Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/878

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RESTITUTION


788


RESTITUTION


"Gloria Patri" the full refrain again. One verse only, however, was the general rule.

A modification of the above method was intro- duced by the Franks, who repeated only the first part of the refrain after the verse instead of the whole of it. This dimidiation in the Galilean method of sing- ing the Responsory led to some confusion of the sense of what was being sung, and Blessed Cardinal Tom- masi, quoting from Amalarius, says that in conse- quence it became necessary to introduce some different verses in Gaul, so that there might be but one sense running through the words of both Respond and verse. Dom Baumer gives the following as an example :

I^. Tu es Petrus *ait Dominus ad Simonem. f. Ecce Sacerdos magnus qui in diebus suis placuit Deo.

H. (Roman method) Tu es Petrus, etc. But according to the GaUican method the repetition would be merely "Ait Dominus", etc., thus making Our Lord to say to Peter "Ecce Sacerdos magnus" etc.

Helisachar, Abbot of St. Maximin at Trier, was responsible for many of the new Verses, but his work did not meet with the approval of Amalarius. who set himself to improve upon it in the new Antiphonary which he compiled for use in Gaul. This in turn was violently attacked by Agobard and Florus, the lit- urgists of Lyons, butin the end the Galilean method of singing the Responsory prevailed over the Roman way, and became the general custom of the Church. This came about, however, only by degrees, for though Amalarius made his compilation early in the ninth century, we still find considerable variation of form in the Responsories contained in the twelfth-century Antiphonary of St. Peter's, which represents the use of the Vatican Basilica. The inclusion of the "Gloria Patri" in the Responsory was considered by Amalar- ius to be a recent innovation, though Walafrid Strabo ascribed its introduction to St. Benedict. At any rate its use without "sicut erat" points to its being at least older than the sixth century. It should be noted that usually it occurs only in the last of each set of nocturn Responds.

The number of Responsories used varied in the different Antiphonaries according to the number of lessons. Before the Te Deum was said at the end of Matins, exira Responsories were sometimes added on feast days, one after another, as a token of joy and solemnity. Numerous examples occur, for instance, in the "Compiegne Antiphonary (Migne, P. L., LXXVIII), which was compiled in the ninth century, apparently for the use of non-monastic churches in the northof France. The preser\'ation of the repeti- tion in the Office Responsory, unlike that of the ^Lass, may perhaps be accounted for by the fact that the office chant was always in the hands of clerics or monks, rather than of professional singers; the latter would naturally apply themselves chiefly to the melodic development of the pieces entrusted to them, whereas the former would be more liturgically con- servative and more careful of the organic structure of their pieces.

The words of the Responsories agreed either with the history in the Lessons they followed, or were proper to the feast of the dav. Thus in the " Microl- ogus" of Bernold of Constance, the Responsories themselves are often called "Historia". Amalarius speaks of Responsories de historia being used after Lessons from the Old Testament, and de psalmis after those from the New. The practice of using a Re- sponsory from the Common of Saints with a Lesson of the current Scripture has sometimes an awkward effect. Thus the French ritualist Grancohus, who flourished in the eariy eighteenth century, remarks that the intention of the Responsory was to furnish a. meditation or commentary on what had just been


read, but that such intention was frustrated when, for instance, after a Lesson describing the doings of "Absalom, Ahab, or some other wicked prince" the answer was "Ecce Sacerdos magnus", or "Sponsabo te mihi in justitia". The Paris Breviarj- of 173.5, in- troduced by Archbishop de Vintimille on his own authority, in which everything except hymns and lives of saints was rigidly Scriptural, has a series of Responsories which, considered as "moral concord- ances", are really works of art. The Old and New Testaments are made mutually illustrative in a masterly manner; thus, for example, on the feast of Our Lady's Conception we have:

IJ. Descendit sicut pluvia in vellus; *Benedictum nomen majestatis ejus in a-ternum, et *Rep- lebitur majestate ejus oninis terra.

Sf. Ecce tabernaculum Dei cum hominibus et habi- tabit cum eis; et ipse Deus cum eis erit eorum Deus.

I^. Benedictum. V. Gloria Patri. I^. Replebitur.

The Graduals and Responsories are certainly among the most ancient and interesting parts of the liturgy of the Church. Musically they are the highest achievement of the old Christian composers, and should always be referred to when it is desired to give specimens of the true Gregorian Chant; whilst as literature, Batiffol, speaking of the responds of the "Proprium de Tempore", which are older than the others, compares them to the chorus dialogues of classical Greek tragedy.

Martene. De Anliqui's Ecdesice Ritibus (Rouen, 1700); Gr.\ncolas. Commentaire hislorique sur le Breriaire Tomain (Paris, 1727): Thomassin, Vetus el Nova Ecclesia Disciplina (Venice, 176fi); Probst, Brevier und Breriergebet (Tubingen, 1S68) : Batiffol, Hisloire du Bretiaire romain (Paris, 1893) ; tr. Batlat (London. 189S) : Bacmeb, Gesch. des Breviers; tr. Biron (Paris, 1903) ; further information may also be found in Amaur- irs, De Ordine Antiphonarii, in Migne, P. L., CV (Paris. 1864) ; ToMMASI, preface to Responsorialia et Antiphonaria Romance Ecdesici (Rome, 1636); and in the Dictionnaire d' Archeolofie chreiienne et de la Liturgie, ed. Cabrol (Paris), s. v. Amalaire, Agobard, ArUiphonaire, Antienne, etc.

G. Cyprian Alston.

Restitution has a special sense in moral theology. It signifies an act of commutative justice by which exact reparation as far as possible is made for an in- jury that has Ijeen done to another. An injury may be "done to another by detaining what is known to belong to him in strict justice and by w-ilfuUy doing him damage in his property or reputation. As justice between man and man requires that what belongs to another should be rendered him, justice is violated by keeping from another against his reasonable will what belongs to him, and by ■nilfully doing him damage in goods or reputation. Commutative justice therefore requires that restitution should be made whenever that virtue has been violated. This obliga- tion is identical with that imposed by the Seventh Commandment, "Thou shalt not steal." For the obligation not to depri^•e another of what belongs to him is identical with that of not keeping from another what belongs to him. As theft is a grave siii of its own nature, so is the refusal to make restitution for injustice that has been committed.

Restitution signifies not any sort of reparation made for injury inflicted, hut exact reparation as far as possible." Commutative ju.stice requires that each one should have what belongs to him, not something else; and so that which was taken away must be re- stored as far as possible. If the property of another has been destroyed or damaged, the ^•alue of the dam- age done must be restored. Restitution therefore signifies reparation for an injury, and that reparation is made by restoring to the person injured what he had lost and thus putting him in his former position. Sometimes when an injury has been flone it cannot be repaired in this way. .\ man who commits adul- tery with another's wife cannot make restitution to him in the strict sense. He has done his neighbour