Other Customs and Apparatus

Indulgence, forgiveness of sins for money. The Catholic Church teaches that the saints did more good works than they were obliged to do. As a result, there is a surplus of good works and merits, which fall to the church as a treasure, to which the pope has the keys, since the keys of the kingdom of heaven have been given to him as the head of the church. For this very reason the pope could now release any sums from this treasure in exchange for pious donations. As is well known, Luther first stood up against indulgences in 1517 with his 95 Theses and thus, without suspecting it, let alone wanting it, made the beginning of the Church Reformation.
Publication of banns of Marriage [Aufgebot] is the announcement in church on three consecutive Sundays of a betrothal that has taken place. It became common in the thirteenth century and is performed in the Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed churches.
Hail Mary [Ave Maria] is the beginning of the prayer to the Virgin Mary and taken from the angel's greeting to the Blessed Virgin.
Burial. As the entrance into this world is blessed by a minister of the church (baptism), so it is also proper that his exit from it be done with words of blessing. Therefore a pastor accompanies the corpse to the grave, and either preaches a funeral sermon in the church, or a short funeral oration at the grave, or merely says a prayer. Among the Lutherans, too, the pastors are buried in regalia. With the Catholics, the clergyman is buried with his face toward the evening, because he also turns his face toward the congregation before the altar. Incidentally, all corpses are sprinkled with holy water and incense; the clergyman pours a little earth on the coffin three times, saying: "Man, remember that you are earth and will become earth again," after which he puts a cross on the grave. Nowadays, the Lutherans bury the body in the earth in the following manner: After the coffin is lowered into the grave, the pastor with a shovel or with his bare hand throws earth three times upon the coffin, saying, "Since it has pleased Almighty God to take to Himself the soul of our brother, we bless his body in God's field - earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through JEsum Christum after the effect, that He may also make all things subject to Him."
Images. As early as the fifth century people began to exhibit and hang up images in churches, and in the sixth century, out of reverence, to kiss them, to light lamps before them, and to burn incense to their worship, also to ascribe miracles to them. Luther dismissed this abomination.
Episcopal insignia. The Inful [“broad or turban-like woolen bandage”], from the Latin infula, with the Romans a headdress consisting of a white and scarlet bandage with hanging ribbons, was worn as a sign of religious consecration and inviolability by priests and vestal virgins, later also by emperors and the highest magistrates. In the Catholic Church, the inful is the headdress of archbishops, bishops, and abbots, hence the bishop's mitre. Inful is also generally used to denote ecclesiastical dress, as well as the dignities of bishop and prelate, hence infulieren means to raise someone to the dignity of bishop or abbot. Among the episcopal insignia are the artificially formed crook or shepherd's crook carved on top, the ring, the sandals etc.
Breviary is a pocket book of the Catholic clergy, containing certain passages of Scripture for each day and for certain hours of the day and night, together with prayers, psalms, and hymns, which every clergyman must read daily.
Ciborium is the vessel or container in which the consecrated hosts are kept in the Catholic Church. The Lutherans, too, have ciboriums of fine wood or silver, in which the hosts are kept, among them not infrequently some leftover consecrated hosts, with which, however, the body of Christ is no longer sacramentally united, for it is with the bread only as long as the act of Holy Communion lasts.
Corporal is the white linen cloth on which bread and wine are consecrated in the Catholic Church. The Lutherans also use the corporal.
A deanery [Dekanat] is a district of a diocese consisting of several parishes, the head of which is called a dean. The clergy of a diocese meet frequently to discuss ecclesiastical matters and thus constitute a chapter, as it were; hence they are called capitulars.
English greeting [Englischer Gruß] with which Mary, the Mother of God, is worshipped in the Catholic Church. It was not generally introduced until the year 1515 under Pope Pius V. It is an old custom to remind the people three times with a bell signal to pray the iEnglish salute.
Exequies [Exequien]. In the Catholic Church, this does not mean the funeral, but rather the solemn masses for the souls of the deceased.
Exorcism, the invocation and expulsion of the devil before and at baptism. Exorcism is also used in the Lutheran Church, but no magical power is attributed to it, but it is only supposed to be a ceremony of remembrance of the power of the devil as a result of original sin and of the great power of baptism. "From the words of these prayers you hear," says Luther in the little baptismal book, "see also from the work how poorly and miserably the Christian Church carries the child hither, and so manifestly confesses before God that it is a child of wrath and of iniquity, and so heartily asks for help and mercy that it may become a child of God through baptism. Consider also with diligence that it is not a jest or child's play to act this Christian mighty work, which meets the devil, and not only drives him from the child, but also obliges the same to contend against him, as against a constant certain enemy all his life." - —
Shrovetide [Fastnacht], originating in paganism, celebrated with eating and drinking and other frolics, of which Christians should abstain and be ashamed.
Lent [Fastenzeit] is especially the forty-day period before Easter, during which Catholics confess in preparation for Easter communion, but Lutherans preach on the history of the Passion, usually on a Friday.
Fisherman's ring is the seal of the pope, with which the so-called apostolic breves (letters) are sealed in red wax. It represents the Apostle Peter as a fisherman with the name of the respective pope. The city of Rome gives the pope this ring, which is smashed with a hammer after his death.
Foot kissing. Gregory VII required all princes who visited him to kiss his foot. The kiss meets the golden cross on the slipper. Now lay people are also worthy of this papal grace.
Washing of feet. As Jesus washed the feet of his disciples on Holy Thursday night for the sake of humility, so not only the Pope, but also some Catholic princes wash the feet of twelve old men, of course after they have been washed before. Thus, for example, the Emperor of Austria still performs this ceremony.
The Oath of Faith is the confession that all clergy of the Catholic Church make when they assume their offices, and also secular persons when they convert to the Catholic Church, and with which they must renounce their previous faith. Pope Pius IV wrote and prescribed it according to the decisions of the Tridentine Council.
Gloria in excelsis Deo is the name given to the English hymn of praise, "Glory to God in the highest," which is also intoned by the liturgist at the altar every Sunday and feast day in the Lutheran Church, and to which the congregation responds either with "Glory to God alone" or with "Peace on earth and goodwill to men. We praise you, we praise you etc.".
Hallelujah, “praise the Lord", which, by order of Pope Alexander II in 1073, is not sung in the Catholic and Lutheran Churches from the Sunday of Septuagint until Easter, and is only sung again on Easter as an expression of joy.
Canonization [Heiligsprechung] is done only by the Pope, in that a deceased person who is said to have performed great miracles and deeds in his life is now placed among the number of saints to be invoked.
The first Anniversary [Jahrtag] was celebrated especially in memory of a deceased person, and for this purpose pious donations were made, which were especially for the benefit of the clergy.
Intoning at a church service means singing a hymn, and is said especially by the clergy, who intone a few words before the altar, to which the choir responds. Intoning is also done in the Lutheran church, such as "Glory to God in the highest," whereby the melody varies according to the different times and occasions; furthermore, the following is intoned to the hymn of faith: "I believe in one God."
Investiture, solemn initiation in the enjoyment of church goods.
Jubilee. In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII first solemnly proclaimed the Jubilee and decreed that it should be celebrated every hundred years, promising complete remission of all sins to those who would visit the main church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome or other certain churches, hence it was also called the Year of Indulgences. But because this celebration brought in a lot of money, Pope Clement VI shortened the time to fifty years in 1350, Urban VI moved it to thirty-three years in 1380, and finally Sixtus IV in 1475 decreed the Jubilee Year to be twenty-five years for all time.
Church agenda is the book authorized by the authority set over the ecclesiastical affairs of a country, or adopted in the free church, which contains forms to be used in ecclesiastical acts, e.g. Baptism, the Lord's Supper, marriage etc.
Church ban is the exclusion from the fellowship of the church, its membership and rights, and therefore from heaven. In the Catholic Church, the ban is done by order of the bishop, for Christ has given the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Petrum and his successors, the popes and bishops. In the Lutheran Church, on the other hand, after previous stages of admonition, the ban is pronounced by decision of the congregation, which has the highest judgment, since the Lord has given the keys of the kingdom of heaven directly to the congregation. The public proclamation then takes place in the public worship service after the sermon.
Church singing was already common in the apostolic church; it passed from the Jewish to the Christian cult. To spiritual singing Paul exhorts Christians, Colossians 3:16: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." Hymns have been preserved from the fourth and fifth centuries, e.g., by Ambrose etc. Pope Gregory rendered special service to church singing. In particular, however, Luther rendered great service to church singing, which is partly congregational, partly artistic.
Church laws are prescribed ordinances for the members of a church. In the Catholic Church, in particular, in contrast to the Ten Commandments of God, church commandments are called Six Commandments given by the church. [Reference here and here]
Church dedication. The custom of consecrating churches arose from the fourth century. With the Catholics the consecration is done by the bishop, with the Protestants by a regional church superintendent, in the Free Church by the local pastor. With the Catholics it consists in the bishop walking in procession around the church, sprinkling the walls from the inside and outside crosswise with consecrated oil, but especially the altar, at the same time also incensing the same, and that he then writes on the floor of the central aisle in the nave of the church, sprinkled with some consecrated ashes, with his crozier some Hebrew words, imitating Christ, John 8:6. Among the Lutherans, the consecration of the church consists solely in the preaching of the Word and the performance of the holy sacraments.
Cross, the sign of the same on oneself. Right at the beginning of Christianity, the cross was held in honor. In the Catholic Church it is customary to make it from the forehead to the breast and from the left to the right side. In the Lutheran Church, too, the sign of the cross is customary; for at baptism it is said: "N. N. N. N. take the sign of the holy cross, both on the forehead and on the breast"; similarly, according to the Catechism, the crossing takes place at the morning and evening blessings. It might be most fitting to make the cross on the forehead, the mouth, and the breast — on the forehead, that one may not be ashamed of the Crucified — on the mouth, that one may confess him freely and openly, and be ready to suffer hatred and persecution for his sake where it must be — on the breast, as a sign that one believes in him from the heart, and it is said as in the hymn: "In the bottom of my heart thy name and cross alone sparkles all the time and all hours."
Light, eternal, burns at all times before the high altar.
Litany means an ancient prayer formula. The Lutheran Church gives this name exclusively to the ancient prayer, which is either sung or spoken by the congregation kneeling alternately (antiphonatim) on regular and extraordinary penitential days.
The pleading prayer of the Litany goes back far into the earliest times of Christianity. The so-called irenic or diatonic prayers of the Oriental Church are of the same family as the Occidental litany, although we cannot prove how the latter gradually developed from the former. Luther found litany forms, and as much as he must have prayed them himself, he was by no means tired or weary of them. In particular, there are three litanies which have found the widest distribution and recognition in the Roman Church: The Litany of the Sweet Name of Jesus, the Lauretan Litany of the Mother of God, and above all the so-called "Great Litany." We Lutherans do not have the first two, and those who know them easily understand why. On the other hand, Luther purified the great "Litany" and brought it over with him in a Latin and a German arrangement, like a precious robbery. Even before Luther, the Great Litany had not always and everywhere been the same in all parts; the Roman Church, too, has always known a liturgical freedom in the individual and in less important matters, despite all unanimity in the whole and in the great. Thus, for example, we have before us a Latin-German book printed at Basel in 1503 by Mich. Furier in 1503, and the magnificent collection: "Hymni et Collectae, item Evangelia et Epistolae, Introitus, Gradualia et Sequenliae, etc.," which was printed in Cologne in 1566. Both of these, however, differ from each other and from the now common litany forms of the Roman Church in regard to the individual petitions, their number and arrangement. Luther also used the same freedom. He not only omitted everything dogmatically offensive, but he expanded the individual parts of the litany in a way that one can only admire. He understood the great whole, otherwise he would not have succeeded in arranging the individual parts in a perfection so faithfully pursuing the plan of the whole. His two litany forms are evidently children of the same mother, namely, of the Found Great Roman Litany; but they are not mere copies of the mother. Not even are they copies of each other, none translates the other, but they are equal twin sisters, — recognizably different from the mother, recognizably different from each other. For the same liberty which Luther used in regard to the Roman Litany, the same he used in the production of his own Latin and German form. The Roman litany is more ancient and simpler than the Lutheran litany, but the latter is fuller, more beautiful, more rounded, — and Luther's Latin form again appears to be more in keeping with the old Roman times in its great calm and fullness, while the German form bears more the fresh, strong breath of a new creation. We make it possible for the reader to make a comparison himself by presenting Luther's two forms and, in addition, the Roman form found in the Roman Breviary printed at Antwerp in 1682. We hope not to do anything superfluous, but to serve those members of our Church who wish to understand the structure and beauty of the Western litany forms.
Gerber relates in his "Historie der Kirchenceremonien in Sachsen" (Dresden and Leipzig 1732.) p. 268 § 4: Luther considered the Litany "the best prayer, so after the prayer of the holy Our Father, to come on earth." (Löhe).
It is not necessary to list the two litany forms here. It is sufficient that the German litany is found in most orthodox hymnals and that the reciprocal praying of it on penitential days is known to most parishioners.