The Mozarabic Rite, officially called the Hispanic Rite, and in the past also called the Visigothic Rite, is a liturgical rite of the Latin Church once used generally in the Iberian Peninsula (Hispania), in what is now Spain and Portugal. While the liturgy is often called 'Mozarabic' after the Christian communities that lived under Muslim rulers in Al-Andalus that preserved its use, the rite itself developed before and during the Visigothic period. After experiencing a period of decline during the Reconquista, when it was superseded by the Roman Rite in the Christian states of Iberia as part of a wider programme of liturgical standardization within the Catholic Church, efforts were taken in the 16th century to revive the rite and ensure its continued presence in the city of Toledo, where it is still celebrated today. It is also celebrated on a more widespread basis throughout Spain and, by special dispensation, in other countries, though only on special occasions.
Toledo Cathedral
Early Christian (4th century) sarcophagus from Belalcázar, Córdoba depicting the prophet Daniel
Chi-rho from the Villa Fortunatus in Huesca, Aragon (6th century)
The Monastery of San Miguel de Escalada in León
The Latin Church is the largest autonomous particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 churches sui iuris in full communion with the pope; the other 23 are collectively referred to as the Eastern Catholic Churches, and have approximately 18 million members combined.
Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran in Rome, Italy
Image: San Bernabé o San Mateo (Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando)
Image: San Pedro en lágrimas Murillo
Image: Guido Reni Saint James the Greater Google Art Project