RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Vestry Vicar
used for spiritual provision for the two great journeys of life and death—baptism and the last communion, the word being employed in the former sense by Basil the Great (Hom., xiii.) and Gregory Nazianzen (Oratio, xl. 11). Before long, however, the word became restricted to the last communion. Thus the thirteenth canon of the first Council of Niczea (325) states that ‘‘ concerning the departing, the ancient canonical law is still to be maintained, to wit, that, if any man be at the point of death, he must not be deprived of the last and most indispensable Viaticum. But, if any one should be restored to health again who has received the communion when his life was despaired of, let him remain among those who communicate in prayers only. But in general, and in the case of any dying person whatsoever asking to receive the Hucharist, let the bishop, after examination made, give it him.’’ The viaticum is repeatedly mentioned in later synods (e.g., the alleged canons of the Synod of Carthage of 398, 76-77; Orange [441], canon 3; Vaison [442], canon 2; Agde [506], canon 15; Gerunda [517], canon 9; and Toledo [675], canon 11). The earlier mode of administration was evidently under both kinds, and intinction was also permissible; or, if the condition of the sick or injured man required it, either the bread or the wine might alone be given. In other words, the method of administration was and is, so far as may be, similar to the modes of communicating those in perfect health.
The ordinary requirement of fasting communion is dispensed with in the reception of the viaticum, which is now given before the sacrament of extreme unction (q.v.), although in the Middle Ages the reverse order was observed. Like extreme unction, it may be given more than once, and if there is recovery, the recipient is required to attend mass as before. The minister is the parish priest or some one deputed by him, though in ease of sudden accident the nearest priest is to administer it. In earlier times this was not the case, for during persecutions it was given even by laymen (Eusebius, Hist. eccl., iv. 44), and Leo IV. (847-855) expressly forbade priests to send it by laymen or women (Mansi, Concilia, xiv. 891), while the Synod of Ansa (994) permitted none but priests to give it.
The elements administered in the viaticum are those customarily reserved after mass (see Respr- VATION OF THE SACRAMENT). ‘They are borne by the priest, wearing a purple stole, to the place where the sick or injured man may be, and, if possible, his confession is heard, with the ordinary absolution. There are also several versicles and responses, with a number of brief prayers; but the special form of the rite is the sentence, ‘ Receive, brother, the Viaticum of the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ; may He preserve thee from the wicked enemy, and bring thee unto life everlasting. Amen.”
In the Anglican Church the viaticum, though unmentioned. under that name, is practically implied by the offices for the Visitation of the Sick (q.v.) and communion of the sick (see Lorp’s Suppnr, V., § 2), and about it has really centered in great part the long struggle within that communion regarding reservation of the Sacrament (q.v.). Unlike the
and the like.
Roman use, however, the regular order for the celebration of the Eucharist is followed in general, with such deviations only as are appropriate to the special conditions which would naturally prevail in the communion of the sick. There is also in the Anglican offices, from the First Prayer-Book to the modern English and American uses, a special rubric providing that if, for any valid reason, the sick man be unable to be communicated physically, he does, if possessing true penitence and faith, receive the elements, ‘‘ profitably to his soul’s health, although he do not receive the Sacrament with his mouth.” BrputiogRapHy: Bingham, Origines, XV., iv. 9; most Ro-
man Catholic manuals of devotion contain the viaticum
office, e.g., Manual of Prayers, pp. 476-481, Baltimore,
1888; F. Procter and W. H. Frere, New History of the Book of Common Prayer, pp. 626-629, London, 1910.
VICAR: An official representative or substitute, especially in ecclesiastical affairs. According to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, as Christ appointed Peter his representative (Matt. xvi. 18-19), this power of representation passed to the bishops of Rome for all time, so that very early this bishop was ‘‘ vicar of St. Peter ”’ (or, ‘‘ of the apostolic see’’), ‘‘ vicar of Christ,” or “‘ vicegerent of God on earth.” As ‘“‘ the successor of Blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, and vicar of Jesus Christ,” the pope also has vicars—all patriarchs, primates, archbishops, and bishops (qq.v.); and, in a narrower sense, the Curia (q.v.), papal legates and nuncios (see Lecatrs anD Nunctos, Papa), These vicars, in turn, have their own substitutes. Thus archbishops and bishops have, in their sacerdotal capacity, vicars in suffragans (see WEIHBISCHOF) and Coadjutors (q.v.); and in their jurisdictional capacity Vicars-general (q.v.) and vicars forane [the latter corresponding to the Anglican rural deans], as well as collegiate bodies and canons (see CHAPTER, § 3), while in case of vacancy of a see (see SepES Vacans) the cathedral chapter administers it, though within a week it must choose a definite temporary head. Rectors of parishes likewise have vicars or curates, and may also have, if need be, perpetual or temporary vicars assigned them. The vicar’s powers of representing his rector are, however, limited in many respects.
[In the Anglican Church the vicar is an incumbent of a parish, the tithes of which belong to a religious house or chapter, or to a Jayman, the vicar receiving only the smaller tithes or a fixed salary, so that in some cases he is termed a vicar-stipendiary. An archbishop or bishop may be assisted in the discharge of his non-episcopal functions by a vicargeneral, this office being represented in the American church by a rural dean (see Dan) or archdeacon (q.v.). Also, the chapels of a parish church are served by vicars, a rector presiding over the parent church, the best instance in the United States being Trinity Church, New York City.]
In the Lutheran Church the consistory and superintendents (qq.v.) are the vicars of church administration. Pastors also have vicars, appointed either at the pastor’s desire or by the governing officials, and either temporarily or permanently, as circumstances require. The term is likewise applied loosely to any representative or assistant of
Vicar-General Victor II