_EARLY CHURCH CUSTOMS, FASTS, AND FESTIVALS._
CHURCH HISTORY DIVIDED INTO AGES AND PERIODS.
Dr. Schaff, in his "History of the Apostolic Church," has divided the
whole history of the Church as follows:--
FIRST AGE.--The Primitive or Universal Church, from its foundation on the
day of Pentecost to Gregory the Great, thus embracing the first six
centuries (A.D. 30-590).
_First Period._--The Apostolic Church, from the first Christian Pentecost
to the death of the Apostles (A.D. 30-100).
_Second Period._--The Persecuted Church, to Constantine (A.D. 100-311).
_Third Period._--The Established Church of the Græco-Roman Empire, and
amidst the Barbarian storms, to Gregory the Great. (A.D. 311-590).
SECOND AGE.--The Church of the Middle Ages, or Romano-Germanic
Catholicism, from Gregory the Great to the Reformation (A.D. 590-1517).
_Fourth Period._--The commencement of the Middle Ages, the planting of the
Church among the Germanic nations, to the time of Hildebrand (A.D.
590-1049).
_Fifth Period._--The flourishing period of the Middle Ages, the summit of
the Papacy, monasticism, and scholastic and mystic theology, to Boniface
VIII. (A.D. 1049-1303).
_Sixth Period._--The dissolution of the Middle Ages and preparation for
the Reformation (A.D. 1303-1517).
THIRD AGE.--The Modern or Evangelical Protestant Church in conflict with
the Roman Catholic Church from the Reformation to the present time.
_Seventh Period._--The Reformation, or productive Protestantism and
reacting Romanism (A.D. 1517-1600).
_Eighth Period._--Orthodox Confessional and Scholastic Protestantism in
conflict with ultramontane Jesuitism, and this again with semi-Protestant
Jansenism (seventeenth century and first part of eighteenth).
_Ninth Period._--Subjective and negative Protestantism, Rationalism, and
Sectarianism, and positive preparation for a new age in both Churches
(middle of eighteenth century to present time).
THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
The Apostolic period, from A.D. 30 to 100, or rather 117, the death of
John, may be subdivided into three: (1) the founding of the Christian
Church among the Jews, chiefly the labours of St. Peter, A.D. 30-50; (2)
the founding of the Christian Church among the Gentiles, or the labours of
St. Paul (A.D. 50-64), who made Christianity more and more independent of
Jerusalem, and the destruction of Jerusalem completed the severance; (3)
the summing-up and organic union of Jewish and Gentile Christianity in one
whole, chiefly the work of John. The three important local centres were
Jerusalem, the mother Church of Jewish Christianity; Antioch, the
starting-point of the heathen missions; Ephesus, the later residence of
John. At the same time, Rome, where Peter and Paul spent their last days,
was the centre of Western Christianity. The Apostolic period differs
essentially from all subsequent periods. In the first place, Christianity
comes forth from the bosom of Judaism, and for a long time clothes itself
in the forms of that religion. The Apostles are all Jews. In their
preaching they all, not excepting Paul, go first to their brethren, preach
in the synagogues, visit the Temple at Jerusalem. The Church gradually
separates from the home of its birth. The second peculiarity is the
unstained purity and primitive freshness of doctrine and life, and its
extraordinary spiritual gifts, working harmoniously together, and
providing, by their creative and controlling power, for all the wants and
relations of the infant Church. Müller called the first century the
century of wonders. At the head of the Church were men who enjoyed
immediate intercourse with the Saviour of the world, were trained by Him
in person, and filled in an extraordinary degree with the Holy Ghost. Such
infallible vehicles of Divine revelation, such sanctified and influential
persons, are found in no subsequent age. The Apostolic period contained
the germs of all subsequent periods, Christian personalities, and
tendencies.
EARLY CHURCH AND THE MILLENNIUM.
In the ancient Church of the first three centuries there was always an
expectation of the millennium, as they counted, according to the
Septuagint Version then current, 6,000 years to end soon after the coming
of Christ. The primitive Church of Antioch considered the creation of the
world took place 6,000 years before Christ. In the fourth century this
period was reduced to 5,500, next to 5,200. The authority of the Vulgate
and of the Hebrew text, as accepted by the moderns, fixed 4,004 as the
period. The joyful Sabbath of 1,000 years was then to begin, and Christ
would reign in the New Jerusalem. The assurance of such millennium was
inculcated by a succession of Fathers, from Justin Martyr and Irenæus
(130), who conversed with the immediate disciples of the Apostles down to
Lactantius, who was the preceptor to the son of Constantine (317). The
joys of the millennium were to be balanced by a concurrent conflagration
and destruction of Rome, as the mystic Babylon. It was affirmed that those
who since the death of Christ had obstinately persisted in the worship of
demons would be delivered over to eternal torture. And the Christians of
that time were said to enjoy a spiritual pride in witnessing the
destruction of their enemies. Tertullian, who died in 240, an energetic
Father and champion of the truth, thus alluded to the matter: "You are
fond of spectacles: expect the greatest of all spectacles, the last and
eternal judgment of the universe. How shall I admire, how laugh, how
rejoice, how exult, when I behold so many proud monarchs and fancied gods
groaning in the lowest abyss of darkness; so many magistrates who
persecuted the name of God liquefying in fiercer fires than they ever
kindled against the Christians; so many sage philosophers blushing in
red-hot flames with their deluded scholars; so many celebrated poets
trembling before the tribunal, not of Minos, but of Christ; so many
tragedians declaiming their own sufferings; so many dancers," etc., etc.
EARLY CHRISTIANS AND THE COMMUNITY OF GOODS.
One of the difficulties of the early Christians was to know how to act as
regards their worldly goods, seeing that they were all brethren. They
acknowledged this brotherhood, and yet were not clear where to draw the
line. They used to salute each other with a holy kiss (Rom. xvi. 16); and
they held love-feasts (or _agapæ_), by way of maintaining their
fellowship; and these were held especially in connection with the Lord's
Supper. But these feasts were found not to work satisfactorily--chiefly,
perhaps, because there was no suitable place of meeting. They were
condemned and discontinued even in the time of the Apostles. In the first
ardour of the Church at Jerusalem, they tried the experiment of community
of goods. The Apostles were careful to point out that the surrender was
entirely voluntary. Instances of hypocrisy and avarice soon disgusted
many, as in the notable case of Ananias (Acts v. 1), and the dissatisfied
Hebrew widows (Acts vi. 1). It is not known how long this experiment
lasted at Jerusalem. It was an experiment which could not succeed
according to the constitution of human nature; for the love of an
exclusive proprietorship is inherent, and it has been found in all
succeeding ages that individuals, as well as nations, flourish most when
each attends to his own business, and is satisfied to make the best of his
own opportunities, and to cease to covet the acquisitions of others. It is
found most salutary when each seeks only to gain riches by his own
exertions, and without undue interference with others. Many dreamers have
often looked forward to a community of goods as the most perfect state;
but a little practical knowledge soon teaches every one that it is a
dream, and nothing more. All the virtues of life are compatible with the
exclusive possession of property; and few virtues are possible when there
is no security for property as a basis.
FAVOURITE EMBLEMS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS.
In the early centuries, before paintings and images were introduced in
places of worship, and which at first were thought to resemble too closely
the Pagan practices, there were some favourite emblems used by the
Christians on their walls and drinking vessels and rings. One was the
figure of the Good Shepherd, representing Christ carrying a lamb on His
shoulders. On rings would be carved a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit;
or an anchor of hope, or a fisherman with a draught of fishes; or a lyre,
signifying joy and praise. These were suggested by the subjects that made
most impression on their daily thoughts.
CHRISTIAN NAMES OF PEOPLE.
One of the early notions of Christians was to select the name of some
apostle or saint as one of the names of their children; and this was
deemed, if not an infallible, at least a wise and prudent incentive to
worthy actions. Hence it became universal to adopt a Christian name, and
to mention it at the time of baptism; and heathen names were, on the other
hand, forbidden. It was long thought right that the bishop, if he found
some pagan name suggested, should forbid it and alter it into some proper
Christian name. Indeed, it was long deemed an accepted custom, if not the
law, that the Christian name once given either by a bishop or priest at
baptism was indelible, and that some offence was or would be committed by
seeking to change it. This, however, in modern times, is known to be a
delusion; and whatever may have been the name or names given to a child by
parents or priests, it is the right of every one, without anybody's leave,
at any time thereafter, to change his name, both Christian and surname if
he thinks fit, into any other; and if he choose to adhere to one name of
his own choice, people will seldom trouble themselves to dispute it or to
deny him this gratification. The only condition is that this change must
not be made for purposes of fraud.
AURICULAR CONFESSION AND PENANCE.
Mr. Roberts, in his "Church Memorials," says that in 459, which was the
last year but one of the eventful pontificate of Leo I., the usage which
had long prevailed in the Churches of the West, that there should be a
public recital of sins which had been privately confessed, and a committal
of the same to writing, was suppressed by the authority of Leo as of
dangerous consequence to morals and good government. It seemed to that
Pope that the practice of bringing these secret things to light before the
congregation was unnecessary and pernicious. He deemed it enough for the
penitent to make his confession first to God, and then to the priest who
was to make intercession for him and procure the needful remission. And
this may be considered as the date of private or auricular confession
under the full sanction of ecclesiastical authority. Nor was public
confession in general understood to be interdicted by this arbitrary Pope,
but only the promulgation in public of such sins as were clandestine and
could transpire only by the revelation of the secret by the sinner
himself. The Roman Church has, however, always maintained the confession
to a priest to be necessary, as a ground for the remission of sins
committed after baptism, and essential as a constituent part of the
penitential ordinance. It seems but of little importance to investigate
the origin of the rite of penance, which lies buried behind the rubbish of
superstition and priestcraft, or to travel through the various periodical
changes in its forms and ceremonies. It is to the praise of the early
Church that none of the Fathers of the apostolical and primitive ages laid
stress on auricular confession as an essential part of Christian duty. The
Council of Lateran in 1215 declared it necessary to salvation. And in
1521 the Council of Trent issued a decree making both penance and
auricular confession alike necessary.
RELIGIOUS RIOTS ABOUT THE TRISAGION.
The sixth century opened a sanguinary internecine feud between sects of
the Church, and the first religious war was said to arise about the
correct words of the Trisagion as used in the Church service in
Constantinople. The blood of thousands was shed in the streets, squares,
and churches; and at last the Emperor had to abdicate to conciliate an
insolent mob, principally composed of infuriated monks. Gibbon thus
describes it: "In the fever of the times the tense, or rather the sound,
of a syllable was sufficient to disturb the peace of an empire. The
Trisagion (thrice holy), 'Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts!' is
supposed by the Greeks to be the identical hymn which the angels and
cherubim eternally repeat before the throne of God, and which about the
middle of the fifth century was miraculously revealed to the Church of
Constantinople. The devotion of Antioch soon added, 'who was crucified for
us'; and this grateful address, either to Christ alone or to the whole
Trinity, may be justified by the rules of theology, and has been gradually
adopted by the Catholics of the East and the West. The Trisagion, with and
without this obnoxious addition, was chanted in the Cathedral by the two
adverse choirs; and when their lungs were exhausted, they had recourse to
the more solid arguments of sticks and stones. The aggressors were
punished by the Emperor, and defended by the Patriarch, and the crown and
the mitre were staked on the event of this momentous quarrel."
THE ANCIENTS' PREACHING APPLAUDED ON THE SPOT.
One remarkable feature of the ancient services of the Church was, that the
people used to applaud and encourage the preacher with clapping of hands
and loud acclamations. St. Jerome, writing to Vigilantius, says, "The time
was when he himself had applauded him with his hands and feet, leaping by
his side and crying out 'Orthodox' for his sermon on the Resurrection."
And George of Alexandria relates that "the people applauded the sermons of
St. Chrysostom, some by tossing their thin garments, others moving their
plumes, others laying their hands upon their swords, and others waving
their handkerchiefs and crying out, 'Thou art worthy of the priesthood!
thou art the thirteenth apostle! Christ hath sent thee to save souls!'"
etc. And Gregory in his dream describes how the people during the sermon
moved their bodies like the waves of the sea raised by the wind. But the
great ambition of the preacher was rather to melt the congregation into
tears. St. Jerome says the preacher should labour to excite the groans of
the people rather than their applauses. St. Austin says he once preached
in Cæsarea, in Mauritania, where a savage custom existed of the citizens
engaging in a bloody fight once a year by throwing stones at each other.
And he directed all his eloquence against this custom, and was glad to
notice the tears shed by many, and he rejoiced at the time of writing that
eight years had since passed and the fight had never been there renewed.
St. Chrysostom, the most effective of all the ancient preachers, said
once, "I have thought of making it a law to forbid such acclamations, and
to persuade you to hear in silence." It was a frequent practice for
notaries to take down the sermons of favourite preachers in shorthand, and
in that way many have been preserved to the present day.
DRESS AND APPEARANCE OF EARLY CLERGY.
At a very early period the leaders of the Church attributed great
importance to the particular dress and appearance of the clergy, and laid
down stringent rules on that subject. The Canons said a decent mean must
be observed--neither too nice nor too slovenly. In particular the extremes
of baldness and long hair were equally objectionable, so that all were
obliged to shave the crown of the head and beard. This distinguished them
from the priests of pagan deities. So they were to observe a medium in
dress, and to wear neither white nor black. But the colours varied in
different times and places. It was noticed that these directions as to
garb arose after the danger of detection during times of persecution had
ceased. One garment, called the caracalla, and since cassock, was adopted
after the time of Constantine. It was a long garment, reaching down to the
heels, such as the Roman people put on when they went to salute the
Emperor.
THE FOPPISH PRIESTS AND DEACONS OF THE FOURTH CENTURY.
So early as the fourth century there were very worldly and self-seeking
officers in the Church. St. Jerome in his "Treatise on Virginity" says:
"There are some of them who aspire to the office of priest or deacon that
they may visit women with the greater liberty. Their chief care is to be
well dressed, neatly shod, and perfumed; they curl their hair with irons,
they have bright rings on their fingers, and they walk on tiptoe, looking
more like bridegrooms than clerks. Some of them make it their only
business to find out the names and residences of ladies of quality, and to
discover their dispositions. I will describe one of them who is a master
in the art. He rises with the sun, the order of his visits is arranged, he
finds out the shortest ways, and the troublesome old man enters almost the
very chambers in which they rest. If he sees a cushion, a napkin, or any
other little article that he likes, he praises it and admires the neatness
of it; he takes it in his hand, then complains that he has not something
of that kind; and, in short, he snatches it away before it is given to
him." St. Jerome also mentions the avarice of these self-seeking priests,
who, under pretence of giving blessings, reach out their hands to receive
money. This plain speaking of St. Jerome made him many enemies, who
attacked in turn his own reputation and the fascination he exercised over
fashionable ladies, so that he had to leave Rome and retreat to Palestine.
THE EARLY BISHOPS.
Great learning has been shown by ecclesiastical historians as to the
precise position of early bishops--one side contending that these high
officials were appointed by Christ, or at least by His Apostles; and the
further inference is then drawn, that therefore this mode of governing the
Church is the best possible and the only right and orderly kind of
government for a true Church. Both points have been denied, and especially
the second, because it is urged that even if there were bishops appointed
by the Apostles, it would prove nothing, except that the Apostles thought
them the best kind of officers for the time being, and yet that they might
not be the best in other and different countries and circumstances. Most
of the Christians of all times till the Reformation too hastily overlooked
the fundamental principle, that each country and age is necessarily the
best judge of the peculiar mode of governing the Church, and should not
surrender its better judgment to the views of earlier and less experienced
ages as to matters not expressly enjoined by Scripture. The defenders of
bishops delight to dwell on some facts, or assumed facts, in favour of
their theory. They say that St. John was one of the authors of the order
of bishops, and that he went about ordaining for various stations, and
especially Polycarp, while St. Peter ordained Clement at Rome and St. Paul
ordained Timothy at Ephesus. The list of the first bishops is, however,
very obscure. It is said that James, the Lord's brother, was the first
Bishop of Jerusalem, and was ordained by the Apostles immediately after
the Crucifixion. And hence it is argued that our Lord must have sanctioned
this act in some way. One consequence of the theory of bishops was, that
the bishop alone had an inherent right to administer the sacraments of
baptism and the Lord's Supper, and also to preach and ordain others; while
a presbyter could only do so with his permission express or implied. And,
above all, the bishop could call presbyters to account and excommunicate
and censure them, thereby implying that the one order of priests was
inferior to the other in jurisdiction.
SOME PRIVILEGES OF EARLY BISHOPS.
In the early centuries it became a custom for people to refer disputes of
all kinds to the bishops as arbitrators, and in that respect their so
acting superseded the action of courts of law. St. Augustine said that
nearly his whole time was taken up with this duty, so that it became a
burden to him. It became also an early practice for bishops to intercede
with the government for prisoners. There was an ancient custom for the
people to bow their head whenever they met a bishop, as if asking for his
blessing; and even emperors rendered this mark of respect. It was also
usual for people to kiss the bishop's hand, for Ambrose said people
thereby thought themselves protected by the bishop's prayers. Sometimes a
still higher honour was rendered to the bishop by singing hosannas to him;
but Jerome admits this was too great an honour to mere mortal man. Bishops
also wore a mitre or crown, and they sat upon what was called a kind of
throne. It is said that St. James, Bishop of Jerusalem, first sat on this
throne. When a bishop was consecrated, he was conducted by the other
bishops to a throne; and the form of prayer at their consecration besought
the Almighty to give the bishop power to remit sins, and loose every bond
according to the power which was given to the Apostles. One of the curious
things connected with the early bishops and presbyters also was, that they
were frequently seized by force and compelled to act if elected by a
congregation. St. Austin himself was thus compelled, and so was Paulinus.
THE PASTORAL STAFF.
The bishops of all countries seem to have agreed in using the pastoral
staff as one of the symbols of their authority. The form used is that of a
shepherd's crook, or a straight cane or staff, with a knob or volute made
of cypress wood or ivory or some metal ornamented. Each bishop used some
peculiarity of workmanship, and it went with the office to his successor.
The head of some was formed like a serpent, or a lion, or a bird.
THE SACRED CHARACTER OF ANCIENT CHURCHES.
The ceremony of consecrating churches was adopted in the three first
centuries, and indeed some say from the time of the Apostles. Nothing very
distinct, however, is found till the fourth century, when Constantine's
protection gave an impetus to church-building. St. Ambrose composed a form
of prayer for such occasions. In the sixth century a practice began to
consecrate also the altar separately. A church was not allowed to be put
to any profane use, though religious assemblies and meetings of clergy
were not forbidden. But no one was to have meat or lodging there. The
sacred vessels of the church were also kept religiously for the single use
of the sacraments. And when Julian the Apostate once sent two officers to
plunder the Church of Antioch and fetch away the vessels and convert them
into money, all believed that Julian was immediately seized with an ulcer
and died miserably. One ancient custom was for the congregation to wash
their hands before entering. In some places also, particularly in Egypt,
the members took off their shoes. It is doubtful whether the custom of
bowing toward the altar on entrance was not general, because it was merely
following the custom of the Jews. One gate of the church was called the
Beautiful or Royal Gate, being that at which kings entered, in which case
they had to lay aside their crowns, for it was deemed indecent that they
should wear such badges in presence of the King of kings. Even though it
was a universal custom to allow debtors and criminals to take refuge for a
time in churches, they were not allowed to lodge there, but were
maintained in a precinct outside. The women sat in a separate part of the
church from the men, and each entered by a separate door. In the fourth
century pictures of saints and martyrs began to be set up in churches, and
this continued, subject to the iconoclast persecution, to become more and
more in keeping with the thoughts and views of the time till the
Reformation finally stopped it in all the Reformed Churches.
THE ANCIENT OFFICE OF DEACONESS.
It is said that the office of deaconess existed in the Apostolic age, for
St. Paul called Phoebe a servant or deaconess of the Church (Rom. xvi.
1). The deaconess was always a widow, who had had children, who had been
only once married, and who was at least forty, fifty, or sixty years old.
Immense importance was attached to her having been only once married.
Learned men differ as to whether she was ordained by the imposition of
hands, or, if so, whether this meant anything more than a benediction. But
all seemed to admit that she could not administer the sacraments, though
some heretics allowed women this power also. The main duties of the
deaconess were to assist at the baptism of women; to be private catechists
to the women preparing for baptism; to visit women who were sick and in
distress; to minister to the martyrs and confessors in prison; to attend
the women's gate and regulate the behaviour of women in the church, for
the women went into church at a different gate from the men. The order of
deaconess flourished till the twelfth century in the Greek Church, and the
tenth or eleventh century in the Latin Church, and then the practice fell
into abeyance, probably owing to the new views about the celibacy of the
clergy.
THE FORM OF LITURGY IN ANCIENT TIMES.
The clergy have been said to be at first all bishops, until the growth of
population and numbers made it expedient to subdivide a city or country
into parishes of such size that one priest might conveniently attend to
it. Each bishop at first appointed his own form of service. And the
learned have disputed whether in the earliest ages the service included or
consisted of what corresponds to a modern liturgy or stereotyped form of
prayer and praise. There are authorities for both views. The Lord's Prayer
was generally one of the forms, and there were always hymns and psalms,
and these would naturally be in set forms. Also, there were certain set
prayers for special occasions. Peter Diaconus in 520 says that St. Basil,
seeing that men's sloth and degeneracy made them weary of a long liturgy,
prepared a shorter form for them. And Julian the Apostate was said to
admire the Church forms of worship; for when he intended the heathen
priests to imitate the Christians, he specified particularly those prayers
which were so composed that the people might make their responses. St.
Ephraim of Syria and St. Ambrose were great composers of hymns. The grand
hymn of _Te Deum_ was composed by St. Ambrose and St. Austin jointly. St.
Austin says there were five parts in the liturgy or service of the
Church--namely, psalmody, reading of the Scriptures, preaching, prayers of
the bishop, and the bidding prayers of the deacon. The last were
directions to the people what particulars they were to pray for, the
deacon going before them and repeating every petition, to which the people
made answer: "Lord, hear us," "Lord, help us," or "Lord, have mercy," and
the like. It seems to have been a practice for the people to turn their
faces to the east in the solemn adorations, the east being the symbol of
Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, and also of the locality of Paradise.
The Psalms were usually sung by the people standing. The sermons and
homilies, which were an hour or even two hours long, were sometimes
written and sometimes extempore. The preacher usually sat and the people
stood; but there was no fixed rule, for the preacher seems also to have
stood and the people to have sat. Many people in those times also thought
the sermon too long, and went out before it ended.
THE RISE OF RITUALISM.
In the ninth century some attention began to be paid to the meaning of
rites and ceremonies. One Amalarius, a deacon of Metz, in 820 composed a
treatise on the Divine office, and on the order of the antiphonary, in
which he attempted to make all the stages of the liturgy represent some
doctrine. All the incidents of Divine service, every attitude and gesture,
the dresses of the clergy, the ornaments of the church, the sacred seasons
and festivals, were expounded as full of symbolical meaning. Agobard,
Archbishop of Lyons, on the other hand, being something of an iconoclast,
and severe against the superstitions of relic hunters, advocated the
exclusion of much irrelevant matter, as profane and heretical, from the
service-book and hymn-book. He said that far too much attention had been
given to music, and far too little to the study of Scripture. Agobard
opposed the writings of Amalarius as full of idle comments and errors in
doctrine. Not content with this exposure, Florus, master of the cathedral
school of Lyons, wrote strongly against Amalarius, and cited him before
two councils, the latter of which examined the mystical theories of
Amalarius, and condemned them as being founded on nothing but the writer's
fancy, and dangerous. The theories of Amalarius, however, kept possession
of many writers of the Middle Ages, and even in the nineteenth century had
their admirers and advocates.
THE MASS, OR HOLY COMMUNION.
The great distinguishing ceremony of Christians is the celebration of the
Mass or Communion, or Administration of the sacrament in commemoration of
our Lord's Supper. The word Mass was used as early as about the second
century, and is derived from the Hebrew _missach_, signifying a freewill
offering, or _mincha_, an oblation of meal. The name of Mass was used to
include all the offices and festivals of which the Holy Communion was a
leading feature. After the Reformation the word Mass was discontinued in
England, and superseded by the words Holy Communion. The days and times of
celebrating the Communion have differed from age to age. High Mass was
sung with music and solemn ceremony and the assistance of numerous
ministers, but the Communion was seldom given at High Mass. Low Mass was
said by a priest attended by a single clerk. The Eucharistic bread, or
Host (from _hostia_, the sacrifice), was required by a council of Toledo
in 925 to be made in form of a wafer, so as to be easily broken, and was
expressly baked for the altar. Unleavened bread came to be almost
universally used. In England, after the Reformation, ordinary bread is
ordered to be used, and not wafers or stamped bread. The Elevation of the
Host, or lifting up of the paten (a small flat plate so called) and
consecrated bread above the head of the celebrant, was instituted by Pope
Honorius III. in 1210, and he directed that it was to be adored when
elevated. This practice has been prohibited in England since the
Reformation. The pyx is the box in which the Host is kept or conveyed,
often made of silver or ivory. The wine for the Communion used by the
Greeks was mixed with water, and was red wine. The Roman Church now uses
white wine. The English Church forbids water to be mixed with the wine.
When the custom of carrying about and exposing the Host began, about the
fourteenth century, the name of the vessel in which it was shown was
called a monstrance, resembling a chalice. The _Agnus Dei_ is a little
round cake of perfumed wax, stamped with the figure of the Holy Lamb
bearing the standard of the Cross. The cakes were burned as perfumes,
symbolical of good thoughts, or in memory of the deliverance of men from
the power of the grave at Easter by the Lamb of God. The French shepherds,
during the time of the Crusades, were observed to use these perfumes. And
people burned them in their houses as a safeguard against evil spirits.
The _Agnus Dei_ was also the name given to a hymn sung in the canon of the
Mass.
ANCIENT CHURCH SERVICE IN THE MOTHER TONGUE.
The learned Bingham, in his "Antiquities of the Christian Church," says
that there is abundant testimony that in the earliest services of the
Church it was a rule that the liturgies and forms of prayers should be in
the mother tongue of the people, and not, as had been a modern practice,
invariably in the Latin tongue. St. Jerome says that at the funeral of
Lady Paula the Psalms were sung in Syriac, Greek, and Latin, because there
were men of each language present at the solemnity. He also says it was
the practice for the young virgins to sing the Psalter morning and
evening, and to learn the Psalms and some portion of the Scripture every
day; and St. Basil says that all the people sung the Psalms alternately,
and the children joined. And the Church took care to have the Bible
translated into all languages--Syrian, Egyptian, Indian, Persian,
Ethiopian, Armenian, Roman, Scythian, and Gothic. Another custom pointing
to the same conclusion was, that Bibles were laid in the churches for the
people to read in private at their leisure. So that none of the ancient
Fathers ever dreamt that a time would come when the Scriptures should be
only in the hands of the bishops and clergy. St. Chrysostom, in one of his
sermons upon Lazarus, says expressly, "The reading of the Scriptures is
our great guard against sin. Our ignorance of them is a dangerous
precipice and a deep gulf." A Church Council of Chalons in 813 expressly
ordered that the bishops should set up schools to teach the knowledge of
the Scriptures. There was an order of officers, called Readers, expressly
to assist the people in this matter. And Eusebius relates that a blind man
called John, one of the martyrs of Palestine, had so good a memory that he
could repeat any part of the Bible as readily as the reader could do.
Therefore it was an entire departure from ancient practice when the Church
in mediæval and later times discountenanced the reading of the Scriptures
by the people at large.
USE OF ORGANS AND BELLS IN CHURCHES.
Though music in Divine service had always a place, yet the use of
instrumental music seems not to have become general till the time of
Thomas Aquinas, about 1250. And it is related that one Marinus Sanutus,
who lived about 1290, was the first to introduce wind organs into
churches, whence he was called Torcellus, which is the name for an organ
in the Italian tongue. This instrument had long been known as a curiosity
before that time, and one was sent by the Greek Emperor about 766 to King
Pepin. The use of bells as a mode of summoning worshippers to Divine
service was soon thought of as a substitute for employing deacons or
deaconesses to give private notice to each attendant. In Egypt the early
Christians imitated the Jews by blowing a trumpet. In the early monastery
set up by Paula at Jerusalem, one of the virgins was set apart to go round
singing hallelujah. In the time of Bede, in the seventh century, bells
began to be used as a mode of summoning to worship. And in 968 Pope John
XIII. consecrated the great bell of the Lateran Church in Rome, calling it
John.
SEPARATION OF SEXES IN CHURCHES.
The custom of separating the sexes in church had a very remote origin.
John Gregorie, in his works (published in 1646), says: "There is a
tradition that in the ark, so soon as ever the day began to break, Noah
stood up towards the body of Adam and before the Lord, he and his sons,
Shem, Ham, and Japhet. And Noah prayed and his sons; and the women
answered from another part of the ark, 'Amen, Lord.' Whence you may note
too (if the tradition be sound enough) the antiquity of that fit custom
(obtaining still, especially in the Eastern parts) of the separation of
the sexes, or the setting of women apart from the men in the houses of
God. Which sure was matter of no slight concernment if it could not be
neglected, no, not in the ark, in so great a straightness and distress of
congregation."
THE ANCIENT CHURCH PRAYING FOR THE DEAD.
Bingham, in his "Christian Antiquities," says that the Ancient Church used
prayers for all the saints, martyrs, confessors, patriarchs, apostles, and
even the Virgin Mary herself. But the practice was not founded in a belief
in purgatory, but upon a supposition that they were going to a place of
rest and happiness, the soul being supposed to be in an imperfect state of
happiness till the Resurrection. Moreover, many of the ancients held the
opinion of the millennium, or the reign of Christ a thousand years upon
earth before the final day of judgment. There was also a kindred practice
by which the holy books or diptychs used to be rehearsed during the
service. These recited the names of famous bishops, emperors, and
magistrates connected with the district; also the names of those who had
lived righteously, and had attained to the perfections of a virtuous life.
And this was done partly to excite and conduct the living to the same
happy state by following their example, and partly to celebrate the memory
of them as still living according to the principles of religion, and not
properly dead, but only translated by death to a more Divine life.
OLD CUSTOM OF SIN-EATERS AT FUNERALS.
In Kennet's "Parochial Antiquities" it is stated by an old person living
about 1640 that "in the county of Hereford there was an old custom at
funerals to hire poor people, who were to take upon them all the sins of
the deceased party, and were called sin-eaters. One of them lived in a
cottage near Ross, in Herefordshire. The manner was this: When the corpse
was brought out of the house and laid on the bier, a loaf of bread was
delivered to the sin-eater over the corpse, as also a mazar bowl (gossips'
bowl) full of beer, which he was to drink up, and sixpence in money. In
consideration whereof he took upon him at once all the sins of the
defunct, and freed him or her from walking after they were dead. In North
Wales the sin-eaters were frequently made use of; but there, instead of a
bowl of beer, they have a bowl of milk. This custom was by some people
observed even in the strictest time of the Presbyterian government."
PRAISING THE LORD DAY AND NIGHT.
About 400 or soon after, a monk, Alexander, projected a new order of
monks, who were to be detailed into companies for the performing of Divine
offices day and night without intermission. This order acquired the name
of watches, dividing the twenty-four hours into three watches, each
relieving the other, and thus keeping a perpetual course of Divine
service. This order attained great esteem and veneration, and many
monasteries were built for their use at Constantinople. Among others one
Studius, a nobleman of Rome of consular dignity, renounced the world and
joined the order, erecting a famous monastery for their use, which was
called after him Studium. In course of time, however, these monks were
believed to be led away by the Nestorian heresy, and lost credit. We are
also told that Sigismund, Burgundian king, after renouncing Arianism about
524, restored the ruined monastery of Agaune at the entrance of the
principal passage of the Alps, the gorge of the Valais on the Rhone. It
was built in honour of St. Maurice and the Theban Legion, whose relics
were collected and there deposited. A hundred monks were obtained from
Condat to give a beginning, and eight hundred more were brought together
and bound under conditions, the chief of which was, that a service of
praise was to be kept up without a break, day and night. For the purpose
the nine hundred monks were divided into nine choirs, who sang alternately
and without intermission the praises of God and the martyrs. The king, to
expiate an offence in his own family, himself become a monk for a time.
This notion of keeping up the praise of God every day and night during the
whole year was also carried out in the seventeenth century by an English
gentleman, Nicholas Ferrar, who with his family made up a small colony,
all having semi-monastic tendencies, and lived at the retired parish of
Little Gidding, eighteen miles from Cambridge. He was the son of a wealthy
London merchant, was born about 1586, and educated at Cambridge, and for
some time was a Member of Parliament, and had also travelled. He, with his
mother, sister, nephews, nieces, and servants, numbering thirty, at last
took vows of celibacy, settled at this rustic abode, decorated their
little chapel with great care, and devoted their time to works of charity;
but one peculiarity was always in view--namely, that all day and night
they relieved each other in turns, and kept up constant services of prayer
and praise. Isaac Walton says that in this continued serving of God the
Psalter or whole Book of Psalms was in every twenty-four hours sung or
read over from the first to the last verse, and this was done as
constantly as the sun runs his circle every day about the world, and then
begins again the same instant that it ended. The ritual was that of the
Church of England. And there were candles of white and green wax, and
suitable decorations. At every meeting every person present bowed
reverently towards the Communion table. The community was called "The
Protestant Nunnery" by the peasants living near. In that age the Puritans
were developing their power, and there were also reactions, so that both
parties had their zealous champions in turns.
CHRISTMAS DAY AND EASTER DAY.
One of the most universally cherished customs of Christians was to keep in
remembrance the day of Christ's nativity, and celebrate and hold it in
honour by some special service of praise and thanksgiving of a religious
character. A kind of feast was celebrated on that day, and in the fourth
century it was very generally observed. But the correct date was long
matter of doubt in the early centuries. Some reckoned it on January 6th;
some in April and May. The Western Christians soon accepted December 25th
as the proper anniversary, while the Oriental Churches preferred January
6th. But by the time of the sixth century all Christians concurred in
observing December 25th. Almost every country has some peculiar custom of
a religious or festive character connected with Christmas Day. Another
commemoration day of universal observance was Easter Day, the anniversary
of the Resurrection, the preceding Friday being called Good Friday. And in
the early centuries there were also controversies as to the correct mode
of fixing the date. It was a day on which good Christians observed the
solemn Communion, as well as baptisms and acts of hospitality and
almsgiving. Choral processions and singing of hymns and anthems were
thought fit exercises for this memorable anniversary. The Sunday before
Easter Sunday, called Palm Sunday, in commemoration of the strewing of
palms on Christ's entry into Jerusalem, is also attended with particular
observances. In Italy it is called Olive Sunday; in Spain, Portugal, and
France it is called Branch Sunday; in Russia, Sallow Sunday; in Wales,
Flower Sunday; in Hertfordshire, Fig Sunday, in allusion to the cursing of
the fig tree.
FESTIVAL OF ALL SAINTS.
The festival of All Saints was instituted in Rome in the eighth century.
At the end of the tenth century a new celebration was annexed to it. It
was related that a French pilgrim, on returning from Jerusalem, had been
cast on a little island in the Mediterranean, where he met a hermit, who
told him that the souls of sinners were tormented in the volcanic fires of
the island, and that he could often hear the devils howling with rage
because their prey was rescued from time to time by the prayers and alms
of pious men, and especially of the monks of Cluny. The hermit solemnly
adjured the pilgrim to report this when he returned home, and accordingly
the pilgrim mentioned it to the Abbot Odilo of Cluny, who in 998 appointed
the morrow of All Saints to be solemnly observed there for the repose of
all faithful souls, with psalmody, masses, and copious alms to all the
poor people present. The celebration was soon extended to the whole
Cluniac order; and eventually some Pope, whose name is not known, ordered
its observance throughout Christendom.
HOLIDAYS AND FEASTS IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
There were several holidays or celebrations of events very popular with
young people and the lower clergy during the Middle Ages, and which had
some connection with religious matters. These were the Feasts of the Ass,
of the Deacons, of the Kings, of the Buffoons, and of the Innocents, all
involving some horseplay and rude merriment, such as the Carnival still
exhibits. About the twelfth century the Feast of the Kalends was
conducted by actors having hideous beards over their faces. In the Feast
of Buffoons of the same period the duties and rank of the clergy were
caricatured and turned into fun and ribaldry. In the Feast of the Ass that
animal was dressed like a priest, and all the people brayed as the
incidents at the stable of Bethany and of Balaam's conversation were
rehearsed. In the Feast of Buffoons there were mock cardinals and a mock
Pope. In the procession of the Mère Folle there were a mock tribunal, mock
judgments, and mock sentences. As a counterpart to these boisterous
revels, there were famous legends or superstitions represented, such as
the story of the "Wandering Jew," so called from a rebuke given to an
insulting assault made on the Saviour at the Crucifixion, which was
followed by a supposed sentence on the offender that he should await
Christ's second coming; the superstition about Prester John, a sort of
pontiff king, half Jew, half Christian, who was said to have governed a
vast Indian empire, but no particulars of which were ever ascertained, and
yet he was said to have invited the Pope to go and live in his dominions.
FEAST OF THE ASS.
The Feast of the Ass, already alluded to, was a feast celebrated in
several churches in France in commemoration of the Virgin Mary's flight
into Egypt. And the gross absurdities then practised under the pretence of
devotion would surpass belief were there not such incontrovertible
evidence of the facts. A young female, richly dressed, with an infant in
her arms, was placed upon an ass, when High Mass was performed with solemn
pomp. The ass was taught to kneel; and a hymn replete with folly and
blasphemy was sung in his praise by the whole congregation. And as the
climax to this monstrous scene of absurdity and profaneness, the priest
used at the conclusion of the ceremony, and as a substitute for the words
with which he on other occasions dismissed the people, to _bray three
times_ like an ass, which was answered by three similar brays by the
people, instead of the usual response, "We bless the Lord," etc.
FESTIVAL OF THE BOY BISHOP.
The childish solemnities of the boy bishop on the Festival of St.
Nicholas, though prohibited so early as 1274 by the Synod and Bishop of
Salzburg, were always much appreciated by the public. On the eve of the
Holy Innocents the child bishop and his youthful clergy, in little copes
and with burning tapers in their hands, went in procession chanting
versicles, made some prayers before the altar, and sang complin. By the
Statute of Sarum no one was to interrupt or press upon the children during
their procession or service in the cathedral upon pain of anathema. This
ceremony existed not only in collegiate churches, but in almost every
parish. It is supposed that the anniversary montem at Eton, which used to
be celebrated in winter, was only a corruption of this ceremony, and was
as such suppressed by an order of Henry VIII.
MIRACLE PLAYS.
The miracle play was a theatrical representation of scenes in the
Scriptures, and it seemed to be popular in mediæval times, and the monks
took part in it as active promoters. But there were some of these in every
century after the third. In times when reading was impossible, and the
fancy of the public was kept alive chiefly by the pictures and images in
churches, it was natural that this cognate representation by means of
actors on a stage should occur to those who catered for something like a
recreation. Chaucer and Piers Plowman allude to this as a frequent
indulgence. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries religious plays were
acted in England, France, and Spain. Bishops and canons and monks all
supported them, and they were acted in churches and on Sundays, as was
said to be the case in St. Paul's until the time of Charles I. At length
it was found that they degenerated into buffoonery and indecency. Some
have said that the practice arose out of the lively spirits of the troops
of pilgrims returning from the shrines of Compostella or St. Michael or
Canterbury, and chanting or reciting sacred songs and hymns. The plays
went out in England soon after the Reformation, and they became thereafter
mere secular amusements.
THE PASSION PLAYS OF THE AMMERGHAU.
Dean Milman says he was present at one of the performances of the last of
the ancient mysteries which still linger in Europe, the _Passion Spiel_ by
the peasants of the Ammerghau. He never saw even in leading theatres finer
scenic effects, more rich and harmonious decorations, and dresses more
brilliant with blended colours. All was serious, solemn, and devout;
actors and audience were equally in earnest. The Saviour was represented
with a quiet gentle dignity, admirably contrasting with the wild life and
tumult, the stern haughty demeanour of the Pharisees and rulers in their
secret plottings and solemn council, and the frantic agitation of the
Jewish people. There were one or two comic touches and rude jests, as in
the greedy grasping of Judas after the pieces of silver, and the eager
quarrelling of the Roman soldiers throwing dice for the seamless coat. The
theatre was not roofed, but was erected at the bottom of a green valley
flanked by picturesque mountains. The effect of all this on the peasants
was said to be excellent. No one was permitted to appear even in the
chorus unless of unimpeachable character.
THE FESTIVAL OF THE ROSE AT SALENCY.
St. Medard or Mard, who died in 545, was in his youth impulsively
generous. One night a thief entered his garden and stole his grapes; but,
losing his way in the dark, was caught and brought before Medard. All that
the saint said was, "Let him go; I have given him the grapes." It was St.
Mard who founded the Festival of the Rose at Salency. He charged his
family estate with a fund sufficient to yield a sum of money, to be given
annually with a crown of roses to the best-behaved girl in the village.
Not only must the girl have the highest character, but her parents also.
As lord of the manor, he had the privilege of selecting one of three
girls, who were presented to him as candidates. When he had named the
successful one, he announced it next Sunday from the pulpit, and asked all
who had any objections to bring them forward. Then at the day and hour
appointed, the Rosière, dressed in white, and attended by twelve girls in
white with blue sashes, and twelve boys, went to the castle in a
procession, and thence to the church. Vespers were sung, and afterwards
the priest took the crown or hat of roses from the altar, blessed it, and
gave her the hat and a purse containing twenty-five francs. The procession
returned to the church, where a _Te Deum_ was chanted with an anthem. This
custom was said to be a standing encouragement for centuries of the good
behaviour of all the girls in the parish.
THE ROSARY.
The Rosary is a festival instituted to commemorate the victory of the
Christians over the Turks at Lepanto in 1571. It was a practice of the
ancient anchorites to count the number of their prayers by little stones
or grains. In the twelfth century one lady was said to recite every day
sixty angelical salutations. Peter the Hermit taught the laity who would
not read the Psalter to say a certain number of "Our Fathers" and "Hail
Martyrs." St. Dominic was eminent for encouraging the custom of reciting
fifteen decades of the angelical salutations, with one "Our Father" before
each decade, in honour of the principal mysteries of the Incarnation. This
repetition of a hundred and fifty angelical salutations was instituted by
him in imitation of the hundred and fifty Psalms, on which account the
Rosary has been often called the Psalter of the Blessed Virgin.
THE MILLENNIUM EXPECTED IN 1000.
As the year 1000 approached, among the many senseless notions then
prevalent, and industriously cherished by the priests for the sake of
lucre, was the persuasion that the last day was at hand. This doctrine had
been broached in the preceding century, grounded upon the Revelation of
St. John, and now was generally taught and received in Europe, and
produced an excessive terror in the minds of the people. For the apostle
had clearly foretold, as was taken for granted, that, after the tenth
decade from the birth of Christ, Satan would be let loose, Antichrist
would come, and the destruction of the earth would ensue. Hence great
numbers, leaving their possessions and giving them to churches or
monasteries, repaired to Palestine, where they thought that Christ would
descend from heaven to judge the world. Others solemnly devoted themselves
and all their goods to churches, monasteries, and the clergy, and entered
their service as bond-slaves, performing a daily task. Their hope was
that, if found in such a condition of life, their fate would be more
favourably judged. Hence, when an eclipse of the sun or moon happened,
they fled to rocks and caverns to hide themselves. Crowds flocked to be
near where the Saviour was expected to appear for judgment. Others
consecrated their effects at once to God and the saints--that is, to
priests and friars. Hence many also suffered their houses to go to ruin,
thinking these would soon be of no use. This delusion was not got rid of
till the end of the eleventh century.
THE CHURCH-BUILDING AGE.
As the millennium had been expected by all Christendom to occur in the
year 1000, most pious people at that date suspended all undertakings of a
lasting character. When the time arrived and the event did not take place,
a passion arose to build churches. Old churches were taken down, and new
churches built on a larger scale and with splendid embellishments.
Charlemagne's cathedral at Aix, which had been copied from the Byzantine
type, was imitated in many churches built along the Rhine. St. Mark's at
Venice was built about that time. The art of staining glass was supposed
to be invented or greatly extended at this period, and the cathedral of
Rheims was described as having windows adorned with divers histories.
THE ROUND TOWERS OF SCOTLAND AND IRELAND.
The learned men of many generations have been much exercised as to the
origin, object, and use of the round towers, of which there are two in
Scotland and seventy-six in Ireland, and, like the campaniles of Italy,
are altogether detached from any neighbouring structure. In Scotland one
is at Brechin, and the other at Abernethy. The height is eighty-six and
seventy-two feet; the building tapers gradually, and the interior is
divided into seven sections. The entrance in one case is on the west side;
the other on the north side, in the form of a semicircular arch,
surmounted by a figure of the Crucifixion, a small statue on each side,
one carrying a pastoral staff, the other a cross-headed staff, and also a
book. The walls are three and a half feet thick, and the diameter of one
is about thirteen feet and the other eight feet in the interior. These
structures are both in ancient churchyards. The learned have concluded
that the Scotch towers were erected by Irish monks between the ninth and
twelfth centuries. Those being warlike ages, it is conjectured that they
were meant as a defence against the savage irruptions of the Danes--not
only as a refuge for ecclesiastics, but also as a secure hiding-place for
relics, shrines, books, bells, crosiers, and other treasures of the
Church.
PETER DAMIANI ADVOCATES WORSHIP OF THE VIRGIN.
Peter Damiani was born at Ravenna in 1002, and soon became a famous
teacher. He developed a strong turn for asceticism, wore sackcloth, fasted
and prayed, and used to tame his passions by rising from bed and standing
for hours in a stream till his limbs were cold and stiff, and then he
would hasten to visit churches and recite the Psalter. Once, on offering a
silver cup to some monks as a present to their abbot, and which they
refused because it was too heavy to carry, he was so pleased with their
unworldly views that he soon became monk, and no one could equal him in
his austerities. He was early enlisted by Hildebrand to propagate the
doctrine of the supremacy of the Pope over all emperors and kings; and
though his style of preaching was only a rhapsody of scriptural phrases
and allegories, he always carried out the High Church doctrines of his
employer. He distinguished himself by his deification of the Virgin and
his devotion to flagellation. His glorification of the Virgin consisted in
making her the centre of all power in heaven and in earth. His enthusiasm
on this subject led to offices of prayer being framed for her, which
afterwards became developed into a series of prayers known as the Rosary.
But Damiani's masterpiece was the discovery and education of Dominic, a
priest, and the greatest master of the art of self-flagellation. Dominic
wore a light iron cuirass, which he never put off except to chastise
himself. His body and arms were confined by iron rings, his neck loaded
with heavy chains, his clothes were scanty rags. His usual exercise was to
recite the Psalter twice a day, while he flogged himself with both hands
at the rate of a thousand lashes to ten psalms. These self-flagellations
were said to serve as a satisfaction for the sins of other men. This
system of Dominic was extolled by Damiani as something divine. Damiani was
also a determined enemy to the marriage of the clergy, which he denounced
as a very Gomorrah. By Hildebrand's influence he was made a cardinal, and
died in 1072.
THE TRUCE OF GOD.
At the end of the tenth century Guido, Bishop of Puy, in Velai, was said
to be the first to establish the _Treuga Dei_, which was the origin of the
great expedient for securing peace, emanating a century later from the
monks of Cluny. The Council of Clermont (1095) decreed that the Truce of
God should be observed during the leading Church festivals, and every week
from sunset on Wednesday till sunrise on Monday. At the Council of
Soissons in 1155 King Louis VII. and many princes assembled, and swore to
observe the Truce of God inviolably. And in 1209 the Pope's legate
prescribed its observance to the barons of France. Others say that the
Truce of God was brought into prominence by Rudolph the Bald in 1033, as
in that year there had been, after three years' famine, a most abundant
harvest, and the clergy suggested that men's minds would then be well
disposed to any sacrifice, more especially as the recent events connected
with the expected millennium in 1000 were still in vivid remembrance. The
Council of Limoges resolved that those who refused to adopt a similar
practice, called the Peace of God, should be excommunicated, and their
country laid under an interdict. Yet there was a vigorous opponent, named
Gerard of Cambray, who protested that war was an affair of state in which
the clergy had no business to interfere; moreover, that the exercise of
arms was sanctioned by Scripture. But the vast majority of the people
welcomed the new practice, and the time chosen, between the evening of
Wednesday and the dawn of Monday, was noted to include the interval
between the Saviour's betrayal and the Resurrection. The time was soon,
however, abridged. Odilo of Cluny had been a prominent advocate of this
restriction on the military barbarism of his time; and William the
Conqueror, before the Conquest, had also joined in its observance.
THE NUMBER SEVEN IN SCRIPTURE.
Students of Scripture have noticed how frequently the number seven is
chosen as the standard for a vast variety of computations. The seventh day
after the Creation God rested. The children of Israel on the seventh day
of the seventh month feasted seven days and remained seven days in tents.
The seventh year was the Sabbath of rest for all things: for the land
lying fallow; for release of debts. Seven was fixed for Jacob's years of
serving for Rachel; for years of plenty and then for famine in Egypt; for
fat beasts and lean beasts; for ears of full corn and blasted corn; for
bullocks and rams sacrificed; for King Ahasuerus' feast days; for Queen
Esther's maids of honour; for days of unleavened bread; for days of feast
of tabernacles; for Joseph mourning; for Churches of Asia; for golden
candlesticks; for stars, lamps, seals, angels, devils, phials of wrath. It
is noticed that our Saviour spoke seven times from the cross, remained
seven hours, appeared seven times. Then there were seven heavens, planets,
stars; seven notes in music, primary colours, deadly sins, senses. A child
was not named before seven days; the teeth sprang in the seventh month,
renewed in the seventh year; faculties develop in thrice seven years, and
life extends to ten times seven.
THE POPE MAKING A JUBILEE YEAR.
In 1300 Pope Boniface VIII., whose chief objects were ambition, avarice,
and revenge, celebrated with religious ceremonies the year of Jubilee. A
rumour had been raised in 1299 among the people of Rome that whosoever in
the ensuing year should visit the temple of St. Peter might obtain
remission of all his sins, and that this blessing and felicity was annexed
to every secular year. Boniface ordered inquiry to be made into the truth
of this common opinion, and found, from the testimony of many witnesses
of undoubted credit, that it was decreed from the most ancient times that
they who repaired to St. Peter's Church with a devout disposition on the
first day of the secular year should obtain indulgences of a hundred
years. The Pope, therefore, by a circular epistle addressed to all
Christian people, declared that those who at this time would piously visit
the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome, confessing their offences,
and declaring their sorrow for them, should receive an absolute and
plenary remission. The successors of Boniface not only adorned this
institution with many new rites, but, learning by experience how honoured
and how lucrative it was to the Church of Rome, brought it within a
narrower compass of time, so that soon every twenty-fifth year was a year
of Jubilee. From every part of Latin Christendom crowds of the faithful
began to pour towards Rome. John Villani, the chronicler, who was present,
estimates that there were 200,000 strangers in the city. Another
chronicler describes the multitudes as resembling an army constantly
marching both ways along the street. And even the poet Dante, who was then
a visitor, being away from the republic of Florence, watched the people in
their multitudes passing to and from St. Peter's, along the bridge of St.
Angelo, which, to prevent confusion, had a partition erected to facilitate
the passengers. Some authors say that the magnificence of the scene gave
the poet, and also a contemporary chronicler, the idea of composing their
respective works. The coffers of the Pope were filled to overflowing, and
one chronicler says he saw at St. Paul's two of the official clergy raking
together infinite heaps of money. Boniface was so intoxicated with his
success that next day he showed himself in the attire of an emperor, with
a sword in his hand, explaining that he was Cæsar and emperor, as well as
successor of St. Peter. Boniface, in his soaring ambition to subject to
his jurisdiction all temporal powers, met in Philip the Fair of France an
antagonist as keen and unscrupulous as himself, and their quarrels have
amused posterity. He died of insanity and rage in 1303.
VILLANI'S ACCOUNT OF THE JUBILEE IN 1300.
John Villani, the chronicler of Florence, who died of the plague in 1348,
thus relates his visit to Rome at the Jubilee of 1300: "For the
consolation of the Christian pilgrims every Friday and solemn festival,
there was shown in St. Peter's the _sudarium_ of Christ; on which account
a great portion of the Christians then living made this pilgrimage, women
as well as men, from different and distant countries, from afar off as
from near places. And it was the most astonishing thing that ever was
seen, how continually throughout the whole year they had in Rome, beside
the Roman people, 200,000 pilgrims, besides those who were on the road
going and coming; and all were furnished and satisfied with food in just
measure, men and horses, with great patience and without noise or
contentions, and I can bear witness to it, for I was present and saw it.
And from the offerings made by the pilgrims the Church gained great
treasure, and the Romans from supplying them all grew rich. And I, finding
myself in that blessed pilgrimage in the holy city of Rome, seeing her
great and ancient remains, and reading the histories and great deeds of
the Romans, as written by Virgil, Sallust, Lucan, Livy, Valerius, Paulus,
Orosius, and other masters of history, who wrote the exploits and deeds,
both great and small, of the Romans, and also of strangers in the whole
world, to leave a record and example to those who are to come, so I took
style and form from them, though as a disciple I was not worthy to do so
great a work, and I began to compile a book in honour of God and of the
Blessed John, and in praise of our city of Florence."
A PIOUS ARAB KING'S PRAYER FOR RAIN (A.D. 1343).
In 1343 Juzef Ben Ismail, King of Granada, made a truce of ten years with
King Alphonso of Castile, and was noted for his pious laws and ordinances.
Among other reforms he forbade people to go through the streets praying
for rain, as he said those who made that offering should go forth to the
fields with much devotion and humility, and utter the following prayer: "O
Lord Allah, Thou, the ever merciful, who hast created us out of nothing,
and knowest our faults, by Thy clemency, O Lord, Thou, who dost not desire
to destroy us, regard not our shortcomings, but rather consider Thy mercy
and longsuffering. Thou who hast no need of us or our services, O Lord,
have pity upon Thy innocent creatures, the unconscious animals and birds
of the air, who find not wherewithal to sustain their lives. Look upon the
earth which Thou hast created, and upon the plants thereof, which perish
and are wasted for lack of the waters that should be their nourishment. O
Lord Allah, open to us Thy heavens, turn upon us the blessing of Thy
waters, let us again be refreshed with Thy life-giving airs, and send upon
us that mercy that shall revive and refresh the dying earth, giving
succour and support to Thy creatures, that the infidel may no longer say
Thou hast ceased to hear the prayer of Thy true believers. O Lord, we
implore Thee by Thy great mercy, for Thou lookest with pity on all Thy
creatures. O Lord Allah, in Thee it is we believe, Thee we adore, from
Thee we hope for pardon for our errors, and at Thy hands we seek for
succour in our need."
THE TERROR OF THE BLACK DEATH IN 1348.
The black death, which was said to have carried off one-fourth of the
population in four years, and in England carried off half the population,
was a disease which puzzled the scientific men of the period. Carbuncles,
tumours, spots on arms and thighs, became fatal in about three days, and
the disease spread like fire among dry fuel. The effect on society was
enormous. Merchants of unbounded wealth began to carry their treasures to
monasteries and churches, and to lay them at the foot of the altar; but
the monks in their turn shuddered at the gift, as in their view it only
brought death, and they threw it over the convent walls. People were
driven by despair to take up pious works as a last defence. In Avignon the
Pope found it necessary to consecrate the Rhone, so that bodies might be
thrown into the river as the speediest mode of burial. The morals of the
people suffered by the hopeless and ghastly spectacles around, for
churches were deserted by priests, and the people without shepherds gave
way to covetousness as well as licentiousness. When the alarm was over,
there was a notable increase of lawyers, who, like locusts, devoured the
property left without owners. The plague raged from 1347 to 1350; and
owing to the Pope Clement VI. appointing a jubilee in 1350, and a vast
concourse of pilgrims to Rome, it was said that scarcely one in a hundred
escaped alive. The Brotherhood of the Cross or of the Flagellants
reappeared at this time, which betokened the end of the world to many,
and, taking on themselves the sins of the people, went about scourging
themselves in churches and markets, as a mode of averting the wrath of
Heaven. This imposing sacrificial ceremony had been invented about a
century before by Dominic, and was kept up from time to time in various
countries. The panic of the black death was in some places ascribed to the
infidel practices of Jews, who were accordingly hunted to death and burnt
in their synagogues, or put to the sword without compunction. The
physicians of the period were all at their wits' end how to administer
remedies to those requiring a remedy. Among those carried off by this
scourge was John Villani, the historian, and Laura, the beloved of
Petrarch. Though the black death was so fatal in England, it was noted
that Ireland escaped.
THE DANCING MANIA AND SWEATING SICKNESS IN GERMANY AND HOLLAND.
Scarcely had the panic of the black death subsided when a delusion arose
in Germany, a demoniacal epidemic, called the dance of St. John or St.
Vitus, which seized upon people, convulsing body and soul, and leading
them to perform a wild dance, screaming and foaming with fury. Assemblages
of these fanatics became prominent in 1374, and continued more or less to
exhibit the same fascination for about two centuries. They first broke out
at Aix-la-Chapelle among crowds who were said to come from Germany, who
formed circles hand in hand, whirling about for hours together in wild
delirium, shrieking, and insensible to the wonder, horror, and jeers of
the bystanders. After the fit they fell down and groaned, as if in the
agonies of death, when their companions swathed them in cloths tightly
drawn round the wrists, and then thumped or trampled on the parts
affected. Some after this frenzy pretended to see the heavens open, and
the Saviour and the Virgin Mary enthroned and beckoning to them. The
clergy were gradually led to believe that these people were possessed of
devils which required to be exorcised. The people affected were mostly of
the class of poor, and little removed from vagabondism. Another visitation
of a kindred nature was the sweating sickness, which was a violent
inflammatory fever, that after a short rigor prostrated the powers as with
a blow, and amid painful oppression of the stomach, headache, and
lethargic stupor suffused the body with a fetid perspiration. In England
it prevailed in 1485, and some chroniclers estimated that scarcely one in
a hundred escaped when once seized; and it was said to be locally confined
to England, and did not extend either to Scotland or Ireland or Calais.
The disease was said to be traced to a season of heavy torrents of rain
and inundations of rivers.
THE MONK FLAGELLANTS.
The austerities of monks for ages had created an admiration for the
practice of flagellation, and this grew till a new sect arose, which
believed in this as a supreme rule of life. Sovereign princes, as Raymond
of Toulouse, kings, as Henry II. of England, had yielded their backs to
the scourge. And St. Louis of France used it as if it were a daily luxury.
Peter Damiani had taught it by precept and example. Dominic, called the
Cuirassier, had invented or popularised by his fame the usage of singing
psalms to the accompaniment of self-scourging. At last, about 1259, all
ranks, both sexes, all ages, were possessed with this madness; nobles,
wealthy merchants, modest and delicate women, even children of five years
old, admired it. They stripped themselves naked to the waist, covered
their faces that they might not be known, and went two and two in solemn
slow procession with a cross and a banner before them, scourging
themselves till the blood tracked their steps, and shrieking out their
doleful psalms. They travelled from city to city. Whenever they entered a
city, the contagion seized the onlookers. They marched by night as well as
by day. The busy mart and the crowded streets were visited by processions;
in the dead midnight the sound of the scourge and the screaming chant were
accompanied with tapers and torches. Thirty-three days and a half, the
number of the years of our Lord's sojourn on earth, was the usual period
of this penance. In the burning heat of summer, and when the wintry roads
were deep with snow, the crowds moved on. At length the madness wore
itself out. Some princes and magistrates, finding it was not sanctioned by
the Roman See or by the authority of any great saint, began to interpose,
and after being for a time an object of respectful wonder the practice
sank into general contempt. A contemporary tells us that in the height of
the mania for flagellation the fields and mountains echoed with the voices
of the sinners calling to God. Usurers and robbers restored their
ill-gotten gains, criminals confessed their sins and renounced their
vices, the prison doors were thrown open, and the captives walked forth;
homicides offered themselves on their knees with drawn swords to the
kindred of their victims, and were embraced with tears; old enemies were
forgiven, and exiles were permitted to return to their homes. The movement
spread to the Rhine lands, and throughout Germany and Bohemia. But the
excitement disappeared as rapidly as it came, and was even denounced as a
heresy. Ulberto Pallavicino was resolved to keep the new heretics out of
Milan, and erected three hundred gibbets by the roadside, at the sight of
which the enthusiasts abruptly retraced their steps, and their enthusiasm
left them.
EXTRAVAGANT DRESS OF CLERGY IN 1347.
Dress was carried to a pitch of costliness and vanity in the time of
Edward III. Men holding dignities, parsonages, prebends, benefices with
cure of souls, treated the tonsure with scorn, and allowed their hair to
hang down over their shoulders. They imitated the dress of soldiers,
having an upper jump remarkably short and wide, and long hanging sleeves
not covering the elbows. Their hair was curled and powdered. They wore
caps with tippets of great length, rings on their fingers, long beards,
costly girdles, to which were attached purses enamelled with figures, and
sculptured knives hanging at their sides to look like swords. Their
sleeves were chequered with red and green, exceedingly long, and pinked
with various colours. They had also ornamented cruppers to their saddles,
and baubles like horns hanging down from their horses' necks, and their
cloaks were furred at the edge, though this was contrary to canonical
rules.
TELLING FORTUNES BY THE BIBLE.
In the sixth century an abuse crept into religious circles of using the
Bible, like a book of fate, to discover future events. Cæsarius, Bishop of
Arles, warned his people against many of the current superstitions, such
as a superstition against sneezing, considering Friday an unlucky day,
etc. He told them not to return anybody's salutation on the way, but on
starting merely to make the sign of the cross and trust the rest to the
Lord. One abuse, however, withstood all his efforts, and that was the
practice of seeking for oracles in the Bible. St. Augustine also, a
century before, had observed on this pagan practice. He said the custom
displeased him of wishing to use the Word of God, which speaks in
reference to another life, for worldly concerns and the vain objects of
the present life. Even among the clergy the abuse prevailed. In doubtful
earthly concerns persons would lay down a Bible in a church upon the
altar, or especially on the grave of a saint, would fast and pray and
invoke the saint that he would indicate the future by a passage of
Scripture, and sought for the answer on the first passage which met the
eye on opening the Bible. Against the practice a decree of the Council of
Agde, in 508, was made, to the effect that since many persons, both of the
clergy and laity, practised divination under the semblance of religion, or
promised a disclosure of the future by looking into the Scriptures, all
who advised or taught this were to be excluded from Church communion.