Chapter IV: Part 1: Introductory. Breviary--Divine office, its (2)

[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 assign 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 mass 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 mass on this day, as they are on holy Saturday 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 Nazianzen 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 mass 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 instituted about the middle of the thirteenth century by Urban IV at the petition 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 mass 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 petitions 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 peacocks' feathers, the eyes of which according to Macri and others signify the vigilance and circumspection of the Pontiffs. They are mentioned in the apostolic constitutions, 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 institution 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 Thomassin 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, Ambassadors, the Propaganda, the _Maggiordomo_, and the captain of the Swiss guards.]

[Footnote 74: The water is brought to him by the Prince assisting at the throne, and the towel is presented by the first Cardinal Priest. When the Pope is prevented from performing this ceremony, the Cardinal Dean supplies his place in presence of the sacred college (Lunadoro). In that case the gospel is sung, not by a cardinal, but by the prelate who is deacon of the _cappella_. Formerly, according to the MS. Pontifical of the Apamean church written in 1214, Vespers were sung by the Pope's chaplains, while he washed the feet of twelve subdeacons.]

[Footnote 75: Chardin and other travellers testify, that this practice is preserved in modern times. In Homer's Odyssey the custom of taking a bath before a banquet is frequently mentioned, III, 467; IV, 49, VI. 216; VIII, 449.]

[Footnote 76: The emperors of Costantinople used (according to Codinus De Officiis Aulae Costantinop.) to wash the feet of twelve poor persons: and Vespasiano Fiorentino in the fifteenth century, in his life of Alfonso di Napoli quoted by Cancellieri, says that "Il Giovedi Santo lavava i piedi a tanti poveri, quant' egli aveva anni, et lavavagli, come si deve ... et a tutti dava una veste bianca, et un pajo di calze, et un Alfonsino, et un fiorino et un carlino, et non so che altra moneta. Dipoi il Giovedi medesimo faceva ordinare una cena,... et la Maesta del Re la pigliava, et metteva loro innanzi, e con il vino, et quello avevano di bisogno con grandissima umilta". See also Martene, De Ant. Eccl. Rit. Lib. IV, c. XII, Sec. 8. Our readers will here call to mind the good old custom still preserved of the maundy of our British Sovereigns, so called from mandatum, the first word of the first anthem sung during, the washing of the feet. In the Greek church, according to Baillet, not only are the feet of twelve poor persons washed, but the name of an apostle is given to each of them; as it may be supposed, nobody is anxious to have the name of Judas Iscariot: so lots are drawn to determine the person who is to represent that traitor. This may remind us of the threat of Leonardo da Vinci to copy the head of Judas, in his celebrated last supper, from the importunate Prior of S. Maria delle Grazie of Milan. Poor Leonardo despaired of finding a model for the head of our Saviour; and for more than a year was seeking the rabble for a fit subject whom he might represent as Judas: meantime the Prior was continually worrying him to finish the fresco. "In ogni caso poi" said he to Lodovico Sforza, "faro capitale del ritratto del P. Priore, che lo merita per la sua importunita e per la sua poca discrezione". The story of Leonardo bears some resemblance to the manner in which Michelangelo punished Biagio da Cesena Pontifical Master of Ceremonies, who before Daniel of Volterra had acquired his well-known nickname of _braghettone_ complained to the Pope, that the naked figures of the last judgment were unworthy of a house of prayer. The artist introduced his censor in his painting as Minos judge of the infernal regions, with long ears like those of the other devils, and a serpent's tail. Paul III when appealed to is said to have answered, that if his Ceremoniere had been in Purgatory, he might have helped him out, but out of hell there was no redemption. This Papal witticism Platner could not find in any writer earlier than Richardson (See Beschreibung der Stadt Rom) but _se non e vero, e ben trovato_. Dante was not more scrupulous than Michelangelo about thrusting his opponents into his _inferno_.

Pictoribus atque poetis
Quidlibet audendi semper fuit aequa potestas.
]

[Footnote 77: The mosaics with which it was adorned by Pope Leo III are preserved in the great niche adjoining the _scala santa_.]

[Footnote 78: The Portuguese, Spanish and some other churches are generally distinguished on this day by the brilliancy of the illumination of their _sepulchres_.]

[Footnote 79: In the eighth century Pope Hadrian I, according to Anastasius, suspended under the principal or _triumphal_ arch, as it was called, a silver cross with 1365 or 1380 small lamps, which where lighted at Easter and other great festivals. This was perhaps the origin of the cross which used to be suspended in S. Peter's at this season.]

[Footnote 80: We have already mentioned an ancient Christian fresco in which an aspergillum is represented.]

[Footnote 81: Formerly, as Card. Borgia has proved (De Cruce Vaticana) this ceremony was performed in S. Peter's on good Friday. In other churches there were two distinct observances; 1. that of stripping the altars on holy Thursday, when Christ's passion began; and 2. that of washing them with wine and on good Friday, when blood and water flowed from His side, as the Abbot Rupert observes. For the ancient ceremonies of this day at Rome see besides the Apamean Pontifical above-cited, the Pontificals of Egebert archbishop of York and of Tirpin archbishop of Rheims ap. Martene, loc. cit. In some places the fast of Lent was not observed on this day, as appears from S. Augustine, Ep. 54 and Januarium. Of old this was the day for shaving in preparation for Easter-Sunday: it was therefore called shere-Thursday.]

CHAP. V.

ON THE CEREMONIES OF GOOD-FRIDAY

_CONTENTS._

Ancient ceremonies at Rome--Service in the Sixtine
chapel--Passio--Sermon and indulgence--Prayers for all
mankind--exposition of the cross; ancient crucifixes and
crosses--_adoration_ of the cross; its antiquity--Palestrina's
_improperii_, Trisagion--chant of the hymn _Pange lingua
gloriosi lauream etc_,--Procession of the B. Sacrament--_Mass_
of the Presanctified, Vespers--Tenebrae--Veneration of the
principal relics at S Peter's--Grounds of belief in the
genuineness of relics--1. Relic of the cross--2. of the
lance--3. _Volto Santo_--Reflections--Recapitulation.

"_The principal object of the church in the office of this
day is, that Jesus Christ crucified may be placed before
our eyes, that touched with contrition at the sight, our
souls may be so disposed, as to obtain the fruit of
redemption_" Bened. XIV, De Festis D.N.J.C. lib. 1. c. 7.

[Sidenote: Ancient ceremonies.]

On good Friday the Pope used formerly to go with the Cardinals and the other members of the court to the Oratory of S. Lorenzo called _Sancta Sanctorum_ in the Lateran palace, where they venerated and kissed the relics of SS. Peter and Paul, as well as two crosses preserved there. One of these was then carried by a Cardinal Priest, and and the Host consecrated on the preceding day was borne by another Cardinal of the same order; the Pope, the Cardinals and all the others were bare-footed, and walked in procession reciting psalms to S. John Lateran's and thence to S. Croce, where the station was held and the ceremonies of the day were performed.[82]

[Sidenote: Service in the Sixtine chapel.]

[Sidenote: Passio.]

[Sidenote: Sermon and indulgence.]

These take place at present in the Sixtine chapel; in which the yellow colour of the candles and torches, the nakedness of the Pope's throne and of the seats of the church denote the desolation of the church at the sufferings and death of her divine founder. The Cardinals do not wear their rings; their dress is of purple, which is their mourning colour; in like manner the Bishops do not wear rings and their stockings are black: those of the Cardinals are purple; and the maces as well as the soldiers' arms are reversed. The Card. great Penitentiary with the sacred ministers are habited in black. There is no thurifer and there are no lights; for the death of the Son of God is going to be commemorated; and while He was hanging upon the cross and when He died, there was darkness over the whole earth. The Pope is habited in a red cope: he does not wear his ring nor give his blessing: but if he be present at this part of the service, His Holiness kneeling with the Card. Penitentiary at his left hand offers up prayers for a short time before the altar. This, which was stripped on the preceding day, is now covered with a linen cloth by two _Cerimonieri_[83]. The Pope then goes to His seat; and the Card. Celebrant accompanied by the ministers to the altar, and thence to his _faldistorio_ or seat. An appropriate passage from the prophecy of Osee is sung by one of the choir, and the precept from Exodus concerning the killing of the paschal-lamb, a type of Christ, by the subdeacon. The Pope and the Card. Celebrant also read both these lessons, after each of which a tract is sung by the choir; and between them a prayer by the Celebrant. After the prophecies, which are a powerful confirmation of the truth of our holy religion, the account of the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ, penned by an eye-witness S. John, the disciple of love, is recited[84]. It is read in a low voice by the Card. Celebrant and sung with the same impressive chant as on Palm-Sunday by three cantors wearing the alb, a black maniple and stole: they used formerly to recite it bare-footed. At those words "And bowing down his head he gave up the ghost" all kneel to adore their Redeemer. It is related of a servant of God of the name of Piccolomini, that he expired in church on good Friday when those words were sung. The latter part is chanted, but without the usual ceremonies, by the deacon, after he has taken off his folded chasuble and put on the large band or stole. A short sermon is then preached by a conventual Friar, who afterwards according to custom publishes the indulgence or remission of temporal punishment of thirty years granted by the Pope to those who have confessed and sincerely repented of their sins. See p. 37. As Morinus has shewn (De Penitentia cap. 4.) in most churches penitents were absolved and reconciled after the gospel.

[Sidenote: Prayers for all mankind.]

Christ, says S. Paul, died for all men, and when suffering on the cross, He prayed even for his relentless persecutors: on the anniversary then of his death it is fit that His church should pray for all men, that all may be saved by the application of His merits to their souls. The Card. Celebrant commences the beautiful, charitable, and ancient prayers of this day with the words, Let us pray, dearly beloved, for the holy church of God etc. The deacon then kneeling says (according to the ancient custom mentioned by S. Cesarius of Arles in his 36th homily, and by S. Basil in his book on the Holy Ghost c. XXVII) Let us bend our knees, and the subdeacon answers, Stand up, as it was customary to pray standing. This form is repeated before each prayer, except that which is offered for the Jews[85]: for their soldiers, bowing the knee before our Lord, mocked him saying in derision, Hail king of the Jews. Prayers follow for the Pope, for all the clergy, and holy people of God (formerly for the Emperor also) and catechumens who are to receive baptism on the day following. Having prayed for all members of the church, we then pray for heretics and schismatics, that God may deign to "deliver them from all errors, and bring them back to their holy mother the catholic and apostolic church"; and these petitions are followed by others for the conversion of Jews and Pagans[86].

[Sidenote: Exposition of the cross: ancient crucifixes and crosses.]

[Sidenote: _Adoration_ of the cross: its antiquity.]

When these prayers are ended[87] the officiating Cardinal takes off his chasuble, and going to the epistle-side of the altar receives from the deacon the crucifix[88] covered with a black veil. Then turning towards the people, and uncovering the upper part of the crucifix, he sings, Behold the wood of the cross, on which hung the salvation of the world; in singing which words he is joined by two tenor-voices from the choir. The choir answers, Come, let us adore[89]. The Pope and all others kneel, except the Cardinal celebrant, who advances nearer to the middle of the altar, and uncovers the right arm of the crucifix, and repeats the same words in a higher tone, and again in a still higher tone before the middle of the altar, where he uncovers the whole cross. The choir answers as before, and all except the celebrant kneel each time the words are repeated. The Cardinal then places the crucifix on a rich cushion lying on the steps of the altar[90].

[Sidenote: Trisagion.]

I observed above, that it was formerly customary for the Pope and all others to walk bare-footed in the procession of this day, as others royal personages have done; for instance, S. Louis of France, S. Elisabeth of Hungary, and others. Thus to be barefooted was a sign of mourning (1 Sam. XV, 30. Jer. II, 25) among the Jews. Their priests were without shoes at their functions, in token of reverence (Exod. III, 5. Jos. V, 15). Some memorial of this practice is preserved in the present custom of taking off the shoes of the principal persons who revere and kiss the cross on this day. The Pope's shoes are taken off by an _Ajutante di Camera_, His cope by acolythes (_Votanti di Segnatura_), and afterwards His Holiness then makes three profound genuflections before the crucifix, gradually approaching nearer to it, and then kisses it in token of his love for Him, who died upon it for our salvation[91]. He also empties a purse, containing an offering of 100 _scudi d'oro_, into a silver basin near the crucifix. When the Pope is about to make the first genuflection, the choir begins to sing the _improperii_, the sentiments of which, and the chant composed by Palestrina [92], are admirably adapted to the pathetic ceremony. In them God enumerates the unparalleled benefits which he lavished upon the Jews, and the atrocious crimes by which they repaid Him. At the end of each _improperium_ or reproach, the Trisagion is sung by one choir in Greek, and in Latin by another "Holy God! Holy strong one! Holy immortal, have mercy on us"[93]. The Pope then returns to his throne; he resumes his previous vestments and reads the _improperii_ from the Missal held as usual by an assist. bishop kneeling. The Cardinal celebrant and all the other members of the sacred college, after their shoes have been taken off, assisted by the _Ceremonieri_ revere and kiss the crucifix in the same manner as the Pope has done; and each of them leaves an offering of a _scudo d'oro_ according to an ancient custom.[94] When they return to their places, their shoes are put on by their respective _camerieri_, who afterwards leave the chapel. The patriarchs and bishops assistant and non-assistant and the generals of religious orders without shoes, and all the other prelates etc. wearing their shoes, _adore_ and kiss the cross in like manner, observing the same order as in going to receive palms on the preceding sunday; and they also make their offerings before the cross. When the sacred college has finished the _adoration_, the choir having ended the _improperii_ sings the anthem _Crucem tuam_, the psalm _Deus misereatur nostri_, the hymn _Pange lingua gloriosi lauream certaminis_[95] etc. Towards the end of this beautiful ceremony the candles are lighted, the deacon spreads out the corporal[96] as usual, placing the purificator near it. He then respectfully takes the cross, and places it on the altar amid the candlesticks.

[Sidenote: Chant of _Pange lingua_ etc.]

A procession, arranged like that of the preceding day, now goes to the Pauline chapel. Assisted as usual by the first Card. priest, the Pope kneels and incenses the B. Sacrament three times. _M. Sagrista_ delivers the B. Sacrament to the Cardinal celebrant, who presents it to the Pope; His Holiness covers it with the end of the veil placed over his shoulders[97] and the procession returns to the Sixtine chapel [98]. In the mean time the choir sings the hymn "_Vexilla Regis prodeunt_". When the Pope arrives at the altar, he delivers the B. Sacrament to the Card. Celebrant, who places it on the altar. His Holiness then incenses it and returns to his throne.

During the procession the crucifix on the altar of the Sixtine chapel is removed, and a larger cross containing a considerable relic of the true cross is substituted for it. This relic was sent to Pope Leo the Great in the 5th century by Juvenal Bishop of Jerusalem. It was lost, but found again by Pope Sergius I in 687: it was stolen at the sack of Rome in 1527, and removed from its case of silver: however it was recovered by Clement VII, who ordered the rich cross, in which it is at present preserved, to be made: in 1730 it was again stolen but recovered once more by Clement XII. At the close of the last century, though the candlesticks, and the statues of the Apostles belonging to the papal chapel were lost, this cross was preserved. In 1840 His present Holiness Gregory XVI ordered it to be again exposed to the public veneration in the Sixtine chapel: He gave it to the charge of the chapter of S. Peter's, who deliver it to _M. Sagrista_ on Good-friday morning: and it remains in the Sixtine chapel till the end of Tenebrae on that day. Moroni _Cappelle Pontificie etc._

The _Mass_ of the _Presanctified_, as it is called, is next celebrated; Card. Tommasi, following S. Cesarius of Arles, calls it the office, and not the mass of good-Friday; for mass, strictly speaking, is not offered up on this day, since no consecration takes place, and the B. Sacrament is received by the celebrant under the form of bread alone, as it could not be preserved with safety under the form of wine[99].

[Sidenote: Mass of the Pre-Sanctified.]

The Card. Celebrant places the B. Sacrament on the paten[100] and thence on the corporal. In the meantime the deacon puts wine into the chalice, and the subdeacon water, which however are neither blessed or consecrated[101] on this day. The cardinal then places the chalice on the altar, and the deacon covers it with the _palla_ or pall (a small square piece of linen, which serves to prevent flies etc. from falling into it). The Cardinal incenses the offerings and the altar, washes his hands, and recites the _Orate Fratres_ and Our Father. All then kneel to adore the blessed Sacrament, which he raises over the paten. He divides it as usual, but without saying any prayer [102], into three parts, putting one of them into the chalice. Striking his breast, and acknowledging his own unworthiness, he receives communion, taking the sacred host, and afterwards the consecrated particle with the wine in the chalice [103]. He then receives the ablution, washes his hands, and returns to the sacristy with the sacred ministers.

[Sidenote: Vespers.]

Anciently on fasting days nothing was allowed to be eaten till sunset; and Vespers used therefore to be said before dinner: now that the one meal allowed on such days may be eaten as early as noon, the ancient practice of saying Vespers before dinner is still preserved. Vespers are therefore sung immediately after the mass of the Presanctified: they consist of the Our Father and Hail Mary said in secret, of five psalms with their anthems, and the _Magnificat_ with its anthem. At the verse 'Christ became obedient unto death', all kneel down to adore Him, and the _Miserere_ and the usual prayer are recited, but without the solemnity of Tenebrae[104].

[Sidenote: Tenebrae.]

[Sidenote: Principal relics.]

In the afternoon at Tenebrae, the office, being that of Holy Saturday anticipated as usual, refers to the repose of the body of our blessed Lord in the tomb. When it is finished, the Pope wearing his stole, and the Cardinals having taken off their _cappe_, go to S. Peter's in procession, accompanied by the Papal _Anticamera segreta_, the guards and others, to venerate the relics of the Cross, the Lance, and the _Volto Santo_, which are shewn by the Canons from the gallery above the statue of S. Veronica [105]. The Pope meantime, and the Cardinals and others arranged on each side of Him, remain kneeling. The Pontifical cross is borne as usual before the Pope, when going to S. Peter's by an _Uditore di Rota_, and when returning to His apartments by His cross-bearer who is one of His chaplains.

[Sidenote: Grounds of belief in relics.]

Catholics are bound to believe with divine faith only those doctrines, which the church defines to be doctrines taught by God; and hence with regard to particular images or relics or miracles, concerning which Christ has taught nothing, they believe them to be genuine or reject them, according to the evidence which accompanies them. We shall therefore briefly examine what evidence there is in favour of the relics in question.

[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 assertion. Now according to the ancient historians, Eusebius, Sozomen and Socrates: the Emperor Adrian erected a temple of Venus over the tomb of the God of purity, after he had covered it with a great quantity 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 God 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 passed 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 title 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 passed 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 ambassador 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 ambassador, 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 assertion 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 noblemen 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 Tasso 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, God 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 assertions[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 principal 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, Mass 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 Romanus_, 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 masses before the offertory. See Cancellieri, De Secretariis T. I, Fleury, Moeurs des Chretiens.]

[Footnote 84: The lessons, the prayer, and the passion are found in the ancient ordo Gelasianus 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: "God 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 titled _De Passione 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 God 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 passers-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 mass. 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 Titus' 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 nectit 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 passing. 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 Janus, 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 gratitude, informed the faithful, that the truth had here found an asylum with a poor man, under the safeguard of all the popular superstitions". 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 classical 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 Romanus_. 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 documents 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 cum 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 God, 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 assiduously 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 God's miracles through the saints, and salutary examples are laid before the eyes of the faithful, that they may return thanks for them to God, and may compose their life and manners to an imitation of the saints, and may be excited to adore and love God 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 Romanus 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 "God 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.]