church, a catafalque or tumulus may be made ready at the place where the bier with the body, were it physically present, would rest, and the body be considered as morally present.

If the deceased person be a Priest, the body should be placed with the head towards the altar, and the bier may rest within the choir before the altar.1

If on account of contagious disease, or for other good reason, the body of a Priest cannot be brought to the church on the day of burial, the catafalque is sprinkled and censed as if the body were present and lying with the feet towards the people;* this may also be done on the anniversary of the burial of a Priest; otherwise the catafalque is always regarded as though the body (morally present) were placed with feet towards the altar.

Six large candles, of unbleached wax, in standard candlesticks, should be placed by the bier (or tumulus), three on each side, and burn during the Mass and the Absolution, and while the body is in the church.

The acolytes kneel from the beginning of the Mass until the Epistle, and from the Confession until the Agnus Dei, and at the Post-Communion Collect.

Incense is used in the Mass at the Offertory and at the Elevation in the usual manner; but in no other places, and after the Offertory the Celebrant alone is censed.

Except the omissions noted in the Ceremonies of Low Mass, and certain differences set forth in the fol

1 Le lit funèbre, à Rome, est toujours placé dans la nef." Le Vavasseur, Ceremonial, pt. vi., sec. i., ch. iv., art. iv., Note.

* Van Der Stappen, Sac. Liturgia, tom. iv., p. 288.

lowing directions, all is done as at an ordinary Solemn Mass.

The Deacon omits all the osculations.

3. From the Introit to the Offertory.

The sacred ministers do not accompany the Celebrant when he goes up to the altar, but stand on a line behind him; the Deacon on his step and the Sub-Deacon on the floor.

When the Celebrant, after kissing the altar, turns to go to the book, the sacred ministers, without any further act of reverence,1 turn also and go to their places at the Epistle corner. They do not make the sign of the cross when the Celebrant begins, Our Father, etc.

After the Epistle the Sub-Deacon is not blessed by the Celebrant, and the book is at once handed to the Master of Ceremonies, or to another acolyte.

While the choir sing the sequence, Dies ira, etc., the Celebrant, after privately reading it, may sit down with his sacred ministers. When they go to sit down, they turn by their right and go to the sedilia, by the shorter way, in the accustomed manner. While the Celebrant and sacred ministers sit, the Master of Ceremonies remains standing,† between the sedilia and the credence, facing the people. At the end of the sequence or when five or six stanzas have been sung, at a sign from the Master of Ceremonies, the Celebrant and his ministers rise from their seats and return to the altar by the way they came.

The ministers, walking on either side of the Celebrant, accompany him to the lowest step at the Epistle end of the altar; the Celebrant and Deacon

1 Van Der Stappen, Sacra Liturgia, tom. v., pp. 126, et 220. † Cf. De Herdt, Praxis Pontif., tom. i., lib. i., 47.

ascend the steps, the Deacon stopping and remaining on the second step, the Celebrant going upon the footpace to the midst. After the Celebrant and the Deacon have ascended the steps, the Sub-Deacon goes up to the foot-pace, and moves the book in the accustomed manner to the Gospel corner, while the Celebrant says the prayer, "Cleanse my heart," etc. The Deacon remains standing on the second step, with his head profoundly inclined towards the altar cross, until the Celebrant begins to read the Gospel, when, without further act of reverence, he turns and goes down to the floor, receives the book of the Gospels and carries it to the altar in the usual manner.

Then at once, kneeling upon the edge of the footpace, he says the prayer, "Cleanse my heart," etc., then rises, takes the book, stands facing the altar, and when the Celebrant has read the Gospel, turns by his left and goes to the floor, where he makes, (together with the Sub-Deacon, Master of Ceremonies and the two acolytes) due reverence towards the altar; and then goes as usual to sing the Gospel. The acolytes do not carry lights, but have their hands joined. At the Gospel they make the sign of the cross and the other acts of reverence.2

When the Deacon has sung the Gospel, the SubDeacon closes the book and hands it at once to the Master of Ceremonies or to an acolyte.

On returning to the altar, after due act of reverence, the Deacon goes up and stands on his step, the SubDeacon stands on the floor behind him, both facing

If lighted candles are to be distributed among the clergy occupying places in the choir, the acolytes charged with this duty, will act promptly immediately after the Epistle is ended, in order that all may be in readiness when the Deacon begins to sing the Gospel.

the Celebrant, who is standing on the foot-pace in the midst.

The Creed is not said. If there is to be a sermon, it will come after the Mass and before the Absolution. The preacher will wear neither surplice nor stole.†

4. From the Offertory to the end of the Mass.

When the Celebrant has read the Offertory, the SubDeacon, after due act of reverence towards the altar, goes to the credence and carries the chalice to the altar as usual. Having set it down on the altar he joins his hands while the Deacon, (who meanwhile has come upon the foot-pace, to the right of the Celebrant) takes off the burse, unfolds the corporal, removes and folds the veil, and gives the paten with the host to the Celebrant.

The offerings of the people may be received as directed in the Ceremonies of High Mass.

At the Agnus Dei the sacred ministers do not strike the breast. The kiss of peace is not given, and the Gloria in excelsis is not sung.

5. The Absolution.

The Celebrant and the sacred ministers, after the last Gospel, return to the midst of the altar as usual. and then, after due act of reverence in the midst. go directly (by the steps at the Epistle end of the altar) to the sedilia, where the Celebrant, assisted by the sacred ministers and the Master of Ceremonies, lays aside his chasuble and maniple and puts on the cope. The sacred ministers also lay aside their maniples. If † De Herdt, Praxis Pontif., tom. ii., lib. ii., 202.

a cope be lacking, the sacred ministers divest themselves of dalmatic and tunicle.

Meanwhile the censer-bearer, with censer in readiness, and the boat-bearer carrying the boat of incense, come to the credence. An acolyte takes up the vessel of holy water, another takes the book, and another the processional cross. The candle-bearers take up their candlesticks.

The Master of Ceremonies takes up the Deacon's biretta and that of the Celebrant, and hands them to the Deacon, who presents to the Celebrant his biretta, and then both cover their heads.

When all are ready, the Sub-Deacon goes to the credence and receives the processional cross from the acolyte.

Then, the censer-bearer and boat-bearer leading, followed by the two other acolytes, the Sub-Deacon walking between the candle-bearers, and the Celebrant, with the Deacon on his left and Master of Ceremonies walking before him, all go before the altar,† where they stand facing towards the altar, the Celebrant in the midst immediately before the lowest step, the Deacon on his left, the Master of Ceremonies on his right, the Sub-Deacon and the candle-bearers behind the Celebrant and sacred ministers, the acolytes behind the Sub-Deacon.

Then all, save the Sub-Deacon and candle-bearers, make due act of reverence towards the altar, (the Celebrant and the Deacon first removing their birettas); and then, the Celebrant and the Deacon having put on their birettas, all go in the same order as before, to the bier, or tumulus.

† Le Vavasseur Cérémonial, pt. vi., sec. 1, ch. iv., art. iv, v.