Chapter I: Front Matter

HEORTOLOGY

A HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN FESTIVALS FROM
THEIR ORIGIN TO THE PRESENT DAY

BY
DR K. A. HEINRICH KELLNER
PROFESSOR OF CATHOLIC THEOLOGY IN
THE UNIVERSITY OF BONN

TRANSLATED WITH THE AUTHOR’S PERMISSION FROM
THE SECOND GERMAN EDITION
BY
A PRIEST OF THE DIOCESE OF WESTMINSTER

LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRÜBNER & CO., LIMITED
DRYDEN HOUSE, GERRARD STREET, W.
1908

_NIHIL OBSTAT_

FR. OSMUND, O.F.M.,
Censor deputatus.

_IMPRIMATUR_

✠ GULIELMUS,
Episcopus Arindelensis, Vicarius Generalis.

Westmonasterii,
_die 24 Feb., 1908_.

_IMPRIMATUR TO THE SECOND GERMAN EDITION_

✠ THOMAS,
Archiepp̄s.

Friburgi Brisgoviæ,
_die 8 Maii, 1906_.

AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE FIRST GERMAN EDITION

In older works on liturgy, the festivals of the Church have been generally dealt with as forming part of a greater whole, while in more recent times various questions relating to them have been discussed in separate articles in encyclopædias and reviews. The time seems now to have come when the cycle of ecclesiastical festivals ought to be regarded as a definite department of study by itself. The older works, besides being difficult of access, do not come up to the standard of modern works on the same subject, and the independent investigations of recent date, although throwing much new light upon some points, have left others untouched, with the result that the reader is unable to gain a clear conception of the matter as a whole.

The solid results gained by investigations into this branch of study in earlier and later times must now be collected, and systematised, and brought up to the level demanded by modern science. Much remains to be done in this department owing to the fresh light that has been thrown upon it by the publication of documents hitherto inaccessible, among which we may mention the so-called Peregrinatio Silviæ discovered by Gamurrini, the Lectionaries of Silos, and the critical edition of the so-called Martyrologium Hieronymianum of de Rossi and Duchesne. The last-named document has so far been more of a hindrance than a help in this branch of study, some attributing too much importance to it, and others none at all.

It has seemed to the author that the time for gathering together the ascertained results derived from these and similar books has come. It is chiefly for theological students and the younger clergy that the following book is intended. Such a work as would make it easy to deal with the subject in sermons and catechetical instructions, and, at the same time, would give clearly and briefly all the information necessary for dealing with the question from the historical standpoint, avoiding equally uncritical credulity and sceptical unbelief—such a work seems to the author demanded by the circumstances of the time.

Moreover, the Minister of Public Worship in Prussia has recently (12th Sept. 1898) required from candidates for the office of catholic teacher in higher grade schools, a considerable acquaintance with the ecclesiastical year among their other qualifications.

This is the reason why the author has confined his attention solely to the worship of the Roman Catholic Church, merely alluding occasionally to the usages of other religious bodies. For the same reason, in accordance with the meaning of the term “Heortology,” he has concerned himself with those festivals alone which are publicly celebrated, or were so celebrated formerly. The majority of these afford no features of historical interest, owing, as they do, their origin to the action of authority. In cases which do not here come under discussion, reference may be made to separate works and to the Bollandists in general. In a matter of such practical interest as this, it cannot fail that some points have been omitted; still, I think, the amount of material collected in the following pages is sufficient for the end I have had in view. In support of the views herein expressed, a somewhat detailed account is given in the third part of the documents which serve as the sources of our information. It has not seemed practical to print a selection from the large number of these documents by way of supplement, since to have done so would have interfered with the object of this book.

BONN, _All Saints’, 1900_.

AUTHOR’S PREFACE OF THE SECOND GERMAN EDITION

This second (revised and enlarged) edition—from which Dr A. Mercati, Professor in the Seminary of Reggio, Emilia, has made the Italian translation—is in substance the same as the first. The sections dealing with the dedication of churches and the feast of the patron saint, with the feast of the Immaculate Conception, with the feasts of St Mary Magdalen, St Cecilia, and St Catherine, and the two concluding sections have been added, and some appendices.

BONN, _May 1906_.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE

In this translation, the excursus on the German Protestant “Buss-und-Bettage” and on St Ursula have been omitted as being of less general interest, and a few notes have been added.

LONDON, _April 1908_.

BOOKS QUOTED AND REFERRED TO

(A) MEDIÆVAL WORKS, WHICH IN SOME DEGREE ARE OF THE NATURE OF ORIGINAL SOURCES

ISIDORE of Seville († 658).—_De Officiis Ecclesiasticis._ MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, lxxxiii.

AMALARIUS SYMPHOSIUS (“chor-episcopus” at Metz, † between 850 and 853).—_De Officiis Ecclesiasticis libri quattuor._ MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, cv.

RABANUS MAURUS (Abbot of Fulda, later Archbishop of Mainz, † 856).—_De Officiis Ecclesiasticis._ MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, cvii.

ADO (Bishop of Vienne, † 875).—_Libellus de Festivitatibus SS. Apost._ MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, cxxiii.

JOHANNES ABRINCENSIS (Bishop of Rouen, † 1079).—_De Officiis Ecclesiasticis._ MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, cxlvii. _Ordinarius Canonicorum Reg._, _ib._ 188-191.

PSEUDO-ALCUIN (middle of the eleventh century).—_De Officiis Ecclesiasticis._ Incomplete in MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, ci. 1175. According to Bäumer, Amalarius Fortunatus is really the author.

BERNO of Reichenau († 1045).—_De Officio Missæ_, and two small tracts on Advent and the Embertides. MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, cxlii.

LANFRANC († 1089).—_Decreta pro Ord. S. Benedicti._ MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, cl.

BERNOLD of Constance († 1100). According to Bäumer, the author of the _Micrologus_. MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, cli.

_De Cærimoniis, Sacramentis, Officiis et Observantionibus Ecclesiæ libri tres_, by HUGO (Canon of St Victor in Paris, † 1118), or by ROBERTUS PULLUS. MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, clxxvii. 381.

RUPERT of Deutz († 1135).—_De Divinis Officiis._ MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, clxx.

GUIGO I. DE CASTRO (Prior of the Grande Chartreuse about 1137).—_Consuetudines Carthusienses._ MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, clii. 631-759.

HONORIUS of Autun († _circ._ 1145).—_Gemma Animæ._ MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, clxxii.

JOHANNES BELETH (Professor of Theology at Paris, † 1190).—_Rationale Divinorum Officiorum._ MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, ccii.

_Consuetudines Farfenses_, ed. B. Albers. Stuttgart, 1900. Older editions in MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, c. 4, and (HERGOTT) _Vetus Disciplina Monast._ Paris, 1776.

SICARDUS (Bishop of Cremona, † 1215).—_Mitrale._ MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, ccxiii.

INNOCENT III. (Pope, † 1216).—_De S. Altaris Mysterio libri sex._ MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, ccxvii.

ODERICUS (Canon of Siena, 1213).—_Ordo Officiorum Eccl. Senensis._ Ed. Trombelli. Bononiæ, 1766.

CODINUS.—_Curopalates s. de Officialibus Palatii Constantinopolitani et de Officiis Magnæ Ecclesiæ._ Rec. Imm. Bekker. Bonn, 1839.

(B) MORE RECENT WORKS EMPLOYED OR REFERRED TO

(_a_) BY CATHOLIC AUTHORS

ALLATIUS, LEO.—_De Dominicis et Hebdomadibus Græcorum Recentiorum._ Col., 1648.

ARENS, FRANZ.—_Der Liber Ordinarius der Essener Stiftskirche_, Essen, 1901.

ASSEMANI, JOS. SIM.—_Kalendaria Ecclesiæ Univ._ Romæ, 1730. Six vols.

BAILLET, ADRIEN († 1706).—_Les Vies des Saints._ Paris, 1703; second ed. 1739, in ten vols. 4to. Vol. ix. contains a history of the movable feasts.

BÄUMER, SUITB.—_Geschichte des Breviers_, etc. Freiburg, 1895.

BENEDICT XIV. (Prosper Lambertini).—_De Festis D.N. Jesu Christi et B. Mariæ Virginis libri duo._ Patavii, 1756.

⸺ _Commentarius de Festis B. Virg. Mariæ_, etc. Dillingen, 1754.

BINTERIM, ANTON. JOS.—_Denkwürdigkeiten der Kathol. Kirche._ Mainz, 1829, especially vol. v. part i: “Die kirchichle Heortologie und Chronologie.”

⸺ _Pragmatische Geschichte der deutschen Konzilien._ Mainz, 1836.

CHEVALIER, UL.—_Bibliothèque Liturgique. Ordinaires de l’Eglise cath. de Laon._ Paris, 1897.—_Sacramentaire et Martyrologe de S. Remy et de Reims._ Paris, 1900. _Ib._ of Bayeux. Paris, 1903.

COMBEFIS, FR., O.S.D. († 1679).—_Bibliotheca Patrum Concionatoria._ Paris, 1662. Eight vols. A collection of sermons of the Fathers and older scholastics up to St Thomas Aquinas for the whole ecclesiastical year and the principal saints’ days.

DUCHESNE, L.—_Origines du Culte Chrétien._ Third ed. Paris. [Engl. transl. by M. L. Maclure, London, 1903.]

GAVANTUS, BARTH. (Mediol.).—_Thesaurus Sacrorum Rituum._ Romæ, 1628. Amstelod., 1634.

⸺ _Id. op._, with _Novæ observationes et additiones_, etc., by C. M. MERATI. Romæ, 1735. Aug. Vind., 1740.

GRETSER, JAC., S. J.—_De Festis Christianorum libri duo._ (Ingolstadii, 1612), with Auctarium.

GUÉRANGER, PROSP.—_L’Année Liturgique._ Translated anonymously into German, with a Preface by J. B. HEINRICH. MAINZ, 1888-1894. Thirteen vols.

GUYET, CAR.—_Heortologia._ Venetiis, 1729. Almost entirely occupied with the rubrics.

HOEYNCK, F. A.—_Gesch. der kirchl. Liturgie des Bistums Augsburg._ Augsburg, 1889.

HOLWECK, F. G.—_Fasti Mariani._ Frib. Brisg., 1892.

MABILLON, JOH.—_De Liturgia Gallicana libri tres._ Paris, 1685, and in MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, lxxii.

MARTÈNE, EDMUND.—_De Antiquis Ecclesiæ Disciplinis._ Antwerp, 1737.

MARZOHL, J., and J. SCHNELLER.—_Liturgia Sacra oder Gebräuche und Altertümer der Kathol. Kirche._ Five vols. Lucerne, 1841. Vol. iii. pp. 55-172 deals with the ecclesiastical year and festivals.

MIGNE, ABBÉ.—_Diction. des Cérémonies et des Rites Sacrés._ German transl. by E. Schinke and Jos. Kühn. Breslau, 1850.

MORCELLI, SEPH. A.—Μηνολόγιον τῶν Ἐυαγγελίων Ἑορταστικῶν, _sive Kalendarium Eccl. Constantinopolitanæ Mille Annorum Insigne_. Romæ, 1788.

MURATORI, L. A.—_Liturgia Rom. Vetus, tria Sacramentaria complectens Leon., Gel., et Antiquum Gregor. Accedunt Missale Francorum, Gothicum et Galicana duo_, etc. Venetiis, 1748. The Preface and the _Gelasianum_ are printed in MIGNE, _Patr. Lat._, lxxiv.

NICKEL, MARC. AD.—_Die heiligen Zeiten und Feste nach ihrer Geschichte und Feier._ Six vols. Mainz, 1825-1838.

NILLES, NIC. S. J.—_Kalendarium Manuale utriusque Ecclesiæ Orient. et Occid._ Ed. Altera. Two vols. Œniponte, 1896.

PILGRAM.—_Kalendarium Chronol. medii potissimum ævi monumentis accomodatum._ Vienna, 1781.

PROBST, FERD.—_Die ältesten Römischen Sakramentarien und Ordines erläutert._ Paderborn, 1892.

SCHMID, FRZ. X.—_Liturgik der christkathol. Religion._ Three vols. Passau, 1831. Vol. iii. pp. 441-610 deals with the festivals.

SCHULTING, CORN.—_Bibliotheca Ecclesiastica._ Col. Agr., 1599. Tom. i. c. 9-17 and tom. ii.

THOMASSIN, LOUIS (Cong. Orat. Presb.)—_Traité des Festes de l’Eglise._ The second vol. contains “Traités Historiques et Dogmatiques sur divers Points de la Discipline de l’Eglise et de la Morale Chrétienne.” Paris, 1683.

TOMASI, GIUS. MARIA (Cardinal, † 1731).—_Opera._ Ed. Vezzosi. Rome, 1748, etc.

VEITH, P. ILDEFOUS.—On the Latin Martyrologies in the _Hist.-pol. Blätter_, 1895 and 1896. On the Greek Martyrologies in _Studien und Mitteilungen aus dem Benediktinerorden_, 1896 and 1897. See the _Katholik_, 1894, ii. 314 _et seqq._

(_b_) BY NON-CATHOLIC AUTHORS

ACHELIS, HANS.—_Die Martyrologien, ihre Geschichte und ihr Wert._ Berlin, 1900.

ALT, HEINRICH (Preacher of La Charité).—_Das Kirchenjahr._ Berlin, 1860.

AUGUSTI, J. CHR. WILH.—_Denkwürdigkeiten._ Leipzig, 1817, etc. Vols. i.-iii.: “Die Feste der alten Christen für Religionslehrer und gebildete Laien aller Konfessionen.” (The author gives one or two sermons from the Fathers for each feast as an appendix.)

DANIEL, HENR. ADALF.—_Codex liturgicus ecclesiæ universæ._ Four vols. Lipsiæ, 1847.

DRESSER, MATTH.—_De festis et præcipius anni partibus._ Lipsiæ, 1584.

ERBES.—_Das Syrische Martyrologium und der Weihnachtsfestkreis_ in Brieger’s “Zeitschr. für Kirchengesch,” 1905, iv., and 1906, i.

HALTAUS, CHR. GOTTLOB.—_Jahrzeitbuch der Deutschen des Mittelalters._ Translated by G. A. Scheffer. Erlangen, 1797.

HOSPINIANUS (WIRTH), RUD.—_De Festis Christianorum._ Genevæ, 1574. Turici, 1593.

MALTZEW, A. VON.—_Fasten- und Blumen-Triodion_, etc. Berlin, 1899. The Introduction deals with the ecclesiastical year of the Orthodox, Armenian, and Roman Catholic Churches.

RANKE, E.—_Das Kirchl. Perikopensystem aus den ältesten Urkunden der römischen Liturgie dargelegt und erläutert._ Berlin, 1847.

STRAUSS, FRIEDR.—_Das evangelische Kirchenjahr in seinem Zusammenhange dargestellt._ Berlin, 1850.

USENER, HERM.—_Religionsgeschichte Untersuchungen._ Das Weihnachtsfest. Bonn, 1889.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECT. PAGE

PART I

THE CHURCH’S FESTIVALS IN GENERAL

1. INTRODUCTION 1

2. SUNDAY AND ITS OBSERVANCE AS A DAY OF REST 6

3. THE CLASSIFICATION OF FESTIVALS 13

4. THE GRADUAL INCREASE OF FESTIVALS. THEIR DECREASE IN THE
LAST THREE CENTURIES. THE PRESENT POSITION 16

PART II