The Ceremonies of the Holy-Week at Rome Part 7

[Sidenote: 1. Relic of the cross.]

1. The relic of the cross was placed here in 1629 by Urban VIII; but it was formed of some pieces taken from the churches of S. Anastasia and S. Croce in Gerusalemme. The Jews were accustomed to bury the instruments of punishment in or near the place where the persons executed were buried; but on this subject I must content myself with referring to Baronius, Calmet, Menochius, Gretser etc. who cite the Rabbins in proof of this a.s.sertion. Now according to the ancient historians, Eusebius, Sozomen and Socrates: the Emperor Adrian erected a temple of Venus over the tomb of the G.o.d of purity, after he had covered it with a great quant.i.ty of rubbish. Helen the saintly mother of the emperor Costantine, after many searches (according to Eusebius in his life of that emperor) at length discovered the sacred tomb, in which was found, according to Sozomen, the inscription placed over the cross by Pilate, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews"[106]. Near the tomb in another part of the cave were found three crosses: but here a difficulty arose on which of these three was our Saviour crucified?

At the suggestion of Macarius Bp. of Jerusalem, a woman at the point of death, as Ruffinus, Socrates, Theodoret, Sozomen and Nicephorus relate; or a dead man, according to Paulinus and Severus Sulpicius, was brought to the spot, and restored to health or to life, when placed on _one_ of the three crosses. If we consider, that it is related in the 2nd book of Kings c, XIII, that when some persons "were burying a man, they cast the body into the sepulchre of Eliseus.

And when it had touched the bones of Eliseus, the man came to life and stood up on his feet," we may not be unwilling to admit the possibility or probability, that such a miracle may have occurred at the sepulchre of the G.o.d of Eliseus. Besides the authors whom I have mentioned, this history is attested by S. Ambrose, S. Chrysostom, and S. Cyril of Jerusalem. This great bishop and Eusebius lived at the time when the event is said to have happened: the other writers lived not long after, and Ruffinus and Theodoret pa.s.sed part of their lives in Syria. The same historians mention, that S. Helen divided the Cross into three parts, one she left in Jerusalem, another she sent to Costantine, according to the author of the life of Pope Sylvester published by Pope Damasus towards the close of the 6th cent.; and the third she reserved for herself, to Rome. She placed the last mentioned piece in the Sessorian Basilica, called also the Basilica of Helen, because erected by her, in the Horti Variani: hence is derived its t.i.tle of S. Croce in Gerusalemme. On this subject additional information may be found in the work of the late Padre De Corrieris, De Sessorianis praecipius D.N.J.C. reliquiis, in Trombelli De cultu SSrum and Ben. XIV. De festis. From Santa Croce a piece of the cross was taken to S. Peter's, and is one of the relics shewn on good friday. Even in the fourth century S. Cyril of Jerusalem testifies, that particles of the true cross had been sent to every Christian country.

[Sidenote: 2. of the lance.]

2. The lance also with which our divine Saviour's side was pierced, was found by S. Helen, as the Bollandists shew: and it was preserved in Jerusalem, as S. Gregory of Tours and our venerable Bede observe: but towards the end of the 6th cent., the iron part of it was transfered to Costantinople; of this the point was placed in the imperial palace; the other part in the church of S. Sophia, and afterwards in that of S. John. William of Tyre and Anna Comnena mention it as existing there in the 11th and 12th centuries. Towards the close of the 13th century the point of the lance with other relics pa.s.sed into the possession of S. Louis of France: the other part of the lance still remained at S. John's in Constantinople, as Buondelmount, who saw it, bears witness. When Mahomet subdued Costantinople, he preserved all the relics, as Theodore cited by Benedict XIV relates in his history of the Turks, and his son Bajazet sent an amba.s.sador with the relics of the lance to Pope Innocent VIII, in order to induce his Holiness not to protect Zizimus, who disputed with him the succession to the Turkish throne. The Pope received it with great reverence, and placed it in the Vatican. As some suspicion was entertained about the veracity of the Turkish amba.s.sador, Benedict XIV, as he mentions in his very learned work on the Canonisation of the Saints, from which I have extracted this account, sent for an exact cast of the point preserved at Paris, which perfectly corresponded with the piece preserved in the Vatican; and thus were confirmed the a.s.sertion of the Turk[107].

[Sidenote: 3. _Volto Santo_.]

3. As for the _Volto Santo_, or image of our Saviour it was placed in an Oratory of the Vatican Basilica by John VII as long ago as 707, as may be seen in Marlinetti, Dei pregii della Basilica Vat. Who S.

Veronica or Berenice was, who is said to have wiped our Saviour's face with the handkerchief is another question, as Benedict XIV observes, to whom and to Marlinetti I shall content myself with referring. It appears that this ancient likeness of our Saviour was afterwards kept at S. Spirito: six Roman n.o.blemen had the care of it; and to each of them was confided on of the six keys, with which it was locked up.

They enjoyed various privileges, and among others, says an ancient MS.

Chronicle quoted by Cancellieri, "havevano questi sei ogni anno, da Santo Spirito, due vacche in die S. Spiritus le quali se magnavano li con gran festa". In 1410 the _Volto Santo_ was carried back to S.

Peter's, where it has ever since remained[108].

[Sidenote: Reflections.]

The Council of Trent, in the 25th Session, teaches that veneration and honour are due to relics of the Saints, and that they and other sacred monuments are honoured by the faithful not without utility. We all honour the memorials of the great, of the wise and of the brave; who has not venerated the oak of a Ta.s.so or the house of a Shakespeare?

While _We_ revere the relics of a Borromeo at Milan, of a Francois de Sales at Annecy, of a Luigi Gonzaga, a Filippo Neri, a Camillo de Lellis at Rome, others respect the chair and table of Wickliffe at Lutterworth, or the room of Luther at Eisenach. If infidels unite in paying homage to the house of the impious _philosopher_ of Ferney, let all Christians, however they may be otherwise unhappily divided, join in shewing their respect for the image of their Saviour, and for those instruments which touched his sacred body, and were sanctified by his precious blood. O let them gaze with reverential awe on that lance which entering into his adorable side drew from it blood and water, and on that cross to which he was nailed and on which he died for our salvation. The early Christians, our forefathers in the faith, manifested great respect for the bodies and the blood of the martyrs, because they were faithful _followers_ of Christ. Thus, in the letter of the faithful of Smyrna preserved by Eusebius, they mention that they gathered up the bones of their bishop Polycarp, (a disciple of S. John the Apostle) "more precious than pearls, and more tried than gold, and buried them. In this place, G.o.d willing", say they "we shall meet and celebrate with joy and gladness the birthday of this martyr".

SS. Praxedes and Pudentiana, and many other devout females used to collect the blood of the martyrs with sponges and cloths, as if they feared that one drop of it should be lost. Read the poems of Prudentius, observe the phials of blood[109] placed before the martyrs' tombs in the catacombs, and you will not doubt the truth of such a.s.sertions[110]. The shadow of Peter, the handkerchiefs which had touched the body of Paul, could cure diseases, as the Scripture witnesseth; but here are the relics of a greater than Paul, of a greater than Peter: O then let us kneel, and love, and venerate them; for they were closely united to Him who is the author and object of our faith, the only foundation of our hope, the centre and the consummation of our love.

[Sidenote: Recapitulation.]

It does not fall within my plan to speak of the devotion of the three hours of agony, practised on this day in many churches, as at the Gesu, S. Lorenzo in Damaso etc. or of that which is practised after the _Ave Maria_ at S. Marcello, Caravita etc. or of the elegies recited by the Arcadian pastors over their Redeemer. Let us rather briefly recapitulate with Morcelli the princ.i.p.al ceremonies of the day: Station at S. Croce; service in the Sixtine chapel, the veneration of the Cross; the B. Sacrament carried thither in procession from the Pauline chapel, Ma.s.s of the Presanctified and Vespers. In the afternoon Tenebrae, and veneration of the relics at S.

Peter's.

[Footnote 82: See a MS. Apamean Pontifical ap. Marthene T. 3, p.

132, Benedict Canon of S. Peter's in his _Ordo Roma.n.u.s_, Marangoni, _Istoria dell antichissimo Oratorio o Cappella di S. Lorenzo nel Patriarchio Lateranense_. Roma 1747. S. Louis of France used to walk barefooted on this day to the churches, praying and giving abundant alms, as did also William, king of the Romans. (Chronicon Erphordense ad ann. 1252), S. Elisabeth of Hungary used to devote the day to similar acts of piety, walking barefooted and in the dress of a poor woman to the churches, and there making her humble offerings at the altars, and distributing copious alms. On her practices of piety during holy-week see her life by Le Cte de Montalembert c. 9.]

[Footnote 83: The Corporal, which was anciently much longer than at present, was spread in this manner at all ma.s.ses before the offertory.

See Cancellieri, De Secretariis T. I, Fleury, Moeurs des Chretiens.]

[Footnote 84: The lessons, the prayer, and the pa.s.sion are found in the ancient ordo Gelasia.n.u.s for this day.]

[Footnote 85: According to the Gelasian Sacramentary all were to genuflect at the prayer for the Jews, as well as at the other prayers; not so according to the Gregorian Sacramentary.]

[Footnote 86: "G.o.d our Saviour", says S. Paul (1 Tim. II, 4) "wishes all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth". The Catholic church is animated by the same spirit of charity, as the admirable prayers of this day might alone prove. If she teaches exclusive salvation. Christ taught the same "He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved: he that believeth not shall be condemned"

Mark XVI, 26. We cannot therefore consistently accuse the church of want of charity, when she proclaims the general conditions of salvation, without at the same time charging Christ himself, who first taught them, with the same fault. True charity desires the salvation of all but she warns others of their danger; and does not cruelly conceal it from them till it is too late.]

[Footnote 87: After these prayers the faithful used anciently to leave the church, and the Priests to go to their own churches, to perform the ceremonies till the evening-service: so that what follows was then a totally distinct service. See Sacram S. Gregorii, ant. Ord. Roman, etc. ap. Martene lib. IV, c. 23.]

[Footnote 88: It would appear, that, before Costantine abolished the punishment of malefactors on the cross, the Christians, who well knew with S. Paul that Christ crucified was to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the gentiles foolishness', prudently abstained from representing our Saviour nailed to the cross, and used rather to depict a lamb with a cross near it, of which instances may he seen in Rork's Hierurgia p. 520. The first mention of the _crucifix_ in the church is believed to occur in the poem t.i.tled _De Pa.s.sione Domini_ referred to the fourth century. That the use of the sign and the image of the _cross_ was much more ancient and very prevalent among Christians will appear from the following facts. "At every step and movement" says Tertullian (in the early part of the third century) "whenever we come in or go out, when we dress and wash ourselves, at table, when lights are brought in, whether we are lying or sitting down; whatever we are doing, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross". Eusebius mentions that Constantine placed a magnificent cross De Vit. Const. I. 3. In the fourth century in his palace S. John Chrysostom in one of his eloquent homilies observes "Every where the symbol of the cross is present to us. We inscribe it very diligently on our houses, and walls, and doors, and brows, and thoughts". S.

Basil (De Spirit. S. ad Amphilochium c. 27.) derives the sign of the cross from Apostolic tradition. That this custom universally prevailed among Christians might be proved from S. Jerome, from the historian Socrates and others, and from monuments of the early Christians still preserved in Egypt: but why travel so far? we have only lo look around us in the catacombs, or in the Vatican Museum and Library. The cross is the chosen, the beloved sign of Christians; they repeated it a thousand times on their lamps, on their rings, on their cups and sacred vessels, that they might have the sign of their redemption ever before their eyes, they kissed it at the hour of their death, and had it marked on their tomb, as a sign of their hope of salvation. No sooner had peace shone upon the church, than crosses were erected on high roads, and in many places of public resort: and would to G.o.d that those sacred ancient monuments, which once adorned our own country, bore public testimony to the faith of its inhabitants, and recalled to the minds of pa.s.sers-by the sufferings of their Saviour, had not been too rudely treated in the first heat of religious and political frenzy! For some ancient representations of the cross see the learned work of Dr. Rock on the ma.s.s. I shall content myself with noticing an interesting instance, which he has not mentioned. At Pompeii the house of Pansa, as it is called, is one of the most remarkable yet excavated on account of its extent and regularity. Some parts of it were used as shops, and appear to have been let out, (as is still the custom in some palaces of Rome): for they have no communication with the body of the building. Between two parts thus separated is an entrance from a side street to the peristyle or open court surrounded by columns; and on the pier between the two doors is, or rather was a painting representing one of the guardian-serpents or tutelary deities, who were sometimes represented under that form, as we occasionally see at Pompeii, and as we learn from Virgil (lib.) V. Hence as we see in t.i.tus' baths and are informed by Persius, a place was considered sacred, in which serpents were painted. Indeed these reptiles became such favourites, that, according to Seneca, they used to creep upon the tables amid the cups: and some ladies so far overcame natural prejudices, as to place real serpents, if not boas, round their necks, to cool them, instead of using artificial boas to warm themselves.

"Si gelidum nect.i.t collo Glacilla draconem" says Martial. Before the serpent painted in Pansa's house is or was a projecting brick intended to support a lamp: the painting in consequence of its situation could be seen only by persons within the house: but upon the opposite wall there is or was a cross worked in bas relief upon a panel of white stucco, so situated as to be visible to all persons pa.s.sing. It had the form of a Latin cross, which, we may observe, as well as the Greek cross: is found upon ancient Christian monuments; though of course we cannot bring forward other instances so ancient as the monument in question. (See Rock p. 516). "It is hard to conceive", says the learned Mazois, "that the same man should bow at once before the cross of Christ, and pay homage to Ja.n.u.s, Ferculus, Limetinus, Cardia, the deities of the threshold, and the hinges of doors. Perhaps at this time the cross was of a meaning unknown except to those who had embraced the Christian faith, which, placed here among the symbols of paganism, as if in testimony of grat.i.tude, informed the faithful, that the truth had here found an asylum with a poor man, under the safeguard of all the popular superst.i.tions". So far Mazois, whose opinion is embraced by the author of the interesting work on Pompeii published by the society for promoting useful knowledge: but is it not probable, I may ask, or rather is it not certain that, at that early period, while some members of the same family were pagans, others were Christians? it is not then surprising if in the same house we find both Christian and Pagan emblems: we may suppose, that some such persons may have been inmates of the same house as Mr. Bulwer's pagan gladiator Lydon and his Christian father Medon. Pompeii was overwhelmed by ashes in the year of Christ 79: and if Vesuvius still occasionally lay waste the surrounding country, we are indebted to it for the preservation not only of a thousand cla.s.sical monuments, but also of a representation of the cross of Christ, which cannot be of a much later date than the time of the destruction of Jerusalem.]

[Footnote 89: St. Helen discovered the cross on which Christ suffered, and erected a church in Jerusalem, in which it was deposited.

"The bishop of that city every year, at the season of the paschal solemnity, exhibits it to be _adored_ by the people, after he himself has first performed his act of profound veneration". S. Paulinus of Nola, A.D. 430, ep. 11 ad Sever. "In the middle of Lent, the life-giving wood of the venerable cross is usually exposed for _adoration_". S. Sophronius patriarch of Jerusalem in 639. (Orat. in Exalt. Crucis). From this custom of the church of Jerusalem probably arose that of the Roman church, in which a crucifix, containing a particle of the true cross, was publicly venerated on good Friday. In the Sacramentary of pope Gelasius (A.D. 402) we read in an account of the ceremonies of this day "The priest comes before the altar, adoring the Lord's cross and kissing it--all adore the holy cross and communicate". This ceremony is mentioned also in the Antiphonary of S. Gregory the great and the ancient _Ordo Roma.n.u.s_. Flecte genu, lignumque crucis venerabile adora, says Lactantius. See bishop Poynter's Christianity p. 151. Of the Greeks Leo Allatius relates that "on good-friday, while they accompany as it were Christ himself to the tomb, they lead round through the cities and _adore_ the sculptured body of Christ". De consensu utriusque Eccl. lib. 5. c. 15. The Syrians also practise this ceremony, as we learn from doc.u.ments published by Card. Borgia and Nairon. This rite is called the _adoration_ of the cross. Let us not forget what is said in the Book of Common Prayer in the solemnization of Matrimony "With this ring I thee wed; with my body I thee _worship_". Such words of doubtful signification must be interpreted from the doctrine of the church which adopts them. Hanc veniam petimusque damusque vicissim. Now the word _adorare_ used in our liturgy (derived from _ad_ and _ora_, because persons when _adoring_ used to put their right hand to their mouth; Plin. I. 28, c. 2. Apuleius in Apolog.) signifies not only to pay divine worship, but also to venerate and even to salute. Thus from the instances collected in Forcellini's Lexicon we may select the following: "Primo autem septimum Germanici consulatum adoravi". Stat in praef i. 4 Silv. Imo c.u.m gemitu populum sic adorat: Apulei. lib 2.

Metam. The doctrine of the catholic church on this subject is as usual clear and decided. The twenty-fifth session of the Council of Trent decreed as follows: "The holy synod commands all bishops, and others sustaining the duty and care of teaching, that they should diligently instruct the faithful concerning the legitimate use of images according to the custom of the catholic and apostolic church received from the commencement of christianity, and the consent of the holy fathers, and decrees of the sacred councils, teaching them ... that the images of Christ; of the Virgin mother of G.o.d, and other saints, are to be had and retained especially in churches, and that due honour and veneration are to be given them: not that any divinity or virtue is believed to exist in them for which they are to be worshipped, or that any thing is to be asked from them, or that confidence is to be placed in images, as was formerly done by the Gentiles, who used to place their hope in idol; but because the honour which is given to them is referred to the prototypes which they represent; so that by the images which we kiss, and before which we uncover our heads and bow our bodies, we adore Christ, and venerate the Saints, whose likeness they bear: this has been decreed against the opposers of images by the decrees of councils, especially of the second synod of Nice. And let the bishops diligently teach, that by the histories of the mysteries of our redemption expressed in pictures or other likenesses the people are instructed and confirmed in commemorating and a.s.siduously venerating articles of faith, and that from all sacred images a great fruit is derived, not only because the people are admonished of the benefits and gifts conferred on them by Christ, but also because G.o.d's miracles through the saints, and salutary examples are laid before the eyes of the faithful, that they may return thanks for them to G.o.d, and may compose their life and manners to an imitation of the saints, and may be excited to adore and love G.o.d and cherish piety". The council then gives directions for the extirpation of any abuses which may creep in. These words, by which our faith and practice are regulated, are too clear to need comment, and sufficiently justify catholics from the foolish and calumnious charge of idolatry. The true Catholic practice is well expressed in a work attributed to Alcuin "We prostrate our bodies before the cross, and our souls before the Lord: we venerate the cross by which we have been redeemed, and we supplicate Him who redeemed us".]

[Footnote 90: This rite is described in the Ordo Roma.n.u.s XIV with the same ceremonies. It is first mentioned in the Ordo XI of the Canon Benedict.]

[Footnote 91: We kiss and press to our hearts the pictures of those whom we love, and shall we think it sinful to kiss the image of Him, who for love of us humbled himself even to the death of the cross?

Oh! let each one of us rather exclaim with S. Paul "G.o.d forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me and I to the world" (Gal. VI): or in the words attributed to S. Andrew when he was going to be crucified "Hail precious cross, that hast been consecrated by the body of my Lord, and adorned with his limbs as with rich jewels. Oh good cross, that hast received beauty from our Lord's limbs, I have ardently loved thee, long have I desired and sought thee; now thou art found by me and made ready for my longing soul". Act. S. Andreae.]

[Footnote 92: "The greatest glory" says Baini "was deservedly obtained by _Pierluigi_ on account of the _improperii_, and the hymn _Crux fidelis_ which he set to music for 8 voices divided into two choirs, and which were sung for the first time by the choir of the Lateran basilica on good Friday in the year 1560: by them _fece sbalordire arte e natura_. Pius IV demanded them for the use of the apostolic chapel, and, after he had heard them, declared that Palestrina had surpa.s.sed his expectations. These _improperii_ are still sung and will ever be sung in the apostolic chapel" Baini, Mem. storic. di Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina 1. p. 64.]

[Footnote 93: This hymn is frequently sung in the Greek and Oriental church. Renaudot T. I, p. 70. According in the Menologium Graec.u.m and S. John Damascen it was first used in the reign of Theodosius, when public supplications were offered to heaven during a terrible earthquake at Costantinople. This Palmer admits, I, 64. It is still said in Greek, in which it was originally composed, as well as in Latin, in the Roman church. See Goar in notis ad Rituale Graec.]

[Footnote 94: In the Ordo Roma.n.u.s XII, Ap. 1, de Presbyterio, it is prescribed that "according to ancient custom whatever is offered upon the cross ought to belong to the _schola_ (or company)" of the cross: in the Ordo XIV, that it belongs to the _Sagrista_. The sum collected is at present the perquisite of M. Sagrista and the two princ.i.p.al Masters of ceremonies. These offerings were customary also in other churches, and in particular at Paris.]

[Footnote 95: Baini observes, that the chant of this hymn is one of the few instances of _rhythmical_ chant preserved by uninterrupted _tradition_ in the papal chapel and adorned with the ancient ornaments. (See his Saggio sopra l'indent.i.ta dei ritmi musicale e poetico. Firenze, 1820). "The chant of that hymn" says Eximano (quoted by Baini, Mem. Stor.) is a true plain chant, that is, a chant of unison, such as it is found in all choral books: but the mode of singing it in the pontifical chapel makes it appear different from what is sung in other churches--Above all, the distribution of the notes, which are sung (not of those which are written) adapted to express the length and shortness of the syllables which compose the rhythm of the hymn, ought to be studied. "Se si da quell'inno ad un maestro di cappella per metterlo in musica concertata ed in _battuta sensibile_, verra subito distrutto il _ritmo_, e se la cantilena della cappella pontif. si scrive in battuta, si vedranno cadere nel _battere_ alcune sillabe brevi, senza pregiudizio della loro quant.i.ta". Dubbio di D. Antonio Eximeno sopra il saggio fondamentale pratico di contrappunto del R.P.M. Martini. Roma, 1773.]

[Footnote 96: The corporal is a square piece of linen so called, because the Corpus or body of Christ is placed on it. S. Isidore of Pelusium in the beginning of the 5th century says, that the white linen cloth, which is spread under the divine gifts, is the clean linen cloth of Joseph of Arimathea: "for we, sacrificing the bread of proposition on the linen cloth, without doubt find like him the body of Christ": it was anciently much larger than it is at present. The purificator is a small towel, which serves to wipe the chalice and the hands and mouth of the priest, after he has received the B.

Sacrament.]

[Footnote 97: The veil is used from reverence to the B. Sacrament: on an ancient mosaic on one of the arches of S. Pra.s.sede, a person is represented enveloped in it, holding a sacred vessel apparently intended to contain the B. Sacrament. Ciampini, Vet. mon. T. 2.]

[Footnote 98: According to the Gelasian Sacramentary, "the deacons go to the _sacrarium_ and walk in procession with the body and blood of the Lord, which remained from the preceding day": with it the most ancient Ordo Roma.n.u.s ad usum monasteriorum agrees.]

[Footnote 99: In the fourth century Pope Innocent I in his epistle to Decentius a.s.signs as a reason, why the holy sacrifice is not offered up on this day, the example of the apostles who, concealing themselves for fear of the Jews, spent this and the following day in fasting and mourning for the death of their master, and were thus debarred from the holy mysteries. During the whole of Lent the Greek church still celebrates, towards evening, only the ma.s.s of the presanctified, except on Sat.u.r.days and Sundays, and on the feast of the Annunciation, when the ordinary ma.s.s is offered up. This is one of the ancient instances of communion under one kind; for, as Leo Allatius observes, either it is received under the form of bread alone, or if some drops of the sacred blood were sprinkled on the host, all the species of wine have disappeared before communion. (De utriusque Ecclesiae consensione, p. 875). Neither in the Latin or the Greek church is the ma.s.s of the pre-sanctified a _Missa sicca_ or dry ma.s.s: in which not only the consecration, but also the communion, and all those prayers which are said over the holy Eucharist, used to be omitted. See Durandus in Rationali c. 1. This is the only day in the year on which ma.s.s is not offered up in the Latin church, and even on it the priest communicates: on holy Sat.u.r.day ma.s.s is said, but the priest alone communicates: on all other days all the faithful may and many do communicate, either during ma.s.s or before or after it according to circ.u.mstances. Palmer having quoted a pa.s.sage from Bona, in which the Cardinal regrets that communion, as well as other rites to which the ma.s.s is not essential, is often delayed till after the ma.s.s is ended, subjoins the following e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n. "Would that they who communicate with the Roman church were not too timid or too lukewarm to return to the practice of the primitive church in this and many other respects".

Orig. Liturg. vol. 2, p. 154. Now in the primitive church the faithful, and even those in health, used to communicate not only during ma.s.s, but also at other times, as is evident from the office of the presanctified, at which, according to the Gelasian sacramentary, all present communicated, as well as from the numerous ancient instances of communion under one kind mentioned in the preceding chapter; for in these cases it was not received during the ma.s.s, and many of them are cases of "_persons in health_". In the same page Mr.

Palmer observes that "_during all the primitive ages_ the whole body of the faithful communicated at each celebration of the liturgy". Now has the church of England preserved this "practice of the primitive church"? So far is this from being the case, that Palmer considers her _ordinary_ office as a "_Missa sicca_; or dry service" p. 164, in which there is neither consecration or communion, and the earliest notice of which occurs in the writings of Petrus Cantor (A.D. 1200), according to Palmer's own admission, ibid. Even on those few days in the year when she admits her children to communion, her ministers generally consider that they make an oblation only of bread and wine, and not of the body and blood of Christ, whereas, whatever Palmer or the Tracts for the Times may say to the contrary, we are prepared to prove from the _very liturgies_, which the former cites, that in the ma.s.s there is an oblation not merely of bread and wine but also of the body and blood of Christ; and accordingly even the author of Tract 81, vol. 4, admits, p. 61, that "the real point of difference between the primitive church and modern views is whether there be in this oblation a _mystery_ or no". It is truly lamentable that men of learning should falsely accuse the Roman church of departure from primitive discipline in a matter of so little comparative importance as the precise _time_ when communion is to be received, while they themselves must acknowledge, that they have _abolished communion_ itself as well as _consecration_ on _nearly_ all the days of the year, and that they have reduced the oblation of the ma.s.s from a '_mystery_' and a '_venerable, tremendous_ and unb.l.o.o.d.y sacrifice' (Palmer vol. 2, p.

84) to an offering of bread and wine. They have thus deprived their followers of the inestimable fruits of communion enumerated by Christ in the gospel--yet these forsooth are the men who charge Catholics with a departure from primitive practice. How many other _primitive practices_ mentioned in this work have been abolished by the church of England!]

[Footnote 100: This plate, which is of gold or silver-gilt, resembles _in form_ the patera used in the ancient sacrifices, and generally represented together with the _prefericulum_ on sepulchral monuments dedicated to the Manes.]

[Footnote 101: The wine is sanctified, but is not consecrated, either by the particle of the sacred host, or by the recital of the _Pater noster_, as has been shewn by Mabillon, (Museum Ital.) Bossuet, and other authors quoted by Benedict XIV. The wine and water represent the blood and water, which flowed on this day from Christ's body. See Act. Coer. p. 54. Whenever priests _say Ma.s.s_, they receive under both kinds, in compliance with the command of Christ "Drink ye all of this"

which words as well as those others, "Do this in commemoration of me"

were addressed to the apostles and their successors.]

[Footnote 102: According to the direction of the Gelasian sacramentary, the _Pax Domini etc_. is not said on this day.]

[Footnote 103: "As the communion," says Mabillon "is of the nature of a sacred banquet, it consists of food and drink; hence the other part of the banquet, viz. drink, was supplied by wine, mixed with water, but sanctified by a particle of the B. Sacrament" See for the service of this day a MS. Pontifical of the church of Apamea in Syria ap.

Martene t. 3, p. 132. It is found with little variation also in the Gelasian Sacramentary, in a very ancient _Ordo Roma.n.u.s_, and some MSS.

cited by Martene. In the Roman church, as Amalarius was informed by the Roman archdeacon "at the station no one communicated". In many other churches there was general communion; this is prescribed by the church during this holy season.]

[Footnote 104: In many churches the crucifix used to be solemnly placed in the _sepulchre_ after the Vespers. See the Sarum and other missals, ap. Martene t. 3, p. 139.]

[Footnote 105: So jealously are these relics kept, that even sovereigns cannot go up where they are preserved, without being first appointed Canons of the Basilica. The Emperor Frederic III, and afterwards Ladislaus son of the king of Poland, and Cosimo III grand-duke of Tuscany went up dressed as Canons of St. Peter's.]

[Footnote 106: The learned professor Sholz after his return from Palestine defended in a dissertation the genuineness of this tomb against Dr. Clark's objections: if it be within the walls of the modern city of Jerusalem, it was certainly outside the ancient walls.]

[Footnote 107: The lance preserved at Nuremberg resembles in form that of St. Peter's, but is made of common iron, united with a part of one of the nails of the cross.]

[Footnote 108: These relics are shewn to the people on holy-Wednesday after the matins of Tenebrae; on Thursday and Friday several times in the day: on holy Sat.u.r.day morning after ma.s.s: on Easter Sunday after the Pontifical ma.s.s: on Easter Monday, and a few other festivals.]