In the

Roman 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 ...

, plenarium or plenarius (liber) (plural, plenaria) refers to any complete book of formulas and texts that contains all matters pertaining to one subject that might otherwise be scattered in several books. The word is from the Latin, ''complete.'' Thus, the word appears in a work about the life of

Robert Aldrich, Bishop of Carlisle Robert Aldrich or Aldridge (died March 1555) was Bishop of Carlisle in the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary. Richard Aldrich was born at Burnham, Buckinghamshire, and educated at Eton and Cambridge. In 1534 he was appointed Canon of the ...

(Baluze, "Miscell.", I, iii, 29) in reference to what seems to be a book of church rents (Binterim, "Denkwurdigkeiten", IV, i, 239). The entire

office An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...

, or series of prayers and psalms said (or chanted) in the

—

Vespers Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic (both Latin and Eastern), Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies. The word for this fixed prayer time comes from the Latin , meanin ...

Matins Matins (also Mattins) is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning. The earliest use of the term was in reference to the canonical hour, also called the vigil, which was originally celebrated b ...

, Lauds and

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 ...

— is called plenarium. A complete copy of the four

Gospel Book A Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels (Greek: , ''Evangélion'') is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament – normally all four – centering on the life of Jesus of Nazareth ...

s was called an ''evangeliarium plenarium'' (as distinct from an

Evangeliary The Evangeliary or Book of the Gospels is a liturgical book containing only those portions of the four gospels which are read during Mass or in other public offices of the Church. The corresponding terms in Latin are and . The Evangeliary develo ...

or ''evangeliarium'', a kind of Lectionary, which contains only

pericope A pericope (; Greek , "a cutting-out") in rhetoric is a set of verses that forms one coherent unit or thought, suitable for public reading from a text, now usually of sacred scripture. Also can be used as a way to identify certain themes in a cha ...

s or selections). Under this heading is classed the ''Book of Gospels'' at

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

Cathedral and the ''Book of Gospels'' given by Athelstan to Christ Church in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

, now in the library of Lambeth Palace (Rock, "Church of our Fathers", I, 122). Some plenaria included all the writings of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

, others those parts of the

scriptures Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pra ...

that were commonly read in the Mass and bore the name ''Lectionarium Plenarium'' (Becker, "Catal. bibl. ant.", 1885, 28, no. 237; 68, no. 650, 659). In

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

, the use of several books for each service created not great problem; but

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

s who did not make the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

religious profession In the Catholic Church, a religious profession is the solemn admission of men or women into consecrated life by means of the pronouncement of religious vows, typically the evangelical counsels. Usage The 1983 Code of Canon Law defines the te ...

of "stability, conversion of manners and obedience" and who travelled from place to place on their missionary duties, found it best to carry a single book with them, and the complete missal or ''Missale Plenarium'' came into use among them, especially after the foundation of the mendicant orders. Early vestiges of that missal date to the ninth century, and by the eleventh or twelfth century the ''Missale Plenarium'' was widespread. It contained all necessary prayers for the celebration of the Mass, which until then had to be taken from different books — the ''Sacramentary, Lectionary, Evangelistary, Antiphonary,'' and ''Gradual'' (Zaccaria, "Bibl. rit.", I ome, 1876 50). In Germany, plenarium denoted a popular book that gave the German translation of the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays and festivals of the entire liturgical year, together with a short exposition and instruction. Later editions added the

Introit The Introit (from Latin: ''introitus'', "entrance") is part of the opening of the liturgy, liturgical celebration of the Eucharist for many Christian denominations. In its most complete version, it consists of an antiphon, Psalms, psalm verse and ' ...

Gradual The gradual ( la, graduale or ) is a chant or hymn in the Mass, the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, and among some other Christians. It gets its name from the Latin (meaning "step") because it was once chanted ...

, and other parts of the Mass. The last book of the kind bearing the title plenarium was printed in 1522 at

Basle , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), ...

.Catholic Encyclopedia: ''Plenarium''
/ref>

References

External links

* {{Catholic, wstitle=Plenarium Christian terminology Christian genres