Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/218

 R00NE7

182

ROOTHAAN

but they are mostly of wood and usually consist of close panelling below — often decorated with painted figures of saints — and open screenwork above, supporting tracery and richly carved cornices and crestings. In England they were generally lavishly coloured and gilded. In some instances they ex- tend across the aisles of the church as well. In Eng- land, also, the rood frequently stood not on or near the screen and loft, but on a separate transverse beam called the rood-beam, which was similarly carved and gilded. There were sometimes other beams also, besides that supporting the rood, like those at St. David's, between the choir and sanctuary, and Lincoln beyond the liigh altar, on which stood lights and reliquaries. Corbels, or stone brackets in English churches — e. g., Worcester cathedral — often indicate the position of the rood-beam before its removal in the sixteenth century. Leading up to the rood-loft were the rood-stairs, many of which still remain even where the loft itself has been destroyed. In England these stairs were generally enclosed in the wall separating chancel from nave, but in other countries they often constituted an architectural feature with elaborate tracer}', as at Rouen (since destroj^ed), Strasburg, St-Etienne-du-Mont, and La Madeleine at Troyes.

In churches where there were both pulpiium and rood-screen the latter usually had two doors, and be- tween them was placed, on the western side, the rood- altar, which, in monastic churches, often served as the parish altar, the parishioners being accommodated in the nave. This was the case in almost all the monastic cathedrals and greater abbeys of England, and the altar, being immediately under the great rood, was dedicated to the Holy Cross, except at Durham, where it was called the Jesus altar, and at St. Albans, where the dedication was to St. Cuthbert. The latter still remains in situ as the parish altar. In Miinster cathedral and at Llibeck, in the hospital church, there were three altars, with the two doors of the screen between them. In smaller churches, with no separate pidpitum, but only a rood-screen with a central door- way, there was usually an altar on either side of the door, but it is doubtful whether these can strictly be termed rood-altars. It seems probable that in some cases the rood-altar was on the loft itself, instead of beneath — e. g., at Lichfield, Lyons, and St-Maurice, Vienne. In some old lofts drains have been found which may possibly be the remains of the piscinas for such altars. The daily parish Mass said at the altar on or under the rood-screen, was called the rood Mass, though occasionally this term is used to signify merely the Massof oneorother of the feasts of the Holy Cross.

A few other terms used in connexion with the rood may here be briefly explained. The rood-arch was the arch separating chancel from nave, under which the rood and rood-screen were usually situated. A rood-door was either the central door of a rood-screen or one of the two doors on either side of the rood- altar. Rood-gallery was another term for rood-loft. The rood-gap was the space under the chancel arch, partially occupied by the rood. The rood-saints were the figures of Sts. Mary and John on either side of the rood; rood-steps, the steps leading up from the nave into the chancel, under or immediately before the rood-screen. Rood-steeple, or rood-tower, was a name sometimes given to the central tower of a church at the intersection of nave and chancel with the tran- septs, as at Durham, Xotre-Dame, Paris, and Lincoln. At the last-named place the name has since been cor- rupted into "Broa^i Tower."

Puoiv, TrealUe on Cfi/incd Screenii and Roodlofts (London, 18.51): WAlx;mT, Hacretl Archtnoloyy (Ixjndon, 180S); Armfiei.d, in Did. of ChrUlinn Antifjuities, h. v. Rood (London, 1880); Bond, Scretnn and OaUerien in Englixh Churchen (London, 190H); Thieiw, TraiU nur let jubit (Paris, 1688). Aluo numerous papers and articles in Trannactionji of the various EnKlish Archseological Hocteties. A list of the chief of these is givf;n in Bond, op. cit. aupra.

G. Cypeian Alston.

Rooney, John. See Good Hope, Western Vica-

lUATE OF THE CaPE OF.

Roothaan, Johann Philipp, twenty-first General of the Society of Jesus, b. at Amsterdam, 23 Novem- ber, 1785; d. at Rome, 8 May, 1853. Originally Protestant, the Roothaan family emigrated from Frankfort to Amsterdam, where it became CathoUc. Johann Philipp, the youngest of three brothers, was on account of his special talent destined for study, and, before he was sixteen, graduated from the g>'m- nasium of his native town. Thence passing to the athenoBum illustre (high school), he continued for four years his classical studies under the celebrated Professor Jakob van Lennep with the greatest suc- cess. Confronted with the necessity of choosing his vocation, he determined to join the Society of Jesus, which still survived in White Russia and had been officially recognized by Pius VII. In 1804 he set out for the novitiate in Diinaburg; the descrip- tions of his month's journey thither are very interest- ing. On the conclusion of his novitiate, he was, on account of his great knowledge of the classics, ap- pointed teacher at the Jesuit gymnasium at Diina- burg (1806-9), and completely satisfied the expecta- tions of his superiors. He had already mastered Polish; as a native of Holland, he naturally spoke also French, while the two classical languages and Hebrew were among his favourite studies. He sub- sequently began the higher study of philosophy and theology at Polotsk, and in 1812 was ordained priest. The following four years were spent as professor of rhetoric at Pusza — this was the stormy era of the Franco-Russian War. The joyous incident of the restoration of the Society of Jesus by Pius VII also belongs to this period (1814). The other four years which preceded the banishment of the Jesuits from Russia (1820) were passed by Roothaan partly as teacher and partly in pastoral duties in Orsa. During this interval he took the final solemn vows, and could thus enter courageously on his journey into exile. This journey lasted three months, and ended in Brieg (Canton of Wallis, Switzerland). Here he again taught rhetoric for three years, besides taking zealous part in popular missions. He thrice accom- panied, on his tour of visitation, the provincial of the vice-province of Switzerland, to which also belonged the Jesuit houses in Germany, Belgium, and Hol- land, and learned the conditions from personal examination. He was able, after a seventeen years' absence, to revisit his kindred at Amsterdam. Root- haan's subsequent appointment to the rectorship of the newly-founded college at Turin brought him to his real life's task. On the death of A. Fortis. General of the Society of Jesus, Roothaan was named his successor

His labours as General were most fruitful in every domain for the newly-restored order. His first care was for the preservation and strengthening of the internal spirit of the Society. To this object he devoted nine of his eleven general letters. Of still greater fundamental importance than these valuable encyclicals were his labours on the new edition of the Exercises of St. Ignatius according to the original text; this edition he provided with an introduction and explanatory notes. The enlightened and re- newed use of this precious work is his chief ser- vice, which alone must have rendered his name im- mortal in the Society. He also displayed great zeal in raising the standard of studies; having himself enjoyed such a splendid classical education, he was able to appreciate the valu(! of the classics for a mental training. After careful investigation and counsel, he published in 1832 the Revised Order of Studies, (!XC(!llently adapterl to the conditions of the time. Having thus providofl for their spiritual and intellectual armour, he was also able to open up the