CRUETS

The wine and water necessary for the Holy Sacrifice are kept in two glass vessels termed Cruets. Although it is not specially required that they be made of glass, still, for the greater convenience of those who have to keep them clean, but above all for the advantage Cruets of this material have over those which are not transparent, it is better that they should; for accidents of a very serious nature are liable to happen unless it can be seen at a glance in which vessel the wine is and in which the water.

In early times these Cruets were often made of the most precious materials. Gold, silver, and precious stones frequently entered into their composition, and the most elaborate workmanship was displayed in making them. John of Hothum, Bishop of Ely, gave to his church, as a private donation, in A.D. 1336, a set of golden Cruets studded with rubies and pearls (Church of Our Fathers, by Dr. Rock, i. p. 159, note). Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, bequeathed in A.D. 1400, to his lord the king, an image of the Blessed Virgin, with two cruets, silver and gilt, made in the shape of two angels (ibid.) In those good old days the highest nobles of the land strove with holy zeal to see how much each could do towards beautifying the house of God and having the sacred vessels of the altar and sanctuary of the most ornate kind.