CEREMONIAL OF THE BISHOPS. - It is the body of sacred rules and directives that govern the preparation and the attitudes, movements and gestures to be observed in the solemn celebration of the Mass and of the choral Office in the presence of the bishop, and the conduct of the latter in the manifestations of his personality.
Once the initial seed had been planted by Christ himself in the institution of the Sacraments, and the first development given by the Apostles, the Church in the course of the centuries has modified and specified this body of ceremonies that surround the essential acts of worship. These ceremonies, handed down at first orally, were later inserted here and there in the liturgical books in general forms. This gave rise to a great variety of secondary elements, which were regulated differently by the authority of individual bishops. So that, when the need was felt to codify all the ceremonies, various ceremonials arose, and especially from the 11th century onward every church and every monastery had its own Customaries or Ordinaries (Ordines) or Rituals (Rituales libri or Libri agendarum).
Some code of ceremonies was perhaps known to St. Jerome, who (Ep., 56, ad Heliod.) attests of the priest Nepoziano: "He occupied himself attentively in the functions of the Church, so that the least no less than the greater ceremonies and prescriptions might be carried out according to the order disposed and established by the greater." St. Augustine too seems to have known some ceremonial, since he laments the scarcity of ceremonial prescriptions relating to certain liturgical practices (Ep., 55, ad Ianuar.).
But the most ancient documents of which there is knowledge go under the name of Ordines Romani (v.). The Ordines on which the c. of bishops was formed are precisely those numbered I to VI and XI, XII, XV (numbering of Mabillon); while the others concern the pontifical and the Roman ceremonial. Other Ordines of particular Churches have been published by L. Duchesne and U. Chevalier for France, by M. Gerbert for Germany, by M. Ferotin for Spain. For Italy we note the Ordo Beroldi, which shows the customs of Milan in the 12th century, published in 1894 by M. Magistretti; and the Ordo officiorum ecclesiae Lateranensis, earlier than 1145, edited by L. Fischer. However, a good number of them had no influence on the formation of the c. of bishops.
Given the great number of Ordines (some of which are even entitled Caeremoniale Romanum, like the Ordo XIII drawn up at Lyon in 1274), the necessity was felt at Rome of gathering into a single collection the prescriptions to be observed in the sacred liturgy. Therefore A. Patrizi, called Piccolomini, pontifical ceremoniere, on the basis of the said Ordines and of contemporary Roman usages, compiled a Caeremoniale Romanum, Libri II to serve the papal Chapel, and dedicated it to Innocent VIII in 1488. In the second part he was helped by Burckard, who then wrote a most diligent and pedantic chronicle of the ceremonies of the Vatican (Libri caeremoniales). Patrizi's compilation remained unpublished until 1516, when Cr. Marcello, having made some changes, published it and dedicated it to Leo X without presenting himself as author. Against Marcello, Grassi, then pontifical ceremoniere, made an acrid indictment, not so much for the variations and the supposed appropriation, as for the divulging of the pontifical ceremonies, which for him meant exposing them to contempt. Nevertheless the book had many editions. A treatise on pontifical ceremonies was also composed by Grassi himself, but because of the author's ideas it remained unpublished until the publication made by Martène.
Meanwhile in the various Churches, for lack of an official text, not a few abuses were introduced, to eliminate which the Council of Trent ordered the compilation of a single c. of bishops. Pius IV had entrusted it to the Perugian Fulvio della Cornia, and Sixtus V in 1588 instituted the Congregation of Rites, giving it among other things the task of revising the pontifical, the c. of bishops and the ritual. The c. of bishops, compiled by learned prelates among whom was L. Torres, later cardinal, and extracted from the Roman ceremonial of Patrizi and from those of Burckard and Grassi, was published in 1600 by Clement VIII, made official and obligatory for all churches, especially cathedral and collegiate ones.
In 1650 Innocent X, noting its many typographical errors, ordered a new edition, reprinted under Clement XI. Benedict XIII in 1727 corrected it further, removing the typographical faults (due, as the bull says, not so much to the incompetence of the printers as to the fault and negligence of others), illustrating the obscure and ambiguous norms, removing the unusual ones, reconciling the contrary ones and adding in their proper places the omitted ones. In 1741 Benedict XIV wished to give a more correct edition, attending in particular to the music and the chant, and adding the whole of Book III to remove not a few controversies that had arisen among bishops concerning honors and precedences. The last typical edition, given by Leo XIII, is that of 1886.
The c. of bishops is divided into 3 books. In Book I it treats of the duties of the bishop at his elevation and at his entry into the diocese, of the duties of the officials of the cathedral, of the pontifical ornaments, of the prelate's private assistance at choir and at Mass without chant. In Book II are set out the ceremonies for the pontifical and solemn Mass and Office, whether or not the bishop is present; furthermore the particulars fixed for certain days of the liturgical year. In Book III are specified the signs of respect and the honors that bishops and civil authorities must render to one another.
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Faustino Mostardi