CERDO
538
OEEEMONY
the twelfth century Lequien (II, 513) mentions
nine titulars; his list might be increased. The
Turkish Kerassoun, or Ghiresson, is a port on the
Black Sea, and the chief town of a caza in the vilayet
of Trebizond; it has about 10,000 inhabitants (5000
Greeks, 1000 Armenians, and a few Catholics,
visited from time to time by Capuchins from Treb-
izond). The climate is mild. The town is sur-
rounded by a large forest of hazel- and cherry-trees,
the latter being still very numerous. There are
ruins of ancient walls, of an amphitheatre, a fortress,
and of Byzantine churches.
Cuinet, Turquie d'Asie, I. 64-78; Papamichalopoulos, A Tour in Ponlus (Greek; Athens, 1903). 256-282; Smith, Did. of Greek and Roman Geogr. (London, 1878), I, 590.
S. Vailhe. Cerdo, Gnostic. See Gnostics. Cerdonians. See Gnostics.
Ceremonial, the book which contains in detail the order of religious ceremony and solemn worship prescribed to be observed in ecclesiastical functions. At present there are only two official liturgical books that bear the titles, " Cseremoniale Romanum" and " Cseremoniale Episcoporum". The Missal, Breviary, Ritual, and Pontifical likewise contain directions for the celebration of Mass, the recitation of the Office, the administration of the sacraments, and episcopal functions respectively. They may, therefore, in a certain sense be considered ceremonials; but since the primary purpose of these books is to serve as texts of the liturgical prayers, the added directions being only general, they are not looked upon as ceremonials in the accepted sense of the term. The most ancient ceremonials and rituals of the Roman Church are the so-called " Ordines Romani". Mabillon (Mussum Italicum, Paris, 1687-89, II) enumerates fifteen of them. They treat of the election of the Roman pontiff, the Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Orders, the functions for special days of the year, etc. Authors do not agree as to the date at which they were composed. Abbot Hil- duinus, Walafridus Strabo, Sigebertus (in his chroni- cle), and after them Leopoldus Bambergensis, record that the Roman pontiff sent a copy of one of these "Ordines" to Pepin of Heristal (d. 714) or to Charles Martel (d. 741). It was probably composed by the pontifical master of ceremonies and contained, besides the functions observed in the various churches at that time, many rites and customs taken from a similar book which dates back to the time of Gelasius I (d. 406), and was corrected and augmented by Gregory the Great (d. 604).
The " Ordines Romani " were the ground- work of the "Cseremoniale Romanum", compiled by Augus- tinus Patricius, surnamed Piccolomineus, Bishop of Pienza (14S3-1496), who had been formerly pontif- ical master of ceremonies. The work, which was dedicated to Innocent VIII, 1 March, 1488, was not in- tended originally for publication, but in 1516 it was printed by pontifical permission at Rome and Venice by Christ ophorus Marcellus, Archbishop of Corcyra, under the title "Rituum Ecclesiasticorum, sive Sa- crarum Caeremoniarum S. Romanoe Ecclesiae libri tres non ante impressi". The pontifical master of ceremonies at that time, Paris de Grassis, was in- censed at its publication, averring that it would lower the papal dignity in the estimation of the masses, and asked Leo X to destroy the copies of it and censure the editor. It was, however, not sup- pressed, but reissued at Florence (1521); Cologne (1557); Home (1560); Venice (1573, 1582, 1616); Iieipzig (1733), and at Rome (1750), with a commen- tary by Joseph Catalanus under the title "Sacrarum Cseremoniarum, sive Rituum Ecclesiasticorum S. Romans Ecclesiae libri tres. ab Augustino Patricio ordinal i el a Marcello Corcyrensi Archiepiscopo primuui editi". It consists of three books, the first
of which contains extra-liturgical functions, such as
the election and consecration of the Roman pontiff,
the coronation of an emperor, the canonization of
saints, the creation of cardinals, etc.; the second
describes the liturgical functions at Mass, Vespers, and
the other canonical Hours; the third gives general
rules and instructions. In 1587 Sixtus V established
the Congregation of Ceremonies for the purpose of
watching over the rites and ceremonies which are to
be observed in the Papal Court, to decide questions
regarding pre-eminence among the persons who assist
at the papal functions, to arrange all the details for
the presentation of princes and their envoys to the
Roman pontiff, and to give directions to the ablegates
who carry the insignia of the cardinalate to newly-
created cardinals residing outside of Rome. Many
dioceses and monastic orders have their proper cere-
monials, and those compiled by individual authors for
giving assistance to the clergy in the performance of
their ecclesiastical functions are very numerous.
Zaccaria, Bibliotheca Kitualis, torn. I, lib. I, cap. vii, art 1 (Rome, 1776). A. J. ScHULTE.
Ceremony (Skt., karrnan, action, work; from kar or ker, to make or create; Lat. cceremonia) , in liturgy an external action, gesture, or movement which accompanies the prayers and public exercise of divine worship. To these the Council of Trent (Sess. XXII, cap. v.) adds the things over which or with which the prayers are pronounced, e. g. blessings, lights, incense, vestments, etc. Ceremony is the necessary outcome of the twofold nature of man, intellectual and sensible, on account of which, as St. Thomas Aquinas says (Contra Gentiles, III, cxix), he must pay God a two- fold adoration, one spiritual, which consists in the interior devotion of the soul, the other corporal, which manifests itself in the outward form of worship, for there is no inward sentiment or feeling which man is not wont to express outwardly by some suitable gesture or action. Ceremonies are employed to embellish and adorn sacred functions; to excite in the faithful sentiments of respect, devotion, and religion, by which the honour of God is increased and the sanc- tification of the soul is obtained, since these constitute the principal object of all liturgical acts; to lead the illiterate more easily to a knowledge of the mysteries of religion; to indicate the dispositions necessary to receive the sacraments worthily; and to induce the faithful to fulfil with greater docility the obligations which the reception of the sacraments imposes on them.
Some ceremonies owe their institution to purely physical reasons or necessity, e. g. the lights used in the catacombs, which were retained by the Church for the mystical reason that they represent Christ, the Light of the World; others are founded on mystical or symbolical reasons, e. g. all the ceremonies at baptism which precede the pouring of the water on the person to be baptized; many are founded on historical, natural, and mystical reasons at the same time, e. g. the mixing of wine and water at Mass recalls to our mind what Christ did at the Last Supper, ami repre- sents the blood and water that flowed from His side on the Cross as well as the union of the faithful with Christ. Catholic ceremonies, therefore, are not super- stitious practices, meaningless observances or relies of heathen and Jewish customs, but regulations of Divine, Apostolic, and ecclesiastical institution. They may be grouped, according to Snare.-. (IV Sacramentis, Disp. lxxxiv) into three classes: (a) Some invest a function with decorum, dignity, and reverence, e. g. washing the hands, striking the breast, approaching the altar with downcast eyes, (b) Others serve as external acts of worship, e. g. bending the knee, bowing the head, (c) Many are prescribed for a moral and mystical signification, e. g. elevating the bread and wine at the Offertory of the Mass.
