ORATORY (LITURGY). - It is a building or a sacred place destined, rather than for the use of all the faithful, for that of a college, a community, a family or a private individual (can. 1188).
I. GENERAL NOTIONS
The contrast between church and oratory begins to arise when, once the persecutions had ceased and Christianity had spread, to the places—generally narrow—in which the acts of worship had been carried out in the first centuries, there were added spacious buildings exclusively destined for prayer and for the celebration of the sacred ceremonies. This contrast, however, must be limited to the substantial sense, since both the name ecclesia and that of oratorium were common, even if this latter term corresponds more to the Christian concept, since Christ himself called domum orationis the place destined for divine worship. With the reawakening of the Church the term oratorium, and not merely its substantial concept, acquired a meaning of contrast with the basilica and the ecclesia in consideration of the very size of the buildings; decisive, moreover, for a comparison is the restriction that is placed upon oratories with regard to the celebration of Mass and the administration of the Sacraments. Two particular kinds of sacred places, included under the name of oratory, established themselves as early as the 6th century, namely the private chapel of the supreme pontiffs and of bishops, and those of princes.
II. DISTINCTIONS
Oratories are distinguished as private, semipublic and public.
1. Private oratories
With the decree De observandis et evitandis in celebratione Missae in session XXII of the Council of Trent of 17 Sept. 1562, the power of bishops to permit the celebration of Mass in private oratories of private houses was revoked; while the said power remained unchanged for private oratories of non-private houses, that is, for those that are usually called semipublic or semi-private oratories. The Apostolic See is the only competent authority for such a concession, and the indult is the form by which the privilege is conferred: it contains a certain number of clauses concerning: 1) the intervention of the bishop (before the bishop grants the license he must visit the oratory either personally or through others, to see whether it has all the conditions required by the indult and therefore approve it); 2) the place of the oratory, which must be decently arranged, enclosed at least on three sides by a wall, furnished with all the furnishings necessary for the Divine Sacrifice, free from any profane and domestic use; 3) the Mass and the celebrating priest (only a single Mass is permitted, but if, by an extraordinary indult, permission is given to celebrate on the day of the Nativity of the Lord, then three Masses may also be celebrated in the oratory [S. Congr. of the Council, 13 Jan. 1725]); 4) the indultaries or privileged principaliter and those privileged minus principaliter (the former are those who expressly receive from the pontiff the privilege of having Mass celebrated in the oratory of their own dwelling - Pope Benedict XIV with the decr. Cum duo nobiles affirmed the necessity of the presence of the indultary at the moment of the celebration of Mass - the others are those who enjoy the privilege of satisfying the precept, when they hear Holy Mass, with the indultary also present, and when the celebration of Mass has been ordered by the indultary himself); 5) the defense of parochial rights (in private oratories the celebration of Mass is considered as a privilege, that is, an exception to the general rule, and as such must be understood in a restrictive sense: therefore the so-called parochial rights are absolutely excluded, without the license of the Ordinary or of the parish priest, so as not to prejudice the existence of the parish itself).
(Int. Anderson)
The pontifical constitutions subsequent to the Tridentine decree are the letter of the S. Congr. of the Council of 25 Oct. 1615, and the decr. Quoniam sancta of Clement XI of 15 Dec. 1703, in which was reaffirmed the principle that bishops, even if invested with the cardinalitial dignity, had no faculty to celebrate or have Mass celebrated outside their dwelling in the houses of the laity.
Benedict XIV, with the encyclical Magno cum animi of 2 June 1751, reaffirmed in a decisive manner the thought of the Council of Trent and of his predecessors, namely the necessity of the authorization of the Apostolic See for the celebration of Mass in private oratories.
The cann. 1188-90 and 1194-96 of the CIC on the subject of private oratories are nothing but a compendium of the preceding norms. In fact, in the aforementioned canons three categories of private oratories are examined: 1) those for the benefit of private persons (can. 1188 § 2, n. 3). For them to be required, the concession of the pontifical indult is ordinarily required (can. 1195 § 1). The bishop then cannot permit the celebration of a single Mass per modum actus, in casu aliquo extra ordinario, iusta et rationabili causa. 2) Regarding then the category of the private oratories of cardinals and bishops (can. 1189), one must distinguish between the oratories of titular cardinals and bishops and the oratories of residential cardinals and bishops. The former are private oratories that nevertheless enjoy the privileges and rights proper to semipublic oratories; the latter instead, that is, the oratories that are found in the palace of the diocesan bishop, it is doubtful that they can be called private, notwithstanding the listing of the CIC, when instead they should fall within the category of semipublic, that is, of the private oratories of non-private houses. 3) The small oratories erected in cemeteries by families or private persons for their own burial.
The recent instruction of the S. Congr. of the Sacraments of 1 Oct. 1949 has further restricted the possibilities of granting the privilege of the private oratory. This concession is given only to those qui ceterum morum probitate opertaque religionis professione excellent and who have been dispensed on account of infirmity or distance from the church from hearing Mass on days of precept. The faculty of satisfying the festal precept in the oratory is limited to blood relatives or relatives by marriage in the same line and degree in which consanguinity or affinity constitute a diriment impediment to marriage (cann. 1076 §§ 1 and 2; 1077 § 1), to cohabitants and to persons employed in service; while the concession per omnes aditantes is excluded, unless it is a most grave and extraordinary case; there is also confirmed and reaffirmed the principle, moreover scrupulously observed by the constant practice of the Apostolic See, of not granting the faculty of reserving the Eucharist in domestic chapels except in extraordinary cases, for grave causes, and with the appropriate precautions.
2. Semipublic oratories
Semipublic or semiprivate oratories began to assume a juridical figure of their own at the time of the Council of Trent. Leo XIII in the decr. A sacra of 23 Jan. 1899 establishes that those are semipublic oratories which, although erected in a private place and in any case not absolutely public, nevertheless do not serve a private person or a family, but a community of persons. From the text of the decree it is evident that the auctoritas of the Ordinary is a necessary condition for the erection of a semipublic oratory, whereas for the private one the bishop is nothing but an executor of the pontifical indult, when all the requirements of the indult itself are present.
The Council of Trent brought no innovation regarding the power of diocesan Ordinaries in relation to semipublic oratories, and clearly distinguished them from private ones, with which they had often previously been confused.
By common doctrine various species of these oratories are recognized, namely those of the episcopal and cardinalitial palace, those of religious places, that is, of places that are erected with the consent and authority of the bishop with a view to a pious end, besides those of public places, that is, of places not reserved for the dwelling of some private family, but by virtue of a foundation destined for common utility, for example, colleges destined for the education of youth and prisons.
For a semipublic oratory to be able to carry out its functions, it must be subject to the designatio and the visitatio, functions that belong in general to the diocesan Ordinary; it could also be dedicated, but this is not necessary. In a semipublic oratory all and only the sacerdotal functions may be exercised, and the festal precept is satisfied not only by those for whose benefit the oratory has been erected, but also by those who wish to attend.
The CIC, in regulating semipublic oratories, does nothing but recall the principles previously set forth (can. 1188 § 2, n. 2). Can. 1192 § 1 forbids erecting semipublic oratories without the consent of the Ordinary; in § 2 it is evident that the approval must be subordinated to a visit by the bishop himself or by a priest delegated by him for the verification of the required requisites; in § 3 there is mention of the impossibility of converting a semipublic oratory into a profane place without the authorization of the bishop: these oratories can be consecrated with a constitutive blessing, in which case, according to the prevailing doctrine, they are exempt from civil power and enjoy immunity; generally, however, the invocative blessing is sufficient (can. 1196 § 2).
3. Public oratories
The two necessary and indispensable requisites are: 1) the public entrance of the oratory, which implicitly supposes the free use of it on the part of of the faithful. The only exception, moreover one that had already disappeared by the early 17th century, is found in those oratories that are of private ownership and have no door or public entrance, but are established as a titulum beneficii; an example is found in the chapel of the Palazzo Altemps in Rome, in which, besides the bell, a sign of publicity, there are ministers permanently dedicated to worship and a grand ceremonial apparatus in the celebration of feast days; 2) the autoritas of the bishop for construction. Also indispensable requirements are, as indeed for the building of a church, the consent of the diocesan authority and the establishment of a dowry (which according to doctrine occurs only for consecrated oratories and not for those merely blessed). Furthermore, the oratory to be erected must not, by its erection, cause harm to other churches already existing and in particular to parishes, and in consideration of this only priestly functions may be celebrated in oratories, such as private solemn Masses, the blessing and distribution of candles, of ashes, of palms; the functions of Holy Week, the exposition of the Forty Hours, etc., while strictly parochial functions are excluded, such as the blessing of the baptismal font, the sprinkling of houses, processions within the boundaries of the parish, the Mass of Holy Thursday. As regards the administration of the Sacraments, in a public oratory Baptism, Penance, and the Eucharist may be administered in extraordinary cases, and Matrimony may be celebrated; the celebration of the funeral rites of the faithful is exclusively the prerogative of the parish. Other signs, moreover, that distinguish a public oratory from a private one are the bell for calling the faithful to the sacred functions; the fixed and immovable altar, given the perpetual destination to worship; the existence of a patron saint, whose feast is celebrated each year. These requirements are not necessary, but serve only in case of doubt to demonstrate the public character of an oratory.
Descending to an examination of the CIC, one may observe, also following common doctrine, how an essential difference between a church and a public oratory cannot be established: the only distinguishing factor is that a church is principally, and by force of its nature, destined for all the faithful, while a public oratory is principally destined for determined physical or moral persons. On the basis of can. 1188 § 2 n. 1 one deduces a twofold category of public oratories: namely those erected for the benefit of some private person, and those established in favor of some college, confraternity, etc. To both categories of oratories the faithful have the right of free access. A question not yet resolved in doctrine is that concerning the juridical nature of the public oratory: in fact the thought of the CIC is uncertain regarding can. 1191 § 1: oratoria publica eodem iure quo ecclesiae reguntur, since from an extensive or restrictive interpretation derives the existence or non-existence of a moral person in the public oratory.
III. ORATORIES IN THE ITALIAN SYSTEM
Here only public oratories are of interest, since, as is obvious, private oratories cannot be considered. Public oratories nonetheless remain private property and, as has been observed, "they are therefore distinguished from churches destined for public worship, which belong to the so-called ecclesiastical domain." Nevertheless, from a strictly civil-law point of view, oratories of this category are designated under the generic term of churches or chapels open to public worship: but "while a church is public objectively and subjectively, the public character of oratories is of an entirely special nature, inasmuch as it arises from the existence of the right of the faithful to enter them freely at least during services" (Olivero). This right of access is an essential element of the public character of the oratory and, consequently, once such destination is established, the owner cannot change it on his own initiative, and the episcopal authority or the parish priest within the scope of their respective diocese or parish will always be able to have it respected, even, if necessary, through judicial proceedings.
According to the authors, moreover, since public oratories are buildings open for worship, the relevant articles of the Concordat cannot but be considered applicable to them, whereby these places are exempt from requisitions or occupations, which may be permitted on a wholly exceptional basis only with the agreement of the Ordinary (art. 9); likewise the demolition of these places is not permitted except with the agreement of the competent ecclesiastical authority (art. 10).
Bibliography7 works
Giuseppe Spinelli
IV. ART
As an architectural organism the oratory does not differ substantially from churches, but it is smaller in size: generally it consists of a simple hall with a square or rectangular plan, with a single altar.
It can be a free-standing building, as, to cite the oldest examples, those of Sts. Celsus and Nazarius (the so-called mausoleum of Galla Placidia, characterized by its Greek-cross plan) and of St. Mary in Cosmedin (formerly the baptistery of the Arians), both in Ravenna; and that of St. John in oleo in Rome (redone externally by Bramante and internally by Borromini). But more often it is joined to larger buildings of worship, such as that of the Sts. Forty Martyrs near St. Mary Antiqua in Rome (of the 8th century), or it is on a lower level than the church (St. Mary of the Fountain beneath the church of the same name in Milan; St. Michael Berteldi beneath that of St. Cajetan in Florence), or above it (the oratory of the Stigmata annexed to the church of the same name in Rome).
Also frequent are oratories with direct access to the outside, and therefore with their own facade: typical are those dedicated to St. Bernardino, contiguous to or at least near Franciscan churches, erected for the most part in the second half of the 15th century; one recalls that of Assisi, that of Siena, consisting of two superimposed rooms, that of Perugia, famous for its elegant facade by Agostino di Duccio. In the 17th century the Rule of St. Philip Neri, which prescribes the oratory as distinct from the church, spread this type of construction; the major examples are in Florence (St. Florence, no longer in use), in Bologna, in Turin and in Rome (the latter, a very remarkable work by Borromini). During the Counter-Reformation other Orders and Confraternities also erected oratories, sometimes notable for their architecture (St. Mary in Trivio, the oratory of the Crucifix in Rome; the oratory of Christian Doctrine in Florence), for their paintings (St. Lucy of the Gonfalone in Rome), for their decoration (the oratory of the cathedral of Vicenza). In Palermo it is in the interiors of the oratories that the decorative exuberance of the Sicilian Baroque manifests itself most fully, especially through the work of the Serpotta, who cover their walls and vaults with stuccoes (Rosary of St. Dominic, Rosary of St. Zita, St. Lawrence, St. Catherine). Interesting, more for their works of art and historical memories than for their architecture, are the oratories of the hospital confraternities (Misericordia in Florence; St. Mary of the Scala in Siena); and especially those of the companies that assisted the condemned (St. John the Beheaded in Rome and in Orvieto; St. Mary Succor the Wretched in Naples; the oratory of Death in Genoa, etc.). More rare are oratories in the 18th century, whether in Baroque forms (St. Mary of the Guarini in Bologna) or already decidedly marked by Neoclassicism (the oratory of Blessed Henry in Treviso), following the general tendencies of religious architecture in the various regions.