In both Jewish and Christian tradition, a
lectionary was often used during services. It would have readings from sacred texts like the
Bible written in black text. The person officiating would receive instruction in the rubrics and then read the text out loud to the congregation. A common version of a lectionary would include an entire year's worth of readings, perhaps encompassing a large portion of key parts of the text, e.g.
the Gospels. There would frequently be readings from separate parts of the scriptures, such as a reading from a prophet followed by a reading from a Gospel that connected them. Regular days might have standard readings, while
feast days would have readings relevant to the event being celebrated. Thus, a rubric might only mention the source of the reading or it might be an elaborate description of the holy day. Instructions for a
priest explaining what he must do during a
liturgy were traditionally rubricated in
missals and the other liturgical books, whereas the texts to be spoken aloud were in black. From this, "rubric" has a secondary denotation of an instruction in a text, regardless of how it is actually inscribed. This is the oldest recorded definition in English, found in 1375. Less formally, "rubrics" may refer to any liturgical action customarily performed, whether or not pursuant to a written instruction. The history, status, and authority of the content of rubrics are significant, and sometimes controversial, among liturgical scholars. In the past, some
theologians distinguished between rubrics which they considered of Divine origin and those merely of human origin. Rubrics were probably originally verbal, and then written in separate volumes. The earliest extant liturgical books do not contain them, but from references in texts of the first millennium it appears that written versions existed. In liturgical books such as the
Catholic Roman Missal, lengthy general rubrics, probably printed in black, pertain to such matters and preface the actual order of liturgies, which contain shorter, specific rubrics that still are usually rubricated. Red is also often used to distinguish words spoken by the celebrant and those by the congregation, or by other specific persons involved in the liturgy, e.g., those marrying. ==After the development of printing==