View of those who use the Vestments.

If it is desired to know the meaning of the chasuble and the other vestments, we appeal to the declarations of those who wear them, and of those who want them. The dress is connected with the doctrine of Transubstantiation, i.e., the presence of Christ's material body in the Sacrament, with a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of the living and the dead, with the offering of it to Almighty God by the sacerdos, or sacrificing priest. These are the three ideas which invest the dress of the priest with a symbolism which no man can consider innocent or uncontroversial. As history shows, the acceptance of doctrine by the Church of Rome was in two advancing stages. The first at the Council of Lateran, in 1215, when the word "Transubstantiation" was sanctioned, and the second at the Council of Trent, in 1545-63, where the doctrine of the Lateran Council was finally inserted as an article of faith page 5 to be rejected on peril of salvation. That the dress is associated with the doctrine is proved by two most impressive functions. The first is Ordination. The very words used at the ordination by the Bishop when he blesses the ordinand as he assumes the chasuble are: "The blessing of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit descend upon thee, and may thou be blessed in the sacerdotal order and offer propitiatory sacrifices for the sins and offences of the people!" After the chasuble has been placed on the shoulders of the newly-ordained priest, his hands are anointed with Holy Oil, so that he may consecrate "Hosts, which are offered for the sins and negligences of the people." The Council of Trent pronounces that, in connection with the Sacrifice of the Mass, the Church employs "Mystic benedictions, lights, incense, vestments, whereby the majesty of so great a Sacrifice may be recommended." The other function referred to is called "Degradation;" the form to which Cranwell was subjected. It consists in the un-doing in revolting detail of every solemnity connected with the Ordination of a Priest. He is stripped of all his Mass Vestments, one by one, and then declared to be "incapable of celebrating the Mass." There can be, therefore, no possible doubt as to the significance attached to the vestments as ordered in the Roman Church.