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 O SALUTARIS

334

OSBALD

ment being pntrustod to Europoan officials. The port was opened to foreign trade in 1868, but, as the har- bour was poor and unsuitable for large vessels, Kobe (20 miles west ) attracted most of the foreign conmierce especially after the establishment of railway con- nexion between the cities in 1873. At present, how- ever, an extensive scheme of improvement to render the harbour capable of accomodating the largest ves- sels is being executed, and, on its completion, Osaka will take first place in foreign, as in internal commerce. Judging from the rapid growth of its population (821,- 235 in 1898; 1,226,590 in 1908), Osaka should be in the near future the real metropolis of Japan. Intersected by a myriad of canals, the city is often called the "Venice of the East", while its numerous industries, among which cotton-spinning occupies a leading posi- tion, has won it the title of the "Manchester of Japan".

The diocese embraces the territory stretching from Lake Biwa and the confines of the imperial provinces of Jetchidzcn, JMino, and Owari to the western shores of the island of Nippon, together with the adjacent islands (except Shikoku) belonging to this territory. \Yhile it was St. Francis Xavier's intention to proceed directly to Miako (the modern Kioto), then the reli- gious and political capital of Japan, it was not until 1559 that Christianity was first preached in the terri- tory by Father Caspar Vilela, S.J., founder of the Church in Miako. After converting about one hun- dred natives and fifteen bonzes, a plot against his life necessitated his temporary withdrawal, and the civil war, which for some j'ears devastated the capital, af- forded little opportunity for cultivating further the seeds of Christianity. Peace being restored, Christian- ity began again to make headway, and in September, 1564, we find five churches erected in the neighbour- hood of the capital. By 1574 the number of faithful included many in the shogun's palace and even one of his brothers-in-law. Between 1577 and 1579 the con- verts in the Miako region were estimated at between 9000 and 10,000. In 1582 the central provinces con- tained 25,000 faithful, ministered to by five fathers and nine brothers of the Jesuit Order. When Hide- yoshi determined to transfer the seat of government from Kioto to Osaka, Father Organtino, S.J., in ac- cordance with the advice of Justus IJkondono, a Christian noble, petitioned the Taiko for a site for a church. His request was granted and the first church in Osaka was opened at Christmas, 1583. By 1585 the number of nobles baptized at Osaka was sixty-five. On the issue of the Taiko's edict banishing the missionaries and closing the churches (see Japan), there were in the eighteen leagues between Miako and Sakai twenty churches and 35,000 faith- ful. Though no European met with martyrdom during the first persecution, the sufferings of the Chris- tians were terrible; fifty churches and eight residences of the Jesuits in the central provinces were burned, al- though the churches in Osaka, Miako, and Sakai were spared. Henceforth until the Taiko's death the min- istry had to be carried on secretly. In 1593 the Fran- ciscan embassy from the Philippines arrived, and erected the Church of Our Lady of Portiuncula and a hospital for lepers in Miaho. In the next year Francis- cans established the Convent of Bethlehem in Osaka. (Concerning the persecution following the San Felipe incident see Japan; Nagasaki, Diocese of.) From Hideyoshi's death (1598) to 1613, the Church in Japan enjoyed comparative peace. At the court of Hide- yori, the aiccessor of Hideyoshi, were numerous Chris- tians, several of whom commanded his troops during the bombardment of Osaka (1615). A list of the Christians in Miaho, Fushumi, Osaka, and Sakai having been drawn up in 1613, a decree was published at Miaho on 11 Feb., 1614, ordering all to depart with- in five days. For details of the persecution, for which this decree was the signal and which within twenty-

five years annihilated the Church in Japan, consult Deplace, "l>a Catholicisme au Japon", II (Mechlin, 1909). The first church in Osaka after the reopening of Japan to foreigners was erect('d by Father Cousin (now Bishop of Nagasaki) in 1869. The ag- nosticism of the Japanese and the general laxity of morals constitute formidable obstacles to the growth of Christianity. The mission is entrusted to the Paris Society of Foreign Missions. It was erected into a diocese on 16 March, 1888, the present bishop being Mgr Jules Chatron (elected 23 July, 1896). According to the latest statistics the diocese counts: 27 missionaries (3 native), 4 Marianite Brothers, 37 catechists, 16 sisters, 34 stations, 32 churches, 24 oratories, 4 schools with 419 pupils, 1 high-school with 100 pupils, 5 orphanages with 228 inmates, 32 hospi- tals, 3711 Christians.

For bibliography, see Japan and Nagasaki.

Thomas Kennedy.

O Salutaris Hostia (O Saving Host), the first line of the penultimate stanza of the hymn, "Verbum supernum prodiens", composed by St .Thomas Aqui- nas for the Hour of Lauds in the Office of the Feast of Corpus Christi. This stanza and the final stanza, or doxology (Uni IHnoque domino), have been selected to form a separate hymn for Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Usually, and most appropriately, it is begun either when the door of the tabernacle is opened or when the monstrance is being placed on the throne of exposition. In England the singing of the "O Salutaris" is enjoined in the "Ritus servandus", the code of procedure apjiroved by a former synod of the Province of Westminster (see Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament). But the use of the hymn, not being prescribed in the rubrics, is not of universal obligation. It is, however, very generally used, al- though any other appropriate texi, is permissible, such as the "Adoro Te devote", the "Pange, lingua", the antiphon "O sacrum convivium" etc. While it is not forbidden to sing vernacular hymns at Benediction the "O Salutaris", being a liturgical text, cannot be sung in the vernacular (S.R.C., 27 Feb., 1882, Leav- enworth. Cf. "Am. Eccl., Rev.", April, 1895, 341). The hymn is often chosen as a motet for solemn Mass, and may thus be used after the proper Offertory for the day has been sung or recited. An indefensible, but, fortunately, very rare, custom, perhaps inaugurated by Pierre de la Rue, the profound contrapuntal com- poser of the fifteenth century, was that of replacing the "Benedictus" at Mass by the "O Salutaris". Gounod imitated his example in his first "Mass of the Orph6onistes", but in his second mass of that name gives both the "Benedictus" and the "O Salu- taris", as Rossini in his posthumous "Messe Solen- nelle" and Prince Poniatowski in his "Mass in F". The plain-song melody in the eighth mode is beauti- ful, and forms the theme of de la Rue's musical tour deforce in the Mass of that title. The modern settings have been very numerous, although not always ser- viceable, inasmuch as many are too theatrical for church use; others are entirely for solo use, and still others probably violate the prescription of the Motu Proprio of 22 November, 1903, requiring that in hymns the traditional form be preserved. There are about twenty-five poetical versions of the hymn in English.

H. T. Henry.

Osbald, King of Northumbria, d. 799. Symeon of Durham (Historia Regum) tells us that when Ecfwald, a pious and just king, took up the reins of government in Northumbria on the expulsion of Ethelred, Osbald with another eorlderman named Athelheard collected a force early in 780 at Seletune (probably Silton in the North Riding of Yorkshire), and set fire to the house of Beam, whom Huntingdon and Wendover call the