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A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of
deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
s, priests, and bishops to Holy Orders. While the ''
Roman Pontifical The ''Roman Pontifical'', in Latin ''Pontificale Romanum'', is the pontifical as used by the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. It is the liturgical book that contains the rites and ceremonies usually performed by bishops of the Roman Rite. T ...
'' and closely related '' Ceremonial of Bishops'' of the
Roman Rite The Roman Rite ( la, Ritus Romanus) is the primary liturgical rite of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. It developed in the Latin language in the city of Rome and, while dist ...
are the most common, pontificals exist in other liturgical traditions.


History

Pontificals in Latin Christianity first developed from sacramentaries by the 8th century. Besides containing the texts of exclusively
episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United State ...
liturgies such as the Pontifical High Mass, liturgies that other clergymen could celebrate were also present. The contents varied throughout the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, but eventually a pontifical only contained those liturgies a bishop could perform. The ''Pontificale Egberti'', a pontifical that once belonged to and was perhaps authored by Ecgbert of York, is regarded as one of the most notable early pontificals and may be the oldest to survive. The ordination liturgies of the Sarum Use pontifical was adapted by
Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...
into his
1550 ordinal The Edwardine Ordinals are two ordinals primarily written by Thomas Cranmer as influenced by Martin Bucer and first published under Edward VI, the first in 1550 and the second in 1552, for the Church of England. Both liturgical books were inten ...
for the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
following the
English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...
. Among the complaints lodged by Anglicans against the medieval Catholic pontificals was that the
laying on of hands The laying on of hands is a religious practice. In Judaism ''semikhah'' ( he, סמיכה, "leaning f the hands) accompanies the conferring of a blessing or authority. In Christian churches, this practice is used as both a symbolic and formal met ...
during the conferral of Holy Orders was "obscured by ceremonies." A pontifical was printed in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
in 1485 but the first authoritative ''
Roman Pontifical The ''Roman Pontifical'', in Latin ''Pontificale Romanum'', is the pontifical as used by the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. It is the liturgical book that contains the rites and ceremonies usually performed by bishops of the Roman Rite. T ...
'' was not printed until 1596 under
Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII ( la, Clemens VIII; it, Clemente VIII; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born ...
. Revisions of the ''Roman Pontifical'' ( la, Pontificale Romanum) continued over the next centuries, though was largely replaced by the ''Ceremonial of Bishops'' ( la, Caeremoniale Episcoporum) that had been developing alongside it, with the rubrics for the celebration of a Pontifical High Mass deleted from the pontifical and celebrated from the ceremonial. Among the contents of both these texts during the 17th century was the inclusion of illustrations depicting the relevant
pontifical vestments Pontifical vestments, also referred to as episcopal vestments or pontificals, are the liturgical vestments worn by bishops (and by concession some other prelates) in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, and some Luthera ...
to be worn during the celebration of the liturgies. The 1961 ''Roman Pontifical'' modified the
blessing In religion, a blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the impartation of something with grace, holiness, spiritual redemption, or divine will. Etymology and Germanic paganism The modern English language term ''bless'' likely ...
s for these vestments, adding the cope and
humeral veil The humeral veil is one of the liturgical vestments of the Roman Rite, also used in some Anglican and Lutheran churches. It consists of a piece of cloth about 2.75 m long and 90 cm wide draped over the shoulders and down the front, normally o ...
to the list of articles that might be blessed. The Union of Utrecht, a communion of Old Catholic denominations, adapted and translated the ''Roman Pontifical'' into German at
Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...
in 1899. The pontifical was later translated into Dutch and
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
. This was just one of several
liturgical books of the Roman Rite The liturgical books of the Roman Rite are the official books containing the words to be recited and the actions to be performed in the celebration of Catholic liturgy as done in Rome. The Roman Rite of the Latin or Western Church of the Catholic ...
translated by the Union of Utrecht in its early years. An English translation of this pontifical, executed by
Arnold Mathew Arnold Harris Mathew, self-styled of Thomastown (7 August 1852 – 19 December 1919), was the founder and first bishop of the Old Roman Catholic Church in the United Kingdom and a noted author on ecclesiastical subjects. Mathew had been both ...
and including the Old Catholic
missal A missal is a liturgical book containing instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the liturgical year. Versions differ across liturgical tradition, period, and purpose, with some missals intended to enable a pries ...
, was published in 1909. In 1985, this pontifical was replaced by a new text that incorporated a rite for ordaining deaconesses. Within the Maronite Church–an Eastern Catholic church–the term "pontifical" was applied to texts of a similar purpose as their Latin counterparts by the 18th century. During the 17th century, such a text was approved by the Maronite clergy and submitted for review in Rome, though went unpublished. The manuscript, labelled as a pontifical, was translated into
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
in 1723 at the
Maronite College The Roman Colleges, also referred to as the Pontifical Colleges in Rome, are institutions established and maintained in Rome for the education of future ecclesiastics of the Catholic Church. Traditionally many were for students of a particular nati ...
. In 2008, a revised Maronite pontifical by
Stephen Youssef Doueihi Stephen Hector Youssef Doueihi (born June 25, 1927 in Zgharta, Greater Lebanon, Lebanon - died on December 17, 2014) was a bishop of the Maronite Church in the United States. He served as the eparch (bishop) of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Sain ...
was published and approved for English-language use.


Byzantine Rite

In the
Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
and
Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople. Th ...
Eastern Catholic churches, the equivalent of a pontifical is the ''Archieratikon'' ( Greek: Ἀρχηιερατικόν; Slavonic: Чиновникъ, ''Chinovnik''). This book is often in a large format and contains only those portions of
Vespers Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic (both Latin liturgical rites, Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern), Lutheranism, Lutheran, and Anglican ...
,
Matins Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning. The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which was originally celebrated by ...
, and the
Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy ( grc-gre, Θεία Λειτουργία, Theia Leitourgia) or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of C ...
which pertain to the bishop (hierarch). It also contains those rites (ordination, the
consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...
of a church or altar, etc.) which are normally performed only by a bishop. The ''
Euchologion The Euchologion (Greek: ; Slavonic: Трeбникъ, ''Trebnik''; ro, Euhologiu/Molitfelnic) is one of the chief liturgical books of the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches, containing the portions of the services which are sai ...
'' combines some features present in Latin missals,
ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...
s, and pontificals into a single text.


See also

*''
Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...
'' *
Customary (liturgy) A customary is a Christian liturgical book containing the adaptation of a rite for a particular context, typically to local ecclesiastical customs and specific church buildings. A customary is generally synonymous to and sometimes constituent ...
*
Pontificale Romano-Germanicum The ''Pontificale Romano-Germanicum'' ("Roman-Germanic pontifical"), also known as the ''PRG'', is a Catholic_liturgy.html" "title="Latin">set_of_Latin_documents_of_Catholic_Church.html" "title="Latin.html" ;"title="set of Latin">set of Latin doc ...
* Primer (prayer book)


References

{{reflist Anglican liturgical books Eastern Orthodox liturgical books Christian ordination Latin liturgical rites Old Catholicism