Mozarabic Rite

MOZARABIC, LITURGY. - A liturgy used officially in Spain until the second half of the 11th century, when the Roman liturgy was imposed, but preserved in the following centuries, from the 12th to the 15th, in certain parishes of Toledo and, from the 16th century to our own day, in the chapel of the "Corpus Christi" of the primatial cathedral of Toledo.

I. ORIGIN

It can be stated with certainty that the Mozarabic liturgy as a whole is not of Eastern origin, but of Western origin, and that in it the general character and the numerous rites were imported from Italy, probably from Rome, by the first preachers of the Gospel in Spain: the rest is the work of the bishops, doctors, men of letters, and musicians of the peninsula (cf. M. Pérotin, Liber ordinum, cited in the bibliography, p. XIII). It is therefore a liturgy clearly of Latin origin, precisely Roman in its beginnings, but developed especially from the 6th century (in which the political unity brought about by King Leovigild gave impetus to liturgical unity, with the conversion of his son Reccared to the Catholic faith [587]) until the beginning of the 7th century in the native milieu without other foreign influences. The fathers of the Visigothic era shaped this unity, among whom the most deserving were: Peter of Lerida (5th-6th centuries), St. Leander of Seville (d. 599), and John, bishop of Saragossa (d. 631). Special mention is due to the archbishops of Toledo, who worked with great zeal not only to restore the liturgy but also to enrich it with new elements: Eugenius (d. 657), who took a special interest in the chant that was named Eugenian chant after him; St. Ildephonsus (d. 669), author of many masses and of certain canticles in honor of St. Leocadia of Toledo; St. Julian (d. 690), who composed hymns and a Missal.

II. ABOLITION

In the 11th century there was the official abolition of the Mozarabic liturgy in Spain, at least in Castile, Aragon and Navarre, although indications remain that in some places, even afterwards, the celebration of the Mozarabic liturgy was joined to that of the Roman, and the latter underwent no small influence from the former until the unification in the Mass and the Divine Office with the edition of the Missal and Breviary of St. Pius V. The cause of this abolition was in the first place the use made of the Mozarabic texts by Elipandus of Toledo and Felix of Urgel to confirm their Adoptionist error, which determined strong aversion and open hostility toward the Mozarabic rite and induced the pontifical legations, sent to examine the rites, to abolish it.

It appears that the celebration of the Roman Mass and Office in place of the Mozarabic one began in the monastery of S. Salvador de Leyre (Navarre) in 1067, under the reign of King Sancho. The same happened in March 1071, in the Aragonese monastery of S. Juan de la Peña. Reliable data on the introduction of the Roman rite in Catalan territory are lacking, but it can be affirmed with considerable probability that in the 8th and 11th centuries there was a coexistence of the two rites or an influence of the Roman rite on the Mozarabic rite, especially in the chant. The codices preserved in the cathedrals of Vich and Gerona seem to confirm these assertions. Gregory VII continued the work of his predecessors, addressing the king of Spain, the abbot of Cluny and Bishop Simeon, hinting at his intention to preserve unity in the Church through liturgical unity. The consequence was the establishment in the Kingdoms of Castile and León of the Roman rite, according to the decision of the Council of Burgos in 1080; the monks of Cluny had a large part in this change, and so did Queen Agnes herself, first wife of Alfonso VI. The outcome obtained by the Pope was not, however, complete. Toledo, still subject to the Moors, retained its own rite; but once the city fell into the hands of Alfonso VI (25 May 1085), he and the archbishop, with pontifical approval, imposed the Roman rite; the Mozarabic rite would nevertheless have remained in the six existing parishes, of S. Giusta and Rufina, S. Marco, S. Eulalia, S. Sebastiano, S. Luca and S. Torquato, as in fact continued to be done until the beginning of the 16th century.

Another cause that determined the decline of the Mozarabic rite was the fact that neither the plenary Missal nor the Breviary existed, but only the particular books for those who took part in the celebration of the liturgical Offices. There was also the serious drawback that these books were written in Visigothic characters whose reading became increasingly difficult for the majority of readers. As the Mozarabic Office was gradually forgotten by those who were supposed to preserve it, it would inevitably have fallen into ruin had not the intelligence and zeal of Cardinal Francisco Ximenes de Cisneros arranged (1495) for the edition of the plenary Missal (1500) and Breviary (1502) and established the Mozarabic chapel of the "Corpus Christi" in the primatial Cathedral of Toledo, in which alone the Mozarabic liturgy now survives today.

It cannot be said on that account that the liturgy found in the Missal and Breviary of Cisneros is in all its purity the Mozarabic liturgy, because it is undoubted that, despite the immense work of the commission of parish priests presided over by the canon Ortiz, it was not possible to arrive at formulating the Mass and the Office according to the true Hispanic liturgy.

III. MOZARABIC LITURGICAL CODICES

The literary sources of the Mozarabic rite are currently found in the codices of the cathedral of Toledo, of the National Library of Madrid, of the Academy of History, of the private Library of the King of Spain, of that of the abbey of Silos, of the cathedral of León, etc., as well as in various foreign libraries, such as the National Library of Paris, the Capitular Library of Verona and the British Museum of London. The most important are: the Sacramentary of Toledo (cod. 35, 3), from the second half of the 11th century; the Orazionale of Verona from the end of the 7th century or the beginning of the 8th, the oldest of the Mozarabic codices, coming from the church of Tarragona (cod. LXXXIX: ed. J. Vives, Barcelona 1946); the Liber Ordinum of the abbey of Silos from the 11th century; the Antiphonary of León, from the end of the 9th century or the beginning of the 10th (cod. 8 of the cathedral of León). All the codices currently known, with the exception of the Orazionale of Verona and the Antiphonary of León, are from the 10th or 11th century, but it is certain that they are copies of older codices that have been lost, and therefore logically the liturgy they offer us is that which was living in Spain in the preceding centuries.

IV. MOZARABIC MISSAL

Some of these codices were recast in the compilation of the Gothic or Mozarabic Missal, published by Cardinal Francisco Ximenes de Cisneros: Missale mixtum secundum regulam beati Isidori, dictum mozarabes, Toledo 1500; another edition, Rome 1755, edited by A. Lesley and M. Azevedo (PL 85); yet another, Rome 1804, under the auspices of Cardinal F. A. Lorenzana.

V. THE MOZARABIC BREVIARY. - The Gothic Breviary according to the Rule of St. Isidore, also published at Toledo in 1502, does not contain, as the preface says, the prayers "prout antiqui ea regula fruebantur simpliciter, sed secundum quid". One should not think from this that the orations, readings, antiphons, etc. were invented, but that in transcribing what was known from the codices at hand, the Office was arranged in such a way that it might be easier to recite, by merging the two existing forms, the monastic and the cathedral, into one. Cardinal Lorenzana made a new edition of it (Madrid 1775).

VI. HORARIUM

It is the third book currently in use in the Mozarabic chapel, and it contains the Office of the Little Hours, and in addition the common of the other hours of the saints. At the beginning there is the Mass of the apostle St. James the Greater and an introductory exposition of both the Mass and the Divine Office, by Cardinal Lorenzana, still archbishop of Mexico (Puebla de los Angeles 1770; Toledo 1875).

VII. THE MASS

That the present Mozarabic Mass is not entirely the Hispanic, Gothic or Mozarabic one is critically certain; but one would go too far if one were to assert from this fact that it is a mixture that does not allow us to know the true "cursus" of the authentic Mozarabic Mass. Although in some concrete points it coincides with the Roman-Toledan liturgy, nevertheless in these coincidences it is difficult to see which of the two was influenced, and it would not be rash to say that the Mozarabic liturgy influenced the Toledan more than the latter influenced the Mozarabic.

1. Mass of the catechumens

The greatest number of coincidences with the Roman liturgy is found in the Mass of the catechumens, where many elements were certainly incorporated. The first part (ante Missam) consists principally of readings, canticles, antiphons, as well as certain prayers. It should be noted that in the present Mozarabic "ordo," in which the psalm Judica and the Confiteor are found, though with a particular formula, of evident Roman influence, the preparation of the offerings is made as soon as the priest has ascended the altar, before beginning the praelegendum, in the manner of an introit. According to the codices it is probable that this preparation of the offerings was anciently made in the sacristy, the priest already vested. In the Sunday Masses of Lent it is made after the reading of the prophecy. The priest then descends to the foot of the altar, holding in his hands the chalice thus prepared and singing some very melodious prayers.

Once the offering is prepared, the priest proceeds with the "ad Missam officium" according to the rubric of the Cisnerian Missal, or "ad praelegendum" as the codices say, similar to the Introit of the Roman rite. He continues with the Gloria, except in Lent, in the middle of the altar, at the end of which, having said the "per omnia semper saecula saeculorum," he goes to the Epistle side where he reads the prayer in the manner of a Collect. He then returns to the center of the altar with his hands extended before his breast, saying: "Per misericordiam tuam, Deus noster, qui es benedictus et vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum." Having greeted the people with the "Dominus sit semper vobiscum," he goes to the Epistle side for the two readings, the first of which is always prophetic, whether from the Old or the New Testament, and the second from the New Testament, with a "psallendo" in the manner of a gradual interposed. Sometimes, particularly in weekday Masses, the readings are more than two, and for this reason the Mass begins without the "ad Missam Officium," nor Gloria nor prayer. The Gospel is not followed by the kiss of the book nor by the invocation: "Ave, verbum divinum, reformatio virtutum, restitutio sanitatum." There follows the Lauda in the manner of an Alleluia which, according to canon 12 of the Fourth Council of Toledo, must always be sung after the Gospel. Then the priest makes the offering of the Host and the Chalice and afterwards asks the faithful to help him with their prayers in the action of the Sacrifice with these words: "Adiuvate me, fratres, in orationibus vestris, et orate pro me ad Deum," to which the choir responds: "Adiuvet te Pater et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus." He then recites the "Sacrificium" (Offertory in the Roman Mass) and passes to the Epistle side for the Lavabo, returning immediately to the center of the altar where, deeply bowed, he recites the prayer: "Accedam" composed by St. Julian. The "omnimode" Mass of the "Liber Ordinum" of Silos places this prayer at the beginning of the Mass, when the priest arrives at the altar (Dom Férotin, Liber Ordinum, ca. 229).

2. Mass of the faithful

In this part there are more variants in relation to the Roman Mass. In the Roman Canon indeed, except on a few feasts of the liturgical year, there are no variations, or, if they exist, they are of slight importance, mention being made in a few words of the Mystery that is celebrated. In the Mozarabic liturgy, on the other hand, in the Canon properly so called there are nine prayers always variable both in the temporal and in the sanctoral, and in the common of saints: Oratio, Alia, Post nomina, Ad pacem, Inlatio, Post Sanctus, Post pridie, Ad orationem dominicam, Benediciones, which confers on the Mozarabic liturgy a literary richness far superior to all the other Eastern and Western liturgies.

Having recited the prayer "Accedam," the priest, having placed his hands over the altar, continues the Mass with the liturgical greeting "Dominus sit semper vobiscum," to which the choir responds "et cum spiritu tuo." There follows the first proper prayer. Having recited the "Per misericordiam," the priest says Oremus, without adding anything else, and the choir responds: "Agios, Agios, Domine Deus, Rex eterne! Tibi laudes et gratias." Then the priest says to keep in mind in prayer the whole Church, so that the Lord may grant her firmness in faith, hope and charity; sinners, prisoners, the sick and pilgrims, so that the Lord may look upon them propitiously and redeem them, heal them and comfort them, to which the choir responds "Grant it, eternal and almighty God." He continues with the second proper prayer called Alia and, after this, follows the reading of the diptychs, preceded by a kind of Preface, in which, besides remembering in the first place the pope, it is said that the Sacrifice is offered in union with the other bishops, for himself and for all the clergy and peoples of the Church, for each one in particular and for all the Christian people; and that the Sacrifice is also offered for all priests, deacons, clerics and all the faithful who assist there, for themselves and for their dear ones. The choir reinforces this statement by saying: "They offer it for themselves and for the universal brotherhood." This Preface finished, the reading of the diptychs is followed by the commemoration of the Apostles and martyrs, preceded by the names of the Virgin, of Zechariah, John and the Holy Innocents. After which the choir responds: "And of all the martyrs." Then comes the mention of some great Doctors, the most important of the Western Church, including so-

only St. Athanasius from the East, and of the great Fathers and Doctors of the Spanish church Fulgentius, Leander and Isidore, to end with the list of the Toledan bishops, before and after the reconquest, concluding with Dominic (1262-66) and adding the names of Julian, another Julian, Philip, Stephen, John, another John and Felix. It continues with the third proper prayer, called the "Post nomina," after which the peace is given, following the reading of the fourth prayer, "Ad pacem"; then follows the Preface or Inlatio, the fifth proper prayer, which ends with the Sanctus and Benedictus and the sixth proper prayer or "Post sanctus." The secret part of the Mass continues, which contains the formula of Consecration according to the wording of St. Paul, a formula that appears to have been replaced by order of Pope John X, at the time of the legation of Zanello.

After the elevation of the Host and the chalice (an elevation that is not properly Mozarabic), the priest continues with the proper prayer "Post pridie," ending with the "Te prestante..."; he makes the sign of the Cross over the offerings, as in the Roman liturgy at the words: "Santificas, vivificas, benedictus et prestas nobis," and in saying: "Ut sit benedictus a Te, Deo nostro, in secula seculorum" he makes the sign of the Cross; at this point the priest says the Creed (when the feast requires it), holding the Host in his right hand above the chalice and first saying the admonition: "Fidem quam corde credimus, ore autem dicamus." When the Creed is not recited, the antiphon "Ad confractionem" proper to the solemnity or common is said. Then follows the fraction of the Host into two equal halves, and immediately the first is subdivided into 5 and the second into 4, while the principal mysteries of the Lord are enumerated with the words: "Corporatio, Nativitas, Circumcisio, Apparitio, Passio, Mors, Resurrectio, Gloria, Reguum"; the 9 particles are arranged on the paten in the form of a Cross and the "Memento pro vivis" is said, at the end of which the prayer "ad orationem Dominicam" is said, which ends with the "Pater Noster," the choir responding to each of the petitions with Amen. Then follows an embolism upon the last response of the choir in the Roman manner, but much broader in concept and expression. After genuflecting, the celebrant takes the last particle, into which he has divided the Host, and holding it over the chalice says the "Sancta sanctis" and the words of the commixture. After this, the triple blessing ("benediciones") follows, preceded by the warning to the people to humble themselves to receive it, ending with the "per misericordiam" and the "Dominus sit semper vobiscum," which is followed by the antiphon "ad accedentes" that varies according to the season: one during the year, another for the season of Lent and a third for the Easter season. In this season and also in the octave of Corpus Christi it is said three times: "vicit leo de tribu Juda, radix David, alleluja," and each time the choir responds: "qui sedes super Cherubin, radix David alleluja." The moment of the priest's Communion has come, but first, holding in his hand and above the cup of the chalice the particle "Gloria," he says the "memento pro defunctis," after which he recites the preparatory prayer for Communion, which the priest makes by taking one by one the particles into which he has divided the Host, but in reverse order. Before communicating with the first he says, signing himself with it: "ave in aevum, sanctissima caro Christi in perpetuum, summa dulcedo," and in gathering the particles that might have remained on the paten he says: "Ave in aevum caelestis potus, qui mihi ante omnia et super omnia dulcis es." Afterwards he signs himself with the chalice saying: "corpus et sanguis Domini Nostri Jesu Christi custodiat corpus et animam meam in vitam aeternam, amen," while the choir sings an antiphon. At the purification of the chalice he says the prayer: "Doac petita nobis: et fit bene dicta et de co nio i fecula fec ullog. N. finit. Et tic pbr ac equat corpus oii de patena q ponat fup calic oficop ti: q dicat alta voce offubus oicb' videlicet fethus q oii cis. peter in locis in quibus crit aia, ppia ad pfracione panis. Boltea dicat pbr. fic.

Oficamus bini: videls. In vni deli pan e offiopot tem. Facto et celt et terre. Cifibi tui oium et umifabini condoroc. Et in vni oium noftri icfam rpin finii dei visigenium. Et et pan nati ante oia fecia. Dici et deo. Zume et lumine. Deum verii et deo vero. Flani no facii. Omou tion parti bec ciufbem di parte fubfianne. Per quem offia facia funt q in celo et que in terra. Oii popter nos bolos et popter no ftri faluem befecat oecalis. Et incarnamus et de ipriruficeto et marta virgine et bono facet et. Pafius sub posto pilato. Sepul rus tertia oie refurrecti. Pisem di 30 celos foter ad oeterni dei patris omnipotris. Inde venui rus et iuricare vicos et mortus. Cuius regni no crit finis. Et in iprirufi sancti dominii vinifica totem et et patre filio poocem: mine Deus... » and concludes by gathering up the corporal and covering the chalice. He recites an oration in the manner of a « Post communio » at the Epistle side, then with hands extended before his breast he goes to the center saying: « Per misericordiam... » as before the Collect. Having said the « Dominus sit semper vobiscum » he dismisses the people with the « Sollemnia completa sunt. In nomine Domini Nostri Jesu Christi votum nostrum sit acceptum cum pace »; on less solemn feasts with these words: « Missa acta est. In nomine Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, perficiamus cum pace »; and descending to the foot of the altar he recites the Salve Regina with the oration Concede, after which he goes up again to the altar, and gives the blessing to the faithful tracing a cross over the altar and kissing it, while he says: « in unitate sancti Spiritus », then he raises his eyes and hands toward the Cross, and says: « benedicat vos » and turning to the people, he gives them the blessing saying: « Pater et Filius ». Thus the Mozarabic Mass ends.

3. Kiss of peace

A characteristic of the Mozarabic rite is the place occupied by the kiss of peace. This, which in the African liturgy, according to the testimony of St. Augustine, and in Rome according to the « Ordines Romani », is given immediately before Communion, the Mozarabic liturgy anticipates before the beginning of the Canon, at the Inlatio. The kiss of peace was exchanged among those present without having been transmitted by the celebrant: thus says the Council of Compostela (a. 1056) in can. 1, and this same thing the phrase still used today according to the Cisnerian Missal seems to indicate: « Quomodo adstatis, pacem facite ». At present the celebrant kisses the paten and gives the kiss of peace to the deacon, so that he may transmit it to the choir and to the people, and in Masses without ministers he kisses the aspersorium which the acolyte presents to him, who by this means gives it to those of the choir. In giving the kiss to the paten he says: « Habete osculum dilectionis et pacis, ut apti sitis sacrosanctis mysteriis Dei ».

4. Public character of the liturgical act

The participation of the people in the Mozarabic Mass is much more active than in the Roman Mass. In it there are no secretae, except the oration that immediately precedes the consecration and the one that follows it. Everything is aloud and the people respond.

5. Consecration

The formula of the Consecration of the Mozarabic rite is not the same as that of the Roman rite. As can be seen in the « omnimode » Mass of the ritual of Silos, the formula of the Consecration, like the words that precede it, is entitled « Missa secreta » and is taken from I Cor., 11, 23-26, whereas that of the Roman Mass is taken from the Synoptics. This formula of the « Missa secreta », which, as it seems, was abolished at the time of Pope

John X, is found reproduced in the edition of the Missale plenarium of Cisneros without there being in the text any other formula, both in the Ordinary of the Mass of the First Sunday of Advent, and in the Ordinary of the Mass that follows Easter Saturday.

VIII. MOZARABIC OFFICE

Although the Mozarabic plenary Breviary did not have the 200 years required by St. Pius V, because it was the work of Cardinal Cisneros at the beginning of the 16th century, it was nevertheless possible to continue using it because its cursus was earlier than 200 years. The prayers, readings, hymns, canticles, psalms, and antiphons are in fact the same that already in remote times formed the corpus of the Divine Office.

The hours currently in force in the Mozarabic Office are the following: Vespers, Compline, Matins and Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext and None (in some weekday Offices another hour called Aurora precedes Prime). The internal distribution of each of these differs totally from the Roman rite. Noteworthy is the absence of the Psalter: certain psalms are recited, especially in the Sunday and weekday Offices, yet the ordered and complete recitation of the Psalter is not found. This psalmody, which is currently lacking in the Mozarabic Office, does not appear to be the authentic one. From the codices that are known, especially the Rituale antiquissimum of Silos, the Psalterium Toletanum, those in the British Museum in London with the numbers 30,844-46, all deriving from Silos, and those 35.5-35.7, of the cathedral of Toledo, it may be deduced that in ancient times, especially in the "cursus monasticus", the psalms formed almost the corpus of the Divine Office.

IX. MOZARABIC RITUAL

At present, in the m. parishes, no formulas other than the Roman ones are used for the administration of the Sacraments and Sacramentals. However, a m. Ritual is mentioned by the Ninth Council of Toledo in its can. 26, under the title "De Officii libello parochianis presbyteria dando"; but it is known only through the manuscript codices preserved at Silos and in the Library of the Royal Academy of History in Madrid (cod. 56).

X. MOZARABIC CHANT

In referring to the codices known today that contain the Mozarabic liturgy, it was said that some of them contain their own musical notation, which, until now, despite the studies of eminent musicologists, has not been able to be deciphered. Among those who have recently studied this chant more or less directly, one may cite G. F. Riano: Critical and bibliographical notes on early spanish music (London 1887); A. Gastoué, Catalogue des manuscrits de musique byzantine (Paris 1907); Abbot G. M. Suñol: Introducción a la paleografía musical gregoriana (Barcelona 1925); R. Mitjana, who in 1920 published a very extensive study on music in Spain and Portugal, although his references to Mozarabic music are rather superficial, because his assertions rest on J. Romero and F. de Tuero, without any critical value; P. Wagner, who investigated the Mozarabic neumes in Spain on behalf of the Goerres Society, in 1926 and 1928. Special mention is also made of the Benedictine scholars of the monastery of Silos, C. Rojo and G. Prado, who give a critical history of the antiquity and the present state of Mozarabic chant in the book Canto mozarabe (Barcelona 1929). - See plate C.