THE final petition of the litany chanted by the monastic choir ends resonantly: "That Thou (O Lord) vouchsafe to confirm and conserve Thy servant here present in Thy love, justice and holiness, we beseech Thee to hear us." Perhaps, following a custom not unhonored, the prostrate prince and bishops have been softly intoning the penitential psalms, while the choir sang aloud the litany; and now we catch the plaintive words of the closing anthem: "Remember not, O Lord, our offences nor those of our parents, neither take Thou vengeance of our sins." From the pavement the prince has not raised his humbled body. Over him prayers are recited by the celebrant and by the two assistant bishops, asking the omnipotent and sempiternal God of all things, Commander of the angels, King of kings, and Lord of lords “to bless the suppliant servant who is about to be consecrated a king; granting him the fidelity of Abraham, the gentleness of Moses, the fortitude of Josue, the humility of David, as well as the wisdom of Solomon; so that he may please God in all things; defend God's Church and people from foes visible and invisible, inducing the concord of true faith and peace; strike terror into infidels and bring tranquillity to all those who contend for God." To the throne of the omnipotent and sempiternal God of all things, these entreaties were offered: "Through our Lord, who, by the power of the Cross destroyed hell, and, having overthrown the kingdom of the devil, ascended victoriously into heaven-in Whom is the glory of the humble and the life and salvation of peoples." Only after the answering "Amen" did the prince arise. Having rested awhile in his chair, he returned to the altar, and there, putting off his robes, stood, covered as to the upper part of his body with a silken tunic and shirt, in which, at the breast, and between the shoulders and on the shoulders and at the elbows there were openings joined by loops of silver cord. Undoing the loops, the celebrant prepared for the anointing. Of old, according to the strict Roman ceremonial-a ceremonial to which Rome held when and where circumstances permitted-the candidate for kingship was not anointed on the head, but only on the right forearm, between the wrist and elbow, and upon the right shoulder or on the back, between the shoulders. To this simple form additions were made in certain countries; the hands being anointed as well as the forearm and shoulders. In France, probably owing to the story that, consecrating Charlemagne as emperor, Pope Leo III anointed him from head to foot, the aspirants to the kingly throne were anointed in no less than nine different places on the head, on the breast, between the shoulders, on both shoulders, on either forearm, and on both hands. As to the custom in England, we have the testimony of St. Thomas of Canterbury, that the king who instigated his murder was anointed on the head, the breast and the hands; "the which signifies," wrote Thomas, "glory, knowledge and fortitude." Competing with their French cousins, the English princes of a later day received the sacred balm on their shoulders also, and between the shoulders and on the forearm. In the beginning, kings were anointed only with the oil of catechumens, one of the three oils blessed on Maundy Thursday. A pious French legend, however—a legend supported by no proven fact--attributed a special virtue to an oil miraculously sent down from heaven in a vase, la sainte ampoule, when Clovis began to reign as a Christian. So holy was this oil reputed, that, consecrating later French kings, to the oil in la sainte ampoule, there was added a portion of the chrism consecrated on Maundy Thursday after the blessing of the oil for the sick. In England, for centuries, kings were satisfied with the simpler oil, but late in the twelfth century-the date is uncertain-English aspirants to the throne insisted on being touched with chrism as well as with holy oil. In the chrism there is an admixture of oil with a balsam or balm; a reminder of the Israelitic oil of unction, in which with myrrh, cinnamon and calamus and cassia were blended. Interrupting the Protestant succession in England, and obliged to arrange a novel sort of ceremonial, James II had a special balm prepared by his own physicians. Into the oil of olives they infused essences of orange flowers, of jasmine, of roses, of cinnamon, of am bergris, musk and other perfumes. Perhaps earlier sovereigns were equally dainty; though we have not read of any special office for the consecration of a kingly balm on Holy Thursday. An ampulla of silver, holding the oil of catechumens, and another of silver gilt, in the form of an eagle, containing the balm or chrism, had been placed on the altar, with all the royal ornaments, by the Abbot of Westminster. The two were now carried to the foot of the altar; and the prince having knelt and extended his hands, the celebrant, with the oil of catechumens alone, anointed each hand in turn, reciting meantime this prayer: "Let these hands be anointed with sanctified oil as kings and prophets were, and as Samuel anointed Saul to be king, so that thou may'st be blessed, and be constituted a king in this kingdom, over this people which the Lord thy God gave thee to rule and govern. Which may He deign to grant, Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen." Need we say that, mindful of the power of the cross, the celebrant described the form of a cross with the holy oil. Following the anointing of the hands, a beautiful petition was offered to Almighty God, that He would bless the king plentifully with grace, as He blessed Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. "Give unto him the dew of Heaven and an abundance of the fatness of the earth, and, through the bounty of the divine favor, an opulence of corn, wine, oil and of all the fruits of the earth for many a day, so that, during his reign, there may be health in the land, unbroken peace in the kingdom, and that the glorious dignity of the regal court may shine with the fullest splendor of royal power before the eyes of all. . . . Grant, Almighty God, that he may be a most courageous defender of the fatherland; a comforter of the churches, and of religious orders, with the completest kindness of royal munificence; and most powerful among kings, triumphing over enemies, subduing rebellious and pagan nations. . . . That he may be munificent and amiable and loving to the nobles and to the dignitaries and to the faithful of his kingdom; and that he may be feared and loved by all." Upon the breast, and between the shoulders, and on the shoulders, and on the forearm, and lastly upon the head, the cross was signed with the blessed oil. Then, with the balm, or chrism, a second time was the head anointed in the form of a cross; whereupon the Abbot of Westminster reunited the silver loops of tunic and shirt, while the celebrant prayed: "God the son of God, Jesus Christ, Who was anointed by the Father with the oil of exaltation above His fellows, |