[286] Cf. Bened. XIV., Institutiones, 30, 206, and the article of P. Norbert, “Ord. Cap.,” in the Katholik for August 1898, 151.

[287] Nilles, De rationibus festorum SS. Cordis Jesu et Pur. Cordis Mariæ libri quattuor, 5th ed., Œniponte, 1885; Nix, art. “Herz Jesu und Mariä” in the Kirchenlexikon, v., 2nd ed., 1921 et seqq.; Bäumer, 525 et seq.

[288] Cassian, Coll. 10, c. 2: “Mos antiqua traditione servatus.”

[289] Usener, i. 1, 320, has investigated the circumstances which attended the introduction of Christmas in different countries, and his conclusions have met with entire recognition from Harnack, Theol. Literaturztg., 1889, 199, et seqq., and from Dom Suitbert Bäumer, Katholik, 1890, i. 1-15. Exception was taken to certain points by Duchesne, Bull. Critique, 1890, No. 3. These circumstances have been already dealt with by Baillet, viii. 582 et seqq.

[290] Epiphanius, Adv. Hær., 2, 1; Hær., 51, c. 16 and 24.

[291] Cf. c. 26, ed. Geyer, 60; ed. Gamurrini, 84.

[292] C. 49, ed. Geyer; ed. Gamurrini, 109.

[293] Lamy, Ephræmi Syri hymni et sermones, i., Mechl., 1882, 10, on the Benedictus, 2, 415. This hymn is translated into German by Zingerle in the Kempten Bibl. d. Kirchenväter, ii. 27.

[294] Cf. Hefele, History of Councils, vi., 1st ed., 504, 575, etc.

[295] Gregor, Naz. Hom. 38 in Theophania; Migne, Patr. Gr., xxxvi.

[296] John, Bishop of Nicea, in Combefis, Hist. Hær. Monoth., Paris, 1648, 306. Baumstark (Oriens Christ., 1902, 441-446) is in favour of the date 398 to 400.

[297] Gregor, Nyss., Or. Fun.; Migne, Patr. Gr., xlvi. 789. Cf. ib., 701 and 725. Basil was dead before 1st January 379.

[298] The date 386 depends upon the order of the sermons referred to. Usener, who places them at unnecessary wide intervals, gives 388, Clinton 387, Combefis, Montfaucon, and Tillemont 386. The period from February to December is ample for the above sermons.

[299] Chrysost., Hom. in Nativ. I. Chr.; Montfaucon, ii. 352; Migne, Patr. Gr., x. 2, 351.

[300] Τὸ ταχέως οὔτω πανταχοῦ περιαγγελθῆναι. Ταχέως does not contradict ἄνωθεν, for Chrysostom distinguishes between the knowledge of the day of Christ’s birth and its solemn celebration. The former had been known for ages in Rome, but the celebration of the festival, on the contrary, had spread rapidly in all directions, and this rapid diffusion of the festival shows in its turn that the 25th December is really the day of Christ’s birth.

[301] Cod. Justin., 3, 12, 6.

[302] Cod. Theod., 2, 8, 27. Cf. the law of the year 425, ib., 15, 5, 5.

[303] Combefis, Hist. Hær. Monoth., 304: Ἐξ ἐκείνου δὲ ἔλαβεν ἀρχὴ ἡ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἐκκλησία τὴν ἡμὲραν τῶν γενεθλίων τοῦ σωτῆρος. Combefis was the first to discuss the question, and his disquisition is excellent, though now forgotten. Cf. Migne, viii. 964-968. Combefis has also collected all the material for the history of Christmas in his Bibl. Patrum Conc., 300 et seq.

[304] Combefis (Hist. Hær. Monoth., 302 and 314, A. 4) considered it suspicious.

[305] Roncalli, Chronica Vetustiora, Introd., xxix.

[306] Bucherius, in its Latinized form.

[307] Jos. Strzygowski, Die Kalenderbilder des Chronographen vom Jahre 354, with 30 plates, Berlin, 1888, published for the Archeological Institute. The rest is to be found in Mon. Germ. Hist. Auctores Antiquissimi, t. ix., vol. i., fasc. i., Berol., 1891. The Natales Cæsarum and the Calendar are printed in the Corp. Inscr. Lat.

[308] Mommsen, Abhandl. der Sächs. Akademie d. Wissensch., 1850, 1, 618. The figure XIII. signifies the Epact. This proves that the 1st January fell on a Saturday, and that B was the dominical letter.

[309] L’Art de vérifier les Dates dep. J. Chr., I. 111.

[310] [This refers to the ancient practice of dating the years of an emperor’s reign, not from the actual date of his accession, but from the New Year’s Day either preceding or following his accession. The years of the emperor’s reign were thus brought into artificial agreement with the calendar year. Numbering the years of the emperor’s reign from the actual date of his accession is, in Mommsen’s phrase, taking them as effektiv.—Trans.]

[311] I have attempted to show how this difference is to be explained in an article in the Innsbr. Zeitschr. für Kath. Theologie, xv. (1891), 519 et seqq.

[312] Vid. Appendix vi.

[313] St Luke i. 5, 8.

[314] 1 Esdr. vi. 18.

[315] Antiq. vii. 14, 7.

[316] Antiq. vii. 11, 7, 1; 12, 6, 4; 7, 6. 1 Mach. i. 57; iv. 18.

[317] So Lamy (Apparatus Chronol. et Geogr., 61) referring to the Tractate Erachin and Taanit.

[318] Jos., Bell. Jud., 4, 8, 5; 4, 5. According to Ideler (i. 400, 433) Josephus employs the Syro-Macedonian names of the months, not with the intention of adjusting them to the Julian Calendar, but merely as Greek names for the Jewish months.

[319] The attempt to fix the time of Christ’s birth by the help of the course of Abia was undertaken by Scaliger, abandoned as useless by Petavius, resumed by B. Lamy. In modern times, it was resumed by Seyffarth (Chronol. Sacra, Leipsig, 1846, 97 et seqq.), Weigl (Theol. und Chronol. Abhandlungen über das wahre Geburts- und Sterbejahr Christi, Sulzbach, 1848), and Stavars (Tüb. Theol. Quartalschr., 1866, 201 et seq.).

[320] Hieron, Opera, ed. Migne, xi. 220. It is evident from St Jerome’s commentary on Ezechiel that his views on the subject were not those of the preacher of this sermon. The sermon for the 25th December, published by Morin (Anecdota Mareds., iii. 2, 392, et seqq.), agrees with the sermon quoted above.

[321] Clemens Alex., Strom., i., ed. Sylburg, 340.

[322] Cypriani, Opera, ed. Hartel, ii. 266.

[323] Augustin., Sermo 190, 1; 192, 3; 196, 1.

[324] Luke ix. 13 seqq.

[325] Ambr., De Virg., 3, 1; Migne, xvi. 219.

[326] Paulinus, Vita Ambr., c. 4, and his life in the Benedictine edition of his works, c. 7. The chronology of the youthful period of St Ambrose’s life is unfortunately obscure.

[327] Conc. Cathag., iii. can. 4; Bruns, i. 123.

[328] Usener (272 seqq.) starts with the preconceived opinion that Liberius delivered his address on the 6th Jan. 353, and so is of opinion that Christmas was celebrated for the first time in Rome on the 25th Dec. 353. On the other hand, Duchesne (Bull. Crit., 1890, No. 3, p. 41 seq.), having the circumstance in view that the Depositio Episcoporum begins the year with the 27th Dec. and the Depositio Martyrum with the 25th Dec., thinks he has proof for holding that the 27th Dec. for a long time already, indeed even from about 243, had been a marked day in the Church’s Calendar, and, accordingly, that the 25th Dec. had been kept as the Natalis Domini as early as the third century. We leave these points to the reader’s discretion. Christmas was kept in Rome certainly before 353.

[329] Mommsen, Röm. Gesch., v. 481.

[330] Marquardt-Mommsen, Röm. Altert., vi., 2nd. ed., 588.

[331] Hospinian (fol. iii.) and others held that the 25th December was chosen purposely in order to supplant the Saturnalia. But the Saturnalia did not last over the 25th, although Maximus of Turin seems to think it did.

[332] De Orat. Dom., 35.

[333] Sermo, 7, 1, 3; Migne, Patr. Lat., xvii. 614.

[334] Zeno Ver., Tract., 2, 9, 2, calls Christ “Sol noster, sol verus.” Gregor. I., Hom., 29 in Evang., c. 10: “Quis solis nomine nisi Christus designatur?” Prud., Cathem., 11, 1: “Quid est, quod arctum circulum sol jam recurrens deserit?” Gregor. Naz., Orat. in S. lumina, calls Christ the sun.

[335] On the Vigil: “Sidus refulget jam novum”; at Lauds: “Orietur sicut sol salvator mundi”: in the Preface: “Per incarnati Verbi mysterium nova mentis nostræ oculis lux tuæ claritatis infulsit”: on the octave: “Tu lumen et splendor Patris”; in the hymn: “In sole posuit tabernaculum suum”; in the antiphons: “Hodie descendit lux magna in terris. In sole posuit tabernaculum suum,” etc.

[336] Maximus Taur., Hom., 103; Migne, Patr. Lat., lvii. 491.

[337] Peregr. Silv., 82 (59 cod.), ed. Geyer, c. 25.

[338] Peregr. Silv., 84 (60), ed. Geyer, 77. In c. 49, No. 3, the chief festivals are Easter and Epiphany.

[339] In Ezech. 1, 3; Migne, Patr. Lat., xxv. 18, written about A.D. 411.

[340] Cosmas Indicopleustes, ed. Galland. Bibl., xi. 461; Migne, lxxxviii. 198.

[341] So Usener, who quotes a passage from a sermon of Basil of Seleucia. Migne, Patr. Lat., lxxxv. 469.

[342] Cosmas, op. cit. 462.

[343] Evangeliarium Hierosol., 482, 494. See Usener, 323, 327.

[344] Combefis, Hist. Hær. Monoth., 314 A, 4.

[345] Peregr. Silv., 84 (60), ed. Geyer, 77.

[346] Gregor Tur., Microl., 1, 88; Migne, Patr. Lat., lxxi. 783.

[347] Combefis, op. cit. 302 E.

[348] Opera, Zenonis Ver., ed. Migne, Patr. Lat., xi. lib. 2, tract 7-9. Lib. i. tract 13 may be spurious.

[349] Sermo 10 de sanctis according to the old enumeration, sermo 220 inter suppos. according to the new.

[350] Peregr. Silv., 84 (60).

[351] See Append. vii.

[352] Matiscon. 1, can. 9; Turon., 11, can. 27. Cf. Gregor. Tur., Hist. Franc., 10, 31.

[353] Synaxarium of Michael of Atriba, under 15th November.

[354] Gregor. M., Hom. in Evang., 1, 1, 6, 7, and 20. Migne, Patr. Lat., lxxvi. 1078 et seqq. Cabrol (Révue Bénéd., 1905, 1, 1), thought he had discovered traces of Advent in the fifth or even in the fourth century. It is best to reserve judgment until clearer evidence is forthcoming.

[355] Muratori, Lit. Rom. Vet., ii. 133-135 and 342-346.

[356] Printed by Gerbert, Lit. Allem., 410-416, which also contains the Evangelarium of Spires, 8th Cent., 417-444, and Kalendarium of Fronteau, 155 et seq.

[357] Amalarius, De Eccl. Off., 3, 40; 4, 30. Abbo, Apolog. Migne, Patr. Lat., cxxxix. 472.

[358] Migne, Patr. Lat., lxxxv. 139. Binterim, Denkw., v. 167.

[359] Thus the Comes Pamelii in Ranke’s supplement and the old lectionaries of Cologne, Treves, and Münster. See Schue, Die bibl. Lesungen, etc., Treves, 1861, 129 et seqq.

[360] Since 1893, the third Sunday after Epiphany has also a special character owing to the Feast of the Holy Family falling on it.

[361] See the critical edition of C. A. Wilson (Oxford, 1894), p. 9.

[362] Augustin., Sermo 198, c. 1. “Vos quasi solemniter hodie convenire conspicimus.”

[363] Turon., 2, can. 17, 22; Antissiod., can. 1.

[364] Tolet., 4 (633), can. 11; Lex Visigoth., ii. tit. i. 12, and xii. 3, 6; Mon. Germ. Leges Sect. 1, tom. i. 1, 59 and 434. Migne, Patr. Lat., lxxxi. 478.

[365] Migne, i. 212, col. 70-73 for the text. See Heuser, Kirchenlexikon, iv., 2nd ed., 1395 seqq. The so-called Feast of Asses, about which so much has been written, was a harmless affair. It took its name from semi-theatrical performances inspired by passages of Scripture which happen to mention an ass.

[366] In this document it is called “Natale S. Mariæ.”

[367] Wiegand, 27.

[368] Tractat., 1, 13.

[369] Leo I., Sermo 2 de Epiph. Fulgentius, Sermo. Migne, Patr. Lat., lxv. 732.

[370] Ammianus Marcell., 21, 2.

[371] Clemens Alex., Strom., i. 21, § 45; ed. Potter, 407; Sylburg, 340.

[372] In the edition of Bonwetsch and Achelis, Leipsig, 1897, No. 22, p. 255 et seq., Achelis and others regard it as spurious but without just reason. It is translated by Probst, Lehre und Gebet, 247. Although not a sermon, it was evidently an address delivered to certain individuals. Cf. c. 6 and 9 (ἀγαπητέ and ἄνθρωπε).

[373] Constit Apost., 8, 33; cf. 5, 13.

[374] Seldenius, De Synedriis, iii. 15, 204, 220.

[375] See Gregor. Naz., Orat., 39, c. 2.

[376] Synodus II. S. Patricii., can. 20.

[377] St Matthew ii. 10 seq.

[378] St Matthew ii. 1-12.

[379] Poema, 27; Natal, 9, v. 47 et seqq. Migne, Patr. Lat., lxi. 649.

[380] Sedatus, Hom. de Epiph. Migne, lxxii. 773. Maximus Taur., Hom. 7 in Epiph. Migne, lvii. 271. “Fuerunt enim hodie ... quid potissimum præsenti hoc factum sit die, noverit ipse, qui fecit.”

[381] Augustin., Sermo supposit., 136, c. 1, and the hymn “Illuminans Altissimus,” in Kayser, Hymnen, 2nd ed., 370. See also the article “Feste” by Funk and Krieg in Kraus’s Realenzyklopädie.

[382] This also appears from the fact that some, as Philastrius (De Hær., c. 140) informs us, omitted Epiphany and kept Christmas alone.

[383] Comm. in Ezech., i. 1.

[384] Chrysost., Hom. ad Pop. Ant. de Bapt. Chr., c. 2. Migne, Patr. Gr., xlix. 363 et seq. It appears from this sermon that the Antiochene Christians were in the habit of taking some of the baptismal water home with them, and keeping it for a year without its becoming corrupt.

[385] Augustin., Sermo 202, c. 2.

[386] Cæsaraug., A.D. 380, can. 3. Ammianus Marc., op. cit. Passio S. Philippi Heracleensis in Ruinart, Acta, 440, c. 2.

[387] Epiphanius (Hær., 51, c. 16 and 24), Ephrem, Cassian, etc. See above, pp. 128 seqq.

[388] Testam. D. N. Jesu Chr., ed. Rahmani (Mainz, 1899), i. 28; iv. 67, 101. The discussion of the date of this document cannot be entered into here from want of space.

[389] Cod. Theodos., 2, 8, 20, 25; 5, 2; Cod. Justin., 3, 12, 6.

[390] See Appendix No. viii.

[391] Peregr. Silviæ, 60, ed. Geyer, c. 26: “Quadragesimæ de Epiphania valde cum summo honore hic celebrantur, etc.”

[392] Theophanes, Chronogr., ed. Bonn, 345 ad ann. 534.

[393] Nicephorus, Hist. Eccl., 17, 28: καὶ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ὑπαπάντην ἄρτι πρώτως ἁπανταχοῦ τῆς γῆς ἑορτάζεσθαι τάττει. See Muralt, Chronogr. Byz., St Petersburg, 1855, i. 134.

[394] Sacr. Gelasianum, 2, 8, among the Natalitia Sanctorum. Migne, Patr. Lat., lxxiv. 1158. There is no mention of a procession in the Gregorian sacramentary either.

[395] Morcelli, i. 86, 288.

[396] The statement was made by Baronius (ad ann. 534), repeated by Pagi, and, in recent times, by Wissowa (Röm. Staatsverwaltung, iii. 446) and by Usener (332), but rejected by Grisar (Gesch. Roms., i. 455).

[397] Migne, Patr. Lat., lxxviii.

[398] See Appendix No. ix.

[399] Cabrol (Etude sur la Peregr. Silv., 167 et seqq.) gives a survey of the lections then in use.

[400] Printed by Bianchini, Opera Anast., i. Migne, Patr. Lat., cxxvii. 994. Duchesne, Lib. Pont., I. cxlvi.

[401] Binterim’s statement (Denkw., v. 2, 133-152) is out of date. The article “Fastenzeiten” by Heuser in the Kirchenlexikon, iv., 2nd ed., must be supplemented by the investigations of Dom G. Morin in the Révue Bénédictine, 1897, 336-347—“L’Origine des Quatre-Temps.”

[402] Leo M., Sermo, 19 (18), c. 2.: “Per totius anni circulum distributa sunt (jejunia), ut lex abstinentiæ omnibus sit adscripta temporibus. Siquidem jejunium vernum in quadragesima, æstivum in pentecoste, autumnale in mense septimo, hiemale in hoc qui est decimus celebretur.”

[403] Leo M., Sermo, 16 (15), c. 1, 2; Sermo, 12 (11), c. 3.

[404] Morin (op. cit. 345) quotes passages from the Leonine and Gelasian sacramentaries. See Migne, lv. 153 et seqq.

[405] Concerning the “feriæ conceptivæ” and “sementivæ” of the Romans, see Marquardt-Mommsen, Staatsverwaltung, iii. 198 seqq.

[406] Liber Pont., Callistus: “Hic constituit jejunium die sabbati ter in anno fieri, frumenti, vini et olei secundum prophetiam.” Ed. Duchesne, i. 141.

[407] Leo I., Sermo, 19, c. 2; Sacram. Leon., 101, No. xxvii. Migne, Patr. Lat., liv. 186; lv. 105.

[408] Epist. ad Episc. Luc., c. 11. Migne, lix. 47.

[409] Leo I., Epist. ad Dioscorum Al., c. i. Migne, Patr. Lat., liv. 626.

[410] Migne, cli. 978; c. 24-27.

[411] Morin, Révue Bénédictine, 1897, 338 seqq.

[412] Sermo 2 de Jejun. X. mensis: “Decimi mensis celebrandum esse jejunium, quo pro consummata perceptione omnium frugum dignissime largitori earum Deo continentiæ libamen offertur.”

[413] In Muratori, Lit. Rom. Vet., i. 511, 603; ii. 33, 94, 123, 136.

[414] H. Menard, Notæ et Observ. in Sacr. Greg., in Migne, Patr. Lat., lxxviii. 393.

[415] Sacr. Gelas. Migne, lxxiv. 1069, 1133, 1178 seqq.

[416] Sacr. Gregor. Migne, lxxviii. 59-61, 113-115, 140-142.

[417] Migne, Patr. Lat., xcvii. 124: “Ut jejunium quattuor temporum et ipsi sacerdotes observent et plebi denuntient observandum.” This shows that until then it had not been customary in the Frankish empire.

[418] See Binterim, Gesch. d. d. Prov.- u. Diöz.-Konzilien, ii. 273 seqq.; iii. 517 seqq.