GALLICANA, LITURGY. — This is the complex of official rites and prayers that was in use, especially before Charlemagne, in the Latin West, particularly in Gaul and, in a somewhat different form, throughout all the countries of northern Italy and beyond the Alps, including Britannia maior, Hibernia, and Spain. The rite gradually declined under Pepin the Short and Charlemagne, as a consequence of that progressive Romanization which was one of the guiding principles of Carolingian policy.
I. HISTORY
The Gallican liturgy, in the documents that remain of it, appears formally different from the Roman, although over time it underwent considerable infiltration from the latter. Its origin is disputed: although it did not arise from the Eastern liturgies, it nevertheless was extensively influenced by them, not only because certain formulas are found word for word in the Syro-Byzantine liturgy, but also because its entire structure—for example, that of the Mass—shows a great resemblance to the Byzantine rite. F. Probst’s opinion that the Gallican liturgy reflected a Roman liturgy prior to Pope Damasus did not win many adherents. To explain these analogies, some appealed to St. Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon, asserting that the Gallican rite derived from the Ephesian liturgy of the second century; others, including Duchesne, perhaps with greater justification, went back to the fourth century and especially to Auxentius, bishop of Milan from 355 to 374, a native of Cappadocia; still others think of Ravenna.II. FONTI
Diversi formulari di Messa (6 Messe domenicali e una propria di s. Germano) puramente gallicani, forse dalla Borgogna del sec. VII, sono pubblicati, secondo un codice palinsesto di Reichenau, da Fr. J. Mone, Lateinische und griechische Messen aus dem zweiten bis sechsten Jahrhundert (Francoforte s. M. 1850); M. Neale e G. H. Forbes, The ancient Liturgies of the Gallican Church (Burntland 1855), pp. 105-204; Pl. 72, 295-318; H. Lietzmann, Ordo Missae Romanus et Gallicanus (Kleine Texte, 19; 3ª ed. Bonn 1923).I tre sacramentari, più o meno difettosi, e già misti con elementi romani, noti con i nomi Missale Gallicum (Sacramentario di Autun), Missale Gallicanum Vetus (Sacramentario d'Auxerre del sec. VII), e Missale Francorum (sec. VIII), danno una serie di Messe e una parte del rito battesimale; il Missale Francorum ha inoltre le preghiere della ordinazione, della consacrazione delle vergini e delle vedove, nonché quella degli altari, che sono di gran valore per l'intelligenza del nostro testo attuale. Essi furono editi prima dal card. Tommasi, Codices sacramentarum nongentis annis vetestiores (Roma 1680), poi da J. Mabillon, De liturgia Gallicana libri tres (Parigi 1685); ristampa in: L. Muratori, Liturgia Romana vetus (Venezia 1748) e Pl. 72, 225-318.
Il Messale di Bobbio (sec. VII), contenente con i prefazi a il Canone della Messa altri testi della liturgia romana, fu edito prima da J. Mabillon, Museumum Italicum seu collectio veterum scriptorum ex bibliothecis Italicis eruta (I, 2 [Parigi 1687]), pp. 278-297 e Pl. 72, 451-560; edizione critica: J. Wickham Legg e E. A. Lowe, The Bobbio Missal (Londra 1917); ed in fac-simile: E. A. Lowe, The Bobbio Missal. A Gallican Sacramentary (ivi 1920); studi sul testo: A. Wilmart, E. A. Lowe, H. A. Wilson, The Bobbio Missal. Notes and Studies (ivi 1924). Oltre alcuni piccoli frammenti palinsesti, i testi eucologici sono aumentati specialmente da G. Morin, Un recueil gallican inédit de bénédictions épiscopales en usage à Présing aux VII-IX siècles (in Revue bénédictine, 29 [1912], pp. 168-94) e Fragments inédits et jusqu'à présent uniques d'antiphonaire gallican (ibid., 22 [1905], pp. 320-56).
Il Lezionario di Luxeuil (sec. VII), prezioso per la ricostruzione dell'antico calendario di questa liturgia a Parigi, contiene lezioni, pericopo bibliche, estratti dai sermoni e dalle Passiones dei martiri, che si leggevano nell'Ufficio notturno (J. Mabillon, De liturgia Gallicana, pp. 106-73; cf. Pl. 72, 171-216; P. Salmon, Le lectionnaire de Luxeuil, Roma 1944). È completato da un evangelario di Parigi del sec. VII (G. Morin, Le lectionnaire de l'église de Paris au VIIe siècle, in Revue bénédict., 1 [1893], pp. 438-41), da alcune note d'un evangelario di Treviri (D. De Bruyne, Les notes liturgiques du manuscrit 134 de la cathédrale de Trèves, ibid., 33 [1921], pp. 46-52), da un lezionario del Vecchio Testamento di Schlettstadt (G. Morin, Un lectionnaire mérovingien avec fragments du texte oriental des Actes (ibid., 25 [1908], pp. 161-66) a specialmente da un codice palinsesto di Weissenburg (A. Dold, Das älteste Liturgiebuch der lateinischen Kirche. Ein altgallikanisches Lektionar des 5. - 6. Jahrhunderts aus dem Wolfenbüttler Palimpsest-Codex Weissenburgensis 76. Mit Anhang: Abermale neue Bruchstücke des Salzburger Kurzzahramentars, Beuron 1935); si aggiungono: Em. Chatelain, Fragments palimpsestes d'un lectionnaire mérovingien (in Revue d'hist. et de littér. religieuses, 5 [1914], pp. 193-99, a A. Wilmart, Le lectionnaire d'Ariane, in Revue Mabillon, 13 [1923], pp. 40-53). Su un certo numero di note liturgiche in alcuni testi delle lettere di s. Paolo e cattoliche, che si riferiscono all'antico uso gallicano, cf. G. Morin, Notices d'ancienne littérature chrétienne. Les notes liturgiques du manuscrit Vat. Regin. lat. 9 (in Revue bénédictine, 15 [1898], p. 105 agg.; Un système inédit de lectures liturgiques, ibid., 20 [1903], pp. 355-58 e 28 [1911], p. 324 agg.) alla fine del-
l'articolo: Liturgie et basiliques de Rome au milieu du VIIe siècle d'après les listes d'Évangiles de Wurzbourg. Una spiegazione dei decreti di un sinodo nel Regno dei Franchi, erroneamente ascritta a s. Germano vescovo di Parigi (m. nel 576) che offre pure l'ordine della Messa e del Battesimo d'una chiesa locale della Borgogna (Autun?) del sec. VII, è la cosiddetta Expositio brevis antiquae liturgiae gallicanae (Pl. 72, 89 agg.; ed. critica con commento di J. Quasten [Opuscula et textus, Series liturgica, 3] Münster in V. 1924).
III. DESCRIPTION OF THE GALLICAN LITURGY
Advent, which lasts six weeks and with which the liturgical year begins, commences with the feast of s. Martino (12 November). The Sanctoral includes, in addition to the feasts of the Roman calendar, those of s. Genoveffa, s. Saturnino, Ferreolo, and Eulalia, a feast of the Chair of s. Pietro in January, and another of Our Lady, likewise in January. The Divine Office displays great divergences in the various provinces and comes fairly close to that of the Celtic liturgy. At the beginning of the day, Matins corresponded to our Lauds; Prime was formerly called ad secundam, Vespers ad duodecimam or lucernarium, Compline ad initium noctis, and during the night there were the nocturni (Matins). The number and designation of the psalms varied; canticles were also admitted in the Office of the night, among which the Benedictus, the Magnificat, and even the Gloria in excelsis held a place of honour. The Gallican Mass has certain features resembling the ancient Roman Mass, others the Mozarabic and Ambrosian Masses, and still others the Byzantine and Syro-Greek Masses.After the entrance antiphon, the Trisagion, and the Kyrie, the Benedictus (prophetia) is sung, followed by the Collectio post prophetam. The greeting is always, as in Spain, Dominus sit semper subiticum. There are three readings: one from the Old Testament (profesia), another from the Apostle (Epistle; during Eastertide, the Apocalypse and the Acta; in Lent, the historical books of the Old Testament; on the feasts of the Saints, their lives); after the reading comes the canticle of the three young men; the third, from the Gospel, is surrounded by great solemnity: first the Trisagion is sung again, then the Sanctus; this is followed by the diaconal litany, to which the entire people respond. Among its various forms, the best known is the Deprecatio s. Martini; afterwards the catechumens are dismissed. After the offering of the bread and wine, made by the faithful and accompanied by a chant, comes the solemn procession with the oblations, a moving prayer over the veil at the end, and the reading of the names of the living and the dead from the diptychs, concluded by the Collectio post nomina; those present then exchange the kiss of peace, and this ceremony ends with the Collectio post pacem. The Preface, which is called contestatio or immolatio, differs from the Roman one in the length, prolixity, and variety of its text. After the Sanctus, following a very brief prayer of transition (Collectio post Sanctus), the Consecration is added immediately, with the historical account of the institution of the Eucharist. The prayer that follows bears the significant title post secreta, post mysteria, or post Eucharistiam, and sometimes contains a true epiclesis, that is, an invocation of the Holy Spirit, as in the Eastern liturgies. The solemn fraction of the bread follows immediately: during a chant (confractorium), the Host is divided into nine parts, each of which represents a mystery of the life of Christ; with them a cross is formed, formerly representing the limbs of the Crucified (prohibited by the Second Council of Tours [567], canon 3). This is followed by the Pater, framed by an introductory formula and an embolism (Libera nos), similar to the Roman one, with the Commixtio of the particula regnum in the chalice. The priest’s Communion is preceded by a solemn blessing of the people; at the Communion of the faithful, who receive the Host in the hand (that of women being covered with a linen cloth, dominicale), the antiphon ad accedentes is sung, generally taken from Ps. 33. After the Postcommunio comes the formula of dismissal: In pace, Missa acta est, or others.
A peculiarity of Baptism is the washing of the feet (cf. P. De Puniet, La liturgie baptismale en Genie avant Charlemagne, in Revue des questions historiques, 67 [1902], pp. 382-423).
In the rite of ordination, the Statuta Ecclesiae antiqua place first the prayers, the handing over of the instruments, and certain formulas of ordination that were later accepted in the Roman Church. The election of deacons, priests, and the bishop is ratified by the faithful, as in the Byzantine Church (cf. G. Morin, Hierarchie et liturgie dans l'église gallicane au Vᵉ siècle, in Revue bénédictine, 8 [1891], pp. 97-98; P. De Puniet, Le Pontifical romain. Histoire et commentaire I, Lovano-Paris 1930). The Rituale gallicano of the major sacramentals is animated by a more marked spirit of solemnity: it is much more complex in its euchological formulas and rites and displays more prolix and pompous characteristics than the Roman liturgy, as is also the case in the other sacred functions. Many of the prayers and rites that are now secular in the Roman rite are of Gallican-Germanic origin (cf., for example, H. Dausend, Germanische Frömmigkeit in der kirchlichen Liturgie, Wiesbaden 1936).
Thus the Gallican rite for the dedication of a church delights in the use of (baptismal) symbolism, in multiplied and often highly realistic rites; the formularies of the prayers express a more tender and more sensitive piety, while the style is more prolix and more sensual (cf. C. Callewaert, De Missalis Romani liturgia, I, Bruges 1937, pp. 12-15). Whereas the ancient Roman rite for the consecration of virgins had only a Praefatio and the velatio elegans, the Gallican liturgy, inspired by the nuptial blessing, added the handing over of the ring, the veil, and the crown, with antiphons taken from the Office of s. Agnese—all dramatic elements that later also passed into the Pontificale romano (Cf. I. Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum I, Turin 1919, p. 170 ff.; F. Oppenheim, Die Consecratio Virgilum als gestengeschichtlichen Problem, Rome 1944, pp. 43-108). Likewise, the blessing of abbots, which in the Sacramentario gregoriano is performed with a single prayer, acquires in the Gallican rite a solemnity that brings it close to the consecration of a bishop; to the simplicity of the Benedictine rite of monastic profession are added in the Gallican rite the blessing of the monastic habit, lengthy prayers, litanies, a preface, and so forth. Similarly, in the Gallican liturgy the rite of the coronation of an emperor or king receives all the dramatic and august elements of anointing, the handing over of the insignia, and so forth (cf. F. Oppenheim, Die religiösen Elemente in der christlichen Herrscherweihe des Mittelalters, in Ephémarides Liturgicae, 58 [1944], pp. 42-49).
IV. CHARACTERISTIC
In general, it may be said that the l. g. is more solemn and more complete than the ancient Roman liturgy; in it, outward, perceptible, dramatic, and symbolic elements are multiplied. The style of the orations does not possess the brevity, force, sobriety, simplicity, and clarity of the Roman ones. The orations are addressed to Jesus, not, as in the Roman liturgy, to the Father; qualities of Creator, Omnipotent, Redeemer, Judge, etc., are often attributed to him. The l. g. is likewise a precious testimony to what the life of the transalpine churches was in those centuries.BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Mabilon, De liturgie Gallicana libri tres, Parigi 1685; R. Buchwald, De liturgie Gallicana, Bradavia 1890; H. Leclercq, Gallicane liturgie, in DACL, VI, cols. 473-593; L. Duchesne, Les origines du culte chrétien, 3ᵉ ed., Parigi 1922, pp. 94-99; J.-B. Thibault, L'ancienne liturgie gallicane, son origine et sa formation en Provence, there 1929; F. Cabrol, La liturgie gallicane, in R. Aignin, Liturgia. Encyclopédie populaire des connaissances liturgiques, there 1931, pp. 793-800; T. Klauser, Die liturgischen Austauschbeziehungen zwischen der römischen und fränkischen Kirche vom 8-11. Jahrhundert, in Histor. Jahrbuch der Göringesellschaft, 23 [1933], pp. 160-189; B. Beck, Adunatations ad testus quantum liturgicus e vitis
Sanctorum aevi Merovingii selectus, Roma 1930, with many references to social merits, customs, and folkloric traditions connected with the l. g.; F. Oppenheim, De libris liturgicis deque iure ex eis memento, Torino 1940, pp. 62-66, 94-100; M. Righetti, Storia liturgica, I, Milano 1945, pp. 111-26.