Venia (rite)

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Venia of St. Dominikus, illumination (between 1260 and 1288)

The Venia (from Latin "grace; forgiveness, forgiveness, apology", popular in Middle Latin " footfall , knee-fall ", Germanized also Venia ) as an expression of adoration, veneration and pleading is part of some of the rites of the Latin Church . In the various forms of the Byzantine rite, the venia is also called metany .

The venia as a ritual request for forgiveness

Dominican, Carthusian and Cistercian rites know different forms of Venia.

  • The Dominicans lie in Venia not with the whole body on the ground, however, on the abdomen, but on the right side of the body, with a shin is placed over the other. The Caeremoniale of the Dominicans names the various occasions on which the preaching brothers perform such a venia , such as the solemn announcement of high celebrations, in the chapter house , when a rebuke or when a task is assigned by the order or the community.
  • The Cistercians distinguish between three types of asking for forgiveness, which, unlike the Dominicans, are called Veniae petitio , at least the Prostratio super articulos and the Satisfactio clearly. The following are mentioned:
  1. the prosternation , where you prostrate yourself completely to the ground
  2. the prostratio super articulos , the actual venia , in which one bows so low that the knuckles and knees touch the floor
  3. the Satisfactio , in which you touch the ground with the knuckles of both hands
  • In the Teutonic Order , too , the venie (verb form venien ) was provided for in the statutes on various occasions.

Prosternation is a sign of deep humiliation and is seldom practiced in the liturgy and with great reluctance. The prostratio super articulos is associated with Dan 10.10  EU and Lk 24.52  EU . It is one of the most common forms of asking for forgiveness and as such has its place not only in public worship, but also in private prayer. The Satisfactio always occurs in the place of prostration when the liturgical tradition of the Cistercian prohibited knee flexion, so every Sunday, at Easter and on holidays.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Niermeyer / van de Kieft: Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon minus. Vol. II. Reprint, second revised. Ed. 2002, p. 1397: venia = prosternatio "Fußfall, Kniefall", as evidence a passage from Petrus Venerabilis , according to which the squats in front of someone wearing the holy of holies and those in the daily debt chapter of monasteries vulgo veniae , "popularly Venien “Would be called.
  2. ↑ Caerem. ord. Praed., N ° 791 ff.
  3. ^ Ernst Hennig: The statutes of the Teutonic Order. 1806, p. 307. https://books.google.de/books?id=OK1AAAAAcAAJ .
  4. ↑ Eccl. Off., Latin-German edition, p. 39 and Rit. Cist.

literature

  • Caeremoniale: juxta ritum S. Ordinis Praedicatorum / Rev.mi Patris Fr. Alexandri Vincentii Jandel ... jussu editum. Mechliniae: Dessain, 1869.
  • Ecclesiastica Officia: Customs book of the Cistercians from the 12th century / Lat. Text based on the manuscripts Dijon 114, Trient 1711, Ljubljana 31, Paris 4346 and Wolfenbüttel Codex Guelferbytanus 1068, German translation, liturgical appendix, footnotes and index based on the Latin-French. By D. Choisselet et al. P. Vernet ... Langwaden: Bernardus-Verl., 2003. (Sources and studies on Cistercian literature; 7) ISBN 3-934551-75-0
  • Rituale Cisterciense: ex Libro Usuum definitionibus Ordinis et Caeremoniali episcoporum collectum. Westmalle: Typographer. Ordinis, 1949