The procession as a practice of the Christian Church originates in the
triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. All four evangelists record the
event and all four make mention of the hosannas and acclamations of the
people which accompanied it.[1] True, the procession is older than
Christianity and wider in observance. It seems to be a natural impulse
of humanity in all ages and in all lands to make orderly progress from
one place to another for the expression of communal joy or lamentation
or to seek the aid and blessing of supernatural power in the activities
and vicissitudes of life.
Processional ceremonies as they were observed in ancient oriental
civilizations or in the culture of Greece and Rome are not considered
here, except as they may have affected Christian origins. The purpose of
this chapter is to describe the background and setting of processional
forms which, in their evolution, gave rise to a continuity of hymns; to
trace the origin, development and distinguishing features of such
processional hymns in the Middle Ages and to display processional
hymnody in its distinctive character as a separate category of medieval
Latin hymnology.
Prior to the fourth century the record is obscure. Miscellaneous notices
begin to appear in the last quarter of the century. Basil notes a
procession in the form of a litany (c. 375). Ambrose mentions a
procession of monks (c. 388) and also refers to a procession in Rome
honoring Sts. Peter and Paul, in his hymn, _Apostolorum passio_, “The
passion of the Apostles,” (A. H. 50. 17). Chrysostom was active in
organizing processions in Constantinople to offset Arian influence
(390-400).[2] At the same period, 379-388, Aetheria (St. Sylvia of
Aquitania?) made her pilgrimage to the holy places of Palestine,
describing in her journal in detail, the ceremonies enacted in the
worship of the Christian Church at Jerusalem.[3]
Remarkable in all respects, Aetheria’s narrative is obviously written in
a spirit of devotion with eager curiosity and joyful appreciation. She
describes, among other observances, the Hour services, especially the
_lucernare_ when hymns were sung, the Sunday procession to the Anastasis
or Church of the Resurrection which marked the tomb of Jesus and the
procession and rites for the Feasts of the Epiphany, Ypapanti or
Presentation of Christ in the temple, Palm Sunday and Easter.[4] Hymns
in which the laity as well as the clergy participated are mentioned in
connection with these ceremonies but no specific hymn is named. The
immediate purpose of the processions at Jerusalem appears to have been
the enactment of scenes in the life of Jesus in the places where they
occurred, introducing a dramatic element which pervades medieval
processional observances throughout their history.
Aetheria uses the words psalm, antiphon and hymn in connection with the
musical parts of the worship she observed, but not indiscriminately. She
was probably familiar with hymns as they had developed in the fourth
century both in the eastern and western churches. It has been assumed
that the hymn sung at the daily lighting of the candles was _Phos
hilaron_, “O gladsome light.”[5] The hymns she heard at the Good Friday
observance have been tentatively identified as the _Idiomela_ for Good
Friday, traditional in Byzantine ritual.[6] In any case they were true
hymns, perhaps of a metrical, or more probably of a rhythmical type. It
is impossible to identify the processional hymns of which she speaks.
All that can be asserted is that non-scriptural, as well as scriptural
hymns, were sung in the processions at Jerusalem.
In Constantinople, contemporary processions have already been mentioned.
The practice of Jerusalem was also adopted there. In the sixth century
under Justinian, the Feast of Ypapanti was introduced.[7] However, the
history of Byzantine processions must be omitted from this study which
is devoted primarily to the Latin West.
In Rome, the Christian procession had an independent origin, being
derived in part from the memorial honors paid to the Christian martyrs
and in part from the Christianization of pagan ceremonies. When the
period of persecution of Christianity had come to a close and the
triumphant Church was able to assert publicly her influence and
authority at Rome, processions were made as early as the fifth century
to the places where martyrs had suffered. This is the origin of the
later station procession, followed by the celebration of mass in the
various churches where the remains of martyrs removed from the catacombs
were buried. A century earlier in Milan, Ambrose had discovered and
removed the bodies of St. Protasius and of St. Gervasius from their
original burial place to a church newly erected in their honor.[8] Pope
Gregory the Great (590-604) observed the Roman stations and Pope Sergius
(687-701) completed their organization.[9] The processions were
accompanied by the chanting of psalms but there is no record of
non-scriptural hymns. The symbolism of the procession, however, was
enriched by the idea of pilgrimage to a spot made sacred by martyrdom, a
continuing processional motive throughout the Middle Ages.
While the station processions developed in the vicinity of Rome, the
litany processions arose in Gaul. Mametus, the Bishop of Vienne, 474,
inaugurated the _litania minor_ or the public blessing of the fields and
crops in the spring season. In 511, the Council of Orleans ordained the
observance for Gaul, and the Council of Girona, in 517, for Spain. The
_litaniae minores_ or rogations, perpetuate in their intent, processions
of the Roman era. The _litaniae maiores_ which were prescribed by
Gregory the Great, 598, and Leo III (795-816), were of similar origin
and purpose. A _litania septiformis_ was also organized by Gregory on
the occasion of a pestilence at Rome.[10] The _litania maior_ came to be
observed on April 25, St. Mark’s day, and the _litaniae minores_ in the
three days preceding Ascension. Psalms but not hymns in the sense of
non-scriptural compositions were heard in the litanies. The procession
of supplication common alike to pagan and Christian practice is
illustrated in the litanies, a constant motive and a constant observance
in medieval rites.
It seems clear, therefore, that primitive Christian processions in Rome
consisted of stations and litanies. Festival processions were introduced
into the west gradually. Ascension is spoken of as an ancient feast but
there is no specific evidence of its observance before the middle of the
fourth century. The Ascension procession, implied by Aetheria in her
journal, is unknown in Rome at this time.[11] Pope Sergius imported into
Rome the festival procession for Candlemas or the Feast of the
Purification of the Virgin. The Feast of Ypapanti or Presentation,
originally observed in Jerusalem and later adopted in Constantinople, as
noted above, gained in the transfer a new feature. The carrying of
lighted candles, not mentioned by Aetheria, seems to have been added in
Byzantine practice. The words spoken by Simeon of the infant Jesus, “a
light to lighten the Gentiles” (Luke 2. 32) made the symbolic use of
lights almost inevitable. The date of the Feast of the Purification,
February 2, was approximately that of the pagan _Amburbium_ or
_Amburbale_, an early Roman procession of lustration which had taken
place in that month. Possibly the procession for the Feast is
reminiscent of this pagan practice.[12] It might be of interest to
follow in closer detail the origin of the medieval Candlemas, but
attention must be directed to the Candlemas hymns later to be written
and sung in procession at this Feast.
The period of Christian processional origins which may be considered to
close with the seventh century, saw the development of the processions
at Jerusalem, their adoption in Constantinople and the evolution of the
stations and litanies in the west. Festival processions also, were
slowly making their way into the Western Church.[13]