now a departure from
primitive discipline is now thoroughly established, for in the early
representations of the popes found on tablets, coins, and other monuments, the
crosier is to be seen (Kraus, Geschichte der christlichen Kunst, II, 500). But
in the eleventh century this must have disappeared, since Innocent III (d.
1216) intimates that it no longer prevailed (Epistola ad Patr. Const.). As a
reason why the pope does not use crosier symbolists allege the giving by St.
Peter of his staff to one of his disciples in order to raise a dead companion
to life. The pastoral staff will here be treated under: (1) the symbolism of
the crosier; (2) its origin and antiquity; (3) early forms and subsequent
artistic development.
Symbolism
The crosier is symbol of authority and jurisdiction.
This idea is clearly expressed in the words of the Roman Pontifical with which
the staff is presented to the bishop elect: "Accipe baculum pastoralis
officii; et sis in corrigendis vitiis pies viens, judicium sine irâ tenens, in
fovendis virtutibus auditorum animos mulcens, in tranquillitate severitatis
censuram non deserens" (Pont. Rom. 77). It is then, as Durandus (Rationale
Divin. Off., III, xv) says, borne by prelates to signify their authority to
correct vices, stimulate piety, administer punishment, and thus rule and govern
with a gentleness that is tempered with severity. The same author goes on to
say that, as the rod of Moses was the seal and emblem of his Divine commission
as well as the instrument of the miracles he wrought, so is the episcopal staff
the symbol of that doctrinal and disciplinary power of bishops in virtue of
which they may sustain the weak and faltering, confirm the wavering in faith,
and lead back the erring ones into the true fold. Barbosa (Pastoralis
Sollicitudinis, etc., Tit. I, ch. v) alluding to the prevalent form of the
staff, says that the end is sharp and pointed wherewith to prick and goad the
slothful, the middle is straight to signify righteous rule, while the head is
bent or crooked in order to draw in and attract souls to the ways of God. Bona
(Rerum liturgic., I, xxiv) says the crosier is to bishops what the sceptre is
to kings. In deference to this symbolism bishops always carry the crosier with
the crook turned outwards, while inferior prelates hold it with the head
reversed. Moreover, the crosiers of abbots are not so large as episcopal
crosiers, and are covered with a veil when the bishop is present.
Origin
The origin of the pastoral staff is at times
associated with the shepherd's crook. Whether the usage was borrowed from this
source is doubtful. Some writers trace an affinity with the lituus, or rod used
by the Roman augurs in their divinations, while others again trace in the
crosier an adaptation of the ordinary walking-sticks which were used for
support on journeys and in churches before the introduction of seats (Catalani,
Pont. Rom., Proleg., xx). At all events, it came at a very early date to be one
of the principal insignia of the episcopal office. Just how soon is not easily
determined, since in the early passages of the Fathers in which the word occurs
it cannot be ascertained whether it is to be taken literally or metaphorically
(see 1 Corinthians 4:21) or whether it designates an ecclesiastical ornament at
all. In liturgical usage it probably goes back to the fifth century (Kirchenlex.,
s.v. Hirtenstab). Mention of it is made in a letter of Pope Celestine I (d.
432) to the Bishops of Vienne and Narbonne. Staffs have indeed been found in
the catacombs that date from the fourth century but their ceremonial character
has not been established. The first unequivocal reference to the crosier as a
liturgical instrument occurs in the twenty-seventh canon of the Council of
Toledo (633). At present it is employed by bishops whenever they perform solemn
pontifical functions, by right in their own dioceses and by privilege outside,
and by inferior prelates whenever they are privileged to exercise pontifical
functions.
Form
and development
The evolution of the staff is of interest.
Ecclesiologists distinguish three early forms. The first was a rod of wood bent
or crooked at the top and pointed at the lower end. This is the oldest form and
was known as the pedum. The second had, instead of the crook, a knob which was
often surmounted by a cross, and was called the ferula or cambuta. It was sometimes
borne by popes. In the third form the top consisted of a crux decussata, or
Greek T, the arms of the cross being often so twisted as to represent two
serpents opposed. This, known as the crocia, was borne by abbots and bishops of
the Eastern Rite. The original material was generally cypress-wood, often cased
or inlaid with gold or silver. Later on the staffs were made of solid ivory,
gold, silver, and enamelled metal. From the many specimens preserved in
churches as well as from the representations in old sculptures, paintings, and
miniatures, some idea may be formed of the artistic development of the staff
and of the perfection it attained. In the cathedral of Bruges is preserved the
crosier of St. Malo, a bishop of the sixth century. The staff consists of
several pieces of ivory jointed together by twelve copper strips; but the
volute is modern (Reusens, Elém. d'arch. chr t., I, 504). The eleventh and
twelfth centuries witness an elaborate display of most exquisite ornamentation
bestowed on the head of the staff. The volute often terminated in a dragon
impaled by a cross, or in some other allegorical figure whilst a wealth of
floral decoration filled up the curve. In the thirteenth century the spaces
between the spirals of the crocketed volute were filled religious subjects,
statues of saints, and scenes from the animal and vegetable kingdoms, while in
those of the Gothic form the knob was set in precious stones and embellished
with a wreath of allegorical ornamentation. Quite a number of these rich and
valuable efforts of artistic skill have come down to us, and one or more may be
seen in almost every old cathedral of England and the Continent. Oxford
possesses three very old and interesting patterns, that preserved at New
College having belonged to William of Wykeham. St. Peter's staff is said to be
preserved in the cathedral of Trier. The legend may be seen in Barbosa
(Pastoralis Sollicitudinis, etc., Tit. I, ch. v).
(Patrick Morrisroe, "Crosier,” Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Mozzetta
A short, cape-shaped garment, covering the shoulders
and reaching only to the elbow, with an open front, which may be fastened by
means of a row of small buttons; at the neck it has a very small and purely
ornamental hood. The privilege of wearing the mozzetta belongs properly to no
one but the pope, cardinals, exempt abbots, abbots general, and the four
prelates di fiochetti; only through a special privilege may it be worn by other
ecclesiastics, abbots, canons, etc. Cardinals wear the mozzetta over the mantelletta,
but bishops wear it without the mantelletta; the latter, however, may wear the
mozzetta only within their own jurisdiction, outside of which the mantelletta
must be worn instead of the mozzetta, Canons who have the privilege of wearing
the mozzetta, may not use it outside of the church, save when the chapter
appears in corpore (as a corporate body). The pope's mozzetta, is always red,
except that, in Easterweek, he wears a white one. As regards material, his
mozzetta, during the winter half-year, that is, from the feast of St. Catherine
to Ascension Day is made of velvet or of cloth according to the character of
the day or ceremony; in the summer half-year it is made of satin or fine woolen
material (merino). It is edged with ermine only in the winter half-year. A
cardinal's mozzetta is generally red; the colour is pink on Gaudete and Laetare
Sundays, and violet in penitential seasons and for mourning. According to the
time of year, it is made of silk or wool. When worn by bishops, prelates, canons,
etc., the mozzetta is violet or black in colour; the material for these
dignitaries is properly not silk but wool (camlet). Cardinals and bishops who
belong to an order wearing a distinctive religious habit (e.g. the
Benedictines, Dominicans, etc.) retain for the mozzetta the colour of the outer
garment of the habit of the respective order. This also applies to abbots and
Reformed Augustinian canons who have the privilege of wearing the mozzetta. The
mozzetta is not a liturgical vestment, consequently, for example, it cannot be
worn at the administration of the sacraments. Sometimes it is traced back to
the cappa, this making it merely a shortened cappa; sometimes to the almutia.
From which of the two it is derived, is uncertain. The name mozzetta permits both
derivations. In all probability the garment did not come into use until the
latter Middle Ages. It was certainly worn in the latter half of the fifteenth
century as is proved by the fresco of Melozzo da Forli painted in 1477:
"Sixtus IV giving the Custody of the Vatican Library to Platina".
From the beginning the mozzetta has been a garment distinctive of the higher
ecclesiastical dignitaries, the pope, cardinals, and bishops.
(Joseph Braun, "Mozzetta" Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Mantelletta
An outer vestment reaching to the knees, open in
front, with slits instead of sleeves on the sides. It is worn by cardinals,
bishops, and prelates di manteletta. For cardinals the colour is ordinarily
red, in penitential seasons and for times of mourning it is violet, on Gaudete
and Laetare Sundays rose-colour; for the other dignitaries, the same
distinctions being made, the colour is violet or black with a violet border.
Cardinals and bishops belonging to orders which have a distinctive dress, also
abbots who are entitled to wear the mantelletta, retain for it the colour of
the habit of the order. The vestment is made of silk only when it is worn by
cardinals or by bishops or prelates belonging to the papal court. The
mantelletta is probably connected with the mantellum of the cardinals in the
"Ordo" of Gregory X (1271-1276) and with the mantellum of the
prelates in the "Ordo" of Petrus Amelius (d. 1401), which was a
vestment similar to a scapular.
(Joseph Braun, "Mantelletta," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Biretta
A square cap with three ridges or peaks on its upper
surface, worn by clerics of all grades from cardinals downwards. The use of
such a cap is prescribed by the rubrics both at solemn Mass and in other
ecclesiastical functions. Etymologically, the word biretta is Italian in origin
and would more correctly be written beretta (cf. however the French barette and
the Spanish bireta). It probably comes from birrus, a rough cloak with a hood,
from the Greek pyrros, flame-coloured, and the birretum may originally have
meant the hood. We hear of the birettum in the tenth century, but, like most
other questions of costume, the history is extremely perplexed. The wearing of
any head-covering, other than hood or cowl, on state occasions within doors
seems to have originally been a distinction reserved for the privileged few.
The constitutions of Cardinal Ottoboni issued by him for England in 1268 forbid
the wearing of caps vulgarly called "coyphae" (cf. the coif of the
serjeant-at-law) to clerics, except when on journey. In church and when in the
presence of their superiors their heads are to remain uncovered. From the law
the higher graduates of the universities were excepted, thus Giovanni d'Andrea,
in his gloss on the Clementine Decretals, declares (c. 1320) that at Bologna
the insignia of the Doctorate were the cathedra (chair) and the birettum.
At first the birettum was a kind of skull-cap with a
small tuft, but it developed into a soft round cap easily indented by the
fingers in putting it on and off, and it acquired in this way the rudimentary
outline of its present three peaks. We may find such a cap delineated in many
drawings of the fifteenth century, one of which, representing university
dignitaries at the Council of Constance, who are described in the accompanying
text as birrectati, is here reproduced. The same kind of cap is worn by the
cardinals sitting in conclave and depicted in the same contemporary series of
drawings, as also by preachers addressing the assembly. The privilege of
wearing some such head-dress was extended in the course of the sixteenth
century to the lower grades of the clergy, and after a while the chief
distinction became one of colour, the cardinals always wearing red birettas,
and bishops violet. The shape during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
was everywhere considerably modified, and, though the question is very
complicated, there seems no good reason to reject the identification, proposed
by several modern writers, of the old doctor's birettum with the square college
cap, popularly known as the "mortar-board", of the modern English
universities. The college cap and ecclesiastical biretta have probably
developed from the same original, but along different lines. Even at the
present day birettas vary considerably in shape. Those worn by the French,
German, and Spanish clergy as a rule have four peaks instead of three; while
Roman custom prescribes that a cardinal's biretta should have no tassel. As
regards usage in wearing the biretta, the reader must be referred for details
to some of the works mentioned in the bibliography. It may be said in general
that the biretta is worn in processions and when seated, as also when the
priest is performing any act of jurisdiction, e.g. reconciling a convert. It
was formerly the rule that a priest should always wear it in giving absolution
in confession, and it is probable that the ancient usage which requires an
English judge assume the "black cap" in pronouncing sentence of death
is of identical origin.
(Herbert Thurston, "Biretta" Catholic Encyclopedia)
Zucchetto
(zucca, head).
The small, round skullcap of the ecclesiastic. The
official name is pileolus; other designations are: berettino, calotte,
subbiretum (because worn under the biretta), submitrale (because worn under the
mitre), soli-deo. The pope's zucchetto is white, that of the cardinals red,
even when the cardinal is a member of an order. Cardinals who had been secular
priests received the red zucchetto and also the red biretta in 1464 from Paul
II; the cardinals taken from the regulars were granted both in 1591. If the newly-appointed
cardinal is at Rome he receives the zucchetto from the Sotto-guardaroba as he
leaves the throne room where he has received the mozetta, and biretta from the
pope; otherwise the zucchetto is brought to him, along with the decree of
appointment, by one of the pope's Noble Guard. The pileolus of the bishops is
violet, that of other ecclesiastics, including the prelates, unless a special
privilege to wear violet is granted, black. Bishops and cardinals wear it at
Mass, except during the Canon; other ecclesiastics may not wear it at Mass
without special papal permission. However, according to a decision of the
Sacred Congregation of Rites (23 September, 1837), a bishop also may not wear
it while giving Benediction.
It cannot be said positively when the zucchetto
became customary, but it was probably not before the thirteenth century. It
appears on the cardinals in the fresco, "St. Francis before Honorius
III", painted about 1290 in the upper church of St. Francis at Assisi. It
is seen also under the tiara in the effigy on the tomb of Clement VI (d. 1352)
at La Chaise-Dieu. The figures on the several tombs of bishops of the fifteenth
century in the Roman churches show the zucchetto under the mitre. In the
"Ordo" of Jacobus Gajetanus (about 1311) the zucchetto is mentioned
in connection with the hat of the cardinals (cap. cxviii), and with the mitre
in the "Ordo" of Petrus Amelii (cap. cxliv.), which appeared about
1400. It is shown in the pictures and sculpture of the late Middle Ages sometimes
as a round skullcap, sometimes as a cap that covers the back of the head and
the ears. In this shape it was called camauro; this designation was given
especially to the red velvet cap of this kind bordered with ermine that was
peculiar to the pope. There was great confusion as to the proper use of the
zucchetto and hence the Sacred Congregation of Rites has delivered several
decisions on the Subject ("Decr. auth. Congr. SS. Rit.", V, Rome
1901, 382).
(Joseph Braun, "Zucchetto," Catholic
Encyclopedia)
Funeral Pall
A black cloth usually spread over the coffin while
the obsequies are performed for a deceased person. It generally has a white
cross worked through its entire length and width. The Roman Ritual does not
prescribe its use in the burial of a priest or layman, but does so for the
absolution given after a requiem when the body is not present. Still the
Congregation of Sacred Rites supposes its existence, since it forbids
ecclesiastics, especially in sacred vestments, to act as pall-bearers for a
deceased priest (3110, 15). It also forbids the use of a white transparent pall
fringed with gold in the funeral of canons (3248, 3). The "Ceremoniale
Episcoporum" orders a black covering on the bed of state for a deceased
bishop. It was once customary specially to invite persons to carry the pall,
or, at least, to touch its borders during the procession. These pall-bearers
frequently had the palls made of very costly materials and these were
afterwards made into sacred vestments. Formerly dalmatics or even coverings taken
from the altar were used as a pall for a deceased pope, but, on account of
abuses that crept in, this practice was suppressed. In the Council of Auxerre
(578, can. xii) and in the statutes of St. Boniface the pall hiding the body
was forbidden.
In the English Church the funeral pall was regularly
employed. Thus we read that, at the funeral of Richard Kellowe, Bishop of
Durham (d. 1316), Thomas Count of Lancaster offered three red palls bearing the
coat of arms of the deceased prelate. On the same occasion Edward II of England
sent palls of gold cloth. At the burial of Arthur, son of Henry VII, Lord Powys
laid a rich cloth of gold on the body. Similar rich palls were used in the
obsequies of Henry VII and of Queen Mary.
(Francis Mershman, "Funeral Pall,"
Catholic Encyclopedia)
No comments:
Post a Comment