the Cross. In all other churches the architects have to some extent
imitated the cadaverous rigidity of the head fallen in death; at
Preuilly the monks have perpetuated the never-to-be-forgotten instant
that elapsed between the '_Sitio_' (I thirst) and the '_Consummatum
est_' (It is finished), as recorded in the Gospel of Saint John. Thus
the old Touraine church is in the image of Christ Crucified, but still
living.

"Now, to look at home once more, we will consider the inward parts of
our sanctuaries. It may be noted incidentally that the length of the
cathedral figures the long-suffering of the Church in adversity; its
breadth symbolizes charity, which expands the souls of men; its height,
the hope of future reward; and we can then proceed to details.

"The choir and sanctuary symbolize Heaven; the nave is the emblem of the
earth; as the gulf that divides the two worlds can only be passed by the
help of the Cross, it was formerly the custom, now, alas, fallen into
desuetude, to erect an enormous Crucifix over the grand arch between
the nave and the choir. Hence the name of triumphal arch was given to
the vast space in front of the High altar. It may also be remarked that
a railing or screen marks the limits of these two parts of the
cathedral. Saint Gregory Nazianzen regards this as the border line
traced between the two parts--that of God, and that of man.

"There is, however, a different explanation given by Richard de Saint
Victor, as to the sanctuary, the choir, and the nave. According to him,
the first symbolizes the Virgins, the second the chaste souls, and the
third the married hearts. As to the altar, or, as old liturgical writers
call it, the _Cancel_ (chancel), it is Christ Himself, the spot whereon
His Head rests, the Table of the Last Supper, the Stake whereon He shed
His blood, the Sepulchre that held His body; and again, it is the
Spiritual Church, and its four angles the four corners of the earth over
which it shall reign.

"Now behind this altar we find the apse, assuming in most cathedrals the
form of a semicircle. There are exceptions; to mention three: at
Poitiers, at Laon, and in Notre Dame du Fort at Etampes the wall is
square, as in the ancient civic basilicas, and does not describe the
sort of half-moon, of which the significance is one of the most
beautiful inventions of symbolism.

"This semicircular end, this apsidal shell, with the chapels that
surround the choir, simulates the Crown of