MONSTRANCE (through the

See also:

• FRENCH
• FRENCH, DANIEL CHESTER (1850– )
• FRENCH, NICHOLAS (1604-1678)

French from

See also:

• LAT

Lat. monstrare, to show)  , a vessel used in the Roman Church for the exhibition of the Host at Benediction (q.v.) and also when carried in processions . Another name for the vessel is ostensorium, from ostendere, to exhibit, show; whence the usual French name ostensoir . The monstrance was formerly used of a reliquary, exposing the sacred object to view . The earlier monstrances followed the usual shape of these reliquaries, viz. a cylindrical crystal case mounted in metal frames, elaborately ornamented and jewelled . Such often took the form of a turret . There is a 15th-century Italian example in South Kensington Museum of a pilastered turret containing an oblong crystal case, the whole resting on a stemmed base, and surmounted with a cupola . In the 16th century the present shape was adopted, viz. a crystal or glass circular disk, more suited to the shape of the sacred wafer; this is mounted in a frame of golden rays, and the whole is supported by a stem and bases . The exhibition of the Host dates from the institution of the Festival of Corpus Christi (q.v.) by Urban IV. in 1264 .