Ambrosian rite

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The Ambrosian rite is a liturgical rite of the Latin Church and is still used today alongside the Roman rite in most of the ecclesiastical province of Milan , in some neighboring areas and in around fifty parishes of the Diocese of Lugano (Switzerland) . As part of the liturgical reform of the 2nd Vatican Council, the associated liturgical books were renewed under the authority of the Archbishop of Milan. The liturgy is celebrated today in Latin or in Italian.

The Ambrosian rite is traced back to St. Ambrosius , with whom it was only brought into connection in the 8th century. It is believed that most of the texts were written by Ambrosius. In the Carolingian period in particular , the rite was adapted to its Roman counterpart, although it was able to maintain numerous peculiarities, even after the Council of Trent , when Charles Borromeo promoted the adaptation. Its self-imprint can be seen, among other things, in the Euchology (numerous prefaces ), in the singing ( Ambrosian singing ), in the reading orders as well as in the textual material and ritual peculiarities that Milan adopted under oriental influence or through its exchange relationships with Gaul. In Germany, the study of the historical Ambrosian liturgy has found a center in the Benedictine Abbey of Maria Laach .

Differences from the Roman rite

  • The Advent season begins on the first Sunday after St. Martin's Day (November 11th), so it has six Advent Sundays.
  • The Lent begins only on Sunday after Ash Wednesday.
  • The liturgical color in Lent is black for the days of the week and dark purple (morello) for Sundays, the liturgical color for Holy Week is red, for Easter week white and for the rest of Easter season green.
  • Some differences in the fair:
    • Part of the preparation of the gifts takes place at the beginning of the mass.
    • With Kyrie the invocation is always called Kyrie eleison (“Lord, have mercy!”), Never Christe eleison (“Christ, have mercy!”).
    • There are always three readings, also on weekdays (as on Sundays in the Roman liturgy the Old Testament and New Testament reading and the Gospel)
    • Before the reading, the lecturer receives the blessing from the celebrating priest, as in the Roman rite of the deacon before the preaching of the Gospel.
    • The peace greeting is exchanged after the divine service, i.e. at the beginning of the Eucharistic celebration .
    • The creed follows the preparation of the gifts.
    • The breaking of bread takes place before the Lord's Prayer .
    • The chant for breaking bread, which is always the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite , belongs to the proprium , so it has a different text for each day. The Agnus Dei is sung in the Requiem for the dead .
  • At baptism , not only is water poured over the head, but the head is completely submerged.

Ecclesiastical relevance

The great ecclesiastical importance of the Ambrosian rite is often overlooked. Especially in the High Middle Ages, he legitimized the self-confident demarcation from the Roman attempts to bring the Archdiocese of Milan under papal rule. The sources of the Early and High Middle Ages mostly derive a special role from the Ambrosius tradition, and repeatedly also the equivalence of the Archdiocese of Milan to Rome. For the religious foundation of the sometimes rampant Milanese local patriotism, it is important to this day, even if it has lost its importance in the last few decades.

Liturgical books

Historical liturgical books
  • P. Cagin: Codex sacramentorum Bergamensis. Solesmes 1900.
  • M. Magistretti: Manuale Ambrosianum ex codice saec. XI olim in unsum canonicae Vallis Travaliae in duas partes distinctum. Milan 1904.
  • M. Magistretti: Pontificale in usum Ecclesiae Mediolanensis necnon Ordines Ambrosiani ex codicibus saec. IX-XV. Milan 1897.
  • A. Ratti , M. Magistretti: Missale Ambrosianum Duplex. Milan 1913.
Current liturgical books
  • Missale Ambrosianum iuxta ritum sanctae ecclesiae mediolanensis ex decreto sacrosancto oecumenici concilii Vaticani II instauratum. Auctoritate Ioannis Colombo sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae presbyteri cardinalis archiepiscopi mediolanensis promulgatum. Milan 1981.
  • Missale Ambrosiano secondo il rito della santa Chiese di Milano. Riformato a norma dei decreti del Concilio Vaticano II. Promulgato dal Signor Cardinale Giovanni Colombo , arcivescovo di Milano. Milan 1976.

literature

  • Matthias Dietz: Preface of the Ambrosian rite as a school of prayer. With a brief introduction and overview of the rites of the Catholic Church. Laumann, Dülmen 1940.
  • Odilo Heiming (ed.): Corpus Ambrosiano-liturgicum. Aschendorff, Münster (Westphalia) 1968ff; so far 5 volumes (liturgical source texts).
  • Archdale A. King: Liturgies of the primatial sees. London 1956.
  • Paolo Ostinelli: Ambrosian valleys. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

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