The ''Roman Martyrology'' ( la, Martyrologium Romanum) is the official

martyrology A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by n ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved appendices to it. It provides an extensive but not exhaustive list of the saints recognized by the Church.

History

In 1582,

Pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...

decreed a revision of the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...

, creating a new system, now called, after him, the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

. The ''Roman Martyrology'' was first published in 1583. A second edition was published in the same year. The third edition, in 1584, was made obligatory wherever the Roman Rite was in use.Catholic Encyclopedia, article ''Martyrology''
/ref> The main source was the

Martyrology of Usuard The ''Martyrology of Usuard'' is a work by Usuard, a monk of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.Pope Gregory I and the works of some of the Fathers, and for the Greek saints by the catalogue known as the Menologion of Sirlet. Its origins can be traced back to the

Martyrologium Hieronymianum The ''Martyrologium Hieronymianum'' (meaning "martyrology of Jerome") or ''Martyrologium sancti Hieronymi'' (meaning "martyrology of Saint Jerome") is an ancient martyrology or list of Christian martyrs in calendar order, one of the most used a ...

, which was originally based on calendars of Roman, African and Syrian provenance, but to which were gradually added names of many saints from other areas, resulting in a number of duplications, fusions of different saints into one, and other mistakes. Very soon, in 1586 and again in 1589, revised editions were published with corrections by Caesar Baronius along with indications of the sources on which he drew, and in 1630 Pope Urban VIII issued a new edition. 1748 saw the appearance of a revised edition by Pope Benedict XIV, who personally worked on the corrections: he suppressed some names, such as those of

Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen an ...

and

Sulpicius Severus Sulpicius Severus (; c. 363 – c. 425) was a Christian writer and native of Aquitania in modern-day France. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours. Life Almost all that we know of Sev ...

, but kept others that had been objected to, such as that of

Pope Siricius Pope Siricius (334 – 26 November 399) was the bishop of Rome from December 384 to his death. In response to inquiries from Bishop Himerius of Tarragona, Siricius issued the ''Directa'' decretal, containing decrees of baptism, church discipline ...

. Subsequent changes until the edition of 2001 were minor, involving some corrections, but mainly the addition of the names of newly

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...

saints.

Recent developments

The

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

decreed: "The accounts of martyrdom or the lives of the saints are to accord with the facts of history." This required years of study, after which a fully revised edition of the ''Roman Martyrology'' was issued in Latin (entitled ''Martyrologium Romanum'') in 2001, followed in 2004 by a revision that corrected some typographical errors in the 2001 edition and added 117 people canonized or beatified between 2001 and 2004, as well as a considerable number of ancient saints not included in the previous edition. "The updated Martyrology contains 7,000 saints and blesseds currently venerated by the Church, and whose cult is officially recognized and proposed to the faithful as models worthy of imitation."

Use of the ''Martyrology'' in the Roman Rite

As an official list of recognised saints and beati, inclusion in the ''Roman Martyrology'' authorises the recognition of saints in the following ways: * On any weekday that admits celebration of the optional memorial of a saint, the

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

and the office may, if there is a good reason, be of any saint listed in the Martyrology for that day. * A church building may be dedicated to a saint, or a saint chosen as patron of a place. Such commemorations in honour of a person who has only been beatified are only permitted in the diocese or religious order where the cult of that person is authorised, unless special permission is obtained from the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

Ceremonial surrounding the ''Martyrology''

The entry for each date in the Martyrology is to be read on the previous day. Reading in choir is recommended, but the reading may also be done otherwise: in

seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

and similar institutes, it has been traditional to read it after the main meal of the day. Prior to the

, and where the 1962 liturgical books are used as authorised by '' Summorum Pontificum'', the Martyrology is read at the canonical Hour of Prime. If the Martyrology is read in the post-Vatican II form, this is usually done after the concluding prayer of Lauds, the Hour that preceded Prime. If the Martyrology is read outside of the Liturgy of the Hours, as for instance in the

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. The name derives from the Lat ...

, the reading begins with the mention of the date, followed, optionally, by mention of the phase of the moon. Then the actual text of the Martyrology entry is read, ending with the

versicle In Christian liturgical worship, preces ( ; ), also known in the Anglican prayer book tradition as the suffrages, are short petitions that are said or sung as versicles and responses by the officiant and congregation respectively. It is one of th ...

and response taken from Psalm 116: "''Pretiosa in conspectu Domini – Mors Sanctorum eius''" ("Precious in the sight of the Lord – Is the death of his Saints"). A short Scripture reading may follow, which the reader concludes with "''Verbum Domini''" ("The word of the Lord"), to which those present respond: "''

Deo gratias ' (Latin for "thanks eto God") is a response in the Latin Mass, derived from the Vulgate text of 1 Corinthians 15:57 and 2 Corinthians 2:14. Description It occurs in the Mass *as an answer of the server to the Epistle or Prophecies; in ...

''" ("Thanks be to God"). A prayer, for which texts are given in the Martyrology, is recited, followed by a blessing and dismissal. If the Martyrology is read within the Liturgy of the Hours, the same form is used, but without the optional scripture reading.

Special rubrics

Reading of the Martyrology is completely omitted during the

Paschal Triduum The Paschal Triduum or Easter Triduum (Latin: ''Triduum Paschale''), Holy Triduum (Latin: ''Triduum Sacrum''), or the Three Days, is the period of three days that begins with the liturgy on the evening of Maundy Thursday, reaches its high poin ...

Holy Thursday Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday (also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, among other names) is the day during Holy Week that commemorates the Washing of the ...

, Good Friday, and

Holy Saturday Holy Saturday ( la, Sabbatum Sanctum), also known as Great and Holy Saturday (also Holy and Great Saturday), the Great Sabbath, Hallelujah Saturday (in Portugal and Brazil), Saturday of the Glory, Sabado de Gloria, and Black Saturday or Easter ...

. On certain dates of the liturgical year, the Martyrology prescribes special announcements to be made before or after the commemoration of saints: * On Christmas Eve, the long Proclamation of the Birth of Christ, also known as the Christmas Proclamation and the ''Kalenda'', ''precedes'' the list of saints for December 25, as well as

. * On

Easter Sunday Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel P ...

, the Martyrology not having been read during the Paschal Triduum, a proclamation of the Resurrection of Christ ''precedes'' the next day's (Easter Monday) saints.

References

External links

Version up to Benedict XIV's revisions
{{Authority control Roman Martyrology