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This manuscript was written in 1583 during the abbacy of Prince-Abbot Joachim Opser (1577-1594) by the Cantor Johannes Strang who died young († 1588; profession 1580), based on notes by Father Heinrich Keller. Mostly in Latin but often also in German, the manuscript describes the worship practices of the Monastery of St. Gall in the course of the year from January 1 to December 31. This Directorium cultus divini is one of the most important sources of information about the monastic liturgy in the monastery after the Reformation. It refers to prayers and chants that were said and sung on certain days or to the order of liturgical processions (even separately for days of fair versus bad weather). The volume contains directions for the decoration of the church and numerous notes that are interesting for their cultural history, such as those relating to the St. Gall custom of naming a boy abbot (abbas scholasticus). In addition to a list of anniversaries, p. 1 also contains historical notes about various events internal to the monastery. This volume was continued until 1606.
Online Since: 06/23/2014
This manuscript was written by the Freiburg University Theology Professor Jodocus Lorichius (1540-1612) for the Cistercian nuns of Günterstal. It was dedicated to the convent's abbess, Maria Störin von Störenberg. Following a prologue by Lorichius on the usefulness of liturgical ceremonies, the author provides the nuns with German translations of two of the founding texts of the Cistercian order from the twelfth century: the Exordium Cistercii, a narrative of the early history of the order, and the Ecclesiastica Officia, a set of regulations for liturgical and monastic life. It concludes with a short justification of why Cistercians pray the Seven Penitential Psalms on a Friday. A set of statutes (the Usus Conversorum) for lay brothers, translated into German, is appended. Lorichius dedicated four printed books to the nuns of Günterstal between 1581 and 1598, all in German, and this manuscript must be seen as part of this wider relationship.
Online Since: 12/17/2015