AvARICK; COVETOISNESS.
Miserere (Lat. hare compassion), \hc name of a li- turgic prayer, set to music, and used in Koman Catholic worship. It is a sort of parajihrase on the 51st or 57th Psalm, and is used on penitential occasions, and particu- larly in Passion-week. It is therefore not only set to a regular Gregorian melody (see Keller, Die acht Psalmcn- tiine, etc.. Aix-la-Chap. 1856, p. 18), but has also become a theme for compositions to the most eminent masters, such as Palestrina, Orlando di Lasso, Allegri, Scarlatti, Leonardo Leo. Tliomas Bai, Zingarelli, Pergolcse, Jo- melli, Fioravanti, Fetis.Vogler. Stadler, etc. The most renowned among these compositions is that by (Jrcgo- rio Allegri (a descendant of Corrcggio, born at Home in 1.590, t 1640). in which two choirs, one of four, tlie other of five p.arts, sing alternately initil the finale, where all join in piani-^siino. the measure also becoming gradually .slower. This piece, from llie time it was com])osed, has always been sung on Wednesday and Friday of Passion- week in the Sistine Chapel at Pome. One writer says: '• Never by mortal ear was heard a strain of such power- ful, such heart-moving pathos. The accordant tones of a hundred human voices, and one which seemed more than himian, ascended t<jgether to heaven for mercy to
MISERERES
333
MISHAM
mankind— for pardon to a guilty and sinning world. It had nothing in it of this earth— nothing that breathed the ordinary feelings of our nature. Its effects upon the minds of those who heard it were almost too powerful to be borne, and never can be forgotten. One gentleman fainted and was carried out; and many of the ladies near me were in agitation ev^en more distressing, which they vainly struggled to suppress. It was the music of Allegri; but the composition, however fine, is nothing without the voices which perform it here." Another writer says: "At the conclusion of this portion of the service, and when the darkness is complete by the con- cealment of the last light, commences the Miserere. This is the 51st Psalm. And as it is breathed by the choir — the most perfect and practiced choir in the world — as it is heard in all the stillness and solemnity of the scene, -wrapped in darkness, and leaving nothing to dis- tract the eye where all looks dim and shadowy, it has a strange and wonderful effect. It is designed to express, as far as music can express, the deep and mental ago- nies of the dying Saviour; and certainly there never yet was heard, except among the shepherds of Bethle- hem on the night of the nativity, such sounds, so un- earthly, and unlike the music of the world. It is plain- tive, intensely melancholj', and has a powerful effect under the peculiar circumstances of the scene." It was formerly the exclusive property of the Sistine Chapel, tlie partition being jealously kept there ; INIozart suc- ceeded, however, in writing it down after hearing it twice. It has since been repeatedly published. While the IMiserere is sung, the pope kneels at the altar, the cardinals at their desks, and as it proceeds the lights at the altar are extinguished one by one, which is ex- plained by Gavanti, Thes. ii, 90: "Ad unuraquemque psalmum (there are other psalms sung before the Mise- rere) exstinguitur una candela, una post aliam, quia apostoli paulatim defecerunt a Christo." In fact, the whole use of this psalm in Passion-week is intended ad designundurn apostolorum iiinoi-em. The word miserere has in modern days come to be applied to any sacred composition of a penitential character. See Herzog, j Eeal-EncijMopddie, ix, 547 ; Eadie, Eccles. Cyclop, s. v. ; Siegel, Chriitliche Allerthilmer (see Index in vol. iv).
Misereres. Elbowed stalls, often found in cathedral, collegiate, and minster churches, with seats that may be turned up, so as to give an opportunity of kneeling in those parts of the service in which the language of sup- plicafion ("miserere"') occurs. They were allowed in the Roman Catholic Church as a relief to the infirm during the long services that were req^uired to be per- formed by the ecclesiastics in a standing posture. They are always more or less ornamented with carvings of leaves, small figures, animals, etc., which are generally very boldlj^ cut. Examples are to be found in almost all English churches which retain any of the ancient stalls; the oldest i^ in Henry the Seventh's Chapel at Westmiu'-ter, where there i- mu in the style of the loth ceuturv.— Parker, Glo^sm n i I ;■<■/,;/, vtare, s. v.
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Miserere in Henry the Seventh's Chapel, Westminster.
Misericord is a term used to denote various offices and articles. (1) Subsellia— Spanish subsilia— the fold- ing seat of a stalL See Miskreres. (2) A compas- sionate mitigation of full penance. (3) According to Lyndwood, a custom in certain monasteries of relieving
a number of monks, in alternate weeks, from attendance in choir and claustral duties. (4) A hall for eating flesh-meat in a monastery. Some convents, as Canter- bur\' and Westminster, had country hospitals for conva- lescents. (5) The word also implied stated indulgences and allowances, according to circumstances, of food, drink, wine or beer, or clothing or bedding, beyond the rule. And, finally, some writers, misled by the giossa- - rist of Matthew Paris, have called a misericord a guzzle of wine, an imperfect definition taken from the refresh- ment of that liquor granted during the above period. See Walcott, Sacred Archaology, s. v. ; Fosbrooke, Brit- ish MonacJiism, ch. xlviii.