DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61894#0217
Ch,V.
THROUGH ITzlLY.
187
levies, and of course will not wonder that the
Roman church, which glories in its adherence to
antiquity, should continue the same practice.
Besides, it is considered as more conformable to
the nature of the mysterious institution, and more
favorable to the indulgence of devotion, both
in the pries! and in the congregation, than the
most emphatic and solemn recitation. Impressed
with this idea, the Greeks have from time imme-
morial drawn curtains, and in the later ag-es
raised a screen before the altar, that conceals
the priest from public view, and environs him as
the High Priest of old when he entered the
Holy of Holies, with the awful solitude of the
sanctuary.*
The rites which I have described are pure and
holy ; they inspire sentiments of order and de-
cency ; they detach the mind from the ordinary
pursuits of life, and by raising it above its ordi-
nary level, they qualify it to appear with due hu-
mility and recollection before the Throne of the
Lamb,—the Mercy Seat of Jehovah!
The Roman Basilica excepting St. Peter’s,
* The laity at present lose nothing by this silence, as they
have the form of consecration, and indeed the whole service
translated in their prayer-books.
THROUGH ITzlLY.
187
levies, and of course will not wonder that the
Roman church, which glories in its adherence to
antiquity, should continue the same practice.
Besides, it is considered as more conformable to
the nature of the mysterious institution, and more
favorable to the indulgence of devotion, both
in the pries! and in the congregation, than the
most emphatic and solemn recitation. Impressed
with this idea, the Greeks have from time imme-
morial drawn curtains, and in the later ag-es
raised a screen before the altar, that conceals
the priest from public view, and environs him as
the High Priest of old when he entered the
Holy of Holies, with the awful solitude of the
sanctuary.*
The rites which I have described are pure and
holy ; they inspire sentiments of order and de-
cency ; they detach the mind from the ordinary
pursuits of life, and by raising it above its ordi-
nary level, they qualify it to appear with due hu-
mility and recollection before the Throne of the
Lamb,—the Mercy Seat of Jehovah!
The Roman Basilica excepting St. Peter’s,
* The laity at present lose nothing by this silence, as they
have the form of consecration, and indeed the whole service
translated in their prayer-books.