The Presbyters Project

XXVIII. — ORDO CONVERSORVM CONVERSARUMQVE.

Si quis de laycali habitu ad religionis ordinem cupit peruenire, tam uiris quam feminis iste ordo opportunus est custodire.

In primis, ut postulet sacerdotem a quo se religiosum exoptat fieri. Tradit ei tonsurias, si uir fuerit; si autem mulier, uestem religionis. Ille uero induit eam uestem religionis, dicens:

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti regnantis in secula seculorum.

Et fixis genibus tondit eum: ita ut, dum crucem tonsionis in capite eius facit, hanc orationem tacite dicat:

Here follows the prayer, antiphons and the verses of psalmody. Then a deacon says a short invocation after which follows the next prayer, then Paster Noster, and then the blessing.

His finitis, datur ei sancta communio, et ad locum quem uoluerit succedit.

Similiter et in feminis, excepto tonsura pro sexuum discretione, iste ordo seruatur.

Monacus uero in cenobio, quum hunc predictum ordinem primitus susceperit, ita ut stabilitatem professionis sue per adnotationem sui nominis firmet, hic ordo seruabitur: Postquam enim Ad accedentes communicauerit, tota iam explicita missa, accedit in choro ad abbatem, et roborato proprio nomine in pactionis libello per manum abbatis, suscipiunt eum deducendum ad altare presbiter et diaconus, qui eo die ministrauerunt, dicentes hunc uersum:

Here follows the verse, Glory and Kyrie.

Sicque, posito super altare testamenti libello, prosternit se ante altare: ipsoque figente genu, dicitur super eum a sacerdote hec oratio:

Here follows a short prayer.

(ed. Férotin 1904: col. 82-86; summary M. Szada)

XXVI.— The rite of female and male converts.

If there is a lay person who wants to enter the religious order, this rite is suitable both for men and women.

First he or she shall make a petition to the priest whom they want to consecrate them. If it is a man he should bring the scissors to the priest. If it is a woman, she shall bring the religious vestment. The priest puts this garment on her and says:

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit ruling for ever and ever.

And the man kneels and is tonsured by the priest. When the priest makes on his head a tonsure in the form of the cross he says silently this prayer:

Here follows the prayer, antiphons and the verses of psalmody. Then a deacon says a short invocation after which follows the next prayer, then Paster Noster, and then the blessing.

After this, they receive the holy communion and they can go to the place of their choosing.

This rite looks the same in case of women apart from the tonsure (for the distinction between the sexes).

If there is, however, a cenobitic monk who has already been admitted to the religious order by this rite, and wants now to confirm his religious profession for good by signing in his name, the following rite should be observed: He should receive communion after Ad accedentes. Then, after the mass, he should approach the abbot in the choir, and having confirmed [by signing in] his name in the book of covenant with the hand of the abbot he should be led to the altar by the presbyter and the deacon, who are serving in the church on a given day, who are saying this verse:

Here follows the verse, Glory and Kyrie.

And then, after placing the book of covenant on the altar, he should prostrate before the altar. When he is kneeling, the priest shall say on him the following prayer:

Here follows the short prayer.

(trans. and summary M. Szada)

Discussion:

For the meaning of conversio see [1164].

Place of event:

Region

Iberian Peninsula

About the source:

Title: Liber ordinum
Origin: Iberian Peninsula
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Liber ordinum is the ritual book used in the Old Spanish liturgy consisting of the various prayers and the sacramental rites performed by the priest or the bishop. It was edited in 1904 by Marius Férotin who based his edition on the four manuscripts - three codices from the monastery of Silos (Archivo del Monasterio, ms. 3 and 4), the first one from 1039 (cod. A in the edition of Férotin), the second from 1052 (cod. B), the third, Rituale antiquissimum, from the eleventh century; and the codex from Madrid, the so-called Manuale mozarabicum (cod. 56, formerly F.224, in the library of Real Academia de la Historia), also from the eleventh century. The copyists used different old books of the Old Spanish liturgy, and various texts included in these Libri ordinum might come from different periods. However, according to Férotin, who based his interpretation on internal evidence, most of it was composed in the sixth and seventh centuries. He dated only a few prayers (e.g. the exorcism of oil, no. 1) to the later period.

Edition:

M. Férotin, Le Liber ordinum en usage dans l’église wisigothique et mozarabe d’Espagne du cinquième au onzième siècle, Paris 1904.

Categories:

Food/Clothes/Housing - Hairstyle

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Described by a title - Sacerdos/ἱερεύς

Attributes of clerical status

Ritual activity - Presiding at prayer

Relation with - Monk/Nun

Relation with - Woman

Ritual activity - Blessing virgins/widows

Ritual activity - Blessing

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1488, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1488