170 



CONSECRATION. 



Oonsecra. 



Hon. 



there solemnly consecrated by the Bishop of Ostia, to 

 whom this function specially belonged. Lastly, he re- 

 ceived the papal pall, and was addressed by the Arch- 

 deacon in these words, " Receive the pall, which is the 

 plenitude of the pontifical office, to the honour of Al- 

 mighty God, of the most happy Virgin his mother, of 

 the blessed apostles St Peter and St Paul, and of the 

 Holy Roman church." 



With regard to the consecration of places among the 

 Jews, we refer the reader to the account which Scrip- 

 ture gives of the solemnities which took place at the 

 erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness, and the 

 temple of Solomon. Among the Greeks and Romans, 

 all religious edifices, whether temples or tombs, were 

 consecrated with the offering up of prayers and sacri- 

 fices by the officiating ministers of religion. This 

 w _ as one of the peculiar duties of the Roman augurs ; 

 by whom also, sepulchres or burying places, both pri- 

 vate and public, and the walls and gates of cities, were 

 solemnly consecrated ; but when a temple was dedicat- 

 ed by the magistrates, the presence of the Pontifex Maxi- 

 mus was requisite. At the consecration of temples, 

 altars, &c. to the celestial gods, the priests bathed their 

 whole body, were clothed in white, made libations by 

 heaving the liquor out of the cup, and prayed with the 

 palms of their hands raised towards heaven. The ani- 

 mals which they sacrificed to them were also white, 

 and in immolating them, their neck was bent upwards, 

 the knife was applied from above, and the blood was 

 sprinkled on the altar or received into cups. But wheia 

 consecrations were made to the infernal deities, the 

 priests were dressed in black ; they only sprinkled their 

 body with water, threw the cup into the fire, and pray- 

 ed with their hands turned downwards, at the same 

 time beating the ground with their feet. In this case 

 the victims were likewise required to be black ; and 

 were killed with their faces bent to the earth, the knife 

 being applied from below, and the blood allowed to 

 pour into the surrounding trench or ditch. By the 

 Greeks, sepulchres and graves were consecrated,ftry be- 

 ing adorned with parsley, amaranthus, lilies, roses, 

 myrtle, &c. woven into garlands, which were suspend- 

 ed on the monuments, or laid on the turf. The grave 

 stones were frequently also perfumed with sweet oint- 

 ments ; and sometimes altars were erected near the se- 

 pulchres, on which black and barren heifers or sheep 

 were sacrificed, and libations of honey, wine, milk, wa- 

 ter, &c. poured forth. 



It is uncertain when the practice of consecrating 

 Christian churches was first introduced; but we find it 

 universally prevalent so early as the reign of Constan- 

 tine. At that period, whenever the building of a church 

 was finished, to render the consecration or dedication 

 of it more solemn and impressive, commonly a synod 

 of the neighbouring or provincial clergy assembled in 

 the newly erected edifice ; when the solemnity usually 

 . commenced with a panegyrical oration or sermon, con- 

 sisting chiefly of praise and thanksgiving to God, and 

 sometimes expatiating on the character or memory of 

 the founder, or the splendor and utility of the fabric. 

 They then proceeded to the " mystical service, or the 

 offering of the unbloody sacrifice to God," praying for 

 the peace of the world, the prosperity of the church, 

 and a blessing on the emperor, and his family. A simi- 

 lar practice, at least the ceremony of offering up prayers, 

 still prevails in most Christian countries, either at lay- 

 ing the foundation, or at the opening for public worship, 

 of new churches. Under the episcopal form of worship 

 nfeo, church yards er burying places, are, in general, 



consecrated by reading particular prayers and 'other re- 

 ligious rites, before they can be canonically used for 

 Christian interment. In England, churches in particu- 

 lar, have always been consecrated with, peculiar cere- 

 monies ; the precise form of which, however, has al- 

 ways been left to the discretion of the presiding bishop. 

 Yet for introducing a number of Popish rites, at the 

 consecration of certain churches in London, Archbishop 

 Laud was, in 1644, subjected to general indignation ; 

 and his conduct on these occasions, even made one 

 ground of his prosecution by the House of Commons. 



Various animals were consecrated both by the Greeks 

 and the Romans. Among the former, it was common 

 to devote whole herds of cattle, and several kinds of 

 fowls, especially geese and peacocks, to their gods ; by 

 giving them their liberty, and strictly prohibiting them 

 from being touched or molested. Nor were fishes over- 

 looked ; they sometimes even put necklaces on them, 

 and then turned them loose into the rivers or ponds. 

 In like manner, the ancient Romans consecrated all the 

 cattle that were produced from the first of March to 

 the end of April, a ceremony which was called ver sa- 

 crum; and mention is made by Suetonius, of the conse- 

 cration of a great number of horses by Cesar when he 

 passed by the Rubicon; and by Pliny, of the consecra- 

 tion of a dolphin which belonged to Octavius Amcius. 

 The consecration of images, statues, and trees among 

 the Greeks, was the same with that of altars. For the 

 poor sort of the people, all that was reqmred was an 

 oblation of sodden pulse, which a woman, dressed ma 

 garment of divers colours, brought in a pot on her head 

 and offered in sacrifice to the particular deity to which 

 they were dedicated. The more opulent sometimes 

 took a new vessel with two ears, on each of which they 

 bound a chaplet of white wool, and another of yellow 

 on the forepart of it; they then covered the vessel and 

 poured out before it a libation called ambrosia, winch 

 was a mixture of water, honey, and all sorts of fruits.. 

 But the most usual method of consecrating statues, &c. 

 was by crowning them with flowers, anointing them with 

 oil in which the act of consecration chiefly consisted; 

 and then offering prayers and libations to them. I he 

 water also used at these sacrifices was rendered sa- 

 cred by plunging into it a torch taken from the altar. 

 And the armour and spoils taken in war were conse- 

 crated, by suspending a part of them m the temples, or 

 on monuments and statues, or by burning a portion ot 

 them on the altars. Magical consecrations were not 

 unfrequent among the Remans ; it being customary 1 or 

 the emperors to offer sacrifices, repeat charms, and 

 place statues in certain situations, with the view oi 

 warding off danger from the empire. 



The Roman Catholics, besides an immense multitude 

 of superstitious ceremonies employed at the consecra- 

 tion of almost every thing used in their religious service, 

 such as bells, candles, water, oil, images, crosses, ro- 

 saries &c apply the term consecration m a most pecu- 

 liar sense to the benediction cf the elements m the 

 eucharist, by which they are conceived to be instan- 

 taneously converted into the real body and I blood oi 

 Christ. The same term is given to this part cf religious 

 worship even among Protestants, the prayer which is 

 offered up by the officiating. pastor, before the bread 

 and wine are distributed to the communicants, being 

 usually called the consecration-prayer. 



See Jenning's Jewish Antiquities; Potters Anliq.oJ 

 Greece; Adam's Roman Antiquities ; DEnlartt s Mist. 

 Council of Constance; Spelman, de non temerandistc- 

 Qlcsiis; and Bingham's Origines Ecclesiastical. [«J 



