As Lothair rose, Miss Arundel passed him with streaming eyes.
“There is nothing in this holy office,” said Father Coleman to Lothair, “to which every real Christian might not give his assent.”
“Nothing,” said Lothair, with great decision.
CHAPTER 15
There were Tenebrae on the following days, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, and Lothair was present on both occasions.
“There is also a great office on Friday,” said Father Coleman to Lothair, “which perhaps you would not like to attend—the mass of the pre-sanctified. We bring back the blessed sacrament to the desolate altar, and unveil the cross. It is one of our highest ceremonies, the adoration of the cross, which the Protestants persist in calling idolatry, though I presume they will give us leave to know the meaning of our own words and actions, and hope they will believe us when we tell them that our genuflexions and kissing of the cross are no more than exterior expressions of that love which we bear in our hearts to Jesus crucified; and that the words adoration and adore, as applied to the cross, only signify that respect and veneration due to things immediately relating to God and His service.”
“I see no idolatry in it,” said Lothair, musingly.
“No impartial person could,” rejoined Father Coleman; “but unfortunately all these prejudices were imbibed when the world was not so well informed as at present. A good deal of mischief has been done, too, by the Protestant versions of the Holy Scriptures; made in a hurry, and by men imperfectly acquainted with the Eastern tongues, and quite ignorant of Eastern manners. All the accumulated research and investigation of modern times have only illustrated and justified the offices of the Church.”
“That is very interesting,” said Lothair.