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The bishop again striking the door it is opened: and he entereth: the chorus singing after him, Lift up your heads, etc.,to the end of the Psalm.
The Bishop. The Lord be with you.
Response. And with thy spirit.
The Bishop. Let us pray:
We beseech Thee, O Lord, of Thy mercy, to enter Thy house, and to make for Thyself an habitation in the hearts of the faithful. Through, etc.
Then the bishop entereth the choir, saying:
Peace be to this house, and to all that are in it; peace to them that come in, and to them that go out.
Bless, O Lord, this house, which the sons of men have built for Thee: hear those which shall come up to this place: hear their prayers in the lofty throne of Thy glory.
The clerks begin the Litany; the bishop, with certain priests and deacons, remaining prostrate at the altar.
Lord have mercy upon us, etc.
As soon asAgnus Deiis said, the bishop, rising, saith:
Let us pray.
Be Thou exalted. Lord, in Thine own strength, etc.
Then the bishop shall write the alphabet along the pavement,[Footnote 691]first from east to west, then from north to south, the chorus saying the Psalm, Fundamenta ejus.
[Footnote 691: In the treatise of the Mart. Remigius,De Dedicatione Ecciesiae, we have the following explanation of this singular custom: 'A thing which might appear puerile, unless it had been instituted by men, great in dignity, spiritual in life, apostolical in discipline. In all things of this kind, the Lord by His example hath gone before us: and what He hath done, remaineth unchangeable in his successors. What is understood by the alphabet save the beginnings and rudiments of sacred doctrine? Whence S. Paul, "Ye have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God." Therefore the bishop writeth the alphabet, to signify that he teacheth the pure doctrine of the gospel. He writeth the alphabet twice, and that in the figure of a cross, to signify that the Passion of Christ is set forth by the gospel in its purity. He writeth it in the angles of the church, because by them be set forth the four corners of the world. He beginneth from the east, because the gospel began from the Jews.'There is probably some reference to the Saviour's stooping down, and writing in the sand. We may also compare those singular and rare bells, in which the only inscription round the crown consists of the letters of the alphabet.]
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The Bishop. O God, make speed, etc.
Response. O Lord, make haste, etc.
The Bishop. Glory be, etc.
Response. As it, etc.
Then followeth the exorcism of the salt, and the water, and the ashes.
Then the bishop maketh the sign of the cross at the four corners of the altar, with hyssop, going round it seven times. The chorus sing the Psalm, Miserere mei Deus.Then the bishop sprinkleth the water three times round the church: the chorus singingDeus noster refugium.Then the bishop sprinkleth the water over the altar: the chorus singingQui habitat.Then the bishop sprinkleth the whole church inside with the water thrice: to signify the Church's inward faith in the Trinity: and once outside, to signify the one baptism. The chorus singFundamenta ejus;and while the priests are ascending the turrets,Jacob beheld a ladder, etc.,and the PsalmDeus noster refugium.
Then the bishop entereth the church: and sprinkleth water on the pavement in the form of a cross: the chorus singingBenedicite, omnia opera.
The Bishop.Lift up your hearts.
Response.We lift, etc.
The Bishop.Let us give thanks, etc.
Response.It is meet, etc.
Then the bishop goeth to the altar, and poureth the remainder of the water at its base.
Then he blesseth the altar-stone, the altar clothes, the sacerdotal vestments, the corporal, the paten, the chalice, the thurible.
Here followeth the Mass of Dedication.
The post communion ended, the Bishop saith:
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Incline, O Lord, Thine ears unto me, and hear me: Look down, O Christ, from heaven, on thy flock and thy sheep: stretch Thine hand over them: bless their bodies and their souls: that in the communion of the saints they may receive celestial benediction, light angelical, the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete. Amen.
They who be regenerate of water and the Holy Ghost who be redeemed on earth by Thy precious blood, who have received Thy sign on their foreheads, grant them to be Thine on the day of judgment. Amen.
And as Thou didst bless patriarchs and prophets and apostles, martyrs and confessors, virgins and priests, so bless this flock, who are assembled to-day in Thy name in this church. Amen.
And as by Thine angel Thou didst free the three children from the burning fiery furnace, so free this flock from everlasting death and the power of the devil, and from earthly lusts and all manner of weaknesses. Amen.
Spare their faults, remit their sins, and present them pure and undefiled in the day of judgment: as Thou didst receive Enoch and Elias into the kingdom of heaven. Amen.
God Almighty bless and keep you, and make this house to shine with the glory of His presence, and open the eyes of His pity upon it day and night. Amen.
And grant of His mercy, that all, who have assembled together at this dedication, by the intercession of Blessed N., and all other saints whose relics rest here, may obtain the remission of their sins. Amen.
That ye may be made a holy temple in the spirit, where the Holy Trinity may ever deign to dwell; and after this short life ye may attain to everlasting felicity. Amen.
Which He grant. Who liveth and reigneth, world without end. Amen.
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Page 6.—It shows how little Durandus can rightly be charged with fancifulness, when we find him classing among ceremonial precepts, rites for which the Rabbis and many modern expositors have given a symbolical reason.
Page 23.—'The lattice work of the windows.' Wrongly translated in Lewis, 'the screens before the windows.'
Page 25.—This passage proves that in the time and country of Durandus seats or chairs except in the choir were unknown. Though in England Early English or Early Decorated open seats do occur, as in Clapton-in-Gordan, Somersetshire, they are very rare, and take up much less of the church than is the case in later examples. See 'Hist, of Pews,' 3rd ed., pp. 19, 20, 79.
Page 39.—The reader is aware that the wordsin medioof the early Christian altars gave rise to the warmest disputes between the Puritans and the Catholics of the 17th century. The Puritans insisted that they meant in thebodyof the church: the Catholics generally, and more particularly that most able defender of altars, Dr. Laurence, insisted that when the fathers spoke of an alterin medio, they only meant one so placed as to be where all might see it. The words undoubtedly may bear this meaning: yet perhaps it is better to understand them, as they must be understood in this passage of Durandus, of an altar placed in the chord of the segment of a circle formed by the apse. SeeEcclesiologist, vol. ii, p. 13.
Page 46, note 20.—This is a mistake. The fresco alluded to represents a priest repeating the Pater Noster (which is written in his open book) at the N. W. angle of an altar. Upon the altar are two candlesticks and a ciborium: rising out of the latter is the figure of our Blessed Lord. There can be no doubt of the objectionable nature of such a representation.
Page 54—The nimbus of the Saviour, it is perhaps needless to observe in explanation, is always inlaid, as it were, with a cross: at least the exceptions are excessively rare.
Page 54—These 'carved figures' probably signify the corbels.
Page 54, note 54.—There is a valuable article on the nimbus by M. Didron from theRevue Générale de l'Architecturein theLiterary Gazettefor Dec. 1842. An example is there given of the square nimbus in the case of Pope Nicholas, as represented in a contemporary MS. The whole is well worth reading.
Page 102.—Dedication crosses. We have seen a valuable example of these in the church of Moorlinch, Somersetshire. There are four circles containing crosses pattées on the north and south sides of the chancel; and two at the east end, in all ten: the other two have disappeared.
Page 146.—The bodies of good men called horses. The same idea is worked out at great length in S. Chrysostom's earlier homilies on the Statues.
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Page 170.—But how great is the admiration, etc. Compare S. Hildebert's hymn,Exrta portam, towards the conclusion:
Qauntum tui gratulentur,Quam festive conviventurQuis affectus eos stringat,Et quae gemma muros pingat,Quis chalcedon, quis jacintus,Norunt isti, quis sunt intus!
The last line has the same beautiful turn with the expression of Hugh of S. Victor.
Page 180.—Most of the following practices are observed to this day in the Metropolitical Church of Seville. There are two ambones, but no rood loft: the sub-deacon chants the epistle by himself, in the southern ambo; the deacon, preceded by a taper, chants the gospel from the northern.
Page 182.—So S. Bernard in his commentary on that verse of the 90th Psalm, 'A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand.'
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Abbots, how represented,52Agathensian, the Council,45Agnus Dei, The,47Alexander, Pope,124Alphabet, inscription of,98Allegory,6Altar candlesticks,58Altar rails,26Altars, stripped on Good Friday,61Altars, their consecration,113Altars, why encircled seven times at consecration,119Altare distinguished from ara,34Anagoge,7Analogium,seeRood LoftAngels, how represented,47Antioch, Council of,197Antiphonal chanting,21Apostles, the, how represented,50Appodiatio, explained,62Ark of Testimony35its contents,36Aries, Fourth Council of,197Arnaldistae,139Augustine, S.,49,84,85,136,152Basilica,13Baruth, legend of,89Bell rope,74Bells, when first used,71what they signify,72silent, when,196Bernard, S.,131,139Beverstone church,46Bishop, the consecration of a,145Bishopstone,19Black, when used,194Boneface IV', Pope,94Breastplate, how made,10Burchardus, S.,64Burial of heretics in cemeteries,111Cambridge Camden Society,85Cambridge, S. Sepulchre,55Cambridge, S. Giles,26Capella, whence derived,14Carthage, Council of,158Cavilla,74Cellar,30Cement, its symbolism,17Cemetery,82Coenobium,14Chalices, their materials,68Chancels, lower than nave,26Chancels,175Chancel, more holy than nave,20Chrism,137Christmas, how churches are to be adorned at,65Chrysologus, S. Peter,49Church, its meanings,12Churches, when to be moved,32Clement, S., of Rome,46Cloister,29Cobham church,46Cothelstone church,54Cock, the,165Commands, moral,5Cone,23Confessors, how represented,52Consecration of a church,88Constantine builds a church at Jerusalem.197Cosins, Bishop,154{208}Ciampini,103,126Cross, the sign of the,188Cross triumphal,28Cross churches,21Crosses, the five, that mark an altar,114Crypts,22Curtains, of the tabernacle,15Cymbalum,77Dedication crosses,98Degrees, songs of,43Depulsare distinguished from compulsare,78Derby, the Earl of,179Divine Majesty, the, how represented,53Division, of the whole work,11Door,24Dormitory,30Dorsals,56Dowsing, William,26Dunstan, S., his form of dedication,199Durandus, his many occupations,161Dying, the, lay in sackcloth and ashes,149Egleton church,55Epiphany, what events celebrated thereon,155Evangelistic symbols,48Evaristus, Pope,158Exeter cathedral,21Extreme unction,139,148Faustinus, S., his legend,84Felix III, Pope,89Ferculum,28,167Frescoes,45Glass,23Gospel, the, fixed on the altar,60why not read from the rood loft in a Mass of requiem,187Green, when used,194Gregory, S.,54,73,75,91,152Greeks, the, how they paint saints,43Haddenham,14Henry, S., his shrine,48Holy, distinguished fromsacred,81Horologium,27Horses, the bodies of good men, why so called,146Hours, the, explained,75Hugh of S. Victor, his 'Mystical Mirror'163Human body, its resemblance to a church,19Hyssop, its virtues,95Idolatry, a protest against,44Ingoldsby Legends, their profanity,84Isidore, S.,83,137,155,156Jerusalem, its variety of significations,8rebuilt,18John, S., Evangelist, his confessions,38Journeys, the Saviour's seven,119Kilpeck church,19Kyriake,13Lateran, S. John, its altar to the west,177Lattice-work,23Litter,34,167Llandanwg church,46Ludlow church,21Lyons, Council of,41Machpelah,83Mans, dedication of a church there,198Marriages, when forbidden,154second,159Martyrs, how represented,52Martyrium,14Mary, S., Magdalene,126Maundy Thursday,153Mende,2Mirror of Magistrates,9Moleon, De, his 'Voyage Liturgique,'67Montague, Bishop,31Murderers, limits of right of sanctuary.32Mystical, its meaning,5Nola,77Nolula,77Nimbus, the,54Orientation,19,177, seq.Orfrey, the,59Ornaments of churches not to be profaned,69Ostrich eggs, why hung in churches,67Oxted church,50Palmers,52Paradise, how represented,54{209}Parthian skins,19Patriarchs, how represented,51Pavement,24Phylacterium, difference between it and phylacteria,57Pictures, their use,45Piers,24Piscina,27Pity, how five-fold,130Podium,85Portfolio, the, what it represents,56Priests, unlettered,4allowed to consecrate churches,16Prophets, how represented,51Preston church,54Prothesis, table of,3Prynne,21Pyx, the,56Pulpit,26Rationale, reason of the name,10Reconciliation of a church,107Reconsecration, when to be practised,105Remigius Monk,201Relics required for the consecration of a church,198Richard of Cremona,139Ring, the wedding,156Ringing, various kinds of,77Rod of weathercock,23Rood loft,26turrets, two, common in Norfolk,180Round churches,21Sacraments defined,152their nature,2Sacramental, distinguished from ceremonial,5Sugerius,197Sambuca, the,100Sanctuary, the,20Saviour, our, various representations of,46Savinianus, Pope,75Scarlet, when used,189Scuta, the,59Seal, the, of an altar,105Second Day, why it had no blessing.79Senses of Holy Scripture,5Separation of men and women,30Signum,77Sion, distinguished from Jerusalem,13Snuffers, the,58Sacristy,27Stalls,25Squilla,76Stephen, Pope,70Stones of a church, their symbolism,17Sylvester, S.,139Synagogue never applied to a church,13Te Deum, method of chanting,78Temple, Aslackby church,21Thiers, Father,26Tie-beams,25Tiles,27Toledo, Council of,41Tongs, the,59Torrentius, Laevinus,189Towers,22Treasures of the church, why exhibited,66Unctions,134Variety of rites,8Veils, their various kinds,61Vigilantius,57Vigil, of the dedication of a church,198Violet, when used,193Virgins, difference between and continent,20how represented,52Vladimir, S., his conversion,55Walls, why four,20Water, Holy,115,171Weathercock,22White cloths cover the altar, why,40White, when used,189Widford church,46Women, their heads to be uncovered,31York, S. Lawrence,55