Use of Sarum
TheUse of Sarum(orUse of Salisbury,also known as theSarum Rite) is theliturgical useof theLatin ritesdeveloped atSalisbury Cathedraland used from the lateeleventh centuryuntil theEnglish Reformation.[1]It is largely identical to theRoman Rite,with about ten per cent of its material drawn from other sources.[2]The cathedral's liturgy was widely respected during thelate Middle Ages,and churches throughout theBritish Islesand parts ofnorthwestern Europeadapted its customs for celebrations of theEucharistandcanonical hours.The Sarum Rite has a uniqueecumenicalposition in influencing and being authorized for liturgical use by theRoman Catholic Church,Eastern Orthodox Church,as well as theAnglican Communion.
Origins
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/be/Sarum-book.jpg/220px-Sarum-book.jpg)
In 1078,William of NormandyappointedOsmund,aNormannobleman, asbishop of Salisbury(the period name of the site whose ruins are now known asOld Sarum).[3]Asbishop,Osmund initiated some revisions to the extant Celtic-Anglo-Saxon rite and the local adaptations of the Roman rite, drawing on both Norman andAnglo-Saxontraditions.
Nineteenth-century liturgists theorized that the liturgical practices ofRouenin northernFranceinspired the Sarumliturgical books.The Normans had deposed most of the Anglo-Saxon episcopate, replacing them with Norman bishops, of which Osmund was one. Given the similarities between the liturgy in Rouen and that of Sarum, it appears the Normans imported their French liturgical books as well.[4]
Dissemination
[edit]The revisions during Osmund's episcopate resulted in the compilation of a newmissal,breviary,and other liturgical manuals, which came to be used throughout southernEngland,Wales,and parts ofIreland.[5]
Somediocesesissued their own missals, inspired by the Sarum rite, but with their own particular prayers and ceremonies. Some of these are so different that they have been identified as effectively distinct liturgies, such as those ofHereford,York,Bangor,andAberdeen.Other missals (such as those ofLincoln CathedralorWestminster Abbey) were more evidently based on the Sarum rite and varied only in details.[6]
Liturgical historians believe the Sarum rite had a distinct influence upon other usages of theRoman riteoutside England, such as theNidaros riteinNorwayand theBraga RiteinPortugal.[7][8]Following thesiege of Lisbonin1147,Gilbert of Hastingsbecame the first bishop of the restoredbishopric of Lisbon,and introduced the Sarum rite for the liturgy of the mass in his diocese, a use which continued until 1536, when theCardinal-Infante Afonso of Portugalintroduced the Roman rite as a response against theAnglican Schism.[9]It has even been speculated that through Portuguese missionaries the Sarum Use might have even been used in the Congo.[10]
Reception
[edit]Even after theChurch of Englandwas established separate from theCatholic Church,theCanterbury Convocationdeclared in 1543 that the SarumBreviarywould be used for thecanonical hours.[11][12]UnderEdward VI of England,the use provided the foundational material for theBook of Common Prayerand remains influential in English liturgies.[13]Mary Irestored the Use of Sarum in 1553, but it fell out of use underElizabeth I.
Sarum Use remains a permitted use for Roman Catholics, asPope Pius Vpermitted the continuation of uses more than two hundred years old under theApostolic ConstitutionQuo primum.[14]In practice, a brief resurgence of interest in the 19th century did not lead to a revival.[15]
SomeWestern Rite Orthodoxcongregations have adopted the use due to its antiquity and similarities with theByzantine Rite.[16]This includes Western Rite members of theRussian Orthodox Church Outside Russia,as well as theOld CalendaristAutonomous Orthodox Metropolia of North and South America and the British Isles.
In spite of interest in the Sarum Use, its publication in Latin sources from the sixteenth century and earlier has inhibited its modern adoption. Several academic projects are gradually improving its accessibility. From 2009 to 2013,Bangor Universityproduced a series of films and other resources as part ofThe Experience of Worshipresearch project.[17][18]In 2006,McMaster Universitylaunched an ongoing project to create an edition and English translation of the complete Sarum Use with its originalplainsong,resulting in the publication of over 10,000 musical works, and expected to be completed in 2022.[19]
Sarum ritual
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The ceremonies of the Sarum Rite are nearly identical to theTridentine Mass.The Mass of Sundays and great feasts involved up to four sacred ministers:priest,deacon,subdeacon,andacolyte.It was customary for them to visit in procession all the altars of the church and cense them, ending at the greatrood screen(or whatever barrier between the laity and the altar), whereantiphonsandcollectswould be sung. At the screen would be read the Bidding Prayers, prayers in the vernacular directing the people to pray for various intentions. The procession then vested for Mass.
Some of the prayers of the Mass are unique, such as the priest's preparation prayers for Holy Communion. Some ceremonies differ from theTridentine Mass,though they are not unknown in other forms of the western rites: the offering of the bread and wine was (as in the Dominican and other rites) made by one act. These distinctions have been evaluated as "of the most trifling character."[20]The chalice was prepared between the readings of the Epistle and the Gospel. In addition, in common with many monastic rites, after the Elevation the celebrant stood with his arms outstretched in the form of a cross; the Particle was put into the chalice after theAgnus Dei.It is probable that communion under one kind was followed by a 'rinse' of unconsecrated wine. The first chapter ofSt John's Gospelwas read while the priest made his way back to the sacristy.[21]Two candles on the altar were customary, though others were placed around it and on the rood screen. The Sarum missal calls for a low bow as an act of reverence, rather than thegenuflection.[22]
Influence on Anglo-Catholics
[edit]The ritual of Sarum Use has influenced even churches that do not use its text, obscuring understanding of the original:
The modern fame of the Use of Sarum is to a great extent an accidental product of the political and religious preoccupations of 19th-century English ecclesiastics and ecclesiologists. The Use certainly deserves attention and respect as an outstanding intellectual achievement, but it is far from unique, and the fascination that it has exerted still threatens to limit rather than increase our understanding of the medieval English Church.[1]
Many of the ornaments and ceremonial practices associated with the Sarum rite—though not the full liturgy itself—were revived in the Anglican Communion in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as part of the Anglo-CatholicOxford Movementin the Church of England. Some Anglo-Catholics wanted to find a traditional formal liturgy that was characteristically "English" rather than "Roman." They took advantage of the 'Ornaments Rubric' of 1559, which directed that English churches were to use "...such Ornaments of the Church, and of the Ministers thereof, at all Times of their Ministration, shall be retained, and be in use, as were in this Church of England, by the Authority of Parliament, in the Second Year of the Reign of Edward VI of England," i.e. January 1548 - January 1549, before the First Prayer Book came into effect in June of the latter year (which authorized the use of traditional vestments and was quite explicit that the priest shall wear an alb, vestment (chasuble) or cope and that the deacons shall be vested in albs and tunicles (dalmatics). However, there was a tendency to read backVictoriancentralizing tendencies into mediaeval texts, and so a rather rubrical spirit was applied to liturgical discoveries.
It was asserted, for instance, that Sarum had a well-developed series of colours ofvestmentsfor differentfeasts.There may have been tendencies to use a particular colour for a particular feast (red, for instance, was used on Sundays, as in theAmbrosian rite), but most churches were simply too poor to have several sets of vestments, and so used what they had. There was considerable variation from diocese to diocese, or even church to church, in the details of the rubrics: the place where theEpistlewas sung, for instance, varied enormously; from alecternat thealtar,from a lectern in thequire,to the feature described as the 'pulpitum', a word used ambiguously for the place of reading (a pulpit) or for therood screen.Some scholars thought that the readings were proclaimed from the top of the rood screen, which was most unlikely given the tiny access doors to the rood loft in most churches. This would not have permitted dignified access for a vested Gospel procession.
Chief among the proponents of Sarum customs was the Anglican priestPercy Dearmer,who put these into practice (according to his own interpretation) at his parish of St Mary the Virgin,Primrose Hill,inLondon.He explained them at length inThe Parson's Handbook,which ran through several editions.[23]This style of worship has been retained in some present-day Anglican churches and monastic institutions, where it is known as "English Use" (Dearmer's term) or "Prayer Book Catholicism".
In popular culture
[edit]- Edith Whartonrefers to the "Sarum Rule" in Book I of her 1905 novelThe House of Mirth.
References
[edit]- ^abSandon, Nicholas (2001).Salisbury, Use of.doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.24611.
- ^Renwick, William."About".The Sarum Rite.McMaster University.Retrieved20 June2020.
- ^Webber, Teresa (2011).Osmund [St Osmund] (d. 1099), bishop of Salisbury.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20902.
- ^Pfaff, Richard W. (2009). "Old Sarum: the beginnings of Sarum Use".The liturgy in medieval England: A history.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 350–364.doi:10.1017/CBO9780511642340.016.ISBN978-0-521-80847-7.
- ^Cheung Salisbury, Matthew (2015).The secular liturgical office in late medieval England.Medieval Church Studies. Vol. 36.doi:10.1484/M.MCS-EB.5.112246.ISBN978-2-503-54806-7.OCLC895714142.
- ^Pfaff, Richard W. (2009). "New Sarum and the spread of Sarum Use".The liturgy in medieval England: A history.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 365–387.doi:10.1017/CBO9780511642340.016.ISBN978-0-521-80847-7.
- ^Coleman, Joyce (2007). "Philippa of Lancaster, Queen of Portugal—And Patron of the Gower Translations?". In Bullón-Fernández, María (ed.).England and Iberia in the Middle Ages, 12th–15th Century: Cultural, Literary, and Political Exchanges.The New Middle Ages. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 135–165.doi:10.1057/9780230603103_8.ISBN978-0-230-60310-3.
- ^Pfaff, Richard W. (2009). "Southern England: Final Sarum Use".The liturgy in medieval England: A history.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 412–444.doi:10.1017/CBO9780511642340.019.ISBN978-0-521-80847-7.
- ^Salvucci, Claudio."Zairean? Or Sarum? The Forgotten Congolese Liturgy".Liturgical Arts Journal.Retrieved19 January2024.
- ^"The basilica of Mártires in the Chiado area of Lisbon is dedicated to the English Crusaders".Brisith Historical Society of Portugal.Retrieved22 August2024.
- ^Edwards, Owain Tudor (1989). "How many Sarum antiphonals were there in England and Wales in the middle of the sixteenth century?".Revue Bénédictine.99(1–2): 155–180.doi:10.1484/J.RB.4.01418.ISSN0035-0893.
- ^Wright, J. Robert."The Sarum use"(PDF).Retrieved19 January2024.
- ^Krick-Pridgeon, Katherine (2018).'Nothing for the godly to fear': Use of Sarum Influence on the 1549 Book of Common Prayer(Doctoral thesis). Durham University.
- ^Joseph, James R. (2016).Sarum Use and Disuse: A Study in Social and Liturgical History(Thesis). University of Dayton.
- ^Cheung Salisbury, Matthew (15 May 2017). "Rethinking the uses of Sarum and York: a historiographical essay".Understanding medieval liturgy: essays in interpretation.ISBN978-1-134-79760-8.OCLC1100438266.
- ^Mayer, Jean-François (2016). "'We are westerners and must remain westerners': Orthodoxy and Western Rites in Western Europe ". In Hämmerli, Maria (ed.).Orthodox Identities in Western Europe: Migration, Settlement and Innovation.London: Routledge. pp. 267–290.doi:10.4324/9781315599144.ISBN978-1-315-59914-4.
- ^Harper, Sally (2 January 2017). "The Experience of Worship in Late Medieval Cathedral and Parish Church".Material Religion.13(1): 127–130.doi:10.1080/17432200.2017.1270593.ISSN1743-2200.S2CID192006233.
- ^"Experience of Worship".Bangor University.Retrieved20 June2020.
- ^Renwick, William."The Sarum Rite".Hamilton, ON: McMaster University.
- ^Laing, R.C. (1895). "The Book of Common Prayer and the Mass".Publications of the Catholic Truth Society.Vol. XXV.London:Catholic Truth Society.p. 4.Retrieved1 March2022.
- ^Duffy, Eamon (2005).The stripping of the altars: Traditional religion in England, c.1400-c.1580(2 ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 124.ISBN0-300-10828-1.OCLC60400925.
- ^Dearmer, Percy (1907).The parson's handbook: containing practical directions both for parsons and others as to the management of the Parish Church and its services according to the English use, as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer(7 ed.). London: Oxford University Press. pp. 226–241.
- ^Bates, J. Barrington (2004). "Extremely beautiful, but eminently unsatisfactory: Percy Dearmer and the healing rites of the Church, 1909–1928".Anglican and Episcopal History.73(2): 196–207.ISSN0896-8039.JSTOR42612398.
External links
[edit]- The Use of Sarum, commonly known as the Sarum Rite:ongoing edition and English translation of the complete Sarum Use
- The book of Psalms sung inSarum Use plainsongby Sarah James.
Recreations
- The Experience of Worship:films and resources for the general public on worship in late medieval England produced in 2009–13
- Sarum Use Vespers - Candlemas Eve: Feb 1, 2020 at St Patrick's Church, Philadelphia:A service of Vespers demonstrating perhaps what a service might look like if the Sarum Use had remained in practice, put together in Philadelphia by the Durandus Institute
- Vespers, Compline and Salve according to the Sarum use:a recreation of the two last offices of the day, Vespers and Compline, followed, as was custom, by the "Salve Regina", performed by Oxford-based early music ensemble, Antiquum Documentum in the MedievalChurch of University Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Oxfordfor the feast of St. Cecilia 2023
- Sarum Procession and High Mass:the infamous Procession and High Mass according to the Use of Sarum that took place in the Chapel ofMerton College, Oxfordin 1997