Peace be to this house, and to all that are in it; peace to them that come in, and to them that go out. Bless, O Lord, this house, which the sons of men have built for Thee: hear those which shall come up to this place: hear their prayers in the lofty throne of Thy glory. _The clerks begin the Litany; the bishop, with certain priests and deacons, remaining prostrate at the altar._ Lord have mercy upon us, etc. _As soon as_ Agnus Dei _is said, the bishop, rising, saith:_ Let us pray. Be Thou exalted. Lord, in Thine own strength, etc. _Then the bishop shall write the alphabet along the pavement,_ [Footnote 691] _first from east to west, then from north to south, the chorus saying the Psalm_, Fundamenta ejus. [Footnote 691: In the treatise of the Mart. Remigius, _De Dedicatione Ecciesiae_, we have the following explanation of this singular custom: 'A thing which might appear puerile, unless it had been instituted by men, great in dignity, spiritual in life, apostolical in discipline. In all things of this kind, the Lord by His example hath gone before us: and what He hath done, remaineth unchangeable in his successors. What is understood by the alphabet save the beginnings and rudiments of sacred doctrine? Whence S. Paul, "Ye have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God." Therefore the bishop writeth the alphabet, to signify that he teacheth the pure doctrine of the gospel. He writeth the alphabet twice, and that in the figure of a cross, to signify that the Passion of Christ is set forth by the gospel in its purity. He writeth it in the angles of the church, because by them be set forth the four corners of the world. He beginneth from the east, because the gospel began from the Jews.' There is probably some reference to the Saviour's stooping down, and writing in the sand. We may also compare those singular and rare bells, in which the only inscription round the crown consists of the letters of the alphabet.] {202} _The Bishop_. O God, make speed, etc. _Response_. O Lord, make haste, etc. _The Bishop_. Glory be, etc. _Response_. As it, etc. _Then followeth the exorcism of the salt, and the water, and the ashes._ _Then the bishop maketh the sign of the cross at the four corners of the altar, with hyssop, going round it seven times. The chorus sing the Psalm_, Miserere mei Deus. _Then the bishop sprinkleth the water three times round the church: the chorus singing_ Deus noster refugium. _Then the bishop sprinkleth the water over the altar: the chorus singing_ Qui habitat. _Then the bishop sprinkleth the whole church inside with the water thrice: to signify the Church's inward faith in the Trinity: and once outside, to signify the one baptism. The chorus sing_ Fundamenta ejus; _and while the priests are ascending the turrets,_ Jacob beheld a ladder, etc., _and the Psalm_ Deus noster refugium.