Ecclesiastical leadership in the Iberian peninsula held the liturgy in high esteem as a means of communicating the truths of the Christian faith. Spanish liturgical creativity, therefore, was marked by a stress on doctrinal precision.
The Spanish liturgy, also known rather inaccurately as Mozarabic or Visigothic, is the autonomous liturgy that was in constant use in Spain from the beginning of the sixth century until it was suppressed by the Council of Braga (1080) at the insistence of Pope Gregory VII (1073–1085). At the time of its codification, when Visigothic rule reached its greatest extension (seventh century), the Spanish rite was celebrated throughout the Iberian peninsula and in the religion of southwestern France known as Gallia Narbonese. After its suppression, it continued to be celebrated in a few parish churches for a time, and with intermittent periods of complete abandonment, in a single chapel at the cathedral of Toledo into the twentieth century.
Among the surviving manuscripts of the Spanish liturgy, there are dittici (variable texts for the Eucharist) that may have been copied from third-century sources and constitute the major evidence of a native liturgical patrimony. In the dittici contained in the missale mixtum of Cisneros (sixteenth century), there is a resonance with both the letters of Cyprian of Carthage (d. 258) and the Acta of the martyrdom of St. Fructuoso of Tarragona (d. 258) who, like Cyprian, suffered under the persecution of Valerian.
Although inspired by the Roman libelli of variable texts, neither the Spanish nor the Gallican authors renounced the order of the Mass they had received as part of their ancient liturgical patrimony. The Spanish left the prayer of the faithful and the kiss of peace where they had been after the liturgy of the Word and composed a series of variable texts for them (ad orationem; ad pacem) in addition to the variable inlatio, post sanctus and post pridie which formed their eucharistic prayer. Thus, in contrast to the Roman system, which spread variable texts throughout the Mass but maintained a fixed canon, the Spanish concentrated their variable texts at the center of the celebration.
In spite of the relative independence of individual pieces, the Spanish used brief formulas (remnants of the old improvisational structure?) to make a transition from one piece to the next. With this system it was possible to achieve innumerable variations on the same theme, and at the same time give a sense of unity and cohesion to the whole euchological complex. The aim for unity and cohesion with great variety is a distinguishing trait of the Spanish authors and one that was maintained throughout the evolution of the rite.
This characteristic is apparent as well in the richness, harmony, and refinement of the chants and orations of the office books and in the Liber Ordinum (ritual/pontifical for other sacramental celebrations). The coordination of the Mass and hours with the other sacramental celebrations is also worthy of note; for example, there was not only a votive Mass for marriage, for the sick, for the dead, but a votive office in each case as well. The ritual/pastoral care extended beyond the actual exchange of rings, anointing, or burial to include the entire liturgical life of the community and the role of the individual in that life. The introduction to the Lord’s Prayer in the votive Mass for the sick illustrates the strong ecclesial sense in the Spanish rite; it ends: “so that when the sickness of body and soul has been driven out, these who are ill may pray with us, saying, ‘Our Father … ’ ” (Férotin, Liber Ordinum, col. 377).
Several historical factors contributed to the systematic codification of the Spanish rite. From the times of its invasion by the Arian Visigoths in 414 until the invitation of the Moors in 711, the Iberian peninsula was politically united. With the conversion to Catholicism of the entire kingdom in 589, political unity was reinforced by religious unity. The resulting climate favored the collection, codification, and eventual standardization of liturgical texts and practices.
In addition, because their greatest liturgical creativity postdates that of the other Western rites, the Spanish could incorporate the “teaching” of liturgical texts from other rites, the canons of the Christological councils, and the liturgical theology in the patristic sermons of such as Augustine and Leo. As in Milan, the liturgy in Spain was considered the most efficient means for planting the truths of the faith in the minds and hearts of the Christian people and was purposely formulated with orthodox precision. In part, this explains why the Spanish authors of this era applied themselves to the composition of liturgical texts instead of the production of ascetical or dogmatic treatises, exegetical commentaries on the Scriptures, or long homiletic sermons.
A clear example of their high esteem for the liturgy is the De ecclesiasticis officiis of Isidore of Seville (d. 636), the first treatise on the liturgy which not only describes the local rite but contains much useful information about Milanese and African uses as well. Complementing Isidore’s treatise are the invaluable liturgical canons of the synods and councils, especially the “national” Councils of Toledo IV–X (633–656). Knowing their own rite to be in a state of flux, the council fathers enumerated and illustrated the ancient liturgical uses which they felt should be maintained by all but simultaneously provided a forum for exchanging the innovations of the liturgical creativity which flourished in the various provinces. As a result, the Spanish rite represented euchological schools from several provinces: Tarragona —St. Eugenius (d. 657); Seville—Sts. Leander (d. c. 600) and Isadore (d. 636); Braga-Profuturus (fl. c. 538) and St. Martin (d. 580); Toledo—Sts. Eugenio II (d. 657), Ildefonso (d. 667), and Juliano (d. 690). The saintly bishops of Toledo were responsible for the definitive form of the liturgical books that survived the subsequent onslaughts of the Moslem invasion, Carolingian expansion, and theological controversies that would reach a climax in the Gregorian suppression of 1080.
With regard to the office, the Spanish and Gallican churches maintained a strict distinction between “cathedral” and “monastic” hours. Iberian councils directed that monastic and ecclesiastical customs should not be mixed (Braga 563, canon 1); and that monks were not permitted to use the public churches for anything but cathedral services: matins, vespers, and Mass (II Toledo 675, canon 3). One of the earliest books produced in the Spanish rite is the Liber psalmographus, an office book filled with several series of psalm prayers that constituted a veritable commentary on the Psalms, most of which have been given a Christological and ecclesiological interpretation.
The Spanish order is outlined as follows:
PREGENDUM with psalm
Trisagion
Greeting
LESSON (PROPHETIC)
Psallendum/Psallmo (Trenos in Lent)
[*Clamor on certain days]
EPISTLE
GOSPEL
Laudes
Dismissal of catechumens
Sacrificium with verses for offertory procession
Missa (bidding)
Alia oratio
Nomina Offerentium
Diptychs
Post Nomina
Ad Pacem
Pax
Preface Dialogue (“Aures ad dominum” … “Sursum corda” … “Deo ac Domino nostro, Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto, dignas laudes et gratias referamus” … )
Inlatio and *Sanctus
Post Sanctus
Missa Secreta (Institution Narrative)
Post Pridie
Laudes ad Confractionem
[Creed on Sundays and Feasts]
Ad orationem Dominicam
Lord’s Prayer and variable embolism
Commixtio and Trisagion
Benedictio (Three-fold Blessing of the people)
COMMUNION
Invitation to communion
Ad Accedentes (variable, often beginning with Pss. 33–34)
Communion
Completuria post-communion prayer (after tenth century)
DISMISSAL