of missal letters given to a certain kind of large types. The missal of the Oriental rites differs from that of the Roman Church, each having, for the most part, its own proper form. See IIossltius, Obseri-ationes; Pisart, £'a;- jwsitio liitbicarum missalis ; Mohrenius, KrpOs. Missce atque liiibicarum; Iluebner, Ilistoria Miss(e; Lewis, Bible, Missal, and Brcviari) ; Maskell, Dissert, ch. iv, p. xlix sq., Ixix sq. ; Zaccaria, Bibliollieca Jiilualis, i, 39 sq. ; Palmer, Orii/ines Liturgico', i, 111, 308; Walcott, Sacred A rchieohxjy. s. v.
Missi Dominici is the name of a class of extraor- dinary commissaries sent by the Carlovingian dynasties to different parts of their dominions for various purposes of civil and ecclesiastical government. The importance of these officers was vastlj- increased by Charles the Great, who employed them as an efficacious means of restraining the dangerous power of the dukes; but the importance thus given to these dignitaries having proved under Pepin to be dangerous to royal authority, Charles strove to -Nreaken them, and destroy their power alto- gether, by transferring their supervisory functions over the jurisdictions of the counts, tlie administration of the bishops, etc., to the missi dominici. The whole empire was accordingly divided into districts (missatica, lega- tiones), coinciding generally with the province of a met- ropolitan. The missi received special instructions re- garding the different points of their mission. So great was the imijortancc the emperor attached to the careful execution of his designs, that to the written instructions always given to his travelling representatives, he fre- quently added oral explanation and discussion. Thus the missi became the organ by which the central au- thority managed the administration of the whole em- pire ; and there was, in fact, no part of the affairs of gov- ernment entirely removed from their comiietence. Their principal duties were as follows: (1) To see that the laws, both of the State and the Church, were observed, (2) To superintend jurisdiction. In whatever cause or suit there was no decision given by the court, the deci- sion was expected from the missi; they also received complaints against the courts. To that effect they held sessions four times every year in different places. Tliey ajipointed meVwres et reterions, wliose duty it was to denounce the crimes, transgressions, etc., that had transpired. (3) To superintend the execution of the laws regarding the army, and to exact the line of sixty solidi (heribannum) from the defaulters. (4) To generally super\-ise the possessions of the State and of the Church, and to make registers and descriptions thcnof. To carry out these measures tlie missi held a kind of diet (placita proviiicia), and at these sessions tlie sujierior clergy, the counts, and some other officers, were obliged to appear, iindir penalty of the heribann. Those wlio persisted in their refusal were denounced to the king.
MISSION
343
MISSION-SCHOOLS
The missi were expected to give detailed accounts of their mission at court. In difficult matters, of which they declined to take the responsibility, the decision was left to the king. Every one to whom justice had been denied by the court and the missi had always re- sort to the king. In order to give the missi sufficient authority, they were allowed the right of imposing the fine of the heribann ; and the disobedient were threat- ened even with death. Compensations were allowed them for the expenses of their travels. See Franc, de Koye, De Missin dominicis, eorum officio et potestate ; Neuhauss, De ]\[iss. doinin. ad discijilin. puhl, (Leipsic, 1744, 8vo). (J.H.W.)
Mission is the word used by Roman Catholics, An- glicans, and American Ritualists in a sense somewhat synonymous to the word Revival (q. v.). Among Ro- man Catholics the Mission is a series of special services, conducted generally by propagandists, who do not them- selves preside over a parish ; they are mostly members of a monastic order. The word " Mission" in this sense is of recent use. In the Church of England and the Protestant Episcopal Church the word designates "a series of services in which praj'er, praise, preaching, and personal exhortation are the main features, and is in- tended to call souls to repentance and faith, and deepen the spiritual life in the faithful." The "mission" is conducted in a particular parish, or in a number of parishes at once, directed by the rector, or by some priest experienced in such matters, whom he obtains to aid him. " Its themes are heaven, hell, the judgment, sin, the atonement for sin, God's justice, and God's mercy." " The purpose is the proclamation of the old foundations of faith and repentance to souls steeped in worldliness and forgetful of their destiny, whether they be the souls of the baptized or the unbaptized." The usual period of the year for the " mission" is the season of Lent (q. v.). In England it has been tlie practice for years. A correspondent of the New York Church Journal (March 12, 1874), after describing the interest awakened by the mission services in the Eng- lish metropolis (in 1874), says that the bishops, persuad- ed by the good results of the propriety of the missions, " have declined to lay down special rules, and trust to the loyalty of the clergy to conduct the mission in ac- cordance with the rules of the Church," and then adds that " the clergy are now too busy with the real work of the mission to discuss the proper pronunciation of 'Amen,' the length of surplices, and the color of stoles." In the United States it has as yet found favor with few of the Protestant Episcopal churches. A serious obsta- cle is the Liturgt/, In the mission the largest sponta- neity and freedom are allowed. Prayers are extempo- raneous. The preaching is pungent and personal. The singing is participated in by the whole congregation, and familiar hymns and tunes are selected. The ten- dency is towards a general introduction of the " mis- sion" into all Protestant Episcopal churches. The Church Journal and Gospel Messemjer of Dec. 25, 1873, made a special plea in its behalf, and the Rev. B. P. Morgan has published a book to enlist his Church in revival work. See Retreat. (J. H. AV.)