Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 10.djvu/796

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NAZARETH

los vijijos y (lcsi'ubriniicnti).f que hicioron jior mar los cs|uinok\s (icscio el fin del siglo X\'" (Madrid, 182')- 37). This was iniblishod at government expense, and has been widely read and quoted. Among his other works is an excellent life of Cervantes, pub- lished in 1819 in connexion with an edition of "Don Quijote" brought out by the Sjmnish Academy; "Coleecion de ddoutneiitos incditos" written in col- laboration with others; " Disertacion sobrc la historia de la nautica;" and " Biblioteca maritiraa espanola". The hist two were published after his death, in 1846 and 1851 respectively.

Ventdra Fuentes.

Nave, architecturally the central, open space of a churoh, west of the choir or chancel, and separated therefrom by a low wall or screen. It is divided from the side aisles by columns, shafts, or piers, is roofed with timber or vaulted in masonry, and usually rises above the level of the aisle roofs to provide high windows for lighting. Colloquially, the term is used to indicate that portion of a church reserved for wor- shippers, and including the central and side aisles, cro.<sing transepts. The name is derived from the Latin mivia, a ship, possibly with some reference to the "'ship of St. Peter" or the Ark of Noah. The norm of all subsequent developments, whether early Christian, Byzantine, Norman, Medieval, or Renais- sance, is to be found in the Roman basilica, with its ■wide, central area, and its aisles and galleries separated therefrom by columns and arches supporting the upper walls, pierced by windows, and the timber roof. During the Ihiril and fourth centuries the apse, which in the cla.ssical examiiles immediateh' terminated the central open space, was pushed back and separated from the nave jiroper by a transverse nave or transept; later the junction of nave, transept, and apse (now prolonged into a deep choir or chancel) was sur- mounted by a dome, or tower, the space below being called the crossing, while the simple system of equal supports equally spaced was for a time abandoned for the alternating system. Simultaneously the upper walls were increased in height, the aisles vaulted in masonry, then the nave itself; the solids were reduced to a minimum in favour of windows that tended ever to increa.se in size, the space above the aisle vaults and their sloping roofs was arcaded and thrown open to the nave, a complete system of buttresses was de- vised and perfected, and the complete Got hie nave came into exi.stence (see Gothic Architecture). Except in the smallest churches the nave was flanked by an aisle on each side, sometimes (e. g. in Bourges Cathe- dral) by double aisles. Occasionally, as in the Jaco- bean churches of the thirteenth century, there were two naves side by side, of equal dimensions and sep- arated by screens; occasionally also, particularly in Germany and Flanders, nave and aisles were of equal height. The standard type, however, was that of the lofty nave with arcade, triforium, and clerestory, flanked by a comparatively low aisle on each side.

In early Christian basilicas the sanctuary was hardly more than a semicircular apse, the transept or transverse nave serving for clergy and choir: little by little the chancel was deepened to accommodate the increasing number of clerics, but the transept and crossing were still shut off from the people's nave. As monasticism developed, more and more of this portion of the church was enclosed, until in many Cistercian abbey churches the entire central space from east to west was reserved. In the south of Europe the enclosed choir still frequently projects far to the west of the crossing; but in France, in the great catlx^drals of the Middle Ages, nave, transepts, and crossing were cleared, the choir screen being fixed at the eastern side of the crossing, and this arrange- ment is, in modern times, almost universal. During the Middle Ages also, the great development of

I)reaching necessitated an I'vcn greater space for the congregation, and .as a result tlic medieval nave in- creased to vast proportions and was capaljlc of holding crowds that often numbered tens of thousands. Nor were these vast auditoriums reserved exclusively for religious services; in many cases they were unconsecrated, and were used not only for miracle plays, but for many .strictly secular purposes. The line between chancel and nave was always very clearly drawn: in England, for example, the parish priest had full au- thority in the former, and was bound to keep it in repair at his own expense, while the parish itself was responsible for the care and maintenance of the nave. Ralph Adams Cham.

Navigators' Islands. See Samoa.

Naxos, .\rcudioce.se op. See Cyclades.

Nazarene (Xafapiji-is, Nazarenus). — As a name ap- plied to Christ, the word Nazarene occurs only once in the Douai Version, viz. in Matt., ii, 23, where the Vulgate reading is Nazarwus (Xafujjaios). Else- where (Matt., xxvi, 71; Mark, i, 24; x, 47; xiv, 67; Luke, iv, 34; John, xviii, .5; Acts, ii, 22 etc.) Jesus Nazarenus is uniformly translated "Jesus of Naza- reth". In Acts, xxiv, 5 the Christians are spoken of by Tertullus as "the sect of the Nazarcnes". The name has obvious reference to Nazareth, the early home of the Sa\-iour, and it is applied to Him in the fiospils iiiily by those who are outside the circle of His intimate- fric-uds. In the Acts, however, it is em- ployed by St. I'cter and St. Paul, and by the risen Lord Himself, ai-curding to Paul's account of his con- version given to the multitude of angry Jews who had attacked him in the Temple (.Vets, xxii, 8). In Matt., ii, 23 we read that "(■(lining he dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fullilled which was said by the prophets: That he shall be called a Naza- rene". No explicit prediction to this effect is found in the recorded O. T. prophecies, and various theories have been advanced to explain the reference. Some would connect the passage with the nclzer (flower) of Is., xi, 1; others with the nelzurc (dregs, Douai) of Is., xlix, 6, but these interpretations seem far-fetched, to say nothing of other difliculties. That the quality of Nazarite is allude(l to by the Evangelist is dis- proved by the fact that Christ ■ivas not a Nazarite, nor is the theory that reference is here made to some lost or merely traditional prophecy supported by any positive proof. No more plausible explanation has been found than the one given by St. Jerome in his "Commentary on St. Matthew", \'iz. that the men- tion of the "prophets" in the plural precludes refer- ence to any single passage, and points rather to the general predictions that the Messias would be de- spised (cf. John, i, 46).

VioouROUX, Dictionrmire de la Bible, a. v. Nazareen; A Lapide, Commenlaria in Scrip. Sac., XV (Paris. 1874), 90 sqq.; Knaben- BAUER, Commentarius in Evangelium secundum S, MatthtBum, I (Paris, 1903), 119 sqq.; Le Camus, La vie de N.-S. Jfsus-Chriet, I (Paris, s. d.).

Ja.mes F. Driscoll.

Nazarenes. See Ebionites; Judaizers.

Nazareth, Sisters op Charity of, founded Dec, 1812, by the Rev. B. J. M. David (see Loulsvillb, Diocese of). Father David, while establishing his seminary on the farm of St. Thomas, near Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky, took charge of the mis- sions among the surrounding Catholic population. Here he found children without instructors, sick, aged, and poor without care. The need of devoted religious women was felt. He found a few young girls willing to consecrate their lives to the service of God and their neighbour. The first to offer herself was Teresa Carrico; Catherine Spalding, her assistant, Harriet Gardiner, and others followed. Very soon six were assembled, and the number continued to in-