THE ORDINATION IN DECEMBER.
Whoever has read the history of the early Popes, will have become
familiar with the fact, recorded almost invariably of each, that he held
certain ordinations in the month of December, wherein he created so many
priests, and deacons, and so many bishops for different places. The
first two orders were conferred to supply clergy for the city; the third
was evidently to furnish pastors for other dioceses. In later times, the
ember-days in December, regulated by the festival of St. Lucy, were
those on which the Supreme Pontiff held his consistories, in which he
named his cardinal priests and deacons, and preconized, as it is called,
the bishops of all parts of the world. And, though this function is not
now coincident with the periods of ordination, still it is continued
essentially for the same purpose.
Marcellinus, under whose pontificate our narrative is placed, is stated
to have held two ordinations in this month, that is, of course, in
different years. It was to one of these that we have alluded, as about
to take place.
Where was this solemn function to be performed was Fulvius’s first
inquiry. And we cannot but think that the answer will be interesting to
the Christian antiquary. Nor can our acquaintance with the ancient Roman
Church be complete, without our knowing the favored spot where Pontiff
after Pontiff preached, and celebrated the divine mysteries, and held
his councils, or those glorious ordinations, which sent forth not only
bishops but martyrs to govern other churches, and gave to a St. Laurence
his diaconate, or to St. Novatus or St. Timotheus his priesthood. There,
too, a Polycarp or Irenæus visited the successor of St. Peter; and
thence received their commission the apostles who converted our King
Lucius to the faith.
The house which the Roman Pontiffs inhabited, and the church in which
they officiated till Constantine installed them in the Lateran palace
and basilica, the residence and cathedral of the illustrious line of
martyr-popes for 300 years, can be no ignoble spot. And that, in tracing
it out, we may not be misguided by national or personal prepossession,
we will follow a learned living antiquarian, who, intent upon another
research, accidentally has put together all the data requisite for our
purpose.[117]
We have described the house of Agnes’s parents as situated in the _Vicus
Patricius_, or the Patrician-street. This had another name, for it was
also called the street of the Cornelii, _Vicus Corneliorum_, because in
it lived the illustrious family of that name. The centurion whom St.
Peter converted[118] belonged to this family; and possibly to him the
apostle owed his introduction at Rome to the head of his house,
Cornelius Pudens. This senator married Claudia, a noble British lady;
and it is singular how the unchaste poet Martial vies with the purest
writers when he sings the wedding-song of these two virtuous spouses.
It was in their house that St. Peter lived; and his fellow-apostle St.
Paul enumerates them among his familiar friends, as well: “Eubulus and
Pudens, and Linus and Claudia,
[Illustration: St. Pudentiana, St. Priscilla, and St. Praxedes.]
and all the brethren salute thee.”[119] From that house, then, went
forth the bishops, whom the Prince of the Apostles sent in every
direction, to propagate, and die for, the faith of Christ. After the
death of Pudens, the house became the property of his children, or
grandchildren,[120] two sons and two daughters. The latter are better
known, because they have found a place in the general calendar of the
Church, and because they have given their names to two of the most
illustrious churches of Rome, those of St. Praxedes and St. Pudentiana.
It is the latter, which Alban Butler calls “the most ancient church in
the world,”[121] that marks at once the Vicus Patricius, and the house
of Pudens.
As in every other city, so in Rome, the eucharistic sacrifice was
offered originally in only one place, by the bishop. And even after more
churches were erected, and the faithful met in them, communion was
brought to them from the one altar by the deacons, and distributed by
the priests. It was Pope Evaristus, the fourth successor of St. Peter,
who multiplied the churches of Rome with circumstances peculiarly
interesting.
This Pope, then, did two things. First, he enacted that from
thenceforward no altars should be erected except of stone, and that they
should be consecrated; and secondly, “he distributed the _titles_;” that
is, he divided Rome into parishes, to the churches of which he gave the
name of “title.” The connection of these two acts will be apparent to
any one looking at Genesis xxviii.; where, after Jacob had enjoyed an
angelic vision, while sleeping with a stone for his pillow, we are told
that, “trembling he said, How terrible is this place! _This is no other
than the house of God_, and the gate of heaven. And Jacob arising in the
morning _took the stone_,..... _and set it up for a title, pouring oil
on the top of it_.”[122]
The church or oratory, where the sacred mysteries were celebrated, was
truly, to the Christian, the house of God; and the stone altar, set up
in it, was consecrated by the pouring of oil upon it, as is done to this
day (for the whole law of Evaristus remains in full force); and thus
became a _title_, or monument.[123]
Two interesting facts are elicited from this narrative. One is, that to
that time there was only one church with an altar in Rome; and no doubt
has ever been raised, that this was the church afterwards, and yet,
known by the name of St. Pudentiana. Another is, that the one altar till
then existing was not of stone. It was, in fact, the wooden altar used
by St. Peter, and kept in that church, till transferred by St. Sylvester
to the Lateran basilica, of which it forms the high altar.[124] We
further conclude, that the law was not retrospective, and that the
wooden altar of the Popes was preserved at that church, where it had
been first erected, though from time to time it might be carried, and
used elsewhere.
The church in the Vicus Patricius, therefore, which existed previous to
the creation of _titles_, was not itself a title. It continued to be the
episcopal, or rather the pontifical church of Rome. The pontificate of
St. Pius I., from 142 to 157, forms an interesting period in its
history, for two reasons.
First, that Pope, without altering the character of the church itself,
added to it an oratory which he made a _title_;[125] and having collated
to it his brother Pastor, it was called the _titulus Pastoris_, the
designation, for a long time, of the cardinalate attached to the church.
This shows that the church itself was more than a title.
Secondly, in this pontificate came to Rome, for the second time, and
suffered martyrdom, the holy and learned apologist St. Justin. By
comparing his writings with his Acts,[126] we come to some interesting
conclusions respecting Christian worship in times of persecution.
“In what place do the Christians meet?” he is asked by the judge.
“Do you think,” he replies, “that we all meet in one place? It is not
so.” But when interrogated where he lived, and where he held meetings
with his disciples, he answered, “I have lived till now near the house
of a certain Martin, at the bath known as the Timotine. I have come to
Rome for the second time, nor do I know any other place but the one I
have mentioned.” The Timotine or Timothean baths were part of the house
of the Pudens family, and are those at which we have said that Fulvius
and Corvinus met early one morning. Novatus and Timotheus were the
brothers of the holy virgins Praxedes and Pudentiana; and hence the
baths were called the Novatian and the Timotine, as they passed from one
brother to another.
St. Justin, therefore, lived on this spot, and, _as he knew no other in
Rome_, attended divine worship there. The very claims of hospitality
would suggest it. Now in his apology, describing the Christian liturgy,
of course such as he saw it, he speaks of the officiating priest in
terms that sufficiently describe the bishop, or supreme pastor of the
place; not only by giving him a title applied to bishops in
antiquity,[127] but by describing him as the person who has the care of
orphans and widows, and succors the sick, the indigent, prisoners,
strangers who come as guests, who, “in one word, undertakes to provide
for all in want.” This could be no other than the bishop or pope
himself.
We must further observe, that St. Pius is recorded to have erected a
fixed baptismal font in this church, another prerogative of the
cathedral, transferred with the papal altar to the Lateran. It is
related that the holy Pope Stephen (A.D. 257) baptized the tribune
Nemesius and his family, with many others, in the _title_ of
Pastor.[128] And here it was that the blessed deacon Laurentius
distributed the rich vessels of the Church to the poor.
In time this name has given way to another. But the place is the same;
and no doubt can exist, that the church of St. Pudentiana was, for the
first three centuries, the humble cathedral of Rome.
It was to this spot, therefore, that Torquatus unwillingly consented to
lead Fulvius, that he might witness the December ordination.
We find either in sepulchral inscriptions, in martyrologies, or in
ecclesiastical history, abundant traces of all the orders, as still
conferred in the Catholic Church. Inscriptions perhaps more commonly
record those of Lector or reader, and of Exorcist. We will give one
interesting example of each. Of a Lector:
CINNAMIVS OPAS LECTOR TITVLI FASCIOLE AMICVS PAVPERVM
QVI VIXIT ANN. XLVI. MENS. VII. D. VIII. DEPOSIT IN PACE
X KAL. MART.[129]
Of an Exorcist:
MACEDONIVS
EXORCISTA DE KATOLICA.[130]
A difference was, however, that one order was not necessarily a passage,
or step, to another; but persons remained, often for life, in one of
these lesser orders. There was not, therefore, that frequent
administration of these, nor probably was it publicly performed with the
higher orders.
Torquatus, having the necessary pass-word, entered, accompanied by
Fulvius, who soon showed himself expert in acting as others did around
him. The assembly was not large. It was held in a hall of the house,
converted into a church or oratory, which was mainly occupied by the
clergy, and the candidates for orders. Among the latter were Marcus and
Marcellianus, the twin brothers, fellow-converts of Torquatus, who
received the deaconship, and their father Tranquillinus, who was
ordained priest. Of these Fulvius impressed well in his mind the
features and figure; and still more did he take note of the clergy, the
most eminent of Rome, there assembled. But on one, more than the rest,
he fixed his piercing eye, studying his every gesture, look, voice, and
lineament.
This was the Pontiff who performed the august rite. Marcellinus had
already governed the Church six years, and was of a venerable old age.
His countenance, benign and mild, scarcely seemed to betoken the
possession of that nerve which martyrdom required, and which he
exhibited in his death for Christ. In those days every outward
characteristic which could have betrayed the chief shepherd to the
wolves was carefully avoided. The ordinary simple garb of respectable
men was worn. But there is no doubt that when officiating at the altar,
a distinctive robe, the forerunner of the ample chasuble, of spotless
white, was cast over the ordinary garment. To this the bishop added a
crown, or _infula_, the origin of the later mitre; while in his hand he
held the crosier, emblem of his pastoral office and authority.
On him who now stood facing the assembly, before the sacred altar of
Peter, which was between him and the
[Illustration: Our Saviour represented as the Good Shepherd, with a
Milk-can at his side, as found in the Catacombs.]
people,[131] the Eastern spy steadied his keenest glance. He scanned him
minutely, measured, with his eye, his height, defined the color of his
hair and complexion, observed every turn of his head, his walk, his
action, his tones, almost his breathing, till he said to himself: “If he
stirs abroad, disguised as he may choose, that man is my prize. And I
know his worth.”