The faiths of the world; an account of all religions and religious sects, their doctrines, rites, cermonies, and customs
None
fe5 fet fci - 3 - \ \ .7^ -.—' ■ i : m I / / I . .. qr - !□ ! 5= 5 <i p=i •^ - — ■ CENSER— CENTURIES (Magdeburg). 481 promise, a lie extorted by modesty or nee and sins which are the result of peculiar temptations, incidental to the avocations or circumstances of indi- viduals. The more heinous sins, which involved ex- communication, the same author enumerates as murder, idolatry, fraud, apostacy, blasphemy, and fornication. Of these, idolatry is called by Cyprian the summum delictum, the highest of all crimes, the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. Augustine men- tions that there were some in his time who limited the greater sins to tliree only — adultery, idolatry, and murder. These alone demanded public penance, but all others, they alleged, might be easily compensated for by giving of alms. In inflicting the censures of the church, due care was uniformly taken that the crimes charged were overt acts, and not sins which were merely cherished in the heart, without being carried into outward act. Ecclesiastical censures were usually inflicted upon offending clergymen in the ancient church with water severity than upon others. For. while all other offenders might, by submitting to public pen- ance, recover the privileges which they had lost, it was otherwise with the clergy, who, when they had fall- en into crimes which were a scandal to their profes- sion, were straightway deposed from the sacred office. In some very flagrant cases, they were also excom- municated, but with this peculiarity, that though by repentance they might be restored to the communion of the church, they were not thereby restored to the office of the ministry, but could only communicate as laymen. Some canons did not require them to do public penance in the church ; others obliged them to submit to that part of discipline also. The crimes which were considered as inferring degradation from the clerical office, appear to have been theft, murder, perjury, fraud, sacrilege, fornication, adultery, and such like gross and scandalous offences. Another offence which was viewed as calling for deposition from the ministry, was that of falling away in time of persecution, and, so careful was the early church in watching over the purity of its clergymen, that drinking and gaming of every kind were prohibited under the same penalty of deprivation. The taking of usury, also, was punished with deposition. CENSER, a vessel employed in offering incense in the service of the Jewish tabernacle and temple. The censers of the Jews were generally of brass, but sometimes of gold, and their precise form can only be guessed at from the appearance of the censers re- presented on the Egyptian monuments, which are simply small cups with lids such as could be carried in the hand. A censer was used by the ancient Greeks and Romans in their sacred rites under the name of Ackkra (which see). The censer is used both in the Greek and Romish Churches in their 8acred services, but the form of it, and its suspension by chains, suggests rather the heathen than the Jewish censer. Two words are found in the Hebrew Bible which arc both of them rendered censer in the authorized version. The first, mechateh, is used to describe the censers of .-Won, and of Korah and his company. They appear to have been composed of brass or copper. The same word is also applied to the censers of gold afterwards made by Solomon. But the censer which king I'zziah held in his hand while he attempted to burn incense in the house ot the Lord, as we find recorded in 2 Chron. xwi. 19, is described by an entirely different word from the former, being mekatheret, which appears to have been an implement used by idolaters, as the prophet Eze- kiel says (viii. 11) that the seventy apostate Jews engaged in idolatrous worship had each of them his censer (rnelcatheret) in his hand. This might he perhaps an inferior kind of censer appropriate to the priests, and common to them all. It is not, however, certain that the mechateh was peculiar to the high priest, as we find it used by the sons of Aaron (Lev x. 1), and also bv 250 companions of Korah. CENTENARIUS (Lat. centum, a hundred), an officer in ancient monasteries, who presided over a hundred monks. CENTEOTL, the great or primitive goddess of the Mexican mythology, who was destined to put an end to the human sacrifices which were offered at Mexitli, and to re-establish the simple offerings of the first-fruits of harvest. She was the originator of agriculture, and taught the art to mortals. CKXTIMANKS (Lat. centum, a hundred, and meatus, a hand), a name given to Briareus, Gyges, and Cottus, three giants in ancient Roman mytho- logy, who were possessed each of a hundred hands. They assisted Jupiter in overthrowing the Titans. CENTURIES (Magdeburg), a celebrated eccle- siastical history, compiled by a society of Lutheran divines, known by the name of the Magdeburg Ceu- turiators. It was published between the years 1559 and 1574, in thirteen volumes folio, each volume containing one century. The name of the entire work was derived from the city where the first part of their history was finished, and from the chronolo- gical mode in which they conducted their undertak- ing. The individual who chiefly presided over the preparation of the work was the learned Flacius lllyricus. The history is divided into periods of centuries, in which the authors undertake to give B complete view of the aspect which the church pre- sented, in a series of chapters, amounting to sixteen, with numerous subdivisions. Everything connected with the propagation and persecutions of Christianity, is set forth century by century in three distinct chapters. This is followed by a statement of the articles of doctrine taught by ecclesiastical writers, with extracts from their works upon forty heads of doctrine, constituting a whole body of divinity. The succeeding chapters are devoted to a description of heresies, the rites and ceremonies of religion, schisms, councils, the lives of eminent persons, miracles and prodigies, the affaire of the .lews, religions fori i n I i the church, and finally, the political condition of tl.e 2 k 482 CEPHALONOMANCY— CEREMONIES. world. " The learning and industry of the Centuria- tors," says Dr. Welsh in his ' Elements of Church History,' " have never been disputed. Their work has been considered as a storehouse by Protestant divines in succeeding times. In Germany it super- seded all farther inquiiy into church history for up- wards of a century, and its influence in determining the mode in which historians direct their inquiries, has been more or less felt even to our own days. Very serious objections, however, may be made to this great undertaking. Notwithstanding the multi- tude of subjects which the authors proposed to illus- trate, some of the most interesting in the field of historical investigation are wholly omitted ; and by the mode of division, all interest in the work as a continued narrative is necessarily destroyed. The natural relations which connect different subjects are wholly disregarded, and, it must be added, that the prejudices of the authors sometimes misled them in- to error." It cannot be denied that the arrangement followed by the Magdeburg Centuriators is objec- tionable, but Mosheim having constructed his church history on the same plan, has done more than any other author to render the division into centuries popular in Britain and even on the continent. Dr. Welsh, who disapproves of the plan in the strongest manner, says, " It is as if we were to study the geo- logy of a country, not by examining continuously the natural position of the strata, but by determining the spaces for observation by concentric circles at the distance of mile-stones." A new edition of the ' Magdeburg Centuriators ' was commenced in 1757 at Nuremburg, but was carried only to the sixth vo- lume in 4to. An edition, somewhat abridged, was published by Lucius at Basil, 1624, thirteen volumes in three, large folio. Tins edition is most current among the Reformed, though disapproved by the Lutherans. Cresar Baronius, a father of the oratory, at the instigation of Philip Neri, founder of the So- ciety of the oratory, undertook to confute this history, in a work of twelve volumes folio, each volume like- wise embracing one century. His work is entitled ' Anuales Ecclesiastici,' and was published at Rome between the years 1588 and 1607, and afterwards at Mentz, with the approbation of the author. The latest, most splendid, and most complete edition, was published with the corrections of Antony Pagi, a French Franciscan, and the continuation of Odoric Raynald, at Lucca, 1738—1756, in thirty-eight vo- lumes folio. Raynald's continuation reaches to the year 1565. James de Laderchi, likewise a father of the oratory, extended the anuals to the year 1572. Henry de Sponde, or Spondanus, bishop of Pamiers, likewise composed a continuation of Baronius to the year 1640, in three volumes folio. Abraham Bzo- vius, also a Polish Dominican, continued Baronius to the year 1572, in eight volumes folio. CEPHALONOMANCY (Gr. hephale, the head, and manteia, divination), a species of divination practised occasionally among the ancient Greeks with an ass's head, which they broiled upon coals, and, after muttering a few prayers, mentioned the person's name whom they suspected of the crime in question. If the jaws moved and the teeth chat- tered, they thought the guilt was sufficiently disco- vered. CEPHISSUS, the divinity of the river Cephissus. CERBERUS, the many-headed dog of ancient mythology which guarded the entrance of Hades. According to Hesiod, he had fifty heads, but later writers assign him only three heads, while some poets call him hundred-headed, and many-headed. The employment of this fabulous monster was to ad- mit the shades into the infernal regions, while he prevented their return to the abodes of the living. CERDONIANS, a Gnostic sect of the second cen- tury, who derived their name from Cerdo, a teacher from Antioch in Syria, who held to the purely Dua- listic Gnosis. According to Irenaeus, he taught at Rome that the God of the Jews is to be carefully distinguished from the God of the Christians. Epi- phanius alleges that Cerdo affirmed that Christ was not born, but had only the appearance of a body, that he denied the resurrection of the dead, and re- jected the Old Testament. He seems to have been one of the first who recommended the celibate life. Marcion, one of the most noted leaders of the Gnos- tics, is universally believed to have borrowed a con- siderable number of the peculiar doctrines of his system from the instructions of Cerdo. See Mak- cionites. CEREMONIES, outward acts employed in Di vine service to impress the mind of the worshipper, and, by an appeal to the outward senses, to convey important truths to the intellect and the heart. From the intimate connection which subsists be- tween the physical constitution of man and his intel- lectual and moral nature, ceremonies have evei formed a necessary part of religious worship in all ages and countries. From the earliest period, while the promise of a Mediator was given to restore man to the favour and friendship of God, we find at the same time the ceremony of sacrifice instituted, in which was embodied the great principle, that with- out shedding of blood there is no remission. In the whole of the varied and interesting observances of the Jewish ritual, were embodied the grand abstrac- tions of the Christian system, which were thus brought to bear with peculiar force on the minds of the people. Visible symbols or signs, in fact, through the whole course of the Jewish history, were the medium of communication between heaven and earth. Even posterior to the advent of our Lord, we find tliat the same mode of instruction appears to have been adopted : and the condition of the Jews at that time rendered its adoption the more expedient. So rude and uncultivated were they ; to such a degree had they lost sight of the spirituality of the moral, and the great end of the ceremonial law, that simple external signs were absolutely necessary to conviey CEREMONIES. 483 iny religious ideas to their minds. They, at least the great mass of them, trusted to their sacrifices and external offerings for the pardon of sin, thus substituting the letter for the spirit, the type for the antitype. In these circumstances, our Lord resorted to a mode of instruction admirably adapted to the exigencies of the case — we refer to the employment of parables. Accustomed as the Jews of those days were to think of religion as consisting merely of ex- ternal observances, and employed as they were in sedulously tithing mint, and anise, and cummin, to the neglect of the weightier matters of the law, para- bolic instruction was the simplest and easiest mode of leading their minds away from such a false view of divine truth, to the spiritual perception of it. Their ceremonies were originally intended to point their thoughts to a higher and nobler economy. When our Lord, therefore, appeared upon earth, with the express design of introducing a new dispensa- tion, there was a beautiful propriety in his adopting a mode of teaching, which combined somewhat of the material nature of the old with the spirituality of the new scheme. Under a plain and possible story, finely wrought in all its details, the Divine teacher revealed some sublime doctrine, or enforced some necessary duty ; and many, no doubt, who lis- tened with interest, would remember with advantage the doctrine in the one case, and the duty in the other, long after the narratives themselves were for- gotten. This adaptation of the truth to our physical na- ture appears to have been carefully kept in view in the institution of the standing ordinances of the church. In the sacramental symbols an impressive exhibition is made to our bodily senses of some of the most important and interesting truths of the Christian system, and not only are these truths signi- ficantly represented, they are also impressively sealed upon the believing children of God. In other words, by the sensible display given in the solemn ordi- nances of baptism and the supper, ample provision is made for the emblematic exhibition of the truths as well as the actings of God in reference to His people. Both were held forth under a figure in the ancient economy ; all that referred to the plan of re- conciliation was sensibly taught in the mission and mediation of the God-man, Christ Jesus. The full development of the plan, however, in its application to individual believers, was yet to be made known. The general principles, if we may so speak, of the echeme of salvation were fully taught in the Bible, but the application of these principles to believers separately could only be represented by some stand- ing memorial. Hence the institution of the sacra- mental ordinances in which, by external symbols. the leading truths of the gospel were set forth, both in their abstract meaning and in their practical bear- ing upon individual Christians. But while certain standing ceremonies have been instituted in the Christian church, the question has been often proposed, whether the church is authorized in instituting ceremonies which were not originally either enjoined or practised by our Lord and his apostles. One thing is certain, that the conduct ol the Jews, in this respect, in the days of our Lord, met with his explicit and decided disapproval. Thus, he plainly declares, in reference to all ceremonies ot merely human invention, Matth. xv. 9, "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the com- mandments of men." By the word "doctrines" in this passage, Jesus points to certain significant cere- monies, such as the Pharisaical washing of hands, cups, tables, and other outward emblems by which it was designed to teach and signify holiness. All sacred ceremonies of man's devising, then, are plainly to be condemned as an addition to the Word of God which is forbidden no less than a taking away from it. In the Old Testament church there was an al- most complete uniformity in the ritual observed in the worship and service of God. And in the early Christian church, although there was not an uni- formity in all particulars among all the churches, for instance in the point of fasting, some fasting on the Sabbath, others not ; some taking the Lord's Supper fasting, others not ; although likewise there was a great difl'erence between the custom of one church and another in the time and manner of celebrating the Lord's Supper, and in other particulars, still there was a remarkable uniformity in the primitive church, even in many things belonging to church govern- ment and form of worship. The danger attendant on the introduction of unscriptural and unwarranted ceremonies into the church is strikingly seen in the history of the Church of Rome, which has originated many innovations, not only indifferent in themselves, but very absurd and injurious to religion. Dr. Mid- dleton, in his ' Letters from Rome,' has very strik- ingly pointed out the conformity between the Pa- gan and Romish ceremonies, exemplifying it in the use of incense, holy water, the placing of lamps and candles before the shrines of saints, votive gifts round the shrines of the deceased, and other similar ceremonies. In 1646, a history of ancient ceremo- nies was published by M. It may be interesting to the reader to notice the gradual progress of innovation in the ceremonies of Christian worship. We learn from Eusebius that even so late as the third and fourth centuries there was considerable variety in the mode of conduct log religious worship among Christians. Some dif- ference of opinion, indeed, seems to have existed ai to the precise manner in which certain rites had been observed in apostolic times; for when a contest arose in the second century between the Eastern and Western Christians respecting the day on which Easter should be observed, Eusebius informs us thai 481 CEREMONIES. the former maintained that John was the author of their custom, and the latter that Peter and Paul were the authors of theirs. Again, the Greek and Latin churches, at a later period, disputed whether lea- cened or unleavened bread should be used in the Lord's Supper ; and both of them contended, that their respective opinions were warranted by the practice of the apostles. From the peculiar aspect which the Christian church presented in its primi- tive state, the converts being drawn partly from the Jews, and partly from the heathens, it is quite plain that the apostles permitted some diversity in the outward ceremonies, according as the Jewish or the Pagan converts predominated in particular churches. Various writers contend, that, in the earliest ages of Christianity, both the Jewish and the Christian Sabbaths were held sacred ; and it is not improba- ble that this may havt been the case in those churches which were composed chiefly of converts from Judaism. Besides, Thursday and Friday, but especially the latter, were observed as days of fast- ing and prayer, consecrated to the remembrance of the sufferings of Christ, and of what preceded them. On these days, meetings were held for prayer and fasting till three o'clock in the afternoon. These ar- rangements, however, were not obligatory upon any one, but observed by each member of the church ac- cording to his special necessities and inclinations. In the Eastern Church the Jewish and the Christian Sabbaths were distinguished from the Station days, as Thursday and Friday were termed, by the exclu- sion of fasts, and by the standing position in prayer. But in the Western, and especially in the Roman church, the Jewish Sabbath was held as a fast-day. The opposition which was early manifested be- tween the communities composed of Jewish, and those composed of Gentile Christians, had an im- portant influence in modifying the ceremonies of religious worship. The churches in which Jewish converts prevailed retained, along with the whole Jewish ceremonial law, all the Jewish festivals, though they gradually assigned to them a Christian import. On the contrary, among the churches of Gentile Christians there were probably from the first no yearly festivals whatever. Controversies very early arose between the Church of Asia Minor and the Church of Rome, as to the time of keeping Easter, the former alleging that the fourteenth day of the month Nisan ought to be regarded as the day of Christ's passion on whatever day of the week it might occur ; the latter maintaining that a Friday should always be consecrated to the memory of Christ's paseion, a Sunday to the memory of Christ's resurrection. The dispute was carried on for a long period with the utmost bitterness on both sides. In the end of the third century, so sharp did the contest become, that Victor, bishop of Rome, published a 6entence of excommunication against the churches of Asia Minor on account of this trifling point of dis- pute. Another annual religious festival, which was introduced at an early period into the Christian church, was the Pentecost or Whitsunday, observed in commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. The period which elapsed between Easter and Whitsuntide was also regarded as in some sense sacred. There was no fasting during this interval ; prayers were made in the standing, and not in the kneeling posture ; and in many of the churches there seems to have been a daily service, at which the communion was celebrated. The days on which martyrs died (see Birth-days) were also held sacred from an early period. In the second century they were everywhere observed ; and they are often mentioned by Tertullian and Cyprian. Twice a-year, namely, at Easter and Whitsuntide, baptism was publicly administered in the ancient Christian church. The candidates for it were im- mersed wholly in water, with invocation of the Sa- cred Trinity, after having repeated the creed and renounced their sins and transgressions. The bap- tized were signed with the cross, anointed, com- mended to God by prayer and imposition of hands, and finally directed to taste some milk and honey. The eucharist was celebrated chiefly on the Lord's Day with a portion of bread and wine consecrated with prayer. The wine was mixed with water, and the bread was divided into small pieces. Portions of the consecrated bread and wine were usually sent to the sick and absent. It is even affirmed, that in very early times the eucharist was given to infants. Agap^e (which see) or love-feasts were also par- taken of by the primitive Christians. Public worship was observed originally in the room of some private member of the church. Gradually, as circumstances required, the place was fitted up in a manner suited to the object. An elevated seat was constructed for the reading of the Scriptures and the delivering of the sermon ; a table was set for the distribution of the Lord's Supper, which so early as the time of Tertullian received the name of altar. As the communities increased in numbers and wealth, buildings were erected specially for Divine service. This appears to have been the case even in the third century. In the time of the outward prosperity ol the church, under the reign of Diocletian, many splendid churches had already arisen in the large cities. The introduction of images was opposed to the whole spirit of the Christian system, but the con verts from paganism who had been accustomed to such modes of worship, were the first to make images of Christ ; as for example, the Gnostic sect of the Carpocratians, who placed images of the Re- deemer beside the busts of Plato and Aristotle. It was not in the first instance in the church, but in the family, that religious images came into use among the Christians. Accustomed to observe everywhere around them the objects of the Pagan mythology, they were naturally anxious to substitute other em- blems more agreeable to their religious and mora] CEREMONIES 481 wntiments, as for example, a shepherd carrying a lamb on his shoulder, to represent our Redeemer res- cuing the repentant sinner ; a dove the symbol of the Holy Spirit, or an anchor the token of Christian hope. Religious emblems passed from domestic use into the churches, as earlv probably as the third century; for the council of Elvira in A. n. 303 for- bade "the objects of worship and adoration to be painted on the walls." The visible representation of the cross must have early found its way among the Christians, both in their domestic and ecclesiastical life. This token was used by them on almost every occasion. It was the sign of blessing when they rose in the morning, and when they retired at night, when they went out, and when they came in. Such is the tendency of our fallen nature to confound the symbol with the idea which it represents, that we can scarcely be surprised that even so early as the third century the sign of the cross should ha'. abused to purposes of superstition. The use of in- cense was introduced about the same time into many Christian churches, probably in imitation of a pre- vailing custom of the heathens in their religious worship. From the same source'seem to have arisen exorcisms, the multiplication of fasts, and the aver- sion to matrimony. After the manner of the pagan mysteries, the eucharist was so far dispensed in se- cret, that neither penitents nor catechumens were allowed to be present at its dispensation. This holy ordinance was commonly administered every Lord's Day, as well as on other festival days ; and in times of persecution daily. In the course of the third century some innova- tions were introduced in the ceremonies attendant on the sacrament of baptism. Exorcism came to be practised as a necessary part of the ordinance, that the soul of the candidate for baptism might be deli- vered from the bondage of Satan, and introduced into the service of God. Another ceremony, also hitherto unknown to the church, was added to the baptismal rite. The persons baptized returned home decorated with a crown and a white robe. Great importance was now attached to the practice of fasting. The Latins kept every seventh day as a fast, but the Greek and Oriental Christians refused to imitate them in this point. No sooner had Constantino the Great renounced paganism, and recognized Christianity as the estab- lished religion of the Roman Empire, than he hast- ened to erect gorgeous churches which he adorned with pictures and images. These buildings for Christian worship were consecrated with great pomp and imposing rites, borrowed in great measure from the ancient pontifical code of the Romans. The ce- temonies which were introduced at this time into the ordinary service of the church, and which tended to approximate it to the heathen worship, are thus briefly noticed by Mosheim : — "The pravcrs had dc dined very much from their primitive simplicity and solemnity, and became turgid and bombastic. Among the public hymns the Psalms of David were now received. The public discourses among the Greeks especially were formed according to the rules for civil eloquence, and were better adapted to call forth the admiration of the rude multitude who love dis- play than to amend the heart. And that no foolish and senseless custom might be omitted in their pub- lic assemblies, the people were allowed to applaud their orators as had been practised in the forum and in the theatres; nay, they were instructed both to applaud and to clap their preachers. Who could suppose that men professing to despise vain glory, and who were appointed to show to others the emptiness of all human things, would become so senseless ? " The first day of the week, on which Christians were accustomed to meet for the worship of God, Constantine required by a special law to be observed more sacredly than before. In most congregations of Christians five annual festivals were observed, in remembrance namely of the Saviour's birth, of his suf- ferings and death for the sins of men, of his resurrec- tion, of his ascension to heaven, and of the descent of the Holy Ghost upon his ministers. Of these festivals that of the fourteen days sacred to the memory of Christ's return to life was observed with much more ceremony than the rest. It is well known among other things what opportu- nities of sinning were offered to the licentious by the Vigils, as they were called, of Easter and Whitsun- tide. " It was believed that nothing was more effectual to i' pel the assaults of evil spirits and to propitiate the Deity than fasting. Hence it is easy to discover why the rulers of the church ordained fasts by ex press laws, and commanded as a necessary doty what was before left at discretion. The Quadragesimal oi Lent fast, as it was called, was considered more sa- cred than all the rest, though it was not as vet fixed to a determinate number of days. But it should be remembered that the fasts of this age differed much from those observed by Christians in prea igei <86 CEREMONIES. Anciently those who undertook to observe a fast abstained altogether from food and drink ; in this age many deemed it sufficient merely to omit the use of Hesh and wine, and this sentiment afterwards became universal among the Latins. " For the more convenient administration of bap- tism sacred fonts or baptisteria were erected in the porches of the temples. This sacred rite was al- ways administered, except in cases of necessity, on the vigils of Easter and Whitsuntide, with lighted wax candles and by the bishop, or by the presbyters whom he commissioned for that purpose. In some places salt, a symbol of purity and wisdom, was put into the mouth of the baptized; and everywhere a double anointing was used, the first before and the other after the baptism. After being baptized the persons appeared clad in white gowns during seven lays." From the days of Constantine a marked change was observed in the whole aspect of Christian wor- ship. A pompous ceremonial took the place of the ancient simplicity. Various ornaments were added to the sacerdotal garments, in order to increase the veneration in which the clergy were held. The temples were fitted up with unbounded magnificence, adorned with images of the apostles and saints, but more especially with an image of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus in her arms. Altars and reliquaries of solid silver were procured in various places, and no expense was spared to supply the churches with sacred utensils of the most costly description. This obvious departure from primitive simplicity, however, was not limited to the external ceremonies of the church, but extended also to its worship and discipline. Thus the agapa? or love-feasts, which had formed in early times one of the most striking evidences of the harmony and mutual kindness which prevailed among Christians, were found in the fourth century to have so far degenerated in their charac- ter, that it was necessary to prevent them from being held in churches. The strictness of the ancient dis- cipline towards ecclesiastical offenders was now greatly relaxed. The more heinous delinquents, it is true, were still liable to public censures. But the practice of voluntary confession before the church of private offences and secret sins, had for some time fallen into desuetude ; and in most places, both of the East and West, private confessions before a priest had been substituted in place of public con- fessions before the church. In the sixth century, the differences chiefly arose in respect of rites and ceremonies between the Greek and Latin churches. The Nestorian and Eutychian neresies in particular, gave origin to various forms which were designed to characterize the contending sects. In the Western Church, Gregory the Great, signalized his pontificate by the introduction of a number of ceremonies which were altogether new. To him is generally admitted to be due the inven- tion of the canon of the mass, or at least lie must b« accorded the honour of having wholly remodelled the old canon. He discriminated also the different times, occasions, and places of public worship, and framed a service for each. Hence the vast multi- plications of liturgical formulas in the Homan Church. It was in the time of Gregory too, that churches both in the East and West were erected in great numbers, in memory, and to the honour, of the saints. The number of festivals and saints' days were almost as numerous as the churches. At the period at which we have now arrived, the festival began to be celebrated of the Purification of the Virgin Mary. The ceremonies of the Greek church were not a little increased in number by the enactments of the Trullan council, which was held at Constantinople A. D. 692, and which, as being supplemental to the fifth and sixth general councils, is commonly called Concilium Quinisextum. Nor were the Roman pon- tiffs of the seventh century behind in making addi- tions to the ceremonies of the church. Pope Hono- rius instituted a festival in honour of the wood of the cross on which our Lord was crucified ; and Pope Boniface also consecrated the Feast of All Saints. The churches were now adorned in a more luxurious and magnificent style than they had been even in the time of Constantine. The confessional of St. Peter at Rome was covered with pure silver, and the great doors at the entrance of the church were overlaid with the same precious metal. Christianity thus gradually lost the simplicity which had characterized it in apostolic times, and dwindled down into a system of external ceremonies. The multiplication and regulation of these became the chief object of solicitude, and to effect this, both the doctrines and duties of religion were almost wholly neglected. The mass of the Roman- ists was now looked upon as the principal part of divine worship. One addition after another was made to its already cumbrous ceremonial, and Pope Gregory III. seems to have converted the whole into a series of superstitious observances. Charlemagne directed his efforts to the abolition of various super- stitious rites, abolishing the worship of images, limiting the number of holidays, rejecting the con- secration of bells with holy water, and introducing several other useful and important regulations. But while thus endeavouring to effect some improve- ments in the observances of the church, — this em- peror remained devotedly attached to the Roman pontiffs, and exerted his influence in inducing all the churches of the Latin Christians to adopt the entire ritual of the Romish worship. So complicated at length did the public rites of religion become, that in the ninth century works be- gan to be published, having for their sole object tht» explanation of divine offices, as religious ceremonies were in that age termed. The minuteness with which these treatises detailed the various particulars CEREMONIES. 481 of the cumbrous ritual, shows the exaggerated im- portance attached to the mere externals of religion. Churchmen were chiefly employed in regulating the cumbrous forms of worship. Hence the splendid furniture of the temples, the numerous wax-candles burning at noon-day, the multitudes of pictures and statues, the decorations of the altars, the frequent processions, the splendid dresses of the priests, and masses appropriate to the honour of saints. Every new saint which was added to the calendar, called for the appointment not only of a new feast-day, but of new forms of worship, and new religious rites. But while the worship of the saints thus rose into prominence, that of the Virgin Mary came every day to occupy a more conspicuous place in the ritual of the Romish church. Masses were celebrated, and rlesh abstained from on Saturdays in honour of Mary; the daily office of St. Mary was introduced, which was afterwards confirmed by Urban II. ; the rosary now came into use, consisting of fifteen repe- titions of the Lord's Prayer, and one hundred and fifty Ave Marias ; the crown of St. Mary also was invented, which consisted of six or seven repetitions of the Lord's Prayer, and sixty or seventy Ave Marias, according to the age, ascribed by different authors to the Holy Virgin. Although Rome had thus for centuries been add- ing to the number of the rites of Christian worship, the innovations which she had introduced were very slow in being adopted in many parts of the Latin world. Spain, in particular, showed itself for a long period most reluctant to part with its ancient liturgy, called the Mozarabic or Gothic, and to adopt that of Rome. Gregory VII., however, in the eleventh cen- tury, succeeded in persuading the Spaniards to lay aside their long-cherished prejudices, and to fall in with the arrangements of the Romish ritual. The Greek church was at this period as completely over- run with superstition as the Latin, and, accordingly, both its public and private worship received various additions to its outward rites and ceremonies, not only by decrees of councils, but by the mere personal re- commendations of individual patriarchs. Among the Latins a new festival was instituted A. n. 1138, in honour of the immaculate conception of the Virgin, — a doctrine which, though opposed by Bernard and others, was now extensively believed in the Romish church. Pictures and ornaments of various kinds were found in almost all the churches. Even the tloors were covered over with paintings of saints and angels. New churches were consecrated with sprinkling of holy water and other superstitious cer- emonies. More than one altar was now found in the same church, for in the twelfth century we find mention made of the high altar. In many churches the altars were ornamented with gold, silver, pre- cious stones, and costly pictures. Expensive lamps and candles were kept burning before the images of saints, which were only to be extinguished for three days preceding Easter. The eucharist was still ad- ministered in both kinds, but Clement III. decreed that only unleavened bread should be used, and that the wine should be mixed with water. The doctrine of transubstantiation having now become a received dogma of the Latin church, the adoration of the host followed as a natural consequence. This practice seems to have been first introduced by Guido, a Cis- tercian monk, whom the Pope had created a cardi- nal, and despatched as his legate to Cologne. It was naturally succeeded by other rites designed to do honour to the consecrated bread. A very important addition was made to the public ceremonies of the church towards the close of the thir- teenth century, by the institution of the year of jubilee by Boniface VTII., who decided that every hundredth year all who should confess and lament their sins, and devoutly visit the church of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome, should receive plenary remission of their sins. Finding that this new festival brought both honour and gain to the church of Rome, some future pontiffs limited it to shorter periods than a century. Thus Clement VI. repeated the jubilee in A. d. 1350, and both Gregory XL and Urban VI. wished to reduce the interval to thirty -three years, the supposed years of our Lord's age at his cruci- fixion ; but were prevented by death from accom- plishing their design. Boniface IX. first attained the object. Paul II. ordered that the festival should be kept every twenty-five years. Yet death, in his case, also compelled him to resign the benefit of the alteration to his successor, Sixtus IV. One pope after another seems, as darkness gradually covered the church, to have been anxious to signalize his reign by some addition to the ceremonies of reli- gion. Innocent V. instituted festival days in com- memoration of the spear which pierced the Saviour's side, of the nails which fastened him to the cross, and of the crown of thorns which he wore in the judgment-hall. Among many other superstitious rites, John XXII. added the angel's salutation to Mary to the prayers in common use. True spiritual religion had now almost wholly dis- appeared, and given place to a gorgeous system of external worship calculated only by parade and glit- ter to gratify the senses (if an ignorant multitude. The worship of the Virgin was substituted for that of Jesus, and legends wire framed to enhance the 188 CEREMONIES. estimation in which she was held. Indulgences were openly sold to enrich the cotters of an avaricious priesthood. Mimic shows were got up ; trifling cer- emonies were devised ; incense and holy water were used in profusion, and the worship of the professing Christian church was nothing more than a raree show. The discourses of the few priests who were capable of preaching, consisted of an account of pretended miracles, ridiculous fables, and silly legends strung together without method and without skill. The authority of holy mother church was loudly pro- claimed, the influence of the saints with God, the dignity, glory, and all-prevailing efficacy of the prayers of the Virgin Mary, the surpassing value of relics, the indescribable utility of indulgences, the awful torments of purgatory, such were the principal themes on which the clergy descanted in their ad- dresses to the people. No wonder that in these circumstances a deplorable ignorance of divine tilings everywhere prevailed, and superstition, united with gross corruption of morals, characterized the great mass of the population of so-called Christendom. It was when matters had reached this crisis that, in the sixteenth century, the Reformation took place in Germany, which speedily extended itself over the other countries of Europe, leading to a change in the rites and ceremonies of the church, as well as in many points of doctrine. The Protestant party held, that all the innovations which the Romanists, in the course of time, had introduced into the church, ought to be rejected as of merely human invention. Many of these rites, however, were retained by the Reformed Church, chiefly on the ground that they were matters of comparative in- difference, not affecting the character of the church as a Christian body. In England, accordingly, when the Reformed religion had been adopted as the estab- lished religion of the country, the Puritans com- plained that so much of the leaven of Antichrist should still be permitted to remain in the Church of Christ. For example, they wished the abolition of all saints' days, and the prohibition of the sign of the cross, more especially in the sacrament of baptism. They were opposed to the employment of sponsors in baptism while the parents were still living. They disapproved of the Apocrypha being read or ex- pounded in public worship. They called for the abolition of various rites and customs, which they regarded as unscriptural, such as kneeling at the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, bowing at the name of Jesus, giving the ring in marriage, the prohibition of marriage during certain times of the year, and the licensing it for money, as also the confirmation of children by episcopal imposition of hands. The Puritans, while they objected to these and other rites belonging to the Romish system, held also that all human traditions are superfluous and sinful; that only the laws of Christ are to be practised and taught, and that mystical and significant ceremonies in religion are unlawful. Queen Elizabeth was herself violently opposed to the Puritans during the whole of her reign, but several persons belonging to her court, and even some of her most eminent ecclesias- tics, were favourable to them, and approved of their opposition to the Romish ceremonies. Accordingly some continued to wear the prescribed clerical vest- ments, and others laid them aside ; some adminis- tered the sacrament kneeling, and others standing, or even sitting ; some baptized in a font with the sign of the cross, and others in a basin without it. This unseemly and unsettled state of things continued for some years, whilst the Puritan party was increasing in numbers and in influence. The queen at length interfered, and in 1565 directed her ecclesiastical commissioners to devise some means of bringing about an exact uniformity. Upon this, a book called ' Advertisements,' was set forth by Archbishop Par- ker, containing orders for preaching, administering the sacraments, and the dress of ecclesiastical persona : to which were added certain protestations, to be made, promised, and subscribed by all for the future admitted into the church. The queen did not give her authority to these Advertisements till some years after ; but she issued a proclamation requiring con formity in the use of the vestments, under penalty of prohibition from preaching, and deprivation, which the archbishop in several instances earned into effect. 