In the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

, plenarium or plenarius (liber) (plural, plenaria) refers to any complete book of formulas and texts that contains all matters pertaining to one subject that might otherwise be scattered in several books. The word is from the Latin, complete.

Thus, the word appears in a work about the life of Robert Aldrich, Bishop of Carlisle (Baluze, "Miscell.", I, iii, 29) in reference to what seems to be a book of church rents

Ground rent

Ground rent, sometimes known as a rentcharge, is a regular payment required under a lease from the owner of leasehold property, payable to the freeholder. A ground rent is created when a freehold piece of land or a building is sold on a long lease...

 (Binterim, "Denkwurdigkeiten", IV, i, 239).

The entire office

Canonical hours

Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....

, or series of prayers and psalms said (or chanted) in the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 — Vespers

Vespers

Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...

, Matins

Matins

Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also...

, Lauds

Lauds

Lauds is a divine office that takes place in the early morning hours and is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it forms part of the Office of Matins...

 and Mass

Eucharist (Catholic Church)

"At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood."...

 — is called plenarium.

A complete copy of the four Gospels was called an evangeliarium plenarium (as distinct from a Lectionary

Lectionary

A Lectionary is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion.-History:...

, which contains only pericope

Pericope

A pericope in rhetoric is a set of verses that forms one coherent unit or thought, thus forming a short passage suitable for public reading from a text, now usually of sacred scripture....

s or selections). Under this heading is classed the Book of Gospels at Lichfield

Lichfield

Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...

 Cathedral and the Book of Gospels given by Athelstan to Christ Church in Canterbury

Canterbury

Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

, now in the library of Lambeth Palace

Lambeth Palace

Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury in England. It is located in Lambeth, on the south bank of the River Thames a short distance upstream of the Palace of Westminster on the opposite shore. It was acquired by the archbishopric around 1200...

 (Rock, "Church of our Fathers", I, 122).

Some plenaria included all the writings of the New Testament

New Testament

The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

, others those parts of the scriptures

Books of the Bible

The Books of the Bible are listed differently in the canons of Judaism and the Catholic, Protestant, Greek Orthodox, Slavonic Orthodox, Georgian, Armenian Apostolic, Syriac and Ethiopian churches, although there is substantial overlap. A table comparing the canons of some of these traditions...

 that were commonly read in the Mass and bore the name Lectionarium Plenarium (Becker, "Catal. bibl. ant.", 1885, 28, no. 237; 68, no. 650, 659).

In monasteries, the use of several books for each service created not great problem; but priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

s who did not make the Benedictine

Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...

 religious profession

Profession (religious)

The term religious profession is defined in the 1983 Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church in relation to members of religious institutes as follows:By religious profession members make a public vow to observe the three evangelical counsels...

 of "stability, conversion of manners and obedience" and who travelled from place to place on their missionary duties, found it best to carry a single book with them, and the complete missal

Missal

A missal is a liturgical book containing all instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the year.-History:Before the compilation of such books, several books were used when celebrating Mass...

 or Missale Plenarium came into use among them, especially after the foundation of the mendicant orders

Mendicant Orders

The mendicant orders are religious orders which depend directly on the charity of the people for their livelihood. In principle, they do not own property, either individually or collectively , believing that this was the most pure way of life to copy followed by Jesus Christ, in order that all...

. Early vestiges of that missal date to the ninth century, and by the eleventh or twelfth century the Missale Plenarium was widespread. It contained all necessary prayers for the celebration of the Mass, which until then had to be taken from different books — the Sacramentary, Lectionary, Evangelistary, Antiphonary, and Gradual (Zaccaria, "Bibl. rit.", I [Rome, 1876], 50).

In Germany, plenarium denoted a popular book that gave the German translation of the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays and festivals of the entire liturgical year, together with a short exposition and instruction. Later editions added the Introit

Introit

The Introit is part of the opening of the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist for many Christian denominations. In its most complete version, it consists of an antiphon, psalm verse and Gloria Patri that is spoken or sung at the beginning of the celebration...

, Gradual

Gradual

The Gradual is a chant or hymn in the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist for many Christian denominations. In the Tridentine Mass it was and is sung after the reading or chanting of the Epistle and before the Alleluia, or, during penitential seasons, before the Tract. In the Mass of Paul VI...

, and other parts of the Mass.

The last book of the kind bearing the title plenarium was printed in 1522 at Basle.