RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Bitter Ritualism
engaged to be married, covering the smaller catechism of Luther; (3) church examinations consisting of questions on the catechism and in the season of Lent on the passion of Christ; (4) in the home, in which the entire family participated, and lasting for from five to eight hours. The subject was usually the catechism, some passages of the Bible, or the conduct of the people present. At the end a simple meal was served. These home-examinations were highly appreciated by the peasants, while in the cities they were not always well attended, the wellto-do especially keeping aloof. In East Prussia the development of catechetical examination underwent several phases. The first is characterized by the order of Margrave Albert (1543), according to which it was the duty of every pastor to examine and instruct all his parishioners in every place of his parish at least once a quarter. The order of 1633 marks a second phase according to which the examination was to take place once a year in the home of the burgomaster or village mayor. In the course of time the institution was frequently dropped altogether or maintained itself only sporadically. After the middle of the nineteenth century these examinations again came into vogue. The pastor visited once a year, usually in the fall, every village and hamlet of his parish. The parishioners provided for his conveyance and paid other expenses. Each family had the conference held in the home in turn and provided for a common meal. The pastor also usually received a contribution in money and products of the field. Later the people began to refuse to provide the pastor with the facilities for travel, and the conferences sometimes degenerated into carousals. So they have in large part taken the form of church services in places where there is no church. (H. Jacoby.)
Bibliography: H. F. Jakobson, in Deutsche Zeitschrift fur christliche Wissenschaft und christliches Leben, vi (1855), nos. 43-45; idem, Das evangelische Kirchenrecht des preussischen Staates, ii. 608, Halle, 1866.
RITUALE ROMANUM: A Roman Catholic liturgical book containing the prayers and forms for the administration of the sacraments, together with directions for pastoral care, compiled for the special assistance of parish priests. Books of this type were drawn up as early as the twelfth century, primarily for the monasteries, the secular clergy having none until the fourteenth century. There were at first no diocesan ritualia, but each parish priest might compile his own according to local usage. A book of the type in question was called Manuale in the thirteenth century, Rituale or Liber benedictionum in the fourteenth, and Agenda, Liber obsequiorum, Parochiale, Pastorale, etc., in the fifteenth. The name Rituale, however, came into general use through the introduction of the Rituale Romanum, when the attempt was made to obviate the wide divergencies of local usages and at least to secure harmony in each diocese. It was not, however, until the Council of Trent that real headway was made in securing liturgical uniformity; and even then, though the Roman breviary, missal, pontifical, and ceremonial were officially sanctioned, there was no single rituale. Paul V (1605-21), however, appointed a committee of cardinals who, X.-
on the basis of the rituale of Cardinal Sanctorio (1584), the Sacerdotale Romanum of the Dominican Castellani (1537), and the Sacerdotale of the Lateran canon Samarino (1579), drew up the Rituale Romanum, which was officially confirmed by the constitution Apostolicm sedis of Paul V (June 17, 1614). So great, however, was the tenacity of local usages that this rituale, based on the Roman use, made slow progress, though it ultimately prevailed.
The Rituale Romanum of Paul V. was revised in 1752 by Benedict XIV., who added two formularies for the papal blessing, and Leo XIII. had a definite edition prepared (Regensburg, 1884). It is divided into ten " titles," subdivided into chapters. The first title contains general directions for the administration of the sacraments; the second treats of baptism; the third of penance; the fourth of the Eucharist (the liturgy for which is given in the missal); the fifth of extreme unction and all pastoral care of the sick and dying; the sixth of burial; the seventh of marriage and churching; the eighth of the various benedictions; the ninth of processions; and the tenth of exorcism, and the keeping of parish records; the whole being concluded by an appendix containing instructions for missionaries with various benedictions. (P. Drews.)
Bibliography: On ritualia in general consult A. Franz, Das Rituale von St. Florian aus dem 12. Jahrhundert, pp. 3-12, Freiburg, 1904 (contains useful bibliography). On the Roman Rituale consult: G. Catalani, Rituale Romanum, perpetuis commentariis exornatum, Rome, 1757; H. Baruffaldi, Ad rituale Romanum commentarii, Venice, 1731; V. Thalhofer, Handbuch der katholischen Liturgik, ed. A. Ebner, i. 1, pp. 51-52, 59-60, Freiburg, 1894; KL, x. 1217-18.