The Liturgy of the Carthusians: Translated and Edited From the original source entitled &quot;Dictionnaire d&#39;Archéologie Chrétienne et de Liturgie&quot; Tome Troisieme

St Mary&#39;s Hermitage

The Consuetudines Cartusiæ, composed around 1127 - by Guigues, fifth prior of the Chartreuse, is the oldest liturgical and disciplinary document, found in the Carthusian Order. It is through the liturgy that this collection opens: a digniori parte, officio videlicet divino, sumentes exordium, the author tells us. According to a generally accepted tradition, it is mainly from the Church of Lyon that the Carthusians have received and their liturgical books and most of their rites, at least those which are not of monastic origin: Creduntur team Cartusiani ipsi ab illa vetustissima Lugdunensi Ecclesia, primate Galliarum, exemplaria desumpsisse. However, as none of the authors, to whom we have just referred, is prior to the sixteenth century, it is necessary to go back further to form a definitive opinion. Let us know by the Missal. A first general remark is the absence of ecclesiastical style compositions, with very few exceptions. Guigues admitted on this head the principles emitted by Agobard, and the Carthusian Order kept them with more tenacity than the Church of Lyons. In Lyon, as well as in the Chartreuse, Pentecost has its octave, whose office is the same as that of the festival. It follows that the series of Sunday services which comes after Pentecost is in retranslation of a Sunday on the corresponding series of the Roman Office. This posed, we know what divergences exist between the manuscripts, touching the gradual responses and even more the alleluiatic verses of these offices. It is therefore interesting to compare the repertoire of the Church of Lyon with that of the Chartreuse.

St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno THE LITURGY OF THE CARTHUSIANS Translated and Edited From its original source entitled Dictionnaire d'Archéologie Chrétienne et de Liturgie Tome Troisieme By The Ven. Fr. Dom. Ugo Maria ESB (csr) !1 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno I. THE ORIGINS. !2 4 1st. Sources and main features of the Missal. 4 2nd. Sources and main Peculiarities of the Antiphonary 8 3rd. Calendar. 11 4th. The Ofﬁce for the Dead. 19 II. PERIOD OF EVOLUTION 1142-1259. 21 1st. Development of the Calendar and Conventual Masses. 21 2nd. Rite of the Mass and their various uses. 23 III. THE LATE PERIOD OF MIDDLE AGES 1259-1581 25 1st. The Calendar and the increases of the Ofﬁce. 26 2nd. The Terminationes of the Bible 30 3rd. Ceremonial 31 IV. MODERN PERIOD FROM 1581 TO TODAY. 31 2nd. Acceptance of numerous New Feasts 34 V. THE CHANT OF THE CARTHUSIAN ORDER — 35 1st. The Chant at the Beginnings of the Order 35 2nd. The Recordatio and Singing by Heart. — 37 3rd. The Cantores Chori and De Modo Psallendi et Cantandi. — 38 4th. The Chant in the last Three Centuries — 41 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno THE LITURGY OF THE CARTHUSIANS !3 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !4 I. THE ORIGINS. 1st. Sources and main features of the Missal. The Consuetudines Cartusiæ, composed around 1127 - by Guigues, ﬁfth prior of the Chartreuse, is the oldest liturgical and disciplinary document, found in the Carthusian Order1. It is through the liturgy that this collection opens: a digniori parte, ofﬁcio videlicet divino, sumentes exordium, the author tells us2. According to a generally accepted tradition, it is mainly from the Church of Lyon that the Carthusians have received and their liturgical books and most of their rites, at least those which are not of monastic origin: Creduntur team Cartusiani ipsi ab illa vetustissima Lugdunensi Ecclesia, primate Galliarum, exemplaria desumpsisse3. However, as none of the authors, to whom we have just referred, is prior to the sixteenth century, it is necessary to go back further to form a deﬁnitive opinion. Let us know by the Missal4. A ﬁrst general remark is the absence of ecclesiastical style compositions, with very few exceptions. Guigues admitted on this head the principles emitted by Agobard, and the Carthusian Order kept them with more tenacity than the Church of Lyons. In Lyon, as well as in the Chartreuse, Pentecost has its octave, whose ofﬁce is the same as that of the festival. It follows that the series of Sunday services which comes after Pentecost is in retranslation of a Sunday on the corresponding series of the Roman Ofﬁce. This posed, we know what divergences exist between the manuscripts, touching the gradual responses and even more the alleluiatic verses of these ofﬁces. It is therefore interesting to compare the repertoire of the Church of Lyon with that of the Chartreuse. Now, the Carthusian manuscript best placed to inform us on this subject, because it's wording predates the ﬁrst reworking of the liturgy in 1 Guigonis, Carthusiæ majoris prioris quinti consuetudines, P. L., t. cliii, col. 631-760. 2 Consuet., Prologus, P. L., t. cliii, col. 639 P. Sutor, De vita Cartusiana, in-12°, Coloniæ Agrippinæ, 1609, i, ii, tr. iv c. iii. Cf. N. Molin, Historia Cartusiana, in-4°, Tornaci, 1903. t. i, p. 82; Le Couteulx, Ann., t. ii, p. 527, et t. i, p. 309, where he cites Swertins. Chronol. Hist. Arch. Lugd., ad annum 1126; Vie de saint Bruno, Fondateur de l’ordre des chartreux, par un religieux chartreux. In-8°. Montreuil, 1898, p. 278 sq. 3 With the works of Marchesi, La Liturgie gallicane dans les hurt premiers siécles de l’Eglise., in-8°, Lyon, 1869, For this study, we use a Lyonnais manuscript fairly close to Carthusian origins, the Codex Barberini 559 of the Vatican, which dates from the years 1173 to 1223. Bannister, Catal. Somm. Espoz. Greg., p. 12, n. 106. A photographic reproduction of this document was graciously shared by the PP. Benedictines of Solesmes. As a manuscript, Carthusians of the twelfth century, we have especially a sacramentary of the Great Chartreuse, MS. C 1. 751, a Gradual-Epistolary from Grenoble, ms. s4, a Breviary of Paris, Libr. nat. Latin fund, MS. 477. and a gradual from the Charterhouse of Parkminster (England), MS. A. 33, ancien. J. Rosenthal, Biblioth, cathol. Thiol., cat. xiv, n. 158. La Paleographie musicale, t. i, borrowed their work xii, xiii and xiv to this last manuscript, of which it gives a summary description p. 142-145. 4 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !5 the 12th century, has been so well scraped and corrected that, in most cases, it is impossible to recognise the primitive version 5. However, these corrections themselves, which concern almost all the responsories and the alleluiatic verses of the time after Pentecost, and even for the latter on the services since Easter, are not without enlightening us. In fact, wherever we ﬁnd, under scratchings, the original text, we ﬁnd that it was consistent with that of the Lyonnais Missal, and the interpolations always have the effect of introducing a non-Lyonnais text. Other observations relative to the series of the Gospels, from the fourth to the twenty-second Sunday, show us the Lyonnais and Carthusian Missals agree among themselves precisely where they separate from the Roman Missal. Similarly, in the ﬁrst two, it is the ofﬁce Si iniquitates that ends the series after Pentecost in the Roman Missal. Again, in the ﬁrst two, it is the Mass Dicit Dominus. If we were to conﬁne ourselves, we should also enumerate the particularities of the blessing of candles, ashes and branches, those of the ofﬁces of Friday and Saturday of Holy Week, and the Saturday before Pentecost. The use of the verse Pone, Domine, custodiam ore meo before the confession, and the Mass6, the recitation of the prayer De latere Domini nostri Jesu Christi at the moment when the water is placed in the chalice7, some variations in the text of the canon, etc ... all of which show a derivation of origin. While dealing with the liturgy of Lyon and its relationship with that of the Carthusians, we must not lose sight of the fact that other liturgies, especially those of Vienna and Grenoble, must also have points of contact with the latter, and their study and detailed description would undoubtedly open up new horizons8. Let us therefore complete the description of the Carthusian Missal by introducing some peculiarities which have not found a setting in our comparative study. The confession before the Mass is mentioned in the Consuetudines9 and described in outline, a little later in the Constitutions of This is the A. 33 manuscript from Parkminster, mentioned above. Since the publication of the ﬁrst volume of the Palèographie musicale, this gradual was studied more closely by the Benedictines of Solesmes, and they found that the notation that they had believed Italian, on a ﬁrst examination too fast, was obviously derived from a primitive type from Lyon known by some very characteristic peculiarities. It is to their perspicacity, and especially to that of D. Beyssac, that we are ﬁred to have been able to ﬁnd a primitive Lyonnais background under later scraping. The notation of this manuscript has also been described in P. Wagner, Neumenkunde, Palaographie des gregorianischen Gesanges. Freiburg, 1905, p. 26. 176. The author also makes it come, as did the Palèographie musicale, from the north of Italy. 5 6 Marchesi, op. cit., p. 481 7 Ibid., p. 183. 8 Cf. Le Couteulx,. Annales ordinis Carthusiensis. t. ii, p. 527-545. 9 Consuet., iv, 7 et 17, P. L., t. cliii, col. 641, 643. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !6 Basil, whose composition cannot have be later than the year 1173: Sacerdos ... dicta oratione ad dextrum cornu altaris, ad sinistrum casula induitur, and inclinatus præmittit, ante confessionem, precem: Pone, Domine, custodiam ori meo. Confessionem autem, si præsens sit, facit episcopus. Qua facta, subdit sacerdos aliam precem: Adjutorium nostrums in nomini Domini10 . Let us note in two passing variants pieces by their importance; these are, in Gloria in excelsis, the words propter gloriam tuam magnam, and, in the Credo, and ﬁnally et vitam futuri sæculi11 . At the Christmas Vigil service and at the three Masses of the feast, the epistle is immediately preceded by a lesson taken from Isaiah. It is a remnant of what was practiced in the early centuries, where a prophetic lesson usually preceded the reading of the epistle12. Similarly, the Gallican Mass always had two lessons, besides the gospel, the ﬁrst was borrowed from the Old Testament13. The prefaces are nine, namely for Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, the feast of the Blessed Virgin and the Apostles, plus the common preface14 . Guigues means, among the objects used for worship, the reed to take the precious Blood15. Mass naturally ends with the words of the deacon: Ite Missa Est or Benedicamus Domino without the blessing. The Placeat did not make its appearance until later. The ofﬁce of the sub-deacon does not exist in the Carthusian Mass; the deacon alone assists the priest at the altar, the monk leaves his stall to go to the lectern at the time of the epistle, which he sings without any outward sign of his ofﬁce. That of the deacon, also quite simple, is however more important. The Constitutions of Basil tells us that the deacon sings the gospel with the stole up 10 Le Couteulx, Ann.,t. ii, p. 387; Item, Dijon, ms. 616 (364 ), f° 43. Cf. Burn, Facsimiles of the creeds from early manuscripts, grand in-4°, H. Bradshaw Society, London, 1909, t. xxxvi. p. 17, pi. xii and xiii. 11 12 Cf. Duchesne, Origines du culte chrétien, 3e édit., in-8°, p. 167 sq. 13 Op. cit., p. 195. Saint Bruno was considered to be the author of the preface to the Blessed Virgin. This opinion is exposed and discussed at length by the Bollandists, Acta sanctorum, October t. iii, Commentarius prævius, n. 596 sq. Let us only say here that this preface, in its present form, which is the one we already ﬁnd in the sacramentary of la Grande-Chartreuse, and, with some variations, that of the Roman Missal, is only a reduction of a preface more extensive and certainly closer to St. Bruno. See, for example, in P. L., t. lxxviii, col. 133, the preface to the Assumption, where the text, more developed than that of the modern Missal, contains all the elements. See also Pamelius, Liturgicon Ecclesiae Latinae, in-4°, Coloniae Agrippinae, 1571, vol. ii, p. 603; Muratori, Opere. in-4°, Arezzo, 1772, t. .xiii, part. 2 ° (xviii), col. 1017; A. Wilson, The Missal of Robert of Jumieges, in 8 °, H. Bradshaw Society, London, 1896, t. xi. p. 201. 14 15 Consuet., xl, 1. P. L., t. cliii. col. 717. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !7 as follows: ponit stolam super humerum sinistrum, et per dextrum latus receptam involvit pro manipulo in sinistra manu. He prepares the bread and the wine during the Credo, or, if it is not sung, during the collections. For the incense at the offertory, he goes around the altar. On a Sunday he takes communion with the host reserved the week before for the viaticum of the sick, and is replaced by a newly consecrated host. On principal Feasts during the week, he received the third part of the host of the Holy Sacriﬁce16. The deacon then takes communion under both species. Although this practice is not attested by Guigues, it results from the defence which was later made in the middle of the 13th century, and which supposes its existence. The lamp is very modest: generally, for masses, a single candle enclosed in a lantern. On certain days, quite rare, moreover, which have more solemnity, two candles burn on the altar17. The ceremony of the blessing and Asperges on the Sunday before Mass is described in the Consuetudines18. As for the text of the prayers, it is almost the same as that of the Roman Missal, with some variants among which we note the following ones: in the oration Deus qui ad salutem, the words creatura mysterii tui tibi serviens; in prayer Deus invictæ virtutis, the word more instead of rore; and, more importantly, the rubric Hic mittitur sal in aquam, Benedictio salis et aquae, which will become in the seventeenth century, in accordance with the Missal of St. Pius V, the formula of blessing Commixtio salis et aquae pariter ﬁat in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. While the choir sings the antiphon Asperges me, the priest Asperges the sanctuary around the altar, then the monks who come before him, and ﬁnally the laity at the door of the choir. The profession of the novices, whose details are in the Consuetudines19. is, for the substance, as described by St. Benedict20, but with a different order. In Chartreuse, profession comes only after the singing of the verse. Suscipe, the novice's recommendation to the prayers of the monks and the blessing of the cuculus. Moreover, it is immediately after the offertory that it takes place, while 16 Constitutions of Basil, Dijon. Ms 616 (364), f° 42. Consuet., iv. 28, the Consuetudines mention neither the single candle for mass nor the lantern; but their use is attested by a later text which we shall have to relate later. It has even preserved to this day a vestige of this use; for today still the Ordinarium prescribes that the single candle that burns on the altar during the blessing that precedes Mass, on the day of the Puriﬁcation, be enclosed in a lantern. Ordinarium Cartusiense, c. XLVI. 12, in-18. Gratianopoli, 1869, p. 516. 17 18 Consuet., vii, 5, P. L., t. cliii. col. 649. 19 Consuet., xxiii, xxiv, P. L., t. cliii, col. 685-692. 20 Regula, iviii. P. L., t. lxvi, col. 805. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !8 elsewhere it was done either before the introit or after the gospel21 . Of the two prayers which are recited, the one on the cuculle to bless it, the other on the novice, the ﬁrst. Domine Jesu Christe, qui tegimen, appears to have been of infrequent use; however it appears in the ancient ordinary of Monte Cassino22 . 2nd. Sources and main Peculiarities of the Antiphonary The Carthusians originally adopted the monastic ofﬁce, at least in its broad outlines: a digniori parte, ofﬁcio videlicet divino, exordium sumentes, in quo cum cæteris monachis mullum, maxim in psalmodia regulari, concordes inveniamur (al., invenimur)23. Guigues imitated what was quite common then and began composing himself the antiphonary for the use of his house, inspired by the principles issued three centuries earlier by Agobard, the famous bishop of Lyon. We have, from the author of the Consuetudines, the very prologue which he put at the head of his antiphonary. Let us quote the main passage of this document that Le Couteulx transmitted to us24 , and that one also ﬁnds in an antiphonary of the 14th century, from the Chartreuse of Liget25. We give here the text of this manuscript, which seems to us better than that of Le Couteulx: Quædam de antiphonario auferenda seu abbrevianda putavimus, quæ scilicet ex parte maxima aut superﬂua erant, aut incongruenter composita vel interposita vel apposita aut pravæ auctoritatis, aut ambiguæ, aut nullius, aut levitatis, aut imperitiæ, aut mendacitatis criminis rea. Porro quæ emendata videntur esse vel addita, utrum recte se habeant ignorare non poterit quisquis divinam Scripturam, velus videlicelt Testamentum et novum, studio seperlegerit. Referring to Agobard's De correctione antiphonarii treaty26, we note that Guigues borrowed not only his principles, but sometimes even his own expressions. As for the value of the criterion on which they rely both to distinguish what is authentic from what is not, we do not have to discuss it here, others do not. have done, more authorised and better placed than us to judge impartially27. It must be admitted that Guigues, in spite of all the consideration which is due to him elsewhere, cannot escape the reproaches 21 Martène, De antiquis monachorum ritibus, 1. V, c. iv. N. 67, in-f°, Antverpiæ, 1764, t. iv, p. 230 22 Martène, op. cit., n. 7. P. 224. 23 Consuetudines, Prologus, 4, P. L., t. cliii, col. 639. 24 Annales ordinis Cartusiensis, t. i, p. 308,. 25 Loches, ms. 3, f° 9. 26 P. L., t. civ, col. 329 sq. Cf. Dictionn., t. i, col. 971, AGOBARD; D. Guéranger, Institutions liturgiques, 2° edit., t. i,, p. 246 sq. 27 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !9 which the ﬁery bishop has attracted. His excuse lies in the authority still enjoyed in his time by the celebrated Church of Lyons. But in all this, we have only the eliminative principle that presided over the constitution of the antiphonary. On what fund did Guigues work by applying this principle of elimination, and where did he take the pieces of the antiphonary which he substituted for those he suppressed as non-authentic? We must confess immediately that we can not say anything certain about this, as the reshufﬂes seem to have been operated on a large scale. The background of the antiphonary is certainly Roman with some gallican particularities. Let us ﬁrst say that a comparative study of the antiphonary of Blessed Hartker of St. Gall28 leads at once to reject any idea of a relation between the Carthusian collection and that of the famous abbey. After what we have seen for the Missal, it was quite natural to turn towards the Lyons books. We were able to consult two, one of which is contemporary, or almost, of the centonisation operated by Guigues: it is the 457 manuscript (Delandine collection) of the library of Lyon29 . The other, less ancient, is a noted breviary, written between the years 1320 and 1325 for the collegiate Saint-Jean30. But the comparisons are not very characteristic and the divergence too numerous, to be conclusive with an original kinship to the Carthusian books. We must therefore reserve our conclusions on this point. Leaving aside this original question, let us brieﬂy show the main aspects of the antiphonary. The cursus adopted conform to, as we have stated, to the one described in the Rule of St. Benedict, with ofﬁces of twelve and three lessons, and during the summer, with one lesson, and at night of six psalms. A psalm in direct song comes immediately after the Deus in adjutorium at matins and lauds. All hours end with a litany followed by a preces that is roughly the same as that published by Martène31. The Pater at Lauds and Vespers is recited aloud. The use of small responses is limited to Laudes and Vespers during the whole year, jumping in certain solemnities and in the ﬁrst Night Ofﬁce during the summer, whereas the Ferial ofﬁce has only one lesson. On the other hand, whenever the matins service opens with a special series of responses, one is sung at the ﬁrst 28 Paléographie musicale, 2° série, t. i. 29 Cf. Delisle, Mémoire sur d’anciens sacramentaires, n. cxiii It belongs to M. Chappée of Le Mans. It's after a very faithful copy of this document, taken by the PPs. Benedictines of Solesmes, that we did our comparative study. 30 De antiquis monachorum ritibus, 1. 1, c. m, n. 15, 19, in-fol., Antverpiæ, t. 1764, t. iv, p. ii sq. Cf. Dictionnaire, au mot. ACCLAMATION, t. i, col. 255 sp. 31 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !10 vespers, instead of the small responses, and this is usually the second32. In addition, some rare festivals also have a great response to the second vespers. The Carthusian Ofﬁce, originally, deviates from the Benedictine Ofﬁce in that it does not use hymns that were also used by the Church of Lyon33 . However, the Carthusian liturgy quickly departed from this rigour. Among the decrees of the general chapter of the year 1143, we read: Post Venite cantetur Æterne rerum conditor; ad laudes, Splendor paternæ gloria; ad vesperas, Deus creator; ad completorium, Christe qui lux es34 . The Breviary of Paris35 adds some more hymns as early as the year 1182. The ofﬁce of Advent begins with the response Aspiciebam, which takes the place of the famous answer Aspiciens a longe. The O antiphons, admitted by one of the rare derogations to the principle of Agobard, are reduced to seven. The Christmas service is almost exclusively dedicated to Our Lord, apart from two antiphons which have for direct object the Blessed Virgin. During the last three days of Holy Week, the monastic rite is left to adopt the Roman ofﬁce: Totisque his tribus diebus ... totum fere ofﬁcium juxta clericorum morem exsequimur36. In this, Guigues separates himself from what Benoit had determined, to rally to what had become the general practice of the monastic churches37 . As for the response Tenebrae factae sunt made famous by the anathemas of Agobard38, it appears in the ofﬁce of Good Friday after the 9th lesson; but its text is such that it can not give rise to criticism. The Mandatum ceremony offers nothing special. The antiphons that are sung there are eight in number and they are also known. From the ﬁrst vespers of Easter, the monastic rite takes up all its rights. At the sanctoral, the number of the own ofﬁces is extremely small, like the sanctoral itself. Apart from the feasts of Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin, there is no proper ofﬁce except for St. Stephen, St. John, the Innocent Saints, the Saints Philip and James in part only, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the Saints Peter and Paul, St. Michael and All Saints. 32 Consuet., vii, 3. P. L., l. cliii, col. 617. Marchesi, op. cit., p. 495. Agobard has already said: reverenda concilia Patrum decernunt nequaquam plebeios psalmos in Ecclesia decantandos, et nihil poetice compositum in divinis laudibus usurpandum. P. L., t. civ, col 327. 33 34 Le Couteulx, Ann., t. ii. p. 21 35 F° 116-118 36 Consuet., iv, 19, 27, P. L., cliii, col. 613-615. 37 Cf. Paleographie musicale, t. ix, introduction. p. 33. 38 Liber de correctione antiphonarii, viii, P. L., t. civ, col. 3332, 333. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !11 The lessons, for the Ferial days, are taken, with very rare exceptions, from the Sacred Scripture, which are read in their entirety every year. As for the feasts of twelve lessons of the ﬁrst nocturne are also from the Holy Scripture, it is the writings of the holy Fathers that they are exclusively drawn from. Regarding Processions, we have only one word to say; the Carthusian liturgy completely rejects them: et hoc sciendum quod in nulla solemnitate processionem facimus39 . The beautiful processions of Puriﬁcation and even Palm will not ﬁnd grace in the application of this principle. For the morning hours, the order conforms to that of the rule of Saint Benedict, that is to say that Matins and Lauds are sung in the morning, immediately preceding sunrise40. The sleep of the monks was thus not interrupted as it is today: ad lectos autem post matutinas nullo reditur tempore41. But Guigues takes care to better specify what the rule of Saint Benedict leaves in a certain wave: Cantatis nocturnis, breve facimus intervallum, quod ad plus septem psalmos pænitentiales capere valcat. Sequuntur deinde matutinæ laudes, quas a kalendis octobris usque ad Pascha lux terminat, exinde inchoat42 . Having given the ofﬁce of an average of two to three hours and a half hours, it is easy to deduce when the nocturnes began for each season43. It was always well after midnight, especially in winter. An important remark: Generaliter autem in ecclesia matutinas et vesperas, in cellis vero semper completorium dicimus. Alias enim, nisi festivis die aut vigiliis aut anniversariis, ad ecclesiam non venimus44. The Carthusian life is above all eremitic; St Bruno has mixed the cenobitic element with it only to a certain extent given to us here. 3rd. Calendar. At the beginning there were four classes for feasts: those of three lessons, those of twelve simple lessons, those of twelve lessons with a chapter, so called Consuet., vi, P. L., t. cliii, col. 647. such seems to have been the practice of the ﬁrst Cistercians, according to Martene, De antiquis monachorum ritibus, I, III, c. xix, n. 25 in Fol., Antverpiæ, 1761, vol. iv, p. 156. 39 40 Regula, viii, P. T., t. lxvi, col. 209 sq. 41 Consuet., xxix, 3, P. L., t. cliii, col. 699. 42 Consuet., xxix, 3, P. L., t, cliii, col. 697 sq. This duration for the Ferial varied considerably, according to the time of the year, as we shall see later; but the hour of sunrise remained essentially the same at all seasons; what varied was the of the end of the Ofﬁce, since that was resolved upon the appearance of the sun. 43 44 Consuet., xxix, 6, P. L., t. cliii, col. 701. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !12 because in those days the chapter is held, and the solemnities which are distinguished as simple feasts of the chapter with a little more pomp, and especially in that one lights two candles with the mass, with vespers and laudes, hence the name festa candelarum, by which we saw them designated from the thirteenth century45 . In the presentation we are making, the solemnities are indicated in italics, and the chapter festivals marked with the letter c. Thus, according to contemporary documents, was the Carthusian calendar in the twelfth century like46 ? January 1 Circumcisio Domini. xii I. c. 6 Epiphania Domini. xii I. c. 10 Pauli primi eremitæ. 13 Octave Epiphaniæ. 14 Felicis in Pincis confessoris. 16 Marcelli papæ et martyris. 17 Antonii abbatis et confessoris. 18 Priscæ virginis et martyris. 20 Fabiani et Sebastiani martyrum. 21 Agnetis virginis et martyris. xii I. 22 Vincentii martyris. xii I. c. 25 Conversio sancti Pauli. 26 Polycarpi episcopi et martyris. 28 Agnetis secundo. xii. I February 45 2 Ypapanti Domini. xii I. c. 5 Agathæ virginis et martyr. xii I. c. 14 Valentini martyris. 22 Cathedra sancti Petri. 24 Mathiæ apostoli. Consuet., iv, 31; viii, 1, 7, P, L., t. cliii, col. 645, 651 We’ve reproduce here the most ancient calendar to our knowledge (Grande-Chartreuse, carton, C. m, S64). It is from the year 1134, at the latest. 46 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !13 March 12 Gregorii papæ. 21 Benedicti abbatis. xii I. c. 25 Annuncio Domini. xii I. c. April 4 Ambrosii episcopi et confessoris. 14 Tiburtii, Valeriani et Maximi martyrum. 23 Georgii martyris. 25 Litania major. Marei evangelistæ. 28 Vitalis martyris. May 1 Philippi et Jacobi apostolorum. 3 Inventio sanctæ Crucis. Alexandri, Eventii et Theodoli martyrum. 10 Gordiani et Epimachi martyrum. 12 Nerei et Achillei atque Pancratii martyrum. 23 Urbani papæ et martyris. xii I. c. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !14 June 2 Marcellini et Petri martyrum. 9 Primi et Feliciani martyrum. 11 Barnabe apostoli. 12 Basilidis, Cirini et Nahoris martyrum. 16 Cirici et Julitæ martyrum. 18 Marei et Marcelliani martyrum. 19 Gervasii et Protasii martyrum. 23 Vigilia sancti Joannis Baptistæ 24 Nativitas ejusdem. 26 Joannis et Pauli martyrum. 28 Vigilia apostolorum Petri et Pauli. Leonis papæ. 29 Natalis eorumdem. xii I. c. 30 Commemoratio sancti Pauli. xii I. xii I. c. July 1 Octavæ sancti Joannis. 2 Processi et Martiniani martyrum. 6 Octavæ apostolorum. 10 Septem fratrum, ﬁliorum sanctæ Felicitatis. 21 Praxedis Virginis. 22 Mariæ Magdalenæ 23 Apollinaris episcopi et martyris. 24 Cristinæ virginis et martyris. 25 .Jacobi apostoli. Christophori martyris. 28 Nazarii et Celsi martyrum. 29 Felicis, Simplicii, Faustini et Beatricis martyrum. 30 Abdon et Sennes martyrum. 31 Germani episcopi et confessoris. xii I. c. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !15 August 1 Sancti Petri ad vincula. 2 Stephani papæ et martyris. 3 Revelatio sancti Stephani. 6 Sixti papæ et martyris. Felicissimi et Agapiti martyrum. 8 Ciriaci cum sociis suis. 9 Vigilia sancti Laurentii. 10 Natalis ejusdem. 11 Tiburtii martyris. 13 Hyppoliti martyris. 14 Vigilia sanctæ Mariæ. Eusebii confessoris. 15 Assumptio beatæ Mariæ. 18 Agapiti martyris. 22 Timothei et Simphoriani martyrum. Octavæ sanctæ Mariæ. xii I. 24 Bartolomæi apostoli. xii I. c. 28 Augustini episcopi et confessoris et Hermetis martyris. 29 Decollatio sancti Joannis Baptistæ, Sabinæ martyris. 30 Felicis et Adaucti martyrum. xii I. c. xii I. c. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !16 September47 8 Nativitas beatæ Mariæ. 9 Gorgonii martyris. 11 Proti et Iacincti martyrum. 14 Cornelii et Cypriani martyrum. Exaltatio sanctæ crucis. 15 Nicomedis martyris. 16 Luciæ et Geminiani. Euphemiæ virginis. 20 Vigilia sancti Matthæi apostoli et evangelistæ. 21 Natalis ejusdem. 22 Mauricii et sociorum ejus. 23 Teclæ virginis. 27 Cosmæ et Damiani. 29 Michaelis Arcliangeli. 30 Ieronimi presbyteri et confessoris. xii I. c. xii I. (?) xii I. c. xii I. c. We need to place a question mark on the 14th September, because it is not absolutely certain that the abbreviation xii I., are ﬁrsthand in the old calendars we used. They have over the centuries, been subjected to so many erasures and interpolations that it is impossible to discern. 47 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !17 October 1 Remigii episcopi et confessoris. 6 Fidis virginis et martyris. 7 Marci papæ et confessoris. 9 Dionysii cum sociis suis. 14 Calixti papæ et martyris. 18 Lucæ evangelistæ. 21 Hylarionis confessoris. 25 Crispini et Crispiniani martyrum. 27 Vigilia apostolorum Symonis et Judæ. 28 Natalis eorumdem. 31 Vigilia omnium sanctorum. xii I. c. November 1 Festivitas omnium sanctorum. 2 Eustachii cum sociis suis. 8 Quatuor coronatorum. 9 Theodori martyris. 11 Martini episcopi et confessoris et Mennæ martyris. 13 Brietii episcopi et confessoris. 21 Columbani abbatis et confessoris. 22 Ceciliæ virginis et martyris. 23 Clementis papæ et martyris. Felicitatis. 24 Crisogoni martyris. 26 Lini papæ et martyris. 27 Agricolæ et Vitalis martyrum. 28 Sileæ apostoli. 29 Vigilia sancti .Andreæ apostoli. Saturnini martyris. 30 Natalis sancti Andreæ xii I. c. xii I. c. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !18 December 6 Nicolai episcopi et confessoris. 10 Eulaliæ virginis et martyris. 13 Luciæ virginis et martyris. 21 Thomæ apostoli. 24 Vigilia Natalis Domini. 25 Nativitas Domini. Anastasiæ virginis. xii I. c. 26 Stephani prothomartyris. xii I. c. 27 Joannis avangelistæ. xii I. c. 28 Sanctorum innocentum. xii I. c. 31 Silvestri papæ et confessoris. It is easy to see that this calendar reproduces almost exactly the old Roman calendar as it must have been from the ninth century to the twelfth48. If we add the feasts of Ascension and Dedication, we have the complete calendar, which thus includes, besides Sundays, thirty-one feasts of twelve lessons, ﬁve of which are feast of twelve simple lessons, ten chapter festivals, and sixteen solemnities. To these last we must add Easter and Pentecost, with, for each of these two holidays, the ﬁrst three days of the octave. The octave Feasts are Christmas, Pentecost, Epiphany, Ascension and Assumption. Some occurrences produce a curious mixtures of ofﬁces resulting from the tenet of not transferring any feast: nee ullum festum vel vigiliam transmutamos49. If, for example, the Annunciation coincided with Palm Sunday, everything part of the Feast ofﬁce was completed, even though the mass was on Sunday50 . We have four vigils on the calendar. By adding those of Christmas, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost, we arrive at a total of eight vigils that are celebrated with a Mass51. In the twelfth century, we do not celebrate every day the conventual mass. Guigues gives us the reason for this: Raro quippe hic missa canitur, quoniain 48 Cf. P. Batillol. Histoire du bréviaire romain, nouv. edit., in-12. Paris, 1895, p. 125 sq. 49 Consuet., vi, P. L., t. cliii, col. 647 50 Constitutions of Basil, Dijon, ms. 616 (364) 1e 39 vo. 51 Consuet., viii, 1, P. L., t. cliii, col. 651. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !19 præcipue studium et propositam nostrum est silentio et solitudini cellæ vacare52. Moreover, not all monks are necessarily elevated to the priesthood, as stated in the ﬁrst obituary of the monastery. The Consuetudines twice refer to the small number of priests available for the celebration of the conventual Mass to enable it to be held53 . However, this raro should not be taken too literally, or rather, according to the remarks of Le Masson54, it must be interpreted by the context, it must be interpret within its context. The masses for the dead are speciﬁcally found in this passage. There was a conventual mass every Sunday55 , at every chapter festival56 , at the eight vigils that we mentioned57 , every day of Lent from Ash Wednesday, the following Saturday except with the one that precedes Palm Sunday58, every Saturday of the fourth day59 , the ﬁrst three days of the Octaves of Easter and Pentecost60, the 2nd of November for all the dead61 , and every week once for the benefactors. To this must be added a certain number of birthdays, but they were not numerous at that time62 , and some rare so-called matutinales mass63. So we arrive at a total of about two hundred masses in the year, assuming a dozen birthdays, which were quickly surpassed. 4th. The Ofﬁce for the Dead. The plenary agenda, agenda plenaria, or daily, quotidiana. This one differs from the preceding one in that it has only one antiphon for the nine psalms of the three nocturnes, with only three lessons and three responses taken one by one among the nine lessons and the nine response of the complete ofﬁce. The ﬁrst was used only for the ofﬁce recited on the occasion of the burial of a dead person and for 52 Consuet., XIV, 5, P. L., t. cliii, col. 659. 53 Consuet., IV, 12: vii, 4, P. L., cliii, col. 643, 649. 54 Consuet, loc. cit., commentarius. 55 Consuet., vii, per totum, P. L., t. cliii, col. [617] sq. 56 Consuet., ix, 3, P. L., t. cliii, col. 653. 57 Consuet., viii, 1, P. L., t. cliii, col. 651. 58 Consuet.. iv, 7 sq. P. L., t cliii, col. 641 sq. 59 Consuet., iii, 4, P. L., t. cliii, col. 641. 60 Consuet., iv. 31, 35, P. L.. t. cliii, col. 645, 647. !61 Consuet., xi, 1, P. L., t. cliii, col. 655. 62 Consuet., xiv, 1, 4, P. L., t. cliii, col. 659. 63 Consuet., iv, 29, 35; vii, 4; viii, 4, P. L., t. cliii, col. 645, 647, 549, 651. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !20 birthdays, hence it is named agenda proper or special. As for the second, it was in more frequent use, since, with the exception of the two cases we have just stated, it is recited each day or when the ofﬁce did not have twelve lessons64. When a religious dies, he has, besides the ofﬁce of burial, a tricenaire. In addition, one inscribes his name to the obituary, and his birthday is celebrated each year65. Guigues absolutely refused to acknowledge the anniversaries of secular founders, and this for reasons, in a few lines underscored with severity: Nomen vero cujusquam in suo non scribent martirologio, nec cujusquam anniversarium ex more facient. Audivimus enim, quod non probamus, plerosque toties splendide convivari, missasque facere paratos, quoties atiqui pro suis eis voluerint exhibere defunctis. Quæ consuetudo et abstinentiam tollit et venales facit orationes... Nulla quippe die convivium vel missa decrit, si qui pascat numquam defuerit66. Nevertheless, the order was soon forced by circumstances to depart from this rigour, without however, allowing the abuses which the author of the Consuetudines dreaded would take root. The text of the ofﬁce of the dead is distinguished from that of the Roman ofﬁce by the smaller number of the antiphons, one only for vespers, for each of the three nocturnes and for the lauds, apart from the antiphon of the Magniﬁcat and the Benedictus, and by their exclusive scriptural provenance, which also takes place for the responses. The ofﬁce of the burial, to which the Consuetudines67 devote a whole chapter, is unequivocally of monastic origins, and it is very close to that of Cluny68 and Saint-Benigne de Dijon69 . The psalms recited while on the way to the cemetery are those indicated by most monastic rituals. The Requiem Mass did not exist among the Carthusians in the twelfth century. The Ofﬁce of Respice is sung in its place, all the elements of which, apart from communion, are taken from the ofﬁces of the time. Consuet., xi, 2, 3, P. L., t. cliii, col. 655. Guigues does not name the quotidienne agendas; but the special distinction he makes for the Plenary Agenda sufﬁciently suggests that there was another. In fact, the Breviary of Paris, at the f ° 115 v °, expressly mentions the l’agenda quotidiana. 64 65 Consuet., xiv, 1, P. L., t. cliii, col. 659. 66 Consuet., xli, 4, P. L., t. cliii, col. 721. 67 Consuet., xiii. P. L., t. cliii. col. 657 sq. 68 Uldarici’s, Consuetudines Cluniacenses, 1. iii, cxxix, P. L., t. cxlix, col. 774 sq. 69 Martène, De antiquis monachorum ritibus, 1. v, clx, n. 11-19, fol., Antverpiæ, 1764, t. iv, p. 256 sq. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !21 II. PERIOD OF EVOLUTION 1142-1259. We are now approaching the ﬁrst and principal phase of evolution, the highlight of which is the institution of the General Chapter by St. Anselme in 114270 . We have already glimpsed what trial and errors occurred at the beginning in the constitution of the Carthusian liturgy; therefrom, the lack of uniformity was the ﬁrst action that the general chapters reacted to: Primum capitulorum (capitulum) hanc habet continentiam, ut divinum Ecclesiæ ofﬁcium prorsus per omnes domos uno ritu celebretur, et omnes consuetudines Carthusienses (Carthusiensis) domus, quæ ad ipsam religionem pertinent unimode habeantur71. Two speciﬁc dates are of note, one for the full development and the other the ﬁnal stage of its evolution. The ﬁrst is in the year 1222, which saw its genesis and is quoted in the compilation which was given the title of Statuta Jancelini, named after Jancelin, the prior of the Charterhouse, to whom we owe it. It was approved and promulgated by the General Chapter in 122372. We can say that from this time the Carthusian liturgy was almost completed and its main evolution nearing its end. The second date is the year 1259, when Rifﬁer had the chapter approve a merger of all that is included in the Consuetudines, the Statuta Jancelini and the Chapter Ordinances promulgated between 1222 to 1259. This new collection, which was originally called the Consuetudines Cartusiæ, by which it became distinguishable from the Consuetudines Guigonis, and was later renamed Statuta antiqua, which is the name it has retained73. 1st. Development of the Calendar and Conventual Masses. Here is the list of new feasts consisting of twelve lessons used during this period: St. Nicolas, St. Thomas of Canterbury74, St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Gregory pope, St. Ambrose (4th April), St. Mark, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Augustine, the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross with solemnity, St. Maurice, St. Luke, and the Relics also with solemnity. All these festivals are mentioned in the statutes of Jancelin; therefore, their introduction is no later than 1222. Between 1222 and 1259, Let us add the 70 71 Le Couteulx, Ann.. t. ii, p. 5 sq. Acta primi capituli ordinis Carthusiensis, P. L., t. cliii, col. 1126. Le Couteulx, Ann., t. iii, p. 468. The Jancelin collection of remained unpublished. We quote from a manuscript of the Grande-Chartreuse, B. I. 551, from the second half of the thirteenth century. 72 73 Statuta antiqua, in-fol., Basileæ 1510. Probably from the year of his canonisation, 1173, or shortly thereafter. Le Couteulx, Ann., t. ii, p. 370. 74 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !22 following holidays, indicated in the Statuta antiqua75: St. Anthony, the Conversion of St. Paul, St. Mathias, St. Hugh of Grenoble, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (1219), St. Peter in Chains, St. Hugh of Lincoln, we must add St. Barnabas, St. John and Paul, St. Dionysius and St. Clement, who do not appear in the Statuta antiqua, but are quoted in another unpublished collection prior to 1200. We must complete this list by a few feasts of three lessons: St. Bernard and the Invention of St. Stephen as early as 1222, St. Dominic and St. Francis in 1249, ﬁnally St. Catherine as early as 1259. The feast of the Holy Trinity was introduced in 1222, but in an incomplete manner; the Mass on its own is a feast, and the entire ofﬁce of the octave of Pentecost remains76 . The new octaves that are introduced, namely those of St. John the Baptist, Saints Peter and Paul, St. Stephen, St. John and of Holy Innocents77. Each day has its conventual mass: comprised as follows. In addition to the feasts of twelve lessons, the number of which have increased and all of which have a Mass, and also several feasts of three lessons78. Moreover, the propers of seasons is enhanced by certain masses which were not originally recognised, namely, from 1222, those of Wednesday and Friday of Ember Days79 , two days which follow the feast of St. Thomas of Canterbury80, the last three days of the octave of Easter81, the Thursday of the octave of Pentecost82 , and ﬁnally the two Rogations days83. Votive Masses were also beginning to emerge; they are, on Monday, the Mass of the Holy Spirit, on Friday, that of the Cross, and, on Saturday, that of the Virgin Mary84. If to this we add, the mass of benefactors on Monday, and another Mass for the deceased on Tuesday and Wednesday85, we arrived at the daily conventual Mass in 1222. Finally, the principle imposed by Guigues not to 75 Stat. ant., passim. 76 Statuta Jancelini, c. v. 77 Loc. cit.,c. iv. 78 Stat. ant, c. xxx, 12 sq. 79 Stat. Jancelini, c. xxx. 80 Loc. cit., c. iv. 81 Loc. cit., c. xxxiii. 82 Loc. cit., c. xix, xxxiii 83 Loc. cit., c. xxxiii. 84 Loc. cit., c. ii, xxxiii. 85 Loc. cit., c, xxxiii. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !23 accept external anniversaries is abandoned: Anniversaria externa sunt de cætero per totum ordinem, sicut sunt apud Cartusiam, as written in the chapter document of the year 1249. It is also during this period that the celebration of two conventual Masses on the same day86 become relatively frequent. In certain circumstances there will be only one sung Mass; but added also is the so called Nudum Ofﬁcium, which is none other than the dry mass. 2nd. Rite of the Mass and their various uses. The rite of the Mass, of which we learn very little from the Consuetudines, is clariﬁed; it is all described by Jancelin87. Let us mention some of the more interesting points. The priest, before celebrating, puts on the ecclesiastical cuculle88. He makes confession at the corner of the gospel, then inclined he recites the Pater in front of the middle of the altar. It is at the corner of the epistle that he says Kyrie and the Gloria in excelsis, as well as Dominus vobiscum. At the Et Homo factus est, he simply kisses the altar, the text is very explicit in stating that he must never kneel when he is at the altar. Turning to the audience, he said silently: Orate, fratres, pro me peccatore ad Dominum Deum nostrum, which receives no response. Throughout the Canon, he holds his hands raised and extended, levatas et expansa, later named the in modum cruciﬁxi. The elevation of the host is expressly mentioned here for the very ﬁrst time. The consecration of the wine is made retractis paululum corporalibus and restrictis inter digitos et oram calicis decidant; in fact, it was, and still is done today, that the corporal covered the chalice. Communion is preceded by the only prayer Domine Jesu Christe. Finally, after the Placeat, the celebrant lays down the vestments and recites the Pater on the rung of the altar. The presence of a bishop in the choir gives rise to a special type of ceremony89. Of note, among other things, this passage relates to the blessings: Episcopales Illas Benedictiones quæ ante Agnus Dei ﬁunt, inter nos, si volunt, faciunt episcopi. Jancelin's statutes also mention the lamps: in anniversariis, ad missam, duæ tantum candelæ accenduntur, quarum una in candelabro, altera in lanterna ponitur. Ab omnibus etiam qui hoc facere possunt idem observatur in omnibus missis 86 Loc. cit., c. xiii, xvi, xxx, Stat. ant., passim. Chapter xxxiii of the Statutes of Jancelin is entirely devoted to the rite of the Mass. We are able to complete its instructions from some of the details which are found elsewhere. See Stat. ant., t. P. L., c. xliii in its entirety. 87 88 Stat. Jancelini, c. xiii. The ecclesiastical cuculla is the same as the Benedictine, but in white wool. 89 Stat. Jancelini, c. xxxiii, xlii; cf. Stat. ant., part. ii. c. ix, 5 sq. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !24 conventualibus… Ad privatam missam una tantum candela accenditur et ipsa ponitur in lanterna90. Sometime later, the Statuta antiqua further increases the lamps91 . At the same time a candle is allowed especially for the elevation. Here is what we read in a collection of ordinances promulgated between 1222 and 1260: Quando non potest videri corpus Christi eo quod mane celebretur, possit diaconus tenere cereum bene ardentem a retro sacerdote ut corpus Christi in hac parte possit videri. Hoc tamen nos est præceptum.92 As for the new liturgical texts, as well as several hymns, we should mention their compositions in the ecclesiastical style, ﬁrst of all, the introduction of two masses which we have mentioned earlier, of the Blessed Virgin, Salve sancta parens, from 1222, and that of the Trinity in 1259 at the latest, then the Alleluia Veni Sancte Spiritus, which we already ﬁnd in 122293, and the antiphon Salve Regina, whose use was ﬁrst recorded in 125994. With objects used for worship, the severity was a little more relaxed in the Consuetudines for the use of gold and silver, probably as a result of a decrease in the rarity of these precious metals. It is thus possible to use them not only as before for the chalice, but also for the stoles and the maniples; even more so, for the bookmarks for liturgical books, in signaculis librorum, which were already of a certain luxury. As for the chasubles, those of buckram and white silk, de boccaran et de serico albo are tolerated; but orphreys are not. In fact, they were quite often real works of art that were extremely expensive95. Notice in passing that the Statuta antiqua, in the alleged passage, do not mention the lamp, with the chalice, among the sacred objects that are allowed to be of gold or silver, as the Consuetudines did96 . This is an indication that the use of the torch had disappeared by 1259; in reality, this was no longer the case. The prostration, we were unable to ﬁnd a trace of its beginnings, it was set down as early as 1222; for example, for mass, for the elevation of the host and from the Agnus Dei to the communion chant97. It should be noted on this subject that we remained standing during the consecration: Quando autem elevatur hostia, si 90 Stat. Jancelini, c. xxxii. 91 Stat. ant., part. I. c. xli, 29; c. xxxii, 2. 92 Grande-Chartreuse, ms. B.I. 551, f° 108 v°. 93 Stat. Jancelini, c. xxiv, xxxiii. 94 Stat. ant., part. I, c. xxxvi, 20. 95 Stat. Jancelini, c. liv; Stat. ant., part. II, c. xxxii, 1 sq. 96 Consuet., xl, 1, P. L., t. cliii, col. 717. 97 Stat. Jancelini, c. xxxiii, xliv; cf. Stat. Ant., part. 1, c. iv, 11; c. v, 25; c. xii, 3; c. xxviii, 9, 37; c. xliii, 22 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !25 stantes oramus, accipimus veniam, state the statutes of Jancelin. They do not mention the usage of kneeling before the elevation. In the sixteenth century, the canons of Lyons worshiped standing during the elevation, at that time the Dean wanted to change this usage, and the canons appealed to a higher authority and obtained the continuance of this ancient custom98. In the same way, the conventus remained standing whilst the communion was distributed99 . It is moreover established that the faithful once communed in this same manner100. When one is absent at the beginning of the ofﬁce, one needs permission from the president to attend if one arrives before the ﬁrst three verses of the ﬁrst psalm have been sung. Once the ﬁrst psalm has been completely sung, we can no longer enter the church. For mass, one can enter before the gospel, but not after101 . Invalid donors incur a special penalty, which is at the same time an effective measure. We ﬁnd it in a text that is not later than 1260: Illi qui consuetudinarii sunt ad dormiendum in ecclesia, statutum est ut priores corum faciant cos stare ad lectorium et videre psalmos ad arbitrium ipsorum priorum (14). The last words videre psalmos allude to the then existing practice of singing the psalms and the whole ofﬁce by heart, as though we speaking them instead of singing. III. THE LATE PERIOD OF MIDDLE AGES 1259-1581 The year 1259 marks the end of the main evolution of the Carthusian liturgy. The texts and rites are now set down to the smallest of details, and have been for more than three centuries, apart from increases in the calendar, no more signiﬁcant changes will occur. So the order will always return for a point of reference to the measure taken by the ﬁrst General Chapter in 1142, in order to maintain its liturgical synthesis. We therefore decree that all the books used for worship can only be corrected by the recognised ﬂawless copies: libros quoque Veteris ac Novi Testamenti [cosve?] cum quibus divina celebrantur ofﬁcia sine ejusdem capituli consilio nullus emendare præsumat, nisi cum exemplariis in ordine nostro emendatis, nisi judicio prioris et monachorum discretorum error aliquis manifestus appareret102 . It is thanks to these efﬁcacious measures found within the Carthusian manuscripts, of this period, that we ﬁnd a match which did not Marténe, De antiquis Ecclesiæ ritibus, 1. I, c. iv, a. 8, n. 22, in-fol., Antverpiæ, 1763, t. i, p. 149. Cf. Benoît xiv, De sacriﬁcio missæ, 1. II. c. xv, n. 33; Marténe, Thésaurus novus anecdotorum, in-fol. Lutetiæ Parisiorum, 1717, t. iv. col. 155, can. 46. 98 99 Cf. Le Couteulx, Ann., t. iii, p. 470. 100Marténe, op. cit., 1. I, c. iv, a. 10, n. 7, t. I, p. 155 sq. 101 Stat. ant., part. 1, c. xlv, 11 sq. 102 Stat. ant., part. 1, c.i; part. II, c. iii in its entirety. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !26 originally exist. We will sift through this period of more than three centuries which will lead us to the year 1581. 1st. The Calendar and the increases of the Ofﬁce. Until the second half of the ﬁfteenth century, the increases were few in number. In 1282, the feast of Saint Madeleine is included along with the solemn rite. The same occurred around 1318 for Corpus Christi; the exact date of the institution of this festival within the order is not known with certainty, the acts of the general chapters do not mentioning it103 . As early as the year 1332, we see its 104 celebration with all its octaves . In the same year 1332, to comply with the precepts of the Church which required their use, we rank high the festivals of the twelve apostles and the four evangelists, many of which, we recall, were already classiﬁed as such in the Consuetudines, and the feast of the four great Latin doctors. The Order in 1331 for the ﬁrst time makes mention of the feast of the Conception. The Chartreuse of Sainte-Aldegonde, in the diocese of Arras, is permitted to celebrate it with solemnity, and the following year this permission is extended to the entire order. This was the ofﬁce of the Nativity. In 1341, there was a reversal of opinion about the term that was given to the feast, and the general chapter authorised to substitute its title of Sanctiﬁcatio to that of Conceptio: In festo conceptionis beatæ Mariæ dicatur ubique loco Conceptionis, Sanctiﬁcationis105. In fact, the order seems to have become like-minded with that of Saint Dominic in their manner that they envisage the notion of a Feast106. Whatever the cause which inspired this substitution, we notice the word Conceptio being gradually resumed in the liturgical books of the order, the Council of Basle’s declaration probably inﬂuenced this decision, up to that point the General Chapter in 1470 ofﬁcially intervened and came to restore them forever. We must also mention the solemnity of St. Hugh of Lincoln in 1339, the Chapter feast of the Eleven Thousand Virgins in 1352, and that of St. Bernard in 1361. Le Couteulx, Ann., t. iv, p. 250, gives this date as 1318 according to a marginal commentary of a manuscript of which he did not know either its age nor its authority. 103 104 Le Couteulx, Ann., t. v, p. 320. This instruction is renewed in 1368 in the Statuta nova, part. I, c. ii, 8, compilation of the of Chapter Orders in the year 1368 promulgated since 1259. The Statuta nova came after the Statuta antiqua, within the 1510 publication. To avoid having to return to it, let's say that it also contains, due to the Statuta nova, a third collection entitled Tertia compilatio statutorum, which summarises the ordinances enacted by the General Chapters between 1368 to 1509. 105 Cf. Raphaelis de Pornasio, Tractatus de prærogativis D. N. Jesu Christi; Quétil-Échard, Scriptores ordinis prædicatorum, in-fol., Lutetiæ Parisiorum, 1719, t. i. p. 832, n. 8 106 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !27 In the year 1378, we enter a period of the great western schism that divided the order as it divided the entire Church. Each branch of the Carthusian family had its own General Chapter. Several festivals were then established by them; but in 1417, after the suppression of the schism they made a revision to the ordinances which were ratiﬁed by both sides. The festival of the Visitation had been admitted with solemnity since 1390 by one of the two branches of the order. The General Chapter of 1411 allowed the octave celebrations pertaining to the houses in the countries where they are celebrated. Later, in 1468, they becomes mandatory for all. In 1474, it is the solemnity of the Presentation which is instituted, and in 1477, that of the Compassion. The canonisation of St. Bruno naturally brings his feast in 1515. By the end of the century, festivals tend to multiply. In 1567, the Solemnity of Saint Joseph; in 1568, the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas elevated to the rank of a Chapter Feast; in 1569, that of St. Anne becomes solemn and that of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, in 1577. The schism aided in opening the door to innovations, and, despite the energetic measures taken by the General Chapter, there was a tendency to try to single oneself out in the liturgy. In 1422, the clergy of Witham, in the County of Somerset, petitioned the General Chapter for special feast. They are told to comply with the rest of the order. In 1424, yet again an English Charterhouse, that of Coventry, in the diocese of Warwick, which asks to replace, during Saturday, the ofﬁce of the Feast of the Blessed Virgin, by putting forward their argument that it would conform to what is already practice in England by the religious and clergy. The General Chapter accompanies its refusal with a severe sanction: Si alias capitulum generale infestaverint super hoc, qui culpabiles fuerint faciant ires abstinentias in pane et aqua. The more we advance into the ﬁfteenth century, the more this trend develops. It is to be remarked that that this new spirit is implanted speciﬁcally in the most remote provinces of the Grande Chartreuse, which if it had not been disputed, it would have promptly brought about the ruin of the Carthusian liturgy. In 1469, the Chartreuse of Mainz attempted to introduce a procession that it was made to abandon: Ampliusque nihil talium contra Statuta acceptent, state the papers of the Chapter. In 1504, the monks of Astheim (also known as Marienbrück Charterhouse) in the diocese of Würzburg, receive the following admonition: Consuetudinem introductam in domo in Astheim de legendo certas horas in ecclesia tempore quadragesimæ tamquam Statuto contrariam cassamus. In 1534, the entire province of the Rhine to be admonished to uniformity, and on this occasion all the concessions that they had received to date were canceled. In 1564, it is another province of Germany to read the lessons in chorus, not as they are shortened in the breviary, but throughout, as they are in the books serving to the ofﬁce, juxta ritum consuetudinem ordinis, as it was the same spirit of innovation, St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !28 rather than piety, which on the one hand tended to add whilst with the other hand cut out. These examples, which we can multiply, show that it was due to the vigilance and ﬁrmness of the General Chapters, that the order escaped the liturgical reforms which became too generalised at that time. It must also be stated that it was also largely due to the example by the Grande Chartreuse, which had not been won over by this new spirit. Thus, not only did she oppose the increase of general festivals in, and in so far as the other houses depended on her, she further resisted most vigorously the solicitations which came from outside inﬂuences to promote the canonisation of her religious who died in the odour of sanctity. Bonifaci Ferrer, brother of St. Vincent Ferrer, who was Prior General of the order from 1402 to 1410, has left us, in an unpublished treatise, an admirable page in which he shows how this spirit is perfectly suited to an eremitic order like that of the Carthusians, although to the contrary this practice is quite justiﬁable for the other orders which are out in the world107 . A little later, a famous prior of the Charterhouse of Basel, Henry Arnold, who died in 1480108, writing a life of Saint Bruno also unpublished, also ﬁnds this same spirit in the order, and he justiﬁes in a chapter entitled: Ratio cur ordo Cartusiensis parum curet de miraculis et canonizatione suorum. He is careful in not wanting to impose this reserve upon others which serves his order because of the very special style of life they follow: Hæc humilitas in Cartusiensibus speratur placere Deo, nec per eam derogatur ordinibus aliis quibus aliud videtur de sanctis suis quorum canonizatio sollicite procuratur pro Dei honore, pro Ecclesiæ utilitate et aliorum ædiﬁcatione109. It is in the same spirit that Benedict XIV, noting the Carthusian abstention which was in common with the Cistercians, said that we can not Libellus declarationis tam conﬁrmationum quam caremoniarum ordinis Cartusiensis, Grande Chartreuse, ms. C. 1. 762. 107 108 Le Vasseur, Ephemerides ordinis Cartusiensis, t. ii, p. 296. Henricus de Alvedia, Chronicon de B. Brunone. Sutor devoted a n entire chapter to this manner of abstention of the order, which he sums up in these few words: Non enim de hujusmodi negotio quondam solliciti fuerunt, sed nec curare quidem nunc volunt. De Vita Cartusiana, i. ii, tr. iii, c. vi, in-12. Coloniæ Agrippinæ, 1609, p. 580. Other Carthusians have written on the same subject and in the same spirit. A Carthusian monk of Venice even made it into verse. Quare Cartusiani non colant proprios sanctos: Morrozzo, Theatrum chronologicum sacri Cartusiensis ordinis, in-fol., Taurini, 1681, p. 118. Gerson also considered this question, and always in the same manner, Opusculum contra impugnantes ordinem Carthusiensium. Opera, ed. E. du Pin, Antwerpiæ, 1706, t. ii, col. 711 sq. 109 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !29 conclude anything against the legitimacy and could in practice, even though contrary, be of great usefulness to the Church110 . It is to this severity that the order must be the only one to possess even today, if not intact, at least saved in notable proportions, the curriculum ferialis which was the ordinary liturgical food of the ancient monks. The Dean of Tongeren, Raoul de Rivo, one of the most ardent defenders of the ferial ofﬁce in the fourteenth century, does not fail to mention this example of the Carthusians and other orders: Ei videmus in usu Carthuisiensium, Cisterciensium. Prædicatorum et cæterorum quod paucas habent festivitates singulares seu speciales... Sit etiam ad hoc summa ratio ut psalterium continuetur in quo principaliter ofﬁcium existit. He even goes as far as to say that this way may be more agreeable to the saints themselves, because it saves certain liturgical practices that have disappeared along with the ferial ofﬁce: Et credendum est hujusmodi observationem magis gratam esse ipsis sanctis Dei ad ﬁnem ut psalterium, sacra Scriptura, ofﬁcium mortuorum, septem psalmi pænitentiales, quindecim psalmi graduales et huiusmodi serventur justo ordine et paucæ ﬁant festivitates111. We have mentioned among the new ofﬁces that of Corpus Christi. To this must be added the Requiem Mass, which appears in the order of the fourteenth century112. In 1337, the Chapter decreed that every day after the conventual mass, a private Mass De Beata was to be said. Masses to the Holy Spirit are also common within the order. From the fourteenth century, the General Chapters even prescribe tricenaries of the Holy Spirit for certain purposes113 . In the late ﬁfteenth century, other votive Masses, including several rather curious ones, are introduced into the Missals of the order. We have seen how widespread the practice of the conventual nudum ofﬁcium was; we should therefore mention its mode of celebration114. It always followed a Mass to which there was an uninterrupted link, and the same priest who had De servorum Dei beatiﬁcatione et beatorum canonizatione, 1. i, c. xiii, n. 17, 18. The practice of order can be summed up in these words of Théophile Raynaud, Operum, t. ix, In sancto Brunone, p. 10, § 2. n. 6, quoted by Benedict xiv: Non tum sollicitus fuit ordo Carthusianus multos sanctos suos patefacere quam multos sanctos facere. In the twelfth century, Peter the Venerable had already made the same observation, De miraculis, I. ii, c. xxix. P. L., t. cxxxix, col. 946 110 Radulphus de Rivo, De canonum observantia liber, prop. 17. passim, dans Hittorp, De divinis catholicæ Ecclesiæ ofﬁciis, in-fol., Parisiis. 1621, col. 1439 sq. 111 112 Stat. nov., part. 1, c. iv, 5. 113 Le Couteulx, Ann., t. vi, p. 295. See Stat. ant., part. I, c. xliii, 57, et Stat. nov., part. I, c. v, 31. We complete the information he furnishes us with from other records using several manuscripts. See also J. Wickham Legg, Tracts on the Mass, in-8, H. Bradshaw Society, London, 1904, p. 104 114 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !30 sung the Mass would also celebrate the nudum ofﬁcium115. For this, the candles would remain lit, he postponed the complende and the Placeat. After the gospel, the priest standing at the middle of the altar without turning around says, Dominus vobiscum, Oremus, then, ad cornu epistolæ; he offertory and communion followed by the complende or postcommunion of the Mass that preceded the nudum ofﬁcium. The service ended with Dominus vobiscum, the Benedicamus Domino and the Placeat. 2nd. The Terminationes of the Bible It was the custom to read Holy Scripture in its entirety throughout the year, and for this purpose the various books were distributed in terminationes which were ﬁxed in advance, but tended to vary according to the time of year. They were very long in winter, and shorter in summer. Two examples will show us how extensive the terminations could be during winter. We take them from markings in a Bible, from the beginning of the fourteenth century, from the Chartreuse of Part-Dieu in Switzerland116, and conﬁrms this evidence with other documents. Genesis, whose readings ended in a week, including the prologue of St. Jerome, then before the text all the prologues were read, divided into seven endings, plus a special ending for the refectory reading on the Sunday of Septuagint. We can see which sections took the lessons from the ofﬁce. Thus on Monday, chapter xvii, verse 9, chapter xxv, verse 7 was read; on Tuesday, a continuation until the end of chapter xxx; on Wednesday, we continued until chapter xxxvi, verse 15, and so on. The other books of the Pentateuch and others were distributed in similar sections. If, on weekdays, there was a feast with twelve lessons, the next day, at the ofﬁce of Matins, two endings were read, that of the day proper, with that of the day before, which had been precluded by the feast with twelve lessons. Moreover, some endings could also be tripled. Thus Isaiah, no part of which could be read in the refectory, included twenty-six endings. Now, the last week of Advent, which may vary from one to ﬁve days, so that the Prophet could be read in its entirety, the endings on the last days were doubled or even tripled if it was necessary117 . Durand de Mende also makes the same observation, Rationale divinorum ofﬁciorum, I. iv. c. i, n. 23, in-4°, Lugduni, 1672, p. 90: Potest quoque sacerdos unam missam cum sacriﬁcio, et aliam Siccam celebrare. 115 116 Bibliothèque de l'État de Fribourg, ms. 23. Regarding the length of the lessons among the ancient monks, see Martène, De antiquis monachorum ritibus, 1. I, c. ii, n. 59, in-fol., Antverpiæ, 1764, t. iv, p. 11, and Baümer, Histoire du bréviaire, trans. by D. Biron, in-8, Paris, 1905, t. i, p. 191 sq. 117 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !31 3rd. Ceremonial Note some peculiarities of the most interesting innovations. It is primarily, a key point of the former Carthusian observance being changed in 1509: Permittimus, humanæ compatientes inﬁrmitati, quod omni tempore religiosi possint post matutinas redire ad lectos, non obstante statuto118. We need to immediately point out that, although this concession was ofﬁcially made to the whole order in 1509, we know that, from the second half of the ﬁfteenth century, certain German provinces, where we have seen so many liturgical peculiarities, had adopted the new usage of their own accord. The hour of the ofﬁce was thus gradually advanced, so as to prolong the time of the monks second sleep, it was not until 1581 that the modern regulations were ofﬁcially and deﬁnitively established, which, broke with the Primitive observance, making the Ofﬁce of Matins begin before the middle of the night. In 1271, it allowances for those who wish to have a door that separated the choir of monks from the laity, with a hatch, ostium fractitium, which is only opened during the elevation at Mass. In 1319, it's a different ordinance which modiﬁes the ancient usage of the kiss of peace: De cætero pax sumatur in ecclesia cum tabula in qua sit depicta imago cruciﬁxi. A ceremonial written at the end of the fourteenth century show us a few of these uses, among which we note the following two. At the Masses, the celebrant was not to recite the secrets before sunrise, and, if necessary, he would stop to wait for his appearance119. At conventual or private masses, when it was bitter cold, the deacon or the servant presented burning coals to the celebrant during the mass120. Although it has fallen out of use. even today, the Odinarium instructs the deacon to bring the coals during the epistle, after the preface and after the Pater121. IV. MODERN PERIOD FROM 1581 TO TODAY. 1st. Revision of the Liturgical Books — The year 1581 marks a major change in the statutes of the Carthusians. In all the previous collections, the liturgy and the disciplinary side were combined as they are in the rule of St. Benedict, in the Costumes of Ulric, and as they were in the beginning of the Consuetudines of Guigues. This tendency clearly showed the 118 Tertia compilatio statutorum, c. xiii, 4. 119 Manuale cæremoniarum domus majoris Cartusiæ, c ii. 120 Manuale cæremoniarum domus majoris Cartusiæ, c. ii, iv. 121 Ordinarium Cartusiense, c. xxix, 7, in-12, Gratianopoli, 1869, p. 302. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !32 role of the liturgy, which acted like a framework or hinge for the Carthusian way of life. Towards the end of the sixteenth century, this ancient order was entirely changed, and all the liturgical materials were extracted from the statutes to form a distinct and separate Ordinarium. The ﬁrst edition of this book is from the year 1582122. In this collection we are introduced to all the new festivals, which we have seen appear since the writing of the Tertia compilatio statutorum in 1509. To it is enjoined the Trinity and the Transﬁguration, which were admitted from that time onwards with their own ofﬁce. The Feast of St. Ambrose was transferred from April 4 to December 7, the day of his ordination. Several Feasts of three lessons are also displaced. Here we also see the ﬁrst ofﬁcial mention of a procession, that of Corpus Christi, which had seen an introduction a little earlier in a few German houses123. Another important change as we have already said, going as far back as 1509, is the deﬁnitive displacement of the Ofﬁce of Matins, which will henceforth begin before the middle of the night: Ante mediam noctem hora congrua... pulsationem facit (sacrista)124 . The nudum ofﬁcium is removed, and is replaced by a private mass125 . The changes, introduced to the layout of the Carthusian statutes in 1581, is like a prelude to the considerable amendments that the liturgical collections themselves will undergo during that period. As early as the year 1582, the General Chapter authorised the prior of Chartreuse to appoint a commission of monks, quos magis idoneos et aptos ad id munas portandum judicaverit, charged with revising all the liturgical books of the order. The collection of sermons and homilies for the Ofﬁce were the ﬁrst items of work this commission undertook. It appeared in 1585126. It was not a mere revision, but a complete change of the lectionary for Matins. A number of sermons and homilies were suppressed and replaced by others, especially for the feast days of the Blessed Virgin. The lessons that were preserved, saw signiﬁcant changes made to the text. But the most crucial change was a considerable reduction in the length of the lessons, so 122 Ordinarium Cartusiense, in-8°, Parisiis. 1582. Cf. A. Mougel, L'eucharistie et l’ordre des chartreux, in Report of the nineteenth eucharistic congress, in-8°, London, 1909, p. 513. 123 124 Ordinarium cartusiense, c. xxiii, 3, in-8°, Parisiis, 1582, f° 57 v°. 125 Op. cit., c. xxviii, 8, f° 92. The three-volume compendium has no general title. Each volume carries the charge: Lugduni, cura et expensis majoris Cartusiæ, 1585. 126 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !33 much so that one often made two. Two years later, in 1587, the reformed Breviary appeared in accordance with the same dictum127. This particular Psalter was the focus of fairly signiﬁcant alterations128. However, the edition of this Breviary was far from satisfactory; because, in 1593, was again recommended for revision, to search for and correct errors quæ minus considerate inserta aut mutata fuerint. It seems that they had acted somewhat hastily. It is in this new Breviary that the hymns acquired a somewhat considerable development. With one stroke they introduced, those of Holy Innocents, Paschal Season, of the Trinity, of Saint Madeleine, of Saint Anne, the Transﬁguration, Saint Michael, the Dedication, and all of the common Saints, none of which had existed before. Those that existed before this reform, had some alterations, some were quite important: for example, the suppression of the stanza Hic, Christe, nunc paraclitus in the hymn Impleta gaudent of Lauds for Pentecost. In 1603, it was the turn of the Missal to be corrected, a large number of passages in accordance with the Missal published by St. Pius V, following the revision prescribed by the Council of Trent129 . As for the Bible, a decree by the Chapter in 1583 declares it too difﬁcult to make a critical edition of the books in use by the Order, because of the great variances that exist between them. Consequently, it was decided, that in the meantime, to correct them in concordance with the edition prepared by the theologians of the Faculty of Louvain recently published by Plantin. This text was declared accuratissimum iam in ratione orthographiæ, accentuum, distinctionum quam etiam librorum et capitum distribatione. At the same time, the measure taken in the lectionary with regard to the sermons and homilies were extended to the Bible, that is to say, that the length of the lessons were considerably reduced, and the reading of the prologues of St. Jerome was suppressed. An addition to the Ave Maria within the Ofﬁce. An edict of the year 1589 prescribed to join it with the Pater whenever it was recited in silentio. In 1342, the Ave Maria appears ofﬁcially in the Angelus of the evening, and in 1393 in that of Matins. The ﬁfteenth century, saw its gradual introduction into the Ofﬁce where it is enjoined to the Pater, but purely for devotion, and it was at this same time that they begin to add the second part Sancta Maria, which had barely been drafted at this stage. We ﬁnd it in the following form of a Collect of the year 1484: Ave Maria... ventris tui Jesus. Virgo Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis 127 Breviarium sacri ordinis Cartusiensis… a S. D. N. Papa approbatum, Lugduni, 1587, in-8°. 128 Cf. Le Couteulx, Ann., t. ii, p. 544 sq. 129 Missale Cartusiani ordinis, in-fol., Parisiis, 1603. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !34 peccatoribus. Amen130. In the 1587 Breviary, the text is the same as today, except that it stops at the words pro nobis peccatoribus. Amen. It is in the Diurnal of 1588131 that the text of the Ave Maria is completed and deﬁnitively ﬁxed. 2nd. Acceptance of numerous New Feasts The changes were not limited to the text of the ofﬁce. The calendar would also be subject to considerable increases. These are, in 1589, the new festivals of St. Francis of Paola, St. Peter Martyr, St. Nicholas of Tolentino, St. Anthony of Padova and St. Bonaventure, all with twelve lessons, and several feasts of three lessons. In 1591, St. Dominic and St. Francis of Assisi became capitular festivals; in 1592, the solemnities of the holy name of Jesus and of Saint Joachim are introduced, at the same time that Saint Januarius becomes a feast of twelve lessons. All this was not without its protestations, the result of which in 1597 and 1599 was a reduction in the newly established festivals, and especially a slowing down in the tendency to introduce others. During the seventeenth century, new festivals of twelve lessons for St. Anselm in 1607, St. Louis, King of France, in 1623, St. Ignatius Loyola in 1669, with the octave of St. Bruno in 1633 and the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception in 1674. There are also several feasts of three lessons. A decree of the Congregation of Rites, dated November 22, 1687, gives rise to new corrections in the Carthusian liturgical books132. Finally, in the eighteenth century, some new festivals of twelve lessons were added to the preceding ones; in 1700 saint the Francis de Sales, Blessed Nicolas Albergati in 1745, and the solemnity of the Sacred Heart in 1783. Let us move on to the nineteenth century, where the Carthusian calendar is further perfected: ﬁrst in 1827 the solemnity of Our Lady Help of Christians; in 1859 we have four feasts of twelve lessons for saints or blessed’s who belonged to the Order, namely, St. Stephen of Die, St. Artaud, Blessed Odon, and Blessed Roseline. To this must be added a feast of three lessons for Blessed Boniface of Savoy, a former Carthusian novice. The year 1866 saw two new feasts of twelve lessons for the Blessed Ayrald and John of Spain, monks of the order, and the year 1870 that of the Blessed Beatrice, Carthusian nun. Finally, in 1887, the beatiﬁcation of eighteen English Carthusians martyred under Henry VllI gives rise to a new solemnity, and in 1894 the feast of Blessed Lanuino, companion and successor of Saint Bruno in Calabria, brings to a conclusion this long series. 130 Grande-Chartreuse, ms. C. III, 854; f° 36 v°. 131 Diurnale Cartusiense in magna Cartusia, 1588. 132 Le Couteulx, Ann., t. ii, p. 545 sq. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !35 To conclude, let us say that until 1866 the Ofﬁce of the Immaculate Conception had been the former ofﬁce of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, which at that time was substituted in the Roman ofﬁce and adapted to the Carthusian liturgy. V. THE CHANT OF THE CARTHUSIAN ORDER — 1st. The Chant at the Beginnings of the Order Was singing used at the beginning of the order? If we are to believe a rather obscure text of the Consuetudines, the answer was in the negative. This is the ofﬁce of the lay brothers whom as we have already stated, lived with the procurator in a monastery distinct from that of the monks. But Guigues, starting from the manner in which the matins were celebrated in the house of the laymen, expresses himself thus: Siquidem monachus, qui eis præpositus est, adest præsens, divinum eis ofﬁcium pene ut supra scriptum est, festinantius tamen, persotvit. Quem ipsi summo studio, silentium quietemque servantes, ad inclinationes et cæteros religiosos corporis motus sedulo imitantur133. In this text the commentator argues thus: it is certain that the procurator could not sing the ofﬁce alone in the presence of the convers; now, as the Consuetudines say, he did almost like the monks did, but sooner, it follows the that the monks themselves did not sing134. This reasoning would seem to be conclusive if this text, despite its lack of clarity, were the only issue here; but there are other more clear that we should not disregard. The ﬁrst, most important, is the prologue of the antiphonal of which Guigues is the author. Here is the beginning: Institutionis heremitieæ gravitas non sinil longa in cantandi studiis temporum insumi spatia... Ob banc itaque causam quædam de antiphonario auferenda seu abbrevianda putavimus135. We have given the rest of the text above. Guigues states that solitaries cannot spend much time in the study of singing. And as a result, he abbreviated the antiphonary, and he adds that the criterion he used was to reject as non-authentic all that is not borrowed from Holy Scripture. Now, this reasoning, by which he claims to abbreviate the antiphonary in this manner, due to his monks not being able to devote much time to the study of singing, is absurd, if one does not permit the practice of singing, a practice that Guigues wants to restrain within certain limits. That is not all. Guigues speaks of the Mass of Holy Saturday, which formally begins with the Kyrie Eleison, missam a Kyrie Eleison solemniter inchoamus, of vespers which are solemnly sung, vesperas juxta morem monasticum 133 Consuet., xlii, 1, P. L... t. cliii, col. 723. 134 Loc, cit., Commentarius, col. 724. Cf. Le Couteulx, Ann., t. i, p. 309 sq. 135 Loches, ms. 3, f° 9. Cf. Le Couteulx, Ann., t. i, p. 308. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !36 solemnissime cantamus136, of a ﬁrst Easter Mass that is sung ea celebritate qua dominicis solet diebus, of several monks who help the celebrant to sing this mass, duobus vet tribus monachorum sacerdotem juvantibus137. All this seems to us to be irreconcilable with ofﬁces from which the song would be banished. We should add that, in three different passages Guigues tells us that each Saturday and all of the Vigils of twelve lessons, the monks gather after None to prepare the lessons, the responses and other necessary chants for the Ofﬁce138 . We will return later to this task, which was called a recordation. For the moment, we wonder if such an exercise repeated more than eighty times a year, an average of almost twice a week, would have been really necessary to prepare for the ofﬁces which would then not have been sung. We think that these accumulated arguments here, to which we could add others, are too compelling to allow for any doubts as to the existence of the chant when Guigues wrote his Consuetudines. Besides, it is quite reasonable to explain an obscure text with others that are quite clear, and not to sacriﬁce them all for one. If we then return to the passage relating to the Ofﬁce of the converse brothers, ﬁrstly we will notice that the Consuetudines do not establish a complete similarity between the manner of celebrating it in the church and that being practiced by the monks. There are in-fact two important nuances, one expressed by the word pene, and the other by festinantius. It seems fair to say that these two words Guigues wanted to delineate, in that the Procurator did not sing the ofﬁce, unlike the monks who did. Still, in 1259, that was what was practiced; for the Statuta antiqua modifying the text of the Consuetudines clearly say: divinum eis ofﬁcium sine cantu persolvit139. By removing old and non-scriptural Responses, the Carthusian collections are reduced to the old Ofﬁce, and the door is closed to histoires, as the proper ofﬁces propriæ historiæ as they were called at the time, were beginning to become more common. Guigues also removes hymns, tropes, the prose, the sequences, many of the numerous the repertory Alleluia verses, as we have seen, were vast and undeﬁned; similarly, the verses of the offertories, the responses to several solemn verses with jubilus, which were sung at certain feasts, like the famous response Descendit of Christmas140, the solemn Song of Lamentations, the genealogies, the hymn Benedictus es on Saturday of Ember Days; ﬁnally, all the 136 Consuet., iv, 28. P. L., t. cliii, col. 645. 137 Loc. cit., 29. 138 Consuet., iv, 24; vii, 1; ix 3. P. L., t. cliii, col. 643. 647, 653. 139 Stat. ant., part. III, c. i. 2. 140 Cf. Revue du Chant grégorien, t. xi, p. 63 q. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !37 processional songs; in short, everything that was subject to variations that complicated the study of chanting. In what state were the chants at its origins and what is the value of the collections that have preserved it? It can not be doubted that Guigues has extended to the melodies the mindfulness he shows in the choice of texts. In fact, if we take the oldest manuscripts of the time that are available to us and comparing them with characteristic older melodic texts that they contain, we must recognise that they are generally faithful, and their witness, at the time of transition between the notation in neums, in campo aperto, and the diastematic notations, should not be neglected. We will notice among other things the use of a very moderate ﬂat, even in the manuscripts of late period, where there is absolutely no doubt that they have been marked in a regular way. In short, the reputation enjoyed by the order to have preserved, as far as it depended on them, the sacred melodies in their purity, are justiﬁed. Guigues, although he was at times mistaken, it seems that he was desirous to remain traditional. As for the kind of notation, there are none that are unique to the order, each adopting monastery, reproduced for its use the one they found locally, or rather the one that was in use in the country where they were, at least in the case of the most remote provinces. Thus we ﬁnd in Italian carthusian manuscripts the Italian notation, as well as the Aquitaine double whole note notation, or in the Germanic countries, the Gothic notation. 2nd. The Recordatio and Singing by Heart. — As before mentioned, three passages of the Consuetudines which formally mention an exercise named recordatio. We have also found the usage of this name in Lyon, within the statutes promulgated by Archbishop Guichard de Pontigny141 . Guigues does not tell us how this recordatio was done; he only tells us what days it was done and what its purpose was, namely the lessons, the responses and cætera necessaria142. Basil adds the recommendation to listen to the lessons attente et sine strepitu143 . In Jancelin's statutes, in 1222, there is an entire special chapter devoted to recordatio. All the monks must assist, as must the prior himself, unless prevented, can not dispense with it. These details show us the amount of importance that was attached to this exercise and to everything that concerned the Divine Ofﬁce. In 1259, the Statuta antiqua added only some 141 Martène, De antiquis Ecclesiæ ritibus, I. iv, c. xii, in-fol., Antverpiæ. 1764, t. iii, p. 226. 142 Consuet., iv, 24; vii, 1; ix, 3, P. L., t. cliii, col. 643, 647, 653. 143 Constitutions de Basile, Dijon, ms. 616 (364), f° 41 v°. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !38 minor details. The recordation was a point of rule until 1581, when it was suppressed144. The custom of singing by heart and in the darkness, for the Night Ofﬁce, a use which is still preserved to a certain extent, is attested in several documents. In an unpublished treatise entitled De origine et veritate perfectæ religionis, composed around 1313, the author, itemising the work within the Carthusian monastery, mentions, among others, that of memorising the singing of the ofﬁce … sicut est solitudo et labor addiscendi corde tenus et integerrime psalmos et hymnos et cantica et alia qaæ in ecclesia decantantur, et ipsum cantum tam diurnum quam nocturnum quem quasi omnes addiscunt mentetenus et cordetenus in ecclesia cantant, ut per inspectionem libri non possit cordis devotio impediri145. A little later, at the end of the fourteenth century, another treatise which we have already quoted, enters into practical details as to the course to follow in order gradually to arrive at knowing the whole ofﬁce by heart. The novice began by learning the psalms which were of a more frequent use, then the songs of the common Saints: deinde, si Deus dederit sibi gratiam, potest totum antiphonarium inpectorare, prout olim in domo Cartusiæ consuevit146. This custom of singing the Night Ofﬁce by heart explains, among other causes, the rarity of the manuscripts of the Antiphonary at the beginnings of the Carthusian Order. In fact, there was only one that was placed in the middle of the choir so that those who did not yet know how to sing by memory could avail themselves to this unique book. This we learn from an edict of the chapter in the year 1430, regulating the ceremonial to be followed by those who would thus sing in the middle of the choir. 3rd. The Cantores Chori and De Modo Psallendi et Cantandi. — The choir is directed by two singers, whose functions are well deﬁned and who are called cantores chori. Their ofﬁce is brieﬂy described in the Constitutions of Basil in the middle of the twelfth century. The Statutes of Jancelin, in 1222, are already very explicit147 . But it is the Statuta antiqua of 1259 that promulgated deﬁnitively the discipline of the choir148. 144 Stat. ant., part. I, c. xxxv, 5, 6. About the author of this treatise, Guillaume of Hyporégie, or rather the prior of Boson Chartreuse, who lived at the end of the thirteenth century, see Le Couteulx, Ann., t. v. p. 28, 57. 145 146 Manuale cæremoniarum domus majoris Cartusiæ, c. viii. 147 Stat. Jancelini, c. xxxvii in its entirety. 148 Stat. ant., part. I, c. xxxviii in its entirety. St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !39 In addition to the two cantores chori, there is an emendator who is speciﬁcally responsible for picking up from someone who has made an error149 . The emendator and the cantores must not allow any fault, either in the readings or singing, without correcting it. They must, if necessary, grunnire, in order to repeat what has been erroneously sung, and, in their absence, every other religious must do it in their place150. The Statuta Antiqua has a whole chapter on how to sing. This chapter is comprised of two parts, one purely speculative or mystical, which is none other than the well-known text of St. Bernard, in his commentary on the canticle: Ex regula nostra nihil operi Dei præponere ticet151. The practical part is borrowed from the Instituta Patrum of St. Gallen, whose authority was the benchmark of the time: Psalmodiam non multum protrahamus, sed rotunda and viva voce cantemus, etc.152 . Apart from borrowing almost all the text from the Instituta Patrum, the order still adopts almost all of the principles of choir direction and performance of singing that are contained in the treatise, for example, how to vary the song according to whether the ofﬁce is during a Ferial, Sunday or Solemn, the authority accorded to the singers who preside over the choir is absolute, the manner of singing and repeating the antiphons, the mutual relations between the rules of accentuation and the demands of the melody in the psalmody and recitatives. Finally in another part of the chapter De modo cantandi et psallendi outlawing some of the abuses that appear to have prevailed at that time in ecclesiastical chant, namely: fractio and inundatio vocis and geminatio puncti. We leave it to scholars to determine just what defects are covered by these terms. We have said nothing of musical instruments. They were never admitted into the Order, and they were positively prohibited by the Chapter in 1320. The monotone itself was included in this prohibition. As for singing, there seems to have been an attempt to introduce it within some of the houses. Here is an admonition addressed to the monks of Pare, in the diocese of Le Mans, in 1442: Decantetur servitium divinum in ecclesia secundum ritum ordinis... nec immisceant se discantui, cum illa scientia sit peregrina ab ordine et aliena, in- exemplaris et curiosa. In 1582, the same prohibition reached ﬁgurative 149 Loc. cit., part. I, c. Xl in its entirety. Loc. cit., Idem, Manuale cæremoniarum domus majoris Cartusiæ, c. i; Ordinarium Cartusiense, c. xxi, 3, in-8°, Parisiis, 1582, f° 52 v°. 150 151 Bernardus, In cantica, ser., 47, P. L., t. clxxxiii, col. 1011. Stat. ant., part. I, c. xxxix, 3-5. Cf. Instituta Patrum de modo psallendi sive cantandi; Gerbert, Scriptores, t. i, p. 6. 152 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !40 music: Instrumenta musica librosque universos discantus seu cantus ﬁgurati interdicimus universis153. Grammatical issues were not excluded from the consideration of the Order, as they have relationships to the Ofﬁce; they were still highly agitated in the early fourteenth century. In fact, it is they who regulated the pronunciations, accentuations and spelling. Among the various authorities within order of note, we must mention the celebrated reformer Alexandre de Ville-Dieu and his Doctrinal154. When one examines the Carthusian chant manuscripts, one is struck by the sight, in many of them, of a large number of vertical lines which cross the range155 . These features are found in many of the older manuscripts of the Order, but only when they have been in use for many centuries, and then they are always second-hand. A comparative study done on a large scale on the manuscripts from different periods, shows that these features seem to distinguish them, sometimes the neume156 groups, sometimes each of the elements of these groups, often the words of the text, sometimes even every syllable: ﬁnally, there are manuscripts where, in the syllabic part, each note is followed by a vertical bar. The conclusion that emerges from all of these observations is that the initial idea that inspired the use of these bars was to help with the reading of either the text or the melody, and therefore, for the competent execution of the latter; now, as rightly remarked in Paléographie musicale, t. i, p. 142, with reference to one of these manuscripts the distribution of these features generally conformed quite well with the neume groupings. Unfortunately, at a time of decadence in singing, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, when the real execution of the latter was lost, the bars were given a meaning that had not originally been intended and we read bars of pauses and hence the fragmentation of the sentences which has since that time been one of the main features of Carthusian chant157 . However, the routine, which in some cases is stronger than most decrees; sanctions, have preserved until today an indicator of the ancient course of these vertical lines in the 153 Nova collectio statutorum, part. II, c. xxxiv, 20, in-4°, Parisiis, 1582, f° 102 v°. For the pronunciation of certain words and how to read the ﬁgures, see: Stat. nov., part. I, c. v, 25 sq., and Tertia compilatio statutorum, c. i, 61. 154 155 See Paléographic musicale, t. i, pl. 12, 13, 14; t. ii, pl. 41, 47; t. iii. pl. 95, 105, 106, 205, 210. Neume; is the basic element of Western and Eastern systems of musical notation prior to the invention of ﬁve-line staff notation. 156 On the ofﬁcial introduction of these bars, see Le Vasseur, Epheremides ordinis Curtusiensis, vol. iv, p. 109. 157 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !41 Carthusian Missal where, in the parts noted for use by the celebrant, every word and, by that, often every note is followed by a vertical line. 4th. The Chant in the last Three Centuries — We have just uttered the word decadence. To what limits does it apply to the Carthusian chant? Until about the sixteenth century, there were few other alteration than those that were due to the scribal errors of the copyists, and they were not of much importance. But by the end of the ﬁfteenth century, thanks to the Great Schism, and the general tendency towards liturgical punctiliousness, some of the more remote houses were inﬂuenced by and submitted themselves to the environment that surrounded them. From there, some very important alterations, which have regrettably remained, especially within the Chants within the Ordinary of the Mass, the prelude of the preface and the Pater, the Dominus vobiscum, the directanés songs and certain psalmodic cadences, the Te Deum, recitatives, etc. What is already obvious is that new theories on the implementation of vocals are introduced, before bringing a complete failure of rhythm. Moreover, it seems that some of the houses needed to be incentivised toward singing; since in 1509 it was mandated that wherever there are eight monks, including the Abbot, the Day and Night Ofﬁces had to be sung in full158. However, by the end of the sixteenth century, the errors had not yet ofﬁcially recognised. The ﬁrst edition of the Gradual, from 1578159, is still faithful to the old system of notations, which retains the rhythmic elements, today it would be necessary to make very few corrections to ﬁnd an adequate example for a restoration of the old Carthusian chant. The same can be said for the Ofﬁces of Trinity and the Transﬁguration, printed in Paris in 1583, and the hymnal published in Lyon in 1588. These are the last testimony to rhythmic singing passed down from the Middle Ages. In 1612 the antiphonary was printed in Pavia in two large folio volumes160 . However, the old notations were almost totally abandoned. There are still many caudées and lozenges, but no more rhythmic formulas. Moreover, numerous violations have contributed to the melodies integrity. These are, on the one hand, the changes introduced into the texts as a result of the revision of the Missal and Breviary, changes which brought about corresponding modiﬁcations in the melodies; but these changes, Tertia compilatio statutorum, c. i, 1. in 1581, the instruction is renewed, with the addition of this precise detail, where it requires, that as soon as there are six licit monks present in the choir, Ordinarium Cartusiense, c. xviii, 10, Parisiis, 1582, f ° 47. 158 159 Graduale ordinis Cartusiensis, Parisiis, ex ofﬁcina G. Chaudière, 1578. Antiphonarii ordinis Cartusiensis pars hyemalis (for the second volume: pars estiva) cura et expensis monachorum Cartusiæ Papiensis, 1612, 2 vol. gr. in-fol. 160 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !42 especially at such a time, could not happen without causing real damage. Then there are whole series of notes which disappear from the jubilus and strophicus, always in execution, and sometimes in books where one is not have reservations about suppressing what is already in practice. 1674 sees the print of the Lyon Gradual where one notices only uniformly square notes161; and the evil is not only in the external form of the notes, where one ﬁnds only the material element of the song, and nothing of what constitutes its soul, but the melodies themselves are going to be severely impaired. In fact, in 1680, the Grande Chartreuse published an Antiphonarium diurnum in which the melodies were modiﬁed according to the principles that prevailed at that time162 . Among other disastrous reforms, we refer to the accented syllable melisma which, in Gregorian chant, unfolds so often as an art, so perfect for anything that follows it. This is promulgated in the preface by this admission, which is quite signiﬁcant: Quantitatem viliatam, ubi commode ﬁeri potuit, correximus... maxime in ofﬁciis diurnis, quibus non raro assistunt extranei, ne aures corum nimis lædantur. Fortunately, this most regrettable innovation did not go without causing later protests, the consequence of which was the restoration, in the following edition, of passages altered by this false principle. Under these conditions, the execution could not be any other than that which once had been introduced everywhere. The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries show us a genuine invasion of singing treatises, all of which praise themselves for openly borrowing their most bizarre theories from those which had prevailed at the time. It was the ofﬁcial and deﬁnitive taking possession of this heavy and monotonous execution which replaced a rhythm so alive and alert that the Statuta Antiqua had laudably deﬁned in two words borrowed from the Instituta Patrum; rotunda et viva voce cantemus. The disappearance of the rhythmic element is all the more regrettable since, among the Carthusians, the melodic texts have undergone only relatively minor alterations. As we have seen, moreover, that one of the consequences of this new manner of singing, is that the ofﬁces take a long time, is to bring about, by an inevitable rule of adjustment, a considerable reduction to the extent of the lessons at Matins163. In the nineteenth century, in 1868, a method of singing appeared which, at the time when the restoration of Gregorian melodies were barely observed, could 161 Graduale ... ad usum sacri ordinis Cartusiensis, in-4 °, Lugduni, 1674. 162 Antiphonarium diurnum ad usum ordinis cartusiensis, in-fol,, Correriæ Cartusiæ, 1689. From the middle of the sixteenth century, Sutor, in his treatise De vita Cartusiana, I. II, tr. II, c. iii there was, with others, the outbreak of the protests raised against the deformations whose singing began to be the subject of this period. 163 St. Mary’s Hermitage The Hermits of Saint Bruno !43 only collect the teachings of the treatises of the centuries of decadence164, as well as the choral books currently for the use of order are the reproduction and are excessively deferential to those that appeared in the eighteenth century. 164 Méthode de plain-chant selon le rite et les usages cartusiens, in-8°, Avignon, 1868.

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