24 BULLETIN 148, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



ments, 5^ by 5% inches. Basel, Switzerland. (Cat. No. 158459, 

 U.S.N.M.) 



78-80. Badges oj the Second Zionists^ Congress. — Consisting of 

 metal pins made in form of the Shield of David. Basel, Switzerland. 

 (Cat. No. 158461-158463, U.S.N.M.) 



Ill 

 COLLECTION OF OBJECTS OF CHRISTIAN CEREMONIAL 



The collection comprises church furnitures, appurtenances of public 

 worship, and objects used in individual devotions and on special 

 occasions, and is obviously confined to the illustration of the ceremo- 

 nies and usages of the ritual branches of Christendom — that is, the 

 Roman Catholic and Eastern Churches. Of the former the collection 

 is quite representative; 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. 



The description is accordingly divided into: (1) Ceremonial objects 

 of the Roman Catholic Church; (2) of the Greek Orthodox Church; 

 and (3) of the Armenian Church. 



1. CEREMONIAL OBJECTS 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 mass consists of extracts from the Scriptures and 

 prayers, some of which are according to the season or the purpose for 

 which the mass is offered, and is, in the larger portion of the Roman 

 Catholic Church, in the Latin language. 



The requisites for the celebration of mass are: An altar, of which 

 at least the part of the table upon v/hich the chalice and paten rest 

 during the service must be of stone, in which relics of the martyrs 

 are inclosed (see Revelations vi, 9), and must be consecrated by a 

 bishop. The altar is covered with three linen cloths (symbolizing 

 the linen cloths in which Christ's body was shrouded, as the altar 

 represents his tomb), blessed by a bishop, or by a priest empowered by 

 him. Midway of the altar and fixed to its base is the tabernacle, a 

 small chest, more or less decorated, which holds the consecrated 

 hosts in their repositories, the cibory and pyx, for the communion of 

 the laymen and for the sick, and a light is always kept burning in 



