The Ceremonies of the Holy-Week at Rome Part 1

The Ceremonies of the Holy-Week at Rome.

by Charles Michael Baggs.

DIRECTIONS

FOR SEEING THE CEREMONIES

Provide yourself with a HOLY-WEEK-BOOK, or _Uffizio della Settimana Santa_. Take care that your dress is according to rule. For many of the ceremonies ladies require tickets signed by _M. Maggiordomo_.

On Palm-sunday morning the Pontifical ceremonies begin at S.

Peter's, at about 9 o'clock: no stranger can receive a palm without a permission signed by _M. Maggiordomo_. In the afternoon the Card.

Penitentiary goes at about 4 or half past 4 to S. John Lateran's, where the Station of the day is held.

On the _afternoons_ of _Wednesday_ and _Thursday_, (between 4 and half past 4) and of _Friday_ (half an hour sooner) the office of Tenebrae begins at the Sixtine chapel. After it is over, you may go to S.

Peter's to bear the conclusion of a similar service: there on Thursday evening the high-altar is washed by the Card, priest and chapter; on Friday the Pope, Cardinals etc. go thither to venerate the relics after Tenebrae in the Sixtine chapel; and on the afternoons of both days the Card. Penitentiary goes thither in slate. In the evening of these three days the feet of pilgrims are washed, and they are served at table by Cardinals etc. at the Trinita dei Pellegrini.

On _Thursday morning_ you can see the oils blessed at S. Peter's: this ceremony begins _early_. There is little difference between the ma.s.s (at about half past 9 or 10) in the Sixtine chapel on this day, and on ordinary days, and there is generally a great crowd: the procession after ma.s.s is repeated on the following morning; and the papal benediction on Easter Sunday: your best plan therefore will be to go at an early hour to see the blessing of the oils, and afterwards the washing of the feet, at S. Peter's; and then go to see the dinner of the _apostles_ near the balcony from which the Pope gives His benediction. The _Sepulchres_, particularly that in the Cappella Paolina, may be visited.

On _Friday morning_ the service of the Sixtine chapel begins at about half past 9 or 10. (Devotion of 3 hours' agony from about half past 12 to half past 3 at the Gesu, SS. Lorenzo e Damaso etc.; after the _Ave Maria_ the _Via Crucis_ at Caravita, and devotion of the dolours of the B. Virgin at S. Marcello, etc. An hour after the _Ave Maria_ poetical compositions are recited at the Serbatojo dell'Arcadia).

On _Sat.u.r.day morning_ service begins at S. John Lateran's at about half past 7. As soon you have seen the baptism at the baptistery, you had better drive to the Vatican, to attend at the beautiful ma.s.s of the Sixtine chapel.

On _Sat.u.r.day afternoon_ you may go to the Armenian ma.s.s at S.

Biagio or S. Gregorio Illuminatore: it begins towards 4 o clock. On Easter-Sunday the Pope sings solemn ma.s.s at S. Peter's, at about 9 o'clock. He afterwards venerates the relics, and gives His solemn benediction. In the afternoon, besides Vespers there is a procession at S. Peter's called that of the 3 Maries. (At S. John Lateran's the Cardinals a.s.sist at Vespers, and afterwards venerate the relics preserved there) At night the cupola is illuminated, and on the following night there are fireworks or _girandola_ at Castle S.

Angelo. On Monday, Tuesday, and Sat.u.r.day there is _cappella papale_ at the Vatican, but it differs little from the ordinary _cappelle_.

CHAP. I.

ON THE CEREMONIES OF THE Ma.s.s

_CONTENTS._

Origin of the word _ceremony_--object of ceremonies--inst.i.tution of the ma.s.s--its earliest ceremonies--discipline of secrecy--liturgy of the Roman church--general review of the princ.i.p.al ceremonies of the ma.s.s--ma.s.s of the catechumens, _ambones_--ma.s.s of the faithful, blessed water, secrecy, prayers for the dead--Latin the language of the Roman liturgy, and why--usual ceremonies of high-ma.s.s in the papal chapel--sentiments of S. John Chrysostom.

"_It was chiefly, if not only, in the mystical liturgy of the eucharist, that the primitive church spoke without reserve of all the sublimities of Christian faith._" Palmer, Origines Liturg. vol. I, p. 13.

[Sidenote: Origin of the word ceremony.]

From Rome our Saxon forefathers received Christianity; and from the same source we have derived several words denoting Christian rites.

Thus the words _religion, sacrament, sacrifice, communion_, and others are Latin, with the exception of the termination. The word _ceremony_ also is Latin, and owes its origin to an interesting fact in ancient Roman history. When the Capitol was besieged by the Gauls (A.U. 365) most of the inhabitants of Rome provided for their own safety by flight: but the Flamen Quirinalis or priest of Romulus, and the Vestal virgins loaded themselves with the sacred things, that they might secure those hallowed treasures from profanation. "They were proceeding" (says Livy lib. V, c. XXII) "along the way which pa.s.ses over the Sublician bridge, when they were met on the declivity by L.

Albinus a plebeian, who was fleeing with his wife and children in a _plaustrum_ or cart: he and his family immediately alighted: then placing in the cart the virgins and sacred things he accompanied them to Caere where they were received with hospitality and respect". Hence (says Valerius Maximus lib. I, c. 1.) "sacred things were called ceremonies, because the inhabitants of _Caere_ revered them when the republic was broken, as readily as when it flourished". Thus is the word ceremony a.s.sociated at once with the devotion of Albinus, with the Gaulish invasion of the Capitol, and with Caere, one of the twelve cities of Etruria, now called Cervetri or Caere vetus[1]. The Pagan Romans derived their religious rites from Etruria, and in particular from Caere on account of its proximity to Rome: this may be another reason for the adoption of the term _ceremony_, which was afterwards applied to the rites of all religions[2].

[Sidenote: Object of ceremonies.]

But what, it may be asked by many, is the use of ceremonies? I shall answer in the words of the council of Trent. "Since the nature of man is such, that he cannot easily without exterior helps be raised to the meditation of divine things, the church as a pious mother has inst.i.tuted certain rites, namely, that some things in the ma.s.s should be p.r.o.nounced in a low voice and others aloud; she has also used ceremonies, as mystical benedictions, lights, incense, vestments, and many other things of that kind, from apostolical tradition and discipline, in order that the majesty of so great a sacrifice might be displayed, and the minds of the faithful might be excited by these visible signs of religion and piety to the contemplation of those sublime things which are concealed in this sacrifice". Session XXII, c. V.--These words lead us to treat briefly of the ma.s.s, the princ.i.p.al act of divine worship during holy-week as at all other seasons of the year. This we do now the more readily, that we may not afterwards be obliged to interrupt our account of the peculiar ceremonies of Holy week, which presuppose an acquaintance with the ma.s.s.

[Sidenote: Inst.i.tution of the ma.s.s.]

Jesus Christ inst.i.tuted the ma.s.s at his last supper, when he took bread and blessed and broke and gave to his disciples and said, Take ye and eat, this is my body; and taking the chalice he gave thanks, and gave to them saying, Drink ye all of this: For this is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins: Matth. XXVI, 26. In this brief account are mentioned all the _essential_ parts of the ma.s.s. Christ commanded the apostles and through them their successors to perform the same holy rite "in commemoration" of Him, and they obeyed His commands, as we learn from the acts of the apostles, and the first epistle to the Corinthians.

[Sidenote: Its early ceremonies.]

Gradually various prayers and ceremonies were added to the sacred words p.r.o.nounced by Christ, as the Apology of St. Justin, the writings of St. Cyprian, the catechetical discourses of St. Cyril of Jerusalem and other early works prove. The Apostles themselves had added the Lord's prayer[3]. The liturgy however during the first four centuries, as Le Brun maintains[4], or, according to Muratori followed by Palmer, the first three centuries, was not written, but was preserved by oral tradition, according to the received practice of the early church, which, unwilling to give what is holy to dogs, or to cast pearls before swine concealed from all persons, except the faithful, the mysteries of faith. It would seem from St. Justin's apology, that much was left to the particular devotion of the bishop or priest who offered ma.s.s, and hence we might expect not to find in the earliest liturgies great uniformity, except in essentials and general outline.

Yet Le Brun has endeavoured to restore, from the early Christian writers, the liturgy used in the first four centuries: and it contains the most important prayers and ceremonies of the ma.s.s in its more modern form.

[Sidenote: Discipline of secrecy.]

We shall so often have to recur to the discipline of secrecy alluded to above, that we consider it necessary to speak of it briefly, before we proceed further. The Pythagoreans, the Stoics, Plato, the Epicureans and other ancient philosophers concealed their doctrines from the uninitiated: the mysteries also of Osiris, Isis, Bacchus, Ceres, Cybele etc. were carefully kept secret. There was no novelty therefore for the ancients in the discipline of secrecy, the inst.i.tution of which in the Christian church is attributed by many fathers to Christ himself, who directed that his disciples should not "give what is holy to dogs, or cast pearls before swine". Matt. VII, 6. This injunction was observed by the whole church from the apostolic age till the fifth century in the east, and the sixth century in the west: it extended to dogmas as well as rites, and in particular to those of the holy Trinity and the sacraments, especially the blessed Eucharist[5]. For "those things" says St. Cyril of Alexandria "are generally derided, which are not understood" adv. Julianum. The pagans, at the instigation, it would appear, of the Jews and early heretics, availed themselves of this secret discipline to charge the Christians with the detestable crimes of Oedipus and Thyestes, pretending that in their secret a.s.semblies they murdered an infant covered with flour, and drank his blood. (Cecilius ap. Minut. Fel.) It was solely with the view of refuting these calumnies, that Justin Martyr explained, in his apology addressed to Antoninus Pius, the catholic doctrine of the eucharist. S. Blandina on the contrary endured the most cruel torments rather than reveal it, though its profession would have confuted the same odious calumnies; and S.

Augustine observes a similar reserve when answering the pagan Maximus Madaurensis.

"Who" says the protestant Casaubon "is so little versed in the writings of the fathers, as to be ignorant of the formulary used princ.i.p.ally of the sacraments, the initiated understand what is said: it occurs at least fifty times in Chrysostom, and almost as frequently in Augustine". S. Fulgentius inserts in his answer to the deacon Ferrandus the following words of S. Augustine to the neophytes "This which you see on the altar of G.o.d you saw last night: but what it was, what it meant, and of what a great thing it contains the sacrament, you have not yet heard. What therefore you see is bread and the chalice. What your faith demands is, that the bread is the body of Christ, and the chalice contains the blood of Christ". S. Cyril of Jerusalem in his catechetical discourses addressed to the newly baptised inculcates in the strongest terms the doctrine of the real presence, but charges them most strictly not to communicate to the catechumens his instructions. In consequence of this practice the early fathers often speak obscurely of the B. Sacrament, and call it bread and wine and _fermentum_ after the consecration, though they clearly teach the _faithful_ the doctrine of the real presence[6].

[Sidenote: Liturgy of the Roman church.]

Pope Innocent I, writing to Decentius at the beginning of the fifth century, attributes the liturgy of the Roman church to St. Peter. It was first written in the fifth century; and Pope Vigilius sending it in 538 to Profuturus derives it from Apostolic tradition. The most ancient sacramentary or liturgical work extant of the Roman church is that of Gelasius who was Pope from 492 to 496[7]. He collected prayers composed by more ancient authors, and also composed some himself: and this Gelasian compilation was reformed by Gregory the Great and reduced to one volume[8], which may be considered as the prototype of our present liturgy. The canon or most solemn part of the ma.s.s has been preserved inviolate ever since, as appears from the Ordines Romani written shortly after the time of S. Gregory, and also from the explanations of it written by Florus and Amalarius. This canon as well as the order of prayer are the same as those of Gelasius, as Palmer observes (Orig. liturg. vol. 1, p. 119,) and are also nearly identical with those of the sacramentary of S. Leo. The Ambrosian and African liturgies also were evidently derived at a very remote period from that of Rome. From such considerations as these Mr. Palmer proves the very ancient or apostolical origin of the "main order", the substance of the Roman liturgy. Origines liturg. vol. I, sect. VI. The author of the canon is unknown; yet we know the authors of some additions to the canon. Thus S. Leo I added sanctum sacrificium immaculatam hostiam, S.

Gregory I, diesque nostros in tua pace disponas.

[Sidenote: Review of the ceremonies of the ma.s.s.]

[Sidenote: Ma.s.s of the catechumens, ambones, sermons.]

We shall not examine minutely all the prayers and ceremonies of the ma.s.s, or stop to enquire at what time and by what pope each of them was first introduced, lest we should weary the patience of our readers[9]; but we shall content ourselves with a general review of the ma.s.s, as it is now celebrated. We may divide it, as the ancients did, into two parts, the ma.s.s of the catechumens, and the ma.s.s of the faithful. The first part includes the preparation and confession of sins at the foot of the altar, the _introit_ or anthem and part of a psalm sung at the _entrance_ into church, the _Kyrie eleison_ or pet.i.tion for mercy, the _Gloria in excelsis_ or hymn of praise (both of great antiquity, as Palmer following our catholic divines has shewn) the collect or collects so called from their being said when the people are collected together, the epistle and gospel, and also the verses, said or sung between them both, called the Gradual[10]: if sung by one voice, it is called the Tract; if by choir, the Responsory. The collects and other prayers are said with the arms extended in the same manner as many figures are represented praying on old christian as well as pagan monuments. After the gospel the sermon used to be preached, as it generally is in our times[11] and after the sermon Pagans, Jews, heretics, schismatics, energumens, public penitents and catechumens were dismissed by the deacon; for the faithful alone were allowed to be present at the celebration of the sacred mysteries, in conformity to the discipline of secrecy. That part of ma.s.s, which we have described was called the ma.s.s of the catechumens, because these were allowed to be present at it.

[Sidenote: Ma.s.s of the faithful, blessed water.]

From the _missio_, _missa_, or dismissal announced by the deacon to the people before and after the ma.s.s of the faithful, the term _missa_ or ma.s.s is derived. It was in use in the early ages; for it is found not only in the epistle to the bishop of Vienne attributed to Pope Pius I, and in that of Pope Cornelius to Lupicinus: but S. Ambrose also says "I continued my duty, and began to celebrate ma.s.s" and in another place he exhorts the people to "hear ma.s.s daily[12]".

When the church had been cleared of all except the faithful, the second part of our ma.s.s, or the ma.s.s of the faithful, began with the Nicene symbol or creed. Then followed the offertory, or part of a psalm sung anciently while the people made their offerings to the church, particularly of bread and wine[13]. The priest offers to G.o.d the bread, and wine mixed according to apostolic tradition[14] with a little water, which our Saviour is believed to have mixed with the wine at the last supper; he implores G.o.d's blessing on these offerings, and washes his hands in token of the purity of soul[15]

with which the sacred mysteries should be approached, and at high ma.s.s for the sake of outward cleanliness also, on account of the incense which he has used. Having commemorated the pa.s.sion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, as he does also after the consecration, he calls on those present to join him in prayer, he says another prayer or prayers called the _secret_, because said in secret, and then recites the _preface_ to the canon, a prayer in which he unites with the celestial spirits in praise and thanksgiving as Christ himself gave thanks at the last supper: it concludes with the Tersanctus or Trisagion "Holy, Holy, Holy etc." which, as Palmer observes, has been probably used in the Christian liturgy of the east and west since the ages of the apostles. V. 2. p. 219.

[Sidenote: Prayers for the dead.]

The canon of the ma.s.s next follows, which as well as many of the preceding and following prayers is said in a low voice, according to the ancient custom alluded to by Innocent I, S. Augustine, Origen, and other Fathers[16]. In it the priest prays for the church, the Pope, the bishop of the place, the living and the dead[17] he reveres the memory of the B. Virgin, the Martyrs and other Saints[18], and having once more implored the blessing of G.o.d, and spread his hands over the victim, according to the custom of the Jews, he p.r.o.nounces over the bread and wine the words of consecration according to the command of Christ, and adores and raises for the adoration of the people the body and blood of our Divine Lord. It is in this consecration that the sacrifice of the ma.s.s princ.i.p.ally consists; as by it the victim is placed on the altar, and offered to G.o.d, viz. Christ himself, represented as dead by the separate consecration of the bread and wine, as if His blood were separated from His body. After some other prayers, in which the priest offers to G.o.d the holy sacrifice, and prays for mercy and salvation for all present, he elevates the host and chalice together; this was the ancient elevation, as the more solemn one, which follows immediately after the consecration, was introduced generally in the 12th century, in opposition to the heresy of Berengarius. Then concluding the canon the priest recites the _Our Father_, and breaks the host, as Christ broke the bread, and as His body was "broken" for us[19]; he puts a particle of the host into the chalice[20]; he implores mercy and peace from the lamb of G.o.d, at solemn ma.s.ses gives the kiss of peace according to the recommendation of scripture, and receives the two ablutions of the chalice, one of wine, the other of wine and water, lest any portion of the sacred blood should remain in it: he recites the communion or anthem, which was originally sung while the holy communion was distributed; he says the prayer or prayers called postcommunion, dismisses and begs G.o.d's blessing on the people, in fine he recites the beginning of St. John's gospel or some other gospel appropriate to the day. We shall on other occasions recur to various ceremonies of the ma.s.s[21].

[Sidenote: Latin the language of the liturgy.]

The language of our liturgy has descended to us as a precious legacy from the time when Peter and Paul preached in Rome. It would be incongruous that our ancient hierarchy robed in ancient vestments should perform our ancient liturgy in a moderne language. As in all parts of the globe there are members of the Catholic church, she has wisely preserved in her liturgy a language common to all countries, the language too of majesty, civilisation and science, as De Maistre observes. Like her divine founder she is the same yesterday and to-day: like the rock, on which she is built, she is proof against the winds and waves; she is unchanged and unaffected by the wayward caprices of fashion. Translations of her liturgy are published for the use of those who are unacquainted with Latin so that they may either join in reciting the prayers of the church, or say others which their own devotion may suggest.

Having described the ceremonies of low-ma.s.s, we shall subjoin a brief account of those customary at high-ma.s.s when celebrated in the papal chapel: we shall thus avoid unnecessary repet.i.tions in the course of this work. The beginning of the ma.s.s is said by all persons within the sanctuary: and the Pope recites it before the altar with the celebrant. As His Holiness is the ecclesiastical superior of the latter, and is habited in his sacred vestments, many benedictions are, according to a general rubric, reserved to Him, which are otherwise given by the person who sings ma.s.s. Thus He blesses not only the incense, the water at the offertory, the subdeacon and deacon, the preacher, when there is a sermon, and the people after the sermon and at the end of ma.s.s, but also the Cardinals on several occasions, and the celebrant himself before he offers up ma.s.s. "For without contradiction (says St. Paul) that which is less is blessed by the better". Hebr. VII, 7. He also, and not the celebrant, kisses the book of the Gospel. The first cardinal priest present hands to Him the incense, and also incenses him, kneeling down if the Pope be seated at the time, and standing if the Pope stands[22], and therefore, he is seated near the Pope during part of the Ma.s.s, that he may be ready when his services are required.

Incense is used, as is customary at high ma.s.ses, before the introit, at the Gospel, after the offertory and during the elevation. Before the introit the crucifix, the altar[23], the celebrant and the Pope are successively incensed. Before the deacon sings the gospel he incenses the book; and after it the Pope is once more incensed by the first cardinal priest. After the offertory, besides the bread and wine, the crucifix, the altar, the celebrant and the Pope, the Cardinals and the first in rank among the prelates and other personages are incensed by the deacon. At the elevation the blessed Sacrament alone is incensed.[24]