(B) RITES AND CEREMONIES
§ 1. THE LORD'S SUPPER

The Records of the Inquisition of Languedoc[68] (beginning of the fourteenth century) preserve a description of the Lord's Supper on Good Friday which is uncorroborated. "The Major on the Day of the Supper after the ninth hour, when the Supper has been prepared, washes the feet of the company (sociorum). He then places himself with them at the table, and blesses the bread, wine and fish, not as a sacrifice or offering (holocaustum), but in memory of the Lord's Supper, and prays as follows: 'O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God of our fathers, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who by the hands of the Bishops and Presbyters, Thy servants, hast commanded sacrifices and offerings and various oblations to be offered: O Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst bless the five loaves and two fishes in the wilderness, and blessing water didst turn it into wine: bless in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit this bread, fish and wine, not as a sacrifice or offering, but in simple commemoration of the most holy Supper of Jesus Christ and His disciples, since, O Lord, I do not dare to offer to Thee by impure hands and defiled mouth the sacrifice of our Lord Bishop, {81} Jesus Christ Thy Son, but this bread and the substance of this fish and wine we beseech Thee to bless in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and may the communion (communicatio) of this bread as a simple Host please Thee, Eternal Father, and so direct my soul and my body, even all my senses, and so guide my footsteps that I may be worthy to offer Thee that most sacred Body which is worshipped by angels in heaven.'" The Major eats and drinks first, and then distributes to others.

This, however, did not take the place of the celebration on Easter Day, which was the most important of the whole year, and devolved upon a Major only. For this highest service of the year the Major was the better prepared (melius dispositus) by the Lenten Fast, and particularly by the more severe fast upon bread and water only for three days previously. When the congregation, of both sexes, is assembled, a table or bench is spread with a clean cloth, and a cup of good pure wine and a cake or loaf, unleavened, placed upon it. Then the president says: "Let us ask God to forgive us our sins for His mercy's sake, and to fill us with those things which we ask worthily, for His mercy's sake, and let us say seven times the Pater noster to the honour of God and the Holy Trinity." This the congregation does on bended knee. Then the president takes a napkin (tersorium) and, hanging it over his left shoulder, with his bare right hand he wraps the loaf (panis) or cake (placenta) wholly in the napkin and holds it thus to his breast. Standing thus he repeats (some said "inaudibly") the exact words our Lord used at the Institution.[69] He then makes the sign over (signat) the bread and the wine, breaking (or cutting with a small knife lengthwise) the bread. During these ceremonies the congregation {82} stand, but at this point they and he seat themselves at the table according to (Church) rank. As each receives the bread and wine from him, he (the recipient) says: "Benedicité, Senher," and he replies, "Deus vos benedicat." Thus "their sacrifice is finished, and they believe that this is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ." The remains, if any, are reserved (conservari) until after Easter, when they are consumed by the faithful.
§ 2. GRACE AT MEALS

First of all they stand in silent prayer, long enough to say thirty or forty Pater nosters. Before sitting down they all bless the table by saying, "Benedicite, Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison." Then the eldest says in the vulgar tongue, "God, Who blessed the five loaves and two fishes in the wilderness for His disciples, bless this table and the things that are on it and shall be placed upon it," and he makes the sign of the cross saying: "In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." After the meal the Elder gives thanks, saying in the vulgar tongue Revelation vii. 12, adding: "May God give good reward and food to all who benefit and bless us: may God Who gives us temporal food give us spiritual food: may God be with us and we with Him always," and the rest answer, Amen. In blessing the table and in returning thanks they lift their hands clasped and faces to heaven. Then, if time and place were opportune, would follow a sermon or instruction, but this was usually deferred until after supper when the day's work was done, and they could speak with less danger, and, if prudence suggested, in the dark. Teaching was positive rather than negative, for they began not by denouncing the errors and vices of others, but by pointing out what being a disciple of Christ involved {83} according to the Scriptures. These they had in the vulgar tongue, as well as in Latin. They would "read round," and those who could not read would repeat from memory. They further supported their tenets by "saint and doctor."
§ 3. THE CONSOLAMENTUM

This rite was, according to Reinéri Saccho, peculiar to the Catharists, who gave it the alternative title of Imposition of hands, but Catholics, Heretication.[70] By it Catharists believed that a person received the gift of the Holy Ghost the Consolator, or Comforter—hence its name, and those who submitted to the rites were called Consolati. Hence, as only those were admitted who had proved themselves staunch and true to Catharism, they were called indifferently Consolati or Perfecti, although more strictly, the former was applicable only to the Catharists, and the latter to the Waldenses. Many who shrank from the austere life which the Consolamentum demanded postponed it until what they supposed to be their last illness, so that the ceremonies had to be altered to suit the circumstances, provided always that the imposition of hands was retained. The person to be "consoled" must, if in health, prepare himself by a three days' rigorous fast. At the service of initiation, a table or bench covered with white towels and a book, called the Text, upon it, were placed in the midst of the congregation arranged according to Church rank. Within their midst, but at some distance from the table, stood the candidate. The minister at the head of the table reminded him of the ascetic life he would have to lead, the dangers and persecutions he would have to endure, and that lapse meant eternal damnation, for there was no salvation in the Roman Church. He was then asked {84} if, with all this before him, he would surrender himself wholly to God and the Gospel. On his answering, Yes, he was further a............