The Ambrosian Rite () is a Latin liturgical rite of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church (specifically The Divine Liturgy of Saint Ambrose). The rite is named after Saint Ambrose, a bishop of Milan in the fourth century. It is used by around five million Catholics in the greater part of the Archdiocese of Milan (excluding Monza, Treviglio and Trezzo sull'Adda), in some parishes of the Diocese of Como, Bergamo, Novara, Lodi, in the Diocese of Lugano, Canton of Ticino, Switzerland, less prominently in some Western Rite orthodox parishes and on special occasions of other jurisdictions.

thumb|upright=1.2|[[Milan Cathedral, mother church of all Ambrosian Christians]]

The Ambrosian Rite has risked suppression at various points in its history. It was reformed after the Second Vatican Council (Pope Paul VI belonged to the Ambrosian Rite, having previously been Archbishop of Milan). In the 20th century, it also gained prominence and prestige from the attentions of two other scholarly Archbishops of Milan: Achille Ratti, later Pope Pius XI, and Cardinal Ildefonso Schuster, both of whom were involved in studies and publications on the rite.

History

thumb|Diffusion of the Ambrosian Rite

The Church of Milan's own liturgy is named Ambrosian after its patron saint Ambrose. The Ambrosian Rite evolved and developed from the 4th century onwards.

According to St. Augustine (Confessiones, IX, vii) and Paulinus the Deacon (Vita S. Ambrosii, § 13), St. Ambrose introduced innovations, not indeed into the Mass, but into what would seem to be the Divine Office, at the time of his contest with the Empress Justina, for the Portian Basilica which she claimed for the Arians. St. Ambrose filled the church with Catholics and kept them there night and day until the peril was past. And he arranged Psalms and hymns for them to sing, as St. Augustine says, "after the manner of the Orientals, lest the people should languish in cheerless monotony"; and of this Paulinus the deacon says: "Now for the first time antiphons, hymns, and vigils began to be part of the observance of the Church in Milan, which devout observance lasts to our day not only in that church but in nearly every province of the West". It is based on the ancient Ambrosian liturgical tradition and contains in particular, a special rite of light ("lucernarium") and proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus, for use before the Saturday-evening celebration of the Mass of the Sunday, seen as the weekly Easter. Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass in Milan using the Ambrosian Rite in 1983, as did Pope Francis in 2017.

Origin

thumb|A solemn Mass celebrated in the Ambrosian Rite using the 1954 Missal (pre-Vatican II) in the church of its patron, Saint Ambrose, [[Legnano]]

The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1907 gives three theories of the ancient origin of the rite, none conclusive. The question resolves itself into whether the Ambrosian Rite is archaic Roman or a much-Romanized form of the Gallican Rite.

J. M. Neale and others from the Anglican tradition referred the Hispano-Gallican and Celtic family of liturgies to an original imported into Provence from Ephesus in Asia Minor by St. Irenæus, who had received it through St. Polycarp from St. John the Divine. The name Ephesine was applied to this liturgy, and it was sometimes called the Liturgy of St. John. In support of this theory, Colman, at the Synod of Whitby in 664, attributed the Celtic rule of Easter to St. John. But Neale greatly exaggerated the Romanizing effected by St. Charles Borromeo. W. C. Bishop, however, in his article on the Ambrosian Breviary, takes up the same line as Neale in claiming a Gallican origin for the Ambrosian Divine Office. Here, "Gallican" means a Latin (not Eastern) liturgy somewhat different from that of Rome.

Antonio Maria Ceriani and Magistretti maintain that the Ambrosian Rite has preserved the pre-Gelasian and pre-Gregorian form of the Roman Rite.

  • The cross with the crucifix is always facing the celebrant while processing (in the Roman Rite it faces the crowd).
  • During solemnities, the initial procession stops at the footsteps of the Sanctuary and so-called XII Kyrie are sung twelve times. Then an Ambrosian antiphon called Psallenda (different for each feast) is sung twice, with Gloria Patri-Sicut erat in between. During the Gloria Patri verse, all the acolytes bow to the cross, while during the Sicut erat verse all bow to the celebrant. Only at this time, they enter the Sanctuary and the Mass begins.
  • The principal celebrant blesses all the readers, not only the deacon. The reader asks for the blessing saying to the priest: "Bless me, father". Then, while tracing the sign of the cross, the main celebrant tells the reader: "Read in the name of the Lord".
  • During the Mass, four prayers are said: Prayer over the people (oratio super populum), Prayer over the altar shroud (oratio super sindonem), Prayer over the Gifts (oratio super oblatam) and Prayer after the communion (oratio post communionem). In traditional Ambrosian Rite the celebrant always faces the altar in front of the missal when he said "Dominus vobiscum".
  • The initial antiphon is called Ingressa and has not the form of the roman Introitus (i.e. antiphon, psalm, Gloria, antiphon). The only example of Ingressa equal to roman Introitus is "Requiem aeternam" during the Mass of the Dead.
  • The Gospel is followed by an antiphon called Post Evangelium (absent in the Roman Rite).
  • The Rite of Peace comes before the Presentation of the Gifts. During the presentation of the Gifts, no "Orate, fratres" (pray brothers and sisters) is said as it happens in the Roman rite.
  • The Creed follows the Preparation of the Gifts, before the Prayer over the Gifts.
  • There are some differences between the First Eucharistic Prayer of the Ambrosian Missal and the Roman Canon, the first in the Roman Missal; but its Eucharistic Prayers II, III, and IV are the same as in the Roman Rite. In addition, the Ambrosian Rite has two proper Eucharistic Prayers, used mainly on Easter and Holy Thursday. In traditional Ambrosian Rite, the celebrant washed his hands right before the Consecration, no Lavabo inter innocentes was said.
  • The priest breaks the Host and places a piece in the main chalice before the Lord's Prayer, while an antiphon (the Confractorium) is sung or recited.
  • The Agnus Dei is not said (in the traditional Ambrosian rite Agnus Dei was said or sung only at the Mass for the Dead).
  • Before the final blessing, the people say Kyrie, eleison ("Lord, have mercy") three times (in the traditional Ambrosian Rite Kyrie, eleison were repeated always three times after each "Dominus vobiscum" which was not followed by a prayer and at the end of Gloria in excelsis Deo).
  • At the end of the Mass, instead of saying "The Mass is ended, go in peace" (Ite, missa est) the priest says simply "Go in peace" ("Procedamus cum pace"), to which the people respond "In the name of Christ" ("In nomine Christi").
  • The Ambrosian Rite has its own cycle of readings at Mass.
  • Many of the prayers said by the priest during Mass are peculiar to the Ambrosian Rite. Prefaces are all proper for each feast (there are no common prefaces).

Liturgical year

The main differences in the liturgical year are:

  • Advent and Lent have both six weeks (Roman Advent has four weeks). On the sixth Sunday of Advent the solemnity of the Divine Maternity of the Virgin Mary is celebrated (white vestments).
  • Lent starts with the first Sunday (four days later than in the Roman Rite), no Ash Wednesday is celebrated and Carnival continues until "Fat Saturday" ("sabato grasso" in Italian), corresponding to Shrove Tuesday (called "Mardi Gras", i.e. "Fat Tuesday", in French) in areas where the Roman Rite is used. Before St. Charles Borromeo, the First Sunday of Lent called "the Sunday head of Lent" (Dominica in capite Quadragesimae) was a solemn feast celebrated with white vestments and Gloria in excelsis Deo and Alleluja were sung. In particular this hallelujatic verse was the longest of the whole Ambrosian chant repertoire and now survived as a Cantus (the equivalent of the roman Tractus). The Alleluja were sung until the second vespers, when a solemn antiphon commonly called the farewell to Alleluja was sung ("Quadraginta dies et noctes aperti sunt caeli, et omnes animae habentes spiritum vitae ingressae sunt in arca, et clausa est, hallelujah" – For forty days and nights the heavens were open and all souls having the spirit of life entered into the ark, and it closed, alleluja). After the Borromeo's liturgical reform, First Sunday of Lent is celebrated with violet vestments and neither Gloria in excelsis nor Alleluja are sung. Being absent the Ash Wednesday, fasting and abstinence is postponed onto the first Friday of Lent. In replacement of Gloria in excelsis, a litany is sung according to two distinct formulas for odd and even Sundays, "Divinae pacis" and "Dicamus omnes" respectively. Also Sundays of Lent are different and take the name from the Gospel's reading:
  • First Sunday – in capite Quadragesimae (temptations in the desert),
  • Second Sunday – de Samaritana,
  • Third Sunday – de Abraham,
  • Fourth Sunday – de Caeco,
  • Fifth Sunday – de Lazaro.
  • On Fridays in Lent, Mass is not celebrated and, with a few exceptions, Communion is not distributed. In substitution of the Mass, the prayer of Via Crucis takes place.
  • Liturgical colours throughout the year are different from the Roman Rite. For example, in the Ambrosian Rite red is the eucharistic colour and the standard colour of vestments from Pentecost to the third Sunday of October (solemnity of the Dedication of the Cathedral), rather than the green used in the Roman Rite. No violet is used in Ambrosian rite during Advent and Lent, but a brown-nuance called "morello" (i.e. blackberry colour, similar to prune). Black vestments are used during the ordinary days of Lent (feriae). Rose vestments are absent, being absent the Laetare and Gaudete Sundays. Green is used for the whole period after the Epiphany and during the liturgical period between the Dedication of the Cathedral and Advent. During Easter, white vestments are used on the Holy Saturday, on Sunday of Resurrection and for the whole week in albis. Afterwards, starting from the first Sunday after Easter called in albis depositis, white vestments are set down literally and green vestments are used. After the liturgical reform of 1969, all Easter Sundays are celebrated with white vestments as in the Roman Rite.
  • The Holy Week is called the Authentic Week (in Authentica) and starts with the Palm Sundays. Red vestments are used for all celebrations, also for Maundy Thursday. The Good Friday celebration remembers the Passion and Death of the Lord on the cross with the readings from the Old and New Testament, followed by the worship of the cross.
  • After the Sunday of Ascension, three days of penance called Minor Rogations from Monday to Wednesday (called litaniae triduane meaning three days of rogations) prepare for the solemnity of Pentecost, following the words of Jesus "The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast" (Mt 9,14-15). Before the Liturgical reform of 1969, this was the moment in which ashes were sprinkled to worshippers. After 1969, to maintain the distinction with Roman Rite ashes are sprinkled on the first Monday of Lent – i.e. the day after the First Sunday of Lent.

Other

Other differences are that:

  • The Liturgy of the Hours (also known as the Divine Office or Breviary) is different in structure and in various features.
  • The liturgical rites of Holy Week are quite different.
  • The rite of funerals is different.
  • Baptism of infants is done by triple immersion of the head.
  • The thurible has no top cover, is lighter and is swung in anti-clockwise before the censing of a person or object, then three times in clockwise (ductus) and in front (tractus), thus to shape the sign of a cross.
  • Ambrosian deacons wear the stole over the dalmatic and not under it.
  • The Ambrosian cassock, buttoned with only five buttons below the neck, is held with a fascia at the waist, and is worn with a round white collar.
  • Ambrosian chant is distinct from Gregorian chant.
  • Some senior priests (notably provosts and certain canons) are entitled to wear vestments commonly associated with bishops, including the mitre.
  • A liturgical privilege of the Archbishop of Milan is to sing Vespers wearing the chasuble in place of the cope.
  • The liturgical burning of the faro (a large cotton sphere suspended in the air, inside the church) on feasts of martyrs to remind the offer of their lifes to God.

Early manuscripts

The early manuscripts of the Ambrosian Rite are generally found in the following forms: