Literacy began to spread through the fifteenth
century. By 1500 AD the printing press
had finally arrived and various liturgical books designed for the literate
laity were used during Mass. They were
in Latin and their contents varied. They
could contain the seven penitential Psalms, the Little Office, the Litany of
the Saints, the Office of the Dead as well as an assortment of prayers to be
used at various parts of the Mass. The
use of the vernacular was hindered by fear of Lollardy.
The Lollards were followers of John Wycliffe (1330-84). They opposed the Church’s teaching throughout
the fifteenth century. They were
critical of clerical celibacy, transubstantiation, indulgences and pilgrimages. For the Lollards the Bible was the sole
authority in all matters of faith so there was a reluctance on the part of the
Church to translate the Bible into English.
But religious books were published in English, above all the Lay Folk’s
Mass Book which appeared in several versions.
There were a number of English mystics such as Richard Rolle (died
1350), Walter Hilton (died 1396) and Julian of Norwich (died 1415) and some of
their writings were available in English.
The guilds were an important part of Catholic life in these
centuries. A guild was a group of
parishioners, men and women, who came together to maintain a particular chapel
or altar inside the parish church. Some
of the guilds were dedicated to new feasts in the Church’s calendar especially
Corpus Christi, established in 1264, celebrating devotion to the Eucharist...
The guilds were responsible for making and maintaining lights at various images
or before the Blessed Sacrament. An
important part of their devotion was to organise intercessory prayers for
deceased members and to see that Masses were said for them and for all the
departed. In some cases small parcels of
land were bequeathed to a particular guild so cattle or sheep had to be looked
after with the profits going to the guild which might result in their separate
guild hall being built.
Having Masses celebrated for the dead was a very
important aspect of their faith. There
were often very many priests ordained some of whom were not required for parish
duties. But the demand for Masses for
the dead led to the proliferation of altars and chantry chapels. Wealthy people might make substantial
endowments which enabled a small chapel inside the parish church to be built
and priests were available to offer Mass for the dead. Such priests might support themselves by
teaching children of wealthy families.
Churches were very often busy places with many
separate areas of various sizes with flickering lights before various chapels
and shrines and altars. A Bishop of Ely
described the parish church as ‘Everyman’s Bethlehem’. Private pews became usual in the fifteenth
century, providing the church with extra income. Parishioners might specify in their wills
that they wished to be buried close to where they sat each Sunday, ‘afore my seat’. Images of saints were painted on the walls or
be found at altars in the form of statues as devotion to saints – and angels –
was very important – especially to the apostles and most of all to the Virgin
Mary.
An important part of people’s devotion was the
bede-roll. Before the offertory at High
Mass came the bidding prayers, ‘the bidding of the bedes. It was a roll call of the beads that embraced
the Pope, the clergy, the King, the Lords and Commons, the local authorities,
the parish and particularly any in need of remembrance. The congregation then prayed for the souls of
the deceased parishioners and benefactors.
Once a year the entire bede-roll was read at a parish Requiem when the
congregation solemnly remembered all who had been members of the parish and
benefactors of the church.
People not only made their own lights and candles
but each Sunday parishioners took their turns in baking bread and bringing it
to church where they presented it to the priest, along with a lit candle. The people rarely received Communion but at
the end of Mass the bread was blessed and cut up and distributed to the
congregation as a substitute for communion.
This bread was called the Holy Loaf; a similar ceremony to this still
survives in the Orthodox Church. The
Sign of Peace – before the Priest’s communion – was passed on, not by shaking
hands but by passing on a disc or tablet of precious material. There would be a sacred emblem depicted on it
– such as an image of the Lamb of God or a Crucifix. This object was called the pax (peace) and
was kissed by the priest and the members of the congregation as they passed it
one to another
I
am indebted to Roy Strong and his ‘Little History of the English Country
Church)
