of fasts and solemnities, to love one another, and to keep themselves in the fear of God; and then sprinkles them with holy water; after which the mass is finished in the usual manner.

The nuptial benediction is withheld, mass is not celebrated, nor is solemnization of marriage in the church allowed, where one of the parties is a heretic or schismatic.

But masses and sacraments and public rites do not constitute all the religious worship of the Roman Catholics. The Pater noster (=Lord's Prayer) and Ave Maria (=Hail Mary) are often repeated, especially in the Rosary (see Chap. XV.). The devotion of the scapulars (see Chap. XIX.) has very great attractions for many. The devotions connected with the Association for the Propagation of the Faith are referred to in Chapter X. Various litanies (=connected series of short prayers, as for mercy, deliverance, intercession with God, &c.) are used more or less, as the Litany of the Saints (see Chap. XV.), of Faith (this and several others are by Pope Pius VI.), of Divine Providence, of the Most Holy Trinity, of the Holy Ghost, of the Infant Jesus, of the Life of Jesus Christ, of the Passion, of the Holy Cross, of the Blessed Sacrament, of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, of the Sacred Heart of Mary, of the Immaculate Conception, of the Holy Name of Mary, of St. Anne, of St. Patrick, of St. Bridget of Ireland, of St. Ignatius, of St. Francis Xavier, of St. Francis de Sales, of St. Jane Frances de Chantal (foundress of the Visitation nuns), &c. Many forms of prayer are published in the devotional manuals approved by the bishops and higher dignitaries. "Confraternities" (brotherhoods) and "sodalities" (= associations) abound among the laity, and many are enrolled as members of them. Says bishop Challoner:

"These confraternities, or brotherhoods, are certain societies or associations, instituted for the encouragement of devotion, or for promoting of certain works of piety, religion, and charity; under some rules or regulations, though without being tied to them, so far as that the breach or neglect of them would be sinful. The good of these confraternities is, that thereby good works are promoted, the faithful

are encouraged to frequent the sacraments, to hear the word of God, mutually to assist one another by their prayers, &c."

The archdiocese of Cincinnati has the following, with others, under the head of "CONFRATERNITIES":

"The Archconfraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary; the Confraternity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; the Confraternity of the Scapular; the Confraternity of the Rosary; the St. Patrick's, St. Peter's, and St. Joseph's Benevolent Societies; the Brotherhood of St. Michael; the Young Ladies' Sodality of the Immaculate Conception; the Mary and Martha Society, the Sodality of the Most Blessed Sacrament; the Confraternity of the Precious Blood; the Confraternity of Bona Mors [=good death]; the Sodality of the Children of Mary; the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel; the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the Confraternity of the Living Rosary; the Society for the Conversion of America; the Sodality of the Holy Angels; the Sodality of the Living Rosary; the Sodality of the Holy Maternity; the Sodality of the Holy Family; the Sodality of the Scapular; the Society of the Holy Infancy; the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin; the Society of the Apostleship of Prayer; St. Vincent of Paul Society; the Sodality of St. Aloysius; the Altar Society."

A number of years ago an "Association for Prayer" was founded in France for the conversion of Protestant and other heretical countries to the Roman Catholic faith; and as early as 1844 it had more than a million of members, who were all furnished with medals, and solemnly engaged to repeat, personally or by their children, at least once every day, the Pater Noster (Lord's Prayer) and Ave Maria (=Hail Mary), with the intention of having these prayers divinely regarded as offered for the extension of their religion. The founder of this association was curate of the Church of St. Eustache in Paris. A Protestant American thus describes a visit to his church twenty or twenty-five years ago:

"A few years ago, when in Paris, we went one Sabbath night to the Church of St. Eustache to hear the worthy old curate preach, and

to be a witness of the service of prayer which every Sabbath night follows the sermon. On that occasion the sermon was on Repentance as a preparation for Easter, which was near at hand. The discourse contained many good things-such as no evangelical Protestant could object to. Towards its close, however, the doctrine of Penance was dragged in, as usual with Roman Catholic preachers, to the great detriment of the truth contained in the other parts.

"The sermon being finished, the benevolent old preacher gave notice to the congregation that there would be a season of prayer, after an interval of a few minutes granted for the purpose of allowing those to retire who were unwilling or unable to remain longer. After all was quiet, he arose in the pulpit and stated to the five or six hundred people who staid the subjects of prayer for the occasion.

"And first of all, he said he desired their prayers for five or six hundred young people of the parish (which embraces some 36,000 inhabitants), who, he said, were very giddy and thoughtless. It is true,' said he, that they do not ask your prayers, poor things, but nevertheless they greatly need them.' In the next place, he requested their prayers in behalf of a young man who was present, that had been very profligate, but now desired to abandon his sinful ways. He read a portion of a letter which he had received from this young man. And then the venerable curate asked the prayers of the congregation for 80 poor people and 43 sick persons of the parish-some of them near unto death. He also asked their prayers for 23 Protestants and 17 Jews. After that he went on to ask their prayers for Spain, poor, distracted Spain. 'And finally,' he added, 'do not forget England and Russia.' I expected that he would bring in the United States, but he did not that night. The Sabbath evening previous, he spoke at some length about England, and said that he had good news to tell of that country-namely, 'that 22 ministers of the Anglican, or Established Church, had turned their faces Romeward.'

"After having announced these general subjects of prayer, he descended from the pulpit, repaired to the altar, went through the service of the mass, and then kneeled down before the altar, and remained in that position about twenty minutes, engaged no doubt in prayer; the congregation in the meanwhile stood up, and, following the choir, chanted the psalms for the evening service. At the close, the people quietly retired; and this was a Roman Catholic prayer

meeting. Although I could not but respect the feelings and apparent devoutness of the congregation, among whom were many who were evidently of the middle class of society, I was certainly astonished at this mode of praying for definite and important objects. And yet this is Rome's way of engaging the prayers of her children in behalf of what she deems desirable. It is to repeat the Pater Noster and Are Maria, or other general prayers, in reference to the objects in question that is, with the intent that these objects are to receive the efficacy of the prayers offered upon the occasion. Just

such prayers as we have described are now offering up, at the recom mendation of the head of the Church, by the Romanists of our country for its conversion to the Romish faith. Such prayer-meetings as that which we have spoken of are now held in many places of our land by the more devout 'faithful,' that this land may be made a Roman Catholic country."

The "missions" of the Oblates, Paulists, Redemptorists, &c., are referred to in the account of these orders in Chapter VIII. The religious exercises of such a "mission" consist of confessions, masses, vespers, sermons akin to the "revival sermons" among Protestants, and other measures adapted to arouse the attention, enlist the feelings, and promote the religious activity of all the Roman Catholics in the community where the "mission" is held.

A procession with the host from the great cathedral in Antwerp, Belgium, is thus described by Rev. J. H. Pettingell, American Seamen's Chaplain at that port in 1866:

"And now there comes out a priestly procession with the host, or holy wafer, which makes a tour of some of the streets and lanes of the city for the benefit of the sick, I am told, who are not able to come to the church. First the great bell [of the cathedral] gives notice of its coming: then you will observe two or three women scattering white sand and flowers in the streets through which it is to pass, and from the doors and windows of the shops and houses large lighted candles are hung out, wreathed with flowers; then comes an officer to clear the way, and after him a band of musicians, and then two very small boys, clothed in white, bearing between them a magnificent basket of

flowers, accompanied by a man with a bell, and when he rings it the people in the streets and in the doorways fall upon their knees and cross themselves. Next comes a company of Jesuits, with their books, chanting, and, on either side of them, two long rows of men bearing immense lighted candles, six feet in length, and, interspersed among them, are bearers of large banners, surmounted by golden images and a variety of trinkets. Then comes the priest, gorgeously arrayed, bearing in his hands a gilded vase, adorned with garlands and flowerscontaining the holy wafer, a few men carrying a large canopy over his head, and boys on all sides with smoking censers, from which they are wafting incense towards this central object of worship: and then follow two long columns of men bearing large lighted lanterns, gorgeously arrayed and lifted high in the air, and after that a crowd of people. The procession which I saw yesterday was some three hours in making the tour, all of them bareheaded, and stopping every now and then and kneeling with the multitude of spectators in the middle of the street. I am told that there is to be next Sabbath a still more magnificent spectacle of the same character."

This chapter may be fitly concluded with notices of church terms, including ornaments and articles* used in Roman Catholic worship. The engravings are copied from the illustrated catalogue of Benziger Brothers (New York and Cincinnati), and from other authentic sources; the definitions and descriptions are from the highest authorities; and the prices of many of the articles are also given from the catalogues of Benziger Brothers, who are "printers to the Holy Apostolic See," and manufacturers, importers, and dealers in church ornaments, statues, vestments, &c.

An "Agnus Dei" (=Lamb of God) is a little cake of pure white wax, stamped with the image of a lamb bearing a cross, blessed by the Pope on the Saturday before Low Sunday of his first and every seventh succeeding year, and dipped by him into holy water with which he has mixed chrism and balsam.

* For vestments and orders of the clergy, see Chapter VII.; for festivals and holy days, see Chapter XVI.