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GRAND PONTIFF. 299
INVESTITURE.
This Robe of white linen with which 1 now invest
you is emblematical of that equity and purity which
should characterize one who is consecrated to the
service of Truth ; and reminds us also of the vesture
of the one hundred forty and four thousand who re-
fused to wear the mark of the beast on their foreheads
; for it is so written, They shall walk with me
in white, for they are worthy ; he that overcometh,
the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I
will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life,
but I will confess his name before my Father and
before his angels.
This Cordon of crimson, bordered with white,
teaches you that the zeal and ardor of a Knight and
Pontiff ought to be set off by the greatest purity of
morals and perfect charity and beneficence : the
twelve stars upon it, and upon the fillet, allude to
the twelve gates of the new city.
This Fillet is the peculiar emblem of your Pontifi-
cate ; and as the slightest contact with earth will soil
its spotless purity, remember that so the least indiscretion
will soil the exalted character you have now
voluntarily assumed.
Receive this Jewel, and let the letters upon it—the
first and last of the Greek and Hebrew alphabets
remind you of him who was from the beginning, and
ever shall be—the Alpha and the Omega, the First
—