Basins, Ecclesiastical, Usk or.—Basins were extensively used in the Jewish Ritual and were in early use in Christian churches for ablutions and to receive lamp-drippings etc. The Missal prescribes its use at the “ Lavabo” of the Mass (Rit. Cel. vii, 10); the “Cæremoniale Episcoporum ” provides a basin for bearing the cruets (Lib. I, xi, 10) and for the preparatory ablutions of bishops (ibid., 12). They are ordinarily of ornamented metal.
CATALANI, Ca@remoniale Episcoporum comment, (Paris, 1860), I, 225-229; VAN DER STAPPEN, Sacra Liturgia (Mechlin, 1902), III, 111-112; Waxcorr, Sacred Archeology (London, 1868), 62-63; Kennedy in Hast., Dict, of Bible, s. v.
John B. Peterson.