medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
John Wickstrom wrote:
>
> You are certainly correct that modern Roman breviaries, (pre-1956)
> do not reflect the complexity of late medieval practices. However, it
> could be argued that the Roman liturgy at least through the mid 1950s
> reflected Roman usages (not the many local and Order liturgies) since
> Trent, as completed by Pius V in 1568-70. My impression is that the
> issue of the ranking of feasts, the subject we were discussing, was
> not significantly modified by these reforms; the Pian reforms seem to
> have revolved around the distribution of the Psalter throughout the
> week and of feasts and the Vigils' lessons for these. It was only in
> the 1968-9 reforms following on the Second Vatican Council that
> radically altered the calendar and system of ranking of feasts. My
> experience of medieval liturgical texts, particularly of the Roman
> usages, suggests are quite consistent regularities in Office texts
> and rubrics from place to place and from one century after another,
> after the Frankish reforms of the late 8th and early 9th centuries.
On the other hand [science-fiction writers (bless them) have introduced the
concept of 'the gripping hand' to allow for the third alternative - for
similar, if opposite, reasons politicians prefers one-armed economic
advisors], the Tridentine Calendar had a vastly reduced number of feasts,
and ranks of feasts (whether inherited or not from the late medieval Use of
the Roman Curia, popularised by the Franciscans), compared to some other
Uses with more elaborate gradings. There were only 19 Double Feasts of the
First Class, 17 Doubles of the Second Class, 53 Doubles and 60 Semi-doubles
(the rest were Simple Feasts.) Needless to say, grade inflation set in -
there were 275 double and semi-double feasts by 1882. So no feasts ended up
with their medieval gradings!
John Briggs
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