to the east we are to look for assistance
and protection against the power of our enemy, and that as we pray we
may look for the day-spring, symbolized to us in the rising sun that
sheds light and warmth all over the earth.

The public entrance to a church is generally at the west end (the priest
usually had a door in the chancel for his own use). Through this door we
enter the house of prayer, for as in the east we see the emblem of the
Lord of Life and Light, so the west represents the seat of darkness and
of the powers of evil.

The earliest porches were those of the early Christian basilica churches;
they were long and arcaded and were called "narthex." In later times,
they assumed two forms, one the projecting erection, covering the
entrance and divided into three or more doorways, and the other a kind
of covered chamber open at the end and having small windows at the
sides. These latter are generally found on the north and south sides
of the nave. Formerly, when church government was more rigorous in
discipline than is now the case, the porch was the appointed place for
those who were under censure. Those also who were unbaptised, or who had
not yet received the sacrament of regeneration, were not allowed beyond
the porch, not quite excluded from the church and yet not permitted
to enter fully. The porch also served as a path of admission for all
Christians into the body of the church, so that they passed through the
assembly of penitents and catechumens, who were wont to ask the prayers
of the more highly privileged for their full restoration or admission to
the communion of the faithful.

With reference to our Lord's word, "I am the Door," we frequently find
the tympana of church doors, particularly those of Norman date, adorned
with representations of events from his life, but they often also depict
the monsters, dragons and devils, that formed so strong an article in
the faith of the early Christians.

A more detailed account of these tympana will be found in a following
chapter.

Passing through the porch we enter the nave, which word is derived from
the Latin _navis_, a ship. Its symbolic teaching is that of the Church
riding triumphantly and buoyantly on the troubled and dark waters of the
world. The first thing noticed on entering the nave is the font, which
was formerly placed outside the church, in a separate building called
the baptistery; a few of our churches have retained these little
buildings