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THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity: A Neglected Catechetical Text of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy © Copyright All Rights Reserved By John H. Osman Washington, D.C. 2015 A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity: A Neglected Catechetical Text of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore John H. Osman, Ph.D. Director: Joseph M. White, Ph.D. At the 1884 Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, the US Catholic bishops commissioned a national prayer book titled the Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity and the widely-known Baltimore Catechism. This study examines the Manual’s genesis, contents, and publication history to understand its contribution to the Church’s teaching efforts. To account for the Manual’s contents, the study describes prayer book genres developed in the British Isles that shaped similar publications for use by American Catholics. The study considers the critiques of bishops and others concerning US-published prayer books, and episcopal decrees to address their weak theological content. To improve understanding of the Church’s liturgy, the bishops commissioned a prayer book for the laity containing selections from Roman liturgical books. The study quantifies the text’s sources from liturgical and devotional books. The book’s compiler, Rev. Clarence Woodman, C.S.P., adopted the English manual prayer book genre while most of the book’s content derived from the Roman Missal, Breviary, and Ritual, albeit augmented with highly regarded English and US prayers and instructions. With archival sources, the study recounts the Manual’s publication history. Lacking a national organization to carry out their decrees, the bishops delegated publication and marketing to the Catholic Publication Society, which obtained the book’s ownership but soon dissolved, signifying a failure of episcopal oversight. By comparing the book’s instructions on the sacraments to those in the Council of Trent’s Roman Catechism, the study establishes the Manual’s contribution to the Church teaching efforts and relationship to the Baltimore Catechism. Unlike the influential catechism, the Manual commanded limited circulation and influence but, aiming to propagate the Church’s liturgy, foreshadowed the twentieth-century liturgical movement and the Second Vatican Council. This dissertation by John H. Osman fulfills the dissertation requirement for the doctoral degree in Philosophy approved by Joseph M. White, Ph.D., as Director, and by Michael Witczak, S.L.D., and Margaret Schreiber, S.T.D. as Readers. ________________________________________ Joseph M. White, Ph.D., Director ________________________________________ Michael Witczak, S.L.D., Reader ________________________________________ Margaret Schreiber, S.T.D., Reader ii To Helen Rose, my companion iii Non tam quidem nudis verbis et oratione, quam inflammato quodam pietatis studio explicanda sunt, ut ea in animis intimisque fidelium cogitationibus inserere videantur. - 1566 Council of Trent Catechism (pt. 2, ch. 3, art. 26) [The pastor’s teaching] is something to be given them not so much in the cold language of formal instruction, as rather in the light and warmth of genuine piety. Only thus will the minds and hearts of the faithful be really touched. - 1985 English translation by Robert Bradley, SJ iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................................................x INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................12 CONTEXT AND ORIGINS Catechesis and Catechisms .................................................................................................. 13 Catechesis and Prayer Books .............................................................................................. 16 Prayer Book Genres ............................................................................................................ 18 Prayer Book Reform in the United States ........................................................................... 36 The Third Plenary Council of 1884 ..................................................................................... 44 The Publication of an Authorized Prayer Book .................................................................. 52 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 70 CHAPTER TWO ...........................................................................................................................71 CONTENT An Overview of the Roman Content and the Book’s Structure .......................................... 72 Major English Sources ........................................................................................................ 93 US Sources ........................................................................................................................ 101 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 108 CHAPTER THREE .....................................................................................................................110 PROMULGATION The Manual’s Launch ....................................................................................................... 112 The Dissolution of the Catholic Publication Society (CPS) ............................................. 124 CPS and Benziger .............................................................................................................. 132 The New Owner: Rev. James Luke Meagher ................................................................... 135 Calls for Revision .............................................................................................................. 150 A Manual Lawsuit ............................................................................................................. 152 The Manual in the Twentieth Century .............................................................................. 156 The Manual’s Administration ........................................................................................... 163 CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................................169 CATECHESIS Liturgical-Catechetical Church Documents ...................................................................... 170 The Roman Catechism and Liturgical Catechesis ............................................................. 176 Disposition and Ceremonies .............................................................................................. 185 A Qualitative Analysis ...................................................................................................... 192 Predecessor to the US Liturgical Movement ..................................................................... 208 v CHAPTER FIVE .........................................................................................................................215 CONCLUSION APPENDIX ONE.........................................................................................................................227 THIRD PLENARY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE PRAYER BOOK DECREES APPENDIX TWO ........................................................................................................................234 MANUAL OF PRAYERS BUSINESS AGREEMENT APPENDIX THREE ....................................................................................................................236 TESTIMONIALS FROM ARCHBISHOPS AND BISHOPS [ON THE MANUAL OF PRAYERS] APPENDIX FOUR ......................................................................................................................247 RESULTS OF QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS The Sacraments in General ............................................................................................... 247 Baptism .............................................................................................................................. 250 Confirmation ..................................................................................................................... 255 Eucharist ............................................................................................................................ 258 Penance .............................................................................................................................. 268 Extreme Unction ............................................................................................................... 276 Matrimony ......................................................................................................................... 277 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................280 vi List of Illustrations Figure 1. Lawrence Kehoe ............................................................................................................ 54 Figure