THE FAHERS OF THE DESERT

CHRISTIAN WORSHIP.

 

DURING the last and terrible persecution, which is called the persecution of Diocletian, because it was begun by that emperor, although it continued to rage many years after his abdication, innumerable churches were destroyed or laid waste. Their restoration and solemn public dedication was the cause of much holy rejoicing on the part of the Christians. For not only did the population of each place, with their bishop and clergy, thankfully and joyfully celebrate this great festival, but crowds of the sympathising faithful poured in from all sides, and bishops from the neighbouring dioceses, and sometimes even from great distances, hastened thither to take part in it. Now, what was the real cause of all this interest? What was the joy which united all these hearts? Is a magnificent building, are marble pillars and golden chalices, even though they be destined to noble uses, are they worthy of such rejoicings? Oh, no; the real reason is widely different.

In the portion of the Apocalypse, which is annually read at Mass on the feast of the consecration of the church, it is said, "Behold the tabernacle of God with men, and He will dwell with them." And in the gospel for the same day, "He was gone to be a guest with a man that was a sinner." It was this, it was the faith in the mystery of the Real Presence of God in the Holy Eucharist in the midst of sinners, the faith in the hidden and gracious life and tarrying of God with the children of men. Hence the churches were holy and solemn places, and men looked upon them as truly the houses of God, because He Himself descended upon the altar in order to be near to help His redeemed, but yet so feeble children.

The hearts of Christians full of this faith overflowed with joy that "the hidden God," under the mystical veil of the sacred Host, took possession of the earth, and raised His Calvary and His throne on each altar. A church would be a meaningless building without the mystery of the Real Eucharistic Presence. For the fields and the woods, or the peaceful chamber, would be more fitting places in which merely to think of God or to speak of Him than a confined and empty space. But "the King of Glory entered in," and "the princes lifted up their gates," and His visible Church stepped joyfully forth from the catacombs into the adoring world. In the Real Presence and the visible Church, man found the complete satisfaction of his twofold wants as a spiritual and a corporeal being; and faith, the most sublime faculty of his soul, found its Object, and could accomplish its desire of offering to this Object the most perfect expressions of adoration. Catholic worship so immeasurably rich to the mind, so ineffably sweet to the heart, unfolded itself around the holy sacrifice of the Mass like a glorious flower out of the bud which had waited three hundred years in the catacombs for its development. Interior religion could now venture to show itself outwardly. It is soul-stirring and exciting as no other is, and must possess a thousand means of animating to the observance of the commandments in order to work upon all; for it must, n a deeper sense than that in which the great Apostle speaks of his own ministry, "become all things to all men"," and draw down the powers of a higher world upon the earth in the celebration of its mysteries. Hence this indescribable exultation in the consecration of the houses of God which were now raised again from their ruins or newly built, larger and more sumptuous than before. Eusebius gives a description of the festival held on the occasion of the consecration of the new church at Tyre, which caused a commotion in the whole of Palestine.

Tyre lies on the coast of Syria to the north of Mount Carmel, and Cesarea, the bishopric of Eusebius, to the south of it. Two or three days' journey divided the two cities, which were both full of the magnificence and luxuries collected by oriental riches and Roman love of pleasure, although Tyre had long ago lost the power she possessed in former days as the capital of the Phoenicians. Cesarea is now a gigantic heap of ruins, and in Tyre the prophecy of Isaias is fulfilled, "Thou, 0 Tyre, shalt be forgotten, that wast formerly crowned," for she has lost her very name, being called Sur. She has also a more silent and forsaken appearance than any other city on that coast, because entirely destitute of the gardens which luxuriantly and smilingly surround almost every other oriental town, causing each one to assume more or less the aspect of a bright and friendly oasis in the desert, green and shining amid the yellow sand and rocks like an emerald in a setting of gold. Such are Beyrout and Sidon on this side of Lebanon, and such beyond it is "the heavenly-scented Scham," as Damascus is named by her poets. But Tyre lies all bare and desolate on a promontory of the coast.

The riches and good taste with which the Christians built the houses of God is evident from Eusebius's description of that church. A lofty portico, which was visible from a great distance, and seemed to invite all to enter in, led into the eastern side of an open and spacious court, surrounded on all sides by covered colonnades. In the middle of the court were fountains, which served partly for ornament and the cooling of the air, and partly for ablutions. Opposite the outward portico there were three doors, the middle one very high and majestic, being the entrance into the church. The doors themselves were of bronze, beautifully and artistically ornamented. The interior of the church was divided by two rows of lofty columns into three naves, so called because they typified the bark of Peter. The middle nave, which was higher and broader than the side ones, corresponded with the largest door­way. At the other end of it, raised by a few steps, and shut off by an extremely beautiful screen, was the choir, with the altar in the centre. The wall behind it was built in a semicircle, and called the apse. The bishop's throne stood there, and the raised seats for the clergy were ranged on each side of it, all tastefully carved. The canopy was of cedar, also richly carved, and the floor was composed of slabs of marble of various colours and designs. The walls were inlaid with mosaics. Light and air penetrated within by means of windows pierced above the columns of the nave, and closed with fine lattice-work instead of glass. Lesser doors in the side aisles led into the sacristy, where the holy vessels and the priestly vestments were kept, into rooms where the catechumens were instructed, and into the baptistery where the font stood, which in those days, owing to the custom of complete immersion, was no mere vase, but a large bath sunk in the ground. The church with the buildings appertaining to it, and the court, were moreover enclosed with a wall to keep off as much as possible all worldly disturbance. With the exception of this wall, the church of St. Clement's at Rome is to this day a faithful model on a smaller scale of that church at Tyre, of which there is not a vestige left; and indeed the present form and arrangement of our churches has remained on the whole such as Eusebius described it fifteen hundred years ago.

Heathen temples, which were generally small, because not destined to contain many people at a time, were sometimes changed into Christian churches; but the large roomy buildings called Basilicas, used for the administration of justice, were more frequently taken for the purpose. Hence the name of Basilica was conferred upon all the larger churches. The usual form was the long triple nave, but the cruciform plan came gradually into vogue, that is to say, the fabric was enlarged on each side between the choir and the nave so as to form transepts. Sometimes, although very rarely, the octagonal form was used for churches, but more commonly for baptisteries, which were also built quite round, and being separated from the church, formed small and richly decorated independent edifices.

Outside the entrance doors, which were called the "great" or "royal " doors, were the vestibules, supported on pillars, where the catechumens, the penitents, and the unbelievers remained during the celebration of the Divine Mysteries. The faithful were in the nave, the two sexes being separated from each other, and amongst the women, in a still further division, were the consecrated virgins and widows. At the side of the choir, or sometimes in the nave itself, was the Ambo, a raised platform, from whence spiritual lectures were read. The choir, sometimes called also the presbytery, was raised more or less above the nave, but always divided from it by a barrier, and it was entered by none but the clergy.

Besides the throne at the back of the choir, the bishop had another especial place, a raised platform by the altar, from whence he addressed his instructions to the faithful. In the larger churches there hung over the detached altar sometimes a canopy, and sometimes a representation of the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove. Lamps perpetually burned as a symbol of the everlasting glory and worship due to the unchanging God.

On account of the heathen idolatry of images, the early Christians had none in their churches lest they should be dangerous to recent converts, or awaken misconceptions in unbelievers. The faith had been so much concealed during the long persecution, that its symbols were more eloquent to the Christian mind than actual images. There were, however, a few in the catacombs. After the overthrow of Paganism the fear of the profanation and misunderstanding of images also disappeared, and the first place amongst them was taken by the Cross, which from being the token of malediction and of extremest punishment had become the emblem of salvation and of love. It not only shone over the altars and upon the walls of churches—it not only adorned private dwelling-places—but it towered over the roofs of houses and the masts of ships; it was planted on the summits of lofty hills; it surmounted weapons, and everywhere reminded Christians upon earth of their vocation—to suffer for the things of God, and, by suffering, to enter with Christ into everlasting glory. Every possible honour and veneration was shown to this symbol of redemption, and hence the heathen reproached the Christians with being worshippers of the Cross, which only proved that they could charge them with no brreater crime. Soon arose also images out of Bible history, images of Christ, of the blessed Virgin Mary, of the Apotles Peter and Paul, images of the martyrs in the churches dedicated to their memory; and holy Fathers of the Church and pious bishops urgently recommended this custom, because images were an excellent means of instruction, especially for those who could not learn from books. Amongst these holy men were Gregory of Nyssa, Paulinus of Nola, and Pope Gregory the Great. The latter mentions as one of the customs of his time, (he died in the year 604,) that of prostrating themselves before the Cross,—so completely had the fear of idolatry dissapeared. Votive images, that is, gold or silver models of healed limbs, or other representations of the redress of suffering, were accustomed to be hung, as early as the fifth century, in the churches of the martyrs to whose intercession the cure was attributed.

In the fourth century Rome already possessed forty basilicas. Seven of these were built and adorned by Constantine himself. The principal and the most ancient of them is St. John Lateran. The Lateran palace had formerly belonged to the Roman family of that name, and latterly to the Empress Fausta, Constantine's second wife. A basilica was now built next to it; it was for several centuries the residence of the Popes, in which many councils were held. In our days there reigns a marvellous stillness around this basilica. The whole of ancient and modern Rome lies behind it; nothing worldly approaches it; and from its gigantic vestibule the eye gazes uninterruptedly over the melancholy campagna towards the blue outline of the Alban and Latin hills on the eastern horizon. Attached to this basilica was a separate baptistery, dedicated like all others to St. John the Baptist, and from him the church received its name. To honour the grave of the Prince of the Apostles in thz catacombs of the Vatican hill, Constantine built the basilica of St. Peter on the ruins of a temple of Apollo. He also built that of St. Paul on the spot of his martyrdom, on the road to Ostia; that of St. Agnes, together with a baptistery, at the request of his daughter and his sister Constantia, both of whom had been baptized by Pope Sylvester. Then that of SS. Peter and Marcellinus, in which his mother the Empress Helena was buried; that of St. Lawrence, on the road to Tibur; and lastly, that of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, which received its name from a portion of the Holy Cross preserved there. This basilica is also in a very retired situation, not far from the Lateran. Constantine bestowed upon these churches, estates situated in Italy, Sicily, Africa, Egypt, and Asia Minor, which brought them a yearly income of about £25,000. The church of SS. Peter and Marcellinus possessed the whole island of Sardinia, that of St. Peter houses in Tyre and in Alexandria, and lands at Tarsus in Cilicia, and on the Euphrates. Besides this, the East was bound to provide them annually with 20,000 pounds' weight of the most valuable spikenard, balsam, cinnamon, and other aromatic substances for their censers and their lamps. Costly oils and frank­incense burned in golden lamps and thuribles, and golden chalices were used at the Holy Sacrifice. Massive silver candlesticks with wax lights surrounded the altar, and even the chandeliers suspended from the roof were of silver. Nothing was too beautiful, too rich, or too precious, to be employed in honour of the mystical celebration in which the Blood of Christ was ever being newly offered to the Father as an atonement, and flowing over the souls of men for expiation and sanctification.

It is evident from ancient documents that there was at this early period a certain order of prayers and solemn ceremonies,—a liturgy, of which the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the origin and centre, and that its nature was the same in all the churches of the various countries and nations. This is shown, for instance, in the First Apology of Justin the Martyr, (A.D. 167,) where he gives a succinct account of the Holy Sacrifice, which in essentials was exactly the same as it is in our time. Longer or shorter prayers, some invocations, single acts, or a different order of them, made certain exterior varieties in the several liturgies which were used by individual cathedrals, and which received the name of the founder of the Church, or of its most renowned bishop. Thus at Jerusalem and in Syria the liturgy of St. James was used; in Alexandria, that of St. Mark; in Constantinople, St. Chrysostom's; in Milan, the Ambrosian; and in the East, various others. In Spain the Mozarabic was used. The Roman one was derived from apostolical tradition. It is certain that the most important and most sacred portion of the Mass, the Canon, has remained unaltered in its present form, even down to its very words, ever since the fifth century, and that there has not been the smallest change in it since the time of Pope Gregory the Great. This holy doctor put the "Our Father" in another place, and inserted the prayer, "Give peace in our days." This Canon has been inseparable from the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the living Sun of this world, for more than twelve hundred years, in all the length and breadth of the Roman Catholic Church.

The public Mass, which was intended for the whole congregation, was offered by the bishop assisted by the priests and deacons, and the people took an actual part in it at the oblation and the communion. The oblation was the offering of the bread and wine required for the Holy Sacrifice, the consecrated portion of which was consumed at the communion ; that not consecrated was laid aside for the clergy and the poor, or in some places blessed, and distributed to the laity as a token of Christian love and fellowship when they no longer received daily communion. The bread thus blessed was called bread of eulogy. This custom of carrying round blessed bread cut into small pieces, and distributing it in the church on Sundays at the end of the service, has been retained in some places ever since. The oblation included also certain first-fruits, which were brought by the faithful during the Mass, and blessed by the bishop, but only those which had some connexion with the altar and the sacrifice, such as fresh grapes, corn, oil, and incense. Those who brought them gave their names in writing to the deacon, and the priest remembered them in the secret prayers. In the sixth century the custom of these oblations became confined to Sundays only, and in the seventh it was altogether discontinued in the West, because the priests had then begun to prepare the unleavened bread for themselves. Offer­ings of money then took the place formerly occu­pied by these gifts in kind.

Private Masses were also said by a single priest, without any communion of the laity, in small chapels dedicated to the martyrs, in country places, in private houses, and, in times of persecution, in the prisons. When Bishop Paulinus of Nola was lying on his deathbed, he caused an altar to be erected, and Mass to be said by his bedside. Votive Masses for particular intentions, for the salvation of souls, for the cessation of rain, for averting unfruitful seasons, or to thank God for some particular benefit, were frequently said. So likewise were Masses for the faithful departed, which were always repeated on the anniversary of their death, and with an especial office. The whole life of a Christian stood in such close and intimate connection with the faith, that he sought the sanction of the Church for each act of his existence. Masses in honour of the memory of the martyrs on the days of their triumph, at which selections from the acts of their martyrdom were read, and sermons preached in praise of them, came very early into use, and, soon after, similar Masses in honour of other saints. If the Object of the worship of the Catholic Church were not in Itself worthy of the adoration of angels and men, het most ancient liturgy would be entitled to veneration as a sacred thing, which has passed unchanged through the vicissitudes of so many centuries and races.

Before the invention of bells in the seventh century, the stroke of a hammer upon metal called the faithful together, both to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and to the prayers in common in the morning and evening. Every one obeyed the call, and quietly took his appointed place. The Mass was divided into two principal parts, the Mass of the catechumens, and that of the faithful. Pagans, Jews, penitents, and even heretics, might be present at the first. It began with psalms sung by the people, either altogether, or divided into two choirs, with antiphons and responsories. The bishop or priest prepared himself to approach the altar by a general confession of sins, and the psalm that was sung as he ascended the steps was the Introit of our present Mass. Then followed a supplication for mercy, the Kyrie eleison, which so well befits the children of the earth, especially before they venture to sing in the Gloria the praises of the All-holy. Next the bishop greeted the people with the Pax vobis, "Peace be with you"; and, as their spiritual father, gathered together in one short prayer, the Collect, the wishes and prayers of all, and offered them up to the Heavenly Father, concluding with the invocation of the Son of God. The bishop then proceeded to his throne, and the lector ascended the ambo and read the lection out of the Epistles or the Old Testament, and sometimes also out of the writings of very holy men; but this last was discontinued after the fourth century. At the end of the lection, a psalm was sung called the Gradual, and the deacon read a portion of the Gospels. The people rose to listen to it with great reverence, and the bishop, either from his throne, or standing at the altar, interspersed explanations and practical remarks, or preached a separate sermon.

This brought the Mass of the catechumens to a close. At a summons from the deacon the unbe­lievers and penitents withdrew from the nave of the church into the vestibule, the doors were shut, and the profession of faith recited; for the sublime mystery which God was about to accomplish by means of His priest could be comprehended only in the light of this faith. Those who were present, being inflamed with the love of Him who became incarnate in order to make all men brothers, greeted each other with the kiss of peace in this way. The bishop embraced the deacon, and the deacon his neighbour, and so on, each one embracing whoever was next to him, which was rendered practicable by the division of the sexes, and the great humility which prevailed amongst Christians possessing rank or position. Here took place the oblations on the part of the faithful, which have been before alluded to, out of which the deacon and the subdeacon selected what was necessary for the communion, and the bishop recited the offering of the propitiatory sacrifice, which was to be consummated by the consecration. After the offertory, the deacon presented water for the wash­ing of hands to the bishop, who then recited the Secret, usually a supplication to God that He would mercifully accept the offerings, and that He would Himself render the faithful worthy to offer to Him an acceptable sacrifice. In the beautiful Preface he exhorted the faithful to raise their hearts to God, and to worship and praise with all the heavenly hosts His infinite majesty, omnipotence, and glory which He causes to shine forth to our salvation in the inscrutable mystery of His love. This most sublime hymn, changing with the feasts and seasons of the ecclesiastical year, ended with the seraphic song Sanctus! Sanctus! Sanctus in which all the people joined.

After the invocation of the angels, who are present in adoration at the most Holy Sacrifice, the Canon, the most important part of the Mass, began with prayers for the whole of the Church militant, in which the name of the Pope was mentioned first. Then followed the invocation of the Church triumphant, of the blessed Virgin, the Mother of God, of the Apostles and Martyrs, that their love and intercession might procure help and protection in the conflict. After this the bishop pronounced the consecration of the bread and wine, with the words spoken by Christ himself, in which dwells the power of the "Word that was with God and was God," and the transubstantiation is accomplished. At the elevation the bishop raises on high the Sacred Host and the holy chalice in turn, bends his knee, and adores the living Victim present on the altar, while the people throw themselves upon their knees, and worship. In this sublime moment the Church, impelled by the love which dwells in a mother's heart alone, remembers her dead, who have departed in the grace of God, and who are waiting for heaven in the sufferings of purgatory. The first supplication of the priest is for them—he bestows upon them the first drop of the Blood of the Lamb. Surely never did love for the dead find a stronger or more touching expression. And now that all the children of the Eternal Father—who are indeed divided in their separate abodes of heaven, earth, and purgatory, but most intimately united by sanctifying grace — are, as it were, assembled together by the priest, that each may receive their share in the sacrifice, he recites the Pater noster, implores mercy from the Lamb of God, (Agnus Dei,) makes a humble preparation, and receives the communion. The ejaculation, "Behold the holy of holies," to which the people answered "Amen," preceded the general giving of communion. After the bishop or priest the clergy were the first to receive communion, and always at the altar, then the ascetics, monks, and nuns, and after them the remainder of the faithful received it at the rails of the sanctuary.

The priest who distributed the communion said to each person, either "May the Body of Christ," or "the Blood of Christ," or "the Body of the Lord keep thy soul." Psalms were sung during the communion. Then followed a thanksgiving, the blessing of the people by the bishop, and the dismissal, spoken by the deacon. At the public celebration of the Eucharist communion was generally given under two kinds, but it was always believed that the whole substance of the sacrament was perfectly contained in one alone, as the Apostle has already said,"Whosoever shall eat this bread or drink". It was permitted in times of persecution, or on long journeys, especially by sea, or to hermits in the desert, and to monks in their retired cells, to take with them the Eucharistic Bread, for there was then no fear that the Body of the Lord would be less reverently handled or consumed out of Mass than it would have been during it. This custom unmistakably expresses faith in the Real Presence under one kind only. The pious awe and reverence of the faithful caused them voluntarily to receive communion fasting; but this custom was soon made an ecclesiastical precept, in order to obviate all possible occasions of dishonour. Besides this, prayer six times a day, if possible in church, was required of the faithful, by the ancient Apostolical Constitutions:

At cock-crowing, on account of the returning day; at sunrise, to praise God for the new day; at the third hour, because our Blessed Lord was then condemned to death; at the sixth, the hour of His crucifixion; the ninth, that of His death, in the evening, in remembrance of His rest in the grave, coupled with the thought of each one's eternal rest after his life is happily ended. When the first love of the great mass of the people for their Redeemer grew cold, their fervour in prayer gradually diminished also. But the Church did not, therefore, by any means relinquish this demand, she only confined it to those who had dedicated themselves by preference to a life of prayer, the cloistered of both sexes, who have to say certain prayers together in the choir of their church at the canonical hours, to canons and prebendaries, and finally to all the clergy, beginning with subdeacons, who are bound to the recital of the Breviary, not in common, but each one separately. Thus was the incense of prayer to rise uninterruptedly through the ages of the redeemed world before the heavenly throne of God, simultaneously with the offence of sin, and to surround the mystical throne of God in the tabernacle. Faith in the mystery of the Real Presence brings with it continual prayer, for love speaks to its Beloved.