The Celebration of the Eucharist in the Carthusian Order in the Light of the First Liturgical Sources Published after the Trent Reform

Abstract

The Carthusian Order established by St Bruno of Cologne (died 1101) in La Grande Chartreuse (Latin: Carthusia), France, belongs to communities that in their charisma combine cenobitic and eremitical life. The rule of the Order, called Consuetudines Cartusiae, was written by the fifth prior of the Chartreuse Guiges II (died about 1188) after St Bruno had already died. Due to the fact that the first monastic community was founded in the area of the Grenoble Diocese, Carthusians took over many liturgical customs known in Lyon. However, taking into consideration the unchanging specific character of the order, a liturgical autonomy going back to the Middle Ages has been preserved for centuries.

The way in which the maxim about the invariability of the customs concerns the liturgy of the Holy Mass in the Carthusian Order after the Trent Council reform is an interesting issue. Learning about the Ordo Missae described in the Carthusian directories and recorded in the first edition of liturgical books binding in the order is the answer to this question. In 1582 a new Ordinarium Cartusiense was published in Paris, and in the same year a commission was established during the assembly of the General Chapter in order to do a revision of liturgical books on the basis of new books published after the Council of Trent. The first result was publishing a new collection of homilies for the officium divinum in 1585, and a new breviary in 1587. The amended missal was published in 1603 (Missale Cartusiani Ordinis). On the basis of the preserved sources, in comparison with the books of reform of the Roman books, as well as in comparison with later liturgical books, differences may be seen in celebrating the Eucharist in the Carthusian Order in the first period after the Council of Trent.

The liturgical sources coming from the Carthusian Order allow knowing the way, in which the Holy Mass was celebrated. Showing the celebration of the Holy Mass described in the Carthusian Ordinarium of 1582 and presented in the first edition of the Carthusian missal after the Council of Trent, in 1603, is an interesting issue. A comparison of the texts with the Ordo Missae of the first post-Trent Roman Missal of 1570 allows showing similarities to and differences from the Roman liturgy of that time.

The celebration of the Eucharist in the Carthusian Order was adjusted to the Carthusians’ severe, eremitical way of life. Differences may be noticed in the very structure of the liturgical texts as well as in the assumed postures and attitudes. It is interesting that the Carthusians started the celebration of the Eucharist on the Gospel side, and not in the middle of the altar. Prayers at the steps were much shorter than in the Roman liturgy. Differences may be also pointed to in the very texts of such prayers as Confiteor, Misereatur, or in the inverted order of the words in the hymn Gloria. Similarly simplified formulas occurred in the liturgy of the word. The differences also include the fact that the deacon only wore the stole at the time of reading the Gospel, and did it in a way that was different from the way in the Roman liturgy. It should also be stressed that a Carthusian celebrating the Holy Mass never knelt – also when he said the words of the origin – but only bowed and slightly bended his legs at the knees. There are also many differences during the offertory. Peculiarities include the fact that as soon as at the beginning of preparation of the gifts the celebrant washed his hands. In the Carthusian tradition also many prayers over the bread and wine did not occur; although they were said in the Roman liturgy. The celebrant only said the De latere Domini – when he poured water into the cup, and when he lifted up the Host and the cup he recited: In spiritu humilitatis… Also another test, the Orate fratres is transmitted by the Carthusian sources. The differences between the Carthusian tradition and the Roman one also includes holding stretched arms over the gifts during the reciting of the secreta.

The Canon of the Mass is the center of the Eucharist; in its content it was nearly the same in the Carthusian as in the Roman liturgy. Mentioning, besides the name of the pope and the bishop, that of the king by the Carthusians, as well as the inverted order in the prayer Unde et memores, are also differences. The way the hands were put deserve special attention. When the rubrics said that the hands had to be spread, the celebrant put them in the shape of the cross, and when he took a deep bow in order to say the Supplices te rogamus, he crossed them on his breast. Some differences also occurred in the rites of the Holy Communion – the Carthusians said only one prayer, beginning with the words Domine Jesu Christe, and not two, like in the Roman liturgy, and many texts and verses were not said that had been recorded in the Roman liturgy in 1570. Also, before the Holy Communion the priest said Agnus Dei only once, and for a second and third time he did so after he had received Christ’s Body and Blood. The peculiarities also include the fact that at the end of the Holy Mass the celebrant never imparted a blessing.

The celebration of the Holy Mass in the Carthusian Order in the period just after the reform of the Council of Trent echoed the liturgical traditions of the Middle Ages, known in the Lyon Diocese as early as the 10^th and 11^th centuries. Studying both the texts and a little different forms of celebration lets one see the Eucharist also as the center of contemplative life that was led in the order considered the strictest one in the Western Church.