Note 270 — Chapter I · THE CHURCH’S YEAR (continued 2)

Potho of Prüm (1152) has an interesting remark to which Hospinian draws attention: “Miramur satis, quod visum fuerit hoc tempore quibusdam monasteriis mutare colorem optimum novas quasdam inducendo celebritates.... Quæ igitur ratio hæc festa celebrandi nobis induxcit, festum videlicet s. trinitatis et festum transfigurationis Domini? Additur his a quibusdam, quod magis absurdum videtur, festum conceptionis S. Mariæ” (De Statu Domus Dei lib.; De la Bigne, Magna Bibl. Vet. Patrum, ix. 588). One must make allowances for Potho’s standpoint. He set himself energetically against the monks having the cure of souls or any say in the administration of the Church, as detrimental to their vocation to the contemplative life. On the same grounds, he set himself against all alterations in the rule, and all innovations in the festivals of the Church’s year.