Colonial-Era Spanish Religion
This page in-development provides selected information on the religious practice of colonial-era Spaniards, specifically as regards how it affected daily life and material culture. Below are descriptions of liturgical texts and prayer books in-use during the era, as well as ecclesiastical rules for behavior framed within the Catholic liturgical calendar described on a separate page. More information regarding additional topics and time periods will be presented as time permits.
Liturgy and Prayers / Ecclesiastical Rules
Liturgy and Prayers
The principal liturgy of colonial-era Spanish Catholics was the Mass, which was of course the pre-modern Tridentine Mass after its promulgation by Pope Pius V in 1570, and before that the Roman Missal initially printed in Milan in 1474. Below are some links to digitized missals (all in Latin) that contain the liturgical texts that would likely have been used during Mass in colonial Spanish Florida.
- Missale Romanum (c1496-1497): An early missal that includes the Roman texts approved for use at the time of the earliest New World discoveries.
- Missale secundum ordinem fratrum Praedicatorum: Juxta Decreta Capituli Generalis, Anno Domini 1551 Salmantice celebrati, reformatum: & authoritate Apostolica comprobatum (1553): The Dominican missal likely to have been used by the Dominican missionaries on the Tristán de Luna y Arellano expedition.
- Missale romanum, ex decreto sacrosancti Concilij Tridentini restitum (1575): An early edition of the Tridentine Mass following revisions by Pope Pius V after the Council of Trent.
- Missale Romanum (1675)
- Novum Missale Romanum (1724)
- Missale Romanum (1759)
- Missae Propriae Sanctorum ad usum Fratrum Minorum Sancti Francisci Conventualium, Monialium Sanctae Clarae, ac Tertii Ordinis utriusque sexus (1763): A Franciscan missal including festivals particular to the Order of Friars Minor, who administered the Florida missions between 1574 and 1763.
A Spanish language translation from the colonial era is provided below, with extensive commentary:
An English language version from the colonial era is provided for comparison:
Each priest was also obligated to recite a weekly series of prescribed daily prayers from the Roman Breviary, commonly known as the Divine Office, which was also keyed to the liturgical year. Two-volume sets began at Advent (winter) and Trinity Sunday (summer), while four-volume sets added divisions at Quadragesima Sunday (spring) and the first Sunday in September (fall). Below are links to a sampling of digitized breviaries (all in Latin) from the colonial era.
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Breviarium Romanum (1542)
- Breviarium Romanum (1563)
- Breviarium Romanum (1570): A breviary postdating the major reform in the Roman breviary instituted by Pope Pius V in 1568.
- Oficia Propria Sanctorum Ordinis Minorum (1621): Breviary supplement specific to the Franciscan Order, including festivals particular to the Order (winter and summer volumes bound together).
- Breviarium Romanum, pars aestiva [summer] / pars hiemalis [winter] (1651)
- Breviarium Romanum...ad usum Fratrum & Sororum Trium Seraphici P. S. Francisci Ordinum (1708): A full breviary specific to the Franciscan order, including festivals particular to the Order.
- Breviarium Romanum (1714)
- Breviarium Romanum, pars hiemalis[winter], pars verna [spring], pars autumnalis [fall], pars aestiva [summer] (1829)
A detailed 17th-century explanation of the breviary and its use is provided in the Spanish language below:
An English language version from the colonial era is provided below for comparison:
In the mid-16th century, during the era of Tristán de Luna y Arellano and Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, everyday Spaniards commonly made use of devotional prayer books dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or Our Lady. Probate records indicate that even poorer individuals with few possessions owned such books, usually in the Spanish language (Horas en Romance), but sometimes in Latin (Horas en Latin). Digitized examples of these books are linked below for this period.
- Las Horas de Nuestra Señora segun el uso Romano (1560): Spanish, simple format.
- Las Horas de Nuestra Señora segun el uso Romano (1551): Spanish, fancy format.
- Horae in Laudem Beatissimae Virignis Mariae, ad vsum Romanum (1549): Latin, simple format.
- Horae in Laudem Beatissimae Virignis Mariae, ad vsum Romanum (1549): Latin, fancy format.
Later examples of this "Oficio Parvo" or "Little Office" are below.
An English-language version from the colonial era is provided for comparison below:
Perhaps even more common in personal inventories were rosaries and strings of prayer beads, used as guides to prayer. Such beads were commonly made of wood, but were also fashioned from bone, jet, coral, crystal, jasper, amber, silver, and gold. Despite assumptions by many archaeologists, glass beads were not commonly used for rosaries, likely due to their fragility, but were instead most frequently noted as rescates (trade goods).
One of many contempory guides to praying the rosary can be found in the volume below, on folios 227-267.
Ecclesiastical Rules
Within the context of the broader Catholic liturgical calendar, Spanish Catholics were expected to confirm to specific rules of behavior with respect to behavior and diet. The information was below was compiled from a variety of sources, but is perhaps best summarized in the two-volume Instituciones del Derecho Canonico Americano, by Justo Donoso (1848-1849), esp. pp. 208-212 and 223-233.
On Sundays and major feast days throughout the year, the following activities were generally prohibited, with exceptions granted under specific circumstances:
- Servile Labor, including manual and intellectual labor, both obligatory and voluntary.
- Business Transactions, excluding the sale and purchase of necessities.
- Judicial Acts, including all stages of the judicial process.
In addition, below are the specific rules regarding abstinence from meat, as well as fasting (only one large meal in a day) combined with abstinence:
Abstinence (no meat)
- Fridays and Saturdays throughout the year
- Sundays in Lent only
- Major Rogation (Greater Litanies) on the day of St. Mark [April 25]
- Minor Rogations on the three days (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) preceding Ascension Thursday
Fasting and Abstinence (only one meal, and no meat)
- All days of Lent, excluding Sundays
- Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays of the four Ember Weeks, including (1) the week after the first Sunday of Lent, (2) the week after Pentecost, (3) the week after Exaltation of the Cross [Sept. 14], (4) the last full week before the Christmas Vigil [Dec. 24]
- Vigils (excluding Sundays, when fast is observed the previous Saturday), including vigils for the feast days of Christmas, Pentecost, St. John the Baptist, St. Lawrence, All Saints, and for all the apostles except St. Philip and St. James, and St. John the Evangelist.
From the above regulations, the following general dietary rules may be interpreted for colonial-era Spaniards:
General Dietary Rules for Days of the Week
- Sundays were never marked by fasting, and by abstinence only during Lent
- Fridays and Saturdays were always marked by abstinence, and also by fasting throughout Lent, during the four Ember Weeks, and on specific Vigil days.
- Thursdays were occasionally marked by abstinence on April 25, and also by fasting throughout Lent, and on specific Vigil days.
- Wednesdays were occasionally marked by abstinence on April 25, and always during the Minor Rogations, and were also marked by fasting throughout Lent, during the four Ember Weeks, and on specific Vigil days.
- Mondays and Tuesdays were occasionally marked by abstinence on April 25, and always during the Minor Rogations, and were also marked by fasting throughout Lent, and on specific Vigil days.