to. may be contested during the di-cu-.-ion. and is only established by its conformity with all oilier ideas on the
subject.
Postulation CLat. i.e. an ashing) is a term in ec- clesiastical law designating a presentation or recom- mendation addressed to the superior to whom the riglll of appointment to any dignity belongs, in favor of one who has not a strict title to the appointment. Thus, if a chapter elect for bishop a person who wat U
the canonical requirements, or if there i> a cat ical
impediment, the act of the chapter is nol properly an election, but a request to the pope for dispensation and admission. It can only take place w hen the wanted re- quirements are of a trilling description. It is also used in the case of the presentation of candidates for the episcopacy a- it exists in the l.'oman Cathoiic Church
POSTURES
447
POT
in Ireland. See Neller, De postulaiione pralatorum, in Schmidt, Thes.jur. can. ii, 733.
Postures are the bodily attitudes assumed in the various parts of divine worship, whether public or pri- vate. No act whatever can be performed without the body taking some posture. This is the case in divine worship as well as in matters of less consequence. The only question, therefore, is whether all possible postures are equally appropriate in that worship and in its differ- ent departments. Keason, Scripture, and universal con- sent testify that they are not. Kneeling and prostra- tion seem" peculiarly expressive of penitent humility; bowing, of deep veneration ; standing, of joy and thanks- giving. They are all the natural expressions of the feeling which accompanies or characterizes the partic- ular devotion in which they are employed, and are used by supplicants to man as well as to God. The four pos- tures above mentioned are found to have been used by the ancient Christians in their prayer— standing, kneel- ing, bowing, and prostration. Standing was the posture generally observed on the Lord's day, and the fifty days between Easter and Pentecost, in memory of the Saviour's resurrection. This custom is traced up to an early period, and the reason assigned by Justin Martyr is, "Forasmuch as we ought to remember both our fall and our sin, and the grace of Christ by which we rise again from our fall, therefore we pray, kneeling, six days, as a symbol of our fall by sin ; but our not kneeling on the Lord's day is a symbol of the resurrec- tion, whereby, through the grace of Christ, we are de- livered from our sins, and from death that is mortified thereby." Kneeling was the customary posture of de- votion. Bowing down the head was chietly used in re- ceiving the bishop's or priest's benediction, and in all formal addresses to God for his mercy and favor on the people, whether catechumens, penitents, or others. In the paintings of the catacombs, and on the ancient enamelled glasses found therein, the standing posture in prayer is accompanied by outstretched and upraised hands. The bowing posture was rather a special act of reverence accompanying a particular address or a par- ticular part of an address than a sustained posture. It occurred at frequent intervals in the ancient liturgy, and is still used in the Roman mass as well as (even more profusely) in those of all the various rites, Greek, Syrian, Coptic, Armenian, and Russian. Prostration was taken from the Jewish Church, and was chiefly appropriated to deep humiliations and expressions of shame or sorrow on particular occasions, and was mainly used by the Penitents (q. v.), especially in that grade of public penance which was known under the name " prostration." It is also used still in the solemn ordi- nation of subdeacons, deaeons, and priests, as performed in the Roman Catholic Church. The question as to the use of particular postures was a subject of much con- troversy between the Puritans and the Church of Eng- land, and has recently been revived in the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. See Attitude; Prayer.
Postvorta, a surname of the Roman goddess Car- menla, indicating her knowledge of the past, just as Antevorta denotes her knowledge of the future.
Pot, a term applicable to so many sorts of vessels that it can scarcely be restricted to any one in particu- lar. See Basin; Cup, etc. But from the places where the word is used we may collect the uses, and also in part the materials of the utensils implied. This vessel, so necessary in cooking and serving up food (Numb. xi, 8; Judg. vi, 19; 1 Sam. ii, 14; 2 Kings iv, 38 sq.; 2 Chron. xxxv, 13; Isa. lxv, 4; Mic. iii, 3; Ezek. xi, 3 ; xxiv, 3 sq.), derives its ordinary names from its use in boiling. It was commonly, among the Israelites, made of clay (Heb. "^2P!, Gr. ttj;Aoc ; comp. Isa. xxix, 1G; xlv, 9; Jer. xviii, 4). But there were also brazen pots (Lev. viii, 28), especially in the sanctuary (1 Kings vii, 45; 2 Kings xxv, 14). The trade of the potters,
called 3","i^"1 (comp. Gesenins, 3fomime?Ua Phcen. p. 1G1) or b"in "H^"1 (Jer. xix, 1), in Greek Ktpaptlc, was a separate pursuit, to whose mysteries allusions are often made (Jer. xviii, 2 sq. ; Sirach xxxviii, 30 sq., 33 sq.). It was necessary first to work the clay with the feet, to make it plastic (Isa. xli, 25), and then to shape it with the hand (Jer. xviii, 4, 6; Sirach xxxiii, 13; xxxviii, 30) and the Oriental potter's wheel (E?:3X, Jer. xviii, 3 ; see Gesenius, Thesaur. i, 16). The vessels were glazed (Sirach xxxviii, 31 ; Prov. xxvi, 23), and then burned in the oven (kc'i/uivoc., Sirach, I. c). Bahr (Syrnbolik, ii, 293) and Sommer (JBibl. Abhandl. i, 213) assume, indeed, that the Hebrews were ignorant of glazing, and explain the passages (Lev. vi, 21; xi, 33 ; xv, 12) which command the breaking of earthen vessels made unclean by this want of glazing. There are, indeed, no pots extant from Egyptian antiquity, but earthen figures show a glazing upon them ; and it would be unreasonable to suppose that the Egyptians had failed to apply the art to their vessels. There is nothing inexplicable in the command to break the de- filed vessels, inasmuch as they were of little value; and any of them might easily have lost part of its glazing, and so taken in some of the unclean substance ; so that breaking was the safest method of disposing of them. Such a command would also produce more care in house- keeping to avoid uncleanness (comp. Descript. de VEgypte, vol. ii. pi. 87 sq. ; v, pi. 75 ; Wilkinson, iii, 164).— Winer. See Pottery.