the case of the vessel of sardonyx, attributed to Abbot Suger, at St. Denis. The use of vessels of tin or pewter, in poorer churches, was not unfrequent: it had been sanctioned by the canons, but nevertheless was forbidden by the constitutions of Archbishop Wethershed, about A.D. 1229. Lyndwode observes that copper was objectionable, because it occasioned nausea, "quia provocat vomitum;" brass, as subject to oxidation, "quia contrahit rubiginem[1]."
These careful precautions evince the deep reverence with which, at all times, the sacred ordinance of the Eucharist was regarded, as further shewn by the solemn benediction of all vessels or appliances of the service of the altar, which may be found in ancient ceremonials, such especially as that of the Anglo- Saxon Church, preserved in the Public Library at Rouen[2].
Several ancient chalices, highly interesting on account of their elaborate decoration, or traditions connected with them, exist in the treasuries of various churches, or in other depositories. One of the most remarkable, now preserved in the Cabinet of Antiquities in the Bibliothèque Royale, at Paris, is the "calice de St. Remi," formerly belonging to the cathedral of Rheims. This incomparable example of the skill of the twelfth century is of gold, incrusted with enamelled ornaments, gems, pearls, and filigree work of the most curious character. It measures, in height, 612 in., and the diameter of the cup is 5 in. and seven-eighths. This precious object is described in the account of the treasury of Rheims cathedral, and distinguished from the "calix ministerialis" of St. Remy, noticed by Flodoard[3]. The inscription which forms two lines around the
- ↑ Lyndw. Provinc., pp. 9. 234.
- ↑ Mr. Rokewode considered this remarkable MS. as written late in the tenth century. See the Ordo for the benediction of the chalice, Archæol., xxv. p. 264.
- ↑ Gul. Marlot, Metrop. Rom. Hist., ii. 474. M. Didron has given a short notice of this remarkable chalice in the Annales Archéologiques, ii. 363, accompanied by a plate which exhibits various examples of its curious ornamentation.
