Sources

In the Apostolic Church baptism was invariably connected with the imposition of hands.[375:2]Later, however, the two acts were separated. The laying on of hands in point of time came soon after the rite of baptism.[375:3]All priests could baptise, while only the bishops could perform the ceremony which gradually developed into the sacrament of confirmation. The permanent separation of baptism and confirmation did not occur, it seems, until the thirteenth century. The rite of baptism was ordinarily performed only in special baptismal churches and at certain stated periods. In popular opinion the baptised were placed under the protection and consecration of the divine power. The rite also signified subjection to the Church.

Penance was a sacrament and a pronounced institution of the Church of the Middle Ages. The New Testamenthas in it but little on the subject of discipline.[376:1]In the early Church penance was exclusively spiritual, was not compulsory but had to be sought, occurred but once, was extended only to baptised communicants, always followed public confession before the whole congregation, and varied with the offence. The penitents removed all ornaments from their persons, dressed in sackcloth, the men shaved their heads and faces and the women wore dishevelled hair, put ashes on their heads, abstained from baths and all normal pleasures, and lived on bread and water. They were divided into four classes: (1) The weepers, who could only stand at the church doors and beg for prayers. (2) The hearers, who could enter the church for the scripture lesson, but had to leave before the eucharistic service began. (3) The kneelers, who could witness the first part of the eucharistic office and then departed with the catechumens. (4) The standers, who could remain during the whole service but were not permitted to communicate.

Out of these earlier conditions, penance came to be regarded as a sacrament instituted by Jesus for removing sins committed after baptism but involving contrition of heart and private confession to a priest as prerequisites,[376:2]and for the performance of good works, such as fasting, almsgiving, pilgrimages, endowing institutions of the Church, self-flagellation, etc. The priest then solemnly absolved the penitent. The Middle Ages produced regular "penitential books,"[376:3]that is, a code of penalties for sins like drunkenness, fornications, avarice, perjury, murder, heresy, idolatry, and other crimes. These regulations were compiled from the Church Fathers, the Church synods and councils down to the seventh century, and other collections of authoritative sources. Nearly every diocese had its own special penitential code, but the general character and spirit were essentially the same all over the Church. Out of the system of penance grew the practice of indulgences, which was simply the substitution of a payment in money for the penance. Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury is usually credited with originating the principle of penance and the institution of indulgences,[377:1]but the system did not gain prominence until the time of the Crusades.[377:2]

Ordination was the sacrament of the hierarchy by which baptised persons were consecrated to perform the duties of priesthood. Like baptism it conferred an indelible character, hence could not be repeated. The sacrament of extreme unction was at first merely the use of consecrated oil to heal the sick.[377:3]But before long such veneration was bestowed upon the holy oil that as early as the fourth century people broke into the churches and stole the oil out of the lamps in order to use it for the working of miraculous cures. It was employed not alone by the priests, but by all Christians. It did not really become a sacrament until the time ofPeter Lombard. Marriage was also held to be a sacrament, through which the priesthood controlled legitimacy, inheritance, and the validity of wills.

Out of pagan idolatry, hero-worship, and the veneration for the martyrs of the early Church grew both the practice of saint-worship and the use of relics. The day of the martyr's death was made a festival and the place of his burial was sanctified. It was believed that the martyrs had the power to intercede with the Divine Powers for the answer of prayers. Churches and shrines were built over the tombs of the martyrs, or their bones were carried into churches. These relics were thought to possess miracle-working power. Those places not blessed with relics felt it to be a great disadvantage, consequently imported the remains of martyrs and saints to meet the need. Regular calendars of saints appeared and children were named after them with the expectation of lifelong protection and assistance from the patron.

By the fourth century it was believed that the blessed martyrs, through communion with our Lord, shared in his attributes of omnipresence and omniscience. Prayers in behalf of the saints changed to prayers to them for help. This transition was particularly easy for those who were won from paganism because they were already accustomed to similar practices. A festival of All Saints was instituted by Pope Boniface IV. in 610, when the Pantheon was dedicated as a Christian church, though it was not commonly observed until the ninth century, when Louis the Pious made it general in the Empire. The festival of All Souls supplemented it in the tenth century and became very popular. Every day in the calendar was dedicated to one saint or more. Down to the tenthcentury individuals renowned for some pious deed or for some suffering on account of the Christian faith were exalted to sainthood by the voice of the people with the consent of the bishop. Later, however, the bishops nominated the saints and the Pope conferred the honour. The first instance of papal canonisation was that of Ulrich, the Bishop of Augsburg, by John XV. in 973. Pope Alexander III. (1170), in the period when the Papacy was becoming all-powerful, seized this great prerogative into his own hands.[379:1]Each nation, district, city, and individual church had its saint. The fame of the saints was perpetuated by legend, hymn, painting, sculpture, and the sacred edifices built to their memory and honour. Consequently the tales and beliefs connected with the saints produced most of the literature of the Middle Ages—the poetry, the song, the history, and the subject of common thought, conversation, and feeling.

Closely connected with saint-worship was the universal use of sacred relics and a belief in their miraculous power. The dominant interest of popular piety circles around the saints and their relics. The relics in the church were the greatest treasure of the community, and the reliquary was the choicest ornament of the private room of the lady, in the knight's armory, in the king's hall, and in the bishop's palace. The use of relics and images developed comparatively early in the life of the Church.[379:2]By the time of Constantine the practice was common and approved by the Fathers. In fact, so wild were the people of the West for relics that imperial law had to prohibit the cutting of thecorpses of martyrs into pieces for sale.[380:1]The great Ambrose refused to consecrate a church which had no relics. When the Pantheon was dedicated by Pope Boniface IV. twenty-eight cartloads of bones of martyrs were transferred to that building from the various cemeteries.[380:2]The seventh œcumenical council of Nicæa (787) forbade bishops to dedicate a church without sacred relics under penalty of excommunication. Traffic in relics became a regular business. St. Augustine reproved the wandering monks for selling bogus relics. Gregory the Great refused to send relics of St. Paul to the Empress of Constantinople, yet he very jealously distributed the filings of the chain of St. Peter. The relics increased until western Europe was full of them and every community had miracle-working wonders—the products of excessive piety, fraud, and credulity. All Christians believed in relics for it was an impious thing to doubt. The wood of the true cross "grew into a forest"; the nails were very numerous; at Sens was found the rod of Moses; at Aachen the swaddling clothes of Jesus; at other points a feather plucked from the wing of the angel Gabriel, the tears of Jesus, the milk of the Virgin, the emblems of the Passion, a piece of wood from the temple which St. Peter intended to build on the Mount of Olives; and the bones, hair, teeth, and garments of saints without number. These relics were employed to convert the heathen,[380:3]to heal diseases, to ward off danger,[380:4]to punish the wicked, to protect the innocent, and to bring good luck and general blessing.

The worship of Mary the Mother of Jesus became very pronounced after the fourth century. Tertullian put Eve and Mary alongside of Adam and Jesus. She was called the Blessed Virgin and the Mother of God. The festival of the Annunciation held in the fifth century soon led to the festival of the Purification of Mary, or the Candlemas of Mary. About the end of the sixth century developed the feast of the Ascension of Mary, to be followed the next century by the celebration of the birthday of Mary. High above all the saints and martyrs was the rapturous adoration of the "Queen of Heaven." After Gregory the Great the Virgin played a constantly increasing part in the Church of the West. Churches were erected in her honour everywhere and every church had at least a chapel consecrated to Our Lady.

Hell, heaven, and purgatory were very real indeed to the mediæval mind. Their location, form, and inhabitants were known exactly through mediæval credulity. Devils and angels were in constant communication in one way or another with the inhabitants of earth. All these forces and influences formed the mediæval mind and produced the mediæval civilisation.

FOOTNOTES:

[348:1]Hatch,Growth of Church Institutions, Lond., 1887, 121; Smith and Cheetham, art. on "Metropolitan."

[348:2]Canon VI. See IV. See also Canon XIX of Council of Antioch.

[348:3]Canon IX.

[348:4]Cod. Justin, i., 4, 29.

[348:5]Guizot,Hist. of Civ. in Fr., ii., 46.

[350:1]See article on Theodore Torens inDict. of Nat. Biog.

[350:2]Boniface (d. 735) was the greatest.

[350:3]Hauck,Kircheng. Deutschl., ii.

[350:4]This office was held by Hincmar (d. 882), the greatest man of his time. Prichard,Life and Times of Hincmar, 1849; Noorden,Hincmar, Erzbischof von Rheims, 1863.

[352:1]Hatch,Growth of Church Institutions, contends that the parish was of German origin, and not Roman.

[353:1]Acta Sanctorum; Greg. of Tours,Hist. of France;Mon. Ger.; Mansi; Harduin;Hefele, iii., iv.; Lecky; Guizot; Balmes.

[353:2]Greg. of Tours; Milman; Lecky; Hallam; Gibbon.

[354:1]Butler,Lives of Saints; Lecky.

[355:1]Schaff, iv., 331.

[355:2]Greg. of Tours.

[355:3]Hefele, iii., 341.

[355:4]Ibid., iv., 323.

[356:1]See the effort of Nicholas I. to protect the divorced wife of King Lothair. Greenwood, bk. vii., ch. 4.

[356:2]Lecky, ii., 335; Schaff, iv., 333; Brace, ch. 11.

[356:3]Philem. 10-21; 1 Tim. vi., 1-2; Eph. vi., 5-7; Col. iii., 22; Tit. ii., 9; 1 Pet. ii., 18.

[357:1]Lea,Stud. in Ch. Hist., 524.

[357:2]Lactantius,Inst. Div., vi., 12;Apostolic Constitutions, iv., 9.

[357:3]Baronius,Ann., 284, No. 15.

[357:4]Inst. Div., v., 14, 15.

[357:5]De Joseph Patriarch., ch. iv., § 20, 21.

[357:6]City of God, xix., 15.

[357:7]Apostolic Constitutions, viii., 38.

[357:8]Ibid., viii., 13, 19.

[357:9]Ibid., 39.

[357:10]Sozomen, i., 9.

[357:11]Lea,Stud. in Ch. Hist., 542.

[358:1]Gregory I.,Ep., x., 66; ix., 103.

[358:2]Hefele, iii., 611. Slaves and serfs were admitted to priesthood. Leo I. objected to the practice (letter 4).

[358:3]See letters of Gregory I., iv., 9, 21; vi., 32; vii., 24; ix., 36, 110.

[358:4]For a statement of his attitude toward slavery and for an example of his manumission, see book vi., letter 12; book viii., letter 21.

[358:5]Balmes; Brace, ch. 21; Schaff, iv., 334; Lecky, ii., 66.

[358:6]Brace, ch. 12.

[358:7]Hefele, iii., 349.

[358:8]Thatcher and McNeal, Nos. 240, 241.

[359:1]Brace, ch. 13.

[359:2]Hefele, iv., 698; Thatcher and McNeal, No. 242.

[360:1]Ogg,Source Book, § 39.

[360:2]Thatcher and McNeal, Nos. 240-244.

[360:3]Ibid., No. 248.

[360:4]Robinson,Readings, i., 187; Thatcher and McNeal, Nos. 245-250;Transl. and Rep., i., No. 2.

[360:5]Migne, cli., 1134; Henderson, 208.

[360:6]Munro,Urban and the Crusaders;Transl. and Rep., i., No. 2, p. 8.

[360:7]Thatcher and McNeal,cf.Nos. 243 and 244.Hefele, iv., 696.

[360:8]Fisher,Med. Europe, i., 201; Thatcher and McNeal, Nos. 248-250.

[361:1]Lea,Superstition and Force.

[361:2]Ogg,Source Book, § 33.

[361:3]Lea,Superstition and Force, 196. There are references to this form in the Salic Law.

[361:4]Greg. of Tours, quoted in Lea, 198; Thatcher and McNeal, No. 234.

[361:5]For cases, see Lea, 228, 229; Thatcher and McNeal, No. 236, 237.

[362:1]Lea, 201; Thatcher and McNeal, No. 235.

[362:2]Peter Ingens and the monk Savonarola were examples. Lea, 209.

[362:3]Lea, 75-174, gives cases.

[363:1]For other cases, see Lea; Thatcher and McNeal, Nos. 238, 239.

[363:2]Mainz, 880, Tribur, 895, Tours, 925, Auch, 1068, Grau, 1095, etc.

[363:3]Hincmar, Burckhardt of Worms, Gregory VII., Calixtus II., Eugenius II., St. Bernard, etc.

[364:1]Given inMigne, civ., 113, 250.

[364:2]Read Lea, 272.

[364:3]Lecky, ii., 84; Uhlhorn,Christ. Char. in the Anc. Ch., bk. iii.

[364:4]Chastel,Historical Studies in the Influence of Charity. Tr., Phil., 1857.

[364:5]Schaff, ii., 374; Justin Martyr,Apol., i., ch. 67.

[365:1]Milman, ii., 117.

[365:2]Smith and Cheetham,Dict. of Christ. Antiq., art. "Hospitals."

[366:1]Matt. xviii., 15-18.

[366:2]Gieseler, ii., 55.

[366:3]Moeller, ii., 115.

[367:1]Milman, i., 551.

[367:2]SeeCath. Encyc.for the origin of the confessional.

[367:3]Lea,Stud. in Ch. Hist., 236.

[367:4]Ibid., 296, 416.

[367:5]Ibid., 393.

[368:1]Lea, 264, 266, 303, 343, 345, 347, 362, 382, 421.

[368:2]The anathema was used in a sense and manner similar to excommunication. SeeCath. Encyc.for an excellent discussion.

[368:3]Lea, 282.

[368:4]Ibid., 298.

[368:5]Ibid., 303.

[368:6]Ibid., 337; Schaff, iv., 377.

[369:1]Lea, 428.

[369:2]Ibid., 416; Gregory the Great, bk. ii., Letter 34.

[369:3]Greg. of Tours, bk. viii., ch. 31.

[369:4]Gieseler, ii., 199, n. 12;Hefele, iv., 693-695; Schaff, iv., 380.

[370:1]Harduin, vi., 885.

[370:2]Gregory I. is usually credited with introducing this mass.

[370:3]Moeller, ii., 113.

[371:1]Hefele, iii., 758, 764; iv., 89, 111, 126, 197, 513, 582; Mansi, xiv., 82.

[371:2]Mon. Ger. Scrip., vi.-ix., 45-187; Wattenbach,Deutschl. Geschichtsq., i., 134.

[371:3]Hefele, iii., 745.

[371:4]Stephenson,Latin Hymns of the An.-Sax. Church; Trench,Sacred Latin Poets; Chandler,Hymns of the Prim. Ch.; Mant.,Anc. Hymns from the Rom. Breviary; Cazwell,Lyra Catholica; Neale,Mediæv. Hymns; Schaff,Christ. in Song.

[371:5]This is the practice of the Greek Church to-day, and also in several Protestant bodies.

[372:1]Hopkins and Rimbault,The Organ, its Hist. and Const., 1855. See art. in Smith and Cheetham.

[372:2]See art. in Smith and Cheetham.

[372:3]Tertullian,Ad. Mort., iii.; Vulgate iii., 16; Rev. i., 20; xxviii., 7.

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