* Ecoe Cracifl algnmn, fugtant phantaBinata cuncta !'
On the admission of the bishop and clergy into the church, the Veni Creator is sung. Then one of the sub- deacons takes ashes, and sprinkles them on the pave- ment in the form of a cross ; next follow the litanies and other parts of divine service. After which the bishop, with his pastoral staff, describes, as with a pen, two idpliabets m the ashes sprinkled by the deacon, and proceeds to consecrate the altar by sprinkling it with a mixture of water, wine, salt, and ashes, in the name of Jesus Christ. The consecration of the altar is followed by a solemn procession of the relics, which are deposited under it with great ceremony. During the whole of this imposing solemnity the church is finely adorned, and tapers are lighted upon the altar. Mass b afterwards performed by the bishop, or by
CONSENSUS GENEVENSIS 486
CONSTANCE
some other person*' (Eadie, Ecdeticuiical DicHomarjf^ a. v.).
8. ProteikaU Churekei, — The Church of England retains the nsage of oonaeciation both for Chorch edi- fices and cemeteries. What is called the consecration of a chorch at present is purely a legal (not a relig- ions) act| doly setting aside a' certain building from secidar uses. There is no form of prayer for consecra- tion of churches prepared by competent authority ; it is left to eveiy bishop to use any which he thinks fit, though the form which was prepared by the bishops in 1712 is that most generally used. But all existing unauthorized forms are illegal, and contrary to the Act of Uniformity (Eden, s. v.). The form of 1712 was adopted, with slight modifications, by the Protes- tant Episcopal Church in the United States: it is given in the Prayer-book. The form used in the Methodist Episcopal Church (for Dedication) is taken partly from a form of consecration prepared by bishop Andrewes, and partly from the abovo-mentionod form of 1712. It may be found in the DudpUne (pt. iv, ch. riii). The new " Liturgy of the German Reformed Church" in America contains an excellent form for the consecration of a church, as does also the ** Litur- gy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church" (§ 18).
ConsenBOB QenevenBiB, a confession of faith drawn up by Calvin in 1551. Its title is De cetema Dei pradetdnatume, qua m $alutem aUos ex homimbui elegit^ alios sua exitio reliquit^ it. de providentia, qua ret kumanat gubemcU^ amtensus pcutontm Genecensi* ecde' tUBj a J, Cahino expotitus (Genev. 1552, 8vo, in 0pp. vii, 688). It is given in Niemeyer, CoUectio Confetno- nmn (1840), p. 218 et sq. Its purpose was to unite the Swiss churches, with regard to predestination, as the ConaentuM Tigtaimti (q. y.) had served to do with regard to the sacraments. It presents the Calvinistic theory of predestination with great clearness and decision. — Smith's Hagenbach, EiiUnyofDodrwes, § 222 ; Shedd, Hitlory ofChrittian DocHme, bk. vii, ch. ii, § 2.
ConBenBUS TigurintiB, a confession prepared by Calvin in 1549, and adopted by the Zurich theologians. " It grew out of a desire on the part of Calvin to effect a union among the Reformed upon the doctrine of the Eucharist" Its title is Conaenaio mutua in re sacra- mentaria Ministror, Tigur, et J, Calvinif and consists of 26 articles (Cakmn 0pp. vili, p. 648 sq. and in his Tract, theolog. [Genev. 1611 ; Amster. 1667, fol.]. It was separatdy printed in 1554 by Robert Stephen, and is given in Niemeyer, Confessio CoUecticnum [1840], p. 191 sq.).— Shedd, Hittory of Doctrines, bk. ^ ch. ii, § 2 ; Hagenbach, History of Doctrines, § 222.
ConBilia Evangelica, in the Roman Catholic Church, are such moral counsels as are not obligatoiy for every Christian, but are advised in order to per- fection. The name is generally applied to the three monastic vows of virginity, voluntaiy poverty, and obedience (to the monastic superior), but some the- ologians of the Church of Rome count as many as twelve ** evangelical councils." It is needless to say that Protestants admit of no such distinctions. — Her- sog, Beal'Encyldop. iii, 119. See Superebooation.
CODBiBtory (Lat. consistorium), a name designa- ting a college of men who acted as advisers of the Roman emperors in important affairs of the state, as well as the place where these meetings were held. 1. In the Roman Catholic Church the name has tr^ quently, but not generally, been used to designate col- leges of members of the chapter, also the episcopal chapters themselves, viewed as a whole, in their rela- tions to the bishop and to the diocese. Papa/ consis- tories, or Consistories of cardinals (Consistoria cardi- nahmC), are meetings of the colleges of cardinals, call- ed by the pope for deliberating on important afibirs of the Church, and generally under his presidency, "^ese consistories are partly regular (usually once a light), in which only cardinals take part, under the
preddencj of the pope or of the dean of the cotkged cardinals. They are called aecrtt cosuutories (eotisit^ ria secreta). When, on solemn occasions, bishops sd the ministers of foreign powers are admitt^, tiwv itt called public consistories (consistoria pubUcd). Tbe li^ ter are always presided over by the pope. At boA the cardinals have only a consultatiTe vote. The nW jects which are to be finally disposed of in a censiite^ are first selected by the pope with the aid of an extii» dinary congregation, consisting of the oldest (is to tk time of appointment) cardinal bishop, the oldest cudU nal priest, and the oldest cardinal deacon, the cardioil vic»K:hancellor, the cardinal chamberlain, and the tm- dinal secretary of state ; and after that lefened fir preparatory deliberation to the Consistorial Conyrt^ tion. See Conobsoation. The resolutions pasMl at secret consistories are promulgated in a pabbc €«•• sistory, and mostly accompanied by a solemn "sBi^ cution*' (q. v.) of the pope. While presiding the pppi is mounted on a magnificent throne and habited in Ui pontificalia ; on his right sit the cardinal bishops aal priests, and on the left the cardinal deacons. Thi other prelates, prothonotaries, auditors of the roti, and officers, are seated on the steps of the throne ; tk courtiers on the ground; ambassadors on the ligirt, and consistorial and fiscal advocates behind the carfi* nals.— Wetzer u. Welte, Kirchen-Lex. ii, 845 and SSL 2. In the Lutheran state chnrches consistories in boards of clerical and lay officers appointed by tk sovereign of the country, as highest bishop for tk administration and superintendence of ecdeaiastkal affairs, for exercising jurisdiction in marriage a&in, and for inflicting ecclesiastical penalties. The fint consistory was established at Wittenberg in 1537, tk second at Leipzic in 1548. The members are caM ** consistorial councillors,*' the chief "consistoriil president.** If there are more than one consistory in a country, a ** supreme or national consistory" (pier' Consistoriwn, Landes - Consistoritmi) is placed orei the " provincial consistories.'* If the right to estab- lish a consistory was conceded by the sovereign of s country to a nobleman or city, such a consistory ms called a ** mediate consistory" {Mediat'CiHuistonmi}. Nearly all the consistories of this class have been abolished in modem times. As the power of cosa^ tories was defined by the princes, it diflfered in difier> ent countries. In the Reformed churches the duk consistory is equal to the presbytery of the Piesbrte- rian churches. For fhll information, consult Bdhner, Jus Ecdesiasticum Protestantisan, and Bichter, Kvd^