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 RITES

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RITES

to it by a small drop of the Sacred Blood, or, if it be not "at the time of Mass, by taking the Blessed Sacrament from the Tabernacle and signing the mouth of the child with it in the form of the cross, saj'ing in either case: "The plenitude of the Holy Ghost"; if the candidate be an adult, full Commu- nion is administered, and there the confirmation is ended. The formula of absolution in the Sacrament of Penance is: "May the merciful God have mercy upon you and grant you the pardon of all your sins, both confessed and forgotten; and I by virtue of my order of priesthood and in force of the power granted by the Divine Command: Whosesoever sins you remit on earth they are remitted unto them in heaven; through that same word I absolve you from all par- ticipation in sin, by thought, word and deed, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And I again restore you to the sacraments of the Holy Church; whatsoever good you shall do, shall be counted to you for merit and for glory in the life to come. May the shedding of the blood of the Son of God, which He shed upon the cross and which delivered human nature from hell, deliver you from your sins. Amen." As a rule Armenians are ex- horted to make their confession and communion on at least five days in the year: the so-called Daghavork or feasts of Tabernacles, i. e., the Epiphany, Easter, Transfiguration, Assumption, and Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The first two festivals are obligatory, and, if an Armenian neglects his duty, he incurs excommunication. The Sacrament of Extreme Unc- tion (or "Unction with Oil", as it is called) is sup- posed to be administered by seven priests in the ancient form, but practically it is performed by a single priest on most occasions. The eyes, ears, nose, lips, hands, feet, and heart of the sick man are anointed, with this form: "I anoint thine eyes with holy oil, so that whatever sin thou mayst have com- mitted through thy sight, thou mayst be saved there- from by the anointing of this oil, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ", and with a similar ref- erence to the other members anointed.

The Divine Liturgy or Mass is of course the chief rite among the Armenians, whether Catholic or Gregorian, and it is celebrated with a form and cere- monial which partakes in a measure both of the Roman and Byzantine rites. As we have said, the curtains are used instead of the altar-rail or iconosta.sis of tho.se rites, and the vestments are also peculiar. The Armenians, like the Latins, use unleavened bread, in the form of a wafer or small thin round cake, for con.secration; but like the Greeks they prepare niany wafers, and those not u.sed for con.secration in the Mass are given afterwards to the people as the antuloron. The wine u.sed mast be solely the fermented juice of the bfst grapes obtainable. In the Gregorian churrhfs Communion is given to the people imder both species, the Ho.st being dipped in the chalice before delivering it to the communicant, but in the Catholic churches Communion is now given only in one species, that of the Body, although there is no express prohibition against the older form. On Chriutmafl Eye and Easter Eve the .\rmenians cele- brate Ma«8 in the evening; the Ma.ss then begins with the curtains drawn whilst the introductory psalms and prophecif« are sung, but, at the moment the great feast is announces! in the Introit, the cur- tains are withdrawn and the altar appears with full illumination. During I^ent the altar remains entirely hidden by the great curtains, and during all the Sun- days m I>-nt, except Palm Sunday, Ma-ss is cele- brat^fl behmd the drawn curtains. A relio of this practice still remains in the Hornan Kite, as shown by the veiling of the images and pictures from Passion Sunday till Kast^-r Eve. The Annenian vestments for Mass are fK-ruliar and splendid. The priest wears a crown, exactly in the form of a Greek biahop'fl

mitre, which is called the Saghavard or helmet. This is also worn bj' the deacons attending on a bishop at pontifical Mass. The Armenian bishops wear a mitre almost identical in shape with the Latin mitre, and said to have been introduced at the time of their union with Rome in the twelfth century, when they relinquished the Greek form of mitre for the priests to wear in the Mass. The celebrant is first vested with the shapik or alb, which is usually narrower than the Latin form, and usually of linen (sometimes of silk). He then puts on each of his arms the bazpans or cuffs, which replace the Latin maniple; then the ourar or stole, which is in one piece; then the goti or girdle, then the varkas or amict, which is a large embroidered stiff collar with a shoulder covering to it; and finally the shoochnr, or chasuble, which is almost exactly like a Roman cope. If the celebrant be a bishop, he also wears the gonker or Greek epigo- nation. The bishops carry a staff shaped like the Latin, vv-hile the vartabeds (deans, or doctors of divin- ity; analogous to the Roman mitred abbots) carry a staff in the Greek form (a staff with two intertwined serpents). No organs are used in the Armenian church, but the elaborate vocal music of the Eastern style, sung by choir and people, is accompanied by two metallic instruments, the keshotz and zinzgha (the first a fan with small bells; the second similar to cymbals), both of which are used during various parts of the Mass. The deacon wears merely an alb and a stole in the same manner as in the Roman Rite. The subdeacons and lower clergy wear simply the alb. The Armenian Mass may be divided into three parts: Preparation, Anaphora or Canon, and Con- clusion. The first and preparatory portion extends as far as the Preface, when the catechumens are directed by the deacon to leave. The Canon com- mences with the conclusion of the Preface and ends with the Communion. As soon as the priest is robed in his vestments he goes to the altar, washes his hands reciting Psalm xxvi, and then going to the foot of the altar begins the Mass. After saying the Intercessory Prayer, the Confiteor and the Ab.solu- tion, which is given with a crucifix in hand, he re- cites Psalm xlii (Introibo ad altare), and at every two verses ascends a step of the altar. After he has intoned the prayer "In the tabernacle of holiness", the curtains are drawn, and the choir sings the ap- propriate hymn of the day. Meanwhile the cele- brant behind the curtain prepares the bread on the paten and fills the chalice, ready for the oblation. When this is done the curtains are withdrawn and the altar incensed. Then the Introit of the day is sung, then the prayers corresponding to those of the first, second, and third antiphons of the Byzantine Rite, while the proper psalms are sung by the choir. Then the deacon intones " Proschume " (let us attend), and elevates the book of the gospels, which is in- censed as he brings it to the altar, making the Little Entrance. The choir then sings the Trisagion (Holy God, Holy and Mighty, Holy and Immortal, have mercy on us) thrice. The Gregorians inter- polate after "Holy and Immortal" some words de- scriptive of the feast day, such as "who was made manifest for us", or "who didst ri.se from the dead", but this aridition has been condemned at Rome as being a relic of the Patripassian heresy. During the Trisagion the; Keshnfz is jingled in accompaniment. Then the Greek Ektene or Litany is sung, and at its conclusion the reafler reads the Prophecy; then the Antiphon before the Epistle is sung, and the epistle of the day read. At th(i end of each the choir re- sponds Alleluia. Then the deacon announces "Orthi" (stand up) and, taking the Gospels, reads or intones the gospel of the day. Immediately afterwarrls, the Armenian form of the Nicene Creed is said or sung. It differs from the creed aa saifl in the Roman and Greek Churches in that it has, "consubstantial with