Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 9.djvu/355

 LOBBIS 31

cubits (three tcet) long, one oubit broad and one and a half cubit high (Ex., xxv, 23. Cf. Ill Kings, vii, 48; I Par., xxviii, 16; 11 Par,, iv, If); xiii, 11). The table with the IcMives of bread waa then placed in the taber- nacle or temple before the Ark of the Covenant, there to remain " always" in the presence of the Lord (Ex., XXV, 30; Num., iv, 7), According to the Talmud, the loaves were not allowed to touch one another, and, to prevent contact, hollow golden tubes, twenty- eight ia number, were placed between them, which thus permitted the air to circulate freely between the loaves. Together with the loaves of proposition, between the two piles or, according to otners, above them, were two vessels of gold filled with frankia- cense and, according to the Septuagint, salt also (Lev., xxiv, 7; Siphra, 263, 1). The twelve loaves were to be renewed every Sabbath; fresh, hot loaves taking the place of the stale loaves, which belonged "to Aaron and his hods, that they may eat them in the holy place" (Lev., xxiv, S, 9. Cf. I Par., xxiii, 29; Matt., xii, 4, etc.). According to the Talmud four priests removed the old loaves together with the in- cense every Sabbath, and four other priests brought in fresh loaves ■with new incense. The old loaves were divided among the incoming and outgoing priests, and were to be consumed by them within the sacred precincts of the sanctuary. The old in- cense was burnt. The expense of preparing the loaves was borne by the temple treasury (I Par., ix, 26 and 32). Symbolically, the twelve loaves represented the higher life of the twelve tribes of Israel. Bread was the ordinary symbol of life, and the hallowed bread aigniiied a superior life because it waa ever in the presence of Yotiwch and destined for those spe- cially consecrated to His service. The incense was a symbol of the praise due to Yahweh.

EDEnsnEiu, TS. Tmple and }i„ Smirrt (Ltmdon, 1874), 152-57; KBHNSDTin Hastinos. />»«. o/tAe HiWr, «. v. .S*™- JTttuJ.' IiUlTSE ia Vioouitocx, Did. dc la Bibli, IV, 1957; Geftcht in Ji\ciah Encj/cJopfdia, s. v. Shtirbrtad,

Francis X. E. Albeht.

Lobbes, Besedictise Abbey oi^ Hainault, Bel- gium, founded about 650, by St. Landclin, a con- verted brigand, 80 that the place where his criincs had been committed might benefit by his conversion. As the number of monks inct«ased rapidly the saintly founder, desiring to consecrate his lire to austerities rather than to discharge the duties of abbot, resigned his post. He waa succeeded by St. Ursmer, who gave most of his energies to preaching Christianity among the atill pagan Belgians, Jlore fortunate than most monasteries, Lobbespreserved its ancient annals, so that its history is known in comparatively minute detail. The "Annales Laubicenses", printed in Pertj. "Mon. Germ, Hist.; Scriptorea", should be con- sulted. The fame of St. Ursmer, his successor St. Ermin, and other holy men soon drew numbers of dis- ciples, and Lobbes became the most important mon- astery of the period in Belgium, the abbatial school rising to special fame under Anson, the sixth abbot. About 864 Hubert, brother-in-law of Lothafr II, be- came abbot, and, by his dissolute life brought the monastery into a state of decadence, both temporal and spiritual, from which it did not recover until the accession of Francon. By him the Abbacy of Lobbes was united to the Bishopric of I.i^ge, which he already held, and this arrangement continued until 960, when the monastery regained ita freedom. The reigns of Abbota Folcuin (96.T-990) and Heriger (990-1007) were marked by rapid advance, the scnool especially at- taining a great reputation.

From this peri«l, although the general observance seems on the whole to have continued good, the fame of the abbey gradually declined until the fifteenth century, when the great monastic revival, originating in the congregation of Bursfeld, brought fresh life into it. In 1569 Lobbes and several other abbeys, the

most important being that of St. Vasst or Vedast at Arras, were combined to form the "Benedictine Gal- lon of Exempt Monasteries of Flanders ", some- called the ■'Congregation of St. Vaast". In 1793 the last abbot, Vulgise de Vignron, was elected. Thirteen months later both abbot and community were driven from the monastery by French troops, and the law of 2 September, 1796, decreed their final expulsion. The monks, who numbered forty-three at that date, were received into various monasteries in Germany and elsewhere; and the conventual build- ings were subsequently defltroyed, with the e^cpptlon of the farm and certain other portions that have been incorporated in the raiiwav station.

AnnaiaLatdiiairueiinFsHTZ.iff^.Oerm. HiH.:SeTipl. .I-IV, XXI: flmx ChnMiam lanbiaum in M^rkXE. TANuurvi Set. Anted.. Ill (Fans. 1717). I40S-I431: EpvUeia Lobientium mimacliorum in i,'AciitBT, SpKil-vium. VI (Furis. IBM), 588- AOI: U«Bi:.i»K. Annaltt Bmtd. (Pu». IS—), 11. V; OaUia CMiliana. Ill (Paris, 1735). 79-80: BebuIibb. JTmhuIw* Belac. I (Bnigcs, 1900-67). 179-238: LuEDira, Mcnu anmMt drfaTKiennt^bbaufdrSI.PitrTedeLoNiallioia.lS^: Tos, Lobbei, Km obbaj/trtHmchapiirii (2 mb.,Jjoa'irmo.l8aS): Bn- ukKK.NoHctswrabbavxIt Leb'-eiiB Rmu BinMiftiiu.V.aCa. 370.392,

G. Roger Hudlebtom.

Lobara, Ann (tetter known as Venbrablb Ann of Jesus), Carmelite nun, companion of St. Teresa; b. at Medina del Campo (Old CastUe), 25 November, 1645; d. at Brussels, 4 March,_ 1621. The daughter of Diego de Lobera of Plasencia, and of Francisca de Torres of Biscay, Ann was a deaf-mute until her seventh year, I-cf t an orphan, she went to live with her father's relatives. Havmg made a vow of virginity while in the world, she took the habit in St. Teresa s convent at Avila. in 1570. While still a novice St. Teresa called her to Salamanca and placed her over the other novices. Ann made her profession on 22 Octoljer, 1571, and accompanied St. Teresa in 1575 to the foundation of Beas, of which she became the firat

Krioress, Later she was sent by the saint to establish nr new convent at Granada. One of the greatest difEcuIUes consisted in a misunderstanding between St. Teresaand Ann, which drew from the former sharp reprimands, in a letter dated 30 May, 1 582. With Uie help of St. John of the Cross, Ann made a foundation at Madrid (1586), of which she became prioress. She also oolleeted St. Teresa's writings for publication. While at Madrid Ann came into conflict with her superior, Nicholas a Jesu-Maria (Doria), who, by rendering the rules stringent and rigid in the extreme, and bv concentrating ail authority in the hands of a committee of permanent officials (eonsuUa), sought to guard the nuns against any relaxation. It was an open secret that the constitutions of the nuns, di&wn up by St. Teresa with the assistance of Jerome Gratian (q. v.), and approved by a eliapter in 1581, were to be brought into line with the new principles of adminis- tration. Ann of Jesus, determined to preserve intact St. Teresa's work, appealed (with the knowledge of Doria) to the Holy Sec for an Apostohc confirmation,

been acting over the head of their superiors, Philip II twice forbade the meeting of a chapter for the recep- tion of the Brief, and the nuns, ana their advisers and supporters, Luis de Lefin and Dominic Bafiei, fell into di^raee. Furthermore, for over a year no friar was allowed to hear the nuns' confessions. At last Philip having heard the story from the nuns' point of view commanded the consiilUi to reaume their government, and petitioned the Holv See for an approbation of the constitutions. Accordingly Gr^ory XIV by a Brief of 25 April, 1591, revoking the Acts of bis predeceaor, took a middle course between an uncontutional eon- firmation of the constitutions and an approbation of tbe principles of the eonauffa. These coiuititutions ara

still in foree

Dree in a large number ot Carmelite convents, resumed the government of the nuns, hut hit