Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-06-19
WATERBURY EVENING DEMOCRAT TUESDAY. l9 lsss

sVENING DEMOCRAT INSIDE SACRED RAIKS. ARTICLES AND LANGUAGE USED Al THE
 CATHOLIC ALTAR.
 The Sacred Vessels and EmbIsmatio Fur. nishings of the consecrated Table Tho crucifix An indispensable Adjunct of the Mass.
 In every Catholic church throughout the world the altar is the object of greatest inter- est To it all worsfippers turn their faces | when they enter the sacred ediflce. for upon | lts consecrated table le most sublime rites of | the Catholic faith ar performed. The altar | proper must always be of stone, which is usu- | AlIyfa slab about 8 fo ot square, and placed in | the centre of the board that makes the table | of the altar. When mass is being celebrated | that stone is the real altar, for on 1t rests the ohallice and paten containing the consecrated | clements. Five cross es arc carved upon it-l one at each of the four corners and one in the | centre, symbolizing the five wounds to the | body of the Saviour and also reminding the l people of thdk stone rt ferred to by Christ him. self, which the builder rejected, but became | the cad of the corner. It is wrapped in | Q piece of coarse canvas, and during divine l service Is still further covered with three strips of linen cloth
 Over the alter table 8 little cabinet called the tabernacle, in which the Blessed Sacra- ment is kept for the adoration of the people. 1 Nothing else can be kept there and it is al- ways securely locked except when the priest Is distributing the acred particles to com municants. Over the tabernacle must be q cruciflx. No priest nor bishop can celebrate mass without that holy emblem. Even cross will not suffice for that must have a figure of Christ nailed upon it in order to make 1t crucif1x. The reason for this is an image of the dead body of the Son of God 1 nailed to cross must awaken in celebrant and worshippers alike a lively remembrance of what the God Man endured for the sake of all His creatures.
 The sacred vessels end holy linens used in divine service are nine in number, namely the chalice, monstrsnce. paten, ciborium, ! lunette, pyx, puriics tor, pail and corporal, which are consecrated utensils.
 The wine for consec ration is placed in the ! eh alice, which is 8 drinking cup formed of stem and bowl and must be made of gold or silver. In cases of extreme necessity, how | ever, chalices of copper, tin, Ivory, wood or ether material can be used; but the inside Of ! the cup must be glded with gold. During the penal period in Ireland, extending as far down as the close of the eighteenth century almost, wooden chalices were the vessels ! principally In use. There Is tradition cur rent in Catholic countries to this day that the chalicc used by the Saviour at the Last Sup per wns Nike mug common among the Is- raelitcs and Romans then as an ordinary ! drinking vessel. The Romans called 1t the an,barus. It held a Mttle over pint. The l ra:.n is 0 little gold or silver dish or plato about two and half inches in diameter. The ! hr,.d is placed on 1t efore oonsecration. In ! tl. carly ages tho paten was much larger | than it Is now, as the people received com | munion from particles consecrated on 1t. Now they receive from a vessel called the l ciborium, somewhat like the chalice in shape, but nearly twice the size. The ciborium must
 also be of silver or god, as 1t Is the receptacle ] for the Blessed Sacrament, and is always kept in tho tabernacle. The monstrance is l used in benedicdohs and processtons of the l blessed sacrament. 1t has a gold or silver pedestal, six or more inches long, surmo ! by circular piece of work of the same mate- rial, in which the Sacred Host is placed in what is called the lunette. The puriticator, | corporal and pal arc the linen cloths used for no other purpose thaI- In covering and cleans ing tho chalice.
 When one enters 0 Catholic church during
 tho parfnrrnance of any of tho sacred cere- monies the language heard Is Latin. In every
 part of Europe or America-in Germany, France, England, Mexico or Brazil-no mat
 ter what tongue is spoken by the people, | Latin is the tongue of the Catholic Church. At the time of the establishment of Chris
 tianity Rome was mistress of the world, and had latinized the people, more or less from ! of tho fof daSart the rivers of India, thence to the forests of North Europe, and westward to the highlands of Scotland. The Roman soldiers spread the Latin language wherever they went, till it be-
 came all but the universal tongue. When Christ was sentenced to death in Pilates court
 tho language used was Latin. The inscrip-
 tion which Pilate put over the head of the dead Christ on the cross consisted of four | initials of as many Latin words-I. N. R. l., Jesus Nazarenus Rez: Judeorum; or, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." All the na-
 tions of the civilized world knew Latin, and what is more natural than that the Catholic Church should adopt it2 She did adopt it, and never changed it
 In some of the ole countries of the East
 there were tongues spoken in the days of the Apostles that still live, such as the Coptic, Syrlac, Slavonic, etc. Those languages re-
 ceived the sanction of the Apostles them | selves, and the Western Church has never
 tried to change for in It reason. Contrary to
 the generally prevailing opinion that mass is l said only in Latin, it is celebrated throughout | the world in nine different languages. The
 other eight tongues gre confined to countries in the far Orient.
 In the liturgy of the Catholic Church six
 books are used. They are the Missal, Cere-
 monial of Bishops, tine Pontiflcal, the Ritual,
 the Martyrology, and the Breviary. The Mis- ! sal is the book used i'll tho celebration of mass.
 Its contents are as old as Christianity itself.
 It's letters are printed in black and red ink. | The black Is what is to be repeated by the ! celcbrant; the red directs what is to be done. ! It contains the texts of all the masses said from one end of the year to tho other. The
 Ceremonial of Bishops contains full directions for all the solemn ceremonies used by the bishops in their cathe drals and metropolitan churches. The Maryrology is comprehen- s:ve biography of the martyrs who died for their faith. The Pontifical contains all the } forms of blessings, ordinations of clergy, con- secrations, and other duties particularly ap- } pertaining to the eptcopacy. The Ritual is tho book used by priests in the administra-