Matins (also Mattins ) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy , originally sung during the darkness of early morning.
117-412: The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil , which was originally celebrated by monks from about two hours after midnight to, at latest, the dawn, the time for the canonical hour of lauds (a practice still followed in certain orders). It was divided into two or (on Sundays) three nocturns . Outside of monasteries, it was generally recited at other times of
234-574: A Mass celebrated in the evening before a feast, not before the hour of First Vespers. The psalmody of the Office of Readings consists of three psalms or portions of psalms, each with its own antiphon. These are followed by two extended readings with their responsories, the first from the Bible (but not from the Gospels), and the second being patristic, hagiographical, or magisterial. As already mentioned,
351-477: A Christian should abstain from the theatre and the amphitheatre. There pagan religious rites were applied and the names of pagan divinities invoked; there the precepts of modesty, purity, and humanity were ignored or set aside, and there no place was offered to the onlookers for the cultivation of the Christian graces. Women should put aside their gold and precious stones as ornaments, and virgins should conform to
468-650: A Gospel reading may optionally be added, preceded by vigil canticles, in order to celebrate a vigil. These are given in an appendix of the book of the Liturgy of the Hours . To those who find it seriously difficult, because of their advanced age or for reasons peculiar to them, to observe the revised Liturgy of the Hours Pope Paul VI gave permission to keep using the previous Roman Breviary either in whole or in part. In 2007 Pope Benedict XVI allowed all clergy of
585-482: A better knowledge of the Psalter or the lessons"; in the summer nights the interval was short, only enough for the monks to "go out for the necessities of nature". The vigil office was also shortened in the summer months by replacing readings with a passage of scripture recited by heart, but keeping the same number of psalms. Both in summer and in winter the vigil office was longer than on other days, with more reading and
702-854: A canticle and two psalms, in place of the three psalms of the other days in the Ambrosian Rite and of every day in the Roman Rite . In the Mozarabic liturgy , on the contrary, Matins is a system of antiphons, collects, and versicles which make them quite a departure from the Roman system. In the Eastern Churches , matins is called orthros in Greek ( ὄρθρος , meaning "early dawn" or "daybreak") and Oútrenya in Slavonic (Оўтреня). It
819-492: A cleansing and preparation process which precedes the reception of the Holy Spirit in post-baptismal anointing ( De Baptismo 6). De Baptismo includes the earliest known mention of a prayer for the consecration of the waters of baptism. Tertullian had an ex opere operato view of the baptism, thus the efficiency of baptism was not dependent upon the faith of the receiver. He also believed that in an emergency,
936-525: A close relationship with God. Tertullian did not have a specific listing of the canon; however, he quotes 1 John , 1 Peter , Jude , Revelation , the Pauline epistles and the four Gospels . In his later books, he also started to use the Shepherd of Hermas . Tertullian made no references to the book of Tobit ; however, in his book Adversus Marcionem he quotes the book of Judith . He quoted most of
1053-984: A description, the vigils on Sundays terminated with the solemn reading of the Gospel , in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre . This practice of reading the Gospel has been preserved in the Benedictine liturgy. In the Tridentine Roman Liturgy this custom, so ancient and so solemn, was no longer represented but by the Homily ; but after the Second Vatican Council it has been restored for the celebration of vigils. The Ambrosian Liturgy , better perhaps than any other, preserved traces of
1170-500: A dispute between the Church and a separating party, the whole burden of proof lies with the latter, as the Church, in possession of the unbroken tradition, is by its very existence a guarantee of its truth. The five books against Marcion, written in 207 or 208, are the most comprehensive and elaborate of his polemical works, invaluable for gauging the early Christian view of Gnosticism. Tertullian has been identified by Jo Ann McNamara as
1287-601: A feast", that held for vigils since the Middle Ages. It declared: In the Methodist Churches , Watchnight Vigil services are celebrated on New Year's Eve . In the Catholic Church , Pope Paul VI 's 1969 motu proprio Mysterii Paschalis made the liturgical day correspond in general to what is generally understood today, running from midnight to midnight, instead of beginning with vespers of
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#17327722462061404-487: A few that were reserved for other canonical hours: Psalms 4, 5, 21/22−25/26, 41/42, 50/51, 53/54, 62/63, 66/67, 89/90−92/93. The consecutive order was not observed for the invitatory psalms, recited every day, and in the matins of feasts. Each reading was followed by a responsory , except the last one, when this was followed by the Te Deum . Matins underwent profound changes in the 20th century. The first of these changes
1521-517: A god and shared a meal. The solemn celebration of vigils in the churches of Jerusalem in the early 380s is described in the Peregrinatio Aetheriae . Prayer at midnight and at cockcrow was associated with passages in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark . On the basis of the Gospel of Luke , too, prayer at any time of the night was seen as having eschatological significance. The quotation from Tertullian above refers to
1638-483: A group mentioned by Augustine as founded by Tertullian. There exists differences of opinion on Tertullianists; Augustine seems to have believed that Tertullian, soon after joining the Montanists , started his own sect derived from Montanism, while some scholars believe that Augustine was in error, and that Tertullianists was simply an alternative name of North African Montanism and not a separate sect. Tertullian
1755-418: A group: "Let there be no failure of prayers in the hours of night — no idle and reckless waste of the occasions of prayer" ( nulla sint horis nocturnis precum damna, nulla orationum pigra et ignava dispendia ). The Apostolic Tradition speaks of prayer at midnight and again at cockcrow, but seemingly as private, not communal, prayer. The Peregrinatio Aetheriae describes the solemn celebration of vigils in
1872-487: A human form or change shape. He taught fideistic concepts such as the later philosophers William of Ockham and Søren Kierkegaard . The extent and nature of Tertullian's involvement to Montanism is now disputed by modern scholars. Montanism in North Africa seems to have been a counter-reaction against secularism. The form of Montanism in North Africa seems to have differed from the views of Montanus , and thus
1989-514: A long distance in the way of approach to it. Tertullian was a defender of the necessity of apostolicity. In his Prescription Against Heretics , he explicitly challenges heretics to produce evidence of the apostolic succession of their communities. Unlike many early Christian writers, Tertullian along with Clement of Alexandria used the word "figure" and "symbol" to define the Eucharist, since in his book Against Marcion implied that: "this
2106-469: A married couple. He believed that marital relations coarsened the body and spirit and would dull their spiritual senses and avert the Holy Spirit since husband and wife became one flesh once married. Tertullian has been criticised as misogynistic , on the basis of the contents of his De Cultu Feminarum , section I.I, part 2 (trans. C.W. Marx): "Do you not know that you are Eve ? The judgment of God upon this sex lives on in this age; therefore, necessarily
2223-490: A nature that it can be said at any time during the day". The Catholic Church has thus restored to the word "vigil" the meaning it had in early Christianity. For those who wish to extend, in accordance with tradition, the celebration of the vigil of Sundays, solemnities and feasts, Appendix I in the book of the Liturgy of the Hours indicates for each three Old Testament canticles and a Gospel reading for optional insertion after
2340-455: A notorious schismatic. Since no ancient writer was more definite (if not indeed fanatical) on this subject of schism than Saint Cyprian, the question must surely be answered in the negative." In the time of Augustine , a group of "Tertullianists" still had a basilica in Carthage, which within the same period passed to the orthodox church. It is unclear whether the name was merely another for
2457-401: A period of tribulation, to be followed by a literal 1000-year reign of Christ. He attacked the use of Greek philosophy in Christian theology. For him, philosophy supported religious idolatry and heresy. He believed that many people became heretical because of relying on philosophy. He stated "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?" Tertullian's views of angels and demons were influenced by
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#17327722462062574-541: A polemicist against heresy , including contemporary Christian Gnosticism . Tertullian was the first theologian to write in Latin, and so has been called "the father of Latin Christianity ", as well as " the founder of Western theology ". He is perhaps most famous for being the first writer in Latin known to use the term trinity (Latin: trinitas ). Tertullian originated new theological concepts and advanced
2691-483: A priest is also questionable. In his extant writings, he never describes himself as ordained in the church and seems to place himself among the laity. His conversion to Christianity perhaps took place about 197–198 (cf. Adolf Harnack , Bonwetsch , and others), but its immediate antecedents are unknown except as they are conjectured from his writings. The event must have been sudden and decisive, transforming at once his own personality. He writes that he could not imagine
2808-623: A reading by the abbot from the Gospels, after which another hymn was sung. In the Roman Breviary , use of which was made obligatory throughout the Latin Church (with exceptions for forms of the Liturgy of the Hours that could show they had been in continuous use for at least two hundred years) by Pope Pius V in 1568, matins and lauds were seen as a single canonical hour, with lauds as an appendage to matins. Its matins began, as in
2925-605: A single nocturn with only three readings. In 1947, Pope Pius XII entrusted examination of the whole question of the Breviary to a commission which conducted a worldwide consultation of the Catholic bishops. He authorized recitation of the psalms in a new Latin translation and in 1955 ordered a simplification of the rubrics. In 1960, Pope John XXIII issued his Code of Rubrics , which assigned nine-readings matins only to first-class and second-class feasts and therefore reduced
3042-529: A truly Christian life without such a conscious breach, a radical act of conversion: "Christians are made, not born" ( Apol ., xviii). Two books addressed to his wife confirm that he was married to a Christian wife. In his middle life (about 207), he was attracted to the "New Prophecy" of Montanism , but today most scholars reject the assertion that Tertullian left the mainstream church or was excommunicated. "[W]e are left to ask whether Saint Cyprian could have regarded Tertullian as his master if Tertullian had been
3159-463: Is another name used for such a Mass attended in fulfilment of the obligation spoken of in the 1983 Code of Canon Law , "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are obliged to participate in the Mass. [...] A person who assists at a Mass celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the feast day itself or in the evening of the preceding day satisfies the obligation of participating in
3276-410: Is compared with the greatest of all evils". He argued that before the coming of Christ, the command to reproduce was a prophetic sign pointing to the coming of the Church; after it came, the command was superseded. He also believed lust for one's wife and for another woman were essentially the same, so that marital desire was similar to adulterous desire. He believed that sex even in marriage would disrupt
3393-414: Is debated which one he was referring to) when he challenged him on the Church forgiving capital sinners and letting them back into the church. He believed that the people who committed grave sins, such as sorcery, fornication and murder, should not be let inside the church. As a Montanist, he attacked the church authorities as more interested in their own political power in the church than in listening to
3510-484: Is difficult to decide since the heritage of Carthage had become common to the Berbers. Tertullian's own understanding of his ethnicity has been questioned: He referred to himself as Poenicum inter Romanos ( lit. ' Punic among Romans ' ) in his book De Pallio and claimed Africa as his patria . According to church tradition, Tertullian was raised in Carthage. Jerome claimed that Tertullian's father held
3627-646: Is discussed by other theorists such as Benjamin H. Dunning. Tertullian had a radical view on the cosmos. He believed that heaven and earth intersected at many points and that it was possible that sexual relations with supernatural beings can occur. Tertullian's writings are edited in volumes 1–2 of the Patrologia Latina , and modern texts exist in the Corpus Christianorum Latinorum . English translations by Sydney Thelwall and Philip Holmes can be found in volumes III and IV of
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3744-578: Is evidence of the practice from the first years of the second century. Pliny the Younger reported in about 112 that Christians gathered on a certain day before light, sang hymns to Christ as to a god and shared a meal. Tertullian (c. 155 – c. 240) speaks of the "nocturnal convocations" ( nocturnae convocationes ) of Christians and their "absence all the night long at the paschal solemnities" ( sollemnibus Paschae abnoctantes ) Cyprian (c. 200 – 258) also speaks of praying at night, but not of doing so as
3861-592: Is my body" should be interpreted as "a figure of my body". While others have also suggested that he believed in a spiritual presence in the Eucharist . Tertullian advises the postponement of baptism of little children and the unmarried, he mentions that it was customary to baptise infants, with sponsors speaking on their behalf. He argued that an infant ran the risk of growing up and then falling into sin, which could cause them to lose their salvation, if they were baptized as infants. Contrary to early Syrian baptismal doctrine and practice, Tertullian describes baptism as
3978-539: Is no pagan religion against which Christians may offend. Christians do not engage in the foolish worship of the emperors, that they do better: they pray for them, and that Christians can afford to be put to torture and to death, and the more they are cast down the more they grow; "the blood of the Christians is seed" ( Apologeticum , 50). In the De Praescriptione he develops as its fundamental idea that, in
4095-568: Is often considered an early proponent of the Nicene doctrine , approaching the subject from the standpoint of the Logos doctrine , though he did not state the later doctrine of the immanent Trinity . In his treatise against Praxeas, who taught patripassianism in Rome, he used the words "trinity", "economy" (used in reference to the three persons), "persons", and "substance", maintaining the distinction of
4212-476: Is one of the two daily times for prayer, the other being Evensong , which combines St. Benedict's Vespers and Compline. In Oriental Orthodox Christianity and Oriental Protestant Christianity , the office is prayed at 6 am, being known as Sapro in the Syriac and Indian traditions; it is prayed facing the eastward direction of prayer by all members in these denominations, both clergy and laity, being one of
4329-614: Is said to have held to a view similar to the Protestant priesthood of all believers and that the distinction of the clergy and the laity is only because of ecclesiastical institution and thus in an absence of a priest the laity can act as priests; his theory on the distinction of the laity and clergy is influenced by Montanism and his early writings do not have the same beliefs. He believed in Iconoclasm . He believed in historic premillennialism : that Christians will go through
4446-484: Is the consubstantial, unitary, and undivided Holy Trinity...Amen. Vigil (liturgy) In Christian liturgy , a vigil is, in origin, a religious service held during the night leading to a Sunday or other feastday. The Latin term vigilia , from which the word is derived meant a watch night, not necessarily in a military context, and generally reckoned as a fourth part of the night from sunset to sunrise. The four watches or vigils were of varying length in line with
4563-505: Is the last of the four night offices, which also include vespers , compline , and midnight office. In traditional monasteries it is celebrated daily so as to end at sunrise. In parishes it is normally served only on Sundays and feast days . Matins is the longest and most complex of the daily cycle of liturgies. The akolouth (fixed portion of the liturgy) is composed primarily of psalms and litanies . The sequences (variable parts) of matins are composed primarily of hymns and canons from
4680-669: Is the longest of the regular orthros liturgies. If celebrated in its entirety it can last up to three hours. In the Syriac Orthodox Church and Indian Orthodox Church (both of which are Oriental Orthodox Churches ), as well as the Mar Thoma Syrian Church (an Oriental Protestant denomination), the Midnight Office is known as Sapro and is prayed at 6 am using the Shehimo breviary. In
4797-505: The Apologeticus , addressed to the Roman magistrates, is a most pungent defense of Christianity and the Christians against the reproaches of the pagans, and an important legacy of the ancient Church, proclaiming the principle of freedom of religion as an inalienable human right and demanding a fair trial for Christians before they are condemned to death. Tertullian was the first to disprove charges that Christians sacrificed infants at
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4914-718: The Book of Common Prayer differs from that of the Tridentine calendar : the primary difference is that the Book of Common Prayer , instead of having the Tridentine calendar Vigils of St. Laurence (10 August) and of the Blessed Virgin Mary's Assumption (15 August), instead has the Vigils of the Blessed Virgin Mary's Annunciation (25 March) and of Her Purification (2 February). In 1879, Pope Leo XIII added to those in
5031-623: The Latin Church to fulfil their canonical obligations by using the 1961 Roman Breviary issued under Pope John XXIII (but not earlier editions such as that of Pius X or Pius V). This is done by traditionalist Catholic communities, such as the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest . In the office of the Church of Jerusalem, of which the pilgrim Ætheria gives us
5148-778: The Midnight office , orthros , and the first hour . Lutherans preserve recognizably traditional Matins , distinct from the office of morning prayer . In the Anglican Daily Office , Matins, occasionally spelled Mattins, combines the hours of Matins and Lauds as established by St. Benedict in Roman Catholicism and observed in England until the Reformation, most grandly in the Sarum Rite . It
5265-596: The Octoechos (an eight-tone cycle of hymns for each day of the week, covering eight weeks), and from the Menaion (hymns for each calendar day of the year). Matins opens with what is called the "Royal Beginning", so called because the psalms (19 and 20) are attributed to King David and speak of the Messiah , the "king of kings"; in former times, the ektenia (litany) also mentioned the emperor by name. The Sunday orthros
5382-573: The Old Testament including many deuterocanonical books , however he never used the books of Chronicles , Ruth , Esther , 2 Maccabees , 2 John and 3 John . He defended the Book of Enoch and he believed that the book was omitted by the Jews from the canon. He believed that the epistle to the Hebrews was made by Barnabas . For Tertullian, scripture was authoritative; he used scripture as
5499-643: The Protestant Reformation , the practice of fasting Vigils was maintained in the Church of England , whose Book of Common Prayer continued to indicate "Evens or Vigils" before 16 annual feasts, noting: "If any of these Feast-Days fall upon a Monday, then the Vigil or Fast-Day shall be kept upon the Saturday, and not upon the Sunday next before it." The 16 feasts were Christmas Day , Purification of
5616-589: The Roman Rite the vigil of the Immaculate Conception, raising the number of vigils to 17. In 1955, Pope Pius XII reduced the number to 7, suppressing the vigils of the Immaculate Conception, Epiphany, and All Saints and all vigils of apostles except that of Saints Peter and Paul. In the 1950s Pope Pius XII instituted a reform of the Easter Vigil , first on an experimental basis, then making it obligatory in 1955. Among other changes, he changed
5733-476: The anti-Jewish Adversus Iudaeos , Adv. Marcionem , Adv. Praxeam , Adv. Hermogenem , De praescriptione hereticorum , and Scorpiace were written to counteract Gnosticism and other religious or philosophical doctrines. The other group consists of practical and disciplinary writings, e.g., De monogamia , Ad uxorem , De virginibus velandis , De cultu feminarum , De patientia , De pudicitia , De oratione , and Ad martyras . Among his apologetic writings,
5850-465: The celebration of the Lord's Supper and committed incest. He pointed to the commission of such crimes in the pagan world and then proved by the testimony of Pliny the Younger that Christians pledged themselves not to commit murder, adultery, or other crimes. He adduced the inhumanity of pagan customs such as feeding the flesh of gladiators to beasts. He argued that the gods have no existence and thus there
5967-502: The seven fixed prayer times . "Matins" is sometimes used in other Protestant denominations to describe any morning service. From the time of the early Church , the practice of seven fixed prayer times have been taught; in Apostolic Tradition , Hippolytus instructed Christians to pray seven times a day "on rising, at the lighting of the evening lamp, at bedtime, at midnight" and "the third, sixth and ninth hours of
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#17327722462066084-682: The 5th century. In the 2nd-century writings of Tertullian, paganus meant a "civilian" who was lacking self-discipline. In De Corona Militis XI.V he writes: The chronology of his writings is difficult to fix with certainty. In his work against Marcion , which he calls his third composition on the Marcionite heresy, he gives its date as the fifteenth year of the reign of Severus ( Adv. Marcionem , i.1, 15) – which would be approximately 208. The writings may be divided according to their subject matter, falling into two groups: Apologetic and polemic writings, like Apologeticus , De testimonio animae ,
6201-402: The 9th century ( De Paradiso, De superstitione saeculi, De carne et anima were all extant in the now damaged Codex Agobardinus in 814 AD). Tertullian's writings cover the whole theological field of the time – apologetics against paganism and Judaism, polemics , polity, discipline, and morals, or the whole reorganization of human life on a Christian basis; they gave a picture of
6318-508: The Apologists in dating His 'perfect generation' from His extrapolation for the work of creation; prior to that moment God could not strictly be said to have had a Son, while after it the term 'Father', which for earlier theologians generally connoted God as author of reality, began to acquire the specialized meaning of Father of the Son." As regards the subjects of subordination of the Son to
6435-545: The Armenian liturgy of the hours, Matins is known as the Midnight Office (Armenian: ի մեջ գիշերի ""i mej gisheri""). The Armenian Book of Hours, or Zhamagirk` (Armenian: Ժամագիրք) states that the Midnight Office is celebrated in commemoration of God the Father. Much of the liturgy consists of the kanon (Armenian: Կանոնագլուխ ""kanonagloukh""), consisting of a sequence of psalms, hymns, prayers, and in some instances readings from
6552-697: The Blessed Virgin Mary , Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Easter Day , Ascension Day , Pentecost , Saint John the Baptist , All Saints , and these eight of the feasts of the Apostles: Saint Andrew (30 November), Saint Thomas (21 December), Saint Matthias (24 February or in a leap year, 25 February), Saints Peter & Paul (29 June), Saint James the Greater (25 July), Saint Bartholomew (24 August), Saint Matthew (21 September), and Saints Simon & Jude (28 October). The List of Vigils in
6669-530: The Book of Enoch. He held that the Nephilim were born out of fallen angels who mingled with human women and had sexual relations. He believed that because of the actions of the watchers as described in the Book of Enoch, men would later judge angels. He believed that angels are inferior to humans, and not made in the image of God. He believed that Angels are imperceptible to our senses, but they may choose to take on
6786-426: The Christian life and that abstinence was the best way to achieve the clarity of the soul. Tertullian's views would later influence much of the western church . Tertullian was the first to introduce a view of "sexual hierarchy": he believed that those who abstain from sexual relations should have a higher hierarchy in the church than those who do not, because he saw sexual relations as a barrier that stopped one from
6903-404: The Epistles of the Apostle Paul . Tertullian's resolve to never marry again and that no one else should remarry eventually led to his break with Rome because the orthodox church refused to follow him in this resolve. He, instead, favored the Montanist sect where they also condemned second marriage. One reason for Tertullian's disdain for marriage was his belief about the transformation that awaited
7020-437: The Eucharistic service. These developed into the monastic celebrations, still called "vigils" in the Rule of Saint Benedict of the canonical hour that was later given the name of matins . In the Middle Ages , entertainments such as dramatic representations of the saint or the event celebrated were added to vigils, but these were open to abuse. A synod held at Rouen in 1231 forbade the holding of "vigils" in church except on
7137-425: The Father belong also to the Son, including his names, such as Almighty God, Most High, Lord of Hosts, or King of Israel. Though Tertullian considered the Father to be God (Yahweh), he responded to criticism of the Modalist Praxeas that this meant that Tertullian's Christianity was not monotheistic by noting that even though there was one God (Yahweh, who became the Father when the Son became his agent of creation),
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#17327722462067254-431: The Father, the New Catholic Encyclopedia has commented: "In not a few areas of theology, Tertullian's views are, of course, completely unacceptable. Thus, for example, his teaching on the Trinity reveals a subordination of Son to Father that in the later crass form of Arianism the Church rejected as heretical." Though he did not fully state the doctrine of the immanence of the Trinity, according to B. B. Warfield, he went
7371-491: The Gospels, varying according to tone of the day, feast, or liturgical season. The Armenian kanon is quite different in form from the canon of the Byzantine matins liturgy, though both likely share a common ancestor in the pre-dawn worship of the Jerusalem liturgy. Introduction (common to all liturgical hours): "Blessed is our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our father...Amen." Fixed Preface “Lord, if you open my lips, my mouth shall declare your praise.” (twice) Acclamation: “Blessed
7488-405: The Mass". Tertullian Tertullian ( / t ər ˈ t ʌ l i ə n / ; Latin : Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus ; c. 155 – c. 220 AD ) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa . He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature and was an early Christian apologist and
7605-449: The North African Montanists or that it means that Tertullian later split with the Montanists and founded his own group. Jerome says that Tertullian lived to old age. By the doctrinal works he published, Tertullian became the teacher of Cyprian and the predecessor of Augustine, a key figure of western theology. Thirty-one works are extant, together with fragments of more. Some fifteen works in Latin or Greek are lost, some as recently as
7722-427: The North African Montanists believed Catholic bishops to be successors of the apostles, the New Testament to be the supreme authority on Christianity and they did not deny most doctrines of the Church. Tertullian was drawn to Montanism, if he was, mainly because of its strict moral standards. He believed that the Church had forsaken the Christian way of life and entered a path of destruction. Tertullianists were
7839-504: The Old Testament. Scripture was a record of the earlier Tradition that should not be interpreted outside that tradition: scripture should not be cherry-picked and early interpretations should be preferred over later ones. Tertullian denied Mary's virginity in partu , and he was quoted by Helvidius in his debate with Jerome. He held similar views as Antidicomarians . J. N. D. Kelly argued that Tertullian believed that Mary had imperfections, thus denying her sinlessness . Tertullian
7956-440: The Roman matins, and with a few special features quite Ambrosian. As revised after the Second Vatican Council , the Ambrosian liturgy of the hours uses for what once called matins either the designation "the part of matins that precedes lLauds in the strict sense" or simply Office of Readings. Its structure is similar to that of the Roman Liturgy of the Hours, with variations such as having on Sundays three canticles, on Saturdays
8073-453: The Son could also be referred to as God, when referred to apart from the Father, because the Son, though subordinate to God, is entitled to be called God "from the unity of the Father" in regards to being formed from a portion of His substance. The Catholic Encyclopedia comments that for Tertullian, "There was a time when there was no Son and no sin, when God was neither Father nor Judge." Similarly J.N.D. Kelly stated: "Tertullian followed
8190-406: The Son from the Father as the unoriginate God, and the Spirit from both the Father and the Son ( Adv. Praxeam , xxv). "These three are one substance, not one person; and it is said, 'I and my Father are one' in respect not of the singularity of number but the unity of the substance." The very names "Father" and "Son" indicate the distinction of personality. The Father is one, the Son is another, and
8307-409: The Spirit is another ( "dico alium esse patrem et alium filium et alium spiritum" Adv. Praxeam , ix)), and yet in defending the unity of God, he says the Son is not other ( "alius a patre filius non est" , ( Adv. Prax. 18) as a result of receiving a portion of the Father's substance. At times, speaking of the Father and the Son, Tertullian refers to "two gods". He says that all things of
8424-517: The Spirit. Tertullian's criticism of Church authorities has been compared to the Protestant reformation . Tertullian's later view of marriage, such as in his book Exhortation to Chastity , may have been heavily influenced by Montanism. He had previously held marriage to be fundamentally good, but after his conversion he denied its goodness. He argues that marriage is considered to be good "when it
8541-403: The all-night vigil liturgy held at Easter. A similar liturgy came to be held in the night that led to any Sunday. By the fourth century this Sunday vigil had become a daily observance, but no longer lasted throughout the night. What had been an all-night vigil became a liturgy only from cockcrow to before dawn. Saint Benedict wrote about it as beginning at about 2 in the morning ("the eighth hour of
8658-510: The appellation God, in the sense of the ultimate originator of all things, to the Father, who made the world out of nothing though his Son, the Word, has corporeity, though he is a spirit ( De praescriptione , vii.; Adv. Praxeam , vii). However Tertullian used 'corporeal' only in the Stoic sense, to mean something with actual material existence, rather than the later idea of flesh. Tertullian
8775-434: The churches of Jerusalem in the early 380s. During the 3rd century and 4th century, in addition to the celebration of Mass, it was customary to hold a vigil, a prayer service in three parts, as night-watches in preparation for the feast. Commenced in the evening, a vigil terminated only the following morning. Its liturgical was elastic, involving readings, singing of psalms, homilies, chants, and various prayers, followed by
8892-504: The continuance of the prophetic gifts. Geoffrey D. Dunn writes that "Some of Tertullian's treatises reveal that he had much in common with Montanism ... To what extent, if at all, this meant that he joined a group that was schismatic (or, to put it another way, that he left the church) continues to be debated". On the principle that we should not look at or listen to what we have no right to practise, and that polluted things, seen and touched, pollute ( De spectaculis , viii, xvii), he declared
9009-437: The day, being hours associated with Christ's Passion." With respect to praying in the early morning, Hippolytus wrote: "Likewise, at the hour of the cock-crow, rise and pray. Because at this hour, with the cock-crow, the children of Israel refused Christ, who we know through faith, hoping daily in the hope of eternal light in the resurrection of the dead." The every-night monastic canonical hour that later became known as matins
9126-542: The day, often in conjunction with lauds. In the Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Catholic Church , Matins is also called “the Office of Readings”, which includes several psalms, a chapter of a book of Scripture (assigned according to the liturgical seasons), and a reading from the works of patristic authors or saints. In the Byzantine Rite , these vigils correspond to the aggregate comprising
9243-454: The days of the week, the longer psalms were divided into shorter portions, as only the very long Psalm 118/119 had been previously. Matins no longer had 18 psalms on Sundays, 12 on ordinary days and 9 on the more important feasts: on every day it had 9 psalms, either distributed among three nocturns or recited all together, maintaining the distinction between celebrations as three nocturns with nine readings (including Sundays) and those arranged as
9360-508: The development of early Church doctrine. However, some of his teachings, such as the subordination of the Son and Spirit to the Father , were later rejected by the Church. According to Jerome , he later joined the Montanist sect and may have apostasized ; however, modern scholars dispute this. Scant reliable evidence exists regarding Tertullian's life; most knowledge comes from passing references in his own writings. Roman Africa
9477-558: The eighth century, but most are of the fifteenth. There are five main collections of Tertullian's works, known as the Cluniacense , Corbeiense , Trecense , Agobardinum and Ottobonianus . Some of Tertullian's works are lost . All the manuscripts of the Corbeiense collection are also now lost, although the collection survives in early printed editions. Tertullian's main doctrinal teachings are as follows: Tertullian reserves
9594-641: The end of the dawn office (until excised in the 1911 reform of the Roman Breviary by Pope Pius X ; see Lauds ), was applied to the whole of that office, substituting for the lost name of "matins" or variants such as laudes matutinae (morning praises) and matutini hymni (morning hymns). An early instance of the application of the named "matins" to the vigil office is that of the Council of Tours in 567 , which spoke of ad matutinum sex antiphonae . The Rule of Saint Benedict clearly distinguished matins as
9711-413: The evening before. By exception, the celebration of Sundays and solemnities begins already on the evening of the preceding day. In the Liturgy of the Hours , the canonical hour that used to be called matins and that Benedictine monks celebrated at about 2 a.m. is now called the Office of Readings. "While retaining its nocturnal character for those who wish to celebrate a vigil, [it] is now of such
9828-410: The great vigils or pannychides , with their complex and varied display of processions, psalmodies, etc. The same liturgy also preserved vigils of long psalmody. This nocturnal office adapted itself at a later period to a more modern form, approaching more and more closely to the Roman liturgy. Here too were found the three nocturns, with Antiphon , psalms, lessons, and responses, the ordinary elements of
9945-490: The guilt should live on also. You are the gateway of the devil; you are the one who unseals the curse of that tree, and you are the first one to turn your back on the divine law; you are the one who persuaded him whom the devil was not capable of corrupting; you easily destroyed the image of God, Adam . Because of what you deserve, that is, death, even the Son of God had to die." The critic Amy Place notes, however, that "Revisionist studies later rehabilitated" Tertullian. This
10062-460: The hour of the service from Holy Saturday morning to after sunset in the following night, thus restoring it to something like the original meaning of a Christian vigil service. The Code of Rubrics published by his successor Pope John XXIII in 1960 explicitly recognized the altered character of the Easter Vigil, which made no longer applicable to it the definition of "vigil", as the "eve of
10179-438: The hours of night — no idle and reckless waste of the occasions of prayer" ( nulla sint horis nocturnis precum damna, nulla orationum pigra et ignava dispendia ). The Apostolic Tradition speaks of prayer at midnight and again at cockcrow, but seemingly as private, not communal, prayer. At an earlier date, Pliny the Younger reported in about 112 that Christians gathered on a certain day before light, sang hymns to Christ as to
10296-460: The jurist Tertullianus, who is quoted in the Pandects . Although Tertullian used a knowledge of Roman law in his writings, his legal knowledge does not demonstrably exceed what could be expected from a sufficient Roman education. The writings of Tertullianus, a lawyer of the same agnomen , exist only in fragments and do not explicitly denote a Christian authorship. The notion of Tertullian being
10413-566: The laity can give the baptism. According to James Puglisi, Tertullian interpreted that in Matthew 16:18–19 "the rock" refers to Peter. For him, Peter is the type of the one Church and its origins, this Church, is now present in a variety of local churches. He also believed that the power to "bind and unbind" has passed from Peter to the apostles and prophets of the Montanist church, not the bishops. He mocked Pope Calixtus or Agrippinus (it
10530-435: The law of St. Paul for women and keep themselves strictly veiled ( De virginibus velandis ). He praised the unmarried state as the highest ( De monogamia , xvii; Ad uxorem , i.3) and called upon Christians not to allow themselves to be excelled in the virtue of celibacy by Vestal Virgins and Egyptian priests. He even labeled second marriage a species of adultery ( De exhortatione castitatis , ix), but this directly contradicted
10647-825: The listed solemnities falls on a Sunday (as Easter and Pentecost always do) is there a difference between the readings and prayers at the Saturday evening Mass and Mass on the Sunday itself. While the Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar thus give a restricted meaning to the term "vigil Mass", the same term is sometimes used in a broader sense as indicated by the Collins English Dictionary definition: "a Mass held on Saturday evening, attendance at which fulfils one's obligation to attend Mass on Sunday". An "anticipated Mass"
10764-428: The middle of the night is as old as the Church. Tertullian ( c. 155 – c. 240 ) speaks of the "nocturnal convocations" ( nocturnae convocationes ) of Christians and their "absence all the night long at the paschal solemnities" ( sollemnibus Paschae abnoctantes ) Cyprian ( c. 200 – 258) also speaks of praying at night, but not of doing so as a group: "Let there be no failure of prayers in
10881-510: The monastic matins, with versicles and the invitatory Psalm 94 (Psalm 95 in the Masoretic text) chanted or recited in the responsorial form, that is to say, by one or more cantors singing one verse, which the choir repeated as a response to the successive verses sung by the cantors. A hymn was then sung. After that introduction, Sunday matins had three sections (" nocturns "), the first with 12 psalms and 3 very short scriptural readings;
10998-469: The night") and ending in winter well before dawn (leaving an interval in which the monks were to devote themselves to study or meditation), but having to be curtailed in summer in order to celebrate lauds at daybreak. The word matins is derived from the Latin adjective matutinus , meaning 'of or belonging to the morning'. It was at first applied to the psalms recited at dawn, but later became attached to
11115-458: The nights of the week). English versions of this document often obscure its use of the term vigil, translating it as "Night Hour" or "Night Office". Thus Leonard J. Doyle's English version uses "Night Office" to represent indifferently the unaccompanied noun vigilia ("vigil"), the phrase nocturna vigilia ("nightly vigil"), and the phrases nocturna hora ("night hour) and nocturna laus ("nocturnal praise"). The practice of rising for prayer in
11232-473: The nighttime hour, to which he applied Psalm 118/119 :62, "At midnight I rise to praise you, because of your righteous rules". The word vigil also took on a different meaning: not only a prayerful night watch before a religious feast, but the day before a feast. The canonical hour began with the versicle "Lord, open our lips: And we shall praise your name" (the latter said three times) followed by Psalm 3 and Psalm 94/95 (the invitatory ). The invitatory
11349-409: The patronal saint's feast alone and totally excluded the holding of dances in church or churchyard. The liturgical celebration was moved to the morning hours and thus disassociated from the secular festivities, with the result that the word "vigil" took on the meaning of "the day before a feast", and the self-denial of the nighttime celebration was replaced by fasting on that preceding day. Even after
11466-480: The person who originally invested the consecrated virgin as the "bride of Christ", which helped to bring the independent virgin under patriarchal rule. Scholars in the past accepting the Montanist theory have also divided his work into earlier Catholic works and the later supposedly Montanist works (cf. Harnack, ii.262 sqq.), aiming to show the change of views Tertullian's mind underwent. The earliest manuscript (handwritten copy) of any of Tertullian's works dates to
11583-566: The position of centurio proconsularis ("aide-de-camp") in the Roman army in Africa. Tertullian has been claimed to have been a trained lawyer and an ordained priest. Those assertions rely on the accounts of Eusebius of Caesarea , Church History , II, ii. 4, and Jerome 's De viris illustribus ( On famous men ) chapter 53. Tertullian has also been thought to be a lawyer, based on his use of legal analogies and on an identification of him with
11700-416: The prayer originally offered, according to the fourth-century Apostolic Constitutions , at cockcrow and, according to the sixth-century Rule of Saint Benedict , at could be calculated to be the eighth hour of the night (the hour that began at about 2 a.m.). Between the vigil office and the dawn office in the long winter nights there was an interval, which "should be spent in study by those [monks] who need
11817-430: The primary source in almost every chapter of his every work, and very rarely anything else. He seems to prioritize the authority of scripture above anything else. When interpreting scripture, he would occasionally believe passages to be allegorical or symbolic, while in other places he would support a literal interpretation. He would especially use allegorical interpretations when dealing with Christological prophecies of
11934-430: The readings of Sunday matins to three. In 1970, Pope Paul VI published a revised form of the Liturgy of the Hours , in which the psalms were arranged in a four-week instead of a one-week cycle, but the variety of other texts was greatly increased, in particular the scriptural and patristic readings, while the hagiographical readings were purged of non-historical legendary content. What had previously been called matins
12051-406: The recitation of canticles in addition to the psalms. Outside monasteries few rose at night to pray. The canonical hour of the vigil was said in the morning, followed immediately by lauds, and the name of "matins" became attached to the lengthier part of what was recited at that time of the day, while the name of "lauds", a name originally describing only the three Psalms 148−150 recited every day at
12168-493: The regular readings. The Gospel reading may be followed by a homily. A few solemnities are "endowed with their own Vigil Mass , which is to be used on the evening of the preceding day, if an evening Mass is celebrated". The readings and prayers of such vigil Masses differ from the texts in the Masses to be celebrated on the day itself. The solemnities that have a vigil Mass are: Sundays as such have no vigil Mass: only if one of
12285-409: The religious life and thought of the time which is of great interest to the church historian. Like other early Christian writers Tertullian used the term paganus to mean "civilian" as a contrast to the "soldiers of Christ". The motif of Miles Christi did not assume the literal meaning of participation in war until Church doctrines justifying Christian participation in battle were developed around
12402-585: The rest of the year. On Sundays, the office was longer, and therefore began a little earlier. Each set of six psalms was followed by four readings instead of three after the first set and a single recitation by heart after the second set. Then three canticles taken from Old Testament books other than the Psalms were recited, followed by four readings from the New Testament, the singing of the Te Deum , and
12519-442: The seasonal variation of the length of the night. The English term " wake ", which later became linked to a gathering before a funeral , also denoted originally such a prayer service, and the term "vigil" is even now also used for a funeral service of that kind. The practice of rising for prayer in the middle of the night is "as old as the church herself". It may be inspired by Jesus Christ's example of praying all night. There
12636-477: The second with 3 psalms and 3 equally short patristic readings; and the third with 3 psalms and 3 short extracts from a homily. Matins of feasts of double or semidouble rank had 3 nocturns, each with 3 psalms and 3 readings. On a feast of simple rank, a feria or a vigil day, matins had 12 psalms and 3 readings with no division into nocturns. The psalms used at matins in the Roman Breviary from Sunday to Saturday were Psalms 1−108/109 in consecutive order, omitting
12753-525: The wind, and one of the Psalms says to the Lord: "A thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night." The sixth-century Rule of Saint Benedict uses the term vigiliae ("vigils") fifteen times to speak of these celebrations, accompanying it four times with the adjective nocturnae ("nocturnal") and once with the words septem noctium ("of the seven nights", i.e.,
12870-408: The word vigil the meaning it had in early Christianity. Pope John XIII's Code of Rubrics still used the word vigil to mean the day before a feast, but recognized the quite different character of the Easter Vigil , which, "since it is not a liturgical day, is celebrated in its own way, as a night watch". The Roman liturgy now uses the term vigil either in this sense of "a night watch" or with regard to
12987-460: Was an advocate of discipline and an austere code of practise, and like many of the African fathers, one of the leading representatives of the rigorist element in the early Church. His writings on public amusements, the veiling of virgins, the conduct of women, and the like, reflect these opinions. His views may have led him to adopt Montanism with its ascetic rigor and its belief in chiliasm and
13104-400: Was at first called a vigil, from Latin vigilia . For soldiers, this word meant a three-hour period of being on the watch during the night. Even for civilians, night was commonly spoken of as divided into four such watches: the Gospels use the term when recounting how, at about "the fourth watch of the night", Jesus came to his disciples who in their boat were struggling to make headway against
13221-485: Was famous as the home of orators , and that influence can be seen in his writing style with its archaisms or provincialisms, its glowing imagery and its passionate temper. He was a scholar with an excellent education. He wrote at least three books in Koine Greek ; none of them are extant. Some sources describe him as Berber . The linguist René Braun suggested that he was of Punic origin but acknowledged that it
13338-531: Was followed by a responsory . The second set of six psalms was followed by a passage from the Apostle Paul recited by heart and by some prayers. The Night Office then concluded with a versicle and a litany that began with Kyrie eleison . Since summer nights are shorter, from Easter to October a single passage from the Old Testament, recited by heart, took the place of the three readings used during
13455-423: Was given the name of "Office of Readings" (Officium lectionis and was declared appropriate for celebrating at any hour, while preserving its nocturnal character for those who wished to celebrate a vigil. For that purpose alternative hymns are provided and an appendix contains material, in particular canticles and readings from the Gospels, to facilitate celebration of a vigil. The Catholic Church has thus restored to
13572-410: Was the reform of the Roman Breviary by Pope Pius X in 1911, resulting in what Pope Paul VI called "a new Breviary". The reservation of Psalms 1-108/109 to matins and the consecutive order within that group were abandoned, and, apart from the invitatory psalm, which continued in its place at matins every day, no psalm was ordinarily repeated within the same week. To facilitate an even distribution among
13689-479: Was to be recited slowly out of consideration for any late-arriving monk, since anyone appearing after its conclusion was punished by having to stand in a place apart. After this a hymn was sung. Next came two sets of six psalms followed by readings. (Such sets would later be called nocturns .) The first set was of six psalms followed by three readings from the Old or New Testaments or from Church Fathers . Each reading
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