On opening the outer cover was found an order that the interior packet was not to be opened till a certain day and at a certain hour, and in the presence of the subaltern authorities, and a most severe injunction to keep even that operation secret till the moment of its execution. On the arrival of the day and hour appointed the packets were opened, as had been previously arranged, simultaneously; and then was found, in each, an order to take immediate possession of the houses of the Jesuits, to sequester their goods, and transmit, without delay of time, their persons to the nearest port, in which would be found vessels already waiting to receive them on board, and convey them into Italy. This was done, at the same instant, in all places for hundreds of leagues in extent, without the Jesuits, with all their cunning, having received a breath of information, or entertained a suspicion, as to the stroke impending over them; and, what is still more strange, without having given rise to the least symptom of complaint or disapprobation. On the contrary, the other religious orders, who had been offended by the haughty bearing of the Jesuits, and who beheld their opulence and preponderance with envy, celebrated their fall without restraint, and considered it as a triumph of the true religion over the dangerous novelties which these men had introduced.
From that period n.o.body cared for the Jesuits nor thought of them, and the rest of the reigns of Charles III. and Charles IV. pa.s.sed without a single voice being raised in their favour.
In 1817, Ferdinand VII., released from his captivity in France, and ruled entirely by the persecuting and fanatical party, not satisfied with having re-established the Inquisition, wished also to recall the Jesuits.
The Council of Castille, which he consulted, _pro forma_, on that business, showed itself favourable, moved by the able report of his fiscal, Gutierez de la Huerta, a man known for his Voltairean opinions, who was suspected of having received a large sum of money to defend, with energy, the cause of fanaticism and of intolerance. The few Jesuits who have outlived their expulsion, and who are scattered over some of the towns of Italy, are returning to the Peninsula in such small numbers, that they are scarcely enough to occupy the ancient establishment of San Isidro in Madrid. Their installation, which was announced as an epoch of triumph, disappointed the expectation of the court, and of their friends.
Those extraordinary beings, whose dress, customs, and even affected Italian accent, were opposed to the national habits and the ideas of the new generation, were beheld by the public with the most perfect indifference. It was said publicly that they were strangers, and that they despised their country; that they ate _maccaroni_ instead of _garbanzos_; {67} and people spread about innumerable other epigrams and satires against them, regardless of the government police, and even without fear of the inquisitors. But what most tended to destroy their reputation was the circ.u.mstance that none of them were in a condition to instruct youth, and that, in order to fill the professorships of their college, they were obliged to take their professors from the secular ranks, some of them notorious for their independent and anti-Roman-Catholic opinions. When they began to recruit novices, they were unable to find any decent men, or known family, who would submit their children to their rule; and their noviciate was consequently composed of only ninety young persons, and these drawn from the lowest cla.s.ses of society.
For the s.p.a.ce of seventeen years they maintained themselves in this precarious condition, without advancing one step in their popularity, and even without exhibiting any of the qualities which had given confidence to their rule in former times. Far from captivating the will of the people, they exasperated it to such a degree, that in 1834, after the death of the king, the people of Madrid, in one of those moments of madness and irritation so frequent after the scourge of the cholera, penetrated the establishment of those holy fathers, and inhumanly sacrificed them to their fury. Even to this day the mystery which covered that sanguinary catastrophe has never entirely been revealed.
One thing is certain, that in spite of the religious ideas of Spaniards, and of the superst.i.tious veneration with which they beheld a religious habit, the Jesuits were immolated without causing one murmur of fanaticism or one tear of compa.s.sion.
It is but a few years ago that the Spanish government had the inexpressible condescendence to allow a community of Jesuits to establish itself in the magnificent convent of Loyola, the country of their founder. The last revolution which happened in that country offered them an opportunity of putting in practice those absolute principles which have always governed their conduct. The government of Espartero, informed of their secret intrigues, by which they contrived to agitate the public mind in the Basque provinces in favour of Don Carlos, ordered them to be expelled to the Balearic Islands; but they, fearful perhaps of severer measures being adopted against them, and convinced of the general hatred in which they were held by the people, fled to France, from whence it is probable they will not attempt to recross the frontier.
Monachism, then, has entirely disappeared from Spain, where only two convents remain for the instruction of those who are destined for the priesthood in the Philippine Islands. These men live within the cloisters according to the ancient regime; but they are forbidden to appear in public in the costumes of their respective orders. The preservation of those two establishments was considered indispensable for the preparation of materials for the government of those remote possessions, where the Indians are accustomed to obey the priest, and look upon him with more respect than that shown to the civil authority, and where their influence is sufficient, according to general opinion, to put down that revolutionary spirit which has despoiled Spain of her splendid dominions in South America. All this, however plausible, may arise out of a mistaken policy. New political ideas and legislation, under const.i.tutional rule, have respected the convents of the nuns. One can scarcely conceive of this inconsistency on the part of governments which, under the name of liberty, have ruled Spain in these latter times.
If the abolition of the convents of friars had for its chief ground the uselessness of those who inhabited them, it must be admitted that infinitely more useless is the life of a nun, consecrated to perpetual idleness, and without further occupation than that of a.s.sisting in the choir and in devotional practices, to which duties she could equally resign herself in the bosom of her own family.
The religious communities of women have the same denominations as the convents of friars, and they call themselves Augustines, Franciscans, Benedictines, &c. The respective rules of their organization do not exact from them, in any case, more duties than those of a contemplative life; and, in reality, there are now but few of those convents of nuns whose inmates dedicate themselves to the task of giving to persons of their own s.e.x even the imperfect and limited education which, after all, forms no part of that useful knowledge required by modern civilization.
The Spanish nuns are, absolutely, some of the most insignificant of beings. There is nothing recorded of them either good or bad, and for many centuries we have no account of any Spanish nun distinguished for her talents, her writings, or even for her eminent virtues. In their conversation, they display a childish simplicity and an unwearied curiosity, together with an extraordinary deficiency of knowledge as it respects the fundamental truths of the Christian faith. The amus.e.m.e.nts with which they while away their secluded lives are reduced to those of making sweets (_dulces_), dressing images of saints, embroidering scapularies, {71a} and other such-like frivolities. A celebrated living poet has characterised them with great propriety and truth in the following epitaph:-
"Aqui yace Sor Belen, Que hizo almibares mui bien, Y paso la vida entera Vistiendo ninos de cera." {71b}
Except the convents of nuns of the mendicant orders, the greater part of them, in Spain, possessed, prior to the const.i.tutional regime, considerable inheritances. These, however, having been, by a decree of the Cortes, converted and sold as national property, all their means are reduced to a bare subsistence on a small pension which _ought_ now to be paid from the public treasury; but as that obligation has frequently been neglected in consequence of the repeated disturbances which have interrupted the peace of the monarchy, those unhappy women have often been overwhelmed with the greatest privations and misery. In such cases Christian charity has lent its succour, and all cla.s.ses of the state have contributed to their relief. The government, on different occasions, has prohibited the admission of novices to these convents of nuns, in order that death itself might, without violence, extinguish those inst.i.tutions, which are contrary to the ideas of the age. But this salutary provision has been imprudently eluded by the bishops, and recently modified by an article of the _concordat_ effected with the court of Rome a few years ago, and which is everywhere unpopular.
One of the great evils resulting from the continuance of these nuns in Spain is, that they occupy numerous edifices worthy of a better purpose, and generally in the best situations in populous cities. Only one convent of this cla.s.s deserves particular mention, on account of the great historical recollections connected with its existence, for the singularity of its organization, and for the pious object of its inst.i.tution. It is called the Convent _de las Huelgas_, and is situated at a short distance from Burgos.
This magnificent establishment, founded and enriched by ancient monarchs, maintained an hospital in which a great number of invalids were attended to with the greatest care. The abbess wore the mitre and _baculo_ like the bishops, and exercised both civil and criminal jurisdiction in the vast dominions belonging to the convent; she was called Senora de _horca y cuchillo_, {72} and was the chief of several ecclesiastical and secular officers. The sumptuous church of this convent contained within its walls the ashes of many of the kings and princes of ancient Spanish dynasties.
CHAPTER III.
CELIBACY AND MORALS.-Illicit relations formed by the clergy-Shameless avowal of their fruits-Ferocious character of love in the cloisters-Three flagrant cases-Murder of a young lady by her confessor, the Carmelite of San Lucar-His trial and sentence-Murder by a wife of her husband under the direction of her confessor, the Capuchine of Cuenca-His trial, imprisonment, and escape-Murder of a lady by the Agonizante of Madrid-His trial and execution-Scandalous occurrences in the Convent of the Basilios of Madrid-Forcible entry of the civil power-Murder of the abbot-Suppression of inquiry-Shameful profligacy of the Capuchines of Cascante and the nuns of a neighbouring convent-Mode of its discovery-Imprisonment of inmates of both convents-Removal of prisoners-Their mysterious escape-Exemplary performance of vows in some cases-Dangers of celibacy-Spanish women and their influence on society.
Religious celibacy has been justly censured, by true Christians, as opposed to the ends of creation, to the spirit of the gospel, and the good order of human society. If so severe a prohibition can scarcely be observed without great mortification and inconvenience by a few,-a very small number of men, endued with an apt.i.tude which places them above the ordinary laws of humanity,-what shall we say to the possibility of its exercise by men with no such fitness for the task,-men of a nation whose very climate is incessantly soliciting the expansion of the sensual faculties,-a nation of whose social organization frequent intercourse in all the affairs of life between the two s.e.xes is one of the most essential and necessary elements? We have already alluded to the state of concubinage in which the Spanish clergy were living prior to the reign of Isabella the Catholic. But we shall not be guilty of an injustice in admitting, that from that period until our own times a great number of the Spanish clergy, as well regular as secular, have borne the yoke with singular patience, and have, with exemplary self-denial, resigned themselves to the severe privation imposed upon them by that ordinance of their church. On the other hand, however, we cannot dissimulate the violent struggle between inclination and duty which they have had to sustain, and the immense difficulty of resisting a temptation which the frequent intercourse with the female portion of their charge has always offered to the clergy and friars in the discharge of their functions, especially when it is considered how prodigal nature has been to the women of the Peninsula in the bestowment of her richest personal attractions, and that great facilities have been given to the spiritual guides for the abuse of that _prestige_ conferred upon them by the habit of their order.
In large towns, the presence of the bishops, and the respect which a polished and select society inspired, were, for the most part, a check on the impure inclinations of the clergy, even when their own sense of virtue and religion was insufficient to lead them to a spontaneous compliance with their arduous but sacred duty. But in small towns where these barriers did not exist, the clergy and friars, it must be admitted, infringed, and continued grossly to infringe, frequently in a scandalous manner, the vow of celibacy which they had solemnly sworn to observe.
The priest of a rural parish, who was generally the most important personage of the whole population, had so frequent and such dangerous opportunities of forming relations of an illicit character with the weaker s.e.x, that he required a proportionate degree of sanct.i.ty, virtue, and prudence, to resist them. These relations, however, be it said to the shame of Spain, once formed, are not concealed, but are generally openly and unblushingly made known to the public. All the towns-people know very well the person who is the priest"s _querida_; {75} nay more, on many occasions they have recourse to her influence over the mind of their pastor; and even the fruits of these illicit relations are commonly known throughout the parish by the name of "the children of the priest!"
(_los hijos del cura_.)
Not many years ago, in a small town in Valencia, and on a Sunday, the parishioners a.s.sembled in the square according to custom, waiting till the bell should announce to them the hour of entering the church to hear ma.s.s; hour after hour pa.s.sed-no bell sounded-the people directed their steps towards the house of the priest"s _querida_, where they found that he had pa.s.sed the night in orgies of drunkenness and dissipation, and was, even then, in a state of intoxication.
It is worthy of note, as a remarkable circ.u.mstance, borne out by experience and by facts well authenticated, that the softer pa.s.sion of the mind is, generally, in the cloisters, one of a cruel and ferocious character, quite incompatible with its natural essence. The archives of the Spanish tribunals abound with criminal proceedings against friars, for murders committed on the persons of their unhappy victims or paramours. There are three celebrated instances of this kind,-one against the Carmelite of San Lucar, another against the Capuchine of Cuenca, and the third against the Agonizante of Madrid.
The first of these notorious delinquents was a man of middle age, robust, strong, and who, until the event now referred to, had not given occasion for the least suspicion as to his morality. A young lady, of extraordinary beauty, and held in great esteem by all the towns-people for the purity of her conduct and the sanct.i.ty of her life, used frequently to attend the confessional of this Carmelite friar. He conceived for her, secretly, a violent pa.s.sion, which he kept up and fostered through the constant interviews which his vocation afforded him in gaining the unlimited confidence of his penitent. But he contrived, with incredible command over himself, to suppress his feelings. He never uttered one word to the young creature which could indicate to her the risks she was incurring in seeking for his guidance and blessing. One day, however, she appeared before him on her knees at his confessional, and, with a simplicity and sweetness, such as innocence alone can command, informed him that, with the advice and consent of her parents, she was about to enter into the married state, and now came before him, as her spiritual father, to prepare herself for so important an ordinance by the previous sacraments of confession, absolution, and the holy communion. The friar heard this simple statement, received the child"s confession, little as that amounted to, p.r.o.nounced upon her the absolution, and administered to her the eucharist, without betraying the least perturbation or confusion in his countenance. On rising from her knees, as pure, as holy, and as fully and freely pardoned from sin as her fond and simple mind imagined it was in the power of her church and its minister to make her, the friar said he wished her to go to the vestibule (_porteria_ {77}), where he would give her some counsel relative to the new state into which she was about to enter. The unsuspecting girl blindly obeyed the voice which had often before directed her in the ways of virtue; she rose, went to the indicated spot, where already stood the friar, who, without uttering one word, drew from his bosom a poniard, and thrust it into the heart of his ill-fated victim, who fell mortally wounded at his feet. With the utmost coolness, the a.s.sa.s.sin retired to his cell, wiping the gory blade on the sleeve of his habit, as if he had been performing a most innocent deed. The alarm was immediately given.
The friar was arrested and thrown into prison. Proceedings were commenced, and supported by evidence which left no doubt as to the author of the crime, and the circ.u.mstances under which it was committed. The public prosecutor (fiscal) moved the court for the extreme penalty of death; but against this sentence arose a strenuous opposition on the part of the bishops, who pretended, in the first place, that the crime was one which ought only to be judged by the ecclesiastical authority, and in the second, that in no case could the penalty of death be inflicted on a priest. The contest was carried to the government for its decision, and the minister, Campomanes, a zealous defender of the sovereign"s rights, as well as a constant enemy to the usurpations of the clergy, confirmed the jurisdiction of the civil power which had heard the cause, and declared that the Spanish legislature offered no impediment to the execution of the last penalty of the law, if the judges found sufficient grounds to warrant them in awarding it. The judges did so find, and p.r.o.nounced sentence accordingly; but the king, Charles III., commuted the sentence to perpetual banishment and imprisonment. The a.s.sa.s.sin was conducted to Puerto Rico, where he ended his life, weighed down by remorse, though his hours were consecrated to penitence and prayer.
The history of the second case, viz., that of the Capuchine of Cuenca, bears a still more scandalous and atrocious character. The unhallowed pa.s.sions of this great criminal had their origin also in the confessional. The accomplice of his wickedness was, too, his "daughter of confession," (_hija de confesion_. {78}) She was the wife of a carpenter of respectable character, who, not content with the influence which the friar exercised over the conscience of his wife, wished that influence might also be brought to bear over the concerns of his own modest household, and therefore frequently invited the friar to his table. The latter and his _querida_, unknown to the confiding carpenter, pa.s.sed some years in a total abandonment of themselves to vicious courses. The friar began, subsequently, to imagine he observed a certain coldness or indifference on the part of his companion in guilt, and, attributing that change to a feeling of the woman"s self-disgust and reproach, he had recourse to the most diabolical means of searing her conscience, and making her still more the a.s.sociate of his depravity: indeed, it is not possible even to read without horror of the abominable artifices to which this monster of iniquity had recourse, although these were all minutely detailed in the written charges brought against him at his trial, and were deposed to by the woman herself, she being fully corroborated by the testimony of other witnesses secreted in a part of the house from whence his revolting conduct was both seen and heard. One step in the path of immorality and crime too often leads on to another.
The friar at length imagined that the woman"s indifference arose from some latent spark of affection which she still bore to her husband, and he resolved on sacrificing the life of the unfortunate man whose connubial rights seemed to stand in his way. Full of impatience for the consummation of the diabolical project when once he had determined on its execution, and having given to his victim a strong soporific, which threw him into a heavy sleep, he proceeds to urge on the faithless wife to the act of stabbing her unconscious husband. This tragedy she performed with one of the unhappy man"s own instruments of trade, under the guidance of the friar, who first ascertained and indicated to her, by the pulsations of the doomed man"s heart, the exact spot into which she was to give the instrument its fatal plunge.
The extreme docility of the woman in the hands of the friar, as disclosed in the evidence, can only be explained by the absolute control which he held over her conscience and her will; and, doubtless, even that control arrived at such a pitch, that, at last, the yoke became insupportable, if we may judge from the declarations which she made during the trial, for she appeared to take credit to herself for the revelations which she then made of all the disgusting particulars connected with the crimes of that detestable culprit.
Immediately after the perpetration of the crime, the civil power seized the persons of both the guilty parties, and began to prosecute judicial inquiries, with the greatest secrecy, under the clandestine supervision of the bishop. The proceedings were prolonged to an indefinite period, until the friar had been six years in prison, within which interval the woman died. In a popular commotion which occurred in Cuenca in consequence of an invasion by the French, all prisoners were set at liberty, and this execrable miscreant disappeared.
The _Agonizante_ of Madrid {81} (which is the third case) also murdered the companion of his vices, on her own bed too, in which they had pa.s.sed the preceding night. The true motive of this murder could never be satisfactorily ascertained. But the friar having been taken _in flagrante_, the judges could not hesitate for a moment in pa.s.sing sentence of death upon him. All the Spanish clergy had recourse to Ferdinand VII., and used their utmost influence to obtain a pardon, or at least a commutation of the sentence; but the king was inflexible, and the criminal died at the hands of the executioner, by the _garrote_, in the Plazuela de la Cebada, in Madrid.
Under the same reign of Ferdinand VII., the Convent of the Basilios of Madrid was the theatre of most scandalous and sanguinary atrocities, which had their origin in the relaxed manners of the inhabitants of that establishment. The friars were accustomed to introduce by night into the cloisters women of ill fame, and this custom had grown into something like a right or privilege, which the friars were resolved to maintain at all hazards, as it was afterwards proved; for the abbot, who until then had connived at these irregularities, wished all of a sudden to adopt a system of the utmost rigour and discipline, and to reduce the friars to the severe observances of their order. The convent was situated in the most populous part of Madrid. One night in the year 1832, loud screams were heard by the inhabitants of the opposite houses, and by people who were pa.s.sing in the streets. The civil authorities were called to the spot, and informed of the circ.u.mstances. They demanded entrance at the doors of the convent, but the friars refused to comply. Force became necessary. The gates were broken open, and the officers rushed in. All, however, that the public could ever learn of that nocturnal invasion was simply that the head of the unfortunate abbot was found in one cell, and his trunk in another. Ferdinand VII. did not on that occasion display the same degree of indignation and severity as he had done towards the Agonizante. He was at that moment in all the plenitude of his despotic power, and this mysterious affair of the convent of the Basilios was buried in the most profound oblivion.
These terms of harmony have always existed between the Spanish monarchs and the clergy, who have been accustomed to lend themselves, reciprocally, to the interests and persecutions of each other; and hence it is that a great number of crimes similar to that just referred to has never before been brought to light. Some of these, however, have been of such a nature and magnitude, and accompanied with such extraordinary circ.u.mstances, that, in spite of the efforts made by the clergy to conceal them, they have not altogether eluded the public curiosity. To this cla.s.s belongs the celebrated case of the Capuchines of Cascante, the recollection of which is traditionally preserved, and is still the subject of many a conversation, although to the present day we are not aware of any account that has been published on the subject of that shameful transaction. There still exist those who either were children in the time of Charles III., or who heard, from the lips of their fathers or grandfathers, all the particulars of that flagrant case, as well as of the extraordinary sensation which the discoveries then made produced on the public mind. The facts, which appear indisputable, are these:-Towards the middle of the reign of that sovereign, a prelate of one of the districts of the province of Arragon had good reason to believe that there existed intimate and criminal relations between the nuns and the friars of two convents situated in the same town. It had been observed that the number of foundlings had been for some time considerably on the increase, many of which were left, by persons unknown, in the houses of poor women, who received with them very considerable sums of money. At first, no suspicion whatever fell on the friars, who continued their offices of preaching, saying ma.s.s, confessing penitents, and giving ostentatious indications of their leading humble and ascetic lives. A diligent watch was inst.i.tuted by the authorities, but as far as exterior observances went, there was no reason to believe that any suspicious persons from without ever entered the convent of the nuns; it was therefore thought right to have an internal examination of that convent, a measure never had recourse to by the authorities but on occasions of the gravest kind.
The result of this step was, that in the interior of the edifice was discovered a door leading to a subterranean pa.s.sage or tunnel which crossed underneath the princ.i.p.al street of the town, and led direct to the convent of the Capuchines. All the inmates of both establishments were immediately taken prisoners; a judicial examination followed, when it was found that for many years the societies of these two convents had been living in a state of concubinage,-that even the outward doors of the two houses were seldom shut at night,-that the friars had free ingress to the convent of the nuns, where both s.e.xes gave themselves up to the most dissolute abandonment in drunkenness, gluttony, debauchery, and all sorts of carnal excesses. The authorities found more than they had expected, and began to repent the course they had taken. The trials, however, were pushed forward apparently with all usual formalities, but the judges were exclusively ecclesiastics, and everything was conducted with profound caution and secrecy. The prisoners were removed to several towns in Arragon, and kept apart from each other, in different cells; but in one single night they all disappeared, and were never afterwards heard of.
The only part which the civil authority took in this mysterious affair was to command the two convents to be pulled down, and salt to be sown on their foundations,-a ceremony which was accordingly performed, and one which the laws of Spain then required as to all houses which had been the scene of any atrocious offence.
It may hardly be necessary to reiterate what we have already more than once insisted on, as a well authenticated fact, that in the midst of all such irregularities and crimes as those detailed to show the unnatural and violent character of celibacy in the clergy, there always have been, in Spain, a large number of persons of both s.e.xes, who have been privileged to take up and bear this cross of privation with singular resignation and constancy. But those efforts on the side of virtue, that perpetual conflict with sentiments most grateful to the human heart,-and that separation of an entire cla.s.s, const.i.tuted in society self-acting, without any relation of endearment towards a general society,-may be considered as some of the grave inconveniences of Roman Catholicism, or rather as some of the most formidable obstacles which that faith opposes to the regular habits and to the peace of families.
The dangers of celibacy in the clergy are perhaps more serious and more inevitable in Spain than in any other country of Europe. The Spanish nation is, generally, renowned for its chivalrous sentiments, for the violence of the tender pa.s.sions, and for the influence which the fair s.e.x exercises, not only in all the domestic but in the civil and political relations of life. There is, in the society of the Spanish lady, a distinctive feature of character, called _franqueza_, which, above all others, gives her the greatest charm in the eyes of a foreigner. She is eminently sociable, and is the life and essence of Spanish society, in which she maintains an imperium over all tastes, affections, and operations. Besides this, it is the universal custom of Spaniards to be constantly going in and out of one another"s houses without ceremony or invitation; and this frequent contact with Spanish women, generally pretty, but almost always amiable and graceful, naturally produces intimate relations, and not unfrequently reciprocal attachments. One may conceive of such a thing as a cold, repulsive resistance to such attractions in the dreariness of a desert, or even within the four walls of a cell; but when such influences are not merely occasionally, but unceasingly brought to bear upon the senses, they too often leave impressions which, by a law of our sinful nature, are capable of reciprocating so as to produce their corresponding effects. Hence humanity, unless upheld and strengthened by a superior power, is too often insufficient and p.r.o.ne to give up the contest.
In Spain, the inferior cla.s.ses of society have always, until of late, submitted not only to the influence but to the authority of a priest or a friar; and it may well be conceived how easy it is to abuse this power in the intercourse which such functionaries have with ignorant and weak persons. In small towns, the inhabitants of which are devoted exclusively to labour, fathers and husbands pa.s.s the entire day in the fields, whilst the priest remains at home without a witness of his conduct or his actions. No domestic hearth is at liberty to exclude him.
He is authorised by custom to enter all houses, at all hours, where he is received and treated almost as a G.o.d. These are facts which can be vouched by all Spaniards, by whom they are spoken of without the least reserve. In laying them before the English public, we disavow all idea of calumniating an entire cla.s.s of Spanish society. Our object is to point out one of the causes which, in our opinion, enters into the number of those which, most effectively, have contributed to the decline of so sensible and generous a nation.
CHAPTER IV.
THE Ma.s.s-Its introduction but modern-The Spaniard Lainez opposed it-On what grounds-Description of the ceremony-Its religious and secular peculiarities-Sacerdotal vestments worn while celebrating it-High and Low Ma.s.s-Both performed in an unknown tongue-Consequent indifference of the congregation-Mercenary character of the ma.s.s-"_Ma.s.ses for the intention_"-Ma.s.ses for the dead-The solemn ma.s.s on Christmas eve, or _Noche buena_-Its profane accompaniments-Pa.s.sion week-Thursday-Good Friday-Adoration of the Cross-Processions-Anecdotes of Isabella II.-Brilliant rites and ceremonies on the day after Good Friday-Uproarious conduct of the faithful on that occasion-The ma.s.s as celebrated at Toledo-Judicial combat, or judgment of G.o.d.
The ma.s.s is the chief rite in the Roman Catholic worship. The obligation for all members of that church to hear it, on every Sunday and every feast-day, is imperative and absolutely indispensable; and the infraction of it is considered a mortal sin. Although the obligation does not extend to those days of labour on which ma.s.ses are said, yet pious and devout persons go to hear it, and this act is considered as eminently commendable and meritorious.
The introduction of the ma.s.s into Roman Catholic worship is of an epoch comparatively modern. In the first centuries of the church, the divine offices were but those of singing hymns and psalms, reading the Sacred Scriptures, and the sermon. These rites being terminated, a collection was made among believers for the relief of their poor; and the portion of these alms which was _sent_ to such of them as could not attend the place of worship was called _missa_, or _sent_, from the participle of the Latin verb _mittere_, to send.
Many have been the disputes between Roman Catholic writers themselves touching the epoch at which that part of the ceremonial called the ma.s.s, used in the present day, was first introduced. There is no doubt that many ages of the church pa.s.sed away before it was considered as a sacrifice; and even the Council of Trent were much divided in their opinions on this point, and the fathers vacillated much before they decided respecting it. The Spaniard Lainez, general of the order of Jesuits, was one of the most strenuous opposers of the novelty, and gave the same reasons for his opposition that all Protestant writers have alleged against it, viz., that the New Testament abolished the sacrifice, or rather, that ancient rites and ceremonies were superseded by the great sacrifice of the Saviour of the world himself on the cross, and that the idea itself involves the profanation that mortal and sinful man can sacrifice on his altars at his will the immaculate Lamb of G.o.d. These powerful objections were only met with excuses of convenience and utility. The Council wrestled with the reformed doctrines, and contended that its own system must necessarily be entirely different from that taught by the Reformers, not only in substance but even in its accidents.
Reform denied Transubstantiation, and therefore the Roman church thought it convenient to fortify that dogma by bringing it daily before the eyes of the people, and const.i.tuting it an essential part of their worship.
If, in a Protestant point of view, the ma.s.s is considered as an attack on the true spirit of Christianity, as upholding not only transubstantiation, but also the doctrine of intercession of saints, yet still, in the eyes of a good Roman Catholic, it is a rite full of elevated thoughts, devout prayers, and highly proper and religious ideas.
The first part of the ma.s.s, from the _Introite_ to the _Offertory_, is composed almost entirely of fragments of Scripture: such are, first, the _Introite_, generally taken from the Psalms; secondly, the _Collect_, which is the same as that in the Protestant Book of Common Prayer for Sundays; thirdly, the _Epistle_, which is part of a chapter out of the prophecies, or out of one of the epistles in the New Testament; fourthly, the _Gradual_, also taken from the Psalms; and fifthly, the _Gospel_, which, as its name indicates, is a portion of a chapter taken from some one of the four evangelists. The parts added by the popes are, first, the _Kyrie Eleyson_, taken from the rites of the Greek church; secondly, the _Gloria_, which is a magnificent outburst of the most elevated religious sentiments; and lastly, the _Symbol_ of the faith.
The _Offertory_, which is the second part of the ma.s.s, is one series of prayers, in which the _Canon_ is prepared, by offering up the host (which has to be consecrated in order to obtain upon it the blessing of the Most High), and by invoking the intercession of the saints, and enumerating all the graces and favours implored through the medium of the sacrifice.
The priest, in this part of the ceremony, washes his hands; he concludes with the _Preface_, an act of thanksgiving, in which are explained some of the mysteries of religion applicable to the day on which they are celebrated. Among others of this latter cla.s.s, the preface for the Trinity is admired for its conciseness, and the elegance and accuracy with which the composition explains that great mystery, in terms which cannot be objected to even by any Protestant church.
After the offertory follows the canon, which is the preparation for the consecration, and is also composed of prayers, in which a spirit of penitence, and the invocation of the divine protection in the solemn act about to be celebrated, form prominent features. The priest next takes the host, p.r.o.nounces over it the words of consecration, and elevates it, so that the people may see and adore it. He does the like with the chalice, and then prepares himself for the communion, which consists in his eating the host and drinking the wine in the cup. Twice afterwards he pours wine and water into the cup, and drinks off the contents, which are called the _ablutions_. He p.r.o.nounces other two prayers or thanksgivings, blesses the people, and dismisses them with the formula, "_Ite_, _missa est_," "Go, the ma.s.s is over." Still, however, he continues to read, on ordinary days, in the first chapter of St John"s Gospel, or, on other solemn days, from the other evangelists.
All this is accompanied with various ceremonies, genuflections, and changes of position. For example: the prayers are said in front of the altar; the introite, the collect, and the epistle, on the right; the gospel on the left; the priest, at certain parts of the ceremony, turning his back upon the altar, and his face towards the people. In celebrating the ma.s.s, it is required that the priest be dressed in certain vestments, which are, in no small degree, complicated. Some of these are white, and of linen. Others are of silk, and in colour varied according to the solemnity of the day. For example: on the feast-day of a martyr, the ornament is red; on the feasts of the Virgin, and on those on which are celebrated any of the mysteries of the life of the Saviour, it is white; in ma.s.ses for the souls of the departed, of which we shall treat hereafter, it is black; the violet colour is used in Advent and in Lent; the green on some particular Sundays. The cathedral of Seville alone enjoys the privilege, in all the Roman Catholic world, of using the sky-blue colour on the day whereon is celebrated the Conception of the Virgin.
On the altar at which ma.s.s is said, there ought to be, at least, a crucifix, two wax lights, and a slab (_ara_) of stone. The cloth which covers the chalice and the exterior adornment of the altar, called the _frontal_, must be of the same colour as the ornament of the day.