real "accompanying," blood of the Saviour also. It is enough that the priest receives the cup. The Dominicans and Franciscans espoused Thomas's view. Stories of the host bleeding, for the rebuke of scepticism and on other occasions, confirmed the belief.

Transubstan

tiation.

The doctrine defended by Lanfranc was that of transubstantiation, or the literal change of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus. This was an advance upon the Augustinian view, which had prevailed in the earlier part of the middle ages. Pope Innocent III., in 1215, first gave to the doctrine of transubstantiation a general ecclesiastical sanction. In the celebration of the mass, the tinkling of the bell was the signal informing the congregation of the occurrence of the miracle. It was held that the mass is a real offering, a repetition of the sacrifice on the cross. It was believed that the mass is highly efficacious in averting evils and procuring blessings. Hence the practice of private masses, when only the officiating priest was present, grew to be common. Innocent III., in 1215, ordained that laymen must partake of the communion at least once in the year.

Penance and

The schoolmen made penance to consist of contrition of heart, confession, and satisfaction-the last to be discharged by the offender himself, in accordance with the rules of the Church and absolution. the judgment of the priest. Only in this way could the eternal penalty due to mortal sin be escaped. At length the priest, instead of offering a prayer for the pardon of the contrite offender, performed the judicial function of declaring him absolved. The

doctrine of indulgences, or of the authoritative remission Indulgences. of penances by the substitution for them of prayers, benevolent gifts, or other forms of devotion and self-sacrifice, was universally accepted. With the crusades came in plenary indulgences, the complete remission of penances, on account of some signal service to the Church, or remarkable proof of religious fidelity and zeal. Pilgrims to the great jubilees at Rome, which were appointed by the popes, were rewarded with this coveted boon. As a counterpart to the doctrine of indulgences, Alexander of Hales proposed the doctrine of a treasury of supererogatory merits of saints, which Treasury of may be drawn upon, through the agency of the pope, for merits. the benefit of their more needy brethren. By this means even the pains of purgatory might be shortened. This doctrine was adopted in the Church, and was connected by Aquinas with his conception of the mystical union of Christ and his followers, in virtue of which union, benefits, without offence to reason, may be transferred from one to another.

Extreme unction.

The sacrament of extreme unction was thought to bring advantages to the sick, both physical and spiritual. In case of physical amendment, followed by a relapse, it might be repeated. It belonged to the bishop to ordain. Ordination by heretical bishops was declared by Thomas Aquinas to be valid. The unmarried state was assumed to be higher than the married. Hence the sacrament of marriage was said to have a negative virtue in laying bonds on sensual passion. It figured, moreover, the union of Christ to the Church; for the original term for "mystery," in Ephesians v. 32, was rendered "sacramentum" in the Vulgate.

Ordination.
Marriage.

Invocation

of Mary.

The prevalent custom of invoking the saints and of asking for their intercession was sanctioned by the Church. More and more the worship of Mary formed a part of devotional serof saints and vices, public and private. In the twelfth century the doctrine of the Virgin's immaculate conception was broached. This view was embraced by the Franciscans, who were specially zealous in rendering honor to Mary. It was rejected by the Dominicans, and formed a standing subject of controversy down to a recent date.

The doctrine of hell. Limbus infantum.

The Church doctrine held to five abodes in the invisible world. Souls which leave the earth in a state of mortal sin, immediately enter hell, which was conceived of as a place of suffering in material fire. The abode of unbaptized infants-the limbus infantum-was a place where, according to Peter Lombard, the vision of God is denied to its inmates, but no positive punishments are inflicted. Gregory of Rimini, who adopted a harsher view, received the name of "torturer of infants" -tortor infantum. The abode of the pious dead of Old TestaLimbus pa- ment times-the limbus patrum-where, prior to the

trum.

Purgatory.

advent of Jesus, the blessed vision of God was not enjoyed, was by Christ transformed to a place of rest and felicity. Purgatory, where literal fire was conceived to be the instrument of punishment, was the abode of souls guilty of no mortal sins, but burdened with imperfection which needed to be removed, and with dues of "temporal punishment," or satisfaction, for sins from the guilt of which they have been absolved. Heaven was described as the home of all souls which need no purification from sin when they die, or have passed through the cleansing flames of purgatory.

Heaven.

CHAPTER VI.

SOME ASPECTS OF RELIGION AND WORSHIP IN THE MIDDLE AGES,

Contrasts in

ages.

In the foregoing chapters an opportunity has been afforded incidentally to touch upon many of the peculiarities of mediæval religion. Some general remarks on this subject will here the middle be added. One is struck with the strong contrasts that present themselves in every province of medieval life, and lend to it a picturesque character. By the side of the brilliant attire of the prince and of the bishop, we see the coarse frock of the monk and the rags of the peasant. In the vicinity of the mighty cathedral, whose spires rise above the tallest trees of the forest, are the mean dwelling of the mechanic and the peasant's miserable hovel. Associated with mail-clad knights, whose trade is war and whose delight is in combat, are the men whose sacred vocation forbids the use of force altogether. Through lands overspread with deeds of violence, the lonely wayfarer with the staff and badge of a pilgrim passes unarmed and in safety. In sight of castles, about whose walls fierce battles rage, are the church and the monastery, within the precincts of which quiet reigns, and all violence is branded as sacrilege. There is a like contrast when we look at the inmost spirit and temper of different classes. On the one hand there is flagrant wickedness, the very thought of which excites horror. On the other hand we meet with examples of sanctity that command, in the most enlightened days, the deepest reverence of all who value Christian excellence. The middle ages are commonly designated the "ages of faith." Doubt as to the reality of things divine was an infrequent intruder. When it came, it was repelled as a messenger of Satan. A sense of the nearness of the supernatural world, and of the beings, good and evil, that belonged to it, possessed all minds. A thin veil divided the realms unseen from the visible world, and that veil might at any moment part for the free ingress of invisible agents. Every thought on divine things, every

Defective yet real piety.

aspiration, every fear, was bodied forth in symbols. Prayer and praise, religious ceremonies, sacred festivals and pageants, formed an atmosphere in which the entire community lived and breathed. Unhappily the idea of merit was closely attached to external observances. They were too much viewed in the light of a price paid for the mercy of heaven; for

frequently they stood in no vital relation to morality. They were practised as a means of atonement for vice and cruelty, a bribe to placate an avenger-a substitute, it might be, instead of a sign and fruit, of repentance. Yet no one can read the counsels given by such men as Anselm and Bernard, to those who sought direction, without feeling how deeply the teachings of Christ had penetrated their souls. And such leaders were not wanting in the darkest ages. Even in the tenth century, writes Trench, "what grander company of Christian men and women, and these occupying the thrones of the earth, would anywhere greet us than greet us here -Otto the Great, and Brun, Archbishop of Cologne, his brother, these two, the layman and the priest, working so zealously together for the spread of Christian missions among the wild heathen races that raged and stormed around the fortress of German Christianity; while completing this royal group there is Matilda, the mother of these; and Otto's queen, well worthy to share his toils and his throne, our English Edith, granddaughter and undegenerate scion of Alfred the Great." In 865 Pope Nicholas I wrote to the Bulgarians a letter which was accompanied by the present of Bibles and other books. He urged them to gentleness in the treatment of idolaters. In answer to questions which they had proposed, he told them that Christians were not, like the ancient Jews, confined to any particular place of prayer. He warned them that they ought not to rest their hopes on particular times and seasons, or look to them for help, but rather look to the living God. In emergencies, when men were called to prepare for war in defence of their country, they ought not to intermit their necessary labors, even if it was a time of fasting. To do so would be to tempt God. He inculcated a forgiving disposition, objected to the frequency of capital punishment among them, and to other inhuman practices. What he required of them was a change of the "inward man "-that they should put on Christ. In this way a pope could write in the ninth century. Exhortations equally Christian and spiritual in their tenor might be culled from the writings of bishops and holy monks in every century. This much may be said, that the Decalogue, the Lord's Prayer, and the Apostles' Creed were made familiar to all. There was great activity of conscience in the middle ages. It was the effect of the legal spirit that was infused into the popular teaching and the accepted interpretation of Christianity. This life of conscience was evident in the manifold austerities to which it gave rise. It meets us with impressive power in the poem of Dante, the great literary production of the middle

Life of conscience.

ages. In considering the religion of this period, we must remember that there occurred from time to time intellectual and spiritual revivals. Such, in different ways, were the Hildebrandian reform, the monastic reform under the auspices of St. Bernard, the rise of scholasticism, the outburst of enthusiasm in the era of the crusades, the formation of the mendicant orders. These "beneficent waves of high spiritual emotion," whatever mixture of evil belonged to them, lifted multitudes above the grovelling thoughts and pursuits to which they had been accustomed.

Good and evil spirits.

Worship of saints and of Mary.

In the devotional system of the middle ages the celestial hierarchy of angels had an important place. Apparitions of angels were believed to be not infrequent. They were protectors against the demoniacal spirits with which the air was peopled. The "swarming, busy, indefatigable, malignant spirits" claimed the world of man as their own. They assumed grotesque and repulsive forms. Satan was figured as having horns, a tail, and the cloven foot. Connected with this ever-present superstition, the torment of the young and the old, was the belief in magic spells and the efficacy of talismans. The potent reliance of the timid, tempted, persecuted soul was in the help and intercession of the saints. These multiplied in number as time advanced. Every church, every village, had its tutelary spirits. The miracles which they were believed to have wrought were numberless. More and more the legends of the saints were read, until in later times the romances of love and chivalry divided with them the popular regard. Those legends fill the sixty ponderous folios of the yet unfinished collection of the Bollandists. They contain valuable historical material, to be reached by sifting out the fiction, as grains of gold are separated from heaps of sand. Yet even the endless tales of miracles are interesting, small as may generally be their title to credence, since they embody in a mythical form the ideas and beliefs of those from whose minds they sprang, and of the generations who listened to them or hung with delight over their marvellous incidents. Far above all the saints in the popular veneration was the Virgin Mary. The homage paid to her had been increasing in fervor and approaching nearer to divine honors from the dawn of the mediæval period. Chivalry made her an idol of the imagination. The knight devoted himself to her service and invoked her aid in battle. A Chapel of our Lady was formed in every cathedral and in most churches of considerable magnitude. In the numerous hymns to Mary she was described in the most glowing terms of praise, and