Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/484

 SANCTUS

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SANCTUS

altar. WTien it was not separated by a wall, an en- tirely free view of the sanctuarj' was oflFered. For the most part, however, the termination of the sanctuary with walls was retained, while in front was still erected the screen, which enjoyed in the Gothic period its special vogue. This arrangement of the sanctu- ary is usually found in the great cathedrals after the French models, and may thus be designated the "cathedral type", although it also occurs in the larger parish and monastery churches. Frequently the san3tuary has an exceptional length; this is especially the case in England, and influenced the architectonic arrangement of space if the sanctuary was enclosed with walls. Its effect was most unfavourable in the canon's choir (called the Trascoro) in the cathedrals of Spain, which was transferred to the middle nave as a separate construction and was cut off by high walls with grated entrances. This enclosure was most magnificently decorated with architectural and other ornamentations, but it entirely destroyed the view of the glorious architecture. Side by side with this "cathedral type" was retained the old simple type, in which the sanctuary was not accessible on all sides; this was found especially in parish churches and in the churches of the mendicant orders. WTien the church had three naves, the choirs of the side naves lay beside the chief choir This kind of a sanctuary remained the most popular, especially in Germany and Italy.

The Renaissance to a great extent restored to the sanctuary its original form. In the effort to increase the middle nave as much as possible. Renaissance architecture in many cases neglected the side naves or limited them to the narrowest aisles. The free ap- proach to the sanctuary from all sides thus lost its justification. The sanctuary necessarily received a great breadth, but lost its earUer depth. In its pref- erence for bright and airy spaces, the Renaissance also abandoned the method of separating the sanctuary from the rest of the church by means of a screen; at a sub.sequent period, the latter was replaced by the low Communion bench. Thus a person entering the church through the main door commanded a free view of the sanctuary, which, especially in Italy, was gloriously decorated with marble incrustations. As the sunlight, entering unchecked through the cupola covering the intensection, brightly illuminated the edi- fice, the effect was entirel.y different from that awakened by the Romanesque and Gothic sanctu- aries. In the medieval church the sanctuary was shut off from the congregation and was as inaccessible as the Holy of Holies in the Temple of the Old Testament; the sanctuary of the Renaissance church stands out before us in a i3rilliance of light like Mount Tabor, but without blinding our gaze. We believe that we are nearer the Deity, our hearts are filled with joyous sentiments, so that we might cry out with the Apostle; Peter "It is good for us to be here". In the medieval church, on the other hand, we are pene- traterl with a mysterious awe and like Moses feel urged U) take off our shoes, for this is a holy place.

.Strzvgowhki, Klciriasirn. Bin Neuland der Kunstgcachichte (Ix-ipziK. 1903); Hasak, Die romanische u. gotische BaukuiiKt der Kirchenlxiu (.StuttKart, 1902). BeDA KlEINSCHMIDT.

Sanctus. — I. History. — The Sanctus is the last part of the Preface in the Mass, sung in practically every rite by the people (or choir). It is one of the elements of th<! liturgy of which we have the earliest evidence. St. Clement of Rome (d. about 104) men- tifinfi it. He quoU« the text in Isaias, vi, .3, and goes on to say that it is also sung in church; this at least BOCMiH the plain meaning of the passage: "for the Scripture says . . . Holy, holy, holy Lord of hf>sts; full is every cnaturc of his glory. And we, led by con»r-i«;nce, gathered together in on(! place in con- cftrd, cry to him continuously a.s from one mouth, that we may become sharers in his great and glorious promises" (I Cor., xxxiv, 6-7). It seems clear that

what the people cry is the text just quoted. Clement does not say at what moment of the service the people cry these words; but again we ma}'^ safely suppose that it was at the end of what we call the Preface, the place at which the Sanctus appears in every liturgy, from that of "Apost. Const.", VIII, on. The next oldest witness is Origen (d. 254). He quotes the text of Isaias and continues: "The coming of my .Jesus is announced, wherefore the whole earth is full of his glory" (In Isa., horn., I, n. 2). There is nothing to correspond to this in the Prophet. It seems plainly an allusion to liturgical use and so agrees very well with the place of the Sanctus. The Anaphora of Sarapion of Thmuis (Egypt, fourteenth century) gives the Sanctus almost exactly in the form of the Alexandrine Liturgy (Funk, "Didascalia", Paderborn, 1905, II, 174), but says nothing about its being sung bj' the people. From the fourteenth century we have abundance of testimony for the Sanctus in every liturgical centre. In Egypt St. Athanasius (d. 373) mentions it (Expos in Ps. cii, P. G., XXVII, 434); at Jerusalem St. Cyril (d. 373) (Catech. myst., V, 6), and at Antioch St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) alludes to it (in Ps. cxxxiv, n. 6, P. G., LV, 393). Ter- tulhan (d. about 220) ("de Oratione", 3) and Victor of Vite (d. 486) ("Hist, persec. Vandal", III, P. L., LVIII) quote it in Africa; Germanus of Paris (d. 576) in Gaul (in Duchesne, "Origines du Culte", 2d ed., Paris, 1898, p. 204), Isidore of Seville (d. 636) in Spain (ibid.). The Sanctus is sung by the people in "Apo.stolic Constitutions", VIII, XII, 27 (Brightman, "Eastern Liturgies", 18-19) and so in almost all rites. The scanty state of our knowledge about the early Roman Mass accounts for the fact that we have no allusion to the Sanctus till it appears in the first Sacramentaries. The Leonine and Gelasian books give only the celebrant's part; but their prefaces lead up to it plainly. The Gregorian Sacramentarj^ gives the te.xt exactly as we still have it (P. L., LXXVIII, 26). But the passage quoted from St. Clement and then the use of Africa (always similar to Rome) leave no doubt that at Rome too the Sanctus is part of the oldest liturgical tradition. In view of Clement's al- lusion it is difficult to understand Abbot Cabrol's theory that th(> Sanctus is a later addition to the Mass ("Les Origines liturgi(|ues", Paris, 1906, p. 329)

The connexion in which it occurs in the liturgy is this: in all rites the Eucharistic prayer (Canon, Anaphora) begins with a formal thanksgiving to God for his benefits, generally enumerated at length (sec Preface). This first part of the prayer (our Preface) takes the form of an outline of creation, of the many graces given to Patriarchs and Prophets in the Old Law and so to the crowning benefit of our red(Mnpt ion by Christ, to His life and Passion, to the institution of the Holy Eucharist and the words of institution, all in the scheme of a tlianksgiving for these things (cf. ib.). Before the prayer comes to the mention of our Lord it always refers to the angels. In "Apost. Const.", VIII, XII (Brightman, op. cit., 15-18), they occur twice, at the beginning as being the first creatures and again at the end of th(> Old Testament history — po.ssibly in connexion with the place of Isaias who mentions them. In St. James's liturgy this part of the Anaphora is much shorter and the angels are named once only (ibid., p. 50); so also in St. Mark they come only once (pp. 131-32). They are always named at length and with much .solemnity as those who join with us in praising God. So the de- scription in Isaias, VI, 1-4, must have attracted at- tention very early as expressing this angelic praise of God and as summing up (in v. 3) just the note of the first part of the Anaphora. The Sanctus simply con- tinues the Preface. It is a ((notation of what the angels say. We thank (iod with the angels, who say unceasingly: "Holy, holy, holy", etc. Logically the celebrant could very well himself say or sing the