RITUAL, ROMAN

The Ritual (Rituale ) is the liturgical book containing texts for several non-eucharistic liturgies intended generally for presbyteral use, some other sacramental celebrations (e.g. baptism, matrimony, penance, anointing of the sick) and other services (e.g. funerals).

The development of the Ritual as a separate liturgical book was a complex one in late antiquity and the medieval period. As was the case with the sacramentary and the pontifical, early rubrics for the celebration of some ritual services were preserved as individual ordines, or in collections of the ordines romani. Again like the sacramentary and the pontifical, individual ritual celebrations were next recorded in libelli, small booklets prepared for specific services. These libelli were later collected and bound together in more complete volumes for use at specific churches. However, the ritual material was often bound with other liturgical services that in later centuries would be separated into distinct volumes. There were several kinds of these "hybrid" books: one can find many examples of early medieval pontifical-rituals, collectar-rituals, sacramentary-rituals, and even breviaryrituals. The development is further complicated by the presence of ritual material in liturgical books intended for monastic use (especially monasteries involved in the wider cura animarum ) as well as books prepared for cathedral and parochial churches. Even the titles of these volumes varied: sacerdotale, manuale, or agenda, among others, are all terms used for this volume, until the name rituale became the standard among the printed editions of the sixteenth century.

The Council of Trent (1545–1563) called for papal supervision in the preparation of revised liturgical books. An earlier volume by Albert Castellani (the Liber Sacerdotalis, 1523) and a revision project already substantially underway (1575–1602) both supplied the groundwork for the Tridentine Rituale Romanum (RR). One of the last of the Tridentine books to appear, the RR was published in 1614 and recommended for adoption by all Roman Catholic dioceses. However, many of these in Europe chose to retain their own ritual books, and it was not until the nineteenth century that the adoption of the RR was more strictly mandated. The volume itself contained twelve "titles," or sections; the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, penance, extreme unction (and funeral liturgy), and matrimony were all included, as well as a section containing various blessings, another on processions, and a final title on exorcisms.

The RR was retained, with two expansions/revisions (1752, 1925) until the middle of the twentieth century. The liturgical reforms mandated by the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) included a reform of the other sacramental rites and services contained in the old Ritual. The editiones typicae of these rites were published as follows:

Ordo Baptismi parvulorum (1969; editio typicae altera 1977), Ordo celebrandi matrimonium (1969, editio typicae altera 1990), Ordo exsequiarum (1969) Ordo professionis religiosae (1970), Ordo initiationis christianae adultorum (1972), Ordo unctionis infirmorum eorumque pastoralis curae (1972), Ordo paenitentiae (1973), De sacra communione et cultu mysterii eucharistici extra missam (1973), Ritus ad deputandum ministrum extraorinarim sacral communionis (1973), De benedictionibus (1984), De Exorcismis et Supplicationibus Quibusdam (1999).

In addition to the Roman Ritual, other ritual material can be found in the pontifical, the liturgical book used when a bishop presides, e.g. confirmation and ordination.

Bibliography: p.-m. gy, "Collectaire, rituel, processionnel," Revue des Sciences Philosophiques et Théologiques 44 (1960) 441–469. e. palazzo, A History of Liturgical Books: From the Beginning to the Thirteenth Century, trans by m. beaumont (Collegeville, MN Liturgical Press, 1998). c. vogel, Medieval Liturgy: An Introduction to the Sources, trans and rev w. g. storey and n. k. rasmussen, O.P. (Washington, DC 1986).

[j.m. pierce]