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 RITUAL

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RITUAL

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every kind as well. The contents of our Ritual and Pontifical were in the Sacramentaries. In the East- ern Churches this state of things still to a great ex- tent remains. In the West a further development led to the distinction of books, not according to the persons who use them, but according to the services for which they are used. The Missal, containing the whole Mass, succeeded the Sacramentary. Some early Missals added other rites, for the convenience of the priest or bishop; but on the whole this later arrangement involved the need of other books to supply the non-Eucharistic functions of the Sacra- mentary. These books, when they appeared, were the predecessors of our Pontifical and Ritual. The bishop's functions (ordination, confirmation, etc.) filled the Pontifical, the priest's offices (baptism, penance, matrimony, extreme unction, etc.) were contained in a great variety of little handbooks, finally replaced by the Ritual.

I'he Pontifi(al emerged first. The book under this name occurs already in the eighth century (Pontifi(!al of Egbert). From the ninth there is a multitude of Pontificals. For the priest's functions there was no uniform book till 1614. Some of these are contained in the Pontificals; often the chief ones were added to Missals and Books of Hours. Then special books were arranged, but there was no kind of uniformity in arrangement or name. Through the Middle Ages a vast number of handbooks for priests having the care of souls was written. Every local rite, almost every diocese, had such books; indeed many were compilations for the convenience of one priest or church. Such books were called by many names — Manuale, Liber agendarum, Agenda, Sacrn- mentale, sometimes Rituale. Specimens of such medieval predecessors of the Ritual are the Mannnle Curalorum of Roeskilde in Denmark (first i)rinted 1513, ed. J. Freisen, Paderborn, 1898), and the Liber Agendarum of Schleswig (printed 1416, Pader- born, 1898). The Roeskilde book contains the blessing of salt and water, baptism, marriage, bless- ing of a house, visitation of the sick with viaticum and extreme unction, prayers for the dead, funeral service, funeral of infants, prayers for pilgrims, blessing of fire on Holy Saturday, and other blessings. The Schleswig book has besides much of the Holy Week services, and that for All Souls, Candlemas, and Ash Wednesday. In both many rites differ from the Roman forms.

In the sixteenth century, while the other liturgical books were being revised and issued as a uniform standard, there was naturally a desire to substitute an official book that should take the place of these varied collections. But the matter did not receive the attention of the Holy See itself for some time. First, various books were issued at Rome with the idea of securing uniformity, but without official sanc- tion. Albert Castellani in 1537 published a Sacer- dolale of this kind; in 1579 at Venice another version appeared, arranged by Francesco Samarino, Canon of the Lateran; it was re-edited in 1583 by Angelo Rocca. In 1586 Giulio Antonio Santorio, Cardinal of St. Severina, printed a handbook of rites for the use of priests, which, as Paul V says, "he had com- posed after long study and with much industry and labour" (Apostolicce Sedis). This book is the foun- dation of our Roman Ritual. In 1614 Paul V published the first edition of the official Ritual by the Constitution "Apostolica; Sedis" of 17 June. In this he points out that Clement VIII had already issued a uniform text of the Pontifical and the Coerimoniale Episcoporum, which determines the functions of many other ecclesiastics besides bishops. (That is still the case. The Coerimoniale Episcoporum forms the indispensable complement of other liturgical books for priests too.) "It remained", the pope continues, "that the sacred and authentic rites of the

Church, to be observed in the administration of sacraments and other ecclesiastical functions by those who have the care of souls, should also be included in one book and published by authority of the Apos- tolic See; so that they should carry out their office according to a public and fixed standard, instead of following so great a multitude of Rituals".

But, unlike the other books of the Roman Rite, the Ritual has never been imposed as the only stand- ard. Paul V did not abolish all other collections of the same kind, nor command every one to use only his book. He says: "Wherefore we exhort in the Lord" that it should be adopted. The result of this is that the old local Rituals have never been altogether abolished. After the appearance of the Roman edition these others were gradually more and more conformed to it. They continued to be used, but had many of their prayers and ceremonies modi- fied to agree with the Roman book. This applies especially to the rites of baptism. Holy Communion, the form of absolution, extreme unction. The ceremonies also contained in the Missal (holy water, the processions of Candlemas and Palm Sunday, etc.), and the prayers also in the Breviary (the Office for the Dead) are necessarily identical with those of Paul V's Ritual; these have the absolute authority of the Missal and Breviary. On the other hand, rnany countries have local customs for marriage, the visitation of the sick, etc., numerous special blessings, processions and sacramentals not found in the Roman book, still printed in various diocesan Rituals. It is then by no means the case that every priest of the Roman Rite uses the Roman Ritual. Very many dioceses or provinces still have their own local hand- books under the name of Rituale or another (Ordo administrandi sacramenta, etc.), though all of these conform to the Roman text in the chief elements. Most contain practically all the Roman book, and have besides local additions.

The further history of the Rituale Romanum is this: Benedict XIV in 1752 revised it, together with the Pontifical and Ccerimoniale Episcoporum. His new editions of these three books were published by the Brief "Quam ardenti" (25 March, 1752), which quotes Paul V's Constitution at length and is printed, as far as it concerns this book, in the beginning of the Ritual. He added to Paul V's text two forms for giving the papal blessing (V, 6; VIII, 31). Mean- while a great number of additional blessings were added in an appendix. This appendix is now nearly as long as the original book. Under the title Bene- diclionale Romanum it is often issued separately. Leo XIII approved an edilio typica published by Pustet at Ratisbon in 1884. This is now out of date. The Ritual contains several chants (for processions, burials. Office of the Dead, etc.). These should be conformable to the Motu Propria of Pius X of 22 Nov., 1903, and the Decree of the Sacred Congre- gation of Rites of 8 Jan., 1904. All the Catholic liturgical publishers now issue editions of this kind, approved by the Congregation.

The Rituale Romanum is divided into ten "titles" (tiiuli); all, except the first, subdivided into chapters. In ea(h (except I and X) the first chapter gives the general rules for the sacrament or function, the others give the exact ceremonies and prayers for various cases of administration. Titulus I (caput unicum) is "of the things to be observed in general in the ad- ministration of sacraments"; II, About baptism, chap, vi gives the rite when a bishop baptizes, vii the blessing of the font, not on Holy Saturday or Whitsun Eve; III, Penance and absolutions from excommunication; IV, Administration of Holy Com- munion (not during Mass); V, Extreme Unction, the seven penitential psalms, litany, visitation and care of the dying, the Apostolic blessing, commenda- tion of a departing soul; VI, Of funerals. Office of