ejus, populo qui nascetur quem fecit Dominus.

ANT. Diviserunt sibi vestimenta mea, et super vestem meam miserunt sortem.

forth his justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.

ANT. They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture they cast lots.

After having stripped the High Altar, the Celebrant takes off the Cloths from the other Altars that are in the Church. An air of desolation pervades the Temple of God. The very Tabernacle has lost its Divine Guest. The Ciborium, (in which the Blessed Sacrament is reserved for Viaticum,) has been taken to the place, where reposes the Chalice containing the Body of our Lord. The Majesty of our God has withdrawn to that mysterious Sanctuary, into which we enter not but with silence and compunction.

It was the custom, in some Churches, for the Priest to wash, in the afternoon, the Altars with wine and water, which he sprinkled upon them with a branch of hyssop. This ceremony, (which has now ceased to be observed in almost every Church, excepting at St. Peter's, in Rome,) was intended as a homage offered to our Blessed Lord, in return for the humility, wherewith he deigned to wash the feet of his Disciples. We find it so explained by St. Isidore of Seville,1 and St. Eligius, Bishop of Noyon.2

THE WASHING OF THE FEET.

After having, on this day, washed the feet of his Disciples, Jesus said to them: Know ye what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord: and you say well, for so I am. If then I, being your

1 De Ecclesiasticis Officiis, lib. I. cap. xxviii.
2 Homil. viii. De Cana Domini.

Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you, also, ought to wash one an other's feet. For I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also. Although the meaning of these words is, that after the example of our Divine Master, we should practise works of fraternal charity towards our neighbour, yet the literal imitation of this our Saviour's act has always been observed in the Church.

At the commencement, it was almost a daily practice. St. Paul, when mentioning the qualities which should adorn the Christian Widow, includes that of washing the feet of the Saints,2 that is, of the Faithful. We find this act of humble charity practised in the Ages of Persecution, and even later. The Acts

The

of the Saints of the first six centuries, and the Homilies and Writings of the Holy Fathers, are filled with allusions to it. Afterwards, charity grew cold, and this particular way of exercising it was confined, almost exclusively, to Monasteries. Still, from time to time, it was practised elsewhere. We occasionally find Kings and Queens setting this example of humility. The holy King Robert of France, and, later, St. Louis, used frequently to wash the feet of the poor. The holy Queens, St. Margarite of Scotland, and St. Elizabeth of Hungary, did the same. Church, with that spirit which makes her treasure up every recommendation of her Divine Lord, has introduced this act of humility into her Liturgy, and it is to-day that she puts the great lesson before her children. In every Church of any importance, the Prelate, or Superior, honours our Saviour's condescension by the ceremony, called the Washing of the Feet. The Bishops throughout the world follow the example set them by the Sovereign Pontiff, who performs this ceremony in the Vatican. Yea, there are still

1 St. John, xiii. 12-15.

2 I. Tim. v. 10.

to be found Kings and Queens who, on this day, wash the feet of the poor, and give them abundant alms.

The Twelve Apostles are represented by the twelve poor, who, according to the most general practice, are chosen for this ceremony. The Pope, however, washes the feet of thirteen Priests of as many different countries; and this is the reason of the Ceremonial requiring this number for Cathedral Churches. But, why thirteen? Some have interpreted it thus: that it represented the full number of the Apostolic College, which is thirteen, for St. Matthias was elected in Judas' place, and our Lord himself, after his Ascension, called St. Paul to be an Apostle. Other authors, however, among whom the learned Pope Benedict the Fourteenth,1 assert, that the reason of this number being chosen was the miracle related in the life of St. Gregory the Great. This holy Pope used, every day, to wash the feet of twelve poor men, whom he afterwards invited to his own table. One day, a thirteenth was present:—it was an Angel, whom God had sent, that he might thereby testify how dear to him was the charity of his Servant.

The Ceremony of the Washing of the Feet is, also, called the Mandatum, from the first word of the first Antiphon. After the Deacon has chanted the Gospel of the Mass of Maundy Thursday (page 380,) the Celebrant takes off the Cope, girds himself with a towel, and, kneeling down, begins to wash the feet of those who have been chosen. He kisses the right foot of each one, after having washed it. Meanwhile, the Choir sings the following Antiphons :

ANT. Mandatum novum do vobis: ut diligatis invi

new

ANT. I give you a commandment: that ye love

1 De Festis D. N. J. C.-Lib. I. Cap. vi. No. 57.

After these Antiphons, the Choir sings the following Canticle. It is a fervent exhortation to Fraternal Charity, of which the Washing of the Feet is a symbol.

CANTICLE.