The Ceremonies of the Holy-Week at Rome Part 5

Two objects are obtained by this custom; 1st. the blessed sacrament is solemnly preserved for the adoration of the faithful on this anniversary of its inst.i.tution, as well as for the priest's communion on good friday[68]; 2nd. the burial of our divine Saviour is represented: this is antic.i.p.ated, in order that the princ.i.p.al altar may be striped, in sign of mourning, and as He was stripped before His crucifixion.

[Sidenote: Papal benediction: _flabelli_.]

[Sidenote: Bulla in Coena Domina.]

The procession, of which we have already spoken, afterwards proceeds from the Pauline chapel to the _loggia_ in front of S. Peter's: but the Pope, as he no longer carries the B. Sacrament, wears his mitre, and is seated in his _sedia gestatoria_ under a canopy carried by eight Referendarii[69]; and the _flabelli_[70] are carried at each side of Him. He now gives his solemn benediction to the mult.i.tude a.s.sembled before St. Peter's. This however is repeated with even greater splendour on Easter-Sunday, as well as on the Ascension and a.s.sumption; and we shall therefore reserve a description of it to another occasion, especially since generally speaking, persons who are anxious to witness the _lavanda_ or was.h.i.+ng of the feet will find it difficult to be present also at the Benediction[71].

[Sidenote: Was.h.i.+ng of the feet.]

After the benediction, the cardinals and others take off their sacred vestments, and resume their _cappe_, which they wear during the _lavanda_ or was.h.i.+ng of the feet. This now takes place in S. Peters, in a side-chapel adorned with two _arazzi_; one representing Leonardo Da Vinci's last supper is placed behind the benches prepared for the priests whose feet are to be washed by the Pope: and the other, which represents Providence seated on the globe between Justice and Charity, above two lions holding banners of the church, is placed over the throne. The Pope is habited in a red cope, and wears a mitre. Seated on His throne, and surrounded by cardinals, prelates, and other dignitaries of His court, He puts incense into the thurible, being a.s.sisted as usual by the first Cardinal priest. He then gives the blessing, usual before the gospel is sung, to the Cardinal-deacon habited in his sacred vestments, who sings that beautiful pa.s.sage of the gospel of S. John, which explains the origin of this ceremony: "Jesus knowing that his hour was come, that he should pa.s.s out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Knowing that the Father had given him all things into his hands, he began to wash the feet of his disciples, and wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded, and he said to them; If I being Lord and Master have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet; for I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also". At the end of the gospel, the Pope kisses the book, the Cardinal Deacon incenses Him as usual, and the choir begins to sing beautiful anthems allusive to the affecting ceremony, and recommending charity, the distinctive virtue of Christians, more precious than even faith and hope. The Pope's cope is then taken off, and a towel is fastened to his girdle by the a.s.sisting Card. deacons; and then, in imitation of his Divine Master, he washes and kisses the right foot[72] of 13 priests, called the _apostles_, dressed in _cappe_ of white cloth, and wearing high cap, which in form resemble those on the bas-reliefs of Persepolis: each of them receives from Him a towel, and a nosegay, besides a gold and silver medal presented by the Treasurer[73]. The Pope then returns to his throne, washes his hands[74] is vested once more in the cope, and recites the Our Father and the concluding prayers.

[Sidenote: Dinner of the _apostles_.]

His Holiness afterwards waits on the 13 _apostles_ at table, in a hall in the Vatican palace, (at present in the hall above the portico of S.

Peter's), giving them water to wash their hands, helping them to soup, one or more dishes, and pouring out wine and water for them once or twice. The plates are handed to Him by prelates of _mantelletta_, and during the ceremony one of His chaplains reads a spiritual book. He then gives them his blessing, washes His hands, and departs. "Which is greater" says our Saviour, "he that sitteth at table or he that serveth? Is not he that sitteth at table? but I am in the midst of you as he that serveth?"

[Sidenote: Antiquity and meaning of the _lavanda_.]

From the most remote antiquity, it was customary among the Hebrews and other nations, that the feet of strangers and guests should be washed before they reclined at table, as they had often travelled on foot.

Thus the angels entertained by Abraham and Lot (Gen. XVIII, XIX), were supplied with water to wash their feet: Abraham's servants in the house of Laban, and the brothers of Joseph, when received by him, washed their feet. (Gen. XLIII, 24)[75]. In these cases however the guest washed his own feet; and hence the condescension of our Divine Lord was an act not of hospitality or charity alone, but also of profound humility; and accordingly he put on a towel or ap.r.o.n, like an ordinary slave, as Ferrari observes (De Re Vestiaria par. 1).

Most interpreters are of opinion, that Christ washed the feet of His disciples towards the close of the ordinary supper, and shortly before He inst.i.tuted the holy Sacrament; in order to signify the purity with which it should be received. His example was imitated by His disciples, and accordingly S. Paul (1 Tim. V, 10) speaks of widows who "have washed the saints' feet," as Magdalen had washed those of our Lord.

In the Roman church, as in that of Bologna, it has been for many ages customary for the Bishop to wash feet on this day. In the _Ordo Roma.n.u.s_ of Cencius Camerarius it is mentioned, that the Roman Pontiff after ma.s.s washed the feet of twelve subdeacons, and after dinner of 13 poor persons, or according to the Ordines Romani published by Mabillon, of 12 deacons. The _Ceremoniale_, attributed to Marcellus archbishop of Corcyra, prescribes that the Pope should wash the feet of thirteen poor men. Various causes are a.s.signed by different authors to explain, why the number is thirteen, and not twelve as was that of the apostles. (See Benedict XIV, De Festis, lib. I, c. VI, ---- 57, 58).

The most probable account, we think, is that the thirteenth _apostle_ was added in memory of the angel, who is believed to have appeared among the 12 poor guests of S. Gregory the great, while he was exercising united charity and humility. A painting of this event may be seen in one of the chapels near his church on the Caelian mount, in which is preserved the table, at which he daily fed twelve poor persons. (See the pa.s.sage of John the deacon cited above in the note).

The two customs of was.h.i.+ng the feet first of 12, and then of 13, have been reduced to one, and in it the number 13 is preserved[76].

[Sidenote: Cardinals' public dinner.]

Till within the last few years the Cardinals used to dine in public at the Vatican on holy Thursday and good Friday, that they might be spared the trouble of returning to their respective palaces before Tenebrae; and anciently the Pope used to dine with them at the Lateran palace, in the hall called the Triclinium Leonianum[77]. The Pontiff wore on such occasions his cope and mitre, and the Cardinals were habited in sacred vestments with mitres. After dinner a sermon was preached before the Cardinals. _Mons. Maggiordomo_ used to invite on these days prelates, officers, and others engaged in the _cappella_ or palace, to a dinner at which he presided.

[Sidenote: Tenebrae etc.]

[Sidenote: Recapitulation.]

In the afternoon, at the office of Tenebrae, among other signs of mourning, the cross is veiled in black, and the candles are of yellow wax: the Pope's throne is stripped of its usual ornaments, and is without a canopy: the cardinals' and prelates' benches also are without carpets. The Cardinal Penitentiary goes to S. Peter's, where the minor Penitentiaries are Conventuals of S. Francis. We have spoken on these subjects in the preceding chapters. We may here recapitulate the princ.i.p.al ceremonies of the day, as Morcelli has done in his Calendar. The oils are blessed in S. Peter's; the Pope a.s.sists at ma.s.s in the Sixtine chapel, carries the B. Sacrament to the Pauline chapel, gives His solemn benediction from S. Peter's, washes the feet of thirteen priests and serves them at table. In the afternoon Tenebrae in the Sixtine chapel; and the Cardinal great Penitentiary goes to S Peter's.

[Sidenote: S. Peter's on holy thursday-evening.]

In this basilic the B. Sacrament is preserved amid many lights in the _Sepulchre_ in a side-chapel[78], and several confraternities come in procession to venerate the relics, of which we shall speak in the next chapter. It is much to be regretted that the cross, which used on holy-Thursday and good-Friday to glow with 628 lights[79], and to produce a splendid effect by the _chiaroscuro_ which resulted from it in this vast and magnificent fabric, is no longer suspended before the Confession, in consequence of irreverent conduct on preceding occasions.

[Sidenote: Was.h.i.+ng of the altar.]

There still remains another remarkable ceremony customary in S.

Peter's on holy-Thursday. After the office of Tenebrae, the chapter of that basilica proceeds in procession from the chapel of the choir to the high altar. The black stoles which six of the canons wear, and the yellow and extinguished tapers of the acolythes, are signs of mourning for the sufferings of Christ. They all carry elegant _aspergilli_[80]

of box or other wood, and having prayed for a short time in silence, they chant the anthem "They divided my garments etc." and the psalm "O G.o.d, my G.o.d, why hast thou abandoned me?" A fine cloth, which covered the altar, is then removed from it, and the Cardinal-priest of the church and the six canons pour whine upon the altar, and wash it with their _aspergilli_ or brushes. After the other canons, beneficed clergymen, etc. have in turn washed it in like manner: the Cardinal and the six canons begin to dry it with sponges and towels: all then kneel down, and the ceremony concludes with the verse "Christ became obedient unto death etc." the Our Father, and the prayer of the day "Look down, we beseech thee etc."[81] The chapter then venerates the relics shewn as usual from the gallery above S. Veronica's statue.

[Sidenote: Antiquity and meaning of these ceremonies.]

The _stripping_ of the altars, which is practised on this day throughout the western church, is mentioned in the most ancient _Ordo Roma.n.u.s_: indeed anciently the altars used to be stripped every day, as Du Vert (Ceremon. de l'Eglise T. IV.) and Cancellieri (De Secretariis T. IV.) have shewn. The custom of _was.h.i.+ng_ the altar is observed in the Latin church in those of the Dominicans and Carmelites; and also according to Benedict XIV "in many churches of France, Germany and other remote countries" among which Cancellieri reckons Spain. It is mentioned by S. Isidore (lib. de Eccles. Offic.

c. 18) by Alcuin (de divinis offic.) and in the Sarum, Parisian and many other missals quoted by Martene. What however is its meaning?

While Monsignor Battelli, in his dissertation on the subject, maintains that this custom was inst.i.tuted for the sake of cleanliness, rather than from a wish to denote any mystery, and that this day was selected as the most convenient, because the altars were already stripped; the abbot Rupert and Belet discover mystical meanings in the sponges, towels, wine, water, and even _aspergilli_. We prefer a middle course, and while we are willing to admit with Durandus and others an allusion in the wine and water to the blood and water which flowed from our Saviour on the cross, we maintain with the learned S.

Isidore, S. Eligius, Benedict XIV and others, that we wash the altar, the symbol of Christ, from motives of respect to Him, who on this day washed the feet of His disciples.

Two great virtues are embodied in the ceremonies of this day, and impart to them their life and loveliness: they are the essential and characteristic virtues of Christians, by the practice of which they imitate their divine Master and model, and come at last to be united to Him in heaven. Christ was moved by charity to inst.i.tute the Holy Sacrament, and by humility to wash His disciples feet. Let us then learn of him because He was meek and humble of heart, and let us love one another, because Christ hath first loved us, and commands us to love one another.

[Footnote 57: In Africa two were customary, one in the morning, and the other after supper. S. August. ep. 54 ad Januarium.]

[Footnote 58: For an account of this ancient ceremony the reader may see Fleury, Moeurs des Chretiens; _Funz. della Settimana Santa._ Martene, lib. IV, 22. etc.]

[Footnote 59: "Balsam is produced in the vineyards of Engaddi, and in preparing chrism it is mixed with oil and consecrated by the pontifical benediction, that all the faithful may be signed with this unction at confirmation". Ven. Bede, in canlic. cap. I. The Greeks bless the chrism on the same day as the Latins, having prepared it a few days previously. See their Euchelogium, Ordo VIII ent.i.tled, On the composition of the great ointment in the Costantinop. church ap.

Martene, loc. cit.]

[Footnote 60: Only one priest says ma.s.s in each on this day and the other priests communicate, as on it Christ alone said ma.s.s, and distributed the Holy communion to the apostles. Although for many centuries both kinds were ordinarily received, yet the custom of communicating under the form of bread alone is very ancient. Thus in time of persecution the faithful used to carry to their houses the holy communion under the form of bread alone, the hermits also preserved it in the deserts, the sick received it as their viatic.u.m, the ministers of G.o.d kept it in the churches, for their spiritual support, and the bishops used to send it to their clergy in token of their union in charity. These were all instances of communion under one kind, which are enumerated and proved by many Catholic divines, as for instance by Dr. Rock in his Hierurgia. They demonstrate the constant belief of the church, that the whole sacrament is received under one kind only; and Christ himself in the scriptures attributes its admirable effects to the act of _eating_ only as well as to that of _eating and drinking_. "He that eateth this bread shall live for ever" etc. In fact since His resurrection "He dieth now no more": His body and blood and soul and Divinity are united together for evermore, and consequently the communicant receives under the form of bread alone Christ himself whole and entire. The Latin church prescribed the general reception of communion under one kind, in order to obviate accidents which frequently arose from the indiscriminate use of the chalice, and in opposition to the error of the Hussites: Thus Paul II took occasion from the presence of Frederic III at Rome, to give a public and ill.u.s.trious proof of the condemnation of this new heresy by the church, by giving communion under one kind only to the Emperor, and also to the deacon and subdeacon, who generally communicate under both kinds when the Pope sings ma.s.s. In the Greek and other oriental churches communion is administered under one kind to the sick and others who are prevented by distance from communicating in the churches. The general communion customary on holy-thursday is prescribed by the English bishop Walter in the 10th century, in the capitulary of Theodulph of Orleans, and by all ancient pontificals and missals, according to Martene T. 3, p. 98. It is practised also by the Greeks, as Leo Allatius testifies. De consensu utriusque Ecclesiae lib.

3. Palmer (Vol. 2. p. 76) says "It is not essential to the validity of the Sacrament, that the bread should be whole and entire before consecration, and broken afterwards: but the Universal practice of the Christian church, derived from the apostles and from Jesus Christ himself ought not to be infringed in this matter". Yet even Bp.

Middleton whom he quotes in the same page, says "When there were many communicants, _in primitive times, there were several cakes or loaves_, in proportion to the number: and it took some time after the consecration was finished, to break and divide them for distribution".

Each person communicated from his own offering: hence S. Augustine says "Erubescere debet h.o.m.o idoneus si de aliena oblatione communicaverit" Serm. 215 de Temp, any longer justification of the general practice of the Roman church would therefore be superfluous.]

[Footnote 61: "From the frequent mention of _oil_ in scripture as the emblem of spiritual gifts it was actually used in the primitive church in the ceremonies of admitting catechumens, and in baptising". Tracts of the Times, Vol. 1, no. 34.]

[Footnote 62: Our ardent love of this cla.s.sic soil tempts us to insert the following n.o.ble instance from Cicero (pro Milone x.x.xI) "Vos enim jam _Albani_ tumuli atque luci vos, inquam, imploro alque tester vosque Albanorum obrutae arae, sacrorum populi Romani sociae et aequales, quas ille praeceps amentia caesis prostratisque sanctissimi lucis substructionum insanis molibus oppresserat: vestrae tum arae, vestrae religiones viguerunt, vestra vis valuit, quam ille (Clodius) omni scelere polluarat: tuque ex tuo edito monte, Latiaris sancte Jupiter, cujus ille lacus, nemora, finesque saepe omni nefario stupro et scelere macularat, aliquaudo ad eum puniendum oculos aperuisti: vobis illae, vobis vestro in conspecta serae sed justae tamen et debitae paenae solutae sunt".]

[Footnote 63: These _troccole_ were formerly called by the hard names of _crepitacula ligna congregantia, mallei excitatorii_. The Greeks used them anciently, as Martene proves from a libellus de miraculis Anastasii presented to the second council of Nice, from S. John Chrysostom's life by Metaphrastes etc. etc. In modern times also they continue to use them. Benedict XIV observes that the practice of the Latin church on these days is intended to preserve the remembrance of the ancient custom. It is also evidently intended, like the reversed arms of the soldiers, as a sign of mourning for the death of Christ.

This silence of the bells is prescribed in the ancient rituals: mystical interpreters a.s.sign as a reason, that they signify Christ's preachers and apostles, who were silent during the sufferings of their Master.]

[Footnote 64: S. Greg. Turon. De mirac. S. Martini "oblatis super altare sacris muneribus, mysterioque Corporis et Sanguinis Christi palla ex more cooperto.", Vid. Bona. Lib. II, c. 13. not. 12.]

[Footnote 65: This ma.s.s is found in the Antiphonary and Sacramentary of Pope Gregory the great; in all churches but the Roman, as Marlene observes, vespers were joined with the ma.s.s on this day, as they are on holy Sat.u.r.day throughout the Latin church. On holy-thursday the Pope used generally to preach after the gospel, and in the mean time the Cardinals stripped the altar: after the sermon the Pope blessed the people as usual, and then began the _Credo_, according to Benedict, Canon of S. Peter's. His Holiness drank on this day directly from the chalice, and did not use the golden reed or _fistola_, as on other occasions; this we learn from the Apamean Pontifical.]

[Footnote 66: This chapel was erected by Paul III according to the design of Antonio Sangallo. Its two large frescoes are the last efforts of the genius of Michelangelo, then aged 75 years: they represent the crucifixion of S. Peter and the conversion of S. Paul.

The fall of Simon Magus, and the baptism conferred by S. Peter, painted on the righthand-wall are works of Federico Zuccheri; on the opposite side S. Paul at Malta, and restoring the young man, who had fallen from a window, are by Lorenzo Sabbatino da Bologna, the ceiling was painted by Federico Zuccheri. The B. Sacrament is publicly and solemnly exposed in this chapel for the adoration of the faithful on the first Sunday of Advent as well as on holy-thursday See Chaltard; _Descriz. del Vaticano_ Taja, _Palazzo Vaticano_.]

[Footnote 67: S. John Chrysostom established processions at Constantinople in opposition to those of the Arians; and the empress Eudoxia supplied the people with silver crosses and wax lights, to be carried on such occasions. Socrat. Hist. Eccl. lib. VI, c. 8, Sozomen lib. VIII, c. 8. Processions were incompatible with the persecutions of the first three centuries. During them, and even long after Constantine, in consequence of the discipline of secrecy, there was neither public exposition or procession of the B. Sacrament. The faithful however adored it privately, as for instance, S. Gregory n.a.z.ianzen relates of his sister Gorgonia, that when seized by a fever "she fell down with faith before the altar, and invoked with a loud cry Him who is honoured thereupon". (Discourse on her funeral). S.

Cyril of Jerusalem also exhorts the believer, that when he receives the chalice of the blood of Christ he should bow down profoundly and adore. (Catech. 5), The office and ma.s.s of Corpus Christi were composed by S. Thomas Aquinas. As holy-thursday is in great part devoted to the sufferings of Christ, the festival of _Corpus Christi_ with its procession was inst.i.tuted about the middle of the thirteenth century by Urban IV at the pet.i.tion of B. Juliana of Mount _Cornelione_, and in consequence of the miracle of Bolsena, well known as the subject of one of Raffaello's frescoes in the Vatican. See Bened. XIV, De Festis, and the authors cited by him. The miraculous corporal stained with blood is still preserved at Orvieto, the celebrated cathedral of which owes its foundation to the miracle. "No one eats that flesh, says S. Augustine, unless he has first adored" in ps. 98 "The flesh of Christ," says S. Ambrose "which we adore even now in the mysteries, and which the apostles adored in the Lord Jesus" (de Spir. S. lib. 34, c. 12) All the fathers and liturgies mention this adoration, which was therefore derived from apostolic tradition. Sala ad Bonae lib. 2, c. 13.]

[Footnote 68: In the Greek church communion is on this day reserved for the sick of the ensuing year under the form of bread alone, according to Leo Allatius. (De utriusque Ecclesiae consensione). Pope Innocent I in the beginning of the 5th century directs, that the eucharist be preserved on this day for the priest and the sick. This reservation is mentioned also in the Gregorian sacramentary, without any mention of the sacred blood, since it might be spilt. It has taken place in the Pauline chapel ever since its erection by Paul III. A particle of the B. Sacrament was formerly preserved after ma.s.s on festivals and carried back in procession to the sacristy: it was carried to the altar in procession on the next festival, and a portion or the whole of it was put into the chalice before the host was broken. See Cancellieri, De Secretariis T. I, p. 217, seq.]

[Footnote 69: These prelates used to refer cases and pet.i.tions to the Popes, as they now do the former to their tribunal, which according to Gonzalez derives its name of _Segnatura_ from the _signature_ of the sovereign affixed to its decree.]

[Footnote 70: They are formed of peac.o.c.ks' feathers, the eyes of which according to Macri and others signify the vigilance and circ.u.mspection of the Pontiffs. They are mentioned in the apostolic const.i.tutions, in which it is prescribed, that two deacons should hold, them in order to drive away flies, which might otherwise fall into the chalice.

Accordingly, at the ordination of the deacons in the Greek church, among other instruments a Flabellum is given to them for their ministry at the altar: this S. Anastasius is said to have used while a deacon. Flabella are mentioned in the liturgies of SS. Basil, Chrisostom, and other Greek and Syriac liturgies, Flabella are in the Latin church a mark of distinction, and are carried for the Grand Prior of the knights of Malta the bishop of Troja in Aquila, and the archbishop of Messina, as well as for His Holiness.]

[Footnote 71: Since the time of Clement XIV, the custom of reading from the _loggia_ on this day the bull in _Coena Domini_ has been abolished. (On this bull see de Maistre du Pape lib. 2, c. 14).

According to the doctrine of S. Paul, the B. Sacrament is the bond as it is the symbol of union or _communion_ between the faithful; "We being many are one body, all who partake of one bread" 1 Cor. X, 17, and hence this day of its inst.i.tution was selected for the public _excommunication_ of those, who reject the doctrines of the church, or maliciously oppose her ordinances. After the bull had been read "many candles are lighted, of which the Lord Pope himself holds some, and each cardinal and prelate one lighted, and he extinguishes and throws them on the ground, saying, we excommunicate all the aforesaid; and then the bells are rung together without observing any order". Ap.

Gatticuin, Acta Cerem. 82. These ceremonies are interpreted to mean the _extinction of the grace_ of the holy Ghost; and the dispersion of unbelievers, as on the contrary the regular and orderly ringing of bells calls the faithful together.]

[Footnote 72: It is supported by the subdeacon habited in the tunic or _tonacella_.]

[Footnote 73: John the deacon, in his life of Gregory the great, mentions the _Sacellarius_ or Treasurer (see Thoma.s.sin lib. 2. c. 103, n. 11), whom that holy Pope commanded according to custom to invite the twelve pilgrims to dinner. Besides the gifts mentioned above, the white dress is given to these _apostles_, who are chosen by some Cardinals, Amba.s.sadors, the Propaganda, the _Maggiordomo_, and the captain of the Swiss guards.]