II.
We have seen in a former article that the Catholic Church was the careful guardian and zealous propagator of the original texts of the inspired volume. We now proceed to show that her missionaries and her most devoted sons were most earnest in communicating its sacred truths to all the faithful, by diffusing throughout the various nations of Christendom untainted and authentic versions of the Holy Scripture. This assertion must be proved not by theory but by facts. In producing these facts our task will be comparatively easy, on account of the many able and interesting essays which have already been published, in illustration of this subject.
At the very time that Luther and his followers were engaged in declaiming against Holy Church, and in withdrawing so many of her children from the hallowed fold, the words of a Prophet were first echoed on the shores of a new world; "quam pulchri pedes evangelizantium pacem, evangelizantium bona". The losses of the Church in Europe were more than counterbalanced by her gains among the new nations of America, whose fervour and faith formed a striking contrast to the frenzy and irreligion of the sophists of Germany. Now no sooner were these western children summoned to the bosom of the Church than versions of the Sacred Scripture were made for their use, in their yet uncouth and unpolished tongues, by the missionaries of the Cross. "Benedict Fernandez, a Dominican Friar (writes the Protestant Horne), being appointed Vicar of Mixteca, in New Spain, translated the Epistles and Gospels into the dialect spoken in that province. Didacus de S. Maria, another Dominican and Vicar of the province of Mexico (who died in 1579), was the author of a translation of the Epistles and Gospels into the Mexican tongue, or general language of the country. The Proverbs of Solomon and other fragments of the Holy Scriptures were translated into the same language by Louis Rodriguez, a Spanish Franciscan Friar; and the Epistles and Gospels appointed to be read for the whole year were translated into the idiom of the western Indians, by Arnold a Basaccio, also a Franciscan Friar" (_Introduction_, vol. ii. pag. 120). Besides these various Mexican versions, there were others which escaped the researches of Mr. Horne. Thus, for instance, within the past years was printed the "Evangeliarium, Epistolarium, et Lectionarium Aztecum", composed nearly three centuries and a half ago by a Spanish Franciscan named Bernardine Sahagyn. This zealous religious entered on his missionary career in Mexico about the year 1520, and for sixty years devoted himself to the spiritual culture of that new vineyard of God. He was not inattentive at the same time to the literature and ancient monuments of the Aztec race, and his name is well known to Mexican antiquarians for his researches regarding the language, history, and antiquities of the New World. Lord Kingsborough, in the seventh volume of his great work, published the _Historia Universal de las Cosas de Nueva Espana_, composed by our Franciscan about the year 1550, and his version of the Sacred Scripture, when first announced to the literary world, was thus described by M. Beltram: "J' ai une trouvaille a vous montrer, la plus interressante, je crois, de toutes celles que vous avez deja vues ... on y voit un beau reste de l'illustre philanthrope et moine Bernardino de Sahagun" (_Le Mexique_, vol. ii. pag. 167. Paris, 1830). Nevertheless, this version was destined to remain still thirty years a hidden treasure, and it was only in 1858 that its publication was commenced in Milan by the accomplished Mexican scholar Biondelli. From the introduction of the learned editor we learn that Bernardino's version comprised almost all the New Testament and a portion of the Old, and that its date was anterior to those commemorated by Mr. Horne, the manuscript from which the text was printed having been copied in the year 1530. (_See Evangeliarium, etc., ex antiquo codice Mexicano nuper invento depromptum._ Milan, 1858, 4to, page xlix. 576).
Returning to the old continent, the first country which we meet is our own beloved land. Now was the Bible _a sealed Book_ in our Catholic island, and were our sainted fathers enemies of, or strangers to, its inspired truths? Oh! ask the great apostle of North England, St. Aidan, whose disciples, as Bede informs us, "whether they were of the clergy or of the laity, were bound to exercise themselves either in reading the Scriptures or in learning the Psalms" (_Hist. Eccl._, iii. 5). Ask St. Livinus, "who", as his ancient biographer relates, "was trained up from his youth by his holy Master, Benignus, in singing David's Psalms, and reading the holy Gospels". Ask St. Columbanus, in whose "breast the treasures of the Holy Scriptures were so laid up, that within the compass of his youthful years he set forth an elegant exposition of the Book of Psalms" (_Vita, cap._ 2); or ask the Northumbrian King Alfred, of whom Bede again writes that, "residing in Ireland, he imbibed there celestial wisdom in his attentive soul, and became a man most learned in the Scriptures: having left his native country and his pleasant fields, that in diligent exile he might learn the mystery of godliness". St. Furse, from his youth, was taught to drink in heavenly wisdom at the sacred source of the inspired volume. St. Columbanus expressly exhorts his disciple Hunaldus to its diligent study: "Sint tibi divitiae, divinae dogmata legis" (_epist. ad Hunald._); St. Patrick himself teaches us that "meditation on the Sacred Scriptures gives strength and vigour to the soul"; "St. Kieran", as Dr. King learnedly writes, "when thirty years old, went to Rome and spent there twenty years reading the Divine Scriptures and collecting copies of them" (_Ch. Hist. of Irel._, i. 323): and as to St. Columba, we may adopt the words of the Campleton minister, who in his life of that great saint says: "His passion for studying the Scriptures was most intense, when the other parts of ministerial duty allowed him to indulge it. Thus we find him sometimes engaged for whole days and nights in exploring dark and difficult passages of Scripture, and accompanying his study and application with prayer and fasting" (_Life, etc._, by J. Smith, pag. 113). It was in the Latin version that all these saints usually meditated on the heavenly truths, and Bede does not hesitate to say that, though the Irish, Britons, Picts, and Angles had their own peculiar languages, yet, "by the meditation of the Scriptures", the Latin tongue became common to them all (_Hist. Eccl._, lib. i. cap. i.). How many noble monuments, too, remain to attest, at the same time, the artistic taste and the devotion of our Catholic fathers, in adorning and illustrating the books of Holy Writ! The _Domhnach Airgid_ is well known to the students of Irish Ecclesiastical antiquities; it is a MS. copy of the Latin text of the Gospels, described by Petrie as "perhaps the oldest copy of the Sacred Word now existing" (_Trans. R. I. A._ xviii. _Antiq._, pag. 17), and which, as Eugene Curry adds, "we have just reason to believe, was the companion in his hours of devotion of our Patron Saint, the apostle Saint Patrick" (_Lect._, pag. 321). This venerable text is encased in three distinct covers, the first or inner one being of yew, and probably coeval with the manuscript itself; the second of copper plated with silver whose interlaced ornaments indicate a period between the sixth and twelfth centuries; whilst the third or outer one, of the fourteenth century, is of silver plated with gold, being decorated with relievos of the crucifixion, of the Blessed Virgin, and the other Patrons of Ireland. Thus are all the ages of faith in our island, anterior to the Reformation, linked together in a holy union, to proclaim with one accord the love and devotion of our Catholic fathers for the inspired text. The _Cathach_, or vellum Book of Psalms, handed down from St. Columbkille, with its rich case of solid silver, is scarcely less interesting; and what shall we say of the Book of Kells, _i.e._, the Latin Gospels of St. Columba, "a manuscript (as Petrie remarks) which for beauty and splendour is not surpassed by any of its age known to exist" (_Round Towers_, pag. 203), and of which Westwood thus writes: "Ireland may justly be proud of the Book of Kells: it is unquestionably the most elaborately executed MS. of early art now in existence" (_Palaeog. Sac._). Besides these, there are _Dimma's Book_ and the _Gospels_ of MacDurnan, the _Psalter_ of St. Ricemarch, the _Evangeliarium_ of St. Moling, Bishop of Ferns, and the fragments of several Gospels, rivalling in point of ornament and accuracy the most precious MSS. of the Continent (_Ibid._). There is one copy of the sacred text which it is sad to miss from the collections of our Christian antiquities. It is the so-called Book of Kildare, which was publicly destroyed by the fathers of Protestantism in this country, but which has happily been described by Giraldus Cambrensis, a writer whom none will suspect of bias in favour of our Irish Church. We will give the original text of his description, which may not, perhaps, be easily accessible to the reader:--
"Inter universa Kyldariae miracula nil mihi miraculosius occurrit, quam liber ille mirandus, tempore virginis Brigidae (ut ajunt) Angelo dictante conscriptus. Continet hic liber quatuor Evangelistarum juxta Hieronymum concordantiam, ubi quot paginae fere sunt, tot figurae diversae variisque coloribus distinctissimae. Hic majestatis vultum videas divinitus impressum: hinc mysticas Evangelistarum formas: nunc senas, nunc quaternas, nunc binas alas habentes, hinc aquilam, inde vitulum, hinc hominis faciem, inde bovis, aliasque figuras pene infinitas, quas si superficialiter et usuali more minus acute conspexeris, litura potius videbitur quam ligatura; nec ullam attendens prorsus subtilitatem, ubi nihil tamen praeter subtilitatem. Sin autem ad perspicacius intuendum oculorum aciem invitaveris, et longe penitius ad artis arcana transpenetraveris; tam delicatas et subtiles, tam actas et arctas, tam nodosas et vinculatim colligatas, tamque recentibus adhuc coloribus illustratas notare poteris intricaturas, ut vere haec omnia Angelica potius quam humana diligentia jam asseveraveris esse composita. Haec equidem quanto frequentius et diligentius intueor, semper quasi novis obstupeo, semperque magis ac magis admiranda conspicio" (_Topogr. Hib._, ii. 38, pag. 730).
Even the continental libraries retain many Scriptural monuments of the Irish Church, though the designation of Anglo-Saxon MSS. commonly given to them, has withdrawn them from that careful investigation which they otherwise would have obtained from our antiquarians: such are, for instance, the Psalter of St. Ouen, at Rouen; the Gospels of St. Gatien, at Tours; of Mac Regol, at Oxford; of St. Germain de Pres; besides the Book of St. Chad, and many others mentioned by Westwood in his _Palaeographia Sacra_ (London, 1845). The Gospels of St. Boniface, in Fulda, are now generally supposed to have come from the Irish school: and equally venerable are the _Evangelia_ of St. Kilian, still preserved in Wuerzburg. The last page of this precious text is tinged with the blood of this great Irish martyr, and on his festival (8th July) it is still solemnly exposed upon the altar during the celebration of the Holy Mysteries (See _Appendix A_ to Report on the _Foedera_, published by the Record Commission, for a long notice and fac-simile of the writing of this MS.). In Italy, the Book of St. Silas is preserved in his tomb at Lucca; a fragment of St. Caimin's _Psalter_ may be seen in Rome; and St. Cathaldus's Gospels are enclosed in his shrine at Tarento. The library of St. Gall, in Switzerland, possessed for centuries many old Irish manuscripts, amongst which are mentioned by Von Arx, "_Quatuor Evangelia; Evang. S. Joannis; Epistolae S. Pauli; liber Prophetarum_; et plura fragmenta", all which are styled _Codicis Scottici_ in a catalogue of the ninth century (_Monumenta Germ. Historica._ tom. 2, pag. 66 et 78). The monastery of Bobbio, however, was distinguished above all others for the richness of its store of manuscripts: it was founded by Irish Religious in the seventh century, and for a long subsequent period was the great literary mart of North Italy, and a cherished resort of Irish pilgrims. From the present of books made to this monastery by an Irish ecclesiastic named Dungall, we may judge how abundant were the Biblical treasures of our island before the tenth century. The ancient list of these books is published by Muratori, and it comprises not only the _Evangelium plenarium_, and _Psalterium_, and other Books of Scripture, but also the commentaries of Origen, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St. Gregory the Great, St. Ambrose, Bede, Cassiodorus, and Albinus; the poems of Fortunatus, Paulinus, Arator, Prudentius, and Juvencus; the Ecclesiastical History of Hegesippus; and one work with the curious title, "librum quendam Latine Scotaicae linguae", which probably means a treatise in Latin on the Irish language (See Muratori, _Antiqq. Ital._, iii. 818). Such collections of books, once so abundant in our island, were deliberately pillaged and destroyed, first by the pagan Danes, and again by the Protestant maligners of our country, under Henry VIII. and Elizabeth. In a preceding article, "The See of Cork", we have given a specimen of the Scriptural books preserved in an humble Franciscan convent in Youghal in 1490; and Dr. Reeves, in his Essay on the Culdees, gives us a short notice of another Irish library in the twelfth century, in which the Gospels and copies of other portions of the Sacred Scripture hold their usual place (_Transact. of R. I. A._, Dublin, 1864, pag. 249). Even during the sad era of the desolation of our island, from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, the labours of Irishmen on the continent in illustrating the sacred text, won for them a distinguished fame; whilst the testimonies collected by Boerner (_Le Long_, ii. 369) further prove that at home a version of the Sacred Scripture into the Irish language was achieved long before the so called Reformation, being generally attributed to Richard Fitzralph, Archbishop of Armagh, who died in 1360. We must be pardoned, if, as we fear, we dwelt too long on the venerable monuments of our early Church.
England next claims our attention. Forty years ago a member of its Established Church did not hesitate to write that during the Catholic ages, "the Bible was a sealed Book ... there is good reason for believing that the great mass of men never heard that such a book was in existence" (Soames' _Hist. of Reformation in England_). Yet surely it was not so in the ages of Bede and Alcuin. The holy Caedmon presented to his contemporaries an Anglo-Saxon metrical paraphrase of the Bible, a portion of which we have seen translated into English and re-issued from the press in our own days. Fragments of many other Anglo-Saxon versions have also been preserved, some of which bear the classic names of _Bede_, _Athelstan_, _Aeldred_, _Aelfric_, and King Alfred. The publication of these works has long engaged the attention of our antiquarians, from the early edition by Marshall, in 1665, to that of Dr. Thorpe, in 1842. After the Norman Conquest, French and Latin were for three centuries the literary languages of England; no sooner, however, was the English language formed, than we find it employed in presenting to the faithful the teaching of the inspired volume. An old MS. in the Imperial Library of Vienna commemorates an exposition of the Gospels in the writer's possession, "in vetustissimo Anglico, quod vix aliquis hominum jam viventium sufficienter intelligeret" (_Appendix A to Record Commission Report_, pag. 232). Usher in his day referred the first English version to the year 1290. Trevisa, who died before 1360, also translated "Biblia Sacra in vernaculam", as Anthony Wood informs us (_Antiq. Oxon._, ii. 95). It was only some years later that Wicleff's version appeared; and though some English writers refer it to 1367, the German Rationalist, Reuss, marks its date as 1380 (_Die Gesch. der Heilig. Schriften_, Brunswick, 1853). For an interesting and detailed account of the more recent Catholic translations in English, we must refer to the learned _General Introduction to the Sacred Scriptures_ (Dublin, 1852) by our venerated Primate. At present it will suffice to mention one which is but little known to English biblical readers. It was the work of an Irish Priest, the Rev. Cornelius Nary, who, whilst administering the Parish of St. Michan's in the city of Dublin, found leisure to compose several valuable treatises, and especially to translate the New Testament from the Latin Vulgate, comparing it with the original Greek, and with several ancient translations into other languages. This version was printed in 1718: a few years later the author's name was on the list of those presented to the Holy See by the chapter of Dublin, when soliciting a successor to their deceased Bishop, Dr. Edward Murphy; he died full of years, deeply lamented by his spiritual children, in 1738.
Much might be said on the many versions which were made throughout the continent during the ante-Reformation period. In the French language there is extant a version of the books of _Kings_ and _Maccabees_, which is referred by Le Long to the eleventh century. Several MSS. of the Psalms are also still preserved, which are placed by Wharton as early as the twelfth century, and Hallam in express terms attests that "we find translations of the _Psalms_, _Job_, _Kings_, and the _Maccabees_, into French, in the eleventh or twelfth century". Guyars de Moulins, a priest and canon of St. Pierre d'Aire, about the year 1290, translated into French and completed the _Historia Sacra_ of Peter Comestor. This work is not, as Horne describes it, "a popular abstract of sacred history", but comprises the historical and moral books of the Old and New Testament; and we have said that de Moulins completed the work of Comestor, because his version embraces the whole of the sacred writings of the Old and New Testament. It was not, however, a mere translation of the Sacred Scripture; here and there notes and commentaries are added, and these are found to vary in several MSS., as if they were inserted to suit the various controversies which arose in the French Church. The first printed text was the New Testament, which was published in folio, in Lyons, in 1478, being translated into French by two Augustinian friars, Julian Macho and Pierre Farget. A copy of this edition is still preserved in the public library of Leipsic (_Reuss_, pag. 446). The version of de Moulins was very soon after also printed in a quarto edition, whilst its _Editio Princeps_, carefully revised by Jean de Rely, afterwards Bishop of Angers, was published in Paris under the auspices of Charles VIII., in 1487. It passed through fourteen other editions in Paris and Lyons alone, before the year 1546. We may also refer to this ante-Reformation period the version of James Le Fevre, of Estables, who is better known by his Latin name of Faber Hapulensis, and who undertook a new translation of the Bible in 1512. This work, especially with the corrections of the Louvain divines, acquired considerable popularity, and more than forty different editions of it appeared before the year 1700. Even before any French Protestant version of the Sacred Scripture appeared, another French Catholic translation was made by Nicholas de Leuse, a doctor of Louvain, and was printed at Antwerp in 1534. The first Protestant version was published at Neufchatel in the following year.
Perhaps in Germany at least, the native land of Protestantism, the holy Bible was a sealed book to the children of the Catholic Church? No, it was far otherwise. As early as the tenth century Notker Albulus, abbot of the monastery of St. Gallus, translated into German the book of _Psalms_; and a century later most of the other inspired books were translated by William of Ebersberg, in Bavaria, and other religious whose names have not been handed down to us (_Reuss_, pag. 439). In the succeeding centuries several other translations appeared, so much so, that the author of the Cologne version, printed in 1480, was able to affirm in his preface that he availed himself "of a variety of different versions, which were made and circulated both in Lower and Upper Germany, before printing came into use". The first printed German Bible issued from the Mentz press in two volumes in folio about 1462. Other editions seem to have followed soon after; for, in the next earliest edition which is now known, viz., that of Augsburg, in 1477, the editor was able to commend the accuracy of his version, and eulogize it "prae omnibus aliis antea impressis Bibliis Germanicis". So rapid was the diffusion of the printed text, that from 1477 to 1490, this city of Augsburg alone gave five different editions. The city of Nuremberg gave proofs of equal fecundity, having published distinct editions in 1477, 1480, and 1483. The editor of this last edition laid claim to special elegance of type and accuracy of text, "prae omnibus antea impressis Germanicis purius, clarius, et verius"; and, it would seem, justly, for David Clement, who examined the edition, thus describes it: "I saw that magnificent edition in the library of the Duchess of Nuremberg; the paper, the ornamented letters, the illuminated figures so well drawn and engraved around, all so delightful to behold, giving a most pleasing idea of the degree of perfection to which the art of printing had already arrived, and this only thirty years after the invention of movable types". The other chief cities of Germany, Cologne, Lubeck, Halberstadt, Strasburg, and Mentz, had also their distinct editions; and before the year 1500--that is to say, many years before the appearance of Lutheranism--thirty editions of the entire Scriptures were in circulation in the vernacular language of Germany.
We will give but a rapid glance at the versions of Poland, Spain, and Bohemia, that we may be able to devote more space to one country which is especially dear to every Catholic heart. The first Polish version was made about 1390, by order of St. Hedwige, wife of the famous Duke of Lithuania who was chosen king under the name of Ladislaus IV. About the same time a second translation is said to have been made by Andrew Jassowitz. Another version of the Psalter, and a fragment of a translation of the Old Testament made in 1455, are commemorated by Graesse in his _Litter. Hist._, v. 484. Translations of the Bible into Spanish are spoken of by the national writers, during the reign of James I. of Arragon, in the thirteenth century, and again under John II. of Leon, about 1440. The first printed edition appeared in 1478, and another edition, of 1515, is referred by Graesse (loc. cit.) to a Carthusian monk, named Boniface Ferrer. As regards Bohemia, MM. Schaffarik and Palacky commemorate a translation of the Gospel of St. John, made as early as the tenth century (_Boehm. Denkm._, an. 1840). A Bohemian Psalter bears date 1396. Huss in one of his controversial tracts speaks of the New Testament as already extant in the Bohemian language. The translation of the whole Bible into Bohemian was achieved at Dresden in 1410, as Dobrowsky proves (_Slovanka_, Th. 2), and we find printed editions at Prague in 1488, at Cutna in 1498, and at Venice in 1506 and 1511. Even Denmark had its translation of the Sacred Scriptures, and a version of the historical books of the Old Testament was made in 1470, as Molbek and Grimm inform us.
If, however, the Catholic Church were hostile to the sacred Scriptures, we should naturally suppose that in Italy, at least, little enthusiasm should have been displayed in the diffusion of the Bible in the vulgar tongue; for Italy was more immediately subject to the influence of the Holy See; in its centre stood the capital of the universal Catholic world--the new Jerusalem of the Church--the See of Peter. Nevertheless, of all European countries, Italy was, perhaps, the most remarkable for the diffusion of the sacred text during the ante-Reformation period. Jacopo de Voragine, Bishop of Genoa, who died in 1298, was the first to translate the Scriptures into the Italian tongue, and thus his version dates before Dante and the other great masters of the language. New translations by Nicholas de Neritono, of the Dominican Order, Pietro Arighetto, Cavalca, and others, followed soon after; and so rapid was the diffusion of the sacred text, that, as Lamy informs us, the archives of Florence alone contain forty manuscripts belonging to the fourteenth century, all presenting various portions of the Bible in the Italian tongue (_De Eruditione App._, page 308, _seqq._). The discovery of the art of printing was hailed in Italy with special delight. Sweynheyne and Paunartz, under the auspices of Cardinal Cusa, hastened thither with the newly-found treasure, and Rome was the first city that welcomed them within its walls. Various editions of the Bible, the classics, and the Fathers, soon appeared; indeed, before the year 1500, almost every city of Italy had one or more printing presses in operation, but, above all, the names of the great Benedictine monastery of Subiaco, and the "Palazzo Massimi" in Rome, record to posterity the religious patronage and princely munificence which welcomed the German artists to the divinely favoured patrimony of the successors of St. Peter.
Three editions of the Bible in the Italian tongue appeared in the year 1471. The first bears the name of Nicholas Malermi, a religious of the Order of Camaldoli. The closing words of the Second volume fix its precise date: "Impresso fu questo volume nel l'alma patria de Venetia nell' anno de la salutifera incarnatione del Figliolo de l'eterno et omnipotente Dio, MCCCCLXXI, in Kalende di Augusto per Vendelino Spira". This version was subsequently repeated in new editions, and is still esteemed for the purity of its language, being described by the latest writer on this subject as written. "vel miglior secolo della nostra lingua" (Vercellone, _Dissert. Roma_, 1864, pag. 100). The Second Venetian edition of 1471, was printed "per Nicolo Jenson in calende di Ottobre", and by some inexperienced modern observers was supposed to be merely a reprint of the former text: it is, however, quite distinct, and the best judges of the present day are of opinion that this version is from the pen of Cavalca, a Tuscan writer of the golden age, who flourished in the fourteenth century. It is cited 160 times in the last edition of the Crusca (Florence, 1843), under the title _Volgarizzamento di Pistole e di Vangeli_, and some manuscripts of it are extant, which date back to the close of the fourteenth century (Curioni, "_Sui due Primi Volgarizzamenti_", etc., Milan, 1847; and Sorio in _Archiv. Eccles._ Firenze, 1864, vol. i. pag. 297). A. third Italian version appeared in Rome in the same month of October, 1471, in two volumes folio: many writers have described it as the version of Malermi; but Maffei, who diligently compared both texts, pronounced it to be a distinct and independent version. No fewer than eleven complete editions of these several versions appeared before the year 1500, and more than forty editions are reckoned before the appearance of the first Protestant edition of the Bible in the Italian language. Some of these editions, too, deserve the name of distinct versions, on account of various alterations and improvements made in the text, and all appeared under ecclesiastical sanction; thus, for instance, an edition of Venice, in 1477, bears the name of "Fratre Marino del Ordine di Predicatori, de la sacra pagina professore umile".
An entirely new translation from the original text was made by Sanctes Marmoschini in 1538, and was reprinted in 1546. Another translation, which appeared in 1547, was remarkable for its poetical version of _Job_ and the _Psalms_. The translation of Antonio Bruccioli attracted still more attention. It was made "de la Hebraica verita", and was ushered in under the patronage of the French monarch, Francis I., in the month of May 1532.
From that date to 1552, twelve editions of this version appeared; but, though, remarkable for its Tuscan dialect, it was inaccurate in many passages, for which reason it was condemned by the Council of Trent. The first Protestant Italian Bible was printed in Geneva as late as 1562, and was little more than a reprint of Bruccioli's version. About fifty years later Diodati's Bible appeared, which is rather a Calvinistic paraphrase than a version; nevertheless, this corruption of Holy Writ has for two centuries held its place as the great Protestant standard of orthodoxy. Even in later times the Catholic Church has presented a new and accurate Italian version to her children, and Anthony Martini, Archbishop of Florence, by the accuracy of his translation, the purity of his style, and his admirable explanatory notes, merited the congratulations and approval of the illustrious Pontiff Pius VI.: "Beloved Son", writes this great Pope, "at a time when vast numbers of bad books are being circulated, most grossly attacking the Catholic Church, to the great destruction of souls, you have judged exceeding well in exhorting the faithful to the reading of the Holy Scriptures; for these are most abundant sources, whence every one ought to be in a position to draw purity of morals and of doctrine, and to eradicate the errors which are so widely disseminated in these corrupt times. This you have seasonably accomplished, publishing the sacred writing in the language of your country, to be understood by all, especially as you declare that you have added explanatory notes, which, being extracted from the Holy Fathers, preclude every possible danger of abuse, etc. Given at Rome on the calends of April, 1778".
Thus, then, so far from the Church being the enemy of the Bible, she was its watchful guardian, and ever cherished it as a sacred treasure. When heresy introduced corruption into the inspired volume, and substituted the word of man for the Word of God, the pastors of the Catholic fold fearlessly raised their voice, and warned the faithful of the snares which were laid for them. When enemies had poisoned the life-giving stream, the Church permitted not her children to drink the deadly draught. But in no country, and at no period, was the Catholic Church the enemy of the Bible; never was its sacred text a sealed book to the faithful; but, on the contrary, the pastors of the Church, the divinely constituted guardians of the inspired writings, were ever zealous in promoting the study of their sacred truths, and in "disseminating the knowledge of God's written word".
We now take leave of the learned Earl of Clancarty. Would it be too much to expect from his candour that he would withdraw the statement which he has made, since, as we have seen, when viewed historically, it is false and groundless in itself, whilst at the same time it outrages the feelings of the whole Catholic Irish nation?
THE SOCIAL MISSION OF THE CHURCH.
The social mission of the Christian Church is a subject to which none can be indifferent. For eighteen centuries and a half the career of the Church has remained unchanged; and amid the revolutions of nations and the migrations of tribes and peoples, her social mission has ever been to educate, to civilize, and to elevate humanity. The civilization of the east had languished into decay, the greatness of Greece was merged in the universal empire of Rome, and the east and the west groaned under the despotism of the Caesars. When this new and strange power appeared upon the earth it was a power insignificant in appearance, and far beneath even the contempt of the haughty emperors; yet that little society, these few poor and despised Galileans were destined to crush the colossus of Paganism, and to erect upon its ruins an empire more extended than that of Rome, and a civilization more refined and more enlightened than that of Egypt or of Greece. These few ignorant men were to purify the philosophy of Greece, to humble the greatness of Rome, to arrest the wandering tribes of the desert and the savage hordes of the north, to civilize them and to lead them within the pale of the Christian Church; slavery was to retire before her influence; the dark clouds of ignorance and barbarism were to be dispelled by her light; and arts, learning, and civilization were to flourish under the shadow of her patronage. Her hands were full of gifts to men; to the slave she was the herald of freedom, to the ignorant she was the bearer of knowledge, and to all she was the teacher of a pure and elevated morality, unknown to the pagan world. Such was the social mission of the Christian Church; how nobly has she fulfilled it!
In three centuries, after persecutions the most dire, the Christian Church won her way from the gloom of the catacombs to the imperial throne of Rome. The hand of power sought to check her progress, but in vain; the sword of persecution raised against her fell from the hand of the tyrant; the insidious breath of heresy could not corrupt her purity, nor the splendid teachings of Athens or Alexandria draw her from her sublime mission of truth. She consoled the slave, she cheered and strengthened the martyr, she elevated and purified all; she struggled with Paganism--with its profane and captivating rites--with its proud philosophy and its millions of refined and luxurious votaries. She won disciples from every grade, and class, and nation, until Christianity became the national religion of the proud and persecuting empire of the Caesars. But now, that very empire which the Church has won is tottering to ruin; new difficulties beset her, and a new mission awaits her. The Goth, the Hun, and the Vandal have seized on the richest provinces of Rome. Her cities lie in ruins, her temples are profaned, and Europe seems again fast sinking into hopeless barbarism; the clash of arms and the yell of triumph has silenced the voice of civilization, and the jargon of her rude conquerors startles the ear in the very streets of Rome; streams of human population pour in from the northern nations--they extinguish the Roman power, and carry into the heart of Europe new traditions, a new mythology, new habits of thought, and new principles of action. And whilst the north was thus violently convulsed by the crash of the western empire, the south was not less violently agitated by the rising greatness of the Saracen. From the Atlantic to the Pacific the sway of Omar extended; and many were the cities ruined, and many were the literary monuments destroyed by these untamed children of the desert. In such perils what is able to save--what spirit could brood over this social chaos and breathe into it order and beauty--what power could move in the track of the desolating host, could collect the half ruined fragments of classic art and construct them again into a still more beautiful temple of learning? What influence could wean that lawless race from the wild ways of rapine and the degrading vices of savage life, and make them rival and excel the polished Roman in all the arts and accomplishments of civilized life? The Church alone could arrest the onward march of barbarism, and restore social order; with prophetic glance she seemed conscious of the perils that beset her, and prepared to overcome them. Augustine, Jerome, Hilary, and Prosper, the last expiring lights of the past civilization, were the devoted children of the Church. In the sixth century, when the schools of the empire were closed, her monasteries were the sole sanctuaries of learning. In them she studied and taught, and opposed an organised resistance to the despotism of the sword, whilst her secular clergy acted, governed, and preserved external order. In this century St. Remus preached with a classic purity, and Avitus of Vienne, the Milton of the Church, sang of the creation and the fall in the thrilling accents of genius. In this period appeared Cesarius of Arles, Gregory of Tours, and Fortunatus of Poitiers, whose learning shed a light upon their age, and whose works marked the birth of a new literature purely ecclesiastical. The learning and sanctity of our own Church relieved the darkness of the seventh century. Columbanus awakened a new spirit in the French Church, he arrested the march of barbarism in southern Germany, and perpetuated the study of antiquity among his numerous disciples. The eighth century marked a new era in letters; Charlemagne and the Church vied with each other; Bede and Bennett adorned England; the Carlovingian schools were organized under the genius of Alcuin, and over the wide dominions of Charlemagne an impulse was given to learning which was felt for centuries. By her Popes, her councils, and her bishops, the Church ever laboured to diffuse knowledge amongst her people. With a willing obedience her monastic institutions responded to her call, and during the eleventh and twelfth centuries awakened a literary activity from the Tiber to the Atlantic. The wonders of the press were yet unknown, but the simple, learned, and laborious monk plied his daily task, and rivalled the press in the extent, variety, and beauty of his labours. These venerable institutions, so often the scorn of the ignorant, were rapidly multiplied over the whole continent of Europe; Clugny and Citeaux spring into life, and each becomes a school of knowledge, a centre of civilization, and a prolific nursery of saintly and learned men. Let the sceptic on this point read Mabillon's book on monastic studies, in reply to De Rance, the venerable Abbot of La Trappe; let him examine the collection of manuscripts found in the eight hundred monasteries visited by Martini in his literary tours; let him look at the contents of the fourteen volumes folio, compiled by Martini and the illustrious band who accompanied him in his antiquarian researches through the monasteries of central Europe; let him glance at the Titan labours of Mabillon, Montfaucon, and the Benedictines of St. Maur; and then let him dilate on the stupidity and ignorance of the monks of the "dark ages". Thus, by the zeal of the Church, and her monks and her missioners, the Christian faith was again spread over Europe, Saxon England was reconquered to the Church, Clovis and his people entered her fold, Germany was won over to her empire, and the fierce children of the north everywhere bowed to her yoke. Their minds, filled with the dim shadows of their native traditions and the bloody deeds of their ancestors, became awakened to all the beauties of Christianity; they yielded to the softening influence of the more genial climate of their conquered home, they cast off the bonds of their gloomy superstition, they entered the Church, and under her guidance they became the founders of the nations and the authors of the mediaeval and modern literature of Europe. The Church moulded with the same skilful hand the sternness and energy of the north, and the more soft and imaginative races of the south, and united the fierce worshippers of Thor with the followers of the giddy Genii of the east, in one grand struggle for the glory of their common creed. She summoned the spirit of chivalry, then in its youthful vigour; she excited a glow of religious enthusiasm that set Europe in a flame; she appealed to the spirit of warlike enterprise, and gathered round her standard that group, who, quitting home, country, and friends, arose at the call of Urban, and put on the badge of the crusader. Yes, the crusades are a great fact in the history of modern civilization; they stilled the voice of domestic strife, which had been productive of so much evil; they united, elevated, and consecrated the chivalry of Europe, and exhibited to the world the power and the glory of religion. These were days of great excitement and of rapid progress; this was the age of the growth and ascendancy of the scholastic philosophy. The Arabic empire of Spain was in its meridian glory. It was in this age Peter preached, and the Cross was raised at Clermont, and Godfrey and Boemond rushed to the liberation of the sacred city. It was in this age the glorious Hildebrand laboured so successfully to eject feudal influence from the sanctuary, to abolish the baneful right of lay investiture, and to give to the Church ministers worthy of their sublime duties. It was in these days the Italian cities were fostered by the protection of the Papal power, and the leagued towns of Germany under their bishops; and the municipal councils were breaking down feudal tyranny, and opening to the peasant mind the path to political and literary distinction, which they have since so nobly trod. In the ninth century Hamburg was the stronghold of tyranny; in the eleventh and twelfth centuries this same city was the nucleus of a great confederation which for centuries influenced the destinies of Europe. In the thirteenth century the spirit of Bernard and Hildebrand was again revived. The genius, the sanctity, the learning, and the courage of Innocent III. guided the destinies of the Church. Rodolph, with the Cross for his sceptre, ruled in Germany; St. Louis governed France; Spain gloried in Alphonso and Ferdinand, and in the victories of Seville and Tolosa; and England, under a Cardinal of the Roman Church, wrung from her king the charter of her rights. This was the age of St. Francis and St. Dominick; of Albertus and St. Thomas, of Bacon and Bonaventure. In these days Oxford boasted of her thirty thousand students; twenty-five thousand trod the halls of Paris; and ten thousand read law at Bologna. Never was there an age more glorious than this age of Christian faith; glorious in great deeds and historic names; glorious in learning and life of the universities with which the Church had studded Europe; glorious in a noble Christian art and architecture; and glorious too in the sublime genius of its poets. And all these great movements, intellectual and social, all pregnant with such grand results for the happiness and enlightenment of mankind, and for the future greatness and civilization of the nations of Europe, were originated and guided to success by the genius of the Catholic Church. The Church was that mysterious power that moulded the nations, and influenced the social condition of successive generations over the whole continent. In the lawless ages of rapine and violence she stood between the tyrant and his victim, and restrained the excesses of feudalism by the sword of her spiritual authority. She was ever the protector of the weak, and the defender of rational liberty. In the words of an eloquent Protestant writer, "The Church was the great bulwark of order, she perpetuated justice and light, and fought the battle of civilization and freedom. The feudal castle could not screen the oppressor of the poor from her vengeance, nor the kingly diadem save the tyrant of his people from her stern maledictions; the Church presided over mediaeval society; her Pontiff reigned with an universal sway, with which the grateful suffrage of Europe invested him; and never was human power exercised with more justice or with more glorious results for the welfare of humanity". And this is the Church which her enemies would shamelessly brand as hostile to the diffusion of knowledge; this the Church that would restrain the freedom of human thought, perpetuate ignorance, and dwarf the intellect of man; the Church of Nicholas, of Leo, and of Benedict; the Church that presided over the revival of Greek learning, and saved the decaying fragments of classic genius; the Church that before the sixteenth century founded fifty-eight universities in Europe, and from her poverty encouraged learning with a munificence which should shame the nations of our day! The Catholic Church cultivated the mind of Petrarch, she inspired the genius of Dante, and listened to the thrilling tones of Ariosto. Calderon was her child, and Tasso loved to linger in her capital. Yes, this is the Church that would dwarf the human intellect! Gothic architecture is her own creation, and the glories of Italian art were developed in the shadow of the Vatican. The palace of Nicholas and of Leo was the temple of learning, and the gifted of every nation flocked to the city of the pontiffs to live in the smile of his favour and on the munificence of his bounty. In his presence the poet felt a new inspiration, the sculptor breathed life into the marble, and the magic pencil of Italy imparted to its matchless productions a more than divine beauty. The same ear that was charmed with the strains of Ariosto could listen with approval to the researches of Flavio or the sublime theories of Copernicus. The Pope during the middle ages was the great high priest of literature, of science and of art, enthroned by the suffrage of Europe; the learned of the age paid to him the tribute of their grateful affection; and the office of his secretary was for centuries regarded as the prize of genius, which the first scholars of the age claimed as the reward of their intellectual greatness.
LITURGICAL QUESTIONS.
Our reverend correspondents on liturgical subjects will hold us excused if we are not able to answer the several questions kindly forwarded to us, as we deem it our duty, in compliance with the request of several friends, to treat of some questions in connection with the ceremonies of Holy Week, which may be deemed useful for the guidance of the clergy in carrying on the solemn functions of that week.
The following questions have been proposed:
1. Can a low Mass be said on the three last days of Holy Week?
2. Can a low Mass be said on Holy Thursday or on Holy Saturday?
3. What is to be done in the country parishes where there is not a sufficient number of priests to have high Mass, and where the other ceremonies cannot be observed?
In reply to the first question we beg to say that low Masses are strictly forbidden on the three last days of Holy Week. When there is a sufficient number of priests, the rubrics require that a solemn high Mass be celebrated, and in those churches not having a sufficient number of priests for high Mass the Memoriale Rituum of Benedict XIII. must be used, which prescribes certain solemnities to be observed by one priest, and requires that he be attended by at least three clerics in surplices, in performing the functions of Holy Week. This ceremonial of Benedict XIII. is to be observed only in case there is a deficiency of priests, and hence it presupposes that a solemn Mass is to be said with deacon and sub-deacon when they can be had, as the Memoriale Rituum was published by order of Benedict XIII. solely with the view of enabling the clergy in the smaller churches to carry out the ceremonies of Holy Week, and accordingly, in reply to various questions as to private Masses on those three days, we find that the answer invariably was, that the ceremonies were to be carried out "servata forma parvi Ritualis S. M. Benedicti XIII., ann. 1725, jussu editi".
2. Thus the following answer was given by the Sacred Congregation of Rites (4904):
1. "An in Ecclesiis Parochialibus in quibus nullus extat clerus sed solum Parochus, possit vel debeat iste facere Benedictionem Candelarum, Cinerum, Palmarum, novi ignis, Cerei Paschalis, Fontis Baptismalis et coeterorum hujusmodi, necnon instituere officium Feriae quintae in Coena Domini et Feriae sextae in Parasceve sine cantu et solum privata voce prout celebratur Missa privata?
"Ad 1. Servetur parvum Caeremoniale a sa. me. Benedicto Papa XIII. ad hoc editum. Die 23, Maii, 1846".
This applies to the last three days of Holy Week; but can a low Mass be said on one of these days, such as Holy Thursday? There are innumerable decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Rites on this subject, and it would be impossible to quote all: we shall give one or two. Thus on the 31st August, 1839, the question was proposed:
"An in Ecclesiis ubi Functiones Majoris hebdomadae fieri nequeunt, Feria quinta celebrari possit Missa lecta. Negative".
And again:
1. "An toleranda sit consuetudo vigens in quibusdam paroeciis, praesertim in ruralibus celebrandi per parochum Missam lectam Feria V. in Coena Domini quin peragi valeant eadem Feria, et sequenti coeterae Ecclesiasticae functiones praescriptae ob clericorum defectum, vel potius obolenda.
* * * * *
3. "An ad eliminandos abusus, siqui irrepserint, sit consulendum Sanctissimo pro revocatione cujuscumque Indulti celebrandi privatim eamdem Missam, (idest in Sabbato Sancto) firmo tamem remanente singulari privilegio aliquibus Ecclesiis, peculiaribus attentis circumstantiis, concesso unam vel alteram Missam lectam celebrandi post unicam solemnem de die?
"Ad. 1. Affirmative et ad mentem: mens est ut locorum ordinarii quoad Paroecias in quibus haberi possunt tres, quatuorve saltem Clerici Sacras Functiones Feriis V. et VI. ac Sabbato majoris hebdomadae peragi studeant, servata forma parvi Ritualis S. M. Benedicti XIII. anno 1725, jussu editi; Quoad alias paroecias quae Cleris destituuntur, indulgere valeant ob populi commoditatem, ut Parochi (petita quotannis venia) Feria V. in Coena Domini Missam lectam celebrare possint, priusquam in Cathedrali vel Matrice Conventualis incipiat. Et ad D. Secretarium cum Sanctissimo.
"Ad. 3. Affirmative juxta votum videlicet--Consulendum Sanctissimo pro revocatione cujuscumque Indulti celebrandi privatim in Sabbato Sancto, firmo tamen singulari privilegio aliquibus Ecclesiis, peculiaribus attentis circumstantiis, concesso, unam vel alteram Missam lectam celebrandi post unicam Solemnem de die prout in dubio, Die 28 Julii, 1821".
With reference to the first decision, it is to be remarked, how the observance of the Memoriale Rituum is inculcated, and that even in case the clerics cannot be had, the parish priest cannot celebrate a low Mass unless he gets permission to do so from the bishop each year (petita quotannis venia), and we may here observe that the only reasons which would warrant the bishop to grant permission for a low Mass on Holy Thursday, are two: first, to give an opportunity to the faithful of making their Easter Communion; and second, to give Communion to the sick. In these two circumstances the bishop can give permission for a low Mass, if he thinks it necessary, on Holy Thursday, but the parish priest, or, much less, any other priest, cannot say Mass even in these circumstances, without the permission sought and obtained every year from the bishop (venia quotannis petita).
Gardellini, in a very valuable dissertation on this decree, has the following words: "Rem tamen noluit in Parochorum ruralium arbitrio relinquere, sed demandavit ut iidem quotannis et peterent et ab episcopo celebrandi veniam obtinerent". In another passage he (Gardellini) quotes the authority of Benedict XIV., who, when Archbishop of Bologna, had granted permission to some of the parish priests to say a low Mass under the circumstances above referred to, and then he adds:
"Praeter parochum in sua parochia, si sacerdos aliquis cujuscumque conditionis aut dignitatis Missam privatam Feria quinta, sexta, ac Sabbato majoris hebdomodae celebrare ausus fuerit, ipsum graviter puniemus et a Divinis etiam interdicemus".
With regard, however, to Holy Saturday, the case is quite different. For a private Mass cannot now be celebrated on that day without a special indult from the Holy See, as appears from a decree of the 11th March, 1690:
"Firmo in reliquis remanente praedicto decreto edito die 11 Februarii nempe in Sabbato Sancto celebrationes Missarum privatarum omnino prohibentur in quibuscumque Ecclesiis et oratoriis privatis, non obstante quacumque contraria consuetudine, et unica tantum Missa Conventualis una cum officio ejusdem Sabbati sancti celebretur".
Gardellini, in his dissertation already mentioned, speaking of this decree, says:
"Quum autem hoc Decretum Summus Pontifex sua auctoritate firmaverit et ope typorum evulgari jusserit, vim habet legis universalis quae relaxari nequit nisi ab eo a quo lata est".
It is plain, therefore, that there is a great difference between Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday, as to the question of low Masses. With regard to Holy Thursday, the bishop may allow it in certain circumstances, but not so on Holy Saturday. This difference is evidenced in the fact, that if a holiday of obligation fall on Holy Thursday, it is to be observed, and some low Masses are permitted, so that the people may fulfil the precept of hearing Mass. But if the holiday fall on Holy Saturday or Good Friday, it is transferred to another day, together with the obligation of hearing Mass, and no private Masses are allowed.
We now come to the last question, which is one of a practical character, and which must be treated as such. The Memoriale Rituum lays down most distinctly all the directions for the due performance of the ceremonies in Holy Week when there is not a sufficient number of priests to carry them on with the solemnity prescribed by the Missal. In the preface it states that it was ordered by Pope Benedict XIII., and published "ut Minorum Ecclesiarum Rectores minime vel perstrictus Parochialium Clericorum numerus detineat, vel insuetorum Rituum anfractus deterreat". Hence in the same preface it charges the parish priest to instruct three or four clerics in the ceremonies, "ut sacrae actiones, si nequeant solemniter, decenter saltem peragantur". This is the first point to be attended to, namely, to appoint three or four youths and train them in the manner of performing the ceremonies. This at first may appear to cause great inconvenience and trouble, but it is well known to those who have tried the experiment how quickly well disposed youths learn such matters, and what taste they even display in arranging the altars, etc., considering the opportunities within their reach.
2. But, as far as we know, the chief difficulty which is usually made is, that they cannot do anything in the country districts in the way of singing the hymns and the psalms. This, no doubt, would be an insurmountable difficulty in many instances; but the Memoriale Rituum of Benedict XIII. does not require music or singing. It requires the priest and the youths to recite, and to do so "aequa vocum concordia" (_vide_ Memoriale Rituum). If the parish priest could have the singing, it would, of course, be most desirable and very edifying, but not at all necessary.
3. The Memoriale Rituum requires for Holy Thursday an altar set apart from the high altar at which the ceremonies are performed, which is called the altar of repose, and which is to be decorated and adorned with the greatest pomp. There is not much difficulty in complying with this particular, which is clearly pointed out by the Rubrics of the Missal; and we may here observe that we have heard with surprise that the altar of repose on Holy Thursday in some Churches is the same as the high altar, and not distinct from it, where the ceremonies could and ought to be carried out with the greatest solemnity and accuracy.
4. The Memoriale Rituum enters into many details about the function of Good Friday and Holy Saturday, and for this latter day many things are to be procured by the parish priest which are clearly laid down in the Missal and the Memoriale so often referred to. We deem it unnecessary to mention all the details, particularly as while we are writing on these subjects we have been favoured with a copy of a letter of his Grace the Archbishop of Dublin to the clergy of his diocese, which we annex here as confirming our views on these points, and also as a summary of what we have been stating in this article.
PAULUS,
_Dei et Apostolicae sedis gratia, Archiepiscopus Dublinensis, etc., Venerabili Clero Dublinensi Tam Saeculari quam Regulari_.
Maximi momenti esse ut leges ecclesiasticae ad sacras caeremonias peragendas spectent, accuratissime observentur, nemo est qui ignoret. Itaque, cum Nobis relatum fuerit in quibusdum hujus dioecesis Ecclesiis quasdam leges rituales praecipue ad hebdomadam sanctam spectantes, diversam et variam interpretationem accipere, adeoque in omnibus eandem disciplinam non vigere, cum que maximopere optandum sit ut non tantum idem spiritus sed et eadem agendi ratio ubique servetur, nostrim uneris esse existimavimus pauca quaedam que ad unitatem promovendam opportuna videntur, in omnium memoriam revocare, non quasi nova aliqua decernentes, sed eo tantum fine ut quam accuratissime Ecclesiae leges jam latae observentur. Haec vero sunt quae ab omnibus servari volumus:--
1mo. In oratoriis domesticis, missa celebranda non est in Feria Quinta in Coena Domini, neque in duobus sequentibus diebus, neque in die Paschatis.
2do. In Feria quinta praedicta, unica tantum celebrandi est Missa in singulis Ecclesiis, quae solemnis aut conventualis esse debet. In ea vero Missa clerus qui ad ecclesiam spectat, Communionem inter Missarum solemnia a manu celebrantis recipere debet, juxta veterem et constantem Ecclesiae usum.
3tio. Altare in quo reponendum est SS. Sacramentum, quod Feria Sexta in Missa Praesanctificatorum sumi debet a celebrante, omni cura ornandum est. Caeterum, Sacra Hostia includenda est in capsula, seu in sepulchro, ut vulgo dicitur, quod clave a sacerdote custodienda claudi debet, nec licet sacram Hostiam ita exponere ut videatur a fidelibus.
4to. In die Sabbati Sancti unica tantum celebrari potest Missa, que solemnis esse debet, vel celebrata ad normam Caeremonialis Benedicti XIII.
5to. Monendi sunt fideles a confessariis et a Concionatoribus praeceptum quo tenentur sacram communionem tempore paschali recipere, adimpleri non posse nisi in propria cujusque Ecclesia Paroeciali, excepto casu quo habeatur dispensatio ab episcopo, vel proprio parocho.
6to. Die Paschatis, in Ecclesiis, quae paroeciales non sunt, vetitum omnino est Sacram Communionem fidelibus dispensare, sive privatim, sive publice.
7to. Quod vero spectat ad eos qui vivunt in communitate, ut, e.g., in Conventibus et Monasteriis, in Collegiis et Seminariis ecclesiasticis, Communionem Paschalem tam ipsi quam eorum famuli, in propriis sacellis aut ecclesiis sumere possunt.
8to. In singulis Ecclesiis paroecialibus Sabbato Sancto benedicendi sunt fontes baptismales secundum ritum in Missali Romano praescriptum.
9to. Vetera Olea ad eos benedicendos adhibenda non sunt; quare, omnibus cavendum est, ut nova olea die antecedenti, ad eum finem petant. Olea vero sacra a laicis deferenda non sunt, sed a Sacerdotibus, a quibus etiam diligenter in loco tuto et clave obserrato semper custodienda sunt.
10to. Si qua in Ecclesia plures Sacerdotes ad sacras caeremonias peragendas haberi non possint, et unicus tantum adsit, servari debet, in hac hebdomada sancta ceremoniale editum jussu Benedicti XIII., pro minoribus ecclesiis, quod nuper in hac urbe in lucem prodiit ex typographia Domini Jacobi Duffy.
11mo. Organa quae pulsantur dum cantatur Gloria in excelsis in Missa Feriae Quintae in Coena Domini, silere postea debent donec initium fiat ejusdem hymni angelici in Missa Sabbati Sancti.
12mo. Campana silere eodem temporis spatio omnino debent.
Caeterum, omnes Parochos et Ecclesiarum Regularium Superiores in Domino rogamus ut, ea que hic praescripta sunt, quam accuratissime observari curent, atque eo zelo quo pro gloria Dei et disciplinae ecclesiasticae observantia flagrant, operam diligentissime navent, ut non solum in hac Sacra Hebdomade, verum etiam per totius anni curriculum, omnes sacrae caeremoniae et ritus ab Ecclesia sanciti, ea qua convenit dignitate et decore, qui domum Dei decet, peragantur.
[+] PAULUS CULLEN.
_Dat. Dublini, Die 5 Aprilis, 1857._
DOCUMENTS.