Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/65

 BUILDINGS

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BUILDINGS

rum, XV, 28-31, where reference is made to a curious work of fiction describing the imaginary labours of the Benedictine Boyl in the West Indies.

Stephen M. Donovan.

Buildings, Ecclesiastical. — This term compre- hends all constructions erected for the celebration of liturgical acts, whatever be the name given to them: — church, chapel, oratory, basilica, etc. The subject will be treated under the following heads: I. History; II. Division; III. Erection; IV. Repair and Maintenance; V. Consecration and Blessing; VI. Immunity; VII. Church Fabric.

I. History. — In the earliest days of the Christian religion, there were no buildings specially conse- crated to Eucharistic worship; the assemblies for liturgical service were held in private houses (Acts, ii, 46; Rom., xvi, 5; I Cor., xvi, 15; Col., iv, 15; Phile- mon, 2). The assemblies which the first Christians held in the Temple of Jerusalem, in the synagogues or even in hired halls, were assemblies for instruction or for prayer (Acts, v, 12-13; xvii, 1-2; xix, 9). At the end of the second century and even later, during the periods of persecution, assemblies for Christian worship were still held in private houses. During this epoch, however, we begin to hear of the domus r (the house of the Church), an edifice used for all the services of the Christian community, in which one apartment was specially set apart for Divine worship. At an early date this apartment took on a special importance. During the third century the other parts of the building were detached from it and the domus. line the Domus Dei

(the house of God) known also as the Dominicum or the KvpiaKbv otnov (Duchesne, Origines du culte chr^tien, 399-400, Paris, 1902; Wieland, Mensa und Confessio: Studien tiber den Altar der altchristlichen Liturgie, Munich, 1906, I. 27-35, 68-73). All such churcnes were situated in towns, and the inhabi- tants of the rural districts came thither on the Lord's Day, in order to assist at the Eucharistic Sacrifice; in large cities, like Rome. Alexandria, and Carthage, there were several churches. bu1 they did not con- stitute separate parishes (Duchesne, 400; Wieland, 73 76). They depended upon the cathedral church, in which was established the see (sedes), or the chair (cathedra) of the bishop. There were, however, since the second century, outside the cities, mortuary churches attached to the Christian cemeteries. Here were celebrated the funeral rites, also the anniversary commemorations of the departed, but not the ordi- nary offices of Divine worship. Sanctuaries were also erected over the sepulchres of the martyrs, and popular devotion brought thither a large con- course of people, not only for the celebration of the anniversary, but at other times as well. The neces- sity of providing accommodation for these gatherings, as well as the desire to honour the saint, led to the construction of buildings, sometimes large and richly adorned. These churches multiplied when the people began to accord to any relic whatever, to a piece of cloth stained with his blood, to a phial of oil drawn from the lamp that burned constantly before his Bepulchre, etc., the veneration at first given only to his burial place. These were the churches of "relics". They prevailed finally to such an extent that to-day every church must have relics in each of its altars (Duchesne. 102 103 . 1' ie almost universally recog- nized at the present day, thai only on exceptional DC- serve for ordinary worship, even during the nines of persecution. They were used solely for funeral services and for the celebra- tion of the festivals of martyrs (Wieland, 81-100).

That churches existed in rural districts as early as the fourth century is undeniable. Priests went thither periodically to administer the sacraments. In the fifth century, however, on account of the increase in the number of the faithful, it became

necessary to station resident, priests in such districts. This was the origin of parish churches, which were established by the bishops in the most populous districts, the vici, and were known as ecclisio? rus- tieana;, paroehitance, dioccsanec, diocesis, parochia, ecclesia' baptismales, because in these churches only could the Sacrament of Baptism be administered; they were also termed tituli majores to distinguish them from the private churches, or tituli minores (Imbart de la Tour, Les paroisses rurales du IV e au XII e siecle, Paris. 1900). In addition to these churches of the vici, the owners of the villw or great estates founded churches for their own use and for that of the persons connected with their establish- ments. Such churches could not be used for Divine worship without the consent of the local bishop, who was wont to exact from the proprietor a renunciation of all rights of possession. The ecclesiastical authority, however, was not long able to resist the proprietors, who from the seventh and eighth centuries retained the proprietary right over the churches they had built. These were called oratorio, basilicce, martyria, or tituli minores, and were in no respect parish churches, because in them baptism could not be administered; moreover, on certain solemn days, the faithful were obliged to assist at Mass in the parish church. Neither did these churches receive any tithes. From the Carlovingian period, however, such private churches gradually became parish- churches. Some authors contend that from that epoch all churches became the private property of t he laity, or of convents, or bishops. The ecclesiasti- cal reforms of the eleventh and twelfth centuries brought this condition of things to an end. The Second Lateran Council (1139) commanded all lay- men, under pain of excommunication, to resign to the bishops the churches in their possession. (Mansi, '•Coll. Cone", XXI, 529-532; Stutz, "Geschichte des kirchl. Benefizialwesens", Berlin, 1895, I; Hinschius, "System des kath. Kirchenrechts", Berlin, 1878, 11. 262-269, 277-281; Imbart de la Tour, op. eit.) Even within the parishes, for the benefit of the faithful, there were established at various times, chap- els which did not enjoy the prerogatives of parish churches, and were more or less dependent upon the latter (Von Scherer. Handbuch des Kirchenrechtes, Graz, 1898, II, 627). In addition to churches specially intended for the use of the faithful, others known as oratories were erected in the monasteries; they acquired a greater importance when the ma- jority of the monks were ordained priests, still more when the exclusive privileges of the parish churches suffered diminution. Such oratories were also com- mon in beneficent and charitable institutions. The medieval corporations (guilds) which were also re- ligious confraternities, had sometimes their own special chapels (Viollet, Histoire des institutions politiques de la France, Paris, 1903, III, 143-176). II. Division. — Ecclesiastical buildings are usually divided into four classes: churches properly so called, public oratories, private oratories, and semi-public oratories. This division was confirmed by the Con- gregation of Rites, 23 January, 1899 (Decreta au- thent. Congreg. sacr. Rit. no. 4007, Rome, 1900). Churches are edifices set apart in perpetuity for the public exercise of Divine worship; such are basilicas, primatial. metropolitan, cathedral, colle- giate and parish churches, and lastly the conventual churches of regulars, properly SO called. Public oratories are buildings of less importance, definitely given over to Divine worship, and accessible to the

public, whether the entrance itself be upon the public road or upon a passage-way leading to the latter. A private oratory is one established in favour of a particular family or even of a single individual. finally, a semi-public oratory is established for the benefit of a number of people; such is the chapel of