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Lectionary regions, many sources indicate the presence of three I. Introduction : one from the HB/OT, one from the NT II. Christianity or , and one from the ; evidence from Rome indicates only two I. Introduction lessons, an and a , although some sources provide indications of a third on A lectionary is a liturgical that provides read- certain occasions. In some cases, particularly cele- ings for use in the or another form of or- ganized communal or individual prayer. In the brations of a vigil, multiple readings were provided Christian Eucharist, gradually devel- before the epistle and gospel for masses. Some non- oped to provide scriptural readings that preceded Roman liturgical sources provide readings from the the of the bread and wine; in the di- acts of the , although over time these non- vine office or of the hours, the lectionary biblical readings tended to be restricted to the Di- provides passages from both Scripture (usually the vine Office. HB/OT and NT but mostly excluding the Gospels) Eastern sources indicate a variety of liturgical and non-scriptural texts such as patristic traditions. Important extant sources include the or lives of . A selection provided by a lection- Georgian Lectionary from Jerusalem of the 5th ary is often referred to in liturgical scholarship as through 8th centuries CE, the Armenian-Palesti- a “pericope.” nian Lectionary of the 5th century CE, and the Syro- Innocent Smith Palestinian Lectionary of the 9th century CE (see the bibliographical references in Lengeling). In the Byz- II. Christianity antine tradition, early sources provided liturgical ■ Patristics and Orthodox Churches ■ Medieval Times pericopes before the book of the gospels, providing and Reformation Era ■ Modern Europe and semi-continuous readings for Saturdays and Sun- America ■ New Christian Churches and Movements days, weekdays between and Pentecost, and A. Patristics and Orthodox Churches certain saints; the was read from According to Justin (1Apol. 67), writing in Easter until Pentecost, Matthew from after Pente- the mid-2nd century, at the early Roman Eucharist cost until the Exaltation of the Holy Cross; Luke the “memoirs of the apostles and/or the writings from after the Exaltation until , and Mark dur- of the prophets are read as long as time permits.” ing Lent. Beginning in the 8th century, lectionaries Although early Christians may have read the Bible began to develop presenting the readings in liturgi- in continuous or consecutive sections (lectio continua) cal order. In addition to the gospel lectionary, the for purposes of instruction and edification, recent Praxapostolos presented pericopes from Acts and liturgical scholarship suggests that at the Eucharist Paul for the seasonal and festal . Readings the Scriptures were more often read not in a con- from the HB/OT were provided in the Prophetologion tinuous manner, but with readings that for and vigils rather than for the Eucharist. were chosen in conjunction with the feast or season Extant early Western liturgical sources utilize being celebrated. several different modes of indicating readings: 1) Tertullian (Apol. 39) and Augustine (.Ev. marginal notes in a biblical codex; 2) lists of open- Jo., prologue) indicate that certain liturgical occa- ing and closing verses (incipits and explicits) of sions called for appropriate scripture readings. In scriptural passages to be read (sometimes called a some cases, such as the feasts of Christmas, Epiph- “capitulare”); 3) full readings provided in a separate any, the of Jesus, Ascension and Pentecost, codex; 4) full readings provided within the context scriptural passages from the Gospels and Acts of the of another liturgical book (e.g., a , which con- Apostles narrating these events (or prophesying tained the prayers, readings, and other texts neces- them, as in the case of Joel 2:28–3:8 on Pentecost) sary for the celebration of the eucharist). All four were read on their corresponding liturgical com- systems coexisted throughout the early and high memorations. In other cases, OT passages became Middle Ages. Each of these modes of presentation associated with particular feasts, such as the read- often divided the readings provided from the HB/ ing of Job during and especially on Holy OT, the NT, and the gospels into different sections Thursday (cf. Ambrose, Ep. 76(20).14). or different manuscripts, and it is possible that the The earliest extant indications of clear selections selections of readings developed somewhat inde- of readings come from Ambrose and Augustine in pendently for the various types of readings. The ar- the late 4th and early 5th centuries. By the late 5th ticles of Godu remain a helpful overview of various and early 6th centuries, there are references to the ex- traditions of epistle and gospel cycles. istence of lectionaries which contained biblical read- : ■ Amphoux, C.-B./J.-B. Bouhot (eds.), La Lec- ings for the , and the readings in use ture liturgique des épîtres catholiques dans l’Église ancienne (HTB in certain areas can be discerned from the surviving 1; Lausanne 1996). ■ Getcha, J., The Decoded (Or- of figures such as Caesarius of Arles. thodox Liturgy Series 3; Yonkers, N.Y. 2012) 53–66. The number of readings provided for the Eu- ■ Godu, G., “Epitres,” DACL 5.1 (Paris 1922) 246–49. charist differed in various regions. In non-Roman ■ Godu, G., “Évangiles,” DACL 5.1 (Paris 1922) 852–923.

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 16 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2018 Download Date | 12/16/18 3:56 PM 3 Lectionary 4

■ Lengeling, E. J., “Pericopes,” NCE 11 (Detroit, Mich. 2003) including most of Lent; Jeremiah and the Lamenta- 123–28. ■ Metzger, B. M., “Greek Lectionaries and a Criti- tions in ; Revelation, Acts and the Ca- cal of the Greek ,” in Die alten Über- nonical Epistles after Easter; Kings and Chronicles N T , K setzungen des euen estaments die irchenväterzitate und after Pentecost; the Wisdom and Apocrypha Lektionare (ed.K. Aland; ANTF 5; Berlin 1972) 479–97. (as now known) in the summer months; the remain- ■ Velkovska, E., “Byzantine Liturgical Books,” in Introduction to the Liturgy (ed. A. J. Chupungco; HLS 1; Collegeville, ing Prophets in November and December; and the Minn. 1997) 225–40. ■ Vogel, C., Medieval Liturgy:An Intro- Pauline Epistles after Christmas” (Parkes: 78). Al- duction to the Sources (trans.W. Storey/N. Rasmussen; Wash- though this basic ordering was widely followed, ington, D.C. 1986). there was considerable flexibility and variation in B. Medieval Times and Reformation Era the lengths and distribution of readings in individ- In the Middle Ages, a range of similar but distinct ual communities and traditions. While early imple- lectionary systems developed in churches, dioceses, mentation of this schema appears to have relied on and religious orders, providing scriptural readings conventional biblical manuscripts, on rare occasions for the and scriptural and non-scriptural read- manuscripts presented the books of the Bible in li- ings for the divine office. In the medieval liturgical turgical order. Beginning in the 10th century, lec- practice, the readings were presented in various for- tionaries and collectars emerged that presented spe- mats, such as lectionaries (containing all the read- cific passages to be read at and the other ings for mass and/or office), epistolaries and evan- hours of the office, and these selections (sometimes gelaries (containing the epistles then attributed to abbreviated) were incorporated alongside the other St. Paul and the gospels respectively), elements of the office in which began to (books for the mass containing , readings, develop in the 11th and 12th centuries and became and prayers) or Breviaries (books for the office con- widespread beginning in the 13th century. taining antiphons, , readings, and prayers). In the 16th century, individual Reformation In the 16th century, Reformers adapted individual leaders took different approaches to the medieval lectionary traditions in different ways, while the lectionary legacy. maintained “the effectively standardized one of the customary Epistles and Gospels” for the Eucharist, medieval lectionary traditions through the 1568 while proposing a more flexible approach to bibli- Breviarium Romanum and 1570 Missale Romanum. cal readings for other services, stating that “for the Beginning in the 7th and 8th centuries CE, li- Epistles and Gospels we have retained the custom- turgical sources indicate a variety of systems of ary division according to the church year, because readings for mass. Though not universally consis- we do not find anything especially reprehensible in tent, several themes are apparent among the most this use … This we think provides sufficient preach- widely used systems. The readings are drawn espe- ing and teaching for the laypeople” (see Luther: 68). cially from the Epistles and the Gospels, especially Cranmer largely adopted the Sarum lectionary Matthew and John, but with some passages from (which was practically identical to that used in Ger- Luke and a few from Mark. The sources often man lands) for the eucharistic readings of the Book present roughly similar biblical content, but often of Common Prayer, while providing a list of biblical differ in arrangement. For instance, Rom 13:11–14 readings for Matins and that presented appears for the Epistle of the first Sunday of most of the books of the Bible in biblical order, in the 13th century Dominican and Franciscan Mis- reading the OT (exepct 1 and 2 Chronicles and parts sals, but the two Missals differ in the gospel assign- of Ezekiel) over the course of one year, the NT three ment that day: the Franciscan Missal provides Luke times, then twice each year, and the read 21:25–33, whereas the Dominican Missal provides once monthly. Martin Bucer, Ulrich Zwingli, and Matt 21:1–9, reserving Luke 21:25–33 for the sec- John Calvin abandoned the concept of a lectionary ond Sunday of Advent. In this case, the Dominican composed of selections from the Bible, proposing selection is identical with that provided in the instead the proclamation of continuous selections Sarum rite, while the Franciscan selection is identi- from Scripture (see “Lectio Continua”). These vary- cal with the 13th century Missal of the Roman Cu- ing approaches are undergirded by a common con- ria. cern for providing biblical texts for preaching, but In the divine office, long readings from the OT reveal different conceptions of the best means to and NT were read at the office of Matins (along approach this goal. with non-scriptural readings such as patristic homi- Within the Catholic Church, a radical revision lies and lives of saints) with short readings at each of the approach to reading scripture in the office hour of the office. As proposed by the 7th-century was proposed by Cardinal Quinones in the 1530s. CE source known as Ordo Romanus XIII, during the This attempt at liturgical was deeply influential on celebration of Matins (also known as Nocturns or the approach of Cranmer, but was officially repudi- the night office), “the Bible was read according to ated by the Catholic Church in 1568 with the prom- the following continuous cycle: the Heptateuch in ulgation of the pruned but traditional Breviarium the weeks from to Passion Sunday, Romanum. In the period following the promulga-

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 16 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2018 Download Date | 12/16/18 3:56 PM