Acclamation

ACCLAMATION (Lat. ad-clamatio, Gk. ἀπιφώνησις). - It is the clamor that rises from a moved multitude (shouting and singing are proper to a soul in a state of emotion, which needs to give vent to its inner feeling) as a sign of veneration, praise, good wish, consent, exhortation.

1. IN NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS

Hence the a. is found in all religions, inasmuch as it is an approval of the divine action and also an invitation to it to continue its protecting work.

The a. is amply documented in texts and inscriptions of the Hellenistic age and was derived by the classical world from the East, especially Egypt. It was addressed to the emperors (and has remained in the Byzantine ceremonial) with an exorcistic-magical meaning of good omen; cf. for Nero, Suetonius, Nero 20, 3; for Alexander Severus, Hist. Aug., Vita Alex. Sev., 56; for Commodus, Cassius Dio, LXXII, 20, and for various emperors the mention in the surviving Acts of the Arval Brethren. Such an a. could also be execratory, like that of the Senate at the death of Domitian (Suetonius, Dom., 23) and of Commodus (Hist. Aug., Vita Comm., 18).

Acclamations were also made in the ceremony of the triumph (io triumphè!) and at weddings (talassio! io hymen, hymenae!). Frequent in pagan a. (and also Jewish and Christian) is the good wish: per omnia saecula! εἰς αἰῶνα! and nama! in the sense of praise, honor, among the faithful of Mithra.

The a. are also addressed to divinities to exalt their greatness (μέγας θεός!) or their uniqueness (εἰς θεός, εἰς Ζεός Σάραπις!): the latter a demonstration of the syncretism at work during the imperial age.

Nicola Turchi

2. IN THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION

The use of the a. passed also among Christians, who employed it in ancient times on public and solemn occasions: in the election of bishops, to express the approval or disapproval of the assembled people; in councils, as can be seen from the acts of that of Chalcedon; in the consecration of kings and emperors in the form of litanic prayer, of good wishes, of praise, such as vivat rex in sempiternum, Deus illum adiuvet, Christus vincit fortitudo nostra, etc.; finally very often in the sacred liturgy, both to pray and to glorify God. The use is still alive at present especially in the Eastern Churches; in the West there remain the acclamatory forms of the litanies and of many responses of the Mass. A characteristic example is found in the election of the successor of St. Augustine: «A populo acclamatum est: Deo gratias, Christo laudes; dictum est vicies terties. Exaudi Christe, Augustino vita; dictum est sexies decies. Te patrem, te episcopum; dictum est vicies; bene meritus, bene dignus; dictum est quinquies. Dignus est; dictum est sexies, etc.» (PL, 33, coll. 966).

In private form the a. was likewise used often, and many examples of it remain in early Christian epigraphy. Since the inscriptions are generally funerary, the great majority of the a. are of good wish, praying for the deceased peace, life, eternal happiness: in pace, in refrigerium vivas, in Deo, cum bonis, dormi in pace, etc. At other times prayers are asked for the survivors, roga, pete pro nobis, pace a te che leggi, pace a tutti i fratelli, in mente nos habete, ricordati dei tuoi, etc.; sometimes even those phrases were used with which the pagans greeted their dead, but certainly in a different sense: χαίρε farewell, ave, vale "be of good cheer," εὐφύγει, εὐφύγει, εὐφύγει, μὴ λυτοῦ οὐδὲς ἀθάνατος "do not grieve, no one is immortal," θάρασι "take courage." Akin to these are the many formulas of anathema and imprecation that occur in the clauses of inscriptions against the violators of tombs: anathema sit, anathema habeat, ne renda conto a Dio, male pereat, insepultus iaceat, non resurgat, cum Iuda partem habeat, sia colpito dall'anatema dei 318 Padri (of Nicaea).

Frequent a. with an entirely different sense occur engraved on objects of private use, mostly small or precious, such as rings, gems, seals, buckles, devotional medals, reliquaries, discs, plates, cups and the like: spes in Deo, vivas cum tuis, in Deo, utere felix, in Deo vita, ἰχθός (v.), Emmanuel, si Deus pro nobis quis contra nos, Deo gratias, and the sibylline form XMI'. Worthy of special mention are the a. written at the bottom of convivial cups: pie zeses (drink and live), vivas cum tuis feliciter and the like, which, since such objects often served for the celebration of the refreshment for the dead, not rarely allude to eternal refreshment. Another numerous and singular class is that of the exorcistic a. and conjurations, mostly of a superstitious character, directed against demons, personal enemies, every kind of evil and especially of diseases, with the use of cabalistic formulas and great abuse of names of angels and combinations of alphabetic letters.

Singular examples of a. are: a) That illuminated by Furius Dionysius Philocalus at the front of the book he wrote for a high dignitary of the 4th century: Valentine floreas in Deo; Valentine lege feliciter; Valentine vivas gaudess, interwoven together. b) An a. engraved several times on the columns of the theater of Ephesus and of other Asiatic cities in the 7th-8th century: ὀρθοδόξων βασιλέων καὶ Πρακίνων πολλὰ τὰ ἔτη, "to the orthodox emperors and to the Greens (a circus and later also political faction) many years of life." c) Among the Greeks the formula Iesus Christus vincit had very great fortune and became almost a commonplace, generally inscribed on the four arms of a cross frac{IC|XC}{NI|KA} d) The scriptural formulas amen, hosanna, alleluia, Deo gratias, Dominus vobiscum, pax vobis, kyrie eleison are a., partly already in use among the Hebrews, which became current in the liturgy and not rare also in literature and epigraphic use. The same may be said of the doxology par excellence Gloria Patri et Filio, etc., and of the so-called trisagion Sanctus deus, sanctus fortis, sanctus immortalis, miserere nobis, most frequent especially among the Easterners. e) Two acclamations most frequent among the Greeks, especially in epigraphy, are: εἰς θεός, ε κύριε οὖνε θεοτόκε βοήθει, written on tombs, on houses, on rings and a little everywhere (unus [est] Deus, and Domine or Deipara adiuva so-and-so). The first, certainly of pagan derivation, being already very often applied to Serapis, is widespread especially in Syria and Egypt and of early Christian use; the other, on the other hand, is found in the Middle Ages and in every region.

Antonio Ferrua

3. IN CHANT

Numerous forms of a. are also found in chant, principally the Gloria in excelsis, the Te Deum, the Benedicamus that close the office; the Ite Missa est of the final dismissal of the Mass, which was preceded by other dismissals of the catechumens such as recedant cathecumeni; certain dialogues as we see in the Preface, Pater Noster, etc.

A particular kind of acclamation were those called "Gallican" by the Western Churches outside Rome, from where they passed to the mother Church herself. The Laudes or Acclamationes pueriles, in use on certain solemnities such as Christmas, the Holy Innocents, and Easter, were children's acclamations, proper to the "Scholae puerorum" established near basilicas and monasteries. From the solemn circumstance in which they were used, the Laudes Hincmari (from Hincmar of Reims, 806-82) became famous, and they have also taken on a new development in modern times through the influence of the occasion for which they have been composed. These are always preceded by the Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat.

Musically, acclamations, whether collective or by a single soloist, are always simple, as befits their acclamatory character. The melody of the most ancient ones is always modeled on the tonic accent, and even the cadences in melodic fourths are classical and dear to Gregorian composers.

Gregorio M. Suñol