tion of the songs, litanies and prayers ordinarily appropriate to those who have fallen asleep, we are assured that he who dies in penitence, even if he have not yet given satisfaction for his sins, has pardon for them, through the prayers of the Church, and is freed from their bonds.

XI.

THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD (PRIESTS).

(1) At the burial of Prelates, Hiero-monks, Archimandrites and Priests, when the body is borne from the house to the church, during the reading of the Prayer of Absolution, and on the way to the grave, the church bells are rung, as they are when the holy cross is brought forth from the Sanctuary, on September 14 (27), August 1 (14), in Mid-Lent, on Good Friday, and on Holy Saturday. That is to say, each bell is struck once, and the order is repeated thrice, or oftener; after which all the bells are struck together, once.

At the burial of a Bishop the body is carried round the church on its way to the grave, and a brief service is celebrated at each side of the church.

Deacons are buried like laymen; because in the Order for the Burial of Priests the sacerdotal rank of the latter is specifically mentioned. A censer is placed in the hand of the dead Deacon.

(2) A dead Bishop, after he has been rubbed with oil by means of a sponge, is arrayed in all his sacerdotal vestments while “Thy soul shall delight itself in the Lord" is being sung; and the censers, sacramental fans, together with the double and triple branched candlesticks (dikiri, trikiri) are used. When the vesting is completed he is seated in an armchair, and the Proto-Deacon proclaims: “Send forth thy light;” after which the body is laid upon a table, and the face is covered with a sacramental veil. The veil denotes that the dead was a minister of the Sacraments of God, more especially of the Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ, and it is buried with him. If he has at any time. received the Sacrament of Holy Unction, the oil remaining therefrom is used to anoint his body for burial, as is the case also with Priests.

(3) In token that he proclaimed unto men the teachings of the Gospels, a cross is generally placed in the hands of a dead Bishop or Priest; because it is the emblem of salvation, both of the living and the dead. The book of the Holy Gospels is buried with him, and the cross also. Over the remains of a dead Bishop or Priest the Gospels are read instead of the Psalter, “in order to propitiate Goc,” says Simeon of Thessalonica. "For what other offering can be made unto God, to propitiate him on behalf of him that lieth there, if not this, to wit, the proclamation of the Incarnation of God, of his teachings, his Sacraments, and the gift of the remission of sins, his redeeming Passion for us, his lifecreating death and resurrection?"

XII.

THE REQUIEM OFFICE FOR THE DEAD (PANIKHIDI).

(I) The origin of the Service of the Dead (Panikhídi) is as follows: St. Macarius of Alexandria once inquired from the Angels who accompanied him an explanation of the Church's custom to celebrate the third, ninth, and fortieth days after a death by religious services. And the Angel told him: "When, on the third day, the body is brought to the Temple, the Soul of the dead man receiveth from his Guardian Angel relief from the grief which he feeleth at parting from his body. This he receiveth because of the oblation and praise which are offered for him in God's Church, whence there ariseth in him a blessed hope. For during the space of two days the Soul is permitted to wander at will over the earth, with the Angels which accompany it. Therefore the Soul, since it loveth its body, sometimes hovereth around the house in which it parted from the body; sometimes around the coffin wherein its body hath been placed: and thus it passeth those days like a bird which seeketh for itself a nesting-place. But the beneficent Soul wandereth through those places where it was wont to perform deeds of righteousness.

"On the third day He who rose again from the dead commandeth that every Soul, in imitation of his own Resurrection, shall be brought to heaven, that it may do reverence to the God of all. Wherefore the Church hath the blessed custom of celebrating oblation and prayers on the third day for the Soul.

“After the Soul hath done reverence to God, He ordereth that it shall be shown the varied and fair abodes of the Saints and the beauty of Paradise. All these things the Soul vieweth during six days, marvelling and glorifying God, the Creator of all. And when the Soul hath beheld all these things, it is changed, and forgetteth all the sorrow which it felt in the body. But if it be guilty of sins, then, at the sight of the delights of the Saints, it beginneth to wail, and to reproach itself, saying: ‘Woe is me! How vainly did I pass my time in the world! Engrossed in the satisfaction of my desires, I passed the greater part of my life in heedlessness, and obeyed not God as I ought, that I, also. might be vouchsafed these graces and glories. Woe is me, poor wretch!' After having thus viewed all the joys of the just for the space of six days, the Angels lead the Soul again to do reverence to God. Therefore the Church doth well, in that she celebrateth service and oblation for the Soul on the ninth day.

"After its second reverence to God, the Master of all commandeth that the Soul be conducted to Hell, and there shown the places of torment, the different divisions of Hell; and the divers torments of the ungodly, which cause the souls of sinners that find themselves therein to groan continually, and to gnash their teeth. Through these various

places of torment the Soul is borne during thirty days, trembling lest it also be condemned to imprisonment therein.

“On the fortieth day the Soul is again taken to do reverence to God: and then the judge determineth the fitting place of its incarceration, according to its deeds. Thus the Church doth rightly in making men— tion, upon the fortieth day, of the baptized dead."

It is also customary to have the Requiem Office celebrated on the anniversaries of the birth-day, name-day, and death-day of the departed.

(2) It is customary, at the Requiem Office (Panikhídi), to place upon a small table in the church a dish of kutiyd or koliva: that is, boiled wheat, mixed with honey, to which raisins are sometimes added. The koliva serves to remind us of the resurrection of the dead. As grain, in order that it may form ears and give fruit, must be buried in the earth, and moulder there; so, also, the body of the dead must be committed to the earth, in order that it may rise to life eternal. The honey typifies the sweetness of bliss of the future life. In the grain is set upright a lighted taper, which symbolizes the light wherewith the Christian is illumined in baptism; and also the light of the world to come, which knows no setting.

(3) Thereby offering unto God, as it were, a sacrifice of propitiation for the dead person, and in honour of the Sovereign Lord over life and death.

XIII.

THE CONSECRATION OF A CHURCH.

(I) The Canon of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church of the East orders that the Consecration of a Church must be performed by a Bishop. If, however, this be not possible, the Bishop sends a corporal (antimlns) which has been consecrated to the Church that is to be consecrated, and delegates his authority of consecration to an Archimandrite, an Abbot, an Archpriest, or a Priest. In that case a briefer Office is used than the one here given. In substance, the two Offices are identical; but the most important part of the Office as performed by a Bishop, namely, the consecration of the corpora], is of necessity omitted. Relics are placed in the Altar only in case a Bishop consecrates the church. If the Altar is of stone, all the portions of the service prescribed for a wooden Altar are omitted.

(2) This garment (Exodus xxviii. 4) is white in colour, and is trebly girt about the neck of the officiating ecclesiastic, in token of wisdom and obedience to God; about the body, beneath the breast, to symbolize the Word; about the loins, as a symbol of purity and strength. If a Bishop celebrate, the apron-like garment should be of silk; if a Priest, of cotton cloth.

(3) The Office of Consecration proper is preceded by the Blessing

of Water, in a form which greatly resembles that appointed for the Feast of the Epiphany.

(4) As the Altar represents the sepulchre of our Lord Jesus Christ, so the mastic, mingled with fragrant spices, represents the sweet-smelling spices wherewith Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus anointed the body of our Lord when they laid him in the tomb.

As the Temple is fashioned after the image of our bodies, which are the temple of God (2 Cor. vi. I6) and members of Christ (I Cor. xii. 27); that rite which is performed at the Consecration of a Church is analogous to the rite by which every believer is made a member of the Church, and the Consecration resembles holy Baptism and holy Chris' mation. Therefore, at a Consecration, rose-water, the holy Chrism, white garments and tapers are used; and the building, like the font, is compassed about in procession, in the circle which is the emblem of Eternity.

(5) The affixing of the table to the Altar with four nails commemorates the nailing of our Lord to the cross. The stones thus used are not thrown away, but are generally laid beneath the Altar.

(6) Moses, by the Lord’s command, anointed the Tabernacle and the Altar at the dedication of the Temple (Exodus x1. 9, 10), as the Altar is here first anointed, and the Sanctuary afterwards. The three places anointed are those where, during the Divine Liturgy, the book of the Holy Gospels, the paten and the chalice are to stand.

(7) The corporal (antimínr) is, as it were, the Altar itself, and takes the place of an Altar when, by reason of storm or any other cause, the Altar falls into ruin; or when it is necessary to celebrate the Divine Liturgy in the absence of a duly consecrated Altar. It consists of a silken cloth, whereon is depicted our Lord Jesus Christ in the sepulchre. (See page xxvii.)

(8) The double vesting of the Altar indicates its double significance: as the tomb of Christ and the throne of God. The first altar-cloth represents the winding-sheet wherein the body of our Lord Jesus Christ was wrapped for burial.

(9) The cord typifies the cord wherewith our Lord was bound, when he was led before Annas and Caiaphas.

(to) The second covering of the Altar, the indítia, of rich and brilliant material, typifies the glory of God's throne.

(II) This, the ilztón, represents the swaddling-clothes wherein the infant Christ was wrapped at his birth; our Lord’s winding-sheet in the tomb; and the napkin which was bound about his head in the tomb. (Here, as in certain other instances, there are several explanations of the symbolism, upon which the authorities occasionally differ.)

(I2) This typifies, as in holy Baptism, spiritual illumination. (I3) This signifies that the Church is consecrated forever to God; because the circle is the symbol of eternity.

(14) The holy relics placed in the Altar or under the corporal (an

timins) bear witness to the special presence there of God. They remind the Christian that when he is in church he is in a place sprinkled with the blood of the Saints; and he rejoices with holy gladness, recalling the words of St. John: “That ye, also, may have fellowship with us" (I John i. 3).

The holy relics are anointed with the holy Chrism as for burial, in token of the close bond between the Martyrs and Christ. The relics of the Saints which remain incorruptible on earth assure us of the special prayers for us on the part of the Saints thus honoured with immortality of body ere the coming of the Kingdom of Glory (Rev. vi. 9, 10).