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A Movable Mensa.

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SECTION 2. THE CHARACTER OF OUR FUTURE. FANES CONSIDERED; THE POSSIBILITY OF PROVIDING EASILY AND ECONOMICALLY SACRED SHRINES WHEREAT TO WORSHIP; TOGETHER WITH CERTAIN OTHER SPECULATIONS AND CONJECTURES.

"Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if Thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias."-S. MATT. xvii. 4.

"I will that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands."1 TIM. ii. 8.

With these facts before us, which have been stated above, it would seem possible for us to adopt one or two or more plans in the future erection of our sacred edifices, whereby all horrible nefarious consequences might be entirely obviated, or otherwise be considerably diminished in intensity.

It might be lawful, then, to erect a structure which would in all respects externally be similar to a Christian church. But instead of having it formally dedicated to God's service, let it merely be licensed by the bishop for the celebration of Divine Services therein. And the only consecrated part of it need be a movable marble mensa, only large enough for holding the sacred vessels, and neatly fitting into a groove made for it in the Altar Table placed at the east end. Should any war or civil disturbance then arise, nothing could be easier than to remove the small marble mensa, that has been consecrated, into a place of safety; and what would then be left for the enemy to work his will on, save the unconsecrated building, which at most could only have acquired a quasisacred character? And the ground whereon it stood would be equally as holy as that in the immediate vicinity of the Burning Bush formerly.

And, moreover, the marble mensa might be made. of uniform size and pattern, and portable, so that each priest might carry his own, together with the sacred vessels, and so be able decently to celebrate at any Altar he might visit.

Or, again, a church, chapel, or oratory might be formally dedicated by the bishop for purposes of Divine Service, without the consecration of anything else in it but a portable marble mensa for the celebration of the Holy Mysteries.

Or again, the chancel alone of a church might be consecrated, and the rest of the building might be licensed for the solemn assembling of the faithful, and for preaching, and the performance of any sacred rite therein. Any one of these plans might be usefully adopted, or some other plan might suggest itself to a "Committee of Safety," appointed specially for inquiring into matters of this sort.

But, it may be asked next, is there anything to be found in Holy Scripture,* or in past or present Catholic usages, which might favour some such scheme, or encourage us to establish a precedent, if precedent be wanting? To this we reply that there would appear to be much evidence adducible in favour of our adopting some such plan; and to the task of proving this, we will now apply ourselves.

We learn that the ark of the Covenant and other holy things were accounted so sacred that only a certain number, even out of the priestly tribe of Levi, were allowed to touch them. If any other presumed to do so, he suffered the penalty of death at God's hands (Numb. iv. 15, 19, 20). The Most High

*Cf. Numb. x. 33-36.

Penalty of Sacrilege.

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proved Himself to be most jealous of the honour and reverence that was due to His Holy Name, and secured under the penalty of death that reverence should be paid even to material things as symbolizing that sacredness which surrounded His own ineffable Presence. It was for this reason we find that Uzzah died before the ark; and for this reason also, we may believe, Korah and his company perished. It was for this reason also, we may possibly conjecture, that God removed, by means secret to us at this time, the ark of His Covenant from His Temple at Jerusalem. He knew that the time had come, or was approaching, when the Israelites should suffer for their national sins, and be carried away captive to a distant land, and no longer be in a position to protect the ark of God from horrible profanation. They seem, by their long-continued wickedness as a nation, to have deprived themselves for evermore of the privilege of forming a guard around that most sacred shrine of Jehovah.

Compare this possible conjecture respecting the fate of the ark, together with the account already given us in the Second Book of Maccabees, with the sacred record of what was done by the Almighty in the case of the Tree of Life that was placed in the midst of the garden of Eden, and it would appear that a jealous care for what is most sacred may have been an actuating, if not the chief motive in both cases for removal of the sacred object beyond man's reach.

But besides the ark itself, and the mercy seat which covered it, there were within the ark certain objects of a very sacred character. They were the golden. pot that had manna, Aaron's rod that budded, the

*

two tables of the Law, and the Book of the Law. When we consider the sacred Source from which these had originated, it would almost appear as though they were possessed of a higher sacredness than the ark which contained them, and that by their very presence within the ark they had imparted to it much, if not the whole, of that sanctity which it afterwards had acquired.

And what would strengthen our view of the matter is the fact that the ark apparently was made for the purpose of holding these very objects (Exod. xxv. 16). Had the ark been intended to possess and retain in itself and of itself a sacred character, we can imagine that it might have perhaps been formed after a more suitable shape; for instance, as an Altar, or a Holy Table. But from the following words we learn the ark was thus shaped for the purpose of holding the Testimony: "And they shall make an ark of shittim wood," said God. "And thou shalt put into the ark the Testimony which I shall give thee " (Exod. xxv. 10, 16). And from this circumstance it received its designation, and was afterwards known as the "Ark of the Testimony." And other sacred objects, considered worthy also of a place within the ark, appear to have been added subsequently from. time to time.

And these may be taken to be symbolical of, and to represent in a wonderful manner the Messiah who was to come, who was to lay down His life as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, and whose Holy Mysteries would thereafter be celebrated on the Altar which, in point of honour and sacredness,

*Cf. Exod. xxxii. 16.

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would occupy the position in the sanctuary then held by the ark of the Testimony. The Testimony or Book of the Law, and the two tables of the Covenant, testified of Him who is the very Word of God, who came to fulfil both the Law and the Prophets, and to reconcile sinners unto God; the rod that so miraculously budded represented Him who should no less marvellously come forth as "a Rod out of the stem of Jesse," and should stand for "an Ensign of the people;" the manna that was in the golden pot symbolized "the Living Bread which should come down from Heaven that a man might eat thereof and not die." What were contained in the ark of the Testimony formerly may be considered typical of those most precious Gifts of the New Testament reserved for us who live in this more glorious dispensation.

But we should not pass from this subject without mentioning a practice which obtains among some of the Faithful of Christ's Holy Church. We refer to the practice of placing the relics of departed Saints and Martyrs, or other sacred objects, beneath the Altar, or mensa, upon which the Holy Mysteries are celebrated. Doubtless this practice is adopted from a belief that the House of God becomes more sacred from the fact of these relics lying within it, and more worthy of God's Presence and of the sacred uses to which it has been dedicated.

But, it will be objected, what connection can exist between the dust of the departed Saints and the Holy Mysteries? We know from Holy Writ that "precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints;" we know also that they are verily members of Christ's Mystical Body, bone of His Bone, flesh of His Flesh;

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