The Ceremonies of the Holy-Week at Rome Part 9

The Caeremoniale Episcoporum prescribes that infants, except in danger of death, should not be baptised during the eight preceding days, that they may be reserved for holy-Sat.u.r.day. The beginning of the baptismal service and the exorcisms are performed privately in the sacristy by the parish-priest, while the prophecies are read in church[133].

After the font has been blessed, the catechumens wearing a long white dress, and accompanied by their respective G.o.dfathers and G.o.dmothers, approach the font, and in turn ascend. In answer to the questions of the Cardinal (who is now vested in a white, and not a purple, cope,) having renounced Satan and all his works and pomps, they profess their belief in the articles of Christian faith, and their desire of baptism[134]: then a.s.sisted by their sponsors they are baptised by infusion in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; they are anointed with chrism, receive a white garment, with a charge to bear it unspotted before the tribunal of Christ, and in fine a lighted taper, that "when the Lord shall come to the nuptials, they may meet him in the heavenly court unto life everlasting".

[Sidenote: Litanies and confirmation.]

The litanies are sung, while the procession returns to the church, where the newly-baptised are confirmed in a side-chapel, and exhorted to perseverance in virtue, by the Cardinal[135]; the litanies are then continued, but cease while all kneeling venerate the heads of SS. Peter and Paul shewn from above the high altar; the procession afterwards returns to the tribune, where the ma.s.s of the day is sung, and orders are conferred by the Cardinal-Vicar.

[Sidenote: Ma.s.s and ordination.]

The orders of priests and deacons are often mentioned in the N.

Testament: and the church, as S. Thomas observes, inst.i.tuted the inferior orders. Subdeacons are mentioned by Pope Cornelius and S.

Cyprian in the 3rd century, as well as acolythes, exorcists, and lectors. S. Augustine and S. Gregory n.a.z.ianzen speak of _ostiarii_; and the clerical tonsure is mentioned by S. Isidore at the beginning of the 5th century, as a rite established before his time. Orders are conferred by the laying on of hands and prayer, as the scripture teaches, and also by the delivery of the instruments belonging to each order: appropriate exhortations addressed to the candidates for the different orders are interspersed with the prayers prescribed in the pontifical. (On their antiquity the reader may consult Morinus de Ordinationibus, Martene de Antiquis Eccl. Ritibus, T. 2. etc.) The tonsure is given after the _Kyrie eleison_ of the ma.s.s, the 4 minor orders after the _Gloria in excelsis_; subdeacons are ordained before the epistle, which one of them repeats; deacons after the epistle and finally priests after the first part of the tract. These last, after the imposition of hands, receive their peculiar vestments, viz. the stole hanging down in front, and the chasuble: their hands are anointed with oil of catechumens, and they receive a chalice containing wine and water, a paten with a host, and power to say ma.s.s. (Luke XXII, 19). After offerings of candle have been made to the ordaining Bishop, the new priests join him in saying ma.s.s[136]: and after the newly-ordained and baptised have communicated, the priests profess their faith by reciting the apostles' creed; they receive power to forgive and retain sins (John XX, 22, 23), they promise reverence and obedience to their ecclesiastical superior, and receive the bishops blessing, who then directs that ma.s.ses and prayers be said by those whom he has ordained, and recommends himself to their prayers. In other respects the ma.s.s is similar to that of the Papal chapel[137]. Morcelli in his calendar in summing up the ceremonies of this day, having mentioned the station at S. John Lateran's, the baptism of Jews and Turks, and ma.s.s in the papal chapel, says that at the _Gloria, tonitrus tormentorum ab Arce fiunt, aera templorum ac Turium sonant._

[Sidenote: Armenian Catholics:]

Having spoken of the ceremonies of the Vatican and S. John Lateran's, we might consider our task as completed[138]. Yet one more _funzione_ attracts our countrymen on this day; and we are therefore unwilling to bid them farewell, before it is ended. Come then to S. Biagio or to S.

Gregorio Illuminatore, to a.s.sist at the Armenian ma.s.s; and on the road we may talk of the venerable and amiable Fathers who perform that solemn service, and of the nature of their liturgy.

SS. Bartholomew and Thaddaeus were the first apostles of Armenia: but it was not till the beginning of the 4th century, that the whole country became Christian in consequence of the divine blessing, which attended the zealous exertions of S. Gregory surnamed the Illuminator.

In the 6th century great numbers of the Armenians were infected with the heresy of Eutyches, who denied that there were two natures in Christ: and to this error they afterwards added some others. In the pontificate of John XXII, about the year 328, a zealous Dominican bishop, called Bartholomew of Bologna, went as a missionary among them; and many of the Eutychians or Monophysites returned to the bosom of the Catholic church. In the 16th century the Catholics were so furiously persecuted by Zachary, a schismatical patriarch, that they fled and took refuge in other countries. They have at present two establishments at Rome, one of the Antonian monks at the church of S. Gregory Illuminator, behind the colonnade of S. Peter's; and a national _ospizio_ at S. Biagio in strada Giulia.

[Sidenote: their liturgy.]

"The Armenians," says Palmer "have only one liturgy, which is written in the ancient Armenian language, and has been used by them from time immemorial. The whole groundwork and order of the Armenian liturgy coincides with the Caesarean, as used in the time of Basil. This liturgy has, like most others, received many additions in the course of ages. There are several prayers extracted from the liturgy of Chrysostom, and actually ascribed to him" Vol. 1, Liturgy of Armenia.

"The liturgy of Basil can be traced with tolerable certainty to the 4th century. Striking as are some of the features, in which it differs from that of Antioch, it is nevertheless evidently a superstructure raised on that basis: the composition of both is the same, i.e. the parts, which they have in common, follow in the same order. The same may be said of the Constantinopolitan liturgy, commonly attributed to S. Chrysostom, of that of the Armenian church, and of the florid and verbose composition in use among the Nestorians of Mesopotamia. So that the liturgy of Antioch, commonly attributed to S. James, appears to be the basis of all the oriental liturgies". Tracts for the Times, N. 63. The author then proceeds to state the grounds of the belief that the liturgies of Antioch, Alexandria, Rome and Gaul were of Apostolic origin; concluding thus "It may perhaps be said without exaggeration, that next to the holy scriptures they possess the greatest claims on our veneration and study". Padre Avedichian observes in his preface to the Armenian liturgy, that it was probably compiled by John _Mandagunense_, an Armenian patriarch of the fifth century.

[Sidenote: Armenian high-ma.s.s.]

We shall now give a brief account of their high ma.s.s, which we do the more readily, because Mr. Palmer represents it in a very mutilated form. The celebrant, whether priest or bishop, is vested in the sacristy: the vestments bear some resemblance to those of the Greeks.

The beginning of the ma.s.s is the only part probably taken from the Roman liturgy, but it contains an invocation of the B. Virgin and of the saint of the day. When the celebrant goes up to the altar, the veil is drawn: he uncovers the chalice, blesses the host, which is like ours of unleavened bread; pours wine and water into the chalice, and recites the beautiful prayer of S. John Chrysostom: "O Lord our G.o.d, who hast sent our Lord Jesus Christ the celestial bread, the nourishment of the whole world; do thou bless this proposition etc."

The veil is then drawn back, and the offerings, the altar, and the people are incensed. The Celebrant recites the prayer of the festival, followed by other prayers composed by S. John Chrysostom: the Trisagion is sung, and the gospel is carried in procession, and is kissed by one of the congregation. Then follow the epistle, gospel, and creed. After two prayers, and two benedictions imparted to the people; the offerings are carried in procession to the altar, the celebrant offers them up to G.o.d, and prays that Jesus Christ will make him worthy to consecrate, and receive his "holy and immaculate body and precious blood; for thou, O Christ our G.o.d, art he who offers and is offered". After he has washed his hands, he says "O Lord G.o.d of armies, let this victim become "the true body and blood of thy only begotten Son". He then blesses the people, says prayers which correspond to our preface and _Sanctus_, and p.r.o.nounces the words of consecration. After he has said other prayers, and made the sign of the cross several times over the host and chalice, he invokes the holy Ghost, begging also that the body and blood of Christ may produce "the salvation of our souls and the remission of our sins". He then prays, through the merits of the holy sacrifice, for the whole world, the church and state, all conditions of men and for all the faithful departed: he invokes the intercession of the B. Virgin and all the Saints: he prays for the Pope and all present; and after other similar supplications, he says the _Pater noster_. The elevation takes place at this part of the ma.s.s, and also the blessing of the people with the consecrated host and chalice, accompanied by appropriate prayers.

After the curtains have been drawn, the priest breaks the host, and puts a particle of it into the chalice: he then receives communion, blesses the people with the chalice and particle, and distributes communion; before its distribution the curtains are drawn back. When the ablutions and prayers after the celebrant's communion are ended, turning towards the people, he recites a prayer of S. John Chrisostom, which is followed by the last gospel. Then invoking the holy cross he blesses the people, who unite in praising G.o.d. He finally blesses them again, and distributes blessed bread (not consecrated) among them. At S. Gregorio Illuminatore Vespers are added and said _in circolo_: the clergy carry tapers; and the gospel is held up by the Celebrant to implore blessings on the people.

[Sidenote: Reflections.]

These ceremonies may appear singular to us, who are of a different clime and different customs; their music in particular is little in accordance with our taste, or notions of melody and harmony. Yet the remark of Montfaucon (Diario Italico) "aera Dodonaea dixisses", alluding to the bra.s.s kettles of the oracle (Potter Arch. Graec. B. 2, -- 8) is an exaggeration. Their _flabelli_ are of metal, of a round form, surrounded with little bells, which are sounded at the seraphic hymn, to express, if we might believe Cancellieri, "by the trembling of the hands, that of the blessed spirits, who a.s.sist at the throne of the Divine Majesty with fear and trembling". (Tre Pontific. Not. VI).

Their ma.s.s is antic.i.p.ated, but not at so early an hour as that of the Latin. (Even in the Latin church, permissions to say ma.s.s in the afternoon of this day have been granted by some Popes; they may be seen in Cancellieri. _Funz. d. Sett. S. p_. 183, 184). Amid the numerous differences between their rite and our own, the attentive spectator will not fail to remark the similarity of the substance and order of their liturgy, and of that of the Roman church; although, with the solitary exception of the beginning of the ma.s.s, both have existed independently of one another during the last 1400 years. This is a powerful argument in favour of the great antiquity, nay of the apostolic origin of their most important ceremonies, which may be traced through different channels to the _primitive_ liturgies of Rome and Antioch. It is also one of those striking ill.u.s.trations, which Rome presents, of the unity and catholicity of the church; and at the same time of the adaptation of her immutable doctrines and sacred practices to the feelings and customs of widely-separated nations who, having little in common but human nature, yet all acknowledge "one Lord, one faith, and one baptism". (Ephes. IV. 5); and all belong to "one fold and one shepherd". John X, 16.

[Sidenote: Conclusion.]

Having now considered in detail the various ceremonies of Holy Week at Rome, a philosophic mind will take a general review of them: and this question will very naturally suggest itself: What judgment ought I to form concerning them? am I to consider them as mummery, or superst.i.tion, or idolatry, as many most confidently p.r.o.nounce, who are unacquainted with their nature, their origin, and their meaning; and at the same time are little accustomed from early infancy to any language or gesticulations save those of the tongue? or am I not rather to regard them as a solemn, and sacred, and pathetic, and most ancient expression of Christian faith and Christian feeling; which, united as it is with the n.o.blest productions of divine inspiration and of Christian art may haply not only instruct and elevate the mind, but also enkindle in the soul flames of that pure and practical devotion, which this holy season demands from every follower of Christ? Let the reader decide for himself; but for our part, we envy not the mind or heart of him, who can prefer the former of these views. We shall ever bless G.o.d, that we have learnt in another school not to condemn the customs and manners of other countries and other people, merely because they differ from our own; and that we are disposed to attribute to signs the meaning attached to them by those who adopt them, and not that of our own fancies. Men of warmer climates than our own convey to others their sentiments and feelings by action as easily as by the tongue. Italians, as well as Greeks and Orientals, have inherited from their fathers a language of gesture more powerful and expressive than that of words. The Hebrew prophets, Isaiah, Ezechiel, and others, nay Christ himself, spoke by action as well by the tongue.

G.o.d appointed in the old law innumerable ceremonies: Christ in the new law of spirit and truth inst.i.tuted sacred rites, or sanctified those which previously existed: the early church imitated His blessed example: and they have been faithfully preserved as a precious inheritance till the present time. The very objection, that some of them were borrowed from Jews or Pagans, is a proof of their primitive antiquity: Christ or the church removed from them all profaneness or superst.i.tion, and then adopted and sanctified them. (See Wiseman's Letters to Poynder). If all parties unite in approbation of the illumination of the cupola of S. Peter's, and of the fireworks of S.

Angelo, considered as outward demonstrations of the exultation of the church at the resurrection of her Divine Spouse; we shall ever admire also the expressions of christian feeling exhibited in the interior of her temples, whether they consist in ceremonies or words; and on this day emulating the transports of joy of the fervent and eloquent pilgrim to Jerusalem and Mount Sinai, when shall unite our voices with those of the angelic spirits in singing, _Alleluja_; "because Jesus Christ, our Lord, who was delivered up for our sins, rose again for our justification". Rome. IV, 24, 25.[139]

[Footnote 111: Anciently in some churches, as Thoma.s.sin has shewn (de dierum Festorum celebratione lib. 2. c. 14), fire used to be struck from a flint to light the church-lamps etc. every day and particularly on Sat.u.r.day, and the new fire was blessed; on holy Sat.u.r.day however this ceremony was performed with great solemnity; and in the 11th century it was restricted to that day alone. At Rome in holy week this practice was not originally confined to holy Sat.u.r.day, but was observed on the three days before caster: for the first _Ordo Roma.n.u.s_ directs, that on holy _thursday_ fire should be struck from a flint outside the church, and blessed. Amalarius also (4e Ordine Antiph.) testifies that on good _friday_ "new fire was enkindled and reserved till the nocturnal office". Leo IV however (A.D. 847) appears to have first ordered that on Easter Eve "the old fire should be put out, and new fire blessed and distributed among the people" (Homil. de cura Pastorali). For Pope Zachary, about the year 731. in answer to the enquiries of Boniface, bishop of Mayence, states that "on holy thursday, when the sacred chrism is consecrated, three lamps of a large size filled with oil collected from the different lamps of the church, and placed in a secret part of the said church, should burn there constantly, so that the oil may suffice till the third day, that is sat.u.r.day. Then let the fire of the lamps which is used for the sacred font be renewed. But concerning the fire taken _ex cristallis_, as you have a.s.serted, we have no tradition". Pouget (Inst. Cathol. l.

1) observes that the new fire is blessed with great solemnity on this day, "because the fire struck from a flint appears to be a type of Christ arising from the dead". Formerly not only the lights of the church, but all the fires of the city were enkindled from the blessed fire (as we learn from a MS. Sancti Victoris (ap. Martene, De ant.

Eccl. Ritibus lib. IV, c. XXIV). "After the _Ite Missa est_" says the Ordinarium of Luke archbishop of Cosenza "the bishop gives his blessing, and immediately the deacon commands the people, saying "Receive the new fire from the holy candle, and having put out the old, light it in your houses in the name of Christ; then rejoicing they depart with the light". This custom is mentioned also in Leo IVth's homily above quoted.]

[Footnote 112: As for the Paschal candle, Anastasius says that Zosimus, who was elected pope in 417, gave leave that candles should be blessed in the churches. Bened. XIV, Merati and Gretser understand by these words, that that Pontiff only extended to the parish churches a custom already practised in the greater churches: however this may be, the blessing of this candle is at least as old as the time of Pope Zosimus. It is inserted in the ancient sacramentary of Pope Gelasius (A.D. 495). S. Augustine (lib. 15 de Civ. Dei) mentions some verses written by himself in praise of the paschal candle. S. Jerome also speaks of it in his epistles; and Ennodius bishop of Pavia in 519 wrote two formulas, according to which it might be blessed.

Cancellieri, at the end of his _Funzioni della Settimana Santa_, describes two blessings of the paschal candle contained in ma.n.u.scripts of the 12th century. Du Vert as usual rejects every mystical meaning of the candle: but why then should it be lighted on this night, and not on christmas and other nights? The 4th Council of Toledo, held in 633, states that the paschal candle is blessed, in order that we may receive the mystery of Christ's resurrection; and hence the abbot Rupert says, that the candle when lighted represents Christ's resurrection from the dead. That such is its meaning appears from the five holes made in it in the form of a cross, to represent the five wounds of Christ: in them the five grains of incense are fixed by the Deacon, in order to represent, according to Rupert, the spices applied to Christ's body by Joseph of Arimathea. In confirmation of this explanation, we may observe that this candle is not removed from the church till the gospel has been sung on Ascension-day when Christ departed from among men: and it is lighted at solemn ma.s.s before the _gospel_ and at vespers before the _Magnificat_ on the Sundays and holidays which occur between holy sat.u.r.day and the ascension. To the same symbolical meaning of this candle we must attribute the ancient custom of affixing to it (as a symbol of Christ) a tablet on which the current year of our Lord and its indiction were marked: sometimes these, if not other chronological dates, were inscribed on the candle itself by the deacon, before he sang the _Exultet_, as Ven. Bede testifies, The same idea was preserved in the practice of forming the _Agnus Dei_ with the wax of the paschal candle. "On this day" (holy sat.u.r.day) says Durandus "the acolythes of the Roman church make _lambs_ of newly blessed wax, or of the _wax of the paschal candle_ of the preceding year mixed with chrism: on Sat.u.r.day in Albis they are distributed by the Lord Pope to the people in the churches".

Amalarius likewise mentions this custom. It appears also from the two benedictions of Ennodius mentioned above, that the faithful used particles of the pascal candle as a preservative against storms: the good effects hoped for in this and similar cases are attributed to the prayers of the church, which G.o.d in His goodness has promised to hear.

The paschal candle is painted according to an ancient custom.

"Ast alii _pictis_ accendant lumina _ceris_".

S. Paulinus Nat. VI. S Felicis

Pierin del Vaga, whom Vasari considered as the most distinguished of Raffaello's a.s.sistants, was originally nothing more than a candlepainter. His creation of Eve at S. Marcello at Rome, and his frescoes in the Doria place at Genoa, are well-known; at the Vatican he a.s.sisted Giovanni d'Udine in his arabesques, Polidoro in his antique chiaroscuri, and executed some of the most beautiful historical paintings of the loggie di Raffaello. Hence may we judge of the versatility of his talents.]

[Footnote 113: Why does a deacon perform this ceremony? since other benedictions are reserved to bishops and priests. Rupert a.s.signs as a reason, that Christ's body was wrapped in spices by his disciples, and not by the apostles whose successors are bishops and priests: besides, the hymn sung by the deacon is the praeconium Paschale, or announcement of the Resurrection, which was first made by inferiors to their superiors, by the women to the apostles. We may add that both the fire and the 5 grains of incense are previously blessed by the priest, and in the praeconium itself there is not any form of blessing, strictly speaking. In the church of Ravenna however the bishop used to bless this candle (S. Gregory ep. 28, lib. 9). In the Roman church, according to cardinal Gaetani, the last of the Cardinal priests usually blessed the fire, and the last Card. deacon lighted the _lumen Christi_, or triple candle, and the Paschal candle. The deacon used to bless the latter either at the steps of the presbytery, or from the ambo; and hence we find a marble column, intended to support it, fixed to the ambo in S. Clement's S. Laurence's, and S. Pancras' churches at Rome. See another marble column destined for the same use ap.

Ciampini, Vet. mon. cap. 2.]

[Footnote 114: Martene (De antiquis Eccl. rit. lib. 4, c. 24) maintains that this hymn was composed by S. Augustine, and this opinion is adopted also by Baillet and Benedict XIV, and confirmed by a MS. pontifical of the church of Pavia of the 9th century, and other doc.u.ments cited by Martene, ibid: it was corrected by S. Jerome, if we may believe an ancient Pontifical of Poitiers (quoted ibid.) The _chant_ of this beautiful hymn is very ancient. "I have seen," says Baini "in many ma.n.u.scripts both anterior and posterior to the 11th century the melodies of the preface, of the _Pater noster_, of the _Exultet_, and of the _Gloria_ precisely such as the modern" (T. 2, p. 92). In a splendid roll of the Minerva (signed D. 1. 2) of the 9th century, are contained the _Exultet_, the solemn benediction of the baptismal font, and the administration of all the ecclesiastical orders. Nor is this the only roll containing the chant precisely similar to the modern. D'Agincourt left another to the Vatican library. See also MS. no. 333 of the Barberini library, of the year 1503.]

[Footnote 115: Prudentius speaks of the "guttas olentes" or odoriferous drops of the candle, and S. Paulinus of Nola of "odora lumina": hence P. Arevalo conjectures that the grains of incense were fixed in the paschal candle even at the time of Prudentius in the 4th century.]

[Footnote 116: In churches, at the words _Apis mater eduxit_, the lamps also are lighted. With regard to the triple candle, we may observe that on an ancient marble column preserved in the Piazza before the cathedral of Capua is a bas-relief representing the lighting of the paschal candle by means of a reed surmounted by 3 small candles, as the Canonico Natali testifies in a letter printed at Naples in 1776. The triple candle is mentioned in the Ordo Roma.n.u.s of Card. Gaetano, in that of Amelius, and in a MS. Pontifical of the church of Apamea, ap. Martene. As Thoma.s.sin observes, "we light a candle divided into three in honour of the Trinity, considering that enlightened by Christ we know that recondite mystery". Gavant also gives the same explanation. In the Greek service the bishop gives his blessing, as often as he sings ma.s.s, with a triple candle. In the Latin church it is used only on holy Sat.u.r.day.]

[Footnote 117: See Appendix.]

[Footnote 118: This custom is proved from the letter of Siricius Pope in the 4th century to Himmerius, from letters of S. Leo and Pope Gelasius, as well as other ancient doc.u.ments (ap. Bened. XIV, Inst.i.tut. prima ed lat.); and vestiges of it are preserved in the liturgy of the weeks of Easter and Pentecost. Ordinations were generally conferred before Christmas, as is evident from the lives of the early Popes. Baptism was administered before the great festivals of Easter and Pentecost, that the newly-baptised might be prepared to celebrate them worthily, and receive the graces therein commemorated.

Perhaps another reason for selecting the eve of Easter may be found in the parallel drawn by S. Paul between baptism and Christ's death and resurrection (Rom. VI, 5 and foll.): "we who are baptised in Christ Jesus are baptised in his death. For we are buried together with him by baptism unto death: that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life" etc.]

[Footnote 119: See on such subjects Del Signore's Inst.i.tut. Hist.

Eccles. with notes by Prof. Tizzani Cap. V. -- 19 seq.]

[Footnote 120: See Comm. ad Ord. Rom. Mabillonii tom. 2, Mus. Ital. p.

95.]

[Footnote 121: According to the Ordo Roma.n.u.s, children after baptism on this day were to take no food or milk before Communion "and on all days of Easter-week let them go to Ma.s.s, and let their parents offer for them, and let all communicate". As Caba.s.sutius proves in his not.i.tia Ecclesiastica saeculi primi, they used to receive the B.

Sacrament under the form of wine alone. The bishop dipped his finger into the sacred blood, and then put it into the mouth of the child a practice observed in modern times in some parts of the East, according to the learned Maronite Abraham Ecch.e.l.lensis; afterwards a little milk and honey was put into their mouths, as an emblem (according to John the deacon) of the promised land, to which they were called. This custom of giving communion to children was not of necessity for salvation, as Cardinal Noris proves in Vindiciis Augustinianis -- 4, and the Council of Trent observes. In some places an abuse crept in of putting the milk and honey into the consecrated chalice, but it was prohibited by an African Council.]

[Footnote 122: In the 4th century, S. Basil writing to the clergy of Neocesarea observes, that the litanies, which they then used, were introduced after the time of S. Gregory Thaumaturgus (Epist. 63). In Gaul about the year 452, S. Mamertus bishop of Vienne appointed solemn litanies to be recited on the three _rogation_ days. "At Rome," say Palmer, "no doubt litanies were in use at an early period, since we find that in the time of Gregory the great (A.D. 590), the appellation of litany had been so long given to processional supplications, that it was then familiarly applied to those persons who formed the procession". Vol. 1, p. 271. That holy Pontiff gave the following directions; "Let the litany of the clergy set out from the church of S. John the Baptist, the litany of the men from the church of the holy martyr Marcellus, the litany of the monks from the church of SS John and Paul: the litany of the handmaids of G.o.d from the church of the blessed martyrs Cosmas and Damian, the litany of the married women from the church of the blessed protomartyr Stephen; the litany of the widows from the church of the blessed martyr Vitalis, the litany of the poor and children from the church of the blessed martyr Cecilia".

Vita S. Gregorii a Joanne Diacono, lib. 1, c. 42. That the litanies were recited on holy-sat.u.r.day appears from several ancient _rites_ quoted by Marlene (De Ant. Eccl. Ritibus, lib. 4, c. XXV, and lib. 1, c. I, art. 18). Palmer, wis.h.i.+ng to defend the liturgy of the church of England, maintains the antiquity of litanies, but pretends that the invocations of saints were not originally contained in them, but were added to them in the west about the eighth century (vol. I, p. 289).

From a pa.s.sage in Walafridus Strabo he is led to admit that at _his_ time (the ninth century) "these invocations must have been _for some time_ in use, and accordingly ma.n.u.script litanies containing invocations have been discovered by learned men, which appear from internal evidence to be as old as the eighth century". He attempts however by _negative_ arguments to shew, that these invocations are not more ancient than that period; although at the same time he confesses that "we have no _distinct account_ of the _nature_ of the service which was used on occasions of peculiar supplication during the earliest ages". p. 272. To his arguments we may oppose the _positive_ testimony of Walafridus Strabo, who says "The litany of the holy names is believed to have come into use after Jerome, following Eusebius of Cesarea, had composed the martyrology". A long time, about three centuries, elapsed before the _canon_ of the scriptures was determined; and it is not therefore surprising if the _canon_ of saints, (if such it may be called), who died at considerable intervals, required some time for its formation. Invocations of the saints in ancient litanies may be seen ap. Martene (lib. 4f c. 27 and lib. 1, c. 1, art. 18). One would conceive from Palmer's account of the Ambrosian litany that it did not contain invocations of the saints, p. 276; yet in the Ambrosian processional, to which he alludes, we read as follows "Afterwards they go to the altar, were the litanies are recited on bended knees, in reciting which the _names of the saints_ without _Intercede pro n.o.bis_ are sung aloud by the provost and clergy of the first collegiate church; and by the other clergy with _Intercede pro n.o.bis_ and this rite of singing the _litanies_ and antiphons is observed in every other stational church".

ap. Martene lib. 4, c. 28. In the Ordo Roma.n.u.s also De Benedictione Ecclesiae these invocations are found. The question however concerning their antiquity _in the litanies_ is of minor importance. Even Palmer admits, that "Catholic fathers in the 4th century invoked the saints"

p. 292, though he gravely a.s.sures his readers, that "they were too well instructed in the Christian faith to believe positively that the saints heard our prayers". He mentions the learned work of Serrarius called "Litaneutici seu de Litaniis etc." as an instance of the writings, in which "innumerable pa.s.sages have been cited from ancient writers to prove, that the invocation of saints is more ancient than the eighth century. But most of those pa.s.sages do not refer to the invocation of saints, but to prayers made to G.o.d for the intercession of saints". Palmer, vol. I, p. 278. We consider that there is little difference in principle between these two things: we shall however, to satisfy him, quote only one pa.s.sage from an ancient Oriental liturgy.

"Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, pray for me to the only begotten Son, who was born of thee, that he may forgive me my offences and sins, and may receive from my feeble and sinful hands this sacrifice, which in my weakness I offer on this altar, through thy intercession for me, O holy Mother". (From the ancient liturgy used by the Nestorians called the liturgy of the holy apostles. Renaudot, t. II.

See bishop Poynter's Christianity, Note E: and ancient inscriptions in Rock's Hierurgia, p. 347 and foll.) Though we have the _innumerable ancient_ pa.s.sages above-mentioned in favour of the Catholic doctrine, yet shall we call Mr. Palmer's attention to the following pa.s.sage of his own work. Speaking of secrecy, he says: "this primitive discipline is sufficient to account for the fact, that very few allusions to the liturgy or eucharistic service are found in the writings of the Fathers". I, p. 14. His fears of _heresy and blasphemy_ arising from the invocation of Saints may be calmed by the simple perusal of the doctrine of the church taught by the Council of Trent, sess. 25. "The holy synod commands all bishops and other teachers--_diligently to instruct the faithful, teaching them_ that the Saints reigning with Christ offer to G.o.d their prayers for men; that it is _good and useful_ to invoke them with supplication, and to have recourse to their prayers, help, and a.s.sistance, in order to obtain benefits _from G.o.d through his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who alone is our Redeemer and Saviour_". Accordingly we say in the litany "Lord, have mercy on us: holy Mary _pray for us_" etc.]

[Footnote 123: We shall say nothing of sculptured figures taken from the catacombs, such as the statues of the good shepherd and S. Hippolitus now in the Vatican, or the numerous bas reliefs on Christian sarcophagi (on which see Raoul-Rochette, Tableau des Catacombes, c. IV. Beschreibung der Stadt Rom. B. 2, in the description of the Christian Museum in the Vatican Library). On another cla.s.s of Christian representations the reader may consult Buonarruoti's _Osservazioni sopra alcuni frammenti di vetro, ornati di figure_. We shall rather call the attention of the Christian antiquarian to the numerous frescoes painted in the chapels of the catacombs, and ill.u.s.trated by Bosio, Bottari, d'Agincourt etc., the latter of whom attributes some of them to the second century on account of the similarity of their style to that of frescoes in the tomb of the Nasones, which is situated on the Flaminian way at a short distance from Rome; his opinion is confirmed by the fact that some of them have been broken through, with the view of preparing a place of burial for the bodies of martyrs slain in _subsequent persecutions_.

A list of their subjects which are _generally_ taken from the old and new Testaments may be seen in Raoul-Rochette (c. 3, p. 157 foll. ed.

de Brusselles). Of these we may briefly notice in particular some of the representations of Christ, of the B. Virgin, of the apostles and martyrs. In them Christ sometimes appears as an infant on the lap of His holy mother, Who ever pure and modest is always veiled; and this lovely group is found not only on these paintings, but also on bas-reliefs and gla.s.s-vessels generally anterior to the 4th century, and consequently to the general council of Ephesus held in 431; although it is pretended that such figures were first designed after that period. (Instances are enumerated by Raoul-Rochette c. VI).

Constantina, daughter of Constantine, whose tomb is still preserved at Rome, begged of Eusebius bishop of Cesarea a likeness of our Divine Saviour (Concil. Labbe. t. VII, 493 seq): we must have recourse to the catacombs for His most ancient portraits. See one resembling the ordinary type of His sacred head and taken from the cemetery of Calixtus, at the end of Raoul-Rochette's work. This type, repeated again and again on Christian monuments during the last sixteen hundred years or more, may suggest the hope that some traces of our Divine Saviour's features are still preserved among us, notwithstanding the diversity of His portraits, of which S. Augustine complained, De Triniti l. 8, c, 4 5. Raoul-Rochette's opinion, that this likeness and the portraits of the apostles were of Gnostic origin, is altogether unsupported, as the Belgian editors of his work justly observe. Christ is frequently represented also as seated amid His apostles, of whom SS. Peter and Paul were favourite subjects of the old artists: see Raoul-Rochette c. VI, where he mentions, after the older antiquaries, the ancient representations of S. Ciriaca, S Priscilla, SS. Stephen, Cyprian, Laurence, Agnes, and other martyrs. During Diocletian's persecution, the provincial council of Eliberis in Spain decreed, that there should be no paintings on the walls of churches: its 36th canon was evidently intended to save sacred pictures from the profanations perpetrated by the pagans. The faithful however, fertile in expedients to gratify their devotion, now began to use those portable representations of pious subjects called diptychs, because they generally consisted of two tablets which could at pleasure be _folded_ together. They were formed of ivory or wood, and resembled the presents of that name formerly sent by the consuls on the day of their entrance into office: on these were usually inscribed the names and the portraits of the new magistrates. (Symmachus lib. 2, ep. 80, all 71). The sacred diptychs, of which many are preserved in the Vatican Library, were easily saved from the fury of the Iconoclasts. Their folding form without their portability is preserved in many of the ancient altar-pieces of Italian and other churches and from them the modern altar-pieces are derived: they did not however supersede the use of frescoes, or mosaics, as is evident from innumerable ancient and modern ecclesiastical monuments of this city. In the preceding chapter we laid before our readers the doctrine of the catholic church concerning respect paid to images, p. 80.]

[Footnote 124: "He is risen; he is not here. But _go, tell_ his disciples and _Peter_, that he goeth before you into Galilee". Mark XV, 6 7.]

[Footnote 125: This Hebrew word, which frequently occurs in psalms of praise, CIV, 34, CV, 45, CVI, 1, etc. has been preserved, as well as _Amen_, and _Sabaoth_, in its original form in most liturgies.

According to S. Gregory (Ep. 64, ind. 2). who appeals to S. Jerome's authority, it was introduced into the Roman liturgy in the time of Pope Damasus. S. Gregory forbade it to be sung at funerals, (as it had been at that of Fabiola: S. Jerome in Epitaphio Fabiolae;) or during Lent.]