Roman Orders

ROMAN ORDERS. - I. NOTION. - The O. R. are "libelli" produced in the 8th-14th centuries, containing the description and the rules for the conduct of the principal sacred ceremonies: Baptism, Mass, ordinations, dedication of churches, the Offices of Holy Week and the principal feasts of the liturgical year.

The first liturgical books contained only the texts to be read or sung during the conduct of the rites. References to the ceremonies to be performed are extremely rare. At the beginning, in fact, these must have been very simple, spontaneous, dictated and guided by practice. But with the development and complication of the external forms of worship, especially in the majesty of the Roman basilicas, where, in the Middle Ages, the Domnus apostolicus was habitually present, and with the subsequent spread of the Roman rite throughout the West under the impulse of Charlemagne, the need was felt to codify what the living voice and custom had until then regulated. Thus, through private initiative, the O. arose, manuals of ceremonies, written in popular Latin and in the jargon of the master of ceremonies, which gave the essential outlines of the rite. These little books, considered almost official, were then adopted, and consequently adapted, for episcopal ceremonies and for the setting outside Rome. They are of capital importance both for the history of the liturgy and for sacramental theology. Suffice it to say that they are at the basis of the Pontificale romanum, of the Caeremoniale episcoporum, of the Rituale, and in general of the various rubrics of the other liturgical books of the Latin Church.

II. STUDIES

The primitive Ordines were limited to the description of the ceremonies (rubrics), excluding the formulas. When rubrics and formulas were fused into the same book, the liturgical books were born, as they now exist, and the Ordines ceased their function. They came back to light, but as an object of study, in the second half of the 16th century through the work of G. Cassander (Ordo Romanus de officio Missae, Cologne 1561) and of M. Hittorp (De divinis catholicae Ecclesiae officiis..., ibid. 1568). A century later G. Mabillon assembled a collection of 15 Ordines, which ranged from the 9th to the 15th century (cf. Museum Italicum, II, Paris 1689). It is the most important collection, having remained classic down to the present day (reproduced in PL 78, 851-1408). The designation of Ordines Romani, which still survives, is also Mabillon's, although improper, because the majority of the Ordines have non-Roman origins. In the first half of the 18th century F. Bianchini published a Veronese group of Ordines from the Carolingian era (cf. Liber Pontif. Anastasii bibliothecarii de vitis Roman. Pontif., III, Rome 1728, prolegomena). E. Martène and L. A. Muratori reproduced the Mabillon edition, each adding an old monastic Ordo to it. New important texts, found in Switzerland and Austria, were made known by M. Gerbert, in Monumenta veteris liturgiae alamannicae, I-II, Sankt Blasien 1777-79. In the last century G. B. de Rossi published a fragment of an Ordo in the Inscriptiones Christianae, II, I, Rome 1888, p. 349, then reproduced by L. Duchesne in an appendix to the Origines du culte chrétien, 5th ed. (Paris 1909) together with two other Ordines of the 9th century, still unknown. Finally L. Fischer in 1916 printed in Munich the Ordo Lateranensis of the 12th century; and C. Silva-Tarouca the Ordo of John "archicantor" of St. Peter, in the Memorie della Pont. accad. rom. di archeol., Rome 1923. Recently a true Corpus of the Ordines, in a critical edition and with ample introductions, has been undertaken by M. Andrieu (cited in the bibliography). To date 3 volumes have been published, of which vol. I contains the list and description of the manuscripts (107, scattered among 36 libraries); vol. II the Ordines I-XIII, and vol. III the Ordines XIV-XXXIV. A fourth volume will follow with the remaining Ordines and the general indexes. By "early Middle Ages" Andrieu means the period extending from the beginning of the 7th century through the whole of the 10th century. Within the limits of these four centuries he has grouped and examined a body of more than 40 Ordines, some of which in a double redaction and therefore numbered from I to L, a numbering that from now on will replace that from I to XV of Mabillon: I remains still the Ordo primus of Mabillon, and L the Ordo romanus antiquus of Hittorp, the point of transition between the Ordines and the Pontificals. Here is the concordance between the Mabillon collection and the Corpus of Andrieu:

Other Ordines:

Andrieu, moreover, who does not follow the chronological order but the systematic one, has grouped the Ordines as follows:

III. FORMATION

Roman in origin for the most part, the O. found in Gaul the environment suited to their development. At the beginning of the 9th century, in fact, the triumph of the Roman liturgy beyond the Alps was an accomplished fact. The Roman Sacramentaries had replaced the pre-existing Gallican books and, more often than not, had merged with them. But the Sacramentaries contained only formulas, prayers, blessings, consecrations. To carry out the solemn functions according to the Roman rite it was also necessary to have the detailed description of the new ceremonies, contained precisely in the O., the necessary complement of the Sacramentaries. The O. therefore also penetrated into Gaul, adapting to the environment and to local customs, while still preserving evident traces of their Roman origin. Following the branching of the manuscripts, two collections of O. are found: 1) collection A, the oldest (8th century), formed of purely Roman elements, represented by cod. 412 of the Faculty of Medicine of Montpellier. 2) Collection B (9th century) composed of Gallicanized Roman elements; it reveals a kind of compromise between the Roman use and the native Frankish customs (cf. Andrieu, I, pp. 467-76). The first collection, in origin, had the eminently practical purpose of a booklet intended for the church, as a directory for the exact execution of the functions. But the booklet was too incomplete and too Roman to be adopted as it stood by a master of ceremonies in Gaul and ended up becoming a library codex. The second collection, on the other hand, was more convenient for the Frankish churches, especially thanks to the Ritual of ordinations. It therefore had a great diffusion: with the addition of a few other rites it soon became a true manual of episcopal ceremonies. Under the impulse of the Carolingian ecclesiastical reforms, other writings of a theological-juridical character were added to Collection B, giving rise to the liturgical-theological summae, intended for the instruction of the clergy. These didactic collections (represented by cod. Can. C 102 of Zurich) multiplied somewhat everywhere and especially in German country, in the Reichenau-St. Gall region. There are, finally, other, older collections of O., which it is not easy to reconstruct, but whose very important traces have found a place in collections contemporary with the preceding ones.

With all these materials, a good part of which, as has been said, were of Roman origin, a monk of Mainz, in the second half of the 10th century, composed a hybrid book, of ceremonies and of text, for the use of bishops, called today (after Andrieu) the Roman-Germanic Pontifical, a denomination that well indicates its composite nature, its elements and their reworking with additions in Germany. The importance of the compilation lies in the fact that it has preserved for us so many elements of the Roman liturgy that would otherwise have been lost. Reworked several times, it formed the principal nucleus of the Roman Pontifical of the 13th century, after the Pontifical of Durand of Mende (d. 1296), which, lightened and rehandled, has become our Pontificale Romanum.

IV. CONTENT

The Ordines Romani edited by Mabillon present the following particularities: Ordo Romanus I: it is the oldest (early 8th century) and is composed of various strata. The introduction (cols. 1-3), which is later, gives some summary information on the organization of the Roman clergy and the rotation followed in the stational Masses. The first part (nos. 4-21) contains the description of the papal stational Mass; the second (nos. 22-51), which, however, according to Andrieu, has nothing to do with Ordo I, describes the liturgy of Lent and of the last four days of Holy Week. This part is from the 9th century. Ordo I is the most important and the most studied. Mabillon (reproduced in PL, 78) made use of codex A (Sangall. 140, 9th-10th century); H. Grisar (Analecta Romana, I, Rome 1889, pp. 217-20) used a rather defective codex (ms. S = Sessorianus 52), from the National Library of Rome; Richard Stapper reproduced ms. W (= Wolfenbüttel 4175, 9th century; in Opuscola et textus, Münster in W. 1933). Ordo II is an adaptation of the rites of the pontifical Mass described in Ordo I, for a church outside Rome. The oldest manuscripts go back to the 9th century, but they reflect the situation of the preceding century. Ordo III too is a reworking of Ordo I, carried out in Germany in the 10th century. It likewise contains the papal Mass, as is also found in Ordo IV, which is later and a simple fragment, reproducing the Gregorian Canon of the Mass from the Quam oblationem to the end. Ordo V, deriving from a codex of St. Gall from the 10th century, gives a list of the liturgical vestments of the Roman clergy and a description of the episcopal Mass. The list of vestments according to G. Braun (Die liturgische Behandlung, Freiburg in Br. 1907, p. 6) is older and may be considered to be from the 9th century. Ordo VI too contains the description of an episcopal Mass. It was composed in Germany in the middle of the 9th century. Ordo VII, known from several manuscripts of the 9th century, sets out the order of the scrutinies, the rite of Baptism and of Confirmation. Ordo VIII derives from the codex of the Vatican Palat. lat. 487 of the 9th century and reports the ancient Roman ritual of ordinations. Andrieu found a development of this Ordo in a manuscript of the British Museum (Add. 15222; 9th-10th centuries) with the description of the minor orders. The rite of ordinations is found again in Ordo IX; Ordo X, extracted from the Pontifical of the Curia of the 13th century, in the first part

(nos. 1-24) describes the papal liturgy during the last three days of Holy Week; in the second part (nos. 25-40) the rite of the Sacraments of Penance, Extreme Unction and Viaticum, and also a ritus sepeliendi clericos. The XI Ordo too is an extract from the Pontifical of the Curia: it gives a general survey of the papal liturgy over the liturgical year, and was composed by the canon Benedict, of St. Peter's, at the wish of Card. Guido de Castello, later Celestine II, between 1140 and 1143. The XII Ordo, written by Card. Cencio de' Savelli (1192-98), is dedicated to Innocent III; it sets out the papal liturgy over the course of the year, the election and consecration of the pope and the coronation of the emperor. The same subject is found in the XIII Ordo, composed by order of Gregory X (d. 1276), which bears the title Caeremoniale romanum. The XIV Ordo, entitled Ordinarium sanctae romanae Ecclesiae, was probably composed by Card. Gaetano Stefaneschi (d. 1341), who must have had before his eyes the Missal of the papal chapel of the 13th century. It contains a detailed description of the election and consecration of the Pope, the pontifical ceremonies over the course of the year, of canonization, of the coronation of emperors, etc. Stefaneschi's work was completed by some later copyist with the Caeremoniale of Pietro Amelio, and in this form it is found in Mabillon's edition. Pietro Amelio (d. as patriarch of Grado in 1389) is also the author of the Liber de caeremoniis Ecclesiae romanae, which Mabillon publishes as the XV Ordo. Its content is entirely similar to that of the preceding O.

Outside the Mabillon series, but in part now inserted in Andrieu's Corpus, there are the following O.: the Ordo of John "archicantor," edited from cod. Sangall. 349. Fr. C. Silva-Tarouca considered it to be of the end of the 7th century, and thus it would have been the oldest O., making its author John of St. Martin, primicerius of St. Peter's, sent by Pope Agatho to England in 680. Andrieu (vol. III, pp. 3 ff.) has instead demonstrated that it was composed in the terra occidentalis gallicana between 750 and 787. The Ordo of Einsiedeln, published by De Rossi and then by Duchesne (Origines, Paris 1909, pp. 487-90), describes the ceremonies of the Sacred Triduum: it has commonly been held to be of the 7th century, but in reality it does not go beyond the 8th century. The Ordo of St. Amand, so called from the abbey of the same name in northern France, edited by Duchesne (Origines, pp. 462-86; Andrieu, II, pp. 135-70), describes the papal Mass, the ceremonies of Holy Week and Easter, ordinations, the dedication of churches: it is dated to the middle of the 8th century. Ordo Romanus antiquus (also called Ordo vulgatus), published by Melchiorre Hittorp (De divinis catholicae Eccl. officiis, Rome 1591, reprinted in M. de la Bigne, Maxima bibl. veterum Patrum, XIII, Lyon 1677, pp. 661 ff.). It is not at all Roman and contains the ceremonial of the Mass for the use of bishops and an ample repertory of blessings: it stands between the 9th and 10th centuries. Ordo Bernhardi cardinalis, also known by the name Ordo Lateranensis, with the offices and customs of the basilica of the Lateran, compiled by Card. Bernardo of Porto (d. 1176) and published in 1916 by L. Fischer. Finally, there remain a series of Ordines edited by J. Kösters relating to the election of cardinals and the consecration of the pope (Studien zu Mabillons römischen Ordines, Münster in W. 1905).

Along with the O. mention should be made of the Liber Diurnus (v.) of the Roman Pontiffs, which likewise contains rites and liturgical formulas of great importance concerning the consecration of the pope and the dedication of churches. - See plate XIII.

Annibale Bugnini