Gregorian series of measurements
In the context of Roman Catholic memorials, a series of funeral masses is referred to as a Gregorian mass series or Gregorian masses , which are celebrated on 30 consecutive days with the intention of freeing a named deceased, a “ poor soul ”, from purgatory . It is also called Tricenar (from Latin tricenarius 'repeated thirty, thirty times').
The custom of giving holy masses to the deceased by donating grants goes back to late antiquity . Special rules developed early on; In addition to the day of the funeral, the preferred days were often the third, seventh and thirtieth day. Masses of the soul on seven days in succession were called mass septenary .
Gregor the Great tells in his dialogues in the chapter “What can help the souls to be acquitted after death” u. a. of a monk who had violated the law of non-possession, but who, after his death, came to salvation from purgatory through 30 consecutive soul masses. Gregor's Dialogi were extremely popular in the Middle Ages. Thus the name Gregorian masses established itself for the thirty-day custom .
Because a plethora of symbolically charged series of measurements arose in the 14th and 15th centuries, for which the use of a correspondingly large number of candles was considered significant, these series of measurements received superstitious features, so that the Council of Trent all such series of measurements with the exception of the Gregorian series in its repealed strict form.
A Gregorian mass series must be celebrated on thirty consecutive days, unless the celebration of masses is prohibited (e.g. during the Triduum Sacrum ). Certain forms are no longer required for this. Masses can also be celebrated by different priests in different places. Gregorian series of measurements may only be applied to the deceased .
literature
- Karl Eberle: The Tricenarius of St. Gregorius. A treatise on the ecclesiastical use of the Gregorian mass. Pustet, Regensburg et al. 1890.
- Ludwig Eisenhofer : Handbook of Catholic Liturgy. 2nd volume. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1933, pp. 19-20.
- Adolph Franz : The fair in the German Middle Ages. Contributions to the history of the liturgy and popular religious life. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1902; Reprints: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1963 and Nova and Vetera, Bonn 2003, ISBN 3-936741-12-3 , pp. 218–267 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
- Andreas Heinz : Gregorian masses . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 4 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1995, Sp. 1030 .
- Andreas Heinz: series of measurements . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 7 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1998, Sp. 185 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dialogi , Book 4, chap. 55
- ↑ Karl Eberle: The Tricenarius of St. Gregorius. Regensburg 1890, pp. 88-92.