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Christ spoke in the Gospel" (Baudot, op. cit., 51).
This custom became gradually universal, as is shown
by the formuliT that accompany the tradition of the
Gospel-book at the deacon's ordination (the eleventh
century Visigothic "Liber ordinum" has the form:
"Ecce evangelium Christi, accipe, ex quo annunties
bonam gratiam fidei populo ", Baudot, p. 52). An ex-
ception that lasted through the Middle Ages was that
at Christmas the emperor, dressed in a rochet and stole,
sang the midnight Gospel: "Exiit edictum a Ctesare
Augusto" etc. (Mabillon, "Musaeum italicum", I,
256 sq.). Another mark of respect was that every-
one stood to hear the Gospel, bareheaded, in the atti-
tude of a servant receiving his master's orders (.\post.
Const., II, 57, and Pope Anastasius I, 399-401, in the
"Lib. Pontif."). Sozomenos (H. E., VII, 19) is in-
dignant that the Patriarch of Alexandria sate ("a new
and insolent practice"). The Grand Ma.sters of the
Knights of St. John drew their swords while the Gos-
pel was read. This custom seems still to be observed
by some great noblemen in Poland. If any one has a
stick in his hand
he is to lay it down
(Baudot, 116),
but the bishop
holds his crosier
(see below). The
Gospel was sung
from the a m b o
{ifipuv), a pulpit
generally half-
way down the
church, from
which it could be
best heard by
every one (Cabrol,
Diet. d'arch^'ol.
chret. et de litur-
gie, Paris, 1907,
s.v. " Ambon ", 1,
1330-47). Often
there were two
ambos: one for ' ~ Original in the Schat;
the other lessons,
on the left (looking from the altar) ; the other, for the Gospel, on the right. From here the deacon faced south, as the "Ordo Rom. 11" says (Mabillon, Mu- saeum italic, II, 46), noting that the men generally gatherthere. Later, when the ambo had disappeared, the deacon turned to the north. Micrologus (De missa, ix) notices this and explains it as an imitation of the celebrant's position at the altar at low Mass — one of the ways in which that service has reacted on to high Mass. The Byzantine Church still commands the deacon to sing the Gospel from the ambo (e. g. Brightman, op. cit., 372), though with them, too, it has generally become only a theoretical place in the middle of the floor. The deacon first asked the blessing of the bishop (or celebrant) then went to the ambo with the book, in procession, accompanied by lights and in- cense. Germanus of Paris (d. 576) mentions this (Ep. 1, P. L., LXXII, 91; cf. Durandus, "Ration.", IV, 24). See the ceremonies in the "Ordo Rom. I", 11, and "Ordo Rom. II", which are almost exactly ours. Meanwhile the Gradual was sung (see Gr.\dual). The "Dominus vobiscum" at the beginning, the announce- ment of the Gospel ("Sequentia sancti Evangelii" etc.), and the answer, "Gloria tibi Domine", are also mentioned by the sixth-century Germanus (loc. cit.). At the end of the Gospel the people answered , " .\men ", or "DeoGratias", or "Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini" (Durandus, "Rationale", IV, 24; Beleth, "Rationale", XXXIX; St. Benedict's Rule, XI). Our present answer, "Laus tibi Christe", seems to be a later one (Gihr, "Messopfer", 444). The elaborate care taken to decorate the book of the Gospels throughout the Middle Ages was also a sign of respect
for its contents ; St. Jerome speaks of this (Ep. xxii,
32). In a collection of manuscripts the Evangelia-
ria nearl)' always stand out from the rest by their
special sumptuousness. They are not uncommonly
written in gold and silver letters on vellum stained
purple — the extreme limit of medieval splendour.
The bindings, too, are nearly alwajs adorned with
special care. It is on Gospel books that one generally
sees ivory carvings, metal-work, jewellery, enamel,
sometimes relics. (For descriptions see Baudot, op.
cit., 58-69.) The same tradition continues in the
East. Allowing for doubtful modern taste in Greece,
Russia, Syria, etc., the Er;o77Aioi' is still the handsom-
est book, often the hand.somest object in a church.
When it is not in use it generally displays the enamels
of its cover on a desk outside the Iconostasis. To kiss
the book was always from early times a sign of respect.
This was done at one time not only by the celebrant
and deacon, but by all the people present ("Ordo
Rom. II ", 8). Honorius III (1216-27) forbade this;
but the book is still kissed by any high prelates who
may be present
(Ca>rim. episc, I,
30; Gihr, op. cit.,
445). For this
and similar cere-
monies see Bau-
dot (op. cit., 110-
19). When the
ambo disappeared
in the West the
sub-deacon held
the book while
the Gospel was
sung by the dea-
con. He also car-
ried it first to lay
it on the altar
( A m a I a r i u s of
Metz: "De. Eccl.
offic", P. L., CV,
1112; Durandus,
loc. cit.). The dea-
con made the sign
of the cross first on the book and then on him-
self — taking a blessing from the book (" Ordo Rom. I",
11, "ut sigilletur"; Durandus, loc. cit., etc.; Beleth,
XXXIX). The meaning of all these marks of rever-
ence is that the Gospel-book, which contains Christ's
words, was taken as a sj-mbol of Christ himself. It
was sometimes carried in the place of honour in vari-
ous processions (Beissel, op. cit., 4); something of the
same idea underlay the practice of putting it on a
throne or altar in the middle of the synods (Baudot,
109-110. During provincial and general synods the
Gospel is to be sung at each session. — Ccer. Episc. I, xx.xi,
16), and the superstitious abuses that afterwards
developed, in which it was used for magic (ibid., 118;
Catalani, "de codice S. Evangelii", III, see below).
The Byzantine Church has developed the ceremony of
carrying the Evangelion to the ambo into the elabor-
ate rite of the "Little Entrance" (Fortescue, "Divine
Liturgy of St. John Chry.sostom", London, 1908, 68-
74), and all the other Eastern Churches have simi-
lar stately ceremonies at this point of the Liturgy
(Brightman, op. cit., for each rite). Another special
practice that may be noticed here is that at a papal
high Mass the Gospel (and the Epistle too) is read in
Latin and Greek. This is already noticed by the first
Roman Ordo (40). At Constantinople the Patriarch,
on Easter Day, reads the Gospel in Greek, and it is
then read by other persons (o! i!i7ioi opx"/)"') in vari-
ous languages ("Tj-pikon" for that day, ed, Athens,
1908, pp. 368, .372, Nilles, " Kal. man., II, 314-15).
The same thing is done again at the Hesperinos. The
little Synopsis (SiJvoi/'tj iepd) of Constantinople (1883)
gives this Gospel of the Hesperinos (John, xx, 19-25)
