Eccl. Rit. t.
2. etc. On the service of holy saturday see the MS. Pontifical of
the Apamean church and various Ordines ap. Martene, lib. IV, c. 24.
Formerly after the mass there was general communion; and at Rome no
Vespers were said (Alcuin), and 7 altars were consecrated.]
[Footnote 138: In the afternoon the parish-priests bless with prayers
and holy water the houses and paschal food of their parishioners.
In the Ordo Romanus, besides the blessing of milk and honey, there
is a formula of benediction of a lamb and other food. Durandus
also (lib. 6 Ration.) mentions the blessing of the lamb, a custom
which is preserved at Rome till the present time. The shops of the
_pizzicaroli_ are illuminated and gaily decorated, probably because
_they_ have peculiar reasons to rejoice at the conclusion of the
_austerities_ of lent.]
[Footnote 139: For the ceremonies of Easter-sunday see The Pontifical
Mass sung at S. Peter's on Easter-sunday etc. By C.M. Baggs. D.D. Rome
1840.]
APPENDIX
PECULIAR CEREMONIES OF HOLY-WEEK AT JERUSALEM
Having spoken of the blessing of the paschal candle at Rome, we may
for a few moments turn our thoughts towards a city still more ancient,
and trodden by holier and more exalted beings than even the apostles
and martyrs of the eternal city. The justly-celebrated traveller John
Thevenot in his Voyage du Levant describes the ceremonies of holyweek
performed at Jerusalem; the distribution of palms, the washing of the
feet on Maunday-Thursday at the door of the holy Sepulchre; and the
procession to the holy places or stations performed by the Catholic
Christians.
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