- Plenarium
In the
Roman Catholic Church , plenarium or plenarius (liber) (plural, plenaria) refers to any complete book of formulas and texts that contains all matters pertaining to one subject that might otherwise be scattered in several books. The word is from the Latin, "complete." Thus, the word appears in a work about the life ofRobert Aldrich, Bishop of Carlisle (Baluze, "Miscell.", I, iii, 29) in reference to what seems to be a book of church rents (Binterim, "Denkwurdigkeiten", IV, i, 239). The entire office, or series of prayers and psalms said (or chanted) in theRoman Catholic Church —Vespers ,Matins ,Lauds and Mass — is called plenarium.A complete copy of the four
Gospels was called an "evangeliarium plenarium" (as distinct from aLectionary , which contains onlypericope s or selections). Under this heading is classed the "Book of Gospels" atLichfield Cathedral and the "Book of Gospels" given byAthelstan to Christ Church inCanterbury , now in the library ofLambeth Palace (Rock, "Church of our Fathers", I, 122). Some plenaria included all the writings of theNew Testament , others those parts of the scriptures that were commonly read in the Mass and bore the name "Lectionarium Plenarium" (Becker, "Catal. bibl. ant.", 1885, 28, no. 237; 68, no. 650, 659). Inmonasteries , the use of several books for each service created not great problem; butpriest s who did not make theBenedictine religious profession of "stability, conversion of manners and obedience" and who travelled from place to place on their missionary duties, found it best to carry a single book with them, and the completemissal or "Missale Plenarium" came into use among them, especially after the foundation of themendicant orders . Early vestiges of that missal date to the ninth century, and by the eleventh or twelfth century the "Missale Plenarium" was widespread. It contained all necessary prayers for the celebration of the Mass, which until then had to be taken from different books — the "Sacramentary, Lectionary, Evangelistary, Antiphonary," and "Gradual" (Zaccaria, "Bibl. rit.", I [Rome, 1876] , 50). In Germany, plenarium denoted a popular book that gave the German translation of theEpistles andGospels for the Sundays and festivals of the entire liturgical year, together with a short exposition and instruction. Later editions added theIntroit ,Gradual , and other parts of the Mass.The last book of the kind bearing the title plenarium was printed in 1522 at
Basle . [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12164b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: "Plenarium"] ]References
External links
*CathEncy|title=Plenarium|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12164b.htm
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