SABRATA
292
SACRAMENT ALS
Gonzdlez (q. v.) was discussed. In 1699 the Prince-
Bishop of Liege appointed him president of his epis-
copal seminary, which excited a fm-ious attack from the
Jansenistic party, and the bishop had to enforce order
with soldiers. But once the crisis was past, Father
Sabran's rule became perfectly successful, and in
1708 or 1709, he was made provincial. He then
wrote to Father Medcalfe, a Jesuit in the North,
about the progress of Jansenism, but his letter was
intercepted, and was declared by some to portend
that he intended to gain possession of Douai College,
as he had done that of Liege. A long-drawn and some-
what bitter controversy ensued. After his provincial-
ship he became rector of St. Omer (1712-5), then
spiritual director at the English College, Rome, till
death. The titles of his controversial tracts, will
be found in Sommervogel, and he is alleged to have
written a paper "Artes Bajanae" about 1701 against
Jansenism.
Sommervogel, Bibl. de la comp. de Jisus, VII (Paris, 1896), 359; Foley, Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, VII (London, 1883), 676; Kirk, Biographies of English Catholics in the Eighteenth Century, ed. Pollen (London, 1903), 203; MSS. at Stonyhurst, etc.
J. H. Pollen.
Sabrata, a titular see in Tripolitana. Sabrata was a Phoenician town on the northern coast of Africa, between the two Syrta. With Oca and Leptis Magna it caused the Greek name Tripolis to be given to the region. Its Phoenician name, which occurs on coins and in an inscription at Thevesta, was hellenized Abrotomon, though PUny (V, 4) makes these two separate to'mis. Sabrata became a Roman colony; Flavia Domitilla, Vespasian's first wife, was the daughter of Statilius Capella of Sabrata. Justinian fortified the town and built there a beautiful church. In the Middle Ages it continued to be an important market, to which the natives of the interior brought their corn; the Arab writers call it Sabrat en-Nefousa, from a powerful tribe, the Nefousa, formerly Chris- tian. Sabrata is now represented by Zouagha, a small town called by Europeans Tripoli Vecchia, in the vilayet of TripoU, fifty miles west of the town of Tripoli. Its ruins lie a little north of the village; they consist of crumbled ramparts, an amphitheatre, and landing-stage. Four of its bishops are known: Pom- pey in 255; Nados, present at the Conference of Carthage, 411; Vincent, exiled by Genseric about 450; Leo, exiled by Huneric after the Conference of Carthage, 484.
Smith, Diet, of Greek and Roman Geog., s. v. Sabrata and Abrolonum, with a bibliography of ancient authors; Barth, Wanderungen, 277 ■,TovvoiTE, Geographic de V Afrique chretienne (Montreuil, 1894), 258-60; Diehl, L' Afrique hyzarUine (Paris, 1896), patsim.
S. PfiTRIDfcs.
Sabunde, Raymond of. See Raymond op Sa-
BtJNDE.
Saccsis, Ammonius. See Neo-platonism.
Sacchoni, Rainerio (Reiner), a learned and zealous Dominican, b. at Piacenza about the begin- ning of the thirteenth century; d. about 1263. It is generally said that he died in 1258 or 1259, but this is an error, an we learn from the Brief of Urban IV, by which he was called to Rome, 21 July, 1262. Little is known aa to his youth and early manhood. That, however, at an early age, he was perverted by the Cathari, became one of their bishops, and re- maincKi amongst th(!m for seventeen years, we are assured by his own humble avowal ("Summa contra Waldenses ", vi) . He was led back to the Faith, most probably, by the preaching of St. Peter Martyr, joined the Order of Prea^ihers, then recently established, and laboured zealously for many years among the heretics of Upper Italy. After the martyrdom of St. Peter he wan marlc; inquisitor for Lombarfly and the Marches of Ancona. Being enraged against him,
and yet unable to put him to death, the heretics
finally succeeded in having him sent into exile.
Thereafter we have no further mention of him except
in the Brief of Urban IV. The "Summa de catharis
et leonistis, sive pauperibus de Lugduno" (Paris,
1548, and by Martene in "Thes. Anecd.", V, 1759)
is the only authentic work ascribed to him. This
work is a collection of the heretical doctrines of his
time, and was regarded as a great authority during
the Nliddle Ages. The edition of Gretser (Ratisbon,
1738) is much interpolated.
EcHARD, Script. Ord. Pnrd., I, 154 sq.; Hurter, Nomenclator, II, 336 sq.; Touron, Hist, des hommes ill., I (Paris, 1743), 313 sq.
Chas. J. Callan.
Sacra Jam Splendent, the opening words of the hymn for Matins of the Feast of the Holy Family. The Holy See instituted the feast in 1893, making it a duplex majus (greater double) and assigning it to the third Sunday after Epiphany. Leo XIII composed the three hymns (Vespers, Matins, Lauds) of the Breviary Office. The hymn for Matins con- tains nine Sapphic stanzas of the classical type of the first stanza:
Sacra jam splendent decorata lychnis Templa, jam sertis redimitur ara, Et pio fumant redolentque acerrse Thuris honore.
(A thousand lights their glory shed On shrines and altars garlanded. While swinging censers dusk the air With perfumed prayer.)
The hymns for Vespers (O lux beata caelitum) and Lauds (O gente felix hospita) are in classical dimeter iambics, four-lined stanzas, of which the Vespers hymn contains six and the Lauds hymn seven exclusive of the usual Marian doxology (Jesu tibi sit gloria). All three hymns are replete with spiritual unction, graceful expression, and classical dignity of form. They reflect the sentiment of the pope in his letter establishing a Pious Association in honour of the Holy Family and in his Encyclical deal- ing with the condition of working-men.
Translations of the three hymns are given in Henry, Poems, Charades, Inscriptions of Leo XIII (Philadelphia, 1902), with Latin text, pp. 104-15, and comment., pp. 282-84. The hymns for Vespers and Lauds are translated by Bagshawe, Breviary Hymns and Missal Sequences (London, s. d.), nos. .52, 53.
H. T. Henry.
Sacramental Character. See Character; Sac- raments.
Sacramentals. — In instituting the sacraments Christ did not determine the matter and form down to the slight(!st detail, leaving this task to the Church, which should determine what rites were suitable in the administration of the sacraments. These rites are indicated by the word Sacramenialia, the object of which is to manifest the respect due to the sacrament and to secure the sanctification of the faith- ful. They belong to widely different categories, e. g.: substance, in the mingling of water with Eucharistic wine; quantity, in the triple baptismal effusion; quality, in the condition of unleavened bread; relation, in tlie capacity of the minister; time and place, in feast-days and churches; habit, in the liturgical vestmc^nts; posture, in genuflexion, pros- trations; action, in chanting etc. So many external conditions connect the sacramentals with the virttie of religion, their object being indicated by the Council of Trent (Sess. XXII, 15), that it is asserted that apart from their ancicmt origin and traditional maintenance: ceremonies, bUissings, lights, incense etc. enhance the dignity of the Holy Sacrifice and arouse the piety of llie faithful. Moreover the sacrament als help to distinguish the members of the Church from heretics,
