taking down from the cross till his resurrection. It was never sanctioned by the Roman Ritual, and, in consequence of some irreverences which attended it in one of the French Cathedrals, was forbidden. That rite cannot, therefore, be practised. But the “sepulchre” was appropriated to another use—that is, it served as a memorial for the person who built or largely endowed the Church, and was called the “Founder's Tomb.” The same privilege would now, I presume, be granted to persons possessed of so much zeal as to imitate the pious liberality of our ancestors in Church building.[1]
It is not sufficient that the chancel is separated and distinguished from the nave architecturally—that is, by a chancel arch, and by raising the general level of the chancel floor above that of the nave, or by making the width of the chancel less than that of the nave; every feeling of reverence and propriety suggests that there should be some sufficient barrier to prevent the too free access of the laity to the chancel; and, indeed, few of our poorest Churches are without a sanctuary railing of some sort.[2] In the mediæval times, the cancelli of an earlier period developed into lofty and magnificent screens, occupying every open space about the chancel and chapels. That which stood in the chancel-arch was, in England, called the rood screen, from its being surmounted by figures of our cruci-
- ↑ The position of the Founder's Tomb is shown at 3, figures 7 and 8.
- ↑ In better times, the laity were admonished by texts, written on the screens, not to enter the chancel without sufficient cause, and not needlessly to delay there. And at present, in many Churches in Catholic countries, and even in England, where true, reverential Catholic feeling is preserved, the laity are not admitted within the chancel, except to receive Holy Communion. It grieves me to be obliged to say, that, in this country, many of the (so-called) better classes do not exhibit due respect for the sanctuary, but too often intrude themselves, in the most thoughtless and irreverent manner, within the precincts of the Holy of Holies, at a time when Catholic faith believes that angels are contemplating with awe und reverence the wondrous sacrifice of the new law.
