Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/373

ALPHABET of the Hebrew tongue inevitably caused a portion of the meaning and beauty in thus designating God to be lost. The Greek letters Alpha and Omega have no relation to the word Truth. Omega is not the last letter of the word (truth), as Thaw is of the word Emeth. The sacred and mystical word Truth, expressing in Hebrew, through its letters Aleph and Thaw, God's absolute and eternal being, had to be sacrificed. or ΑΩ signify an absolute plenitude, or perfection. It is a Jewish saying that the blessing on Israel in Lev., xxvi, 3–13, is complete because it begins with Aleph and ends with Thaw. Jehovah's absolute perfection is expressed in Is., xli, 4; xliv, 6, by the phrase, "I am the first and the last". Plato, "De Legibus", IV, 715, describes God in the same manner:, and quotes this phrase as a. Cf. also Josephus, C. Apion., II, xxiii. The phrase fitly expresses the idea that God is eternal, the beginning and end of all things. The fourth Gospel, after stating that the "Word was God", says, "and the Word dwelt among us full of grace and truth". Grace stands for goodness. The phrase is identical with Ex., xxxii, 6, "full of goodness and truth". We have here the two great divine attributes, Truth and Goodness, assigned to Christ in all their fullness. What Moses has said of God, the Evangelist says of Christ.

In the Apocalypse the ΑΩ taking the place of occur in the first chapter to designate God, i, 8; but in the last two chapters to designate Christ (Ap., xxi, 6; xxii, 13). It is an argument that its author believed in the divinity of Christ. In the earlier ages of the Church the Alpha and Omega were used as the monogram of Christ. These letters became His crest. The poet Prudentius says, "Alpha et Omega cognominatus, ipse fons et clausula omnium quæ sunt, fuerunt, quæque post futura sunt" (Cathemer., 9, 11). The ΑΩ symbol was written under the arms of the cross within a circle or triangle. (Fig. 1). Sometimes the Α is found on the right and the Ω on the left to indicate that in Christ the beginning and the end are joined into one. (Fig. 2). This crest is found on the coins of the Emperor Constans and Constantius (Martigny, 458–459). (Fig. 3). The early Christians had the two letters engraved on their signet rings [Fig. 4 (Vigouroux, Biblical Lexicon)]. Sometimes the Alpha and the Omega are written in the Nimbus, or halo, of the Lamb; for instance, in the paintings of the Catacombs of Petrus and Marcellinus, third century. We further find these two letters in frescoes and mosaics of several ancient churches; for instance, in the chapel of St. Felicitas, and in San Marco in Rome; in the world-famed mosaics of Ravenna, in Galla Placidia, St. Crisologo, St. Vitale. In the course of time Α and Ω ceased to be used as the monogram of Christ for church paintings and ornaments. During the last centuries the letters I.H.S. (see ) have completely taken their place. Recently, however, on tabernacle doors and antependia the older device is again met with.

2em  Alphabet, .—The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin alphabets have been variously made use of in Christian liturgy. During Holy Week the Hebrew alphabet is sung, each of its letters preceding one of the verses of the Lamentations of Jeremias at Matins; having here, however, merely a numerical value, they might be replaced by Number One, Number Two, etc. The musical setting is now usually the same in all churches, the most ancient known at present being that of the Romano-Gregorian Liturgy. Codex VII, aa 3, of the municipal library of Naples (twelfth century) has a melody which varies with the letters; those for verses xvii, xix, and xxi having a simple form, those for xvi and xx a more elaborate one; and, lastly, those for verses xviii and xxii, a form which is little more than a lengthening out of the preceding. The simple form reappears most frequently in the manuscripts, particularly in the "Breviarium secundum consuetudinem curiæ romanæ", of the thirteenth century. It was probably about this time that the simple form was preferred to the variety which had hitherto existed.

.—The litteræ formatæ, or letters commendatory, took their name from the seals that were attached to them; indeed, Sirmond quotes a Vatican manuscript where the word sigillatæ occurs instead of formatæ. In these letters, the Greek alphabet is used in place of numerical signs. In order to prevent fraud or imposture, it was said that the Fathers of the Council of Nicæa had formulated a decree to the effect that the litteræ must contain such a series of letters as, on addition of their numerical values, would determine the origin of the document. The initials given were those of the Three Divine Persons, ; of the Pope; of the writer and recipient of the document; lastly, the letter of the cycle, and the word. Unfortunately, the writers were ill-instructed; a littera formata of the Church of Metz contains an error of addition, collections of the Formulæ show that mistakes were frequent, so that in a short time the means of control became to all intents and purposes illusory.

.—Both Greeks and Latins made use of letters as numerical signs, but on wholly different principles. Alphabets, among the Latins, were of two kinds: the systematic, which have arbitrary values; and the signs used by land-surveyors (agrimensores), which have fixed values. The land-surveyors formed a corporation that was entrusted by public and private authority with the measuring of properties. The tax was levied in accordance with the owner's declaration, but the State came, in time, to recognize the loss to which it was exposed through false returns, and instituted an official survey and measurement of landed properties, to be carried out by the officials appointed for the purpose. Their measurements