hands are washed, and in the interim the Assistant Priest carries to the Altar the cushion, or reading-stand, with the Missal, canon, and bugia, as in chapter i. n. 41.

15. After his hands are washed, the Bishop proceeds to the Altar, and the Subdeacon takes the chalice and burse from the credence without the humeral veil, and proceeds to the Altar, where he ministers for the Offertory as usual, but without having the water blessed. (Carem. Epis. lib. ii. cap. xi. n. 6.) He then stations himself at the left of the Bishop, and to the right of the Assistant Priest, a little behind.

16. The Bishop, having said the Veni Santificator, blesses the incense, and incenses the oblata more solito, the Deacon and Subdeacon assisting on either side and the Assistant Priest, in due time, removing the Missal from the Altar. After the incensing, the Master of Ceremonies puts on the Bishop's mitre. The Deacon incenses the Bishop only (Carem. Epis. ibid.); and having given the thurible to the Thurifer, will hold the towel conjointly with the Subdeacon, while a servant, or some other person, in kneeling posture, pours the water on the Bishop's hands.

17. The Bishop's hands being washed, the Deacon takes off the mitre, and all three proceed unus post alium to the centre of the Altar, where the Deacon in due time answers the Suscipiat, &c.

18. At the Sanctus they will proceed on either side of the Bishop, the Subdeacon placing himself a little behind. At this time four Clerks, with their torches leave the sacristy, and remain at the Altar until the first ablution exclusively.

19. At the words Quam oblationem, the Subdeacon, having genuflected in the centre, proceeds on the Epistle side to offer incense at the Elevation, it having been already prepared by an Acolyte. (Carem. Epis. ibid. n. 8.) After the Elevation, the Subdeacon returns to his place behind the Bishop.

20. When the Bishop has arrived in the Pater noster at the words Et dimitte nobis, &c., the Deacon alone goes to give the paten; and after the Agnus Dei he will remain

there to minister the ablution, the Pax not being given. The Mass is then continued as usual until the Placeat, as in chapter i.

21. The last Dominus vobiscum being sung by the Bishop, the Deacon, turned towards the Altar, sings Requiescant in pace, the Bishop also saying it in an undertone, according to a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, Sept. 7, 1816.

22. The Bishop having said the Placeat, kisses the Altar, and omitting the benediction, recites as usual the last Gospel, the Ministers standing, as in chapter i. n. 58; which being finished, the Deacon puts on his mitre, and all proceed by the shortest way to the faldstool, having first made an inclination to the Cross.

23. The Bishop having taken his seat, the Ministers lay by their maniples (Carem. Epis. ibid. n. 9), and the Assistant Priest his cope, which the Bishop will use at the Ablution. (Grassi, lib. ii. cap. xxxix. and Bauldry, lib. ii. chap. xi. art. i. n. 11.) The two Ministers will divest the Bishop of the maniple, mitre, chasuble, and dalmatics, and vest him with the cope and mitre.

ARTICLE V.-The Absolution at the Catafalque.

24. The Bishop being vested in cope and mitre, the two sacred Ministers make an inclination to him; the Deacon then stations himself on his left, and the Subdeacon takes the processional Cross, and placing himself between the two Acolytes with lighted candles, goes with them to the centre of the choir, preceded by the Thurifer, and Clerk who carries the vase of holy water and the ritual. Having arrived in the centre, the Thurifer and Clerk bearing the holy water genuflect, and proceed towards the catafalque. The clergy of the choir, walking two and two, follow the Cross, having first genuflected at the Altar. The Deacon,

The Ceremonial of Bishops (book ii. cap. xi. n. 14) supposes an Assistant Priest to assist at the Absolution vested in cope; it would therefore be more convenient to have one prepared especially for the Bishop.

2 The alternative is allowed by the Rubrics of preparing a large Catafalque in the middle of the Church, or of only placing a portable one, or even a black cloth in front of the Throne after Mass.

wearing his berretta, attends on the left of the Bishop to raise the border of his cope. Having made the due reverence to the Altar, they follow the clergy. (Cærem. Epis. &c.)

25. Having arrived at the head of the catafalque, the Thurifer and Clerk place themselves on the right of the faldstool, with their faces towards the catafalque, and the Acolytes proceed with the Subdeacon to the other extremity of it, and take their places facing the faldstool (Carem. Epis. ibid. n. 16), taking care to leave a passage for the Bishop and his assistants at the time of the Absolution. The choir will stand round on either side facing the catafalque, regulating their distance from it by that of the Subdeacon. The Bishop, having arrived at the faldstool, takes his seat (Carem. Epis. ibid. n. 16), and the Master of Ceremonies arranges his cope, while the Deacon, having uncovered, stands on his left.

26. All being thus disposed in order, the Cantors will intone the responsory Libera me Domine, &c., and during its repetition, the Deacon passes to the right of the Bishop to Minister the incense, omitting the usual oscula. The Thurifer approaches, and the Bishop blesses the incense in the usual manner.

27. Before the choir sing the Kyrie, the Deacon removes the mitre from the Bishop, who rises; and when the last Kyrie has been sung, says in a loud voice Pater noster, continuing the prayer in an undertone. The Deacon then presents the aspersory, omitting the usual oscula, and remains standing on the right of the Bishop until he has put on his mitre. The Bishop then proceeds to make a triple aspersion at each side of the catafalque, beginning on the right; when passing the Cross of the Subdeacon, he makes an inclination, but the Deacon a genuflection. (Carem. Epis. ibid. n. 18.)

28. Having aspersed the catafalque, he will restore the aspersory to the Deacon, and taking the thurible, incense the sides of the catafalque in the same order. Having returned the thurible to the Deacon, the Bishop proceeds to the faldstool, where, without mitre, he says Et ne nos inducas, &c., as also the Prayer, a Clerk ( Rit. Rom.),

or the Deacon himself (Rubr. Miss. part ii. tit. xiii. n. 4), supporting the ritual, and another Clerk the bugia. The choir having answered Amen, he makes the sign of the Cross towards the catafalque, saying, Requiem æternam, &c. (Rituale Rom. and Rubr. Miss. ibid.)

29. The Requiescant in pace having been sung, the Bishop, as well on the day of the anniversary as when the corpse is present, will add: Anima ejus et animæ omnium fidelium defunctorum per misericordiam Dei requiescant in pace (Rubr. Miss. ibid. et S. R. C. die 2 Decembris, 1654); and having taken his seat, the Deacon puts on his mitre; they then proceed to the choir, or sacristy, to unvest. (Carem, Epis. ibid. n. 23.)

ARTICLE VI. Of the Absolution when the Corpse is present.

30. If the obsequies be made when the corpse is present, the Subdeacon's Cross will be stationed at the head of it (Rit. Rom. de Exequiis, et S. R. C. die 3 Septembris, 1746), and the faldstool will be placed at the feet. (Carem. Epis. lib. ii. cap. xi. n. 24.)1

31. The Bishop being arrived at the faldstool, and the Deacon having removed his mitre, will stand and say, in a ferial tone, the Prayers Non intres in judicium servo tuo, &c., without changing the last two words into serva tua, if the corpse be that of a woman, according to a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, Jan. 21, 1741. The Clerk or Deacon supports the ritual, as in No. 29. This over, the Bishop takes his seat, and will continue as above.

32. If the corpse is to be immediately carried to the grave, when the Bishop has terminated the Prayer Deus cui proprium, &c., the Cantors will intone the antiphon In paradisum, &c., acting throughout in conformity to the prescription of the Roman Ritual De Exequiis. On their return from the grave to the church or sacristy, the Bishop will intone without singing Si iniquitates, and the Cantors the Psalm De Profundis. (Rituale Rom. ibid.; S. R. C. 28 Julii, 1832.)

The bodies of the Faithful, not being Priests, are placed with the feet towards the Altar; but those of Priests vice versâ.

33. If the corpse be not forthwith carried to the grave, the Bishop, after saying the Prayer Deus cui proprium, &c., intones the Ego sum, and the Cantors the Psalm Benedictus (Rituale Rom. ibid.); and the antiphon having been repeated by the choir, the Bishop will say the Kyrie, and intone the Pater noster, aspersing the corpse three times from his place, after which he continues the ceremony, as directed in the Ritual.

34. If the corpse be that of a Cardinal, Bishop, or Prelate who is a Priest, an Emperor, or a King, &c., the prescriptions of the Pontificale Romanum de Exequiis, and the Ceremoniale Episcoporum, lib. ii. cap. xi. are to be followed.

CHAPTER IV.

MASS SUNG IN PRESENCE OF A BISHOP IN HIS OWN

DIOCESE.

1. THE Bishop in his own diocese may assist at Solemn Mass either in cope and mitre, or in cappa and berretta. "In solemnioribus festivatibus Episcopus erit semper cum pluviali . . . Poterit tamen, si magis placuerit, hujusmodi Missæ in festis minus solemnibus cum sua cappa pontificali interesse." (Carem. Epis. lib. ii. cap. ix. n. 4.) Whether the Bishop assist in cope and mitre, or in cappa and berretta, he may occupy the throne,' and be assisted by an Assistant Priest and two Deacons, if possible Canons, in habitu canonicali, sine paramentis. (Ibid. n. 2, 4.) Unless the Bishop assist at the throne vestitus sacris indumentis, he does not use the crosier. Should a Bishop sing Mass in presence of the Bishop of the Diocese, the latter may very properly occupy the Throne, in cappa, and give the Celebrant permission to impart all blessings except that

'The Bishop will sometimes occupy the principal seat in the choir, as, for instance, when a Cardinal takes the throne (Carem. Epis. lib. i. cap. xiii. n. 4), he then assists in mantelletta and mozetta, or even, when the Cardinal is a Legate a Latere, in mantelletta only. (Ibid. cap. iv. n. 7).