3. In the West

In the Occident there was originally no such celebration with branches of palms or other branches on this day. The oldest Western testimonies for Palm Sunday agree that the day bore entirely the character of a Passion Sunday, consequently that of mourning. It was still the same way at the time of Leo the Great (d. 461), who calls this Sunday Dominica Passionis because the history of the Passion was read. With this agrees entirely the fact that the Spanish pilgrim evidently, until that time, had not known of a procession of palms as she experienced it in Jerusalem. The oldest Occidental testimony for the procession of palms and their consecration is found in the Liber ordinum of the

Visigothic Church (ed. Fdrotin, Paris, 1904). There can be no doubt that this Spanish ceremonial be longs to the Visigothic time, hence to the sixth century. It must have been in the course of the fifth century that the Eastern custom either directly or indirectly penetrated Spain. Apart from the consecration of palms, there is an unmistakable agreement between the Spanish celebration and that of Jerusalem as described in the Peregrinatio Silvim (ut sup.). The consecration of palms is probably of Occidental origin, and was at first entirely independent of the celebration. Such a consecration was hardly necessary for the pro cession, but the consecrated branches were believed to possess the power of exorcism, to expel diseases, and to guard against demons, lightning, fire, and tempests. It is not known at what time and place consecration of palms and procession were com bined. One of the oldest testimonies of a special celebration of Palm Sunday in the Occident is a passage in the work of the Anglo-Saxon bishop Aldhelm of Sherborne (q.v.), De laudibus virginitatis (MPL, lxxxix. 128). He speaks of a "very holy solemnity of the palms." At the celebration on this day there was sung antiphonally Benedict= qui venit in namine Domini, to joyful airs. Amalarius of Metz (q.v.) testifies that on Palm Sunday branches were carried through the churches while Hosannah was sung (MPL, cv. 1008); he says nothing of the consecration of pahns. In the later Middle Ages the procession developed so as to imi tate as faithfully as possible the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. As in the East, the bishop, as Christ, rode upon an ass or a horse. There devel oped, on the other hand, also the ceremony of consecration. Not only were branches consecrated, but also flowers, which were then carried in the procession. Therefore the Sunday was called also pascha, foridum, dominica forum et ramorum, les pdques fUuriea; flower day. On the same day the symbol. was given to the competitors in various territories of the Church, as in the fifth and sixth centuries in Gaul and Spain; therefore Palm Sunday was called in some places dominica or paacha comr peterdium. In the Roman Catholic Church the fol lowing solemn observances take place on Palm Sunday: (1) the consecration of palms; (2) the procession; (3) the mass, which throughout bears the character of mourning. As the Greek Church does not count Palm Sunday as belonging to the "great week," and has given to this day from the beginning the character of joy, it does not now employ the procession, but only the consecration of

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palms. In the Greek Church the names of the day are similar to those in the Latin Church.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of the "great week," according to the Peregrinatio Silvice (CSEL, xxxix. 84 sqq.; Eng. transl.,

4. Monday ut sup., pp. 59-60), were early dis to tinguished by special services. On Thursday. Tuesday in the vigil the bishop him self reads the Gospel of the day, Matt. xxiv. 4 sqq., upon the Mount of Olives, from the cave in which the Lord used to teach his disciples. On Wednesday the vigil takes place in the Church of the Resurrection; the presbyter reads the Gospel of the day (Matt. xxvi. 14-16), the history of the betrayal, whereupon the congregation utters loud cries of resentment. The same lessons are to a certain extent still used in the Greek Church. The masses of the Roman Church on those days are of a pronounced character of passion.

Concerning Maundy Thursday, in the description of the Peregrinatio Silvia (CSEL, xxxix. 85 sqq.; Eng. transl., ut sup., pp. 60-62), which gives a detailed account of the celebration of this day in Jerusalem, it is to be noted that the writer apparently has no special name either for Maundy Thursday or for the preceding days, and in the second place, that this day is distinguished by a general celebration of the Holy Supper, which takes place in a definite place. This evidently constitutes the proper celebration of this day, while the services in the evening are to be regarded as preparations for the following Friday. The custom of celebrating the Holy Supper on this day extended over the whole Orient. Augustine testifies to the same custom in Africa in the fifth century. An important ceremony on Maundy Thursday was the washing of feet (see Foom-wABHINQ). .On the same day there took place the solemn readmission or reconciliation of the penitents to the congregation, but this custom was not universal in the Occident. Ambrose testifies to its existence in Milan, and Innocent I. in Rome. In the Middle Ages this custom disappeared. Another custom of the ancient church on this day was the consecration of the Chrism (q.v.) by the bishop. Originally this consecration took place during the act of baptism; but when the bishops had to leave baptism to the presbyters they still claimed for themselves the consecration of the anointing-oil, as early as the fourth century in Rome. It is very probable that these blessings were then performed on Maundy Thursday; for baptism took place shortly before Easter. The Roman Catholic Church possesses still other peculiar customs for this day, as, for instance, the chanting of the Tenebrce. During the service a large candlestick, supporting fifteen lights, arranged in the form of a triangle, which denote Christ and the prophets who predicted his coming, stands in the sanctuary; the lights are one by one extinguished until only the upper one remains, which is taken down and placed under the altar until the close of the office, and then brought back. It is also customary on this day for all clericals to commune. In the Greek Church on this day, beside the washing of pilgrims' feet and the consecration of oil, also the consecration of the holy myron takes place. The derivation of the term

"Green Thursday," the German designation for Holy Thursday, is uncertain. Some derive it from the green herbs that used to be eaten on this day in order to guard against diseases; others, from the penitents who were readmitted on Holy Thursday, and who, according to them, were styled "green." According to Keller, the name originated from the green paraments used in Germany in the mass of that day in contrast with the paraments of other colors used on other days of the "great week." While " Green Thursday " and " Holy Thursday " are only popular designations, the liturgical name of the Church isto-day, and has been for a long time, Ca-na Domini.

According to the oldest testimonies, this day bears throughout the character of mourning. This ap-

pears in the interesting description of 5. Good the celebration of this day in Peregri- Friday. natio Silviice (CSEL, xxxix. 87 sqq.;

Eng. transl., ut sup., pp. 62 sqq.). The account shows that on this day there was customary the strictest fasting and vigilance, that a crucifix was exhibited and adored, and that the divine services consisted in reading of the Scripture, hymns, and prayers, but not in the celebration of the Lord's Supper. The custom of the Greek Church of to-day hardly differs from the custom of old Jerusalem as preserved in the account of Silvia. The Syriac Didascalia and the Apostolic Constitutions demand absolute fasting on Good Friday and Saturday before Easter. About the middle of the third century it was customary also in Alexandria to abstain entirely from food on both days, although not unconditionally. The custom of the Occident in keeping this day is closely related to that of the East; the day is one of deepest mourning and of strict fasting, and there is a tendency to limit church services as much as possible. John of Naples, a contemporary of Paulinus of Nola (d. 431), bears witness that he administered the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, but on the next day devoted himself entirely to prayer, which shows that on this day no mass was celebrated. In some parts of Spain in the seventh century the churches were closed on Good Friday. Even in the ninth century in Rome no communion was celebrated. Nevertheless, Good Friday was always distinguished by a peculiar celebration. The morning service in the Roman Catholic Church consists of four parts: (1) the readings; (2) the intercessory prayers; (3) the unveiling and adoration of the cross; and (4) the celebration of the missy prmsanati, fwatorum (" shortened " mass). In the Middle Ages there was customary also a solemn burial, which used to follow immediately the adoration of the cross-the cross was laid down in a "holy" grave in the tomb chapel and covered with a piece of cloth (sudarium), and in connection with it there were sung corresponding responsories, ver. sicles and prayers. This custom is said to have arisen in the tenth century. The adoration of the cross was followed by the "shortened" mass, which is explained as follows: On Holy Thursday there are consecrated two wafers; one is eaten by the priest, the other he places back in the chalice, which he puts on a side altar. This "presanetified" wafer (hence the Latin name, ut sup.) is carried on Good

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Friday by the priest and the entire clergy in procession Trom the side altar to the main altar. The origin of this "mass of .the presanctified" lies, without doubt, in the East, where, on certain days of the week, the "service of the preaanctified" is still celebrated, the elements of which are sanctified on the preceding Sunday. In the Roman Catholic Church Good Friday is not a holiday, and therefore the performance of daily work is allowed. The liturgical name of Good Friday, especially among the Latins, is "day of preparation." Among the Jews that was the name for every Friday as the day of preparation for the following Sabbath. The Christians, too, often designated any Friday by this expression, but finally it was restricted to Good Friday. The Greeks call this Friday as every day of the holy and great week, the "holy and great" Friday or "the great preparation." At an earlier time it was designated by " Pascha of the crucifixion," in distinction from " Pascha of the resurrection," the Easter festival (Augustine, De trinitate, in MPL, xhi. 894). The Italians call it venerdi santo, the French vendredi saint. In Germany, beside the name "Good Friday," there was current also the term "White Friday."

On the ceremonies of Holy Saturday or Easter Saturday see Easter, I., 4, §§ 2-3. In the Greek