Homiliarium

Homiliarium The name given to collections of sermons for the ecclesiastical year, to be read in case of incapacity preventing the preacher from delivering a sermon of his own. The idea of such a collection arose in the early part of the Middle Ages. The most celebrated work of the kind, which took the place of all preceding ones, is that known as Charlemagne's Homiliarium (see Neander, Church Hist. 3, 174). The title of the Cologne edition, 1530, sets forth Alcuin as its author (Homilie seu mavis sermones sive conciones ad

populum, praestantissirnorum ecclesice doctorun, Hieronmni, Augustini, Ambrosii, Gregorii, Origenis, Chrysostomi, Bedoe, etc., in hunc ordinem digeste per Alchuinum Levitam, idque injungente ei Carolo M. Romans Imp. cui Asecretis fuit). According to other accounts, however and even to the instruction by Charlemagne himself which accompanies the work — Charlemagne had caused this work to be done by Paulus Diaconus because (see Ranke in the Stud. u. Krit. 1855, 2:387 sq.) "the Hours contained a number of fragments from the fathers used for reading which were full of faults and badly selected." But it is possible that both had a part in it, Alcuin forming the plan and Paulus Diaconus executing it. The work acquired great importance from the fact that it established more firmly the system of Church lessons introduced by Jerome, which had heretofore been subject to various alterations. See Herzog, Real-Encyklop. 6, 249 sq.; Rheinwald, Kirchl. Archaöl. p. 276; Siegel, Handb. d. christl. — kirchl. Alterth. 2, 331; Neander, Ch. History, 3, 126; Mosheim, Ch. Hist. 2, 35; and the art. SEE HOMILY.