Altars generally made of wood till the time of tine. St. Austin 33 usually gives it the name of mensa Domini, the Lord's table; whence mensa Cypriani, in that author 34, signifies either the altar or the church erected in the place of St. Cyprian's martyrdom. It were easy to add a thousand other testimonies out of Athanasius, Synesius, Socrates, Sozomen, Paulinus, and the rest of that age, where the altar is called the holy table, to signify to us their notion of the Christian sacrifice and altar at once, that it was mystical and spiritual, and had no relation either to the bloody sacrifices of the Jews, or the more absurd idolatries of the Gentiles, but served only for the service of the eucharist and oblations of the people. 15. If any be desirous to know the matter and form of the ancient altars or tables, St. Austin will inform him that they were of wood, in his time, in the African churches. For, Constan- speaking of a great outrage committed by the Donatists against a Catholic bishop, whilst he stood ministering at the altar, he says 35, they beat him cruelly with clubs and such like weapons, and, at last, with the broken pieces of the timber of the altar.' This is further confirmed by the testimony of Optatus 36, who, objecting to the Donatists their sacrilegious abuse of the Catholic altars, says, they broke them in pieces in such places as would afford them plenty of wood to make new ones of; but in places where there was a scarcity of wood, they contented themselves with scraping or shaving them, by of pretended expiation.' Nay, the workmen who wrought way II. p. 660. Αἰδέσθητι τὴν μυστικὴν 33 Ep. 59. [al. 149.] ad Paulin. in this egregious service, had wine given them, heated with fires made of the fragments of the altars. Athanasius 37 has likewise occasion to tell us, their communion tables were of wood, in a parallel story upon the Arians, who, in one of their mad humours,' as he complains, went into a church, and took the throne and seats of the presbyters, and the table, which was of wood, and the veils, and whatever other combustible matter they could find, and carried them out and burned them.' So that there is no question to be made, but that, about this time, the altars were only tables of wood in Afric and Egypt, as these testimonies plainly imply. Bona 38 thinks they had stone altars before, even in times of persecution; but he offers no proof but his own opinion. Yet it is generally thought, by Hospinian 39 and other learned men, that they began to come in from the time of Constantine, together with the stateliness and magnificence of churches. The Pontifical speaks of silver altars dedicated by Constantine; and Gerson and others, alleged by Hospinian, make Pope Silvester, who lived in the time of Constantine, to be the author of a decree, that all altars should be of stone. But these authorities are of no weight, and the stories contradict one another. What is certain in the case is this, that about the time of Gregory Nyssen, altars in some places began to be of stone; for he, in his Discourse of Baptism 40, speaks of a stone altar. This altar,' says he, whereat we stand, is, by nature, only common stone, nothing different from other stones, whereof our walls are made and our pavements adorned: but after it is consecrated and dedicated to the service of God, 37 Ep. ad Solitar. Vit. Agent. t. I. p. 847. See before, s. 8. p. 84. n. 81. 38 Rer. Liturg. l. 1. c. 2. n. 1. (p. 222.) Primis ecclesiæ sæculis an lignea fuerint vel lapidea [altaria], non liquet. Utraque crediderim tempore persecutionis usitata, prout rerum locorumque opportunitas ferebat. 39 De Templ. Græcor. 1. 2. c. 6. p. 34. (p. 86. col. dextr. Nec tamen negare ausim, Constantino Magni tempore, cum magnificis templis etiam magnifica et splendida altaria multis in locis originem sumpsisse, eaque fixa et de lapidibus aut simili materia exstructa fuisse. 40 De Bapt. Christ. (t. 3. p. 369 ed.) Τὸ θυσιαστήριον τοῦτο τὸ ἅγιον, ᾧ παρεστήκαμεν, λίθος ἐστὶ κατὰ τὴν φύσιν κοινὸς, οὐδὲν διαφέρων τῶν ἄλλων πλακῶν, αἱ τοὺς τοίχους ἡμῶν οἰκοδομοῦσι, καὶ καλλωπίζουσι τὰ ἐδάφη. Επειδὰν δὲ καθιερώθη τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ θεραπείᾳ, καὶ τὴν εὐλογίαν ἐδέξατο' ἔστι τράπεζα ἁγία, θυσιαστήριον ἄχραντον, οὐκέτι παρὰ πάντων ψηλαφώμενον, ἀλλὰ μόνων τῶν ἱερέων, καὶ τούτων εὐλαβουμένων. But one altar an ciently in a church. it becomes an holy table, an immaculate altar, which may not be promiscuously touched by all, but only by the priests, in time of divine service.' In the next age, in France, we find a general decree made in the Council of Epone 41, anno 509, 'that no altars should be consecrated, but such as were made of stone only' and this seems to be the first public act of this nature, that we have upon authentic record in ancient history. And from the time of this change in the matter of them, the form or fashion of them changed likewise: for, whereas, before they were in the form of tables, they now began to be erected more like altars, either upon a single foot, or pillar, in the midst, or upon an edifice erected like a tomb, as if it were some monument of a martyr; as Bona 42 tells us there are some such now to be seen in the catacombs of Rome, and other places. 6 16. It will perhaps be something more material to remark here, that anciently there was never above one altar in a church. One bishop and one altar in a church,' is the known aphorism of Ignatius 43. And Eusebius is supposed upon this account to call the altar in the church of Paulinus, at Tyre, μovoyevès Ovolaorpiov, the single altar, as Habertus 44 truly 41 C. 26. (t. 4. p. 1579 c.) Altaria, nisi lapidea, infusione chrismatis [al. chrismatis unctione] non sacrentur. 42 Rer. Liturg. l. 1. c. 20. n. 1. (p. 223.) Erant autem olim diversæ altarium structuræ. Nam aliquando uni tantum columnæ mensa lapidea superjacebat, quale describitur, Lib. 20. Historiæ Miscellæ, altare Deiparæ Virginis in Blachernis; qualia sunt etiam hodie altaria quædam subterranea Romæ, in Ecclesia S. Cæciliæ. Aliquando quatuor columnis eadem mensa suffulta erat; et de his altaribus loquitur Synesius in fine Catastasis: Sacratas columnas amplectar, quæ puram et incontaminatam a terra mensam sustinent. Interdum duæ solæ columnæ ex utroque latere ipsum altare sustinebant: suntque adhuc Romæ in cryptis et cœmeteriis quædam hujusmodi altaria duabus vel pluribus innixa columnis, quibus Christiani, tempore persecutionis, ibidem latentes utebantur: denique nonnulla quadro superposita ædificio tumuli formam referebant, tanquam martyrum sepulchra: quæ proprie altaria, quasi altæ aræ, dicebantur. 43 Ep. ad Philadelph. n. 4.—Ep. ad Magnesian. n. 7. See before, s. 12. p. 91. nn. 14, 15. 44 Archierat. ad Rit. Var. Altar. observ. 1. ex Euseb. 1. 10. c. 4. (p. 661.) Unitas altaris ab unitatis Christi analogia: unde eleganter Ovσiaσryptov μovoyevès, vocat vetus ecclesiæ Tyriorum orator, in Panegyrico Encæniorum, qui Paulino Tyri episcopo dictus est; quem adeo magni fecit Eusebius Cæsariensis, ut eam Historiæ suæ libro 10. insereret...... Græci ab illo patres, tractatores et historici, unius in una ecclesia altaris meminerunt. S. Athanasius in Apologia ad Constantium, S. Gregor. Nazianz. Orat. 32. in Concilio Cpolitano habita. Synesius in Catastasi, Badiouμai mрŵτον ἐπὶ τὸν νεὼν τοῦ Θεοῦ, κυκλώσου μαι τὸ θυσιαστήριον, δάκρυσι βρέξω observes upon it, who ingenuously confesses, that it has ever been the constant custom of the Greek Churches to have but one altar in a temple; in confirmation of which he cites Athanasius, Nazianzen, Synesius, Socrates, Theodoret, Evagrius, and many others. Cardinal Bona 15 also owns he could find no footsteps of the contrary practice till the time of Gregory the Great, and then only in the Latin Church; for the Greeks have always kept to the ancient custom. He thinks, indeed, the contrary custom was in the Latin Church of old; but he only shews his willingness to believe it without proof: and Schelstrate 46 very justly censures him for it, shewing, out of τὸ τιμαλφέστατον ἔδαφος, κ. τ. λ. Εt postea idem altare ad eum modum, quo in hoc ritu describitur, innuit, Προσφύσομαι τῶν κιόνων τῶν ἱερῶν, αἱ τὴν ἄσυλον ἀπὸ γῆς ἀνέχουσι τράπεζαν, βωμὸν τὸν ἀναίμακτον. . . . Sic unius altaris meminere Socrates, lib. 1. de Alexandro CP., Eis rò Ovoαστήριον εἰσελθὼν, ὑπὸ τὴν ἱερὰν τράπεζαν ἑαυτὸν ἐπὶ στόμα ἐκτείνας, K. T. λ. Ita Theodoretus, lib. 4. cap. 20.; Evagrius, lib. 5. cap. 21.; Theophylactus, Histor. Mauric. lib. 5. cap. 14.; Nicephorus, Patr. Constantinus Porphyrogenneta, Zonaras, Cedrenus, Nicetas, et alii passim. Codinus in Originibus ad finem, in descriptione S. Sophiæ. 45 Rer. Liturg. l. 1. c. 14. n. 3. (p. 206.) Non leve tandem indicium missæ peculiariter actæ præbet altarium multitudo in eadem ecclesia, de quibus Veterum Patrum testimonia non desunt. Gregorius Magnus, Libr. 5. Ep. 50., ad Palladium Santonensem episcopum: Veniens, inquit, lator præsentium insinuavit nobis, fraternitatem vestram ecclesiam construxisse, atque illic tredecim altaria collocasse, ex quibus quatuor necdum dedicata comperimus remansisse. Loquitur autem de altaribus ad usum sacrificii... Plura item altaria Romæ fuisse in basilica Principis Apostolorum, non solum ad orientem juxta ritum ecclesiæ, sed et in alias partes distributa scribit Walfridus, c. 4. . . . . Græcorum alia est consuetudo; unicum enim altare in singulis ecclesiis habent; BINGHAM, VOL. III. nec fas esse putant, intra septa ejusdem templi sacrum eadem die iterare. Ideo patres et historici Græci unius tantum altaris in una ecclesia mentionem faciunt, &c. 46 C. Antioch. Restitut. dissert. 3. c. 4. n. 12. de Can. 2. (p. 193.) Cum vero altaris mentio facta est, notandum cum Christiano Lupo, olim in basilicis unicum duntaxat fuisse altare, idque alte clamare antiquas Romanorum basilicas, in quibus altare inverso modo constructum videmus ad initium sacrarii, unde et celebrans non respicit ad tribunal aut synthronum, sed potius ad fideles et populum. Africæ basilicas describit S. Optatus Milevitanus episcopus, libro 1. contra Parmenianum: Conferta, inquit, erat ecclesia populis; plena erat cathedra episcopalis: erat altare loco suo, in quo pacifici episcopi retro temporis obtulerunt, Cyprianus, Lucianus, et cæteri. Sic exitum est foras et altare contra altare erectum est. Ac si diceret, Carthaginensem basilicam, in qua Cyprianus et Lucianus obtulerant, unicum duntaxat habuisse altare loco suo collocatum. Hinc et magnus Hipponensis antistes Augustinus, Tractatu 3. in Epistolam Joannis: Si cum Donatistis in unitate sumus, quid in hac civitate faciunt duo altaria? Altaria pro basilicis sumit Augustinus, ac si diceret, duas basilicas habuisse duo duntaxat altaria, quorum unum alteri esset oppositum; unde scripsit S. Optatus, altare contra altare fu H And sometimes but one in a Optatus and St. Austin, that the Latins, as well as the Greeks, had then but one altar in a church. For Optatus 47 speaks of the altar of Cyprian's church, as one only, and no more, both in the time of Cyprian and afterward; and thence concludes that the Donatists were schismatics, because they went from Cyprian's altar, and set up another altar against it. And St. Austin 48 argues against them upon the same foundation, that there ought not to be two episcopal altars in one city. This supposes then but one altar in a church among the Latins, as well as the Greeks; and so Christianus Lupus 49, and Pagi 50, the learned corrector of Baronius, affirm it to have been the constant practice of the primitive Church. Though now (to see what improvement has been made in later ages) there are no less than twenty-five altars, besides the great altar, in St. Peter's church, at Rome; and the great altar itself is no less than twenty-five feet square, with a cross of twenty-five inches long upon it, as Dr. Potter observes out of Onuphrius and Angelus Roccha, in his ingenious Book 51 of the Number Six-Hundred Sixty-six. 17. Some improve this observation, of one altar in a church, a little further, and think that anciently there was but one city, though altar in a whole city, or diocese, and country-region belonging churches, to a bishop; though there might be many lesser churches, as according there were many synagogues among the Jews, though but several to some authors. isse erectum. Et hinc colligitur, 47 L. 1. p. 42. (p. 21.).... Plena 48 Hom. 3. in 1 Joan. [al. in Ep. Joan. c. 2. Tract. 3. n. 7.] (t. 3. part. 2. p. 846 f.)... Si in unitate sumus, quid faciunt in hac civitate duo al taria ? 49 Schol. in Concil. Respons. ad Mich. Cerular. c. 13. (t. 3. p. 346.) Altare enim, quod unicum habebat olim omnis ecclesia, &c. 50 Crit. in Baron. an. 313. n. 15. [al. 17.] (t. 1. p. 368.) Lupus, tomo 3. Conciliorum, in Responsis ad Michaëlis Cerularii calumnias notat, primis ecclesiæ temporibus, ob paucitatem fidelium, non fuisse in civitatibus plures quam unam ecclesiam ; in ecclesia unum, non plura altaria; et ad altare illud unum, non plura sacrificia eodem die fuisse oblata. 51 Vid. Poli Synops. Criticor. in Apocalyps. 13, 18. (t. 5. p. 1895. 2.) In ecclesia S. Petri Romæ 25 altaria numerat Onuphrius, præter magnum illud altare, cui crux superimposita est 25 palmos alta, teste angelo Rocca, &c. [The context refers just before to Potter, q. v. c. 25. (p. 172.) I come now to their altars, &c. ED.] |