Sunday 2 August 2015

The Consilium and ad experimentum lectionaries, 1965-69

A couple of new lectionary resources for you all!

Between 1965 and 1969, the Consilium gave permission to many countries regarding the use of ad experimentum lectionaries for use on weekdays and on occasions such as confirmations, weddings, funerals, etc. These permissions were detailed every so often in the journal Notitiae, which I recently had the opportunity to go through. My resource Permissions given by the Consilium for the use of ad experimentum lectionaries, 1965-69 collects them into two tables: one organised by date, the other organised alphabetically by country/diocese/order. It is perhaps surprising quite how many countries asked for and were given permission to experiment with the readings at Mass (around 60 countries/areas, as well as 5 dioceses and 3 religious orders)!

The weekday lectionaries were the first experiments in this area authorised by the Consilium, but from the beginning of 1967 permissions to use experimental sets of readings for particular occasions such as marriages and funerals started to be given. This culminated in the Consilium's Lectionaria particularia, published in its entirety in Notitiae 4 (1968), and tabulated in my resource Text and Tables of the Consilium’s « Lectionaria particularia ». There are ten sets of readings in total. Conferences of Bishops could ask permission - which would readily be given - to use some or all of the sets of readings contained in it.

Finally, a reminder that for more information on the experimental weekday lectionaries, you can see the posts and resources on the German and French schemes!