Chapter XXIX: Appendix: C

ON THE DESIGN OF THE ANALOGIUM, AMBO OR ROOD LOFT, AND THE READING OF THE GOSPEL FROM IT

1. We have noted afore, that the priest, in the celebration of Mass, when it is not High Mass, himself readeth the gospel. But when a bishop or priest celebrateth High Mass with the highest solemnity, then, in some churches, as at Rome, the deacon having kissed the {180} right hand of the bishop, taketh the book of the gospel from the altar, and giveth it to the sub-deacon to bear, and asketh and receiveth the bishop's or priest's blessing. But in other churches, he first asketh for the blessing before he taketh the book. The benediction having been bestowed, the deacon proceedeth along the south side [Footnote 617] of the choir to the rood loft, and before him goeth the sub-deacon with the volume of the gospel, and before him the incense-bearer with incense; and before him the torch-bearer with lighted tapers, and before him in some churches the banner of the cross: and thus they ascend the rood loft. And the deacon readeth the gospel: the which being finished, they return to the priest or bishop together. Which things we will more particularly go through. It is also to be noted, that in some churches, the deacon, when about to go to the rood loft, beginneth the antiphon which followeth benedictus in the nocturns, and while he is going thither, it is taken up, and finished by the chorus, to set forth charity: and it is sung without instruments, to denote that God commandeth us to have love alone. And now is the figure changed: for the deacon, who before represented S. John Baptist, now setteth forth S. John Evangelist: because 'the law and the prophets were until John: [Footnote 618] and after him the kingdom of heaven is preached.'

[Footnote 617: As is well known, double staircases to rood lofts
appear to have been almost as common in England as single ones: and
there are sometimes, especially in Norfolk churches, two
corresponding rood turrets.]

[Footnote 618: 2 S. Luke xvi, 16.]

2. And the word _evangelium_ meaneth good tidings; from [Greek text], well, and [Greek text], a messenger. For the preaching of Christ and His apostles is indeed a gospel, as proclaiming Life after death, Rest after labour, a Kingdom after slavery.

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3. And ye are to wit, that as the head hath pre-eminence over the other members of the body, and as the other members obey it: so the gospel is the principal thing of all that are said in the office of the Mass, and hath the pre-eminence, and whatever things be there read, or sung, they consent to it, as may well be perceived.

4. The deacon therefore first kisseth the hand of the bishop in silence, because the preacher must proclaim the gospel for the sake of eternal glory, as saith the spouse in the Canticles, 'His right hand shall embrace me.' [Footnote 619] Also because the angel which came to announce the glory of Christ's Resurrection did sit on the right hand, clothed in white. [Footnote 620] In other churches, however, he doth not kiss, but only bowing asketh for a blessing. But the sub-deacon or deacon doth not kiss the hands, but the feet, of the Roman Pontiff, that he may exhibit the greatest reverence to the greatest bishop, and show that he is His Vicar, Whose feet the woman that was a sinner kissed. [Footnote 621] For his footstool is to be adored because it is holy. Whose feet also, when He had risen from the dead, the woman held and adored. Generally, none ought to kiss the hand of the Roman Pontiff, unless when he receiveth something from his hands, or giveth something to them: to show that we ought on both accounts to give thanks unto Him, Who giveth to all of His own, and receiveth from none.

[Footnote 619: Canticles ii, 6.]

[Footnote 620: S. Mark xvi, 5.]

[Footnote 621: S. Luke vii, 37.]

5. The deacon incontinently thereafter taketh the book of the gospel from the altar, because the 'Law shall go forth out of Sion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem': [Footnote 622] not the Mosaic Law which went forth of Sinai, but the Gospel Law, of which the Prophet saith, 'Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Jacob and with the house of Israel.' [Footnote 623]

[Footnote 622: Micah iv, 2.]

[Footnote 623: Jeremiah xxxi, 31.]

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The book is also taken from the altar, because the apostles received the gospel from the altar, when they went about preaching the Passion of Christ. Or the altar in this place signifieth the Jews, from whom the kingdom of God is taken, and given unto a nation that will do its fruits: and from this, that the gospel is taken from the altar, we learn, that it is the Word of God, which is signified by the altar, according to that saying, 'An altar of earth shall ye make unto me.' [Footnote 624]

[Footnote 624: Exodus xx, 24.]

6. But he taketh it, according to some, from the right side of the altar: because the Church of the Jews, whence our Church springeth, was situate in the east: and placeth it on the left, as it is written, 'His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me': [Footnote 625] and that for a threefold cause. Firstly, the gospel teacheth that things celestial, which be signified by the right, be preferred to things terrestrial, which the left hand setteth forth. Secondly, the book is inclined on the left shoulder, to signify that the preaching of Christ shall pass from the Gentiles, as it is written: 'In those days Israel shall be saved.' [Footnote 626] Thirdly, because in temporal life, which is set forth by that side, needful is it that Christ should be preached: and the book of the gospel is in some churches adorned on the outside with gold and gems. But the book remaineth on the altar, from the time that the priest goeth there, till the gospel be read, because it, in this respect, signifieth Jerusalem: since the gospel was first preached in Jerusalem, and remained there from the advent of the Lord till it was published to the Gentiles. As he saith, 'From Sion shall go forth the laws.' [Footnote 627] For Jerusalem was the place of the Passion, which is also set forth by the altar.

[Footnote 625: Canticles ii, 6.]

[Footnote 626: Romans xi, 26.]

[Footnote 627: Micah iv, 2.]

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7. Thereafter he seeketh the benediction: because none must preach unless he be sent. According to that saying, 'How shall they preach, except they be sent?' [Footnote 628] And the Lord saith to His disciples, 'Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He may send forth labourers into His harvest.' [Footnote 629] But Esaias, when he had heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?' [Footnote 630] made answer and said, 'Here am I, send me.' And the Lord said, 'Go and tell this people,' etc.

[Footnote 628: Romans x, 15.]

[Footnote 629: S. Matt, ix, 38.]

[Footnote 630: Isaiah vi, 8, 9.]

8. Again, Moses prefigured this kind of blessing: who, when he had ascended unto the mountain, received the tables of the law and the blessing, and gave the commandment to the people. And the Lord also Himself blessed the order of deacons, and gave it the Holy Spirit and sent it to preach through the whole world. The bishop therefore, or the priest, visibly blesseth the deacon who is about to read the gospel, which he did not do to the sub-deacon when about to read the epistle, because Christ sent the law and the prophets, which be signified by the epistle, while he remained hidden from the world: but after that he had visited it, and conversed with men He sent forth His apostles and evangelists, and taught them, saying, 'Go and teach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' [Footnote 631] 'And they went through the villages, evangelising, and doing cures everywhere.' And he sendeth him to read the gospel, to note that Christ sent the apostles to preach the kingdom of God.

[Footnote 631: S. Matthew x, 7.]

9. But the deacon, laying up in his heart the things which were said in the benediction, must study to show himself pure in heart, clean in words, chaste in deed, that he may be able to set forth the gospel worthily, because the fountain of living waters, that is, the gospel, doth not flow freely, except from Libanus, that is, from a chaste heart, and a pure mouth. {184} For praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner; nay rather of the sinner saith God, 'What hast thou to do to set forth My ordinances, and take My covenant into thy mouth.' [Footnote 632] And therefore he is fortified by the sign of the cross, and then having received license and benediction, as is aforesaid, and having made the sign of the cross, that he may walk in safety, proceedeth to the rood loft in silence, with his eyes fixed on the ground: bearing, according to the custom of some churches, nothing in his hand, as the Lord commanded the apostles whom He sent to preach the kingdom of God. 'Take,' saith He, 'nothing for the journey, and salute no one.' [Footnote 633] But in other churches the deacon beareth a book, as shall be said hereafter. But when he cometh to the rood loft, he saluteth it, as entering into a house to which he offereth peace, and passeth from the right side of the choir to the left, as he had before transferred the book from the right to the left side. For when the Jews had refused the Word of God, it was preached to the Gentiles, who are understood by the left side.

[Footnote 632: Psalm 1 (_Deus Deorum_) 16.]

[Footnote 633: S. Matthew x, 10.]

10. In the Roman Church, and in certain others, the sub-deacon ascendeth the rood loft one way, [Footnote 634] and the deacon another: because the one proceedeth to an increase of knowledge by teaching, the other by learning: and because the minister by the merit of his works, and the preacher by the merit of his words, proceedeth to an increase of righteousness. Whence the Psalmist: 'Thy righteousness standeth like the mountains of God': [Footnote 635] but they both return to the bishop by the same way, because by final perseverance they attain their reward, {185} as the Lord testifieth, saying: 'He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.' [Footnote 636] And that preaching sufficeth not without good deeds. For 'Jesus began both to do and to teach.' [Footnote 637] Therefore the preacher returneth by the same way by the which the minister had gone up. Moreover, he that is about to read the gospel goeth and ascendeth by one way, and returneth by another, according to that saying, 'They returned into their own country another way': [Footnote 638] because the apostles did first preach to the Jews and then to the Gentiles: as it is written, 'Since ye have cast from you the Word of God,' [Footnote 639] and the rest.

[Footnote 634: _Per dextram partem._ We are to imagine, in the whole
of this description, the spectators supposed to face the altar. So
in the fifteenth chapter of this book, the epistle is said to be
read _in dextera parte_.]

[Footnote 635: Psalm xxxvi (_dixit injustus_), 6. ]

[Footnote 636: S. Matthew x, 22.]

[Footnote 637: Acts i, 1]

[Footnote 638: S. Matthew ii, 12.]

[Footnote 639: Acts xiii, 46.]

11. The sub-deacon precedeth the deacon (because John and his preaching preceded Christ and His preaching), carrying in some churches a cushion; which he may place under the book. By the cushion, on which the book resteth, be set forth the temporal things of life, as it is written: 'If we have sown spiritual things, is it a great matter if we reap your temporal things?' [Footnote 640] For according to the Apostle, 'They which serve the altar, eat of the altar.' [Footnote 641] For 'the labourer is worthy of his hire.' [Footnote 642] And the Lord taught us the law, 'Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when it treadeth out the corn.' [Footnote 643] Again, a cushion is placed under the book to denote that which the Lord saith, 'My yoke is easy, and My burden light.' [Footnote 644] Austin saith, 'To this yoke whosoever is subject, hath all things subject to him.'

[Footnote 640: I Corinth, ix, 11.]

[Footnote 641: I Corinth, ix, 13. ]

[Footnote 642: S. Luke x, 7.]

[Footnote 643: Deuteron. xxv, 4.]

[Footnote 644: S. Matthew xi, 30.]

The cushion therefore denoteth the sweetness and pleasure that ariseth from the commands of God. Whence the Prophet, 'Thou, O God, hast of Thy goodness prepared for the poor.' [Footnote 645]

[Footnote 645: Psalm lxviii (_Exurgat Deus_), 10.]

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And again, 'O how sweet are Thy words unto my taste.' [Footnote 646] Yet in the Roman Church, the deacon goeth first, as the teacher: sub-deacon followeth as the learner: the one precedeth, that he may preach, the other followeth, that he may minister. But after the reading of the Gospel, the sub-deacon, as being now sufficiently instructed, returneth first, having in his hand the gospel, as bringing back the gospel as the fruit of his ministrations: according to that which the Lord promised: 'He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward.' [Footnote 647] Whom therefore the deacon sendeth aforehand to the bishop, to show that he is bringing back the fruit of his preaching: concerning which the Lord commanded, 'I have called you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.' [Footnote 648] Moreover, the deacon, bearing back the cushion and gospel, signifieth that the preacher ought, by his good works, to offer his life to God. Whence the Apostle, 'Whatsoever ye do in word and deed, do all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.' [Footnote 649]

[Footnote 646: Psalm cxix (_Beati immaculati_), 103.]

[Footnote 647: S. Matthew x. 41.]

[Footnote 648: S. John xv, 16.]

[Footnote 649: Colos. iii 17.]

12. The deacon also sendeth aforehand the thurible with incense, because the works of Christ preceded His doctrine. As it is written, 'Jesus began to do, and to teach.' But the thurible with incense signifieth prayer with devotion, which the faithful then chiefly ought to employ when they hear the word of God. Again, he doth it, because the preacher must send forth the sweet odour of good works: according to that saying of the Apostle: 'We are a sweet savour of Christ in every place.' [Footnote 650] He whose life is despised needs is it that His preaching also is contemned.

[Footnote 650: 2 Corinth, ii, 15.]

. . . . . .

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The cross precedeth the gospel in token that the preacher must follow the Crucified. Whence the Lord saith to Peter, 'Follow Me.' After this, the deacon ascendeth the _ambo_ [the rood loft].

17. Now _ambo_ meaneth the pulpit, whence the gospel is read, so called from _ambio_ [to surround] because that place is surrounded with steps. In some churches also there be two ascents, one left, namely towards the east, where the deacon ascendeth; one to the right, namely towards the west, where he descendeth.

. . . . .

18. He ascendeth that he may read the gospel with a loud and clear voice: as that which is to be heard of all, according to that saying of the Prophet, 'O thou that evangelisest to Sion, get thee up into the high mountain.' [Footnote 651]

[Footnote 651: Isaiah xi, 9.]

. . . . . .

Also that we may imitate our Lord, Who went up into a mountain, [Footnote 652] that He might preach the gospel. The gospel is also read in a lofty and eminent place, because it hath been preached throughout all the world: as it is written: 'Their sound is gone out unto all lands.' [Footnote 653] But the epistle is read in a lower place, as typifying the law, which was confined to Judea alone, as it is written: 'In Jewry is God known.' [Footnote 654]

[Footnote 652: S. Matthew v, i.]

[Footnote 653: Psalm xix (_Coeli enarrant_), 4.]

[Footnote 654: Psalm lxxv (_Notus in Judea_), I.]

. . . . .

19. But in a Mass of requiem the gospel is not read in that exalted place, but at the altar, to signify that preaching profiteth not the departed.

. . . . .

20. Also the gospel is read from an eagle, according to that saying, 'He came flying upon the wings of the winds.' [Footnote 655] And the eagle itself is covered with a covering of cloth or silk, on certain feasts, to signify the softness of the heart: as he saith, 'I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh.' [Footnote 656]

[Footnote 655: Psalm xviii (_Diligam Te_), 10]

[Footnote 656: Ezekiel xi, 19. ]

. . . . .

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21. But he that readeth the gospel passeth to the left side: and setteth his face to the north, that the saying may be fulfilled, which is written, 'I will say to the north give up, and to the south keep not back' [Footnote 657] (Durandus, Book IV, chap. xxiv).

[Footnote 657: Isaiah xliii, 6.]