CINCTURE
776
CIRCESIUM
Nicholas Walsh. Mrs. Sarah Peter was active in the
founding of convents.
Shea. Nisi. Cath. Church in the United States (New York. lss'MX'.tJ); O'Gokman', Roman Catholic Church in the I nitcd StaL NewYork L895); Kelly and Kirwin, History of Ml. St. U - ... , .. -,■ ."i, West (CiiK-iniKiti, 1S94); IIoi'ck, A Hix-
, r ■ ,' ',.. \orthcm Ohio (Cleveland. 19021; The Cath-
graph (Cincinnati) Blesj Reubs, Bib. Cycl. of the Cath. Itumrrhii oj the U. S. (.Milwaukee, 189S); Catholic Directory
M. P. 0'B RIEN .
Cincture (Lixt. Cingulum), or, as it is more commonly called in England, girdle, an article of liturgical attire which has certainly been recognized as such since the ninth century. Then as now it was used to confine the loose, flowing alb, and prevent it from impeding the movements of the wearer. But its liturgical character appears from the prayers which even from early times were recited in putting it on and from the symbolism of spiritual watchfulness which then spe- cially attached to it, according to the text, "Sintlumbi vestri prsecincti". The cingulum is enumerated among the Mass vestments in the Stowe Missal, and this very possibly may represent the practice of the Celtic Church in the seventh century. It seems probable, however, that in the Celtic Church, as in the Greek Church of the present day, the girdle was worn only by bishops and priests; the deacon's tunic was left ungirded. Some few surviving examples of early girdles (tenth- and eleventh-century) show that in the beginning the cincture was not always a simple cord, as it is now. On the contrary, we find narrow bands of silk and precious stuff, often richly embroidered, and these lasted until late in the Middle Ages. Some such bands and sashes were again introduced for the same purpose in the last century, but the Congrega- tion of Sacred Rites has disapproved of the practice, though it permitted those which existed to be used until wcrn out (24 November, 1899). The material of the girdle is preferably flax or hemp, but wool and silk — the latter especially for occasions of solemnity — are not prohibited. This material is woven into a cord, and the ends are usually decorated with tassels. By way of ornament strands of gold and silver thread are sometimes introduced, particularly in the tassels at the extremities. The prayer now recited by the priest in putting on the girdle, "Gird me, O Lord, with the girdle of purity", etc., strongly suggests that this vestment should be regarded as typical of priestly chastity. Like the other Mass vestments, the girdle requires to be blessed before use.
Some kind of cincture, we may further note, is in- cluded in almost every form of religious or ecclesiasti- cal costume. In certain religious orders it receives a special blessing, and in such familiar instances as the Cord of St. Francis or the Girdle of St. Augustine it is sanctioned and indulgenccd by the Church as indica- ting a profession of allegiance to a particular institute. Again, the broad sash, which forms part of the civil attire of bishops, priests, and other ecclesiastics, has been imitated, apparently for esthetic reasons, in the costume of choir boys and servers at the altar. It should be said that this last development, while not expressly prohibited so long as certain rules are ob- served regarding colour and material, is not in any way prescribed or recommended by ecclesiastical authority.
Braun, Die liturgisrhe Gnmiulumj (Freiburg. 1907); Van deb Stappen, .Surra Liturgia (Meehlin, 1902), IV; Bauhiek de Montault, Le Costume el let usages ,eel, siai.tigues (Tans, 1901); Thalhofbr, Liturgik. etc.; Rohadlt i>e I-leury, La Mast, VII. Almost all works on the Mass, e. g. those of Gihr, MOller, Benedict XIV, devote a Bection to vestments. Herbert Thurston.
Cingoli, Diocese of. See Osimo.
Cinites (A. V. Kenites), a tribe or family often mentioned in the Old Testament, personified as Quyin from which the nomen genWxcium Qini is
derived. In spite of several attempts at a solution,
the origin both of the name and of the tribe is still
obscure. Hobab the relative (brother-in-law?) of
Moses was a Cinite (Judges, i, 16, iv, 11; as Hobab is
also called a Madianite (Num., x, 29), it follows that
the Cinites belonged to that nation. Judging from
appearances, the Cinites were true worshippers of
Yahweh. Some scholars, on the strength of Ex.,
xviii, go even so far as to assert that it was from them
that the Israelites received a great portion of their
monotheistic theology; the passage, however, deals
directly and only with social organization. At any
rate, the Rechabites, a clan of the Cinites [I Par.
(A. V. I Chron.) ii, 55] were even ascetics and insisted
on retaining the nomadic habits of the followers of
Yahweh (Jer., xxxv). Though calamities were fore-
told for the Cinites by Balaam (Num., xxiv, 21 sqq.),
they are always represented as being on friendly
terms with the Israelites. Owing probably to their
alliance with Moses and also to the bonds of a com-
mon religion, they befriended the Israelites during
their wanderings in the desert [Num., x, 29-32, 1 K.
(A. V. I Sam.) xv, 6] and joined them in their march
on Chanaan (Judges, 1, 16). There is no intimation
that there ever was any enmity between the two
nations (cf. I K., xxvii,' 10, xxx, 29). The Cinites
dwelt south of Palestine with the Amalecites, as is
evident from Num., xxiv, 21 sqq., I K., xv, 6, and
probably also from Judges, i, 16, if we read
V^OyrvriN instead of the Massoretic DyiTTIN, a
reading which is supported by several Greek MSS.
and by the Sahidlc Coptic Version (cf. Ciasca,
Fragm. Copto-Sahidica). One clan of the Ci-
nites left the tribe and settled in the north under
Haber, at the time of Barac and Debbora (Judges,
iv, 11); Jahel, who slew Sisara, was the wife of Haber
the Cinite (ibid., iv, 17 sqq., v, 24 sqq.). From the
facts that we find the Cinites south and north, and
that in Aramaic the root from which Qayin is
derived implies the idea of a smith, Sayce (in
Hastings, Diet. Bib., s. v. Kenites) draws the con-
clusion that the Cinites were a wandering guild of
smiths. This view has against it the obvious mean-
ing of the texts (see especially Gen., xv, 19). Appa-
rently the Cinites shared in the Babylonian Exile and
in the Restoration, but they do not appear any more
as a distinct tribe and very likely were assimilated
with the Jews.
Murray, Comment, de Kinaie (Hamburg. 171S); Stade, Gcsch. d. Volkes Israel (Berlin, 1SS9). I, 129 sqq.; Idem, Das Kainzeichen in Zeitschr. fur d. Alttest. IV issenschaft (1S94I. 2">0 sqq.; Moore, A Critical and Exegeticat Commentary on Judges (New York, 1901). 31 sqq.; Barton. A Sketch of .Semitic Origins (New Y'ork, 1902); Lesethe, Cineens, in \ iu., Diet, de la Bible.
R. Butin.
Cinna, a titular see of Asia Minor. According to the order of the " Synecdemus " of Hierocles (p. 690) Kinnawas probably in the north-western part of the rich corn-growing district now called Haimane, west of Angora, though its exact position cannot be deter- mined It must have been close to Balyk Koyounji (vilayet of Angora) oreven nearer the River Sangarius. Einna was a suffragan of Ancyra, in Galatia Prima. Lequien (I, 4S3) mentions ten bishops: the first, Gor- gonius, was present at Nicsea in 325; the tenth, An- tonius, was a partisan of Photius in S79, and another, Sabas, was probably an adherent of St. Ignatius. The sec figures in later "Notitire episcopatuum".
Ramsay, Hist. Geogr. of Asia Minor (London, 1890). 246, 247. 430.
S. Petridks.
Circesium (Kerkesion, Kerkision, Kirkisia, CbrCUSIUM, ClRCESStra), a titular see of Osrhoene.
founded under Diocletian and restored by Justinian, it is now identified with the village Abu Serai, on the left bank of the Euphrates, at the confluence of the
