The Confiteor (B) History

The history of making a confession at the altar in the Roman liturgy is of a late date. The ceremonial tract Ordo Romanus I contains no reference to a confession of sins, however by Ordo Romanus VI the pontiff “bowing down prays to God for forgiveness of his sins”. It is probable that the private prayers of preparation originally said in the sacristy, the apologiae, were later transferred to the altar.

CONFITEOR

The origin of the wording of the Confiteor can be traced to rites used originally in the sacrament of penance. Early penitentials (books of penances) give formulas that resemble the modern Confiteor. The Pentiential of Egbert (d. 766) Archbishop of York has the starting point of a Confiteor “Through my fault I have exceedingly in thought, speech and deed, sinned... I confess before God, almighty Creator of heaven and earth, before the altar of the saint, and the holy relics that are in this holy place, and before you, priest, that I have sinned exceedingly………”

The first record of the wording of a Confiteor occurring in the Mass is given in the ecclesiastical tract “Micrologus de ecclesiasticis observationibus” . It runs: I confess to God Almighty, these saints and all the saints and you, brothers, that I have sinned in thought, in speech, in deed, in pollution of mind and body. I beseech you, pray for me.

Both the Pentitential of Egbert and the Micrologus indicate that the invocation of saints seems to have originated due to the confession being made before their relics. This later evolved into a general invocation of all the saints and then of naming specific ones. The Confiteor continued to develop in the enumeration of sins, the persons confessed to and the persons invoked for their prayers - in the latter two categories, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the patron saint were the most likely choices. A missal of Augsburg in the 16th century gives an elaborate form mentioning sins in thought, speech, consent, sight, mouth, deed and omission and invoking saints Peter, Paul, Ullric (Udalric) Sebastian, Vitus, Mary Magdalene, Catherine, Barbara, and the patrons in the second half of the Confiteor.

The Third Council of Ravenna ordered that a version of the Confiteor identical to that of the Missal of St. Pius V be used; however, this form did not make its way into the Papal liturgy of Rome until later.

The Missal of Paul III gives a simple abbreviated version “I confess to Almighty God, Blessed Mary ever-Virgin, Blessed Peter and all the saints and you brethren, that I have sinned through my fault. I beseech you, pray for me.”

Another manuscript of a Curial Missal of the Vatican library gives a longer and more elaborate form “I confess to God Almighty and blessed Mary ever-Virgin and the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and all the saints, and you Father, I have gravely sinned through pride: against the law of my God: by thought: by speech: omission, consent, word and deed : through my fault, my fault, my most grevious fault. Therefore I beseech the most blessed and glorious Virgin Mary: and all saints (masc.) and saints (fem.): and you Father, to pray for me.”

Almost all these Confiteors were superseded by the Roman Confiteor that appeared in all missals from 1570 to 1970. Minute variations (addition of a patron) were conceded to certain religious orders and dioceses. Those places with liturgies older than 200 years at the time (1570) continued to use their own versions of the Confiteor.

MISEREATUR AND INDULGENTIAM

The Misereatur and Indulgentiam can be also traced to the Sacrament of Penance. Until 1970 when the rite was revised, they were prescribed in the Sacrament of Penance to be said by the priest before sacramental absolution was given. They could however, be omitted for a just cause.

In the Penitential of Egbert the Misereatur occurs as a benediction over the penitent, in a version extremely close to modern variants. “The almighty God have mercy on you, and forgive you all your sins, deliver you from all evil, keep you in all good, and bring you to eternal life.” Micrologus gives an almost identical form differing in saying “confirm you in all good works” and ending “and likewise bring us (through) Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, toward life eternal” Similar wordings of the Egbert’s Misereatur can also be found in various mediaeval missals. The Sarum missal had “confirm and keep you…” while the 12th century liturgy at Cluny had “all good works” as did many French and German diocesan Uses. So also the Carmelite and the Dominican versions (see earlier post).

The Carthusian Misereatur showed an example of some mediaeval missals in adding “through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints”. In one mediaeval manuscript, this is greatly expanded as “Brothers and sisters, through the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, through the aid of the sign of the holy cross, through the intercession of the blessed and glorious ever-Virgin Mary, and the merits of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, Blessed Michael (the) archangel, blessed Martin, and all the saints (masc.) and saints (fem.) may the almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins and bring you (through) Jesus Christ, Son of God to eternal life.

In the liturgical books of the Roman Catholic Church, this elaborate formula only survived (with slight alterations) in the Misereatur used in the publication of indulgences. (see above) and the Urbi et Orbi blessing of the Pope.

The Indulgentiam does not show as much variation: a significant number of texts omit the word Indulgentiam (pardon) and begin instead with absolutionem (absolution). The Micrologus on the other hand has indulgentiam but omits absolutionem. Another common difference is the use of “the almighty Father, the compassionate and merciful God” instead of “the almighty and merciful God”

The most significant addition found in many mediaeval Uses is the invoking of assistance for an emended life and for the grace of the Holy Spirit. Thus the Sarum Use has “The almighty and merciful God grant you absolution and remission of your sins, space for true repentance and emendation of life, and the grace and consolation of the Holy Spirit” This was also found in the Mozarabic texts (see previous post).

Another version of the Indulgentiam runs “The Almighty and merciful God grant you absolution and remission of all your sins, through confession, contrition, penance and through satisfaction and emendation of life.

Traces of both are preserved in the text of the Indulgentiam of Pope’s Urbi et Orbi blessing which runs “May the Almighty and merciful God grant you pardon, absolution and remission of all your sins, space for a true and fruitful repentance, an ever penitent heart and emendation of life, the grace and consolation of the Holy Spirit, and final perseverance in good works

In all 3 prayers (the Confiteor, Misereatur and Indulgentiam) many variants have “all sins” instead of only “sins”. This wording was also present in the Roman Missal of 1570: however in later versions it was removed.

First published in October, 2007

Irish Devotion to Saint Martin of Tours

November 11 is the feastday of one of the fathers of Gaulish monasticism, Saint Martin of Tours, whose Life by Sulpicius Severus influenced the future writing of hagiography. Martin was a saint much venerated by the early Irish Church. The Martyrology of Oengus pays him a glowing tribute in its entry for November 11:

Saint Martin a noble simile
the mount of gold of the western
world.

while the scholiast adds:

Saint Martin of Tours, of Gaul was he.
Martin a soldier, honour not slight, of Gallia Lugdunensis, a fully-gentle son of the race of the kings, son of Manualt and Abrasin.

noble simile etc., i.e. noble for him is his resemblance to gold propter etc. Martin out of Martin's Tours in the south of Frankland : of the Gauls was he, ut dixit quidam : Martin a soldier, honour without prohibition etc. Gold is he propter etc.

Michael Richter has a chapter on the Irish devotion to Saint Martin in his book 'Ireland and her Neighbours in the Seventh Century'. He takes as a starting point the early 9th-century Book of Armagh, a manuscript containing three distinct groups of material (1) A complete text of the New Testament, (2) A dossier of materials on Saint Patrick and (3) almost the complete body of writings on Saint Martin by Sulpicius Severus.

Contemporaneous with the Book of Armagh was the Martyrology of Tallaght which records a special tribute to Saint Martin among the saints of Europe in its entry for 20 April:

Communis sollemnitas omnium sanctorum et virginum Hiberniae et Britanniae et totius Europae et specialiter in honorem sancti Martini episcopi.

So, it would appear that in the early 9th century, respect for Saint Martin was well-established in Ireland, but as such devotion would not have arisen from a vacuum, Richter is keen to track its history. He finds evidence for Saint Martin in other sources before 800:

1. Jonas of Bobbio's Vita Columbani. Jonas relates that the saint while travelling requested to be allowed to pray at the tomb of St Martin. His companions did not intend to make this possible for him and so it took a miracle to allow Columbanus to pay his respects to Martin. Richter wonders where Columbanus may have acquired this devotion to St Martin. Was it while on his travels in Gaul or did he become acquainted with the works of Sulpicius in Ireland? If the latter, then Bangor would be the obvious place.

2. The Irish palimpsest sacramentary from the mid-7th century contains the text of a mass for St Martin.

3. In the Life of Columba, Adamnan mentions in passing that St Martin was commemorated during Mass at Iona. We cannot be sure, of course, whether Adamnan is reflecting the practice of his own time in the late 7th century or that of St Columba a century earlier. Furthermore, in writing his Life of Columba, Adamnan was clearly influenced by The Life of St Martin by Sulpicius Severus.

Richter then goes on to see just how far back in the history of Irish Christianity this devotion to Saint Martin might go. Traditionally, the earliest Gaulish connection was taken right back to Saint Patrick, who was said to have spent time training and travelling in Gaul, where he encountered the Life of Martin of Tours. Later sources, indeed, even claimed that Patrick's mother was Martin's sister! Richter, like other modern scholars, rejects this and suggests rather that the mission of Palladius to the Irish is a more likely conduit for the earliest transmission of the Martinian tradition. The mission of Palladius is now seen within the wider context of the mission of Germanus of Auxerre to Britain around 429. Thus, this could be the context in which the Life of St Martin was brought from Gaul to Ireland at an early date, and could explain how Columbanus was familiar with it before he ever left Ireland.

Richter concludes:

When taking all the fragments of information from Ireland altogether, textual, liturgical and hagiographical, it may be said that St Martin was a familiar and revered figure in Ireland in the mid-seventh century at the least. This would be easiest explained if the texts which praised him were known widely. The most plausible context for the arrival of the text of Sulpicius Severus remains the Palladian mission.

Michael Richter, Ireland and Her Neighbours in the Seventh Century (Dublin, 1999), 225-230.

This post was first published here.