The term offertorium occurs in various significations connected with the services of the altar; in some instances it is used to designate an object of silver, or some solid material, set with gems and otherwise decorated, whilst from other authorities it is evident that the offertorium sericum was a kind of napkin, used by the deacon, for the sake of greater reverence, in which the chalice was wrapped when presented by him to the celebrant. It is a singular record of economy that, in this case, a certain tunicle of silken tissue should have been cut up to supply the material. The treasury of the church of London must have been greatly impoverished, when such niggard practices were admissible: the vessels even for the wine and water used at the service of the mass, called amulæ, phials or cruets, were of pewter, and cost only threepence the pair. It is not easy to comprehend the kind of diminutive bells, or clochæ, valued at four a penny, which were required on the feast of the dedication of the church: possibly they might be attached to the banner used on that occasion, as noticed subsequently.
The accounts of Thomas de Culing proceed with much uniformity, from year to year. In 1277 he disbursed,
In quadam olla aquatica, ob. In quadam tankarda aquatica, iij.d. ob. Item, in emendatione ferr' obbletarum, j.d. Item, in emendatione sicule argenti, ij.d.
The derivation and original use of the term tankard is very obscure: this is perhaps the earliest instance of the occurrence of the word, and it appears to designate some vessel of larger capacity than the more modern quart-can so called. The wafers, or "oblys," for the service of the altar, were prepared in most churches as occasion might require: great precaution being observed to ensure their being perfectly free from mouldiness or fermentation. The iron stamps or tongs, used for this purpose, are here designated.
The canons enacted in the reign of Edgar, A.D. 960, enjoin that mass be not celebrated without "clæne oflete," pure obly, and pure wine and water[1]. Amongst the injunctions of the synod held at Exeter, A.D. 1287, it was ordained as follows: "Provideant sacerdotes quod oblatas habeant confectas de Simula frumenti et aqua duntaxat; ita quod nihil immisceatur fermenti. Sint et oblatæ integre, candide, et rotunde, nec per tantum tempus custodiantur quod in sapore vel aspectu abominabiles habeantur[2]." The irons above mentioned served to impress upon the oblys the sacred monogram and symbol of the cross: the representation given by the Benedictines, in the "Voyage Litteraire," supplies a curious example; the wafer-irons described by them, apparently of no slight antiquity, were preserved in the abbey of Braine[3].
The term sicula, used in these accounts of the treasurer of St. Paul's, occasionally signifies a measure of liquids, (sicla, sigla, or sicula, Ducange,)
- ↑ Wilkins, i. 227. Ancient Laws and Inst., ii. 253. In Anglo-Saxon the wafer was termed also oblaten. The German word oblate, Dutch oblie, and Icelandic oblata, signifies a cake or wafer, in low Latin oblea, or oblata, in French oublie, terms derived from the Latin oblatus, offered.
- ↑ Wilkins, ii. 132.
- ↑ Voyage Litt., ii. 35.
