CONSECRATION OF DOCTOR MANNING.

Bruce Herald, Volume III, Issue 73, 31 August 1865, Page 8

CONSECRATION OF DOCTOR MANNING .

On Thursday, June 8, Dr. Henry Edward Manning-, once Archdeacon of the diocese of Chichester, and a leader among- 1 the many eminent men who followed the Tractarian movement, was formally consecrated at Moorfieid's Chapel as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster. The stately ritual of the Romish Church was observed in all its solemnities to do honor to the occasion. Abbots and Bishops, Heads of Religious Houses, and Ladies Superior of Convents assisted at the ceremony, which was as magnificent and impressive as only the Romish Church could make it. The interior of the chapel was impressive in the extreme. Arlio's fine picture of the Crucifixion— almost the only great picture which delineates the turbulent riot of that great sacrifice — showed with wonderful effect like a dreadful panorama behind the high altar. As being the Feast of the Pentecost, when the vestments used in the Church of Rome are crimson and gold and white, all the interior of the church was draped in those colours. The columns were swathed in crimson hangings bound with wreaths oi white roses,* the windows were dimmed with crimson blinds, and the organ loft was hung, with scarlet, emblasoned with white Maltese crosses. In the seats reserved for the diplomatists on the right of the altar all the ambassadors and ministers of the Catholic Powers were present, the French, the Austrian, the Belgian, the Italian, and with them, too, was Baron Brunow, the Russian Ambassador, Counts Arregon and Fortunato. Among the congregation were the Marchioness of Lothian, the Marchioness of Londonderry, Lord arid Lady Petre,' Sir Charles Clifford, Sir Or. Bowyer, M.P., and the representatives of most of the leading < English Roman Catholic families. Among the congregation, but nearer to the altar, were grouped in picturesque confusion, members of almost all the religious orders now in England—Passioriists, Capuchins, Benedictines, Augustinians, Franciscans, Brothers of St. Vincent de Paul, Oratorians, Oblates, Redeptorists, Dominicans, Nuns, Sisters of Charity, and Sisters of Mercy. Soon after ten o'clock the long* file of bishops, canons, doctors of divinity, and priests, filed in solemn array from the Sacristy, where, in the presence of his suffragans, the oath to observe arid maintain his faith had been duly administered to Dr. Manning. All. the titular Roman Catholic bishops of England, with the exception of those 6f Liverpool,- Shrewsbury, and Hexhain, "were • present, and all wore the gorgeous episcopal vestments .of their Church. With them were Bishops Morris, Regan, Warring, Dr. Newman, and; the Provincial of the Jesuits. The consecrator was Bishop TJllathorne, of Birming'hatn. The mass choson on this occasion was that known as "Pope Marcellus's Mass,"' a mass composed by Palestrina, but rarely performed. The service began on this occasion by reading the letters apostolic directing the. consecration to proceed, during* which Dr. Manning sat near his altar with Dr. Browne and Dr. Turner on either side. The profession of faith, which had been commenced with the oath in the Sacristy, was continued and concluded, and Dr. Manning commenced his mass at the side altar. Little departure took place from the ordinary ritual till the archbishop elect prostrated himself at the foot of the altar, while the consecrator placed the book of the Gospels between his shoulders, and proceeded to anoint his head and hands with the Holy Chrism, amid the chanting of the magnificent hymn "Veni

Creator." As the, last tones of this magnificent anthem died away r the still -more touching 1 psalm " Ecce quam bonum" was sung, and the eonsecrator delivered to the new archbishop his pastoral staff and ring* and the Gospels, which had been removed from his shoulders. After,, the Gospel had been read and Bishop Amherst had^'dfelivered a sho.rt discourse on the influence of the Holy Spirit, mass was continued to the Offertory, where the new Archbishop presented his consecrator with the offerings which have been made for long centuries past — two wax candles, two loaves, and two barrels of wine. Both the new archbishop and his consecrator then proceeded to the high altar, where, amid a silence which was broken only by solemn chants, which at last died away as the shrill tinkle of the gold bell announced the consecration to be at hand, each prelate partook of the Sacrament together from the same host and from the same chalice. The service taen proceeded as usual to its conclusion, and after the Benediction the mitre and episcopal gloves were bestowed, and the new archbishop conducted to his throne^ while the choir sang* a "Te Deum," and the other bishops stood around him uncovered. During the chanting of this great hymn of praise the archbishop gave his solemn benediction to the congregation in his accustomed way, and passing to the Epistle side of the altar received from his consecrator the Kiss of Peace. With this formality terminated the religious ceremony which made Dr. ManLing the second titular Archbishop of Westminster. Dr. Manning is the first Roman- Catholic Archbishop who has ever been consecrated in England since the Reformation, for the late Cardinal Wiseman had that dignity conferred upon him at Rome. It is singular enough that the first archbishop who is thus consecrated should be an Oxford man, and not the less curious that of the many priests who stood round the high altar of St. Mary's, Moorfields, there was not less than a hundred who had either been in orders of the Church of England, or had been Fellows of English colleges in. their day.