Homiliary. — From *homiliarius*, *homiliarius liber doctorum*, properly and originally it indicated a collection of discourses by the holy Fathers on the Gospels for use by preachers: a preaching handbook (in the sense and purpose for which in 1903 Cardinal G. Vives published the *Homiliarius Breviarii Romani... in usum concionatorum et scholarum sacrae eloquentiae*). *Sermonario*, on the other hand, was a repertoire of patristic treatises or commentaries on the Psalms or other books of Holy Scripture, to serve as reading in the Divine Office. These terms, however, have never had an absolute value; having abandoned, as it were, their original meaning, they took on that of *sermonario*: “Omeliae sive tractatus beatorum Ambrosii, Augustini, Hieronymi, Fulgentii, Leonis, Maximi, Gregorii et aliorum catholicorum et venerabilium patrum legendae per totum anni circulum,” we read in a 9th-century manuscript from Montpellier. The titles of the *o.* are generally quite lengthy. The title is followed by a list of *capitula*, i.e., an index of contents. The division of the *o.* into two volumes is the most frequent: the first contains the homilies from the 1st Sunday of Advent or from Christmas to Holy Saturday, the second from Easter to the end of the year.
At the beginning, in the Vigil Office, it was difficult to admit other readings besides Holy Scripture (the *Acta Martyrum* being an exception, on their anniversary). The New Testament, especially the Pauline epistles, had