How Christ said the first mass, By Rev. James L. Meagher, D.D. Part 32.

Priests Clothing of Old Testament

IX.—THE VESTMENTS CHRIST AND THE APOSTLES USED IN THE CENACLE.

Why do clergymen wear vestments at our altars? Why does the Church clothe her ministers in such peculiar robes? Did Christ and the apostles wear a distinctive dress at the Last Supper? Can Church vestments in material, form and color be traced back to that night of the Last Supper? People often ask these questions, for few writers trace clerical robes and vestments to their origin in Temple and Passover. Let us see the reasons and the origin of the Church vestments.
Clothes show a person's position in the community, a ragged dirty tramp excites disgust, while a well-dressed person inspires respect. An individual's clothes, their form, color and material strike the eye and make the first impression. Hence woman is often honored more than man, not because she is his superior, but because she is better dressed.
In all ages dress showed the wearer's position in society, and from the beginning officials wore distinctive garments and insignia of their office. In the ancient world, the king dressed in stately robes. When in patriarchal days the priest-king offered sacrifice, he vested in priestly garments. Sculptured ruins of Assyria, Persia, Egypt, etc., show kings dressed as the high priest of the nation, vested in sandals, alb, chasuble, girdle, miter and vestments, offering sacrifices, while in Babylonian ruins a mysterious figure shows him the forbidden fruit, and near by stands the tree of life. It is startling to see the figure of pontiff-king of these empires dressed in vestments of the same kind and shape as those now used at our altars, showing that vestments have hardly (changed since the days before Abraham.

THE VESTMENTS OF THE CHURCH UNCHANGED.

Fashions change, the old costumes are abandoned new styles are taken up; it is hard to find two men or women dressed alike. But the Church never changes her vestments coming down from the Temple and the Last Supper. No Pope, Council or power on earth could forbid them because they are of divine origin.
When fanatic ignorant reformers of the sixteenth century swept over the north of Europe, not understanding the nature of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, they dismantled churches of religious signs, symbols and emblems, and their ministers preached in ordinary garments. But a reaction took place; ritualism revived, clerical robes again were seen in non-Catholic pulpits; disputes waxed warm; color, shape and number of ecclesiastical garments divided denominations, and high ritualistic churches introduced vestments. Let us see the origin of vestments.
From the beginning of civilization, the want of a distinctive dress was felt, that a man's calling might be seen in his clothing. The officer, soldier, sailor, conductor, fireman, nurse, judge, ruler, king, wear a distinctive dress to picture to the eye the calling, position and office of the wearer.
When God called Aaron and his sons to the priesthood of the Hebrew religion, and the sons of Levi for his ministers, with a wealth of detail and a striking minuteness, he laid down material, color, shape and ornament of vestments worn in public worship, and forbade them at any other time. Down the ages in the Temple till its destruction by the Romans under Titus, priest and Levite wore these vestments while ministering before the Lord. A hundred and seventy-six times they are mentioned in the Old Testament, and fifty-nine texts of the New Testament refer to them.
They were always used in the Church. It was a great sin to sacrifice without them. Popes forbade them used except in Church functions. Writers of apostolic age mention them. Pictures in catacombs show them. The great Fathers write of them. Pagans mocked them. All Oriental Churches still use them. A thousand proofs from the Fathers might be given to prove them used from the beginning of Christianity.

HOW SILK WAS BROUGHT TO PALESTINE.

"What is there, I ask, offensive to God," writes St. Jerome, "if I wear a tunic more than ordinarily handsome, or, if bishop, priest, deacon and other ministers of the Church come forth in white garments in the administration of the sacrifice?"
"We ought not to go into the sanctuary just as we please, and in our ordinary clothes defiled by the usages of common life, but with a clear conscience, and in clean garments handle the sacraments of the Lord."
Church vestments, altar cloths, etc., are of linen and not of byssus, the word given in translations of the Bible. Temple vestments, tablecloths, napkins, etc. used at Passover in the time of Christ were of linen. From that time in the Latin Rite linen has always been used for altar cloths, purificators, albs, etc., in Church services. Why was linen and no other material used?
St. Augustine, explaining the work of the wise woman of Proverbs, 1 says flax, from which linen is made is emblematic of our bodies in which lives the soul. The flax is prepared by beating, and then woven into linen, as our flesh is purified by suffering. He says the people's clothing and the vestments were then of linen. 2
During the Babylonian Captivity the Hebrews saw kings and nobles clothed in silk, and this material, which came from China, the Israelites brought back with them to Palestine. When Alexander conquered these countries he found the same silken clothing, his soldiers brought silk to Greece and silk garments spread over the Grecian world long before Christ. When the apostles spread the Church in the Greek empire they made the altar cloths of linen and vestments of this silken material, and that is the reason that silk is exclusively used in the Oriental Rites, and why our more costly vestments are of silk while altar cloths, albs, purificators, etc., are of linen.
God revealed to Moses the most minute details of material, form and color of the priestly vestments. They were to be made only of linen, formed of beaten flax, to signify that the perfection of the priest only comes with bearing patiently the trials of this life. The colors were white, red, violet and green, signifying innocence, suffering, penance and youth. Later, black, typifying sorrow, was added. Josephus writes that these colors of the vestments of his day were emblematic of the colors of the sanctuary of the Lord of hosts, and that they were embellished with beautiful embroideries. They are now the five colors of Church vestments.

THE FAMOUS TYRIAN DYE.

Gold wire was woven into the cloth. "And he cut thin plates of gold, and drew them into small threads that they might be twisted with the woof of the aforesaid colors." 3 Here for the first time in Holy Writ, we find the famous "cloth of gold," still found in vestments, regalia, etc. Gold cloth is rare in this country, gilt silver wire called "half fine" and brass, gilt or varnished, takes its place.
Linen, mentioned thirty times under the name of byssus, dyed in these different colors, was used for vestments, veils, etc., in the Temple. 4 Linen is made of flax, while byssus is formed of the long delicate silky fibers, with which the pina, a shell-fish of eastern Mediterranean waters, attaches itself to the rocks. A careful microscopical and chemical examination of ancient Biblical byssus, shows it to be linen, proving the Church right in making her altar cloths, albs, etc., of linen and not of byssus.
Around the rocky isle on which Canaan's sons built Tyre, "The Rock," which Alexander's army captured after uniting it with the mainland, in the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea still grows the murex, a shell-fish of the gasteropod mollusk, which bruised gives forth the beautiful crimson and purple colors, in which they dyed the garments of high priests, emperors, kings and rulers of antiquity. To-day wild waters dash with loud roar against that rock bound shore, where Tyre rose in power of commerce and art. For her sins she has fallen as the prophet foretold. 5 No more Tyrian purple clothes kings, for the color is obtained from products of coal tar. 6
It is surprising how certain colors distinguished families. In the middle ages heraldry showed forth in the colors of the champions. In the Orient green is the sacred color of the false Prophet; members of Muhammad's family; are always clothed in green from head to foot, and you will find Muslims kissing their hands to show respect. Arab chiefs still wear colored turbans, each head of a tribe having his proper color.
The Levites in the Temple dressed in simple white linen, 7 till Herod Agrippa II gave them permission to vest in priestly garments, which Josephus says "was contrary to the laws of our country." 8 Temple priest and high priest wore four vestments of shape and color common to both. Today priest and bishop saying Mass wear identical amice, alb, girdle, stole, manuple and chasuble. But the Hebrew Pontiff wore four other vestments proper to his office, and the bishop in addition to the priest's vestments vests in tunic, dalmatic, cross, gloves, miter and ring. Let us. see the story of the Temple vestments and of the Last Supper, whence came Church vestments.
Born of Aaron's family, bluest blood of glorious high priests flowing in his veins, learned in the Torah, the Books of Moses, versed in the prophets and in Israel's history, bright of mind, spotless of body,—such were the requirements of the candidate for the high priesthood of the days of Christ. Maimonides mentions a hundred and forty defects which would forever debar him, and twenty two, which he might in time overcome. St. Paul quotes qualities required in a bishop taken from the Temple rules relating to the high priest's office.9
If he passed the strict examination, his ordination lasted seven days, each day being devoted to a part of the ceremonial. The first day they poured the holy chrism in his head in the form of the Greek ☩ not knowing it foretold the cross, the oil flowing down on his beard. 10 In former times this was the holy oil with which Moses had consecrated his brother Aaron and his sons, and which had been preserved in the sanctuary.
With this oil they consecrated Saul, David, and the kings of David's line, when there was no dispute about the succession, as well as the ordinary priests. The cup containing this holy oil, preserved since Moses' day Jeremias hid with the ark in a cave on Nebo. From that time the Rabbis claimed the oil was not necessary, as the consecration of their fathers sufficed for the priests of the time of Christ. The oil was put on the pontiff's head and on the priest's hands. This is where bishop and priest are anointed with oil in our day.

THE TEMPLE PRIEST'S VESTMENTS.

Priest and pontiff, before sacrificing victims to the Lord of hosts, put on the linen drawers. Over this they wore a seamless white linen garment, having sleeves and falling down to the feet. In material, shape and color it was exactly like the alb of our day. Only descendants of Aaron's family could wear it. Christ's grandfather, Joachim, had married into Aaron's family 11 and his Mother made this seamless robe for her Son, because he was a Priest as well as Prince of David's line. Christ wore this white alb all his life and at the last Supper. It was the robe on which the soldiers cast lots, for they could not cut and divide it among them without destroying it. This was the origin of the alb used at our altars.
Priest and pontiff bound up this seamless robe with a girdle when sacrificing in the Temple and celebrating the Passover, "Thus shall you eat it," said the Lord regarding the Passover, "you shall gird your reins," 12 and the Hebrew word given in this text is chagar: "to bind up." When man first bound a sash round his waist we do not find, for the sash or girdle comes down from earliest history and was found among all ancient peoples.
The people of Christ's day were long flat sashes wound round the body many times, the folds often serving as pockets. The bishop's girdle of our time is flat similar to that of the Temple priests, while the priests wear over the alb a round linen cord.
The miter of the Temple priest was called the myg-hoath, "hilt-shaped," that is opened, similar to the bishop's miter in the Latin rite, and was formed like the inverted calyx of a flower. The high priest's miter was higher and more ornate, like our bishop's miter. The people always wore their turbans in Temple, synagogue and at Passover, for to uncover the head would show disrespect during divine worship. These customs of the Jewish Church are continued during the first part of the Mass, during which bishops and priests wear the miter and beretta. The drawers, alb, girdle and miter were the four vestments common to priests and pontiff in the Temple.

THE EPHOD, THE RATIONAL, AND MITER.

Now let us see the four vestments of the high priest, called by Jewish writers "the golden vestments," because gold, symbol of purity and authority, was woven through them. 13
The ephod, "garment," called also the meil, entirely made of "woven work," of a dark purple color without sleeves covered him to his knees. At the hem it was adorned with alternate violet, purple and red pomegranate blossoms, having seventy-two gold bells between them, tinkling when he walked, in memory of the seventy-two families descending from Noe's grandsons, which had become the great nations of antiquity. This vestment in material and shape was like the bishop's rochet to which it gave rise. 14
He wore on his breast the "rational," bearing twelve precious stones, each representing one of the twelve tribes of Israel. They were embedded in massive gold work, arranged in four rows, three in a row, each gem having engraved on it 15 one of the Hebrew letters. Before they fell into idolatry in the days of Solomon, Jewish writers say the stones glowed with a supernatural light one after the other enabling them to read Jehovah's decrees. 16 After the destruction of the first Temple the rational was lost, and the God of their fathers spoke no more through gems of the rational. Nine times the Old Testament mentions the rational.
On his shoulders he wore two great onyx stones, each engraved with six names of the twelve Hebrew tribes. They were called the Urim and Thummim: "Light and Perfection," "Knowledge and Virtue," dogmatic and moral theology, to foretell the faith and morals of the future priesthood of the Church.
Aaron's miter, called miznepheth, Moses made of finest white linen with lace and embroidered work, covering his head like a crown. 17
God himself told the Hebrews to vest in sacred garments when celebrating the Passover. "And thus shall you eat it, you shall gird your reins, and you shall have shoes on your feet, holding staves in your hands, and you shall eat it in haste, for it is the phase, that is the Passage of the Lord." 18 In this account of the first Passover the Hebrews celebrated as a nation, we find prescribed by God himself the bishop's shoes, girdle and crosier.

THE VESTMENTS CHRIST WORE.

But as ages passed, the Hebrews copied the vestments of the Temple priests and vested in them for the Passover, so that at the time of Christ, they celebrated the feast vested in the elaborate robes Christ wore at the Last Supper.
But did Christ wear all the vestments of the bishop in our day? We must take into consideration the peculiar climate of Judea. Sion is 2,700 feet over the sea, while the deep Jordan valley and the Dead Sea are 1,800 feet below sea level. In April Jerusalem is quite cold, while the Jordan plains are excessively hot. The people of Judea must be prepared for these changes of climate when traveling from the stilling Jordan up to Jerusalem. For these reasons Christ and his apostles wore many garments while in Jerusalem, and when celebrating the Last Supper. This is the reason that the bishop robes in so many different vestments when pontificating. 19 Ten garments are mentioned as having been worn by Jews of that time. The first-born among the Hebrews always dressed in costly garments, and if he belonged to a royal family they were purple.20
In the days of Christ every Hebrew wore the phylacteries on brow and left arm. 21 They were capsules of rawhide calf-skins, enclosing four little square parchments, on which was written a part of the law of Moses they recited at night and morning prayers.
The first parchment had in Hebrew: "Sanctify unto me the first-born, etc." 22 The next had: "And when the Lord shall have brought you into the land of the Canaanite, etc." 23 The third had: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, etc." 24 The fourth had: "If then you obey my commandments," 25  etc.

ORIGIN OF PHYLACTERIES.

At the present time these four parchments are inclosed in little square boxes of rawhide making two square capsules 7/8 of an inch square, the one for the head being called the tflin-schel-rosh, "tflin-of-the-head," and they wear it on the top of the head while praying. Leather straps running through it bind it to the head, hang down behind, and the ends are brought forward to hang down on the breast. Each side of the capsule has the Hebrew letter S. The knot behind the head is tied in the form of four squares, making a cross, which they say represents the letter D.
The capsule of the other tflin is worn-on the left arm, above the elbow next the heart, and a long strap is wound seven times round the arm, brought down, and wound three times round the two middle fingers of the left hand, the knot tying it to his arm also representing the letter D, but it is not in the form of a cross.
Taking the two Hebrew letters, Sh and D, and putting in vowels,we have the word Shadai, "Almighty God," or "The Greatest God," the word implying greatness, majesty, power, etc., to whom prayers are always offered in the synagogue in which Elohim represents God in strict justice and Adonai, God as Lord or Supreme Ruler.
When pontificating the high priest wore a gold band as a phylactery or tflin across his brow on which was engraved "Holiness unto Jehovah," and the straps with which it was tied hanging down, gave rise to the two bands hanging down behind from the bishop's miter. The Day of Atonement he did not wear a gold band across the brow when pontificating. The Pharisees very wore large phylacteries. Because of the ostentatious way they wore them Christ reproved their spirit of pride. 26
There is a dispute regarding the origin of the phylacteries. Jewish writers say that in the days of Closes all kinds of ornaments, armlets, rings, etc., were worn as charms and spells, often having immodest pictures, engravings, sayings, etc., and that God ordered Moses to make the phylacteries for the Hebrews to wean them from the Egyptian superstitions, as the Law says: "And it shall be as a sign in thy hand, and as a thing hung between thy eyes for a remembrance." 27 The Hebrew writers before the Babylonian Captivity do not mention the phylacteries.
The Cairo museum, containing the richest collection in the world of ancient Egyptian relics and curios, shows that they followed all kinds of such superstitious practices.

ANTIQUITY OF SANDALS.

Gods and goddesses are on all sides, and statues show kings and nobles holding forms of gods. Little scarabs, various gods, emblems, jewelry of gold and silver formed into charms, tokens and religious emblems filling many cases, prove they were very prone to superstitious practices. Jews of liberal tendencies of our time condemn the phylacteries and call the strict Jews who wear them "bridled asses."
But orthodox Jews hold that the phylacteries came from Moses. Eleazar, whom Ptolemy Philadelphus sent as ambassador to the king of Egypt, stated they came from Moses. St. Jerome and the Fathers of his day write that they were very common in their times. All Jews of Christ's day wore them in the Temple, synagogues and during their prayers especially at the Passover. Some think that Christ and the apostles wore them at the Last Supper. But we are not sure of this. Following these Jewish high priests, St. John and some of the other apostles wore gold plates on their brows when saying Mass, similar to the gold phylactery worn by the high priest when pontificating in the Temple. The early Christians wore these phylacteries. But by lapse of time the custom degenerated into an abuse, for they were worn as charms, seals, pagan devices, arid gave rise to superstitious practices. Popes Gelasius and Gregory I. condemned the abuse and the Council of Laodicea forbade them. Then Christians began to use crosses, medals, etc.; and religious emblems, and pictures, crucifixes, etc., multiplied.
Of the time when men first put on sandals to protect the feet history is silent. Egyptian monuments show nobles and priests shod in sandals of leather, palm leaves or papyrus, while soldiers' sandals were of iron or brass. Thongs passing between the great toe and the next and around the heel kept on the sole. These later developed into the upper part of the shoe of our day. In Mexico and in the Orient poor people still wear the sandals.

1 Prov. xxxi. 13.

2 St Augustine, Sermo xxxvii in Prov, n, v., vi., Contra, Faust. L. vi., u. 1.

3 Exod. xxxix. 1-3.

4 Exod. xxxvi., xxxix., ix., etc.,

5 Isaias xxili.

6 See Edersheim, Life of Christ, ii. 278.

7 II. Par. v. 12.

8 Josephus Antiq. xx. 9, 6.

9 I. Tim. iii; Titus i.

10 Edersheim, Temple, 71. Geikie, Life of Christ, i. 84 to 87, 523, 524.

11 Luke ii.

12 Exod. xii. 11.

13 Exod. xxxix. 1-3; Migne, Cursus Comp. S. Scripturæ ii, 97, 98, vi. 374, 9, 137, etc.

14 St. Augustine, Ques, in Jud. L. vii. Ques, Ixi.

15 St. Augustine, Ques. in Exod., cxvi. and cxxix.

16 Edersheim, Temple, 112.

17 See Migne, iii. 924, 925. See Babyl. Talmud, Yomah, 105; 72 bells? Migne iii. 931.

18 Exod. xii. 11.

19 See Babyl. Talmud Tract Ebel. 38. 40, 41.

20 Migne, Cursus, S. Script., 5. 942.

21 Migne, Cursus Comp. S. Scripturæ, ii. 1347; iii. 1005, 1155.

22 Exod. xii. 2 to 10 inclusive.

23 Exod. xiii. 11 to 16 inclusive.

24 Deut vi. 4 to 9 inclusive.

25 Deut. ii. 13 to 21 inclusive. See Edersheim, Life of Christ, i, 76, 228; ii. 408.

26 Matt, xxiii. 5.

27 Exod. xiii, 9-16; Deut. vi. 8, 9.

How Christ said the first mass, By Rev. James L. Meagher, D.D. Part 27

Writers say in the time of Christ synagogue services were held in 480 schoolhouses and public buildings of Jerusalem. 1 The finest of these public buildings, except the Temple, was the Cenacle over the tombs of David and the kings. There, on Sabbath, Passover and feast, they gathered for morning worship, in the afternoon for the Micha: "vespers" and night prayers. The Rabbis hold that these hours of prayer came down from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which Moses and the prophets had developed into the Temple and synagogue ceremonials of the days of Christ.
Moses led the Hebrews in sight of the Promised Land, but did not himself enter.  Josue, or as he was called in Greek Jesus, brought them into Palestine after Moses' death. A mystery is written in this. For a greater than Moses, Jesus Christ, was foretold to lead the world into the mysteries of the Canon of the Last Supper, the Mass with the Consecration, the Eucharistic Sacrifice and Communion. The synagogue services carried the Mass as far as the end of the Preface. There the worship of the Jewish Church stopped. But Christ and the Apostles brought the Last Supper to the end of the Mass. The first part of the Mass is founded on the worship of the Jewish Temple and synagogue little modified. But supernatural Christian faith enables us to see the heavenly wonders of the Real Presence. Let us therefore see the synagogue and its worship at the time of Christ. Then we will better understand the rites, ceremonies and prayers of that historic night.
When the Hebrews were carried into Babylonia, in every place where ten men, called batlanim, formed a band, named kehillah, lived, they worshiped God according to the ceremonial of the ruined Temple, sacrifice excepted, which was forbidden except at Jerusalem. 2 Then they built edifices facing the sanctuary toward the sacred city, to remind them of Palestine, the splendors of Solomon's ruined Temple, and the foretold Messiah to be born of their race, and, as they thought, to found for them a kingdom of matchless splendor extending over all the earth. 3
In these buildings they worshiped the God of their fathers who had punished their race for the sins of idolatry. They then began to better study their sacred books, and the traditions coming down from immemorial times Since that epoch the Jews never again fell into idolatry, the synagogue having kept them in Jewish faith. 4
A tradition came down and crystallized into the Talmud, that Moses ascended Sinai on Thursday, where he remained forty days and received the Law, and that he returned on Monday, when he found them worshiping the golden calf, 5 and they set apart Mondays and Thursdays in addition to the Sabbath as days of fasting and prayer. Of this the Pharisee gloried: "I fast twice a week." 6 These days called Sabbaths farmers came into the cities to sell their produce, the Sanhedrin or Court sat, and special services were held in the synagogues.7
During the Captivity Daniel, Ezechiel and other prophets consoled thorn with God's oracles foretelling they would return to Palestine, that the Temple would be rebuilt and that the Messiah would come. Seeing his very name in Isaias' prophecy, learning that they worshiped the same Almighty God he adored under the name of Aliura liladza, that Zoroastrianism taught by Persian Magi priests was similar to the Hebrew worship of Jehovah, Cyrus sent them back to rebuild city and Temple. 8
When under Esdras the exiled Jews returned, in every town and hamlet of the Holy Land they built a place of worship they called in Hebrew haccenseth "house of meeting," in Syro-Chaldaic beth cnishta or beth-hath-tiphillah, "house of prayer," in Greek, "synagogue," gathered together, and in Hebrew, Asaph, "a congregation." 9 Their ruins are still seen scattered all over Palestine.

THE CHURCH THE DAUGHTER OF JUDAISM.

Captain Wilson examined the remains of seven synagogues in Galilee, the largest being ninety by forty-four feet six inches, and the smallest forty-eight feet six inches by thirty-five feet six inches. At Rome, Alexandria, Athens, Antioch and in every place into which the Jews scattered to engage in trade before the time of Christ, they had synagogues for the members of each trade,profession and guild of workmen, where the service was in Hebrew, and the sermons in the language of the people. There the Hebrews worshiped Jehovah of their fathers in the midst of the awful debasement of paganism, hoping for the coming of the Messiah, who they thought would gather them again into Judea and make them rulers over all the earth. Thus they understood the prophecies relating to Christ and the Church.
God gave his revelation to mankind through the Jewish race, Christ was a Jew and followed every religious rite and custom of his people. 10 The Church is the daughter of Judaism. We find no Church ceremony which was copied from paganism, as some writers hold. For twenty centuries Church and synagogue have come down side by side, entirely separated, but having much in common. Let us see the synagogue that we may understand the Last Supper and the origin of the Mass ceremonial. The word synagogue is found once in Exodus, four times in Numbers, the same in Psalms, once in Proverbs, six times in Ecclesiasticus in the Latin Vulgate Bible. Few writers treat of the synagogue in an exhaustive manner, perhaps prejudice has been an obstacle or the persecuted Jew would not give the information. Eighty times the word will be found in the Bible as a meeting. When they saw Moses' face "horned," they returned, both Aaron and the rulers of the congregation, 11 the word here translated "congregation" being synagogue. But in other places the word synagogue is retained in translations of the Bible.
Let us first see the name. Synagogue is the Greek of the Hebrew Moed, "Appointed place of meeting." In later times it was named Beth-ha Cennesth, "House of Gathering." Classic writers, like Thucydides 12 and Plato 13 use the word synagogue.

ORIGIN OF THE SYNAGOGUE.

The Septuagint Bible translates twenty-one Hebrew words by the term synagogue, implying a gathering. It is used 130 times for an appointed meeting, twenty-five times for a meeting "called together," and Church and congregation appear in the same verse. 14
In the New Testament, the word is often applied to the tribunal on which the judges sat, 15 or to the court. 16 But as a house of worship it was named, Beth Hakkeneseth, "house of assembly." During week-days the building was used as a schoolhouse for the children, and named beth hamidrash, "house of study."
The New Testament gives the word twenty-four times, often as the meeting places of the apostolic converts. St. Ignatius of Antioch uses the word for Church, 17 as does Clement of Alexandria. 18 Later, when the division between Jews and Christians became more marked, the latter used exclusively the word Church.
Jewish writers claim a high antiquity for the synagogue, holding that every place where the Hebrews, "appeared before the Lord," or "prayed together" was a synagogue. The Targum of Onkelos, and that of Jonathan, think they find it in Jacob dwelling in tents, 19 and in the calling of assemblies. 20 Where did the Hebrews living in places far from the Temple, many miles from the sacred city worship? Where did they observe the feasts, fasts, and new moons, when they could not go up to Jerusalem? The Jewish writers say in the synagogues built in every town in times remote far beyond the Captivity. 21
When in addition to the Temple priests and Levites rose the prophets to instruct the people and foretell the Messiah, they established schools of prophets to sing God's praises. In different parts of Palestine were purified houses or synagogues where the phylacteries or teraphim, called "Frontlets," were almost worshiped. The ancients of Israel sitting before Ezechiel 22 to learn of the prophet God's oracles show that during the Exile the synagogue was revived. The great Seer told them God was in Babylonia as well as in Judea, and would gather them together—back again into Palestine.23

INFLUENCE OF THE SYNAGOGUE.

The whole history of Esdras' time supposes synagogues, if not existing before at least in his day, and many writers give him as their founder. 24 At that epoch the synagogue was either instituted or revived. The words of St. James the apostle: "For Moses from ancient times hath in every city them that preach him in the synagogues, where he is read every Sabbath," 25 seem to date the synagogue from Moses. But the Machabees mention only Maspha as a place of prayer, 26 perhaps because Jerusalem was then in ruins.
Jewish writers say the synagogue of the time of Christ existed from Moses' day, was developed during the Captivity, fostered by Esdras, still more developed under the high priest John Hyrcanus, and that in the days of Christ every town and hamlet in Judea, where 120 families lived, had a synagogue, and that the surrounding country was divided into districts, each having its own synagogue. The apostles copied the Jewish Church, and divided districts into dioceses, placing over each a bishop with his twelve priests or presbyters.
During the Captivity, the synagogue exerted a deep influence on the Hebrews, united them to struggle under the Machabees, trained them in the faith of Israel, and established schools for the children, so that they never afterwards abandoned Judaism. When the bloody sacrifices were re-established in the rebuilt Temple, the synagogue services, with their deep devotion, edifying worship and stately liturgy of the Temple united the people, attracted converts from paganism, and satisfied the human heart's cravings for pure religion.
The prophets had ceased to teach, and beside the Temple ministers flourished another order of religious teachers—the Scribe and Rabbi, not necessarily born of the tribe of Levi and the house of Aaron. Schools and colleges flourished in which these men were educated, after which they were ordained with the imposition of hands. The synagogue and Rabbi have come down to our days substantially as in the time of Christ.

CHURCH MODELED AFTER THE TEMPLE.

While the plan of the tabernacle and Temple came from heaven, no fixed size Avas laid down for the synagogue building; it varied with the size and wealth of the congregation. But the building was always in a prominent part of the city, on a hill near by, or a tall pole rose from its roof to tell the passer by the site. The building was erected by levying a tax on the people of the surrounding district, by free offerings of wealthy Jews, 27 or by a friendly convert. Often it was by the tomb of a celebrated Rabbi or prominent Jew.
When finished it was dedicated with great ceremony, like Solomon's Temple—forever consecrated to God; like our consecrated churches, it could not be used for any other purpose, and common acts of life, like eating, drinking, sleeping, etc., were forbidden. There was only one exception to this rule. The Passover, being a religious feast, could be, and was usually held in the synagogue. No one was allowed to pass through it as a short-cut; if it ceased to be a synagogue, it could not be turned into any other use, as a bath, laundry, tannery, etc. At the door stood a scraper, on which they cleaned their feet; there they left their sandals or shoes, but they wore their turbans in the building all the time. 28
The synagogue building was modeled after the Temple. Entering the latter you first came to the Choi: "The Profane," where the Heathens could worship, beyond which they were forbidden to pass under pain of death. The Choi represented the Gentiles without faith. It surrounded the whole building. The next was called the Cliel, "the Sacred." Then came the women's Court, beyond which no female could penetrate, to remind them of Eve's sin. Farther in was the Court of Israel where the men adored. It was separated from the priests' Court by a low marble railing, beyond which was the priests' Court, in the middle of which rose the great sacrificial altar. To the west was the Holies. Within the "Gold House" was the Holy of Holies. Each of these spaces and Courts was higher than the outside spaces we have described, and were approached by magnificent stone staircases.
The divisions of the synagogue were three—the porch, nave, and sanctuary Church buildings, having been copied after the synagogue, have always these three divisions—the porch represents the infidels, the nave, the Christians, and the sanctuary heaven, copied after the Holies of the Temple or the sanctuary of the Cenacle. Let us see the synagogue in detail.
In the synagogue porch were money-boxes like the money-chests of the Temple—the latter being called the Corban. In one they put money for the expenses of the synagogue, in another offerings for the poor of the congregation, in another alms for the poor of Jerusalem, and in others gifts for local charities, of which St Paul writes. 29 Whence rose the custom of having poor-boxes in our churches. On the walls were posted notices of feasts, fasts, and the names of those under Kareth, "cut off," excommunicated, and the names of the dead for which their friends asked prayers. Near by was a box in which were kept the musical instruments used by the choir.
On the right door-post hung a little box, the Mezuzeh, having a parchment with a prayer written on it, which they said while entering. It reminded them of the blood of the paschal lamb on the doorposts when their fathers left Egypt. On the left of the staircase leading up to the Temple Holies was a great bronze "sea" in which priests bathed before entering on their ministry. 30 This and the box gave rise to the holy water fonts in the porch of our churches, and to the custom of taking the holy water and praying when entering, to remind Christians of baptism through which they enter the Church.
The synagogue nave has galleries on three sides, the side opposite the door being occupied by the sanctuary. A synagogue of our day is so like a Catholic church, that hardly a change, except to place an altar in it, would be required to turn it into a church. Thus church and synagogue buildings have not changed for twenty centuries.
In the days of Christ, all synagogues did not have these galleries, the nave was divided into equal divisions, men occupying the part to your right, women the other, a partition about six feet high running down the middle. A still stricter separation of the sexes now prevails among

THE BEMA OR CHURCH SANCTUARY.

Oriental and orthodox Jews, the galleries being screened off by lattice work. Orientals looked on women as being deeper defiled by Eve's sin,—this especially prevails among Moslems. The Jew of our day prays: "O Lord, I thank thee that thou didst not make me a woman," and the woman says: "O Lord, I thank thee that thou didst make me as I am." 31
They planned the synagogue so the sanctuary would face towards Jerusalem; in the latter city it faced the Temple, the direction being called in Hebrew Kedem, "The Front." The sanctuary of the Cenacle faced the east, from that rose the ancient custom of facing the sanctuary of our churches towards the east.
In the time of Christ the sanctuary was named by the Grecian Jews the Bema, while the Roman Hebrews called it the rostrum "stage" 32 as of theaters and public buildings. Only men could occupy the sanctuary during divine services; and women were never allowed to take part during public worship. 33 Whence St. Paul says: "Let women keep silent in the churches .... For it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church." 34 As a sign of subjection, they always wore a head covering when praying. "Doth it become a woman to pray to God uncovered?" says St. Paul; 35 whence women even in our day never uncover their heads during church or synagogue services.
At your right, but within the sanctuary, was a rostrum or pulpit called the darshan, from which the preacher delivered the midrash "sermon," on the part of the Law or Prophets read. From this came the custom of preaching on the Epistle or Gospel, and the pulpit in our churches. As the men read the lessons from the Bible one stood by, called the meturgeman, 36 and translated the words into the language of the people, who in the days of Christ did not understand the ancient Hebrew.

1 Jerusalem Talmud, Megilla, iii. 73; Edersheim, Life of Christ, i. 119, 432.

2 Deut. xvi. 5, 6, etc.

3 See Geikie, Life of Christ, I.. 81, 174 to 187; II., C14.

4 See Edersheim, Life of Christ, I. 19 to 30, 433 to 456.

5 Exod. xxxii. 19.

6 Luke xvlii. 12.

7 Mark i. 21, iii. 9.. vi. 2; Luke iv, 16. xiii. 10; Acts xiii. 14, xv. 21, xvi. 18, xvii. 2. xviii. 4. etc.

8 Isaias xliv. 26,28,45; Daniel x.

9 St. Augustine, Enar. in Psal. Ixxvi. n 11.

10 St. Augustine Enar. in Psal, xliv. n. xii,

11 Exod. xxxiv. 31.

12 ii. 18.

13 Repub. 526.

14 Prov. v. 14. See S. Augustine, Ques. in Evang. 1. ii. viii.; Enar. in Psalm Ixxxiv; in Psalm Ixxiii., 1; Enar. in Psalm Ixxx. 11; Enar. in Psalm Ixxxii. 1.

15 Matt. x. 17.

16 Matt, xxiii. 34; Mark xiii. 9.; Luke xii. 11, xxii. 11.

17 Epist. ad Trall, c. 5.

18 Stroma, VI. 633.

19 Gen. xxv. 27.

20 Judg. v. 9; Isaias i. 13, etc.

21 See Migne, Cursus Comp. S. Scripturæ, iii. 1233, etc.

22 Ezech. viii. 1, xiv. 1, xx. 1, xxxiii. 31.

23 Ezech. ii. 14 to end.

24 I. Esdras viii. 15; II. Esdras viii. 2, ix. 1; Zach. vii. 5.

25 Acts xv. 21,

26 I. Mach, iii, 46.

27 Luke vii. 5.

28 Babyl. Talmud, Megalla, Chap, iv., Gemara, p. 77.

29 I. Cor. 16, etc.

30 See Edersheim Life of Christ, i. 278, etc.

31 Jewish Prayer Book.

32 In St. Chrysostom's Liturgy the sanctuary is called the Bema.

33 See Migne, Cursus Coinp. S. Scrpturæ, iii. 1432, etc.

34 I. Cor. xiv. 34.

35 I. Cor. xi. 13.

36 Edersheim, Life of Christ, i. 10, 11, 436, 444, 445.

How Christ said the first mass, By Rev. James L. Meagher, D.D. Part 21.

THE COMMUNION CHALICE PREFIGURED.

Fifth: As soon as part of the wine is tasted after a benediction the cup of wine is rendered unfit for any other benediction. Sixth: Even if a full meal is eaten at the close of Sabbath, and the sanctification of the day had passed, it shall be the duty to recite the Habdalah. Seventh: Two degrees of sanctification may be bestowed on one cup of wine, Lastly: The entire Boraitha is in accord with the school of Shammai and with the interruption of R. Jehudah."
We have given these because they relate to the fourth chalice of wine, which each one at the table must drink. This was the chalice Christ blessed and consecrated into his Blood. According to the rules we have given, this must be a large chalice. The one who pronounced "the benediction over the chalice of wine, must taste some," says the Talmud. Christ then partook of the consecrated chalice before giving It to his Apostles, and this is the reason the celebrant first receives Communion before giving It to others. The benedictions over the chalice gave rise to the blessings or crosses over the Elements after the consecration. Then follow many minute regulations for the order of procedure.
"Neither Kiddush nor any other benediction should be made with anything except wine. The teachings of the Rabbis relative to other benedictions mean that the chalice given for the benediction after meals should only be of wine.
"When eating, the unleaven bread on Passover-night, one should recline in an easy position, but this is not required when the bitter herbs are eaten. When wine is drunk, it was taught in the name of R. Na'hman, that a reclining position should be taken, and also that it need not be taken. Still this apparent contradiction presents no difficulty. The statement quoted of R. Na'hman that a reclining position is necessary when drinking wine, refers to the first two cups, and the statement that it is not necessary, refers to the last two cups. The first two cups symbolize the beginning of liberty for the previously enslaved Jews, while the last two cups have no such significations. 1

A FESTIVAL OF REJOICING.

"Leaning backward is not considered reclining, nor is leaning over on the right side considered reclining in an easy position. The woman who sits with her husband need not recline when eating, but If she is a woman of prominence she should do so. A son sitting with his father must recline
"Each cup must contain wine, which when mixed with three parts of water will be good wine If unmixed wine was drunk, the duty has nevertheless also been fulfilled If all the four cups were poured into one and drunk, the duty has also been fulfilled. If the wine was drunk unmixed, the duty of drinking the wine has been acquitted, but the symbolic feature thereof has not been carried out. The cup must contain the color and taste of red wine. The duty of drinking the four cups devolves upon all alike. 2
"It is the duty of every man to cause his household and his children to rejoice on the festival, as it is written: 'And thou shalt rejoice on thy feast.' 3 The men with the thing they like best, and the women with what pleases them most. The thing men like best is of course wine. But what is most pleasing to women? In Babylonia multicolored dresses, and in Judea pressed linen garments. Small fishes should be eaten, as it is taught in the Mishna. 4
"When the first cup is poured out, the blessing pertaining to the festival should be said, and then the benediction over the wine must be pronounced.
"Herbs, and vegetables are then brought, the lettuce is then to be immersed, parts thereof eaten, and the remainder left until after the meal arranged for the night is eaten, then the unleaven cakes are to be placed before him, as well as the lettuce, Charoseth (sauce), and two kinds of cooked food, although it is not strictly obligatory to use the same. During the existence of the holy Temple, the paschal sacrifice was placed before him. Two immersions are necessary, one when the lettuce is immersed, and the other when the bitter herbs are immersed. Fish, together with two eggs, may also serve for the two kinds of cooked food. A man should not place the bitter herbs between the unleaven cakes and eat them that way. Why not? Because the eating of unleaven cakes is a biblical command, while the eating of bitter herbs in this day is only a rabbinical ordinance.

THE CHAROSETH.

It was said of Hillel, (who lived in the second century before Christ,) that he would take a piece of the paschal offering, an unleaven cake, and some bitter herbs, and eat them together, as it is written, 'They shall eat it with unleaven bread and wild lettuce.' 5 The mode of procedure should be said over the unleaven bread, a piece thereof eaten; then another blessing should be said over the bitter herbs and a piece tasted, and finally the unleaven bread, and the bitter herbs should be put together and eaten at the same time, saying, 'This is in remembrance of Hillel's actions when the Temple was still in existence' 6
"When anything is dipped in sauce, the hands should be perfectly clean, that is, previously washed. Thence we infer that the lettuce must be entirely immersed in the Charoseth sauce, for otherwise what need would there be of washing the hands, they would touch the sauce. If a man washed his hands prior to dipping the lettuce the first time, he should nevertheless wash his hands again when dipping the second time. Unleaven bread, bitter herbs, and Charoseth must be dealt out to each man separately, but immediately before the Haggada is read."
The Haggada is the Seder or Liturgy of the Passover. Sometimes they placed a separate table at the head of the couch for each person. But at the Last Supper there were many tables arranged in the form of a U. The lather of the family, or master of the band, recited the service, the others holding the scroll of the Liturgy in their hands, and all recited it with him as the newly ordained priests recite the Liturgy with the bishop during their ordination. The sauce called the Charoseth was a kind of salad made of apples, nuts, almonds, spices, etc., mixed with vinegar.
"What religious purposes serves the Charoseth? It serves as a remembrance of the apple trees. It serves as a remembrance of the mortar which the Israelites were compelled to make in Egypt. Therefore the Charoseth should be made to have an acid taste in memory of the apple-trees, also thick in memory of the mortar.

DUTY OF ADORATION FOR DELIVERANCE.

The spices used in the preparation of the Charoseth were in memory of the straw used in the preparation of the mortar. The sellers of spices in Jerusalem used to cry out in the streets, "Come and buy spices for religious purposes."
"A second cup is poured out, and the son should then inquire of the father the reason for the ceremony. Where a band, and not a family, celebrated the Passover, the youngest at the table took the place of the son and asked the question. "What is the reason of these ceremonies?"
"Rabbon Gamaliel, (St. Paul's teacher,) used to say: 'Whosoever does not mention the following three things on the Passover, has not fulfilled his duty. They are the paschal sacrifice, the unleaven cakes and the bitter herbs. The paschal sacrifice is offered because the Lord passed over the houses of our ancestors in Egypt, as it is written, 'You shall say to them. It is the victim of the passage of the Lord, when he passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, striking the Egyptian and saving our houses.' 7 The unleaven bread is eaten, because our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt as it is written: 'The people therefore took the dough before it was leaven, and tying it in their cloaks put it on their shoulders.' 8 And the bitter herbs are eaten because the Egyptians embittered the lives of our ancestors in Egypt, as it is written: 'And they made their lives bitter with hard work, in clay, and brick, and with all manner of service, wherewith they were overcharged in the works of the earth.' 9
"It is therefore incumbent on every person in all ages, that he should consider as though he had personally gone forth from Egypt, as it is written: 'And thou shall tell thy son that day saying, This is what the Lord did to me when I came forth out of Egypt.' 10 We are therefore in duty bound to thank, praise, adore, glorify, extol, honor, bless, exalt and reverence Him, who wrought all these miracles for our ancestors and for us. For He brought us forth from bondage to freedom, He changed our sorrow into joy, our mourning into a feast. He led us from darkness into light, and from slavery into redemption. Let us therefore say in his presence Hallelujah, sing the Hallel Prayer."

ORIGIN OF LIFTING UP THE HOST.

Hallelujah is in the Hebrew: "Praise Jah" (Jehovah,) "Praise Jehovah." In Church services it is Alleluia.
"The unleaven bread and bitter herbs must be lifted up when about to be eaten, but the meat need not be lifted up, and moreover, if the meat were lifted up, it would appear as if consecrated things were eaten outside the Temple."
This lifting up called in Jewish writings, "waving" was done in this way. First the bread, and then the wine were each in their turn raised up and offered to the Lord, then lowered and "waved" to the north, south, east and west, making a cross. This was done with every sacrifice in the Temple, and this gave rise to the ceremony of raising up and offering the bread and wine, then lowering and making a cross at the offertory of the Mass. This was also probably the origin of lifting up the Host when saying: "Behold the Lamb of God, Behold Him who taketh away the sins of the world!" before giving Communion. The "meat" or the roast paschal lamb was not lifted up during the Passover supper, because it had been lifted up, and "waved" while being sacrificed in the Temple as we will describe later.
"The canticle in the Scriptures 11 was sung by Moses with Israel, when coming up out of the sea. Who recited the Hallel? The prophets ordained that at all times, when they are delivered out of affliction they should say it on account of their redemption.
"All the praises uttered in the Book of Psalms were uttered by David, as it is written: 'Here ended the prayers of David the son of Jesse.' 12 My son Eleazar says that Moses, together with Israel, said it when coming out of the sea, but his colleagues differ with him, maintaining that David said it, but to me, my son's opinion seems more reasonable, for how can it be that the Israelites should slaughter their paschal offerings and take their palm branches and not sing a song of praise?

PSALMS OF THE GREAT HALLEL.

"All the canticles and hymns in the Book of Psalms according to the dictum of R. Eleazar were sung by David for his own sake. But R. Joshua says that he did so for the congregation at large, and the sages say that some were uttered by him for the congregation at large, while others only for his sake, namely, those he uttered in the singular were for his own sake, and those uttered in the plural were for the community at large. The Psalms containing the terms Nitzua'ch and Nigon, were intended for the future, those containing the term Maskil were proclaimed through an interpreter. Where the Psalm commences "Le-David Mizmor" the Shekina rested on David, and then he sang the Psalm, but when it commences "Mizmor Le-David," he first sang the Psalm, and then the Shekina rested on him. Whence it may be concluded that the Shekina does not rest on one who is in a state of idleness, or sorrow, or laughter, or thoughtlessness, or on him who indulges in vain words, but only on one who rejoices in the fulfilment of a duty, as it is written: "But now bring me hither a minstrel (a musician). And when the minstrel played, the jand (inspiration) of the Lord came upon him.
"They said 'Not for our sake, 13 O Lord, not for our sake, but unto thy name give glory.' And the Holy Spirit replied 14 'For my own sake, for my own sake, will I do it.' 'Josue and Israel said it when they did battle with the kings of the Canaanites.' Israel said: 'Not for our sake,' etc., and the Holy Spirit said 'For my sake,' etc. Deborah and Barak said it, when Sisara waged war on them, they said 'Not for our sake,' etc., and the Holy Spirit replied, 'For my own sake,' etc. King Hezekiah and his companions said it when Sennacherib waged war upon them. They said 'Not for our sake,' etc., and the Holy Spirit replied, 'For my sake,' etc., Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah said it, when Nebuchadnezzar was about to throw them in the fiery furnace. They said, 'Not for our sake,' etc., and the Holy Spirit replied, 'For my sake,' etc., Mordechai and Esther said it, when Haman the wicked rose up against them. They said, 'Not for our sake,' etc., and the Holy Spirit replied, 'For my sake,' etc." 15
We have given this quotation from the Talmud, to show that they had a knowledge of the Holy Spirit. These words with others found hundreds of times in the Old Testament and Jewish writings show us, that they had a vague knowledge of the Three Persons of the Trinity.

THE FIVE THINGS OF THE SMALL HALLEL.

"How far is the Hallel to be said? According to Beth Shammai till, 'The joyful mother of children,' 16 according to Beth Hillel till 'Who changeth a rock into a pool of water,' 17 according to another till, 'When Israel went out of Egypt.' " 18
Beth Shammai "House of Shammai" and Beth Hillel "House of Hillel," were two schools of thought founded by these famous leaders of Israel who lived in the second century before Christ. Hillel in Hebrew means "Rich in praise" and Shammai is "Desolated."
"In reading the Shema" (we will give the prayer later) "and the Hallel, the redemption of Israel should be referred to in the past tense, namely: 'Who hath redeemed,' etc., while in the prayer embracing the Eighteen Benedictions, it should be referred to in the future tense, 'Who wilt redeem,' etc., should refer to the future, not to the past. In the prayer for redemption, the sentence 'He causeth to sprout the foundation of help,' should be said and the benediction pronounced after the recital of the Haphtorah (the Prophets) which should be concluded after the blessing for the redemption with the 'Shield of David.'
"A third cup is then poured out, and the benediction after meals is said. After pouring out the fourth cup, the Hallel should be concluded over it, and the blessings on the songs of praise be said. A person may drink as much as he chooses between the second and third cup, but not between the third and fourth. On the fourth cup the Hallel is concluded, and the great Hallel should also be recited thereon.
"If it is necessary to recite the great Hallel why must the small Hallel be recited at the Passover-meal? Because the small Hallel contains the following five things; the exodus from Egypt, the dividing of the Red Sea, the giving of the Law to the Israelites, the resurrection of the dead, and the sufferings of the Messiah. The small Hallel is recited for another reason, namely because it contains prayers for the transporting of the souls of the just from Gehenna (purgatory, not hell of the damned) to heaven as it is written; "O Lord, deliver my soul." 19

A DESSERT UNLAWFUL.

"After the meal and the beverages will have been consumed, the Lord will hand the chalice used for the benediction after meals to Abraham, and Abraham will say: 'I am not worthy, for from me issued Ishmael "God is hearing"; Isaac "Laughter," will then be asked to pronounce the benediction, but he will refuse on the ground that from him issued Esau, "hirsute, hairy"; Jacob, "The Supplanter" will then be offered the chalice, but he will refuse on the ground that he married two sisters, which was afterwards prohibited by law. Moses "Drawer out" will then be requested to say the benediction, but he will refuse on the ground that he was not destined to enter the Promised Land, neither before nor after his death; Josue (in Greek Jesus, "Jehovah will save") will then be asked to accept the chalice, and he will also refuse saying: "I am not worthy, for I died childless." David, "Beloved," will finally be offered the chalice, and he will accept it saying, 'I am indeed worthy and shall recite the benediction,' as it is written, 20 'I will take the chalice of salvation, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.' "
The Talmud has "The cup of salvation will I lift up." The David given here is not King David, who seduced Uriah's wife, killed her husband, a man of blood and battle all his life, whom God would not let build the Temple, that honor being reserved for his son Solomon. The David, innocent according to God's own heart, was the Messiah, who at the Passover or Last Supper took his fourth chalice in his holy and venerable hands with these words, and consecrated it into his own Blood. 21
"It is unlawful to conclude the eating of the paschal sacrifice with a dessert. The paschal offering after the hour of midnight renders the hands unclean. Sacrifices which are rejected, or that have remained beyond their prescribed time also render the hands unclean:"
(See the book Pesachem, Passover of the Babylonian Talmud, which then closes with a few unimportant explanations.)

REPORT BY THE CONSUL MARCUS.

The Tract, Yomah, "Day of Atonement," has as an Appendix the following letter written by Marcus Ambivius, third Roman consul of Syria, whose headquarters were at Cæsarea. The fourth consul of Judea was Annius, the fifth Valerius Gratus, the sixth was Pontius Pilate, who was appointed in the year B. C. 25; the first important act of his administration being to move his headquarters from from Cæsarea to Jerusalem. 22 The scenes therefore here described took place about the time Christ was born,

"A WRITTEN REPORT SENT BY MARCUS, CONSUL OF JERUSALEM, TO ROME.

(Appendix to Tract Yomah, "Day of Atonement.")

"Concerning the service at the Temple, these Jews were reluctant to inform me about it, as they declared it was against their law to inform a Gentile about their manner of serving God. They enlightened me about two subjects only, part of which I saw with my own eyes, and was greatly rejoiced thereat. One was the sacrifice, which they brought on the feast they call Passover; and the second is the entrance of the high priest, whom we call sacerdos major, into the Temple, on the day which to them, in regard to holiness, purity and strengthening of the soul, is the most important of all the days in the year
"The Passover sacrifice which I have partly witnessed as also I was told, the entire ceremony takes place in the following manner. When the beginning of the month, which they call Nisan approached, by the command of the king and the judges, swift messengers visited every one in the vicinity of Jerusalem, who owned flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, and ordered him to hasten to Jerusalem with them, in order that the pilgrims might have sufficient animals for sacrifice and food; for the people were then very numerous, and whoever did not present himself at the appointed time, his possessions were confiscated for the benefit of the Temple. Consequently all owners of flocks and droves came hastily on, and brought them to a creek near Jerusalem, and washed and cleaned them of all dirt.

SURROUNDING JERUSALEM FOR THE PASSOVER.

They believe that in regard to that Solomon said: "As flocks of sheep that are shorn, which come up from the washing, all with twins." 23
"When they arrived at the mountains which surround Jerusalem, the multitude was so great that the grass was not seen any longer, as everything was turned white by reason of the white color of the wool. When the tenth day approached—as on the fourteenth day of the month the sacrifice was brought, every one went out to buy his paschal lamb. And the Jews made an ordinance that when going forth on that mission, nobody should say to his neighbor: 'Step aside,' or: 'Let me pass,' even, if the one behind was king Solomon or David. When I remarked to the priests that this was not seemly or polite, they made answer that it was so ordered to show that before the eyes of God, not even at the time of preparing to serve Him, more especially at the service itself—at that time all were equal in receiving His goodness.
"When the fourteenth day of the month arrived, they all went to the highest tower of the Temple, which the Hebrews call Lul, and the stairway of which was made like those in our temple towers, and held three silver trumpets in their hands, with which they blew. After the blowing they proclaimed the following:
" 'People of God, listen: The time for sacrificing the paschal lamb has arrived. In the name of Him who rests in the great and holy house.'
"As the people heard the proclamation, they donned their holiday attire, for since midday it was a holiday for the Jews, being the time for sacrifice.

1 Talmud, Babyl., 225.

2 Babyl. Talmud, x. p. 226.

3 Deut. xvi. 14.

4 Talmud, x. p. 227.

5 Numb. ix. 11.

6 Babyl. Talmud, x. p. 237.

7 Exod. xii-27.

8 Exod. xii. 34.

9 Exod. i. 14.

10 Exod. xiii. 8.

11 Exod. xv.

12 Psalm Ixxi. 20.

13 Psalm cxiii. 1.

14 Isaias, xlviii. 11.

15 Babyl. Talmud, x. pp. 744 to 246.

16 Psalm cxii. 9.

17 Psalm cxii. 5.

18 Psalm cxiv. 1.

19 Psalm cxiv. 4.

20 Psalm cxv. 13.

21 Babyl. Talmud, x. p. 256.

22 See Josephus, Antiq. xiv. xi.; 1. Wars, I x etc.

23 Cant, of Cant., iv. 2.

How Christ said the first mass, By Rev. James L. Meagher, D.D. Part 20.

VAST CROWDS AT THE PASSOVER.

"The paschal sacrifice was not slaughtered unless there were three divisions of thirty men each. Why? Because it is written: "The whole assembly of the congregation of Israel —thus "assembly" means ten men, "congregation" ten men, and "Israel" also ten men. It was doubtful however whether the thirty men had to be taken together, or whether ten men only at a time had to be present. So it was ordered that thirty men should enter, and as soon as ten were ready, they went out, and ten others took their place; the next ten then left, and another ten entered; finally the last thirty went out together—thus each division numbered fifty men, or all three divisions one hundred and fifty men. 1
"Agrippa the king once wanted to know how many male Israelites there were. So he told the high priest to keep an account of the paschal lambs. The high priest then ordered that one kidney of each paschal lamb be preserved, and it was found that six hundred thousand pairs of kidneys were preserved, and this was twice the number of the Israelites who went out of Egypt. Naturally this was exclusive of all Israelites who were unclean, and could not offer the sacrifice, and all those who lived at a great distance from Jerusalem and were not in duty bound to be present. There was not a paschal lamb that did not represent at least more than ten persons." 1
Josephus 2 tells the same story of the kidneys counted, and we learn that 12,000,000 persons offered the Passover sacrifice that year, which was known as the "large Passover." We can then imagine the vast crowds, who clamored for the death of Christ and what a multitude saw him die. The strangers used to camp around Jerusalem, filling the country for miles in all directions. They followed the rules Moses laid down to regulate their desert encampments. Olivet was covered with the tents of Juda and Benjamin; to the south, toward Bethlehem, rose the tents of Issachar and Zebulon mingling with sons of Simon, Gad and Ruben; to the west were Ephraim, Manasses, while in the level plain to the north camped Dan, Asher and Nephthalim.
The Talmud says the gold chalices were worth 200 and the silver 100 denars; the denars equalling about 17 cents, each chalice was worth respectfully $34 and $17. The denar, in Latin denarius, was so called from the letter X, meaning ten.
"Mishna: How should the paschal lamb be roasted? A spit, made of wood of the pomegranate tree, should be taken, put in at the mouth and brought out at the vent thereof. The paschal sacrifice most not be roasted on an iron roasting spit or on a gridiron. 3
"Mishna: If any part of the roasted lamb touched the earthenware oven on which it was roasted, that part must be pared off.

FIVE KINDS OF SACRIFICES.

If the fat dripping from the lamb had fallen on the oven, and then again had fallen on the lamb, that part of the lamb must be cut out. If the dripping however fell on fine flour, a handful of that flour must be taken and burned. If the paschal lamb had been anointed, or basted with the consecrated oil of the heave-offering, and the company appointed to partake thereof consists of priests, they are allowed to eat it. But if the company consists of Israelites, they must wash it off if the lamb be yet raw." 4
The pomegranate, "grained apple," called in Hebrew rimmon, was extensively grown in the Jordan valley and around Jerusalem at the time of Christ. The stick was extended so that its lower end passed through the tendons of the hind feet, and the cross-piece of the same kind of wood passed through the tendons of the fore feet. The operation was called "crucifying the lamb." The lamb rested entirely on and was roasted on its cross, and foretold the dead Christ hanging from his cross. Seeing this crucified paschal lamb, a striking image of the Crucified, the Rabbis of the Talmud left out the details of the sticks passing through the tendons of the feet. But other writers (Justin Martyr and the early Fathers) describe the lamb thus roasted on his cross, emblem of the crucifixion coming down from the days of the Hebrew kings.
"Mishna: Five kinds of sacrifices may be brought, even if those who offer them should be in a state of ritual uncleanness, but they should not be eaten by them while in that condition. They are the Omer "Sheaf offering," the two loaves of Pentecost, the showbreads of the Sabbath, the peace-offerings of the congregation, and the he-goats offered on the feast of the New Moon. The teaching may be in accord with the sages, but in that event, it treats of the whole community, and not of an individual, and we have learned that a community may sacrifice the paschal offering, even if all the members thereof were defiled." 5
The whole community of the Jews sacrificed the real Lamb of God foretold by the paschal sacrifice when they cried out "Crucify him," "Let him be crucified," etc., in Pilate's hall, and this was foretold by the passage we have quoted.

FIGURATIVE REGULATIONS.

"Mishna: If the whole, or the greater part of the congregation had become defiled, or the priests were in a state of defilement, but the congregation was undefiled, the sacrifice may be brought in this state of defilement, But if the minority only of the congregation had become defiled, the majority that are clean, shall sacrifice the paschal offering at its proper time, and the unclean shall sacrifice a second paschal offering on the 14th of the following month." 6
The Apostles, disciples, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus the holy women, Christ's followers, did not demand his death, and these were represented by those called undefiled in the Mishna we have given. To foretell how the Lord was crucified at Jerusalem, the following was the revealed law:
"Thou mayest not immolate the phase in any of thy cities, which the Lord thy God shall give thee. But in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose." 7 "Even if one tribe were unclean, and the remaining eleven tribes of Israel were clean, the members of the unclean tribe must bring a separate sacrifice, because he holds that each tribe constitutes a congregation." 8
"Mishna: The bones, sinews, and other remaining parts must be burned on the sixteenth, and should that day fall on the Sabbath, they must be burned on the seventeenth, because the burning of these does not supersede the laws of the Sabbath, or those of the festival. The bones of a paschal offering, however, which remain whole, could have been broken and the marrow extracted from them only after becoming "a remainder," and for-that reason they must be burnt. "Neither shall there remain anything of it till morning. If there be anything left you shall burn it with fire." 9
This disposal of the remains of the lamb, was a prophecy in Moses' day, that the body of Christ would be buried the day he died. But the following prophesied that while they broke the legs of the two thieves, they did not break Christ's limbs.

THE ATTIC OF THE HOLY OF HOLIES.

"Mishna: Whosoever breaks any bones of the clean paschal lamb incurs the penalty of forty stripes. 'Neither shall you break a bone thereof' 10 'In one house shall it be eaten, neither shall you carry forth of the flesh thereof out of the house, neither shall you break a bone thereof,' 10 and hence we must say that only if a bone was broken of a lamb, which must be eaten, but not of a lamb which must not be eaten, is the penalty of stripes incurred. They differ, however, concerning a man who breaks the tail of the lamb, which must not be eaten but offered up on the altar. 11
"The attic of the Holy of Holies was even more holy than the Holy of Holies itself, for while the latter was entered once every year, the former was entered only once in seven years, according to others twice in seven years, and according to others only once in fifty years, and then only to see whether any repairs were necessary. 12
"Concerning the Temple it is written: 'Then gave David to Solomon his son, a description of the porch and of the temple and of the treasures, and of the upper floor, and of the inner chambers and of the house for the mercy-seat, etc. . . All these things he said came to me written by the hand of the Lord,' etc. 13
"When two companies eat their paschal sacrifice in the same house, or room, each turning their faces in a different direction while eating thereof, and the warming pot containing the water to be mixed with the wine is in the center, the waiter, or servant, must close his mouth, that is not eat, while he waits on the other company to, pour out the wine for them. Then he must turn his face towards the company he eats with, and he must not eat till he joins his own company." 14
Was it because the servants thus came between the tables and poured out the wine that the acolytes, deacon, subdeacon or altar-boys pour the water and wine into the chalice during Mass? The Greek and Oriental Rites prescribe warm water mixed with the wine at Mass.
"Mishna: If her husband slaughtered for his wife a paschal sacrifice, and her father also slaughtered one, she must eat that of her husband.

RULES RELATING TO BENEFITS OR GRACES.

If she came to pass the first festival after her marriage at her father's house, and her father and husband have each slaughtered a paschal sacrifice for her, she may eat it at whatever place she prefers. If several guardians of an orphan have slaughtered paschal sacrifices for him, the orphan may go and eat it at the house he prefers. 15
"Mishna: If a man say to his sons: 'I slaughter the paschal sacrifice for whichever one of you shall first arrive in Jerusalem,' then the first of them, whose head and greater part of whose body first appears in the city gate, thereby acquires a right to his own share, and acquires the same for his brothers."
The following pages explain and define rules relating to the benefits or graces acquired by those for whom the lamb was sacrificed. This shows that they offered sacrifices for particular persons and families. Thus we have a custom, coming down from the Apostles, of offering Masses for persons, families or particular intentions.
"Mishna; If a person, having a running issue, had observed such issue twice on the same day, and the seventh day after his disease had subsided fall on the fourteenth of Nisan, when he is no longer defiled, he may have the paschal sacrifice slaughtered for him that day. But if he observed the issue three times in one day, it may be slaughtered for him only if the eighth day, when he again becomes clean, should fall on the fourteenth of Nisan.' 16
"Mishna: For a mourner, who has lost a relative for whom he is obliged to mourn on the fourteenth of Nisan, for a person digging out of a heap of fallen ruins persons buried among them, for a prisoner who has assurance of a release in time to eat the paschal sacrifice, and for the aged and sick persons, it is lawful to slaughter the paschal sacrifice, while they are able to partake thereof a quantity at least the size of an olive." 17
The reader will here see the origin of the custom of giving Communion to those who cannot come to church. The following shows that only Christ and his Apostles formed the "band" to eat the Passover. Only men could sit at the table when free from defilement, and all were circumcised to foretell the baptized. The unbaptized are incapable of the other sacraments. For these reasons Christ ordained only men.

EXCOMMUNICATION.

"But we have learned in our Mishna, that a company-must not be formed of women, slaves or minors, that is of any of three. And Rabha replied, 'Nay, it means that a company must not be formed of the three together.'
"Mishna: A mourner may eat of the paschal sacrifice at eve, after having taken his legal bath, but he must not eat of other holy sacrifices."
This shows that all who celebrated the Passover were obliged to take "a legal bath," similar to that of the priests who went on service in the Temple. Washing the body was a type of baptism, and Christ raised it to the dignity of this sacrament, which wipes out all sins and gives the three virtues of faith, hope, and charity.
The Talmud here gives many rules and regulations relating to the "second Passover," held on the fourteenth of the following month, which all observed if they could not celebrate the first. If a Jew did not celebrate either one or the other, he became guilty of Kareth "Excommunication." He was driven from the synagogue and excluded from communications with all Israel, as the Law of Moses says: "But if any one is clean, and was not on a journey, and did not make the Phase, that soul shall be cut off from among his people." 18 "He that shall eat leaven bread, his soul shall perish out of the assembly of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land." 19
"The following persons were obliged to observe a second Passover: Men and women afflicted with a running issue, with running sores, women suffering from their menstruation, and such as had sexual intercourse with them during that time, women lying in (women in childbirth), those that neglected the observance of the first Passover, either through error or compulsion, those that neglected it intentionally, and those who were on a distant journey. And the Lord spoke to Moses saying: 'Say to the children of Israel. The man that shall be unclean by occasion of one that is dead, or shall be on a journey afar off in your nation, let him make the Phase to the Lord in the second month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening they shall eat it, with unleavened bread and wild lettuce.' 20

EASTER DUTIES.

"Kareth is the penalty for the non-observance of the first, as well as of the second. Thus the conclusion is as follows. If a man had intentionally neglected the first and second Passover, all agree that he incurs the penalty of Kareth. If he had inadvertently neglected both, all agree that he is not guilty.
"But the person that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offering that pertaineth to the Lord, having his uncleanness on him, even that person shall be cut off from his people. Whence we infer that if an unclean person eat of the flesh, which may be eaten only by clean persons, he incurs the penalty of Kareth, but if he ate the flesh, which was not fit for a clean person, i. e. unclean flesh, he is not guilty. We might assume that if persons having a running issue had intruded into the sanctuary, in a state of defilement, while the sacrifice was being offered, they thereby incur the penalty of Kareth, to that end it is written, 'Command the children of Israel that they cast out of the camp every leper, and whosoever hath an issue of seed, or is defiled by the dead. Whether it be a man or a woman, cast ye them out of the camp, lest they defile it, when I shall dwell with you.' " 21 This Kareth, "cutting off" or excommunication from the Jewish church, is in Hebrew, Anathema, Maranatha, "Get behind when the Lord cometh." 22 This Christ said to Peter. 23
If a person cannot make his Easter duty during holy week or at Easter, the Church extends the time within which the obligation can be satisfied till Saturday before Trinity, the end of the Paschal season. If a Christian does not make his Easter confession and Communion during that time, he is supposed to become a Kareth, "cut off," "excommunicated." The Church in making this law had the example and sanction of God himself, who laid down the same penalty for the Hebrews.
"What must be considered a 'distant' journey?

A DAY'S JOURNEY.

According to R. Aqiba it is from Moodayim and beyond, and from ail places around Jerusalem situated at the same distance. Any distance beyond the threshold of the Temple-court should be considered as coming under that term." 24
"Said Ula: 'From Moodayim to Jerusalem is a distance of fifteen miles.' What is the distance that a man can travel in one day? Ten Parsaoth."
Moodayim, translated Modin, 25 was the city and mount where was born Mathathias father of the Machabees. 26 It contained their family tombs, which Simon had built there 27 setting up seven pyramids of polished stone, one each for his father, mother, himself and his four brothers. "Parsaoth" is the plural of Parsah, "a measure of four miles" called in Hebrew "Milin."
"When eating the first paschal offering the 'Hallel' should be recited, but not while eating the second, from the, passage. 'You shall have a song as in the night of the sanctified solemnity, and joy of heart as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord to the mighty One of Israel. And the Lord shall make the glory of his voice to be heard." 28 Hence on the night which ushers in a festival 'Hallel' should be recited, but on the night of the second Passover, when no festival follows, the recital of the 'Hallel' is not necessary. Both the first and second Passover require that the man who offers up the paschal lamb remains in Jerusalem overnight. 29
"What is the difference between the Passover as celebrated by the Israelites in Egypt, and that observed by later generations? The Egyptian Passover-sacrifice was specially ordered to be purchased on the 10th of Nisan, and its blood sprinkled with a bunch of hyssop on the lintel, and on the two side posts of the door, also that it be eaten with unleaven bread on the first night of Passover, in a hasty manner, while in later generations the law of the Passover applies to the whole seven days of the festival. Yows and voluntary offerings must not be sacrificed on a festival.

PRAYERS BEFORE THE PASSOVER.

"Those who heard the Kiddush pronounced in the synagogue, need not recite it at their homes, but should merely pronounce the customary benediction over the wine. Why should a man recite the Kiddush at home? In order to give the household an opportunity to hear it. Why should the Kiddush be recited in the synagogue? In order to afford the guests, who eat, drink and sleep in the synagogues, an opportunity to hear it. If a person hears the Kiddush recited in one house, he should not eat in another, but it makes no difference as to rooms in one house."
The Kiddush was the synagogue prayers said before they sat down at the passover table. They were said either in the synagogue or in the house. As the Cenacle was a synagogue, Christ and his Apostles began the synagogue services of Thursday at the Bema before the supper as we will explain later.
"R. Huna thinks that the Kiddush must be recited only in the place where the meal is taken. Abayi said: ' When I was at Master's house, while he recited the Kiddush, he would say to the guests, 'Partake of something before you go to your houses, for should you go home and find the candles gone out, ye will not be able to recite the Kiddush in your homes, and thus you will not acquit yourselves of the duty unless you eat something where the Kiddush was recited.'"
They were forbidden to eat the lamb except candles burned. No religious services were ever carried out in Israel without lighted candles. From this the Church derived the custom of lighting candles at every service.
"Two benedictions must not be made over one cup. When one enters his house at the close of Sabbath, he pronounces a benediction over wine, light, incense, and then the benediction of Habdalah. The Habdalah was the blessing pronounced at the close of the Sabbath services over one cup, and if he has not another of wine in his house, he may leave that cup until he has had his evening meal, and then recite the benediction after the meal over the same cup of wine. Rabh mentions all these benedictions, but omits that of the season, it must be presumed that he refers to the seventh day of Passover as the festival, because that day the benediction of the season is not said, and at that time it is possible that a man has only one cup of wine. "When is this possible?

THE SEVEN BENEDICTIONS.

On the first day of a festival, when a man surely has more wine; still Abyi said over one cup the benediction of wine, the Kiddush of the season of light, and the Habdalah, and finally of the season, etc.
"When the time for the Habdalah prayer arrived, the servant of Rabha lit several candles, and joined them into one flame. R. Jacob said to him 'Why dost thou light so many candles?' and Rabha replied. 'The servant did this of his own accord.'
"We have learned in a Boraitha: That one who is accustomed to incorporate many benedictions in the Habdalah prayer he may embody as many as he chooses.
"How is the order of the Habdalah to be observed? As follows: 'Who hath made a distinction between sanctified and ordinary, between light and darkness, between Israel and other nations, between the seventh day and working days, between clean and unclean, between sea and dry land, between waters above and beneath, between priests, Levites and Israelites,' and he concluded with: 'Blessed be He who hath arranged the order of creation.' "
The following relate to the seven benedictions and prayers which will be found later in the Passover Seder. 30
"It is not lawful to begin eating before the prayers. No interruption is allowed during the service. If the Sabbath, which began at sundown, was ushered in while they were at the Passover table, they stopped eating and said the Habdalah of the Sabbath, and after citing laws and customs the following eight things follow.
"First: One who included the Habdalah in his evening prayer, must recite it nevertheless again over a cup. Second: The benediction after a meal must be made over the cup of wine. Third: The cup used at the benediction must be of a prescribed capacity, i.e. a quarter of a log, for were this not so, it could not be divided, and part used for the Habdalah, and another part for the benediction. Fourth: One who pronounces the benediction over the cup of wine, must taste some.

1 Passover, 121.

2 Antiq. xvii. 9,3; Wars, v, 9, 3.

3 Passover, cap, vii.; First. Mishna. p. 143.

4 Passover, cap. vii. 146.

5 Passover, 148.

6 Passover, vii. p. 154.

7 Deut. xvi. 5.

8 Passover, vii. 155.

9 Exod. xii. 10; Passover, vii. p. 162.

10 Exod. xii. 46.

11 Passover, vii., 165,167, etc.

12 Passover, vii., p. 169.

13 I. Paralip., xxviii. 11-20.

14 Passover, vii., p. 170.

15 Passover, viii., First Mishna, p. 173.

16 Passover, viii., p. 185.

17 Passover xiii., p. 187.

18 Numb. ix. 13.

19 Exod. xii. 19.

20 Numb. ix. 10-11.

21 Numb. v. 2, 3.

22 See Edersheim Temple, 43; Jewish Cyclopedia, etc.

23 Mark viii. 33.

24 Passover ix. 194.

25 I. Mach. xiii. 27.

26 i. Mach. ii. 9, 13, 16. II. Mach. xiii. 14.

27 I. Mach. xiii. 27-30; Smith's Dict., v. 3, word "Modin."; Josephus, Antiq., xiii. 6, 6.

28 Isaias xxx. 29.

29 Passover, ix., p. 200.

30 In Chap.XII of this work.

How Christ said the first mass, By Rev. James L. Meagher, D.D. Part 5.

"The Shekinah Glory Enters the Tabernacle"; illustration from The Bible and Its Story Taught by One Thousand Picture Lessons; Charles F. Horne and Julius A. Bewer (Ed.), 1908

When John the Baptist baptized the Lord at Gilgal, the Shekina, in the form of a dove, overshadowed Christ. At the Transfiguration, in the form of a cloud. He covered Thabor's height. When preaching in the Temple He spoke in testimony of the Saviour. When he died He left the Holy of Holies as a mighty wind, saying, " Let us go hence." He rested on the western walls of the Temple, according to Jewish writers. The day of the Ascension He surrounded the ascending Christ. "And a cloud received him out of their sight." The day of Pentecost the fiery cloud, the Holy Ghost, 1 filled the Cenacle and rained down tongues of fire on the Apostles, giving each the language of the nations he was to convert.
Jewish writers tell us, the Shekina took up its abode on the summit of Olivet, for three and a half years, day and night they heard His voice in pleading words: " Come back to me, O my people, O come back to me ! " The Presence never spoke again. 2
In numerous places the Talmud has the words " Holy Spirit" having the same meaning as in Christian writings. The Old Testament, the Talmuds, Targums, Philo and Rabbinical writers use words which in translations of the Bible are rendered as Lord, God, etc., which show they had a dim idea or knowledge of the Trinity. As all translations are weak, our English Bible loses these peculiar terms.
The Hebrew Word Yaqara " The excellent Glory," found especially in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, means God the Father in the act of revealing, while the term Memra "the Logos," "The Word," is the Divine Son revealed. Hundreds of times Memra will be found in Moses' five books. The Targum Onkelos gives it 179, the Jerusalem Targum 99, and that of Pseudo Jonathan 321 times. Yaqara is God in his divine majesty; Memra is God in his wisdom; the Shekina is God revealing himself to man.
We give an example of the Targum Onkelos. " God, Yaqara, spoke to Abraham." 4 " God, Yaqara, rested at the top of Jacob's ladder," 5 and later spoke to the patriarch. 6 Moses uses the word when he says God called to him from the bush, 7 promised the manna, 8 when the Hebrews defeated Amalec, 9 when Jethro visited Moses, 10 and when the Lord, Yaqara, gave the Ten Commandments.11 There are hundreds of terms in the Hebrew Bible which are dim revelations of the Persons of the Trinity.
The first foundations of the Hebrew religion was laid by the Eternal Father Yaqara. The forms of nature, the knowledge of divine things, were given by Memra, the Word of God, the Wisdom of the Father, the Son of God. The ceremonial, law, tabernacle. Temple and Hebrew Church were founded by the Shekina the Holy Spirit. The Apostles and converts were then, by reading the Old Testament, ready to receive the belief in the Trinity, first clearly revealed when Christ said, " Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 12
These words were applied to the Persons of the Trinity in the times of the patriarchs, and continued down through Moses' writings. When God called Moses from the fiery bush to develop the patriarchal religion into the tabernacle and Temple ceremonial and found the Hebrew nationality, he revealed himself by a new name, " I am who am," 13 which was rendered by the Hebrew Jehovah " The Existing One " or Adonai, " Lords," from adon, "Lord," "sir."
While Elohim, from Eloi, " My God," represents the Eternal as creating and governing the universe, Jehovah shows him in his relation to man as the " God of mercy " revealing himself to the world, forming the covenant, giving the Law, forgiving sin, and promised as the Redeemer. Elohim is the God of justice punishing the wicked—the Eternal Father to whom sacrifices are offered by directions of Jehovah the Divine Son, with whom the Shekina acts, enlightening patriarchs and prophets.
After writing the Law and sprinkling the people with blood, " Moses, and Aaron, and Nadab, and Abiu, and the seventy ancients of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel." 14 Here the original Hebrew has the word Yaqara, as also in verses 11 and 17.
When God established the daily sacrifice of tabernacle and Temple for perpetual oblation 15 the word is Yaqara, as it is when Moses asked to see His glory. 16 The same word is used when God filled the tabernacle with his glory. 17
The bullock and ram for peace offerings are sacrificed before Yaqara, 18 the Lord, Yaqara, commanded 19 them when He appeared to the multitude. 20 When the ark was set down, Moses said, " Return, O Lord, to the multitude of the house of Israel." 21 God as Yaqara spoke to Aaron and Mary, promised to appear to the prophets in vision and dream, and he spoke to Moses, who saw the Lord Yaqara.22" Moses prayed to the Yaqara not to destroy the Hebrews, and the Yaqara was not with them when they wanted, against his wish, to go to the Promised Land. 23

II.—HOW THE HEAVENLY MYSTERIES OF THE MASS WERE UNVEILED IN THE TEMPLE.

Leaving not the supernal glories he had with the Father and the Holy Spirit before the world was, the Eternal Son was made man, suffered death to redeem us, then with our nature united to the Divinity, he went back into the spirit world unseen, where he ever offers sacrifices from our altars.
Day by day, at every Mass, he returns from these eternal, boundless, spaceless, timeless realms, hides his body, soul, and Divinity under forms of bread and wine, is sacrificed in Eucharistic offering, in Communion feeds our souls, and then enters again his eternal sanctuary. Thus every Mass is like a renewal of the Incarnation and an entry into heaven. Communion is an image of God made man in the Person of the Divine Son united to each soul who receives him, and the feasts of the Incarnation and birth of Christ intermingle with feasts of the Eucharist in all Church Liturgies.
Every year the Hebrews held a most holy and mysterious Temple rite, foretelling Christ's death and his entry into heaven at his Ascension and after every Mass. God himself told Moses how to establish the ceremonies of this the Day of Atonement, so celebrated in Jewish writings. But only thirty-four verses are all we have in the Old Testament relating to this great day. 24 The ancient world has vanished, the priesthood ceased centuries ago, and not a stone remains on a stone of the Temple. But fortunately, a work hardly ever seen by Christian eye has most minute details of this the most striking of all the Temple ceremonies of the time of Christ.
One Part of the Babylonian Talmud Tract Yomah: " Day of Atonement," is filled with descriptions of the rites and ceremonies of that day. We will first see the orgin of this remarkable product of the Jewish people, which they revere next after the Old Testament. Then we will lay before our readers details picked out here and there from this work, at the same time giving explanations of the text as we go along. This is the first time, we think, that this work has been given to Christian readers in this form. For the Talmud has been looked on as a vile product of the Jewish mind, written to deceive, and perhaps prejudice has prevented its study. We will first give the origin and history of the Talmud.
The year 3,428 of Adam's creation, 128 of Rome's foundation, 626 before Christ, reigned in Babylon Nabuchonosor II. " Nebo protects the landmarks." Nebo comes from nibach " to teach," " to prophesy." Because of their idolatry, God allowed this monarch's armies to capture Jerusalem, destroy Solomon's Temple, carry away the Hebrews as slaves and scatter them over the plains of Babylonia.
There they began to better study their religion. With the Torah " The written Law," in Moses' five books, they claimed, came down also the Talmud " The Teachings "; that these traditions were as old as Holy Writ; that they were equally revealed to Moses with the law, and that they are the explanations and the supplement of the written word and Temple ceremonial.
The New Testament mentions these traditions thirteen times. 25 The Scribes and Pharisees had carried them to excess, which Christ reproved. In their foundations these Talmud traditions are correct. Many traditions come down to us from apostolic days, always existed, came from no Pope or counsel, and found everywhere. Such universal customs or teachings give us an idea of the Talmudic Jewish traditions, when stripped of fanciful, or distorted exaggerations. 26

The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem, by David Roberts (1850).

In the year A. D. 70, the Jews rebelled against the Romans. Vespasian marched down from the north to invade Judea. Elected emperor by the army, his son Titus became commander, took Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple, carried the captive Jews to Rome, where they worked building the Colosseum. A few years later the Jews again rebelled, and Hadrian captured the sacred city, left it a heap of stones and forbade a Jew to enter the sacred city under pain of death, except once a year to celebrate the Passover.
On the site of an old cemetery, Herod Agrippa had founded Tiberias, nestling on the shores of the Lake of Galilee. The leading Jews made this their religious capital, where they founded a flourishing college, to which wealthy Jews from all the nations sent their sons to be educated, especially if they were destined to become rabbis or preachers of the synagogue.
None but a Jew would be received; the Gentiles were, they held, doomed to hell because they did not know the Torah or written law, and the Talmud or traditional Law, which were only for the Jew. St. Jerome tells us he could not find a Jew in Jerusalem or Bethlehem who dared teach him Hebrew, and he went down to Tiberias, where he says " his teacher feared for his life like another Nicodemus."
In the second century after Christ, the famous Jehudah Hansi, heir of a wealthy family, and honored as a patriarch, was president of this college. He began to write the traditions in the year 150 after Christ 27 which they claimed could be traced back as far as Josaphat, 28 David's recorder, and which they contend God had given to Moses with the written word.
These writings of Jehudah form the Mishna " Study," the first part of the Talmud. His successors at the Tiberias school wrote the part called the Gemara " Explanation " or " Commentary," on these traditions given in each Mishna. Later learned Jewish sages added further explanations, and opinions of different schools of thought which flourished before the destruction of the Temple under Titus, were added. In later ages still other opinions were incorporated till the work becoming unwieldy, a decree of the Sanhedrin forbade any other additions. This is what is now called the Jerusalem Talmud.
In the year B. C. 490, the great Persian king issued the decree that the Jews could return and rebuild their city and Temple. But many Hebrews engaged in trade remained in Babylonia, and at the time of Christ numerous Hebrew colonies there flourished. These also had their traditions coming down, as they held, from Moses. They also began to write them down in the same form as the learned rabbis of Tiberias. Their labors come down to us under the name of the Babylonian Talmud.
The Talmuds, most peculiar products of an age when Christ walked the earth, throw a bright light on the Old Testament, Hebrew customs, Temple ceremonial, public and private prayers, and show the Jew of that epoch in his religious belief and practice.
Living in Palestine before the Babylonian Captivity, the Hebrew kept himself separated from all nations, for he was of the chosen race, of whom the Messiah was to be born. Of brightest mind, glorying in being a son of Abraham, he kept secret from pagans his religion, and it was almost impossible to penetrate the secrecy of his belief and practice. Religious right thinking and living, faith and morals, were only for the Jew. All Gentiles were condemned to hell, because of their ignorance of the Law or Torah and of the Talmud, and they would not teach the Gentiles, for the Law was for the Jews—this was the prevailing idea of the Scribe and Pharisee in the days of Christ.
Mutual suspicions caused the persecutions of the middle ages, the Jew was prescribed in every Christian country, the Hebrew mind became exceedingly acute because of adversity and poverty. But amid all their miseries they held with a death-grasp to their religion— perhaps there is a Providence in this, for they show that the Old Testament is true.

1 Luke ii, 14.

2 S. Augustine Sermo, Ixxi. de Verb ; Mach. xii. n, xix.

3 Shemoth, R. 2. Ed. Warsh. 7 b. 12, etc.

4 Gen. xvii. 22.

5 Gen. xxviii.13.

6 Gen. xxxv. 13.

7 Exod. iii. 1-6.

8 Exod. xvi 7-10.

9 Exod. xvii. 16.

10 Exod. xviii. 5.

11 Exod. xx.

12 Matt, xxviii. 19.

13 Exod. xiii. 14.

14 Exod. xxiv. 10.

15 Exod. xxix. 43.

16 Exod. xxxiii. 18, 22, 33.

17 xi. 32--36.

18 Levit. ix. 4.

19 Ibidem.

20 Iibidem 23,

21 Yaqara, Numb. x. 36.

22 Numb. xiv. 8

23 Numb. xiv. 14-42.

24 Levit xvi

25 Matt. xv. 2, 3, 6 ; Mark vii. 3, 5, 8, 9, 13 ; Acts vi. 14 ; Gal. i. 14 ; Col. ii. 8, II. Thes. ii. 14 ; I. Pet. 18.

26 See Geikie, Life of Christ, u. 193, etc.

27 Zanolini, De Fide Jud. Cap. 1.

28 II. Kings, viii. 16, 20-24; III. Kings iv. 3 ; I. Par. 1. 18-15.