Staff, Pastoral
staff, pastoral
An ornamental staff in the shape of a shepherd’s crook, conferred on bishops , mitered abbots , and certain other prelates. It usually consists of a metal tube, plated with silver and gold; sometimes of elaborately carved wood, or even of pure gold and silver. The crook symbolizes that the bishop should act as a shepherd to those who may wander from his fold; the pointed lower end, that he should goad on the spiritually indifferent; and the tall shaft, that he should support the weak. The bishop always carries the crosier in the left hand with the crook turned outward towards the people, in accordance with the above symbolism; other prelates using the crosier hold it with the crook turned inwards. The popes have not used the crosier since before the 11th century ; this is supposed by some to symbolize the giving of his staff by Saint Peter to one of his disciples to raise a dead person to life. As the emblem of a saint, it indicates that he was a bishop or abbot ; it is especially associated in art with Saint Benedict , Saint Bernard , and Saint Giles.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Staff, Pastoral
(Or PASTORAL STAFF).
The crosier is an ecclesiastical ornament which is conferred on bishops at their consecration and on mitred abbots at their investiture, and which is used by these prelates in performing certain solemn functions. It is sometimes stated that archbishops do not use the crosier. This is not so, the truth being that in addition to the pastoral staff they have also the right to have the archiepiscopal cross borne before them within the territory of their jurisdiction. According to present-day usage the Roman pontiff does not use the crosier. That this practice is now a departure from primitive discipline is now thoroughly established, for in the early representations of the popes found on tablets, coins, and other monuments, the crosier is to be seen (Kraus, Geschichte der christlichen Kunst, II, 500). But in the eleventh century this must have disappeared, since Innocent III (d. 1216) intimates that it no longer prevailed (Epistola ad Patr. Const.). As a reason why the pope does not use crosier symbolists allege the giving by St. Peter of his staff to one of his disciples in order to raise a dead companion to life. The pastoral staff will here be treated under: (1) the symbolism of the crosier; (2) its origin and antiquity; (3) early forms and subsequent artistic development.
(1) Symbolism
The crosier is symbol of authority and jurisdiction. This idea is clearly expressed in the words of the Roman Pontifical with which the staff is presented to the bishop elect: “Accipe baculum pastoralis officii; et sis in corrigendis vitiis pie s viens, judicium sine irâ tenens, in fovendis virtutibus auditorum animos mulcens, in tranquillitate severitatis censuram non deserens” (Pont. Rom. 77). It is then, as Durandus (Rationale Divin. Off., III, xv) says, borne by prelates to signify their authority to correct vices, stimulate piety, administer punishment, and thus rule and govern with a gentleness that is tempered with severity. The same author goes on to say that, as the rod of Moses was the seal and emblem of his Divine commission as well as the instrument of the miracles he wrought, so is the episcopal staff the symbol of that doctrinal and disciplinary power of bishops in virtue of which they may sustain the weak and faltering, confirm the wavering in faith, and lead back the erring ones into the true fold. Barbosa (Pastoralis Sollicitudinis, etc., Tit. I, ch. v) alluding to the prevalent form of the staff, says that the end is sharp and pointed wherewith to prick and goad the slothful, the middle is straight to signify righteous rule, while the head is bent or crooked in order to draw in and attract souls to the ways of God. Bona (Rerum liturgic., I, xxiv) says the crosier is to bishops what the sceptre is to kings. In deference to this symbolism bishops always carry the crosier with the crook turned outwards, while inferior prelates hold it with the head reversed. Moreover, the crosiers of abbots are not so large as episcopal crosiers, and are covered with a veil when the bishop is present.
(2) Origin
The origin of the pastoral staff is at times associated with the shepherd’s crook. Whether the usage was borrowed from this source is doubtful. Some writers trace an affinity with the lituus, or rod used by the Roman augurs in their divinations, while others again ace in the crosier an adaptation of the ordinary walking-sticks which were used for support on journeys and in churches before the introduction of seats (Catalani, Pont. Rom., Proleg., xx). At all events, it came at a very early date to be one of the principal insignia of the episcopal office. Just how soon is not easily determined, since in the early pas- sages of the Fathers in which the word occurs it cannot be ascertained whether it is to be taken literally or metaphorically (see 1 Corinthians 4:21) or whether it designates an ecclesiastical ornament at all. In liturgical usage it probably goes back to the fifth century (Kirchenlex., s. v. Hirtenstab). Mention of it is made in a letter of Pope Celestine I (d. 432) to the Bishops of Vienne and Narbonne. Staffs have indeed been found in the catacombs that date from the fourth century but their ceremonial character has not been established. The first unequivocal reference to the crosier as a liturgical instrument occurs in the twenty-seventh canon of the Council of Toledo (633). At present it is employed by bishops whenever they perform solemn pontifical functions, by right in their own dioceses and by privilege outside, and by inferior prelates whenever they are privileged to exercise pontifical functions.
(3) Form and Development
The evolution of the staff is of interest. Ecclesiologists distinguish three early forms. The first was a rod of wood bent or crooked at the top and pointed at the lower end. This is the oldest form and was known as the pedum. The second had, instead of the crook, a knob which was often surmounted by a cross, and was called the ferula or cambuta. It was sometimes borne by popes. In the third form the top consisted of a crux decussata, or Greek T, the arms of the cross being often so twisted as to represent two serpents opposed. This, known as the crocia, was borne by abbots and bishops of the Eastern Rite. The original material was generally cypress-wood, often cased or inlaid with gold or silver. Later on the staffs were made of solid ivory, gold, silver, and enamelled metal. From the many specimens preserved in churches as well as from the representations in old sculptures, paintings, and miniatures, some idea may be formed of the artistic development of the staff and of the perfection it attained. In the cathedral of Bruges is preserved the crosier of St. Malo, a bishop of the sixth century. The staff consists of several pieces of ivory jointed together by twelve copper strips; but the volute is modern (Reusens, Elém. d’arch. chr t., I, 504). The eleventh and twelfth centuries witness an elaborate display of most exquisite ornamentation bestowed on the head of the staff. The volute often terminated in a dragon impaled by a cross, or in some other allegorical figure whilst a wealth of floral decoration filled up the curve. In the thirteenth century the spaces between the spirals of the crocketed volute were filled religious subjects, statues of saints, and scenes from the animal and vegetable kingdoms, while in those of the Gothic form the knob was set in precious stones and embellished with a wreath of allegorical ornamentation Quite a number of these rich and valuable efforts of artistic skill have come down to us, and one or more may be seen in almost every old cathedral of England and the Continent. Oxford possesses three very old and interesting patterns, that preserved at New College having belonged to William of Wykeham. St. Peter’s staff is said to be preserved in the cathedral of Trier. The legend may he seen in Barbosa (Pastoralis Sollicitudinis, etc., Tit. I, ch. v). As crosier of an abbess see article ABBESS.
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BONA, Rerum liturgicarum libri duo (Turin, 1745), I, xxiv; CATALANI, Pontificale Romanum (Rome, 1850). I, Prolegomena xx; MART NE, De antiquis ecclesi ritibus (Antwerp, 1784, I, viii; REUSENS, El ments d’arch. chrét. (Dublin, 1885) I, 502; II, 453; LEROSEY, Manuel liturgique (Paris, 1890), I, 258 MACALISTER, Ecclesiastical Vestments (London, 1896), 56, 124; PUGIN, Glossary of Ecclesiastical Onament (London, 1868); KRAUS, Gesch. der christl. Kunst (Freiburg im Br., 1897) I, 522, II, 500; DE FLEURY, La Messe (Paris, 1889), VIII, 75-110; BOCK, Gesch. der liturg. Gew nder (Bonn. 1856-62), II, 218 sq.; CAHIER, Mélanges d’archéol. (Paris, 1886), IV, 139.
PATRICK MORRISROE Transcribed by Wm Stuart French, Jr. Dedicated to: Rt. Rev. Walter A. Coggin, O.S.B Third Abbot Nullius Belmont Abbey Nullius, Belmont, North Carolina, U.S.A. (also known as Mary Help of Christians Abbey) Council Father, Second Vatican Council
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IVCopyright © 1908 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, CensorImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Staff, Pastoral
a symbol of episcopal authority, resembling a shepherd’s crook, and pointed at the end as an emblem both of encouragement and correction. It was originally a simple walking stick with a plain head or a cross piece at the top. The Russian bishops use one with two curved heads. It was eventually wrought into very elaborate forms; but was, at length, generally discarded, except by the patriarch (q.v.) who retained it in its primitive form. The pope gave up, the use of the staff in the middle of the 12th century, and cardinal bishops no longer carry it. The early staffs were mostly made of cypress wood, and afterwards of ivory, copper gilt, crystal, and precious metals richly. carved, jeweled, or enameled. Between 1150 and 1280 the crook was often formed of a serpent (the old dragon), or contained St. Michael or the lion of Judah, and at a later period the prelate praying before his patron saint. Beautiful crocheted work was also added on the exterior of the crook. The French abbot’s staff has its crook turned inward, to show that his jurisdiction extended only over his house, while the bishop’s crook turned outward, to denote his external jurisdiction over his diocese. In the Penitential of Theodore and the Ordo Romanus the bishop gave the abbot his staff and sandals. The banner on the staff was originally a handkerchief. Fine specimens of staffs are, preserved those of Wykeham, of silver-gilt, enameled, at New College; of Fox, at Corpus Christi College; of Laud, at St. John’s College, Oxford; of Smith, of the 17th century, at York; of Mews and Trelawney, at Winchester. Others are to be seen in the British Museum, the Museum Clugny, at Chichester, and Hildesheim. SEE PASTORAL STAFF.
It was ordered by the first book of Edward VI that whensoever the bishop shall celebrate the holy communion in the church, or execute any other ministration, he shall have his pastoral staff in his hand, or else borne or holden by his chaplain. When, however, Dr. Matthew Parker was consecrated archbishop of Canterbury, in December 1559, no pastoral staff was delivered to him. Its delivery was prescribed in the Ordinal of 1550, but not by that of 1552. From that time the staff has been generally disused, although the bishops of Oxford, Chichester, Rochester, Salisbury, Honolulu, Capetown, and some other colonial prelates, have resumed its use. SEE CROSIER.