Hospitality

HOSPITALITÀ. — From hospes (hence hospitium, hospitalis, hospitalitas), it is the act of welcoming a stranger into one’s own home.

I. HOSPITALITY AMONG NON-CHRISTIAN PEOPLES

Hospitality is universal among primitive populations, both between individuals and between groups, because, since the stranger is potentially an enemy (hospes and hostis have the same root: Varrone, De lingua lat., 4,1; Cicerone, De off., I, 12), he might bring harmful influences into the place where he is hosted, and it is therefore advisable to make him a friend and also to help him in case of need. Thus, among present-day primitive peoples, after the first encounter with the stranger, negotiations are established through exchanges of gifts, followed by the guest’s incorporation into the community, with various manifestations of friendship: sacrifices, binding with the same cord, exchange of blood, the peace pipe, etc. In Rome, in the rite of the fetiales, the stranger’s territory is rabu, and they therefore use rites of magical disinfection (serbena) and special incantations when they enter hostile territory (Livio, I, 24; IX, 5). In Greece, hospitality is an obligation sanctioned by Zeus Xenios, protector of the stranger. In Homer (Iliode, III, 350), the Trojan War is caused by the betrayal of hospitality committed by Paris against Menelao. This point of view is confirmed by Eschilo. When Ulisse (Od., VI, 119; IX, 175; XIII, 201) lands in a foreign country, he asks himself whether it is inhabited by hospitable people who fear Zeus, protector of the stranger. In Rome too, Giove is protector of the guest (Juppler hospitalis: Cicerone, Ad Quintum fr., 2, 11). The passing stranger there enjoys the security guaranteed by the paterfamilias who hosts him (hospitium privatum). Among the Romans, a tessera hospitalis was in use (generally made of wood; in the army it was oral, almost like a password), or a token of recognition, which guaranteed the identity and security of both host and guest (Plauto, Poen., I, 5, 27; Deum hospitalam ac tesseram mecum fero).

The development of civilization reduced the duty of hospitality to a simple form of courtesy; Varrone (De arch., VI, 10) suggests building, next to the main residence, a smaller one intended accipiendis hospitibus.

Among Christians, hospitality, often called humanitas, was regarded as the most authentic expression of the virtue of charity, and the same expiatory function was attributed to it as to almsgiving; indeed, hospitality possessed this character when one considers the difficulties that strangers, almost until our own day, encountered in finding decent hotels or inns. Christians were impelled to fulfill this duty of human solidarity by the examples contained in Sacred Scripture and by the constant exhortations of their pastors. From the Gospels they learned that Christ, after having welcomed it several times, had numbered it among the works of mercy that the Supreme Judge would recall at the final judgment (Mt. 25, 34-46). From the other books of the New Testament they could ascertain that the Apostles had always strongly recommended it: “Be generous in hospitality,” s. Paul prescribed to the Romans (12, 13; cf. Hebr. 13, 2), to whom he commended the deaconess Phoebe, probably the bearer of the letter, so that they might receive her “in the Lord as is fitting for the saints” and assist her “in whatever she may need, for she too has assisted many, including myself” (16, 1-2). “Be hospitable to one another without complaining,” s. Peter insisted (I Pt. 4, 9). S. John praised the Christian Gaius for the hospitality he offered to pilgrims and concluded: “Therefore we ought to welcome such men, so that we may cooperate in the truth” (III Io. 5-8). Bishops, deacons, and widows were to attend to this work (cf. I Tim. 3, 2; 5, 10; Tit. 1, 8); indeed, this office was subsequently to be especially reserved to deacons, since they were placed in charge of administering the goods of the Church and the offerings of the faithful. In commenting on the texts of the Old and New Testaments recalled above, the Fathers, ecclesiastical writers, and theologians constantly seized the opportunity to exalt the merit and duty of hospitality. Of the many texts that could be cited, only a few from Christian antiquity are recalled here. S. Clement assigns hospitality the first place after faith (cf. I Clementis, 10, 7; 11, 1; 12, 1), and recalls the splendid manifestations of the hospitality of the Church of Corinth (ibid. 1, 2). The Didaché devotes chapter 12 to this duty, to be fulfilled with discernment. Hermas likewise recommends it to the Christian, “because hospitality provides an opportunity to do good” (Mandatum, VIII, 10; cf. also Similitado, VIII, 10, 3). Aristides states that Christians rejoice in receiving pilgrims into their homes as though they were true brothers (cf. Apologia, 15; L. Vona’s translation, L'apologia di Aristide, Rome 1950, pp. 107-108). The Church of Rome is praised by s. Dionysius of Corinth for the assistance it gave to foreign brothers (cf. Eusebius, Hist. eccl., IV, 23, 10). For Tertullian, all Christendom was a “conteressatio hospitalitatis” (De praescriptionibus, 29). S. Cyprian authorized the withdrawal from his personal possessions of whatever was needed to aid strangers (cf. Epist., VII, ed. G. Hartel in CSEL, III, 2, p. 485). Despite the precautions taken by communities to prevent abuses—the Didaché ordered that no brother capable of working should be maintained for more than three days (cf. chap. 12)—there were, from antiquity onward, no shortage of freeloaders who skillfully exploited the good faith of Christians, such as the crafty Peregrinus described by Lucian (Peregrinus, 16). Despite these abuses, the sacred duty of hospitality encountered no impediment in the Church; indeed, this “non mediocris virtus,” this “publica species humanitatis,” a distinctive mark of every Christian, and especially of every bishop (Ambrose, De Abraham, I, 5, 32; PL 14, 435; De Officiis, II, 21, 103; PL 16, 131; cf. s. Augustine, Serm. 355, 1, 3; PL 39, 1570; Sidonius Apollinaris, Ep. VII, 9; PL 58, 578; Council of Paris of 829, chap. 14; MGH, Concilia, II, 1, p. 621), was to become a characteristic of both Eastern monasticism (cf. Rufinus, Hist. Monacorum, 7; PL 21, 418; Palladius, Hist. Lausiaca, 14; PG 34, 1047 etc.; P. De Meester, De monachico statu iuxta disciplineam byzantinam, Vatican City 1942, pp. 171-72, 286-87) and Western monasticism (cf., for example, the Rule of s. Benedict, chap. 53). In fact, every monastery had its guesthouse for receiving pilgrims and travelers (cf. Egeria, Itinerarium, ed. H. Pétrée, Paris 1948); moreover, at particularly dangerous points of passage (cf., for example, the heavily frequented Alpine passes of the Great and Little S. Bernard: V. AOSTA), as well as in the great pilgrimage centers, hospices arose under the direction of religious communities. In Rome, the various Scholae that received pilgrims from individual nations were extremely well attended. In the entry CARITÀ, the numerous works created by Christian piety to assist needy pilgrims and strangers will be listed. It should also be noted that the primordial features of international law have been discerned in the institution of hospitality (Tamassia).