Gospel Book

Gospel Book
A Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels (Greek: , Evangélion), is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament – normally all four – centering on the life of Jesus of Nazareth and the roots of the Christian faith. The term is also used for a liturgical book, also called the Evangeliary, from which are read the portions of the Gospels used in the Mass and other services, arranged according to the order of the liturgical calendar.
Liturgical use in churches of a distinct Gospel book remains normal, often compulsory, in Eastern Christianity, and very common in Roman Catholicism and some parts of Anglicanism and Lutheranism.
History
In the Middle Ages, the production of copies of the Bible in its entirety was rare because of the huge expense of the parchment required. Individual books or collections of books were produced for specific purposes. From the 4th century Gospel Books were produced for liturgical use, as well as private study and as "display books" for ceremonial and ornamental purposes. The Codex Washingtonianus (Freer gospels) is an early example of a book containing only the four gospels, in Greek, written in the 4th or 5th century. By the 7th century particular gospel texts were allocated to days in the liturgical calendar; previously gospel readings had often worked through the books in sequence. Many of these volumes were elaborate; the Gospel Book was the most common form of heavily illuminated manuscript until about the 11th century, when the Romanesque Bible and Psalter largely superseded it in the West. In the East they remained a significant subject for illumination until the arrival of printing. The Evangelist portrait was a particular feature of their decoration. Most of the masterpieces of both Insular and Ottonian illumination are Gospel Books.
But most Gospel Books were never illuminated at all, or only with decorated initials and other touches. They often contained, in addition to the text of the Gospels themselves, supporting texts including Canon Tables, summaries, glossaries, and other explanatory material. Latin books often include the Letter of Jerome to Pope Damasus where Jerome set out to the Pope the reasoning behind his new Vulgate translation and arrangement of the texts, and many Greek ones the Epistula ad Carpianum (Letter to Carpian) of Eusebius of Caesarea explaining the Eusebian Canons he had devised.
Luxuriously illuminated gospel books were mainly a feature of the Early Middle Ages, as the evangeliary or a general lectionary gradually became more common for liturgical use, and other texts became most favoured for elaborate decoration.
Western use
Roman Catholicism
In current Roman Catholic usage, the Book of the Gospels or Evangeliary contains the full text of the passages from all four gospels that the deacon or priest is to read or chant at Mass in the course of the liturgical year. However, use of the Book of the Gospels is not mandatory, and the gospel readings are also included in the standard Lectionary.
The Book of the Gospels, if used, is brought to the altar in the entrance procession, while the Lectionary may not. When carried in procession, the Book of the Gospels is held slightly elevated, though not over the head. It is particularly proper for the deacon to carry the Book of the Gospels in procession, as the reading of the gospel is his particular province. When there is no deacon, the Book may be carried by a lector. Upon reaching the altar, the deacon or lector bows in veneration of the altar, then places the Book upon the altar, where it remains until the Alleluia.
During the singing of the Alleluia, the deacon (who before proclaiming the gospel receives the presiding priest's blessing), or in his absence, a priest, removes the Book from the altar and processes with it to the ambo. If incense is used, the Book of the Gospels is censed by the deacon before the reading or chanting. An altar server or acolyte will swing the censer slowly during the reading or chanting. The Book of the Gospels remains on the ambo until the Mass concludes, unless it is taken to a bishop to be kissed, after which it may be placed on the credence table or another appropriate and dignified place.
Lutheranism
In the Lutheran Churches, the Book of the Gospels is "carried in procession".
Anglicanism
In the Episcopal Church in the United States of America the practice of using a Gospel Book was recovered with the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, which suggests that the lessons and gospel "be read from a book or books of appropriate size and dignity".
Eastern use
Significant gospel books
See also the categories at bottom.
Rossano Gospels
Rabula Gospels
Mulling Gospels
Book of Durrow
Domnach Airgid
Echternach Gospels
St. Augustine Gospels
Stonyhurst or St Cuthbert Gospel (St John only)
Durham Gospels
Lindisfarne Gospels
Lichfield Gospels (also known as the St. Chad Gospels)
Leningrad Gospels
Book of Kells
Barberini Gospels
Vienna Coronation Gospels
Aachen Coronation Gospels
Ada Gospels
Ebbo Gospels
Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram
Lorsch Gospels
Codex Aureus of Echternach
Emperor's Bible
Gospels of Henry the Lion
Miroslav Gospels
Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander
Peresopnytsia Gospels
Notes
References
Calkins, Robert G. Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages. 1983, Cornell University Press,
"Commentary", Edward Foley, John Francis Baldovin, Mary Collins, Joanne M. Pierce, eds., A Commentary on the Order of Mass of the Roman Missal, 2011, Liturgical Press, 2011 9780814662472
Deiss, Lucien, The Mass, 1992, Liturgical Press 9780814620588
Otto Pächt, Book Illumination in the Middle Ages (trans fr German), 1986, Harvey Miller Publishers, London,
Palazzo,Eric, A History of Liturgical Books from the Beginning to the Thirteenth Century, 1998, Liturgical Press 9780814661673, google books
External links
Getty Museum feature on gospel books, and another
Photo of Orthodox deacon holding Gospel Book
Photo of Paschal Liturgy (the Gospel Book can be seen lying on the Epitaphios)
Reading the Gospel at All-Night Vigil
Photo of Confession
Photo of Gospel Book enthroned at council
Photo of deacon reading the Gospel
Funeral of an Orthodox Bishop (St. John Maximovitch) showing Gospel Book in coffin
Jewelled Gospel book-Romanov collection at the Alexander Palace
Types of illuminated manuscript
Christian religious objects
Eastern Orthodox liturgical books
Eastern Christian liturgical objects