Heortology : $b A history of the Christian festivals from their origin to the present dayKellner, K. A. Heinrich (Karl Adam Heinrich)
Religion
Heortology : $b A history of the Christian festivals from their origin to the present day
Kellner, K. A. Heinrich (Karl Adam Heinrich)
Church year; Fasts and feasts
It was just the opposite with regard to the recovery of the cross by
Heraclius; the grief at the news of its loss was equalled by the joy
which the whole Christian world felt at its recovery. While in the East
people remained content with the already existing feast, in the West the
day of the recovery of the cross was kept as a solemn commemoration, and
was placed in the calendars and martyrologies at an early date; we find
it mentioned by the name “Day of the Holy Cross” (_dies sanctæ crucis_)
in the lectionary of Silos, which belongs to about 650—probably the
earliest mention of the festival. The ancient Gallic liturgies published
by Mabillon, both the lectionary and sacramentary, contain the Festival
of the Holy Cross in spring, but call it “The Finding of the Cross”
(_Inventio Sanctæ Crucis_).[734] None of these service-books mention the
feast of the 14th September. The _Gregorianum_ has both feasts, so has
the _Gelasianum_, at all events in Thomasi’s edition, but the second is a
later addition.[735]
The way in which the _Martyrologium Hieronymianum_ treats these feasts
is worthy of notice. The Weissenburg Codex, written about 750, has both
days; the Echternach Codex, which represents the oldest form of the text,
has neither, and the Bern Codex, the latest of the three recensions,
has only one, _i.e._ the 3rd May, which, in common with all Latin
authorities, it calls the Finding of the Cross.[736] The authentic text
of Bede has only the 3rd May, so too has the sacramentary of Padua,
belonging to the first half of the ninth century.[737]
These notices might easily be increased, but they are sufficient to show
how that in the West, when it was known that the Holy Cross had been
recovered from the Saracens, the feast of the 3rd May was, in the seventh
century, immediately introduced, but the feast of the 14th September
only became known in the eighth century, and won its way to acceptance
slowly and partially. In many churches it was received quite late, as for
example in Milan in 1035.[738]
PART III
THE MATERIAL UPON WHICH THE HISTORY OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL YEAR IS BASED
1. _The Documentary Sources in General_
The sources from which the history of the ecclesiastical year and the
festivals of the saints is drawn are first of all official documents,
namely service-books, decrees of councils, papal constitutions and bulls;
in the second place come the information derived from ecclesiastical
writers of various periods and countries which must be used and brought
into connection with the official sources.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account