OSTIA
346
OSTIA
crystal door in the breast. This, at any rate, was the
civse, i. c. in the Lincoln, Salisbury, and other famous
cathedrals. These statues, however, for the exposi-
tion of the Blessed luioharist seem to have been of
comparatively late date. On the continent, and more
particularly in Spain, a fnsliion seems to have been in-
troduced in the sixteenth century of constructing o.s-
tensoria of enormous size, standing six, seven, or even
ten. feet in heiglit, and weighing many hundreds of
pounds. Of course it was necessary that in such cases
the shrine in which the Blessed Sacrament was more
immediately contained should be detachable, so that
it could be used for giving benediction. The great
monstrance of the cathedral of Toledo, which is more
than twelve feet high, and the construction of which
occupied in all more than 100 years, is adorned with
260 statuettes, one of the largest of which is said to be
made of the gold brought by Columbus from the New
^^•orld.
In the language of the older liturgical manuals, the ostensorium is not infrequently called tabernaculum, and it is under that name that a special blessing is pro- vided for it in the "Pontificale Romanum". Several other designations are also in use, of which the com- monest is perhaps cuslodin, though this is also spe- ciall}- applied to the sort of transparent pyx in which the Sacred Host is immediately secured. In Scotland, before the Reformation, an ostensorium was com- monly called a "eucharist", in England a "monstre" or "monstral". The orb and rays of a monstrance should at least be of silver or silver gilt, and it is rec- ommended that it should be surmounted by a cross.
An excellent chapter in Corblet, Hisloire du Sacrement de I'Eucharislie, II (Paris. 18S2), gives a general account with a de- scription of many famous ostensoria. Schrod in Kirchenlexikon, s. V. Monsiram; Raible, Der Tabernakel einsi und jelzt (Freiburg, 1908); Thurston, Bmediclion of the Ble.^-< I ^, ,., -■ in The Month (July. 1901); Otte, Handbuch der Air- -;, \rchd-
o/oeie. I (Leipzig, 1883), 208-10; Martin A. ' \l.l-i„aes
archeologiques, I. VII (Paris. 1847-75); Km-i .-, A ■ . K,-„t„i,ie chritienne, II. 334 sqq.; Barrier de Montault. Les o.^tensoires du XIV' Steele en Limousin in the Congres Arckeoiog. de France, 1879, 555-590. See also articles too numerous to specify in detail in the Revue de VArl ChrHien and the Zeitschrift fUr christliche Kunst, where many excellent reproductions of medieval mon- strances will be found. HERBERT ThURSTON.
Ostia and Velletri, Subijrbicarian Diocese of (OsTiENSis ET Veliternensis), near Rome, central Italy. Ostia, now a small borough, was the ancient port of Rome, the first Roman colony founded by Ancus Marcius, chiefly to exploit the salt deposits. Prior to Imperial times, it had no harbour, the mouth of the Tiber affording the only shelter for shipping; the Emperor Claudius, therefore, built an artificial harbour at Ostia, and Trajan afterwards built a basin there, and enlarged the canal by which the harbour communicated with the Tiber. Here a new city sprang up, called Portus Romanus, which was em- bellished by Marcus Aurelius and other emperors, and connected with Rome by a new way, the Via Portu- ensis, along the right bank of the Tiber. With the decay of the Empire, Ostia and Portus decayed, and in the tenth century the basin of Portus had become a marsh. Between 827 and 844 Gregory IV restored the city, fortified it against the Saracens, and gave it the name of Gregoriopolis.
Leo IV defeated the Saracen fleet at Ostia in 847, and stretched a chain across the Tiber. Ostia was afterwards fortified by Cardinal Ugolino (Gregory IX), by Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (Julius II), and by Paul III, while Paul V, in 1612, reopened the basin north of the Tiber. Excavations at Ostia were begun under Pius VII; they disclosed the forum, a theatre, three temples, the sanctuaries of Mithra and of the Magna Mater, the emporium, and a great many in- scriptions.
Not counting St. Cyriacus, martyr, and Maximus the bishop who, according to the Acts of St. Laurence, consecrated Pope Dionysius in 269, the first Bishop
of Ostia was Maximus, a. d. 313. We know from St.
Augustine that the Bishop of Ostia sometimes con-
secrated the ))()!)(■. St. Monica (q. v.) died at Ostia,
and was buried in the church of St. Aurea, though her
body w:is tr:iMsfcn'cd, later, to Rome. The great
lK)spil;d which St. Gallicanus built at Ostia w;is a
noted estalilisluucnt. As early as 707, the Bi.sliop of
()sti:i ri'sidcd:it Home, holding the office of liihliolhe-
{■nnns xiiiuiir i rii< xi{r. The popes later on employed
tlic'in in the iidininistration of the Llniversal Church,
especially in legations. They were among the bishops
who took turns in exercising the pontifical functions
during vacancies of the Holy See, and who became
known as episcopi cardinalcs, or "cardinal bishops".
Among the Bishops of Ostia were Georgius, who in 755
accomiKuiieil Stephen III to France; Donatus, who
was sent by Nicholas I to Constantinople in 866 to
deal with the case of Photius, but was stopped at the
Byzantine frontier. In 869 this Donatus was head of
the legation to the Council of Constantinople and to
Bulgaria. Others were: Blessed Gregory (1037); St.
Peter Daraian (1058); Gerard of Chatillon (1072) and
Otho of ChAtillon (Lirban II) (1077), who served as
legates on various occasions, and were both imprisoned
by Henry IV; Leo Marsicanus, also called Ostiensis
(1101), the chronicler; Lambert Faganini (1117)
(Honorius II); Alberic (1135), legate in the Holy
Land, where he presided over the Council of Jerusalem,
and also in England and France. Hugo (11.50) was
the first to bear the double title of Ostia and Velletri.
Velletri (Velitra) is an ancient city of the Volscians, which, in 494 b. c, became a Latin colony, but re- volted in 393, and was among the first of Rome's ene- mies in the Latin War, for which reason, in 338, the walls of the town were destroyed, while its inhabitants were taken to Rome to peopie the Trastevere, their lands being distributed among colonists. Velletri was the home of the family of Augustus. In its later history, the battle of Velletri (1744) is famous. The cemetery near the Villa Borgia shows the great an- tiquity of Christianity in this region. The first known Bishop of Velletri was Adeodatus (about 464); Joannes, in 592, was entrusted by Gregory the Great with the care of the Diocese of Tres Tabernoe (Three Taverns), now Cisterna (see Albano). From the eighth century, Velletri again had bishops of its own; of whom the last recorded was Joannes (868). An- other see, united with Velletri, is that of Norma (Norba); its territory is a deserted, malarial country; only one of its bishops, who lived in the tenth century, is known. Other bishops of Velletri, before the union of the sees, were Gaudiosus (Gaudericus), one of the legates to the Council of Constantinople (869), and Joannes, who, in 1058, usurped the pontifical Throne, under the name of Benedict X.
Among the successors of Hugo in the united sees were Ubaldo Allucingoh (Lucius III); UgoUno de' Conti, 1206 (Gregory IX); Rinaldo de' Conti (Alex- ander IV); Petrus a Tarantasia, O.P., 1272 (Innocent V); Latino Malabranca Orsini (1278), a great states- man and diplomat; Nicold Boccasino, O.P. (Benedict XI); Nicolo da Prato, the pacifier of Tuscany (1304). During the Avignon period, all the bishops of Ostia were Frenchmen, residing at Avignon or serving as legates; the most famous of them was Pierre d'Etain (1373), who persuaded Urban V to go to Rome. During the schism, each of the rival popes appointed a Bishop of Ostia. Among the legitimate bishops may be mentioned William of Estouteville (1461), who built the episcopal palace; Giuliano della Rovere (Julius II); Alessandro Farnese, 1.524 (Paul III); Gian Pietro Carafa, 1534 (Paul IV); Alessandro Far- nese (1580), who restored the cathedral; Antonio M. Sauli (1623), founder of a Basilian monastery; Do- menico Ginnasio (1683), who restored the cathedral and founded a hospital at Ostia; Bartholommeo Pacca (q. v.); Louis Micara (1844).
