Volume 1

A dictionary of Christian antiquities : being a continuation of the 'Dictionary of the Bible' / edited by William Smith and Samuel Cheetham ; illustrated by engravings on wood.

Date:: [between 1890 and 1899?]

Credit: A dictionary of Christian antiquities : being a continuation of the 'Dictionary of the Bible' / edited by William Smith and Samuel Cheetham ; illustrated by engravings on wood. Source: Wellcome Collection.

1050/1096 (page 1030)

$the Pious that the older rites had been observed in Gaul from the very earliest times, and, as a proof, he referred to “ the missal books, which were most ancient and were almost eaten up by age.*’ (Hilduin, Vita Dionys. Areop,, in Surius, Oct. 9; Palmer, i, 145.) (52.) We must, of course, conclude that these “ missal books ” were not reproduced in the schools founded by Charlemagne and watched over by Alcuin and others. Indeed, they became so rare before the accession of Charles the Bald, that that monarch mentioned in his famous letter to the clergy of Ravenna (quoted by Mabillon, Lit. Gall. p. 20) that he was indebted to the clergy of the chui’ch of Toledo for his knowledge, that “ up to the time of his grandfather, the Gallican churches had celebrated the divine offices in a manner different from those adopted in the churches of Rome and Milan.” We cannot be surprised, therefore, at finding that the liturgical remains of the early Gallican church are very scanty, and we shall welcome with the greater thankfulness the discoveries of Thomasius, Mar- tene, Mabillon, and Mone. (53.) If Ave remember the early connexion of the churches of Lyons and Vienne with the East, we shall of course expect that the ritual of these churches must exhibit some points of resemblance with the ritual of the church of Piphesus. Erom the undoubted writings of Irenaeus (I abstain from using the so-called Pfaffian fragment), we learn but little of the eucharistic office of his day, but we do learn that it contained the words (Is Tovs aloovas twv alwuwv, tha^t the service included an offering or sacrifice to God through Christ Jesus of the first fruits of His creatures, that^ there was an invocation {(KK\ri(Tis or iniKX'nais) <jn the bread and the temperamentum offered (i. 3. 1; iv. 17. 5; 18. 4, 5). These points remind us of the Oriental rites. Later allusions to the Gallican service, found in the writings of Gregory of Tours and others, have been col- lected by Mabillon in his learned work, de Lituryia G'dlicana, published in 1685; and additional light is thrown upon the sulyect 'oy the discoA’-ery in the library of St. Martin’s, at Autun, of two letters, ascribed in the MS. to Germanus, the famous bishop of Paris, who died in the year 576. The discoA’-ery was mude by Martene, who published the document verbatim et lit ratim in his Thesaur. Anecd. tom. a*. They are reproduced in Migne’s series (vol. Ixxii. pp. 83-98), and Migne has given as an appendix to them Mabillon’s work de lAturqia Gallicana (pp. 101-447), and also the same writer’s further work, entitled Sacramentarium Galiicanum (pp. 448-576). (54.) We have altogether in these reprints :— а. The letters of St. Germanus, of which I have spoken. They seem to be somewhat fragmentary, and I am disposed to regard the former as giving an account specifically of the service on Easter Eve and Easter Day. (Migne, ut sup. pp. 89- 98.) б. A T^ectionary of the Gallican church, which Mabillon found at Luxeuil, and Avhich he assigned to the end of the seventh century. (Migne, pp. 171-216.) c. A Missal, entitled in the manuscript, though in a later hand, Missale Gothicum. This is con- sidered by the learned as representing the ritual of the south of France about the beginning of the eighth century. (It contains a service for the martyrdom of St. Leodgar, who Avas killed in 678.) I'he volume is very interesting, exhibiting indisputable marks that the services it contains Avere fnmed not merely at different times, but on different princi])les. Several holy days are noted by M »billon as haA'ing been introduced at a period subsequent to the Lectionary, Avhich he described as aboA^e. (Migne, pp. 225-318.) d. Then follows a missal entitled Missale Francorum, in consequence of petitions that it contains for the king and kingdom and rulers of the Franks. This missal concludes (at least in its present form) with a fragment of the Roman canon as it exists in the Gregorian Saora- mentary; the earlier part is occupied Avith very interesting ordination offices. Morinus consi- dered the MS. to be of the sixth century, but Mabillon puts it later. It evidently belongs to an epoch at which the Roman services Avere ousting those of the Gallican church. (Migne, pp. 318-340.) The MSS. (c) and (c?) are now in the Vatican. The former is numbered Vat. Reg. 626, or Alex. Vat. 317 (the accounts differ); the number of the other is apparently Alex. Vat. 257. They must have come from the Library of Fleury, which was dispersed by the Huguenots. e. The MAsaie Galiicanum which follows in Mabillon (Migne, pp. 340-382) is also at the Vatican (Vat. Pal. 493); it came from the library at Heidelberg. It contains interesting expositions of the Creed and Lord’s Prayer, and, almost unmutilated, the services for Easter Day. It is believed to represent the use of Mid-France in the eighth century. /. To these must be added the Sacramenta- 7'ium Galiicamim, aboA'e referred to. It Avas found by Mabillon at Bobio, and was regarded by him, as by others, as indicating the services of the neighbourhood of Besanyon. It commences Avith the Gregorian Canon under the title Missa Rom- ensis cottidiana (Migne, pp. 451-580). q. And M. Mone, the librarian at Carlsruhe, discovered in the library under his care palim- psests from which he was enabled to decipher several old masses. The volumes came from the famous Benedictine conA'ent of Reichenau, the island near Constance. Baron Bunsen has thrown additional light upon them in the third volume of the Analecta Ante-Nicaena. (55.) A comparison of these manuscripts shews that if the suppositions regarding their origin are correct, there must have been a great A'ariety in the details of the Eucharistic services in the various dioceses or provinces of France. Taking, however, the liturgy of St. Germanus as our guide, we learn that in his time, on the day or days of Avhich he describes the services, when the priest came from the sacristy the clerk sang a kind of introit, and then the deacon proclaimed silence. The salutation followed, Dominus sit semper vobiscum, with the usual response. Lec- tions were read from a Prophet, an Apostle, and a Gospel. The “ Aius,” OTAyios, in Greek and then in Latin, preceded the “ prophet,” and the Song of Zacharias followed it. The Benedicite folloAved the Apostle, the “Aius” being again sung before the Gospel. The book was carried to the pulpit, preceded by seven candles, signify- ing the seven gifts of the Spirit. [Compare Gospel, I. 743.] A homily folloAved upon the$