Page:Holyweek1891.djvu/33

Rh days of the entombment, and other lamps were renewed from these as a symbol of the Resurrection. In other Churches light was produced by means of a burning-glass from the sun, as signifying the Orient on high; or were struck from a flint, typifying the rock, which is Christ. (I. Cor. X, 4.)

In Florence the fire is struck from flints brought from the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem in the time of the Crusades. In some Churches the New Fire was blessed on each of the three days, and the Roman Church was one of the last to adopt the ceremony of a special blessing for Saturday. Five grains of incense are also blessed for the purpose of being put into the Paschal Candle. The New Fire represents Christ the Light of the World, and the spark struck from the flint represents Our Lord rising from the Sepulchre through the stone that had been rolled against it. The putting out of all the lights in the Church symbolizes the abrogation of the old law, and the new fire represents the preaching of the New, whereby the Light of the World fulfilled all the figures of ancient prophecy. The five grains of incense represent the perfumes prepared by Magdalen and her holy companions for the embalming of the body of Jesus. The prayer said by the celebrant when blessing the incense shows a real connection between it and the light, and teaches us the power these several sacred objects have against the spirits of evil. The celebrants and attendants go in procession from the Sacristy to the vestibule of the Church, where the fire and incense are to be blessed as the holy women and apostles seeking the sepulchre go forth from the city. The prayers in the blessings contain beautiful allusions. After the blessing some of the fire is put into the thurible, when the celebrant incenses the fire and the five grains of incense, which have first been sprinkled with holy water. A candle is lighted from the blessed fire that the new light may be brought into the Church. The ministers have been