breviary

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breviary. A liturgical book containing the hymns, lessons, prayers, etc., to be recited at appointed times by clergy in the Roman Catholic Church. Originally these various observances were distributed in different books, but from the 11th century they began to be collected in one book; breviarum, from which the word derives, is Latin for ‘abridgement’. Usually neither the small, portable breviary nor the larger choir breviary was much illustrated; sumptuous illumination was reserved for the breviaries destined for the use of kings, nobles, or church dignitaries. ‘The splendid Breviaries must often have been chanted by the domestic chaplains rather than by the nobility in person. The aristocrats were the patrons, not the daily readers’ ( Christopher de Hamel, A History of Illuminated Manuscripts, 1986). Probably the most lavish of all is the Grimani Breviary (c.1510–20, Biblioteca Marciana, Venice), named after Cardinal Domenico Grimani (1461–1523), the great bibliophile and art collector who owned it when it is first documented in 1520 (although it was not made for him). It was produced in the Netherlands, and Marcantonio Michiel (see Giorgione) records that it was ‘illuminated by many masters over a period of many years’. The wealth of illumination includes 110 large pictures, among them scenes from the New Testament, the Old Testament, and the lives of saints.

Breviary. The liturgical book containing the Psalms, hymns, lessons, prayers, etc., to be recited in the Divine Office of the RC Church. The various parts were originally contained in different books. To collate the texts needed for the day's office, the Ordo, giving the reference and opening words of the texts, was developed in the 11th cent. In the 12th cent. the full texts were added, making the Office book or breviary.

breviary a book containing the service for each day, to be recited by those in orders in the Roman Catholic Church. The word is recorded from late Middle English (when it also denoted an abridged version of the psalms), and comes from Latin breviarium ‘summary, abridgement’, ultimately from brevis ‘short, brief’.

bre·vi·ar·y / ˈbrēvēˌerē; ˈbrev-/ • n. (pl. -ar·ies) a book containing the service for each day, to be recited by those in orders in the Roman Catholic Church.

breviary †epitome XVI; (eccl.) book containing the Divine Office for the year XV. — L. breviārium summary, abridgement. f. breviāre abridge, ABBREVIATE.

Breviary. The book containing the divine office of the Roman Catholic Church.

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