a
saint could be canonized, that three miracles should be proved to have
been wrought by him in life, or after death; hence, no doubt, the efforts
of the monk to prove their potency, as the youth of the martyr would
render it doubly essential to establish his claims to the honour
indubitably. The body of a saint, by act of canonization, was placed in
a sarcophagus, an altar raised over it, where mass was said continually,
to secure his or her mediation.

Above the anti-choir was the rood loft, in which were kept the reliques,
and on which was erected the principal rood or cross, with the figure of
the Saviour carved on it. The rood loft was always placed between the
nave and choir, signifying that those who would go from the church
militant, which the nave then represented, into the church triumphant,
must go under the cross, and suffer affliction. The festival of the
cross was and is called Holy Rood Day, and was instituted first on
account of the recovery of a large piece of the cross by the Emperor
Heraclius, after it had been taken away, on the plundering of Jerusalem
by Chosroes, king of Persia, A.D. 615. Rood and cross are synonymous.
The rood, when perfectly made, had not only the figure of Christ on it,
but those of the Virgin and St. John, one on each side, in allusion to
their presence at the Crucifixion.

Besides the rood, this loft also once contained a representation of the
Trinity, superbly gilt; the Father blasphemously figured as an old man,
with the Saviour Christ on the cross, between his knees, and the Holy
Spirit, in the form of a dove, on his breast. This image was ornamented
with a gold chain, weighing nearly eight ounces, a large jewel, with a
red rose enamelled in gold, hanging on it, and four smaller jewels. A
silver collar was also presented to it in 1443, that had been bestowed
upon some knight as a mark of honour. Among the relics was a portion of
the blood of the Virgin, to which numbers came in pilgrimage, and made
offerings. Whether or no it liquefied at stated seasons, like that of
St. Genaro, is not recorded.

It is not pleasant to watch the growth of such gross materialisms over
the sacred truths and symbols of Christian worship; nor can we wonder at
the re-actionary enthusiasm that came and swept them all away, however
much good taste may deplore the loss of many beauties and solid
treasures, that disappeared amid the tumult of the "dissolution."

Passing beneath the rood