The Feasts of our Blessed Lady, and the Saints, Expounded.
Q. WHAT means the conception, nativity, presentation, annunciation, visitation, and assumption of our blessed Lady?
A. They are feasts instituted by the church in memory and honour of the mother of God, but chiefly to the honour of God himself; and so are all the other feasts of Saints.
A. They are feasts instituted by the church in memory and honour of the mother of God, but chiefly to the honour of God himself; and so are all the other feasts of Saints.
Q. How explain you that answer?
A. The feast of the Conception is in memory of her miraculous conception, who was conceived by her parents, St. Joachim and St. Anne, in their old age, and sanctified from the first instant in the womb. The Nativity is in the memory of her happy and glorious birth, by whom the author of all life and salvation was born to the world. The Presentation, in memory of her being present in the Temple at three years old, where she vowed herself to God, both soul and body. The Annunciation is in memory of that most happy embassy brought to her by the angel Gabriel from God, in which she was declared to be the mother of God, Luke i. 31, 32. The Visitation is in memory of her visiting St. Elizabeth, after she had conceived the Son of God, at whose presence St. John the Baptist leaped in his mother's womb, Luke i. 41. And her Assumption is in memory of her being assumed or taken up into heaven, both soul and body, after her dissolution or dormition; which is a pious and well-founded tradition in the church.
A. The feast of the Conception is in memory of her miraculous conception, who was conceived by her parents, St. Joachim and St. Anne, in their old age, and sanctified from the first instant in the womb. The Nativity is in the memory of her happy and glorious birth, by whom the author of all life and salvation was born to the world. The Presentation, in memory of her being present in the Temple at three years old, where she vowed herself to God, both soul and body. The Annunciation is in memory of that most happy embassy brought to her by the angel Gabriel from God, in which she was declared to be the mother of God, Luke i. 31, 32. The Visitation is in memory of her visiting St. Elizabeth, after she had conceived the Son of God, at whose presence St. John the Baptist leaped in his mother's womb, Luke i. 41. And her Assumption is in memory of her being assumed or taken up into heaven, both soul and body, after her dissolution or dormition; which is a pious and well-founded tradition in the church.
Q. For what end are the several solemnities of Saints?
A. They are instituted by our holy mother the church, to honour God in his Saints, and to teach us to imitate their several kinds of martyrdoms and sufferings for the faith of Christ, as also their several ways of virtue and perfection: as the zeal, charity, and poverty of the Apostles and Evangelists; the fortitude of the martyrs the constancy of the confessors; the purity and humility of the virgins, &c.
A. They are instituted by our holy mother the church, to honour God in his Saints, and to teach us to imitate their several kinds of martyrdoms and sufferings for the faith of Christ, as also their several ways of virtue and perfection: as the zeal, charity, and poverty of the Apostles and Evangelists; the fortitude of the martyrs the constancy of the confessors; the purity and humility of the virgins, &c.
Q. What meaneth the feast of St. Peter's installing and erecting his apostolical chair in the city of Antioch?
A. It is kept in memory of St. Peter's installing and erecting his apostolical chair in the city of Antioch.
A. It is kept in memory of St. Peter's installing and erecting his apostolical chair in the city of Antioch.
Q. What is the feast of his chair at Rome?
A. It is a solemnity in honour of the translation of his chair from Antioch to Rome.
A. It is a solemnity in honour of the translation of his chair from Antioch to Rome.
Q. Why are St. Peter and St. Paul joined in one solemnity?
A. Because they are principle and joint co-operators under Christ in the conversion of the world, St. Peter converting the Jews, and St. Paul, the Gentiles; as also because both of them were martyred at he same place Rome, and on the same day, June 29.
A. Because they are principle and joint co-operators under Christ in the conversion of the world, St. Peter converting the Jews, and St. Paul, the Gentiles; as also because both of them were martyred at he same place Rome, and on the same day, June 29.
Q. What means the feast of St. Peter and Vincula, or St. Peter's Chains?
A. It in in honour of those chains wherewith Herod bound St. Peter in Jerusalem, and from which he was freed by an angel of God, Acts xii. by only the touch whereof great miracles were afterwards effected; to say nothing of their miraculous joining together many years after into one chain, with those iron fetters, with which they had been imprisoned in Rome.
A. It in in honour of those chains wherewith Herod bound St. Peter in Jerusalem, and from which he was freed by an angel of God, Acts xii. by only the touch whereof great miracles were afterwards effected; to say nothing of their miraculous joining together many years after into one chain, with those iron fetters, with which they had been imprisoned in Rome.
Q. What meaneth the feast of Michaelmas?
A. It is a solemnity or solemn mass in honour of St. Michael, prince of the heavenly host, and likewise of all the nine orders of holy angels; as well to commemorate that famous battle fought by him and them in heaven, against the dragon and his apostate angels, Apoc. xii. 7. in defence of God's honour; as also to commend the whole church of God to their patronage and prayers. And it is called the dedication of St. Michael, by reason of a church in Rome, dedicated on that day to St. Michael, by Pope Boniface.
There is another feast called the apparition of St. Michael, and is in memory of his miraculous apparition on Mount Garganus, where by his own appointment, a temple was dedicated to him in Pope Gelasius' time.
A. It is a solemnity or solemn mass in honour of St. Michael, prince of the heavenly host, and likewise of all the nine orders of holy angels; as well to commemorate that famous battle fought by him and them in heaven, against the dragon and his apostate angels, Apoc. xii. 7. in defence of God's honour; as also to commend the whole church of God to their patronage and prayers. And it is called the dedication of St. Michael, by reason of a church in Rome, dedicated on that day to St. Michael, by Pope Boniface.
There is another feast called the apparition of St. Michael, and is in memory of his miraculous apparition on Mount Garganus, where by his own appointment, a temple was dedicated to him in Pope Gelasius' time.
Q. For what reason hath the holy church ordained a solemnity in memory of all the Saints?
A. That so at least we might obtain the prayers and patronage of them all, seeing the whole year is much too short to afford us a particular feast for every Saint.
A. That so at least we might obtain the prayers and patronage of them all, seeing the whole year is much too short to afford us a particular feast for every Saint.
Q. What meaneth All Souls Day?
A. It is a day instituted by the church, in memory of all the faithful departed, that by the prayers and suffrages of the living, they may be freed out of their purgatory pains, and come to everlasting rest.
A. It is a day instituted by the church, in memory of all the faithful departed, that by the prayers and suffrages of the living, they may be freed out of their purgatory pains, and come to everlasting rest.
Q. What means Shrove-tide?
A. It signifies a time of confession; for our ancestors were used to say, we will go to the shrift, instead of we will go to confession, and in the more primitive times all good Christians went to confession, the better to prepare themselves for a holy observation of Lent, and worthy receiving the blessed sacrament at Easter.
A. It signifies a time of confession; for our ancestors were used to say, we will go to the shrift, instead of we will go to confession, and in the more primitive times all good Christians went to confession, the better to prepare themselves for a holy observation of Lent, and worthy receiving the blessed sacrament at Easter.
Q. What signifies Ash-Wednesday?
A. It is a day of public penance and humiliation in the whole church of God, and is so called from the ceremony of blessing ashes on that day, wherewith the priest signeth the people, with a cross on their foreheads, giving them this wholesome admonition, Memento homo, &c. Remember man that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return. So to prepare them for the holy fast of Lent, and passion of Christ.
A. It is a day of public penance and humiliation in the whole church of God, and is so called from the ceremony of blessing ashes on that day, wherewith the priest signeth the people, with a cross on their foreheads, giving them this wholesome admonition, Memento homo, &c. Remember man that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return. So to prepare them for the holy fast of Lent, and passion of Christ.
Q. What means Maundy Thursday?
A. That is a feast in memory of our Lord's last supper, where he instituted the blessed Eucharist, or sacrament of his precious body and blood, and washed his disciples' feet; and it is called Maundy Thursday, as it were mandatum or mandat Thursday from the first word of the Antiphon, mandatum novum de vobis, &c. John xiii. 34. "I give unto you a new command, (or mandat) that you love one another, as I have loved you;" which is sing on that day in the churches, when the prelates begin the ceremony of washing their people's feet, in imitation of Christ's washing his disciple's feet, before he instituted the blessed sacrament.
A. That is a feast in memory of our Lord's last supper, where he instituted the blessed Eucharist, or sacrament of his precious body and blood, and washed his disciples' feet; and it is called Maundy Thursday, as it were mandatum or mandat Thursday from the first word of the Antiphon, mandatum novum de vobis, &c. John xiii. 34. "I give unto you a new command, (or mandat) that you love one another, as I have loved you;" which is sing on that day in the churches, when the prelates begin the ceremony of washing their people's feet, in imitation of Christ's washing his disciple's feet, before he instituted the blessed sacrament.
Q. What meaneth Good-Friday?
A. It is a most sacred and memorable day of which the great good work of our redemption was consummated by Christ on his bloody cross.
A. It is a most sacred and memorable day of which the great good work of our redemption was consummated by Christ on his bloody cross.
Q. What means the three days of Tenebræ, before Easter?
A. It is a mournful solemnity, in which the church laments the death of Christ; and is called Tenebræ or darkness, to signify the darkness which overspread the face of the earth, at the time of his passion, for which end also the church extinguisheth all her lights, and after some silence, at the end of the whole office, maketh a great and sudden noise, to represent the rending the veil of the Temple. The darkness also signifies the dark time of the night wherein Christ was apprehended in the garden, and the noise made by the soldiers and catch-poles at their seizing on our Saviour's person.
A. It is a mournful solemnity, in which the church laments the death of Christ; and is called Tenebræ or darkness, to signify the darkness which overspread the face of the earth, at the time of his passion, for which end also the church extinguisheth all her lights, and after some silence, at the end of the whole office, maketh a great and sudden noise, to represent the rending the veil of the Temple. The darkness also signifies the dark time of the night wherein Christ was apprehended in the garden, and the noise made by the soldiers and catch-poles at their seizing on our Saviour's person.
Q. What meaneth Rogation week, being the fifth after Easter?
A. It is a week of public prayer and confession for the temperateness of the seasons of the year, and the fruitfulness of the earth, and it is called Rogation from the verb Roga, to ask by reason of the petitions made to God in that behalf.
A. It is a week of public prayer and confession for the temperateness of the seasons of the year, and the fruitfulness of the earth, and it is called Rogation from the verb Roga, to ask by reason of the petitions made to God in that behalf.
Q. What means the Quatuor tempora, or four Ember weeks, or Ember Days?
A. Those are times also of public prayer, fasting, and processions partly instituted for the successful ordination of the priest and ministers of the church, and partly, both to beg and render thanks to God for the fruits and blessings of the earth. And are called Ember days, or days of Ashes, from the no less ancient than religious custom of using hair-cloth and ashes, in time of public prayer and penance; or from the old custom of eating nothing on those days till night, and then only a cake baked under the embers or ashes, which was called, Panis, subcineritius, or Ember bread.
A. Those are times also of public prayer, fasting, and processions partly instituted for the successful ordination of the priest and ministers of the church, and partly, both to beg and render thanks to God for the fruits and blessings of the earth. And are called Ember days, or days of Ashes, from the no less ancient than religious custom of using hair-cloth and ashes, in time of public prayer and penance; or from the old custom of eating nothing on those days till night, and then only a cake baked under the embers or ashes, which was called, Panis, subcineritius, or Ember bread.
Q. What mean the two Holy Rood Days?
A. Those are two ancient feasts: the one in memory of the miraculous invention, or finding out the holy cross by St. Helen, mother of Constantine the great, after it had been hid and buried by the Infidels one hundred and eighty years, who had erected a statue of Venus in the place of it. The other in memory of the exaltation, or setting up the holy cross by Heraclius the emperor, who having regained it a second time from the Persians, after it had been lost fourteen years, carried it on his own shoulders to Mount Calvary, and there exalted it with great solemnity; and it is called Holy Rood, or Holy Cross, for the great sanctity which it received by touching and bearing the oblation of the most precious body of Christ; the word Rood in the old Saxon tongue, signifying Cross.
A. Those are two ancient feasts: the one in memory of the miraculous invention, or finding out the holy cross by St. Helen, mother of Constantine the great, after it had been hid and buried by the Infidels one hundred and eighty years, who had erected a statue of Venus in the place of it. The other in memory of the exaltation, or setting up the holy cross by Heraclius the emperor, who having regained it a second time from the Persians, after it had been lost fourteen years, carried it on his own shoulders to Mount Calvary, and there exalted it with great solemnity; and it is called Holy Rood, or Holy Cross, for the great sanctity which it received by touching and bearing the oblation of the most precious body of Christ; the word Rood in the old Saxon tongue, signifying Cross.
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