11.- PALM SUNDAY
Time's Telescope
For 1824;
or, A Complete Guide to the Almanack:
Containing an Explanation of Saints' Days and Holidays;
With Illustrations of British History and Antiquities, Notices of Obsolete Rites and Customs, Scetches of Comparative Chronology, and Contemporary Biography.
Astronomical Occurrences in Every Month; Comprising Remakrs on the Phenomena of the Celestial Bodies, with Reflections on the Starry Heavens: and
The Naturalist's Diary; Explaining the Various Appearances in the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms.
To which are prefixed outlines of historical and physical Geography; and An Indtroductory Poem on Flowers.
By Bernard Barton.
Published annyally.
London: Printed for Sherwood, Jones, and Co.
Paternoster Row.
1824
In the missals, this day is denominated Dominica in ramis Palmarum, or Palm Sunday, and was so called from the palm branches and green boughs formerly distributed on that day, in commemoration of our Lord's riding to Jerusalem. The ceremonies observed at Rome on this day are fully described in T.T. for 1822, pp. 69-71; see also T.T. for 1821, p. 96, for a custom in Lincolnshire; and T.T. for 1822, p. 68, for the usual observance of this day in Yorkshire. A description of the ceremonies observed by the Latin Church at Jerusalem on this day, may be seen in our last volume, p. 62.
An account of Palm Sunday in Spain, we extract from Doblado's interesting 'Letters:'-
Early on Palm Sunday (he observes), the melancholy sound of the Passion - bell of the Cathedral of Seville announces the beginning of the solemnities for which the fast of Lent is intended to prepare the mind. This bell is one ofthe largest which are made to revolve upon pivots. It is moved by means of two long ropes, which, by swinging the bell into a circular motion, are twined, gently at first, round the massive arms of a cross, of which the bell forms the foot, and the head its counterpoise. Six men then draw back the ropes till the enormous machine conceives a sufficient impetus to coil them in an opposite direction; and thus alternately, as long as ringing is required. To give this bell a tone appropriate to the sombre character of the season, it has been cast with several large holes disposed in a circle round the top-a contrivance which, without diminishing the vibration of the metal, prevents the distinct formation of any musical note, and converts the sound into a dismal clangour.
The chapter, consisting of about eighty resident members, in their choral robes of black silk, with long trains and hoods, preceded by the inferior ministers, by thirty clergymen, in surplices, whose deep bass voices perform the plain or Ambrosian chaunt, and by the band of wind instruments and singers, who execute the more artificial strains of modern or counterpoint music, move in a long procession round the farthest aisles, each holding a branch of the oriental or date palm, which, overtopping the heads of the assembled multitude, nod gracefully, and bend into elegant curves at every step of the bearers. For this purpose, a number of palm trees are kept with their branches tied up together, that by the want of light the more tender shoots may preserve a delicate yellow tinge. The ceremony of blessing these branches is solemnly performed by the officiating priest previously to the procession, after which they are sent by the clergy to their friends, who tie them to the iron bars of the balconies, to be, as they believe, a protection against lightning.
At the long church service for this day, the organ is silent, the voices being supported by hautboys and bassoons. All the altars are covered with purple or grey curtains. The holy vestments, during this week, are of the first-mentioned colour, except on Friday, when it is changed for black. The four accounts of our Saviour's passion appointed as gospels for this day, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, are dramatised in the following manner. Outside of the gilt iron railing which incloses the presbytery, are two large pulpits of the same materials, from one of which, at the daily high mass, the subdeacon chaunts the epistle, as the deacon does the gospel from the other. A moveable platform with a desk is placed between the pulpits on the Passion days; and three priests or deacons, in albes-the white vestment, over which the dalmatic is worn by the latter, and the casulla by the former- appear on these elevated posts, at the time when the gospel should be said. These officiating ministers are chosen among the singers in holy orders, one a bass, another a tenor, and the third a counter-tenor. The tenor chaunts the narrative without changing from the key note, and makes a pause whenever he comes to the words of the interlocutors mentioned by the Evangelist. In those passages the words of our Saviour are sung by the bass, in a solemn strain. The counter-tenor, in a more florid style, personates the inferior characters, such as Peter, the Maid, and Pontius Pilate. The cries of the priests and the multitude are represented by the band of musicians within the choir.
14.-WEDNESDAY IN PASSION WEEK.
Don Leucadio Doblado gives the following account of the celebration of this day at Seville.- 'The mass begins within a white veil which conceals the officiating priest and ministers, and the service proceeds in this manner till the words "the veil of the temple was rent in twain" are chaunted. At this moment the veil disappears, as if by enchantment, and the ears of the congregation are stunned with the noise of concealed fire works, which are meant to imitate an earthquake.
'The evening service named Tinieblas (darkness), is performed this day after sunset. The cathedral, on this occasion, exhibits the most solemn and impressive aspect. The high altar, concealed behind dark grey curtains which fall from the height of the cornices, is dimly lighted by six yellow wax candles, while the gloom of the whole temple is broken in large masses by wax torches, fixed one on each pillar of the centre aisle, about one-third of its length from the ground. An elegant candlestick of brass, from fifteen to twenty feet high, is placed, this and the following evening, between the choir and the altar, holding thirteen candles, twelve of yellow, and one of bleached wax, distributed on the two sides of the triangle which terminates the machine. Each candle stands by a brass figure of one ofthe apostles. The white candle occupying the apex is allotted to the Virgin Mary. At the conclusion of each of the twelve psalms appointed for the service, one of the yellow candles is extinguished, till, the white taper burning alone, it is taken down and concealed behind the altar. Immediately after the ceremony, the Miserere, as the fiftieth Psalm is called, set every other year to a new strain of music, is sung in a grand style. This performance lasts neither more nor less than one hour. At the conclusion of the last verse the clergy break up abruptly without the usual blessing, making a thundering noise by clapping their moveable seats against the frame of the stalls, or knocking their ponderous breviaries against the boards, as the Rubric directs.'
15. MAUNDY THURSDAY.
This day is called, in Latin, dies Mandati, the day of the command, being the day on which our Lord washed the feet of his disciples, as recorded in the second lesson. This practice was long kept up in the monasteries. After the ceremony, liberal donations were made to the poor, of clothing and of silver money; and refreshment was given them to mitigate the severity of the fast. A relic of this custom is still preserved in the donations dispensed at St. James's on this day.- See T.T. for 1821, pp. 96-98. The modern ceremonies at Rome are described in T.T. for 1822, pp. 91-94.
The very interesting account of the Catholic ceremonies and ordinances at Seville is thus continued by Doblado, in his description of those which usually take place on this day. The ceremonies of the high mass (the only one which is publicly performed on this and the next day) being especially intended as a remembrance of the last supper, are, very appropriately, of a mixed character - a splendid commemoration which leads the mind from gratitude to sorrow. The service, as it proceeds, rapidly assumes the deepest hues of melancholy. The bells, which were joining in one joyous peal from every steeple, cease at once, producing a peculiar heavy stilness, which none can conceive but those who have lived in a populous Spanish town long enough to lose the conscious sense of that perpetual tinkling which agitates the ear during the day and great part of the night.
'A host, consecrated at the mass, is carried with great solemnity to a temporary structure, called the Monument, erected in every church with more or less splendour, according to the wealth of the establishment. There it is deposited in a silver urn, generally shaped like a sepulchre, the key of which, hanging from a gold chain, is committed by the priest to the care of one of the most respectable inhabitants of the parish, who wears it round his neck as a badge of honour till the next morning. The key of the Cathedral Monument is entrusted to the archbishop, if present, or to the dean in his absence.
'The striking effect ofthe last mentioned structure is not easily conceived. It fills up the space between four arches of the nave, rising in five bodies to the roof of the temple. The columns of the two lower tiers, which, like the rest of the monument, imitate white marble filletted with gold, are hollow, allowing the numerous attendants, who take care of the lights that cover it from the ground to the very top, to do their duty during four and twenty hours, without any disturbance or unseemly bustle. More than three thousand pounds of wax, besides one hundred and sixty silver lamps, are employed in the illumination.
'The gold casket set with jewels, which contains the host, lies deposited in an elegant temple of massive silver, weighing five hundred and ten marks which is seen through a blaze of light on the pediment of the monument. Two members of the chapter in their choral robes, and six inferior priests in surplices, attend on their knees before the shrine, till they are relieved by an equal number of the same classes at the end of every hour. This act of adoration is performed, without interruption, from the moment of depositing the host in the casket till that of taking it out the next morning. The cathedral, as well as many others of the wealthiest churches, are kept open and illuminated the whole night.
'One of the public sights of the town, on this day, is the splendid cold dinner which the archbishop gives to twelve paupers, in commemoration of the Apostles. The dinner is to be seen laid out on tables filling up two large rooms in the palace. The twelve guests are completely clothed at the expense of their host; and having partaken of a more homely dinner in the kitchen, they are furnished with large baskets to take away the splendid commons allotted to each in separate dishes, which they sell to the gourmands of the town. Each, besides, is allowed to dispose of his napkin, curiously made up into the figure of some bird or quadruped, which people buy both as ornaments to their china cupboards, and as specimens of the perfection to which some of the poorer nuns carry the art of plaiting.
'At two in the afternoon, the archbishop, attended by his chapter, repairs to the Cathedral, where he performs the ceremony, which, from the notion of its being literally enjoined by our Saviour, is called the Mandatum. The twelve paupers are seated on a platform erected before the high altar, and the prelate, stripped of his silk robes, and kneeling successively before each, washes their feet in a large silver bason.
'About this time the processions, known by the name of Cofradías (Confraternities), begin to move out of the different churches to which they are at tached. The head of the police appoints the hour
when each of these pageants is to appear in the square of the Town Hall, and the Audiencia or Court of Justice. From thence their route to the Cathedral, and out of it, to a certain point, is the same for all. These streets are lined by two rows of spectators of the lower classes, the windows being occupied by those of a higher rank. An order is previously published by the town-crier, directing the inhabitants to decorate their windows, which they do by hanging out the showy silk and chintz counterpanes of their beds. As to the processions themselves, except one which has the privilege of parading the town in the dead of night, they have little to attract the eye or affect the imagination. Their chief object is to convey groups of figures, as large as life, representing different scenes of our Saviour's passion.
'There is something remarkable in the established and characteristic marks of some figures. The Jews are distinguished by long aquiline noses. Saint Peter is completely bald. The dress of the Apostle John is green, and that of Judas Iscariot yellow; and so intimately associated is this circumstance with the idea of the traitor, that it has brought that colour into universal discredit. It is probably from this circumstance (though yellow may have been allotted to Judas from some more antient prejudice) that the Inquisition has adopted it for the Sanbeníto, or coat of infamy, which persons convicted of heresy are compelled to wear. The red hair of Judas, like Peter's baldness, seems to be agreed upon by all the painters and sculptors of Europe. Judas's hair is a usual name in Spain; and a similar appellation, it should seem, was used in England in Shakspeare's time. "His hair," says Rosalind, in As you Like it, "is of the dissembling colour:" to which Celia answers-"Something browner than Judas's."
'The midnight procession derives considerable effect from the stilness of the hour, and the dress of the attendants on the sacred image. None are admitted to this religious act but the members of that fraternity; generally young men of fashion. They all appear in a black tunic, with a broad belt so contrived as to give the idea of a long rope tied tight round the body; a method of penance commonly practised in former times. The face is covered with a long black veil, falling from a sugar-loaf cap three feet high. Thus arrayed, the nominal penitents advance, with silent and measured steps, in two lines, dragging a train six feet long, and holding aloft a wax candle of twelve pounds, which they rest upon the hip -bone, holding it obliquely towards the vacant space between them. The veils, being of the same stuff with the cap and tunic, would absolutely impede the sight but for two small holes through which the eyes are seen to gleam, adding no small effect to the dismal appearance of such strange figures. The pleasure of appearing in a disguise, in a country where masquerades are not tolerated by the Government, is a great inducement to the young men for subscribing to this religious association. The disguise, it is true, does not in the least relax the rules of strict decorum which the ceremony requires; yet the mock penitents think themselves repaid for the fatigue and trouble of the night by the fresh impression which they expect to make on the already won hearts of their mistresses, who, by preconcerted signals, are enabled to distinguish their lovers, in spite of the veils and the uniformity of the dresses.
'It is scarcely forty years since the disgusting exhibition of people streaming in their own blood was discontinued by an order of the Government. These penitents were generally from among the most debauched and abandoned of the lower classes. They appeared in white linen petticoats, pointed white caps and veils, and a jacket of the same colour, which exposed the naked shoulders to view. Having, previously to their joining the procession, been scarified on the back, they beat themselves with a cat-o'-nine-tails, making the blood run down to the skirts of their garment. It may be easily conceived that religion had no share in these voluntary inflictions. There was a notion afloat that this act of penance had an excellent effect on the constitution; while the vanity of the penitents was not a little concerned in the applause which the most bloody flagellation obtained from the vulgar.'- (Doblado's Letters, p. 285.)
16. GOOD FRIDAY.
This day commemorates the sufferings of Christ, as a propitiation for our sins. Holy Friday, or the Friday in Holy Week, was its more antient and general appellation; the name Good Friday is peculiar to the English church. It was observed as a day of extraordinary devotion. Buns, with crosses upon them, are usually eaten in London and some other places on this day, at breakfast. A very curious account of the modern ceremonies at Rome, with a particular description of the Illuminated Cross of St. Peter's, may be seen in T.T. for 1822, pp. 94-99. A description of the penance still performed at Rome on this day, and of the celebration of Good Friday at Jerusalem in 1820, will be found in our last volume, pp. 66-68.
Saunderson, in his 'Antiquities of Durham,' has the following notice of an antient custom observed in the Cathedral on this day.
'On the morning of Good Friday, on the north side of the quire, nigh unto the high altar was set up a Sepulchre, covered with red velvet, embroidered with gold. It contained an image of Christ, with the cross in his hand, to represent the Resurrection, the Host being inclosed in crystal upon the breast ofthe figure. Upon Easter-Day it was taken out of the sepulchre, paraded in state and procession, &c.'
The ceremonies of the Holy Week in Spain, increasing in interest from day to day, are completed on Good Friday; and the showy attractions of the different performances in the Cathedral, give place to
the more solemn ceremony of the tres horas, and the grotesque Passion Sermons of the suburbs and neighbourhood. The accurate and very pleasing author, whom we have so often quoted, affords us the following interesting account of these various observances. The crowds of people who spent the evening and part of the night of Thursday in visiting the numerous churches where the host is entombed, are still seen, though greatly thinned, performing this religious ceremony till the beginning of service at nine. This is, perhaps, the most impressive of any used by the Church of Rome. The altars, which, at the end of mass on Thursday, were publicly and solemnly stripped of their cloths and rich table-hangings by the hands of the priest, appear in the same state of distressed negligence. No musical sound is heard, except the deep-toned voices of the psalm or plain chaunt singers. After a few preparatory prayers, and the dramatized history of the Passion, already described, the officiating priest (the archbishop at the cathedral), in a plain albe or white tunic, takes up a wooden cross six or seven feet high, which, like all other crosses, has forthe last two weeks of Lent been covered with a purple veil, and standing towards the people, before the middle of the altar, gradually uncovers the sacred emblem, which both the clergy and laity worship upon their knees. The prelate is then unshod by the assistant ministers, and taking the cross upon his right shoulder, as our Saviour is represented by painters on his way to Calvary, he walks alone from the altar to the entrance of the presbytery or chancel, and lays his burthen upon two cushions. After this, he moves back some steps, and approaching the cross with three prostrations, kisses it, and drops an oblation of a piece of silver into a silver dish.. The whole chapter, having gone through the same ceremony, form themselves in two lines, and repair to the monument, from whence the officiating priest conveys the deposited host to the altar, where he communicates upon it without consecrating any wine. Here the service terminates abruptly; all candles and lamps are extinguished; and the tabernacle, which throughout the year contains the sacred wafers, being left open, every object bespeaks the desolate and widowed state of the church from the death of the Saviour to his resurrection.
'The ceremonies of Good Friday being short and performed at an early hour, both the gay and the devout would be at a loss howto spend the remainder of the day, but for the grotesque Passion Sermons of the suburbs and neighbouring villages, and the more solemn performance known by the name of Tres Horas-three hours.
'The practice of continuing in meditation from twelve to three o'clock of this day- the time which our Saviour is supposed to have hung on the cross - was introduced by the Spanish Jesuits, and partakes of the impressive character which the members of that order had the art to impart to the religious practices by which they cherished the devotional spirit of the people. The church where the three hours are kept is generally hung in black, and made impervious to daylight. A large crucifix is seen on the high altar, under a black canopy, with six unbleached wax candles, which cast a sombre glimmering on the rest of the church. The females of all ranks occupy, as usual, the centre of the nave, sitting or kneeling on the matted ground, and adding to the dismal appearance of the scene by the colour of their veils and dresses.
Just as the clock strikes, twelve, a priest in his cloak and cassock ascends the pulpit, and delivers a preparatory address of his own composition. He then reads the printed Meditations on the Seven Words, or Sentences spoken by Jesus on the cross, allotting to each such a portion of time, as that, with the interludes of music which follow each of the readings, the whole may not exceed three hours. The music is generally good and appropriate, and, if a sufficient band can be collected, well repays to an amateur the inconvenience of a crowded church, where, from the want of seats, the male part of the congregation are obliged either to stand or kneel. It is, in fact, one of the best works of Haydn, composed, a short time ago, for some gentlemen of Cadiz, who showed both their taste and liberality in thus procuring this master - piece of harmony for the use of their country. It has been lately published in Germany, under the title of the "Sette Parole."
'Every part of the performance is so managed that the clock strikes three about the end of the meditation on the words It is finished. - The picture of the expiring Saviour, powerfully drawn by the original writer of the Tres Horas, can hardly fail to strike the imagination when listened to under the influence of such music and scenery; and when, at the first stroke of the clock, the priest rises from his seat, and, in a loud and impassioned voice, announces the consummation of the awful and mysterious sacrifice, on whose painful and bloody progress, the mind has been dwelling so long, few hearts can repel the impression, and still fewer eyes can conceal it. Tears bathe every cheek, and sobs heave every female bosom. After a parting address from the pulpit, the ceremony concludes with a piece of music, where the powers ofthe great composer are magnificently displayed in the imitation of the disorder and agitation of nature which the Evangelists relate.
'The Passion Sermons for the populace might be taken for a parody of the Three Hours. They are generally delivered in the open air, by friars of the Mendicant Orders, in those parts of the city and suburbs which are chiefly, if not exclusively, inhabited by the lower classes.
'A moveable pulpit is placed before the church door, from which a friar, possessed of a stentorian voice, delivers an improved history of the Passion, such as was revealed to Saint Bridget, a Franciscan nun, who, from the dictation of the Virgin Mary, has left us a most minute and circumstantial account of the life and death of Christ and his mother. This yearly narrative, however, would have lost most of its interest but for the scenic illustrations which keep up the expectation and rivet the attention of the audience. It was formerly the custom to introduce a living Saint Peter- a character which belonged by a natural and inalienable right to the baldest head in the village who acted the Apostle's denial, swearing by Christ he did not know the man. This edifying part ofthe performance is omitted at Castilleja; though a practised performer crows with such a shrill and natural note as must be answered with a challenge by every cock of spirit in the neighbourhood. The flourish of a trumpet announces,in the sequel, the publication of the sentence passed by the Roman governor; and the town-crier delivers it with legal precision in the manner it is practised in Spain before an execution. Hardly has the last word been uttered, when the preacher,in a frantic passion, gives the crier the lie direct, cursing the tongue that has uttered such blasphemies. He then invites an angel to contradict both Pilate and the Jews, when, obedient to the orator's desire, a boy gaudily dressed, and furnished with a pair of gilt pasteboard wings, appears at a window, and proclaims the true verdict of Heaven. Sometimes, in the course of the preacher's narrative, an image of the Virgin Mary is made to meet that of Christ, on his way to Calvary, both taking an affectionate leave in the street. The appearance, however, of the Virgin bearing a handkerchief to collect a sum for her son's burial is never omitted, both because it melts the whole female audience into tears, and because it produces a good collection for the convent. The whole is closed by the Descendimiento, or unnailing a crucifix as large as life from the cross, an operation performed by two friars, who, in the character of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, are seen with ladders and carpenters ' tools letting down the jointed figure to be placed on a bier, and carried into the church in the form of a funeral.'
17.-EASTER EVE.
The resurrection is celebrated this morning by the Spanish Catholics, with an anticipation of nearly four and twenty hours, yet fasting is continued till midnight, the beginning of Sunday: the practice is said to be of high antiquity, although no reason is assigned for it. The celebration of this day at Seville is thus described by that accurate observer Don Leucadio Doblado. The service in the Cathedral of Seville begins this morning without either the sound of bells or of musical instruments. The Paschal Candle is seen by the north side of the altar. It is, in fact, a pillar of wax, nine yards in height, and thick in proportion, standing on a regular marble pedestal. It weighs eighty arrobas, or two thousand pounds, of twelve ounces. This candle is cast and painted new every year, the old one being broken into pieces on the Saturday preceding Whitsunday, the day when part of it is used for the consecration of the baptismal font. The sacred torch is lighted with the new fire, which this morning the priest strikes out of a flint, and it burns during service till Ascension day. A chorister in his surplice climbs up a gilt-iron rod, furnished with steps like a flag-staff, and having the top railed in, so as to admit of a seat on a level with the end of the candle. From this crow's nest, the young man lights up and trims the wax pillar, drawing off the melted wax with a large iron ladle.
'High mass begins this day behind the great veil, which for the two last weeks in Lent covers the altar. After some preparatory prayers, the priest strikes up the hymn Gloria in excelsis Deo. At this moment the veil flies off, the explosion of fireworks in the upper galleries reverberates in a thousand echoes from the vaults of the church, and the four and twenty large bells of its tower awake, with their discordant though gladdening sounds, those of the one hundred and forty- six steeples which this religious town boasts of. A brisk firing of musketry, accompanied by the howling of the innumerable dogs, which, unclaimed by any master, live and multiply in the streets, adds strength and variety to this universal din. The firing is directed against several stuffed figures, not unlike Guy Fawkes of the fifth of November, which are seen hanging by the neck on a rope, extended across the least frequented streets. It is then that the pious rage of the people of Seville is vented against the arch-traitor Judas, whom they annually hang, shoot, draw and quarter in effigy.
'The church service ends in a procession about the aisles. The priest bears the host in his hands, visible through glass as a picture within a medallion. The sudden change from the gloomy appearance of the church and its ministers, to the simple and joyous character of this procession, the very name of Pasqua Florida, the flowery Passover, and, more than the name, the flowers themselves, which well - dressed children, mixed with the censer-bearers, scatter on the ground, crowd the mind and heart with the ideas, hopes, and feelings of renovated life, and give to this ceremony, even for those who disbelieve the personal presence of a Deity triumphant over death, a character of inexpressible tenderness.'- (Letters on Spain, p. 299.)
For an account of some singular practices at Rome on Easter - Eve, see T.T. for 1822, pp. 100-103: the ceremonies of the Greek church at Jerusalem on this eve are described in our last volume, p. 69.
18.-EASTER DAY.
Easter is styled by the fathers the highest of all festivals, the feast of feasts, the queen of festivals, and Dominica Gaudii, the joyous Sunday. Masters granted freedom to their slaves at this season, and valuable presents were made to the poor. A very singular custom formerly prevailed at Lostwithiel in Cornwall on this day: see T. T. for 1822, p. 103. Of the splendid ceremonies at Rome on Easter Sunday, a particular account is given in the same volume, pp. 104-107. The ceremonies of the Greek church at Jerusalem are noticed in T. T. for 1823, pp. 71-74; as is also the Russian celebration of Easter in p. 70 of the same volume.
Antiently, the first dish that was brought up to table on Easter-day was a red herring riding away on horseback; i. e. a herring ordered by the cook, something after the likeness of a man on horseback, set in acorn salad.- (Aubrey's MS.)
'The custom of eating a gammon of bacon at Easter (which is still kept up in many parts of England) was founded on this, viz. to show their abhorrence of Judaism at that solemn commemoration of our Lord's resurrection.'
19, 20.- EASTER MONDAY AND TUESDAY.
Every day in this week was formerly observed as a religious festival, sermons being preached, and the sacrament administered. In many places, servants were permitted to rest from their usual employments, that they might constantly attend public worship. During fifteen days, of which the paschal solemnity consisted, the courts of justice were shut, and all public games, shows, and amusements, were prohibited. It is unnecessary to observe that these practices have long ceased, and that the Easter week is usually devoted to relaxation and amusement.- An account of some curious customs on these days in different parts of England will be found in T. T. for 1822, p. 107: see also our last volume, p. 75.