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 CONSECRATION

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CONSECRATION

came in contact. Churches were sometimes conse- crated without depositing relics. Some ancient forms of consecration prescribe that the Host consecr.ited liy the bislioii lie dejiosited. Often only the Creek al- phabet or the Latin was written twice; and some- times to the Greek and Latin the Hebrew alphabet was added (Martene, De Antiquis Ecclesia" Ritibus, II). The rite does not appear to have always been one and the same, but the essential element of the ceremony — namely, the actual separation of any building from common to a sacred use, which would be the first religious act in the process of initiating and appropriating it to a Divine use — was always called its consecration. In allusion to this fact the first begin- ning of anything is often styled its dedication (Bing- ham, Origines .sive Antiquit. Eccles., VIII, ix, §1), which word the Roman Pontifical uses in this place only — "De Ecclesia> Dedicatione sen Conseeratione" — elsewhere the word conftecratio only is used. It can- not be definitely decided when the rite of consecration in use at present began to be employed. The Pontifi- cal of Egbert, Archbishop of York (733-767), bears a striking resemblance to it.

The ordinary minister of consecration is the dio- cesan bishop. He may, however, delegate another bishop to perform this fuxiction. A bishop of another diocese cannot licitly consecrate a church without the permission of the diocesan bishop, although without such ijermission the church would be validly conse- crated. A priest cannot perform this rite unless he be delegated in a special manner by the Roman pontiff (Benedict XIV, Con.st. "Ex tuis precibus", 16 No- vember, 1748, §2). To consecrate a church licitly it is necessary to consecrate a fi.xed altar in the same church, which altar ordinarily ought to be the main one (Cong. Sac. Rit., 19 Sept., 1665). If this altar is alread}' consecrated, one of the side altars may be con- secrated (Cong. Sac. Rit., 31 Aug., 1872). If all the altars of a church are already consecrated, it cannot bo licitly consecrated except by special Apostolic indult. One and the same bishop must consecrate both the church and the altar (Cong. .Sac. Rit., 3 March, 1866). Although the consecration of the altar may for some reason be invalid, yet the churcli remains consecrated (Cong. Sac. Rit., 17 June, 1843). The essence of the consecration of a church consists in the anointing of the twelve crosses on the inner walls with the form: "Sanctificetur et consecretur hoc templum", etc. If before this ceremony the consecrator should become incapacitated for finishing the function, the whole rite must be relocated from the beginning (Cong. Sac. Rit., 12 April, 1614). The church should stand free on all sides so that the bishop may pass around it. If there be obstructions at only some points, the church may be consecrated (Cong. Sac. Rit., 19 Sep- tember, 166.5), but if the obstructions be of such a na- ture that the exterior walls cannot be reached, the church may not be consecrated without a special Apostolic indult (Cong. Sac. Rit., 22 February, 1888). On the walls inside the church twelve crosses must be painted, or (if they are made of stone or metal) at- tached to the walls. These crosses are not to be of wood or of any fragile material. They must never be removed (Cong. Sac. Rit., 18 Februarj-, 1696), and, documents failing, they serve to prove that the church has been consecrated. Under each cross a bracket holding a candle is affixed.

The consecration may take place on any day of the year, but a Sunday or feast day is to be preferred (Pontificale Romanum). The consecrator and those who ask for the consecration (Van der Stappen, III, quffst. 32. iii, says, "all the parishioners, if it be a pari.sh church"; Bernard, " Le Pontifical ", II, p. 7, only the clergy attached to the church ; Marc, "In.stitu- tiones Mor.ales", I, n. 1221, nota 2°, only the parish priest, if he alone asked) are obliged to observe the day before the consecration as a day of fa-sting and absti-

nence. If the consecration takes place on Monday, the fast is observed on the preceding Saturday. On the evening prccnling the day of con.'iecration, the eiiiKsecratini; bislmp places in a reliquary the relics of the martyrs, which are to be placed in the altar, three grains of incense, and an attestation written on parch- ment. The Cong. Sac. Rit., 16 February, 1906, de- clared that for the valid consecration it suffices to have enclosed the relics of one m,artyr. The reliquary is then placed in an urn or in the tabernacle of an altar in a nearby church or oratory, or in an adjacent room or the sacristy. At least two candles are kept burning before these relics during the night, and Matins and Lauds de communi plurimorum martyrum or of the proper Office of the martyrs whose relics have teen placed in the reliqua- ry, are sung or recited. At the beginning of the consecration on the next day the can- dles under the crosses on the walls are lighted. After this the bishop and the clergy go to the place in which the relics of the martyrs were de- posited the evening before, the church meanwhile being left in charge of a deacon. Whilst the bishop is being vested the Seven Penitential Psalms are recited, after which all pro- ceed to the main en- trance of the church, where, remaining out- side, the bisliop blesses the water. The bishop then goes three times round the outside of the church, the first time sprinkling the upper part of the walls, the second time the lower part, and the third time on a level with his face. After each circuit the bishop strikes the door with the base of his crosier and saj's, " Lift up your gates, ye princes, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in." Three times the deacon within the church asks, "Who is this King of Glory?" Twice the bishop answers, "The Lord, strong and mighty; the Lord mighty in battle"; and the third time he says, " The Lord of Armies, He is the King of Glory". This triple sprinkling and circuit of the walls, according to Bl. Yves of Chartres (Sernio de Sacramentis Dedicationis), symbolizes the triple im- mersion at holy baptism, the consecration of the soul as the spiritual temple of God, to which the material bears a certain analogy.

The bishop and his attendants now enter the church, leaving the clergj- and people outside, and the door is closed. The chanters sing the "Veni, Creator Spiritus" and chant or recite the Litany of the Saints. \hcT this, whilst the canticle "Benedictus" is being chanted, the bishop traces with the point of his cro- sier, in the ashes spread on the floor, first, the Greek alphabet, beginning at the left side of the church door and proceeding to the Epistle corner of the church near the altar, then the Latin alphabet, beginning at the right side of the church door and |iroceeding to the Gospel corner of the church near the altar. The " Li- ber Sacramentorum " of St. Gregory I and the "Pon- tificale "of Egbert, Archbi.shop of York, attest the an- tiquity of this ceremony, which symbolizes the in- struction given to the newly baptized in the elements of faith and piety. The crossing of the two lines points to the cro.ss, that is Christ crucified, as the prin-