Medieval Church:Roman Catholic

Worship

Randy Broberg

Maranatha Chapel

School of Ministry

2010

Verses to Consider

• Then Pharisees and scribes came toJesus from Jerusalem and said,"Why do your disciples break thetradition of the elders? For they donot wash their hands when they eat."He answered them, "And why doyou break the commandment of Godfor the sake of your tradition? …Sofor the sake of your tradition youhave made void the word of God.You hypocrites! Well did Isaiahprophesy of you, when he said:"'This people honors me with theirlips,but their heart is far from me; invain do they worship me,teaching as doctrines thecommandments of men.'"

• Matt. 15:1-9

Conversions of Pagan Temples and HolidaysContinues, 609 AD

• 609--Paganpantheon in Romeconsecrated aschurch of St.Maria Rotunda.

It was the practiceto have a Massevery day

Our notion ofchurchmembersgoing tochurch everySunday toworship nearlydied out in theMiddle Ages.

Gothic Architecture

The development of Gothic structuralcomponents were a departure fromthe Roman principles that had guidedmost of the Romanesque architects.The Gothic builders took the conceptsof the skeletal structure, the pointedvault and the flying buttresses as faras can be taken using stone as theprimary building material. The goalwas to build a high building reachingtoward heaven filled with light. Agoal they achieved for their time.Their structural considerations wouldnot be improved until the nineteenth

and twentieth centuries.

St-Denisi (1135-1144)

Prayer

• Bernard of Clairvaux was a mysticin his devotion. He is the authorof many hymns as well asdevotional books.

• “Oh Sacred Head Now Wounded”

Prayer and personalPrayer and personalsanctity, are thesanctity, are the

ways to theways to theknowledge of God,knowledge of God,and not disputation.and not disputation.The saint, not theThe saint, not the

disputant,disputant,comprehends God.comprehends God.

600600---- prayers directed to Mary,prayers directed to Mary,angels and saints adopted officiallyangels and saints adopted officially

1090 Rosary, repetitious praying1090 Rosary, repetitious prayingwith beads, invented by Peter thewith beads, invented by Peter theHermitHermit

The practice of kneeling or bowingThe practice of kneeling or bowingand clasping the hands becameand clasping the hands becamecommon around 1000 AD and wascommon around 1000 AD and waspatterned after homage given topatterned after homage given tofeudal lords. Before that time mostfeudal lords. Before that time mostprayers were offered standing withprayers were offered standing withhands upheld.hands upheld.

Worship of Mary

Background: Council of Ephesus, 431 ADBackground: Council of Ephesus, 431 AD

Mary called "God bearer" or "Mother of God“ (Mary called "God bearer" or "Mother of God“ (theotokostheotokos).).

Mary Worship

Belief in immaculate conception of Mary spreads.

The theologian Duns Scotus in the 13th centurysystematized the doctrine of the ImmaculateConception, which teaches that Mary was actuallyconceived without original sin.

Spread of belief in perpetual virginity of Mary,even though there is flat contradiction of it in theBible. ("his mother and his brothers," etc.)

Worship of Relics

• Constantine's mother Helena"discovering" the "true cross.“

• 786 veneration of cross and relicsofficially authorized

• Relics were credited with miracles.

Example of a sacred reliquary

Images

• According to Schaff, there was muchprincipled opposition in the Frankishworld, especially Charlemagne, to thesuperstitious worship of images. Butthe Eastern view, which was themajority Western view too, prevailed,with the difference that only flatimages are allowed in EasternOrthodoxy while Roman Catholicismallows sculptures also.

Worship of Saints &Angels

• Mass conversions meant convertsbrought with them into the churchtheir superstitions, gods andpractices.– Saint Peter, who bore the

sword, was viewed as thesoldier’s saint.

– St. Anthony watched out forpigs and pig farmers.

– St. Gaul looked out forchickens and chicken farmers.

– St. Apollonia cured toothaches.– St. Genevieve cured fevers.– St. Blaise cured sore throats.

• 993-95--Saints begin to beofficially canonized by the Romanchurch.

• 1170--Pope Alexander IIIestablished rules for thecanonization of saints, the sameyear Thomas Becket is murderedin England. Becket is canonized in1173.

Arm of a Saint: A Sacred Relic

All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day

• All Saints’ Day, Nov 1,commemorating all the saints of thechurch, known and unknown.

• Pope Boniface (609-610) confirmedAll Saints' Day.

• It is celebrated on November 1 inthe Western churches and on thefirst Sunday after Pentecost in theEastern churches. The first generalobservance of All Saints' Day wasordered by Pope Gregory IV in 837.In medieval England the festival wascalled All Hallows, and its eve is stillknown as Halloween.

All Souls’ DayAll Souls’ Day, Nov 2,, Nov 2,commemorating all thecommemorating all theChristians believed to be inChristians believed to be inpurgatory.purgatory.

first established by Odilo,first established by Odilo,abbot of Cluny, in the 11thabbot of Cluny, in the 11thcentury and was widelycentury and was widelycelebrated by the 13thcelebrated by the 13thcentury.century.

For remembering the soulsFor remembering the soulsawaiting release fromawaiting release frompurgatory. Roman Catholicpurgatory. Roman Catholicdoctrine holds that thedoctrine holds that theprayers of the faithful onprayers of the faithful onearth will help cleanse theseearth will help cleanse thesesouls in order to preparesouls in order to preparethem for heaven.them for heaven.

Ritual Use of Oils, Candles, Incense, etc.

• “Chrism” is a mixture of oil of olives andbalsam, used in the administration ofsacraments.

• To be valid, chrism “must consist of pureoil of olives, and it must be blessed by abishop, or at least by a priest delegatedby the Holy See. These two conditionsare certainly necessary for validity;moreover it is probable that there shouldbe an admixture of balsam, and that theblessing of the chrism should be special,in the sense that it ought to be differentfrom that which is given to the oil of thesick or the oil of catechumens. If eitherof the last two conditions is wanting thesacrament will be doubtfully valid.”Catholic Encyclopedia

Medieval Church Music

• 7th Cen. Organs begin to be used inchurches. Church bells are used to callpeople to worship and to give the hours tothe monks in the monasteries.

• 8th Cen. Schools for church music areestablished at Paris, Cologne, Soissin, andMetz.

• In 1015 Pomposa Monastery near Ravennaintroduces sight singing. By the middle ofthe century, polyphonic singing replacesGregorian Chant, the harp arrives inEurope, and the first German Christmascarol is written.

Medieval Psalter (in vernaculars)

From Chants To OrganHymns

• “Liturgical music of the Roman Catholicchurch consisting of unaccompaniedmelody sung in unison to Latin words.”

• It is named for Pope Gregory I the Great,who may have contributed to its collectionand codification.

• It apparently derived principally fromJewish cantillation, with other elementsentering from the Eastern Church andelsewhere.

• Chant has traditionally been performed atthe mass and the canonical hours (theeight prayer services traditionally helddaily in monasteries). Its texts comeprimarily from the biblical psalms,metrical hymns, and texts specific to the

mass and the hours. Pipe Organ

Instruments Added toWorship Music: Pipe

Organ, Horns and Violins

Anti-Phony and Polyphony

• Odo of Cluny, abbot from 927 to 942,brought the monastery its earliest musicaldistinction through his active fostering ofchoral music. Documents tell of more than ahundred psalms being sung there daily in histime; and on his tours of inspection to othermonasteries, he devoted much of hisenergies to the instruction of choirs. Hisgreat success made it necessary for histeaching methods to be written down, andfrom this circumstance something about theearly status of music at Cluny can beascertained.

• Odo's great accomplishments include thearranging of the tones of the scale into anorderly progression from A to G; and by thusassigning to them a system of letters, he wasresponsible for the earliest effective systemof Western musical notation.

MedievalPsalter

Liturgical Drama, 10th Cen.• Religious rites contained theatrical elements, and

priests began using these elements duringmasses. These first short plays were calledtropes.

• Liturgical dramas were written in Latin andperformed by the clergy during church services,when the "Quem quaeritis" ("Whom do youseek") section of the Easter mass was performedas a small scene in the service.

• The plays gradually increased in length, withthemes derived from biblical stories (particularlythose of Easter and Christmas), and theyflourished in the 12th-13th century.

• Their Latin dialogue was frequently chanted tosimple melodies.

• Vernacular is a term meaning everyday speech.Roman Catholic clergy switched from Latin tothe languages of the people they served. Asthese new plays became more elaborate, theywere moved outside the church and . involvedmore actors, so commoners were used as amateurperformers.

Development of theChurch Calendar

• Regular Sunday churchattendance dropped significantly.

• Most common people onlyattended church on festival days.

• The calendar was full ofceremonies and feast days withtraditions and folklore equivalentto what we have for Christmas. Itwas through these ceremonies,and not scripture reading orpreaching, that most commonpeople came to understand whatit was to be Christian.

Pilgrimages

Pilgrimageswereundertakenfor spiritualadvancement,forgiveness ofsins and forthose insearch ofmiracles ofhealingpromisedfrom holyrelics.

Chaucer

Probably the most famous copy ofProbably the most famous copy ofThe Canterbury TalesThe Canterbury Tales is containedis containedin the 464in the 464--page Ellesmerepage Ellesmeremanuscriptmanuscript ---- notable in partnotable in partbecause of its beautiful marginalbecause of its beautiful marginalillustrations completed around 1410illustrations completed around 1410by an unknown artist.by an unknown artist.

Chaucer’s CanterburyTales

Though the son of a wealthy middle-class wine merchant, Chaucer, the poetserved three English kings as soldier,ambassador, Justice of the Peace,Member of Parliament, Controller ofthe port of London, and Clerk of theKing’s Works.

This tintedThis tintedwoodcut ofwoodcut ofChaucer is basedChaucer is basedon an illustrationon an illustrationin the margin ofin the margin ofthe famousthe famousEllesmere copy ofEllesmere copy ofThe CanterburyThe Canterbury

TalesTales..

Questions to Consider

• Did the Medieval church spend too much on church buildings?• Assuming you have a church building, should you build it to glorify

God as you would try to glorify God in everything else you do?• Can a church building’s beauty be a testimony for Christ? Can a

building that’s run down, dirty or even ugly be a stumbling block forthose who might visit?

• If we had an unlimited budget to build a new “house of worship”what kind of architecture, floor plan and decorations would best fitour faith and doctrine? What would that church building look like?

• When we ask others to pray for us, esp. “pastors” or “elders,” are wesaying they can intercede on our behalf? If yes, how does that differfrom the Catholic notion of the intercession of saints?

• If a pastor can pray for you now, in this life, is he prevented frompraying for you again when he is in heaven?

• Must we be extremely “Puritan” in our rejection of art in churchbuildings? Is all art bad in such a location?

• Is art o.k. outside the church building? If yes, what’s the difference?