Gallican Rite

From OrthodoxWiki
Revision as of 13:58, January 3, 2006 by Magda (talk | contribs) (20th century history: corr. sp.)
Jump to: navigation, search

The Gallican Rite is actually a family of Western Rites which comprised the majority use of most of Western European for the greater part until being mostly displaced by the Roman rite beginning in the eighth century, but modifying the Roman rite in the process.

Various rites within the greater Gallican family have claimed various specific lineages, such as an origin from the Alexandrine rite of St. Mark for the Churches of Aquilea and Milan, or origins from the Ephesine rite of St. John the Divine for the Churches of Gaul, Iberia, and Brittania. The little evidence remaining for the rite of Ephesus comes from local councils in Asia Minor. There the Byzantine replaced the Ephesine, which seems to have simply been a local use of the wider Greco-Syriac "Antiochian" liturgy. The Ephesine theory had its major opponents among the Modernist school of the early 20th century, as the Catholic Encyclopedia states, "the Ephesine theory has now been given up by all serious liturgiologists." The development of the rite is such it did not likely originate before the fourth century. However, the origin of the rite remains very much an open question. That it does contain much of Antiochian influence has influenced post-Modernist liturgical scholars to revisit the Ephesine claim of the Cursus Gallorum, whereby the earliest Gallican liturgy would simply be the liturgy of Syria and Asia Minor, but in the Latin tongue.

Many Gallican texts survive, but the survival of the rite is primarily in the basis of the Mozarabic rite, and secondarily in its influence upon the present Roman and Anglican rites (called Gallo-Roman), and as a component of the Ambrosian rite of Milan. It is due to the influence of the Gallican liturgy that the Roman Mass included the Gloria. The longest surviving Gallican rite was the Mozarabic rite of Toledo, Spain, which has been limited to a few chapels for the past few centuries. Both the Mozarabic and Ambrosian liturgies were modified by the Roman, accepting the Roman canon at fairly recent times in their development. Following the Second Vatican Council, both the Mozarabic Liturgy of Toledo and the Ambrosian Mass of Milan were altered in a Novus Ordo style though both have been celebrated in their traditional forms by priests of the Western Rite Orthodox.

Whatever their origin, the Gallican rites were more given to ceremonial than the Roman. The surviving Gallican materials also have recognizable concordances with the Eastern and Oriental rites in the form of certain prayers and ceremonial, while sharing many other similarities with the Roman rite. The known elements of the Gallican liturgy are:

  • Introit
  • The Ajus (agios) sung in Greek and Latin. Following this, three boys sing Kyrie Eleison three times. This is followed by the Benedictus.
  • Collect
  • Old Testament reading
  • Epistle reading or Life of the Saint of the Day
  • The Benedicite and Ajus (agios) in Latin
  • Gospel reading
  • Sermon
  • Dismissal of catechumens
  • Intercessions
  • Great Entrance and the Offertory chant
  • Kiss of Peace
  • Sursum Corda, Preface, Sanctus, and Post-Sanctus Prayer
  • Roman (Gregorian) Canon
  • The Fraction (the host is divided into nine pieces, seven of which are then arranged into the shape of a cross)
  • Our Father
  • Blessing of the People
  • Communion of the People
  • Post-Communion Prayer

20th century history

In the early 20th century, the Russian emigré community in Paris included a number of clergy who were mindful of evangelization in the West. Among that number were a pair of brothers, Evgraph (later Bishop Jean-Nectaire of Saint-Denis) and Maxime Kovalevsky. The Kovalevskys intended to revive the Gallican liturgy based upon the "Letters of Saint Germanus" and various Gallican Missals (Stowe, Bobbio, Gothic, Mozarab, Autun) for Western Rite activity in France. However, so little of what was believed to be the ancient Gallican liturgy remained extant that the Kovalevskys decided to supplement the historical material with liberal use of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, so that a large percentage of their Neo-Gallican Liturgy originated in Byzantine sources due to perceived omissions of their Western sources. This rite is still in use with L'Eglise Orthodoxe de France as well as the Union Actuelle Orthodoxe Catholique Francaise, which is now in talks to join the Patriarchate of Serbia. The rite has been used by communities under the Church of Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, the Church of Romania, and the Church of Serbia.

Sources

See also