medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Cormack, Margaret Jean wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Dear list members,
> on behalf of a colleague, I am writing to ask about the history of legislation concerning
> how often priests were permitted to say Mass on a single day. I have a vague recollection
> that more than one Mass per day should not have been allowed, but that exceptions were
> allowed for areas with few priests. Also that one of the things Martin Luther objected to
> was priests who spent their entire lives reciting successive Masses paid for by benefactors.
> Any help, especially bibliographical references to canon law texts or episcopal statutes,
> would be helpful (especially if in English!)
Meg,
As a quick-and-dirty start: the term for a priest celebrating Mass twice
in a day is "bination". As a start, the _Catholic Encyclopedia_
(1907-1912) has an article under that term; available on the WWW at
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02568b.htm . The cognate term for
celebrating three times is "trination". The _New Catholic Encyclopedia_
also has informnation; but that, and more particularly its recent new
edition, are less full in historical information than the older work.
When looking at legislation, it may help to remember that western (i.e.
Roman) canon law was not codified into a single set of laws until 1917,
when the Codex Juris Canonici was issued -- and before the Council of
Trent and the reshaping (and centralization) of the Catholic Church (the
Counter-Reformation) there was a great deal of variation in local rules
and practices; custom was an important source of what developed into law.
Hal Cain
Joint Theological Library
Parkville, Victoria, Australia
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