They all carry elegant _aspergilli_[80]
of box or other wood, and having prayed for a short time in silence,
they chant the anthem "They divided my garments etc." and the psalm "O
God, my God, why hast thou abandoned me?" A fine cloth, which covered
the altar, is then removed from it, and the Cardinal-priest of the
church and the six canons pour whine upon the altar, and wash it
with their _aspergilli_ or brushes. After the other canons, beneficed
clergymen, etc. have in turn washed it in like manner: the Cardinal
and the six canons begin to dry it with sponges and towels: all then
kneel down, and the ceremony concludes with the verse "Christ became
obedient unto death etc." the Our Father, and the prayer of the day
"Look down, we beseech thee etc."[81] The chapter then venerates the
relics shewn as usual from the gallery above S. Veronica's statue.
[Sidenote: Antiquity and meaning of these ceremonies.]
The _stripping_ of the altars, which is practised on this day
throughout the western church, is mentioned in the most ancient _Ordo
Romanus_: indeed anciently the altars used to be stripped every
day, as Du Vert (Ceremon. de l'Eglise T. IV.) and Cancellieri (De
Secretariis T. IV.) have shewn. The custom of _washing_ the altar
is observed in the Latin church in those of the Dominicans and
Carmelites; and also according to Benedict XIV "in many churches of
France, Germany and other remote countries" among which Cancellieri
reckons Spain.
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