[Illustration: Fig. 200.--Altar of the ancient Cathedral of Arras (Thirteenth Century), now destroyed; from a picture of the Sixteenth Century preserved in the sacristy of the Cathedral of Arras.--The angels on the top of the columns bear the instruments of the Passion. Along the summit of the screen are placed six reliquaries containing the relics of different saints; they form a retinue for Jesus, the chief of all martyrs. The tabernacle is not a heavy square case, but a suspended casket borne by an angel, who appears to descend from heaven. Higher up three angels collect in the mysterious cup of the Grail the blood which flows from the feet and hands of the crucified Jesus.] At high festivals the mass was followed by the ceremony of the offering, at which all present were expected to deposit a coin in a plate, and kiss the emblem of good-will presented to them (Fig. 198). This offering was in memory of an ancient custom. The offerings, which in the primitive Church the faithful were accustomed to make every day, consisted of bread and wine. They were placed before the altar at the commencement of the second part of the mass, after the reading of the Gospel and of the Apostles’ Creed. The capitularies of the early Frankish kings prescribed that neophytes were to offer bread and wine at least every Sunday. Until the eighth or ninth century, some authors assert that for the sacrifice of the mass, either leavened or unleavened bread was used indifferently; but since that period leavened bread has only been in use in the Eastern Church. From this epoch, also, the offered bread was no longer used except for distribution to the people, as a symbol of the communion, and it then took the name of _eulogy_ or _consecrated bread_ (Fig. 199). These pieces of bread, which the assisting priests and deacons offered successively at the altar upon white napkins, were of a round shape. They were termed _hoops_, _crowns_, and _wheels_. The custom of offering bread and wine whilst holding a lighted taper in the hand has been handed down, and still exists at burials in many dioceses. The altar where the offerings were made was surmounted by a cupola (called _ciborium_) sustained by four columns, between which were curtains, which were closed during part of the service to hide the sacred mysteries about to take place (Fig. 200). In the middle of the cupola, above the altar, a hollow dove, made of gold or silver, was suspended (Fig. 201); in this the eucharist for the sick was kept. This silver dove was replaced at a later period by the tabernacle. [Illustration: Fig. 201.--Dove suspended above the altar, containing the eucharistic box (Thirteenth Century).--“Studies upon the Archæology of the Altar,” by Laib and Schwarz.]