Article: One of the official ritual works of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church
The Roman Ritual () is one of the official liturgical books of the Roman Rite of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church. It contains all of the services that a priest or deacon may perform; and are not contained in the Missale Romanum, Pontificale Romanum, or Caeremoniale Episcoporum, but for convenience does include some rituals that one of these books contains.
Since 1969, the Roman Ritual is divided into different volumes by subject, for standard use in the Latin Church, yet priests and communities that celebrate pre-Second Vatican Council rituals still use the edition of 1952.
History
When ritual manual books first were written, the Sacramentary in the West and the Euchologion in the East, they contained all of the bishops' and priests' parts for all rituals, including not only for Mass and Divine Liturgy, respectively, but for all of the other Sacraments, blessings, other rituals, and all sacramentals.
From one book to many
The contents of the Roman Ritual and Pontificale Romanum were in the Sacramentaries. In the Eastern Churches this state of things still largely continues. In the West a further development led to the distinction of books, not according to the persons who use them, but according to the rituals for which they are used. The Missal, containing the whole Mass, succeeded by the Sacramentary. Some early missals included other rituals for the convenience of celebrants, but on the whole this later arrangement involved the need of other books to supply the non-Eucharistic rituals of the Sacramentary. These books, when they appeared, were the predecessors of the Pontificale Romanum and Roman Ritual. The bishop's functions, including Ordination and Confirmation, filled the Pontificale Romanum. The priest's functions, including Baptism, Penance, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction, were contained in a variety of little handbooks that eventually the Roman Ritual replaced.
Codification
The Pontificale Romanum emerged first. The book under this name, also known as the Pontifical of Egbert, occurs already in the eighth century. From the ninth there was a multitude of pontificals. For priests' functions there was no uniform book until 1614. Some of these functions were contained in the pontificals; often the principal ones were added to missals and books of hours. Then special books were arranged, but there was no uniformity in arrangement or name. Through the Middle Ages a great number of handbooks for priests having the care of souls were written. Every local rite and almost every diocese had them; indeed many were compilations for the convenience of one specific priest or church. Such books had many titles: Manuale, Liber Agendarum, Agenda, Sacramentale, or Rituale. Specimens of such medieval predecessors of the Ritual are the Manuale Curatorum of Roeskilde in Denmark (first printed in 1513; edited by J. Freisen, Paderborn, 1898), and the Liber Agendarum of Schleswig (printed in 1416; Paderborn, 1898). The book of Roeskilde contains the rituals for benediction of salt and water, Baptism, Matrimony, benediction of a house, visitation of the sick with Viaticum and Extreme Unction, prayers for the dead, funerals, prayers for pilgrims, benediction of fire on Holy Saturday, and other benedictions. The book of Schleswig has much of the Holy Week rituals, and those for All Souls, Candlemas, and Ash Wednesday. In both many rituals differ from the Roman forms.
16th century
In the sixteenth century, while the other liturgical books were being revised and issued as uniform standards, there was naturally a desire to substitute an official book for the varied collections. But the matter did not receive the attention of the Holy See for some time. First, various books were issued in Rome with the idea of securing uniformity, but without official sanction. Albert Castellani in 1537 published a Sacerdotale of this kind; in 1579 in Venice another version appeared that Grancesco Samarino, Canon of the Lateran Archbasilica arranged and which was re-edited in 1583 by Angelo Rocca. In 1586 Giulio Antonio Santorio, Cardinal of St. Severina, printed a handbook of rituals for the use of priests, which, according to Pope Paul V, "he had composed after long study and with much industry and labor" (Apostolicae Sedis). This book is the foundation of the current Ritual. On 17 June 1614, Paul V authorized the first edition of the official Rituale Romanum by the Constitution Apostolicae Sedis. In this, he pointed out that Clement VIII had already issued a uniform text of the Pontificale Romanum and the Caeremoniale Episcoporum. "It remained", the Pope continued, "that the sacred and authentic rites of the Church, to be observed in the administration of sacraments and other ecclesiastical functions by those who have the care of souls, should also be included in one book and published by authority of the Apostolic See; so that they should carry out their office according to a public and fixed standard, instead of following so great a multitude of Rituals".
Post-Tridentine uniformity
But, unlike the other books of the Roman Rite, the Ritual has never been imposed as the only standard. Pope Paul V did not abrogate all other collections of the same kind or command only the use of his book. He stated: "Wherefore we exhort in the Lord" that it should be used. The result was that the old local rituals were never altogether abrogated. After the appearance of the Roman edition these others were gradually conformed to it. They continued to be used, but had many of their prayers and ceremonies modified to agree with the Roman edition. This applies especially to the rites of Baptism, Holy Communion, the form of absolution, and Extreme Unction. The ceremonies also contained in the Missal (benediction of holy water, the processions of Candlemas and Palm Sunday, etc.), and the prayers in the Breviary (e. g. the Office of the Dead) are necessarily identical with those of Paul V's Ritual; these have the absolute authority of the Missal and Breviary. On the other hand, many nations preserved local customs for the celebration of the Sacrament of Matrimony, visitation of the sick, special benedictions, processions, and sacramentals not found in the Roman edition and still printed in various diocesan rituals. It is then by no means the case that every priest of the Roman Rite used the Ritual. Very many dioceses or provinces still had their local handbooks under the name of Rituale, Ordo Administrandi Sacramenta, etc., though all of these conformed to the Roman texts in the principal elements. Most contained practically all the rituals of the Roman edition, along with local additions or supplements.
18th–20th centuries
Pope Benedict XIV in 1752 revised the Roman Ritual, together with the Pontificale Romanum and Cærimoniale Episcoporum. His new editions of these three books were published by the brief Quam ardenti of 25 March 1752, which quoted Pope Paul V's constitution at length and was printed, as far as it concerns this book, in the beginning of the Ritual. He added to Paul V's text two forms for giving the Papal blessing (V, 6 and VIII, 31). Meanwhile, a great number of additional blessings were added in an appendix. This appendix grew nearly as long as the original book. Under the title Benedictionale Romanum it is often issued separately. Pope Leo XIII approbated an editio typica published by Pustet in Ratisbon in 1884. In 1925, the Holy See under the authority of Pope Pius XI issued another typical edition of the Ritual, which, as the decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites of 10 June 1925 explained, had been adapted to the norms and guidelines of the Codex Juris Canonici of 1917, and the revised rubrics of the Missal and Breviary.
The latest typical edition of the Ritual was published in 1952.
1969 to present
With the advent of the Second Vatican Council the Ritual was divided into different fascicles and revised, with each fascicle being published as a single volume from 1969 onward. They are prefaced with theological introductions and their translation into vernacular languages is overseen by the Episcopal Conferences. The current authoritative Latin editions are:
Ordo celebrandi Matrimonium (Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, editio typica 1969; editio typica altera 1991, 2008)
Ordo Exsequiarum (Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1969)
Ordo Unctionis infirmorum eorumque pastoralis curae (Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1972)
Ordo Initiationis Christianae adultorum (Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1972)
Ordo professionis religiosae (Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1970, 1975)
Ordo Baptismi parvulorum (Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, editio typica 1969; editio typica altera 1973, 1986, 2003)
De sacra communione et de cultu mysterii eucharistici extra Missam (Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1974)
Ordo Paenitentiae (Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1974)
Ordo Confirmationis (Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, editio typica 1973, 2003)
De Benedictionibus (Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, editio typica 1984, 1985, 1993, 2013)
De Exorcismis et supplicationibus quibusdam (Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1999, 2013)
The second section of the Ritual, the Benedictionale, was also extensively revised and published in 1987 as De Benedictionibus.
The Rite of Exorcism also underwent a series of revisions and was finally promulgated in 1999 as De exorcismis et supplicationibus quibusdam (Concerning Exorcisms and Certain Supplications).
Contents
The Rituale Romanum is divided into ten "titles" (). All, except the first, are subdivided into chapters. The first being called “Ultimum, Gh.” In each title (except I and X), the first chapter gives the general rules for the sacrament or function, while the others give the exact ceremonies and prayers for various cases of administration.
Other rituals
The Ambrosian Rite has its own ritual (Rituale Ambrosianum, published by Giacomo Agnelli at the Archiepiscopal Press, Milan).
In the Byzantine Rite, the contents of the ritual are contained in the Euchologion.
The Armenians have a ritual book (Mashdotz) similar to the Roman Ritual.
Other churches not in communion with the Holy See have not yet arranged the various parts of this book in one collection. Nearly all the Eastern Catholic Churches, however, now have ritual books formed on the Roman model.
See also Breviary Pontifical Missal Vade retro satana References External links
1964 Roman Ritual for use in the United States
Usuarium, A Digital Library and Database for the Study of Latin Liturgical History in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period
Further reading
The Development of the Roman Ritual: A Prehistory and History of the Rituale Romanum https://muse.jhu.edu/article/750868 Antiphon: A Journal for Liturgical Renewal |
Source: Search: Submit Search Home Encyclopedia Summa Fathers Bible Library A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > R > Ritual Ritual
Please help support the mission of New Advent
and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more all for only $19.99...
The Ritual ( Rituale Romanum
) is one of the official books of the
Roman Rite
. It contains all the services performed by a
priest
that are not in the
Missal and Breviary
and has also, for convenience, some that are in those books. It is the latest and still the least uniform book of our rite.
When first ritual functions were written in books, the Sacramentary in the West, the Euchologion in the East contained all the
priest's (and bishop's
) part of whatever functions they performed, not only the holy Liturgy in the strict sense, but all other
sacraments , blessings , sacramentals
, and rites of every kind as well. The contents of our Ritual and Pontifical were in the Sacramentaries. In the
Eastern Churches
this state of things still to a great extent remains. In the West a further development led to the distinction of books, not according to the
persons
who use them, but according to the services for which they are used. The
Missal
, containing the whole Mass, succeeded the Sacramentary. Some early Missals added other rites, for the convenience of the
priest or bishop
; but on the whole this later arrangement involved the need of other books to supply the non-Eucharistic functions of the Sacramentary. These books, when they appeared, were the predecessors of our Pontifical and Ritual. The
bishop's functions ( ordination
, confirmation, etc.) filled the Pontifical, the
priest's offices ( baptism
, penance, matrimony, extreme unction, etc.) were contained in a great variety of little handbooks, finally replaced by the Ritual.
The Pontifical emerged first. The book under this name occurs already in the eighth century (Pontifical of Egbert). From the ninth there is a multitude of Pontificals. For the
priest's
functions there was no uniform book till 1614. Some of these are contained in the Pontificals; often the chief ones were added to Missals and Books of Hours. Then special books were arranged, but there was no kind of uniformity in arrangement or name. Through the
Middle Ages
a vast number of handbooks for
priests
having the care of
souls
was written. Every local rite, almost every
diocese
, had such books; indeed many were compilations for the convenience of one
priest
or church. Such books were called by many names—
Manuale, Liber agendarum, Agenda, Sacramentale
, sometimes Rituale
. Specimens of such
medieval
predecessors of the Ritual are the
Manuale Curatorum of Roeskilde in Denmark
(first printed 1513, ed. J. Freisen, Paderborn, 1898), and the
Liber Agendarum of Schleswig
(printed 1416, Paderborn, 1898). The Roeskilde book contains the blessing of salt and water,
baptism
, marriage, blessing of a house, visitation of the sick with viaticum and extreme unction,
prayers for the dead
, funeral service, funeral of infants,
prayers for pilgrims
, blessing of fire on
Holy Saturday , and other blessings
. The Schleswig book has besides much of the
Holy Week
services, and that for All Souls,
Candlemas , and Ash Wednesday
. In both many rites differ from the Roman forms.
In the sixteenth century, while the other
liturgical books
were being revised and issued as a uniform standard, there was naturally a desire to substitute an official book that should take the place of these varied collections. But the matter did not receive the attention of the
Holy See
itself for some time. First, various books were issued at
Rome with the idea
of securing uniformity, but without official sanction. Albert Castellani in 1537 published a
Sacerdotale
of this kind; in 1579 at
Venice
another version appeared, arranged by Grancesco Samarino, Canon of the Lateran; it was re-edited in 1583 by
Angelo Rocca
. In 1586 Giulio Antonio Santorio,
Cardinal
of St. Severina, printed a handbook of rites for the use of
priests , which, as Paul V
says, "he had composed after long study and with much industry and labor" (
Apostolicæ Sedis
). This book is the foundation of our Roman Ritual. In 1614
Paul V
published the first edition of the official Ritual by the Constitution
"Apostolicæ Sedis"
of 17 June. In this he points out that
Clement VIII
had already issued a uniform text of the Pontifical and the
Cærimoniale Episcoporum
, which determines the functions of many other
ecclesiastics besides bishops
. (That is still the case. The
Cærimoniale Episcoporum
forms the indispensable complement of other
liturgical books for priests
too.) "It remained", the
pope
continues, "that the sacred and authentic rites of the
Church
, to be observed in the administration of
sacraments and other ecclesiastical
functions by those who have the care of
souls
, should also be included in one book and published by authority of the
Apostolic See
; so that they should carry out their office according to a public and fixed standard, instead of following so great a multitude of Rituals".
But, unlike the other books of the
Roman Rite
, the Ritual has never been imposed as the only standard.
Paul V
did not abolish all other collections of the same kind, nor command every one to use only his book. He says: "Wherefore we exhort in the Lord" that it should be adopted. The result of this is that the old local Rituals have never been altogether abolished. After the appearance of the Roman edition these others were gradually more and more conformed to it. They continued to be used, but had many of their
prayers
and ceremonies modified to agree with the Roman book. This applies especially to the rites of
baptism , Holy Communion
, the form of
absolution
, extreme unction. The ceremonies also contained in the
Missal ( holy water
, the processions of
Candlemas and Palm Sunday
, etc.), and the
prayers also in the Breviary
(the Office for the Dead) are necessarily identical with those of
Paul V's
Ritual; these have the absolute authority of the
Missal and Breviary
. On the other hand, many countries have local customs for marriage, the visitation of the sick, etc., numerous special
blessings , processions and sacramentals
not found in the Roman book, still printed in various
diocesan
Rituals. It is then by no means the case that every
priest
of the Roman Rite uses the Roman Ritual. Very many
dioceses
or provinces still have their own local handbooks under the name of
Rituale or another ( Ordo administrandi sacramenta
, etc.), though all of these conform to the Roman text in the chief elements. Most contain practically all the Roman book, and have besides local additions.
The further history of the
Rituale Romanum is this: Benedict XIV
in 1752 revised it, together with the Pontifical and
Cærimoniale Episcoporum
. His new editions of these three books were published by the
Brief
"Quam ardenti" (25 March, 1752), which quotes
Paul V's
Constitution at length and is printed, as far as it concerns this book, in the beginning of the Ritual. He added to
Paul V's
text two forms for giving the
papal
blessing (V, 6; VIII, 31). Meanwhile a great number of additional
blessings
were added in an appendix. This appendix is now nearly as long as the original book. Under the title
Benedictionale Romanum
it is often issued separately.
Leo XIII approved an editio typica published by Pustet at Ratisbon
in 1884. This is now out of date. The Ritual contains several chants (for processions, burials,
Office of the Dead
, etc.). These should be conformable to the
Motu Proprio of Pius X
of 22 Nov., 1903, and the
Decree
of the Sacred Congregation of Rites of 8 Jan., 1904. All the
Catholic liturgical
publishers now issue editions of this kind, approved by the Congregation.
The Rituale Romanum
is divided into ten "titles" (
tituli
); all, except the first, subdivided into chapters. In each (except I and X) the first chapter gives the general rules for the sacrament or function, the others give the exact ceremonies and
prayers
for various cases of administration.
Titulus I ( caput unicum
) is "of the things to be observed in general in the administration of
sacraments "; II, About baptism
, chap. vi gives the rite when a
bishop
baptizes, vii the blessing of the font, not on
Holy Saturday
or Whitsun Eve; III, Penance and absolutions from
excommunication
; IV, Administration of
Holy Communion
(not during Mass); V, Extreme Unction, the seven penitential psalms,
litany
, visitation and care of the dying, the
Apostolic blessing
, commendation of a departing
soul
; VI, Of funerals,
Office of the Dead
, absolutions at the grave on later days, funerals of infants; VII, Matrimony and churching of
women
; VII, Blessings of
holy water
, candles, houses (on
Holy Saturday
), and many others; then
blessings reserved to bishops and priests
who have special faculties, such as those of vestments,
ciboriums , statues
, foundation stones, a new church (not, of course, the
consecration
, which is in the Pontifical), cemeteries, etc.; IX, Processions, for
Candlemas , Palm Sunday , Rogation Days, Corpus Christi , etc.; X, Exorcism
and forms for filling up
parochial books (of baptism , confirmation, marriage, status animarum
, the dead). The
blessings
of tit. VIII are the old ones of the Ritual. The appendix that follows tit. X contains additional forms for blessing
baptism
water, for confirmation as administered by a missionary
priest , decrees about Holy Communion
and the "Forty Hours" devotion, the
litanies
of Loreto and the Holy Name. Then follow a long series of
blessings
, not reserved; reserved to
bishops and priests
they delegate, reserved to certain
religious orders; then more blessings
(novissim) and a second appendix containing yet another collection. These appendixes grow continually. As soon as the Sacred Congregation of Rites approves a new blessing it is added to the next edition of the Ritual.
The Milanese Rite
has its own ritual (
Rituale Ambrosianum
, published by Giacomo Agnelli at the Archiepiscopal Press,
Milan
). In the Byzantine Rite the contents of our ritual are contained in the
Euchologion . The Armenians
have a ritual (
Mashdotz
) like ours. Other
schismatical
Churches have not yet arranged the various parts of this book in one collection. But nearly all the Eastern
Catholics
now have Rituals formed on the Roman model (see
LITURGICAL BOOKS , IV). Sources
BARUFFALDI, Ad rituale romanum commentaria (Venice, 1731); CATALANI, Rituale romanum . . . perpetuis commentariis exornatum (Rome, 1757); ZACCARIA, Bibliotheca Ritualis (Rome, 1776); THALHOFER, Handbuch der kath. Liturgik, II (Freiburg, 1893), 509-36.
About this page APA citation. Fortescue, A. (1912). Ritual. In The Catholic Encyclopedia.
New York: Robert Appleton Company.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13088b.htm MLA citation. Fortescue, Adrian. "Ritual." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13.
New York: Robert Appleton Company,
1912. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13088b.htm>. Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat.
February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor.
Imprimatur.
+John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Contact information.
The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster
at
newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.
Copyright © 2023 by
New Advent LLC
. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
CONTACT US |
ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT |