From en.wikipedia.org:
[Christian liturgical book for episcopal liturgies] [the type of liturgical
book] [date=July 2022]
A PONTIFICAL ([la]) 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 deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy
Orders. While the _Roman Pontifical_ and closely related _Ceremonial of
Bishops_ of the Roman Rite are the most common,<ref name=OxfordDict>[title=The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church][1089–1090] 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 liturgies
such as the Pontifical High Mass, liturgies that other clergymen could
celebrate were also present. The contents varied throughout the Middle Ages,
but eventually a pontifical only contained those liturgies a bishop could
perform.<ref name=OxfordDict/>[1089–1090][1][263] 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.<ref name=CE1913Pontificale>[title=The Catholic Encyclopedia][2]
The ordination liturgies of the Sarum Use pontifical was adapted by Thomas
Cranmer into his 1550 ordinal for the Church of England following the English
Reformation.<ref name=OxfordDict/>[990][3][355] Among the complaints lodged by
Anglicans against the medieval Catholic pontificals was that the laying on of
hands during the conferral of Holy Orders was "obscured by ceremonies."[4]
A pontifical was printed in Rome in 1485 but the first authoritative _Roman
Pontifical_ was not printed until 1596 under Clement VIII.<ref
name=OxfordDict/>[1090] Revisions of the _Roman Pontifical_ ([la]) continued
over the next centuries, though was largely replaced by the _Ceremonial of
Bishops_ ([la]) 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.[5][6]<ref name=CE1913Pontificale/> Among the
contents of both these texts during the 17th century was the inclusion of
illustrations depicting the relevant pontifical vestments to be worn during
the celebration of the liturgies.[7] The 1961 _Roman Pontifical_ modified the
blessings for these vestments, adding the cope and humeral veil to the list of
articles that might be blessed.[8]
The Union of Utrecht, a communion of Old Catholic denominations, adapted and
translated the _Roman Pontifical_ into German at Bern in 1899. The pontifical
was later translated into Dutch and Polish. This was just one of several
liturgical books of the Roman Rite translated by the Union of Utrecht in its
early years.<ref name=Westminster>[title=The Westminster Dictionary of Liturgy
and Worship][109-110] An English translation of this pontifical, executed by
Arnold Mathew and including the Old Catholic missal, was published in 1909.[9]
In 1985, this pontifical was replaced by a new text that incorporated a rite
for ordaining deaconesses.<ref name=Westminster/>[411]
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 in 1723 at
the Maronite College.[10] In 2008, a revised Maronite pontifical by Stephen
Youssef Doueihi was published and approved for English-language use.[11]
** Byzantine Rite
In the Eastern Orthodox Church and Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic churches,
the equivalent of a pontifical is the _Archieratikon_ (Greek: Ἀρχηιερατικόν;
Slavonic: Чиновникъ, _Chinovnik_).[12] This book is often in a large format
and contains only those portions of Vespers, Matins, and the Divine Liturgy
which pertain to the bishop (hierarch). It also contains those rites
(ordination, the consecration of a church or altar, etc.) which are normally
performed only by a bishop. The _Euchologion_ combines some features present
in Latin missals, rituals, and pontificals into a single text.<ref
name=OxfordDict/>[471][13][14]
** See also
- _Book of Common Prayer_
- Customary (liturgy)
- Pontificale Romano-Germanicum
- Primer (prayer book)
** References
[Pontificale]
[reflist]
Category:Anglican liturgical books Category:Eastern Orthodox liturgical books
Category:Christian ordination Category:Latin liturgical rites Category:Old
Catholicism