#boy bishops

[maypoleman1]

28th December

Holy Innocents’ Day/ Childermass

19th century depiction of a medieval boy bishop. Source: National Catholic Register website

Today is Holy Innocents’ Day, or Childermass. The feast day commemorates the probably apocryphal tale (although it does appear in Matthew’s Gospel) of the massacre of Jewish infants by King Herod, wishing to ensure the prophesied Messianic King of the Jews, rumoured to be recently born, did not grow into adulthood and threaten to overthrow Herod or his descendants. Given the evil nature of this day, it was held to be the unluckiest day of the year and one on which to avoid travel, new enterprises or any kind of labour. Also unlucky were the medieval children who were whipped by their mothers while they lay in bed, regardless of any actual transgressions, in memory of the slaughtered children but also as a prompt, perhaps, for them to behave in the New Year. This rather unfair custom was still going strong as late as the seventeenth century.

Childermass was also the last day of the Christmas season in which boy bishops would process through the streets in the Middle Ages, and give sermons in local churches to the accompaniment of church bells, rung to mourn the loss of those innocent lives.

[theraccolta]

The Boy Bishop

[theraccolta]

The Ceremony of the Boy Bishop on St. Nicholas' Day

The ceremony at Mass is conducted as follows;

After the concluding prayer, the candidate comes forward and sits in the faldstool. The celebrant stands near him and says this prayer: PRAYER Lord, who hast set before us the example of children, that we may learn of them the ways of wisdom and purity of heart; grant to this thy son that, like the young prophet Daniel, his eloquence may lead his elders into the ways of truth. Give him faithfulness, That, like the boy Samuel, he may hear your divine prompting. We ask this though Christ, our Lord. INVESTITURE The candidate is vested as Boy Bishop by his attendants in a cope. A mitre is palced upon his head, and then removed. The Headmaster of the Choir School says: I am still young, and you are old, And I am shy, afraid to tell you what I think… But great age does not give wisdom, Or longevity sound judgement. So I ask you for a hearing; Now it is my turn to tell you what I know. (Job 32; 6, 9) THE SERMON The Boy Bishop delivers a short sermon He concludes with this prayer: Lord God, who raise up the lowly And set aside the mighty, Receive our praise, and bless us with your presence. May the prayers of St Gregory Who, seeing the children of this land, Was led to establish the faith in England, Guide our school, and our families in the ways of truth. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. We ask Our Lady, who raised the infant Jesus, To look upon us, her children, as we pray Hail Mary … BLESSING The celebrant gives the final blessing. The Boy Bishop processes with the celebrant to the sacristy.

[theraccolta]

The custom of electing a boy-bishop on the feast of St. Nicholas dates from very early times, and was in vogue in most Catholic countries, but chiefly in England, where it prevailed certainly in all the larger monastic and scholastic establishments, and also in many country parishes besides, with the full approbation of authority, ecclesiastical and civil. The boy-bishop was chosen from among the children of the monastery school, the cathedral choir, or pupils of the grammar-school. Elected on St. Nicholas's day (6 December), he was dressed in pontifical vestments and, followed by his companions in priest's robes, went in procession round the parish, blessing the people. He then took possession of the church, where he presided at all the ceremonies and offices until Holy Innocents' day (28 December). At Salisbury he is said to have had the power of disposing of any benefices that fell vacant during his reign, and if he died in office the funeral honours of a bishop were granted to him. A monument to such a boy-prelate still exists there, though its genuineness has been questioned, and at Lulworth Castle another is preserved, which came from Bindon Abbey. The custom was abolished by Henry VIII in 1512, restored by Queen Mary and again abolished by Elizabeth, though here and there it lingered on for some time longer. On the Continent it was suppressed by the Council of Basle in 1431, but was revived in some places from time to time, even as late as the eighteenth century.