DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF THE COLLECTION OF 

 ECCLESIASTICAL ART IN THE UNITED STATES NA- 

 TIONAL MUSEmi. 



By I. M. Casanowicz. 



Assistant Curator, Division of Old World Archeology, United States National Museum. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The collection of Ecclesiastical Art forms part of the section of the 

 History of Religions which is on exhibition in the old building of the 

 National Museum. It comprises church furnitures, as far as they 

 are embellished by art, aj^purtenances of the public worship, and 

 objects used in individual devotions and on special occasions, and is 

 obviously confined to the illustration of the ceremonies and usages 

 of the ritual branches of Christendom — that is, the Roman Catholic 

 and eastern churches. Of the former the collection is quite repre- 

 sentative, occupying an alcove of three cases. Of the eastern churches 

 there is a small collection of the Greek Orthodox Church, mostly of 

 the Russian division of that denomination, and of the Armenian 

 Church, filling one case. Much material of the collection remains, 

 for lack of exhibition space, in storage. 



The description is accordingly divided into — I. Ecclesiastical Art 

 of the Roman Catholic Church; II. Of the Eastern Church; and 

 III. Of the Armenian Church. 



I. ECCLESIASTICAL ART OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 



PARAPHERNALIA OF THE CHURCH SERVICES. 



SERVICE OF THE MASS. 



The service of the mass is, according to the teaching of the Catholic 

 Church, a perpetual repetition of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. 

 The bread and wine are, by the words of consecration pronounced 

 by the priest, changed into the real body and blood of Christ (trans- 

 substantiation), and Christ thus offers himself each time anew 

 through the priest, his representative on earth, and is partaken of 

 in the communion. 



The liturgy of the m.ass consists of extracts from the Scriptures 

 and prayers, some of which are always recited, while others vary 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. 55— no. 2287. 



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