Knights And Holy Roman Emperors In Mediæval Papal Matins Of Christmas. And The Hour Before The First Mass Of Christmas. By Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.

Midnight Mass of The Nativity,

at the Church of Santissima Trinita dei Pellegrini, Rome.

Photo courtesy of Selina Fang, Juventutem London.

This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at,
CANTICUM SALOMONIS

In “The Liturgical Year”, written by Dom Prosper Guéranger, O.S.B., he recounts what must have been one of the most sublime Ceremonies in Christendom: Papal Matins. The Ceremonial calls for a Knight to read The Fifth Lesson and for The Holy Roman Emperor to read The Seventh Lesson, bearing witness to the organic whole that was Mediæval Society.

The Divine Infant, Who is born amongst us, is The Mighty God, The Prince of Peace, Whose government is upon His shoulders (Isaiah ix, 6). We sing these words on Christmas Day, with the whole Church. We have already seen how The God of Hosts has honoured this power of “Emmanuel” [Editor: “God with us”], by leading powerful nations to The Crib of Bethlehem, of The Lord, Whom they Adore.

The same recognition of that Babe, as “The Mighty God”, is made by the Ceremony to which we allude.

The Sovereign Pontiff, The Vicar of Our Emmanuel, Blesses, in His Name, a Sword and Helmet, which are to be sent to a Catholic Warrior who has deserved well of The Christian World.

In a Letter addressed to Queen Mary of England, and Philip, her husband, Cardinal Pope gives an explanation of this Solemn Rite. The Sword is sent to some Prince, whom The Vicar of Christ wishes to honour in The Name of Jesus, Who is King: For the Angel said to Mary: "The Lord will give unto Him The Throne of David, His father (Saint Luke i, 32). It is from Him, alone, that The Power of The Sword comes (Saint Luke xiii 3, 4); for God said to Cyrus: I have girded thee (with The Sword) (Isaiah xiv 1, 5); and The Psalmist thus speaks to The Christ of God: Gird Thy Sword upon Thy thigh, O Thou Most Mighty !

(Ps. xliv, 4).

And because the Sword should not be drawn in the cause of justice, it is for that reason that it is Blessed on this night, in the midst of which rises, born unto us, The Divine Sun of Justice. On the Helmet, which is both the ornament and protection of the head, there is worked, in Pearls, the Dove, which is the Emblem of The Holy Ghost; It is not a question of love or ambition, but it is not only of The Spirit of The Spirit, but of the motive of spreading The Kingdom of Christ.

[ . . . .During The Second Night, after The Psalms have been sung] The Book of The Sermons of The Holy Fathers is opened, and one of the most beautiful speeches of Pope Saint Leo the Great, which enraptured the people of Rome in the 5th-Century A.D., is sung.

At Rome, if there be in The Holy City, the Knight, who has received The Helmet and Sword, Blessed, we have described, by The Sovereign Pontiff, The Fifth Lesson is given to him to sing, because it speaks of The Great Battle between Christ and Satan in The Glorious Mystery of The Incarnation.

Whilst the Choir is singing “The Great O Response” “Magnum Mysterium”, the Knight is taken by the Master of Ceremonies to the Pope. Standing before the Holy Father, he draws his Sword, thrice sets its point on the ground, thrice brandishes it in the air, and then wipes the blade on his Left-Arm.

He is then taken to the Ambo, or Reading-Desk, takes off his Helmet, and, having Vested the Cope over his armour, he sings The Lesson. These Ceremonies, of Our Holy Mother, The Church of Rome, were drawn up in days when Might was not Right , and brute force was made subservient to moral power and principle. The Christian Warrior, cased in his steel armour, was resolved, as indeed he was bound, never to draw his Sword save in The Cause of Christ, The Conqueror of Satan: Was there anything strange in his expressing this by a Sacred Ceremony ?

[ . . . After The Third Nocturn] are read the beginnings of the three Gospels which are said in The Three Masses of Christmas Day. To each portion of these Gospels is appended a passage from a Sermon by one of The Holy Fathers.

The first of the three is that of Saint Luke, and the Sermon given is that of Saint Gregory the Great. It relates to the publishing of The Emperor Augustus's Edict, commanding a census of the whole World. This Seventh Lesson, according to The Ceremonial of The Roman Church, is to be sung by The Holy Roman Emperor, if he happen to be in Rome at the time; and this is done in order to honour The Imperial Power, whose decrees were the occasion of Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem, and so fulfilling the designs of God, which He had revealed to the ancient Prophets.

The Holy Roman Emperor is led to the Pope, in the same manner as the Knight, who had to sing The Fifth Lesson; he puts on the Cope; two Cardinal-Deacons gird him with the Sword, and go with him to the Ambo. The Lesson being concluded, The Holy Roman Emperor again goes before the Pope, and kisses his foot, as being The Vicar of The Christ Whom he has just announced. This Ceremony was observed in 1468 by The Holy Roman Emperor Frederic III, before the then Pope, Paul II.

(Translation from the original French, of Abbot Guéranger, by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B.).

[Note; This Text refers to The Hour Before The Midnight Service on Christmas Eve, just prior to The First Mass of Christmas. Please also Note that this Text was written Circa 1875.]

The following Text is taken from “The Liturgical Year”,
by Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.
Volume 2.
Christmas - Book 1.

And now we will leave The House of God, and attend to the duties of our state of life at home, until the hour of Matins summons us to return and Celebrate The Midnight Birth of Our Saviour.

In order to prepare ourselves for that most imposing Service, we shall do well to resume the reflections upon The Liturgy of our Feast, which we interrupted in order to assist at Vespers.

How few would keep from The Service of Christmas Night, and how still fewer would complain that they never seem to derive that benefit from it, which they are told is so great, if they would but take the pains to ask themselves why is it that The Church attaches such importance to her children's joining her in The Celebration of this gay Winter Midnight !

To assist the Devotion of The Faithful, we offer them these simple instructions for

THE HOUR BEFORE

THE MIDNIGHT SERVICE.

We will begin by telling them that, in the early ages of The Church, every great Feast was prepared for by long Vigils; during which, the people deprived themselves of their usual rest, and spent the hours in the Church, fervently joining in The Psalms and Lessons which made up The Office, which we now call “Matins”

The Night was divided into three parts called “Nocturns”.

At Dawn of Day, they resumed their Chants in an Office which was even more Solemn than Matins: It was one of Praise, and, from this characteristic, was called by the name of "Lauds". This Service, which occupied a very considerable portion of the Night, is still kept up, though at a time less trying to nature; Matins and Lauds are publicly recited every day in Cathedrals and Monastic Churches, and privately by everyone in Holy Orders. They are by far the longest portion of The Divine Office.

The want of the old spirit of devoted appreciation of The Liturgy has made the Laity indifferent to being present at The Celebration of Matins, and this even in Countries where Protestantism has not rendered their presence almost an impossibility.

Thus, there are very few places where the people assist at Matins, excepting four times in the Year; namely, on the three last Days of Holy Week, and on Christmas Night. It is only on the last named that The Office is said at the same hour as anciently; for, with regard to Tenebræ, they are recited on the afternoons respectively preceding each of the three days.

The Office of Christmas Night has always been Said or Sung with extraordinary Solemnity. Firstly, it was so Just, that the moments immediately preceding The Hour when The Holy Mother gave birth to her Jesus, should be spent in the most fervent Prayers and Watchings before The Altar !

But, Secondly, The Church is not satisfied tonight with saying her Matins - she does so every night, and The Faithful may come and assist at them as often as they wish; she follows them by the Celebration of The Holy Sacrifice of The Mass, that so she may the better Solemnise The Divine Birth; and she begins her Mass at Midnight, for it was at that silent hour that The Virgin Mother gave us The Blessed Fruit of her Womb. We cannot be surprised that The Faithful, in many parts of Christendom, used to spend the whole Night in the Church.

In Rome, for many Centuries - at least from the 7th-Century A.D. to the 11th-Century, two Matins were sung, the first in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore). They commenced immediately after Sunset. There was no Invitatory. As soon as they were ended, the Pope Celebrated The First, or Midnight, Mass. No sooner was it finished, than the people accompanied him to The Church of Saint Anastasia, and there he sung The Second Mass of Christmas, or, as it was called, The Aurora Mass.

Again, the Pontiff and people formed a Procession - this time it was to Saint Peter's Basilica - and, having entered the Basilica, The Second Matins were begun. They had an Invitatory, and were followed by Lauds. The other Hours having been sung, the Pope said The Third Mass of Christmas, (and the last Mass of Christmas) at the hour of Terce, which is our 0900 hrs.

We are indebted for these details to Amalarius and to the ancient Liturgist of the 13th-Century, published under the name of Alcuin.

[Editor: Amalarius (Circa 775 A.D. – Circa.850 A.D.) was a Frankish Prelate and Courtier, temporary Bishop of Trier (811 A.D. – 813 A.D.) and Bishop of Lyon (865 A.D. – 868 A.D.) and an accomplished Liturgist. He was close to Charlemagne and a partisan of his successor, Louis the Pious, throughout the latter's tumultuous reign.

He was appointed The Third Archbishop of Trier in 811 A.D. by Charlemagne. In 813 A.D., he was sent as the chief Frankish Ambassador to The Court of Michael I Rhangabes at Constantinople. On Charlemagne's death in 814 A.D., Amalarius resigned his See.

In 831 A.D., Amalarius travelled to Rome to meet Pope Gregory IV and arrange a new Frankish Liturgy. In 835 A.D., he replaced Agobard at The Synod of Diedenhofen. During Agobard's exile (Circa 834 A.D.), he was responsible for administering The Diocese of Lyon. He implemented Liturgical Reforms.

He wrote extensively on The Mass, including The Liber Officialis, and was involved in the great Mediæval debates regarding “Predestination”.

We must rely on his enemy, Florus of Lyon, for an account of Amalarius' condemnation on the accusation of heresy, at Quierzy, 838 A.D., which banned some of his Works. Nevertheless, his writings form a good portion of our current documentation of the 9th-Century A.D. Liturgies of The Western Church.

While the exact date of his death is not known, it is believed that it happened around 850 A.D. in Metz, France.]

We also find the details, of these Early-Church Celebrations of The Hour Before The Midnight Service of Christmas, clearly indicated by the Text of the old Antiphonaries of The Roman Church, which were published by The Blessed Joseph Maria Tommasi, and by Gallicioli.

How lively was The Faith of those olden times ! To people who lived unceasingly amidst The Mysteries of Religion, Prayer was a tie which knit them closely together, and made them pass hours in the Church without weariness.

They understood the value of The Prayers of The Church; and The Ceremonies of The Liturgy, which complete the tribute of man's inward Worship of his Creator, were not looked upon as, unfortunately, they now so often are, as a dumb show, or, at best, an unmeaning poetry introduced for effect.. What, in our days, are found only in individuals, were then in the mass of the people - Faith, and a keen sense of the Supernatural.

“THE LITURGICAL YEAR”, by Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B., is available in The U.S.A. from LORETO PUBLICATIONS and in Ireland from SILVERSTREAM PRIORY and in England from CENACLE