Thursday, December 31, 2015

Happy New year!



Rule of St Benedict
Codex Sangallensis
I'd like to wish all readers a happy and holy new year - and a reminder to join in the public recitation of the Te Deum in thanksgiving for the year on December 31, and the Veni Creator on January 1 to gain the plenary indulgences attached to them (partial if said privately).

I'd also like to let you know about a couple of projects that I've already started on, but will hopefully push along further in the new year, and am posting elsewhere, that may be of interest.

Matins readings

First, over at my Lectio Divina blog I'm in the process of compiling lists of all the Matins readings for the Benedictine Office, grouped by liturgical season (and there will be a separate post for major feasts of saints).

I'll put indexes of links (masterposts) in the sidebar for future reference, though at the moment I'm also posting weekly lists that also show the readings for any feasts that interrupt the normal seasonal cycle (you can subscribe to these by email through the link on the blog).

In the past over there I've posted English translations of most of the Sunday Gospels, and Third Nocturn readings on them; links to past posts can be found in the masterposts.  Over the course of 2016 I'll try to fill in the gpas, as well as go back and fill in the first and second nocturn readings for the Sunday cycle (where I can find an online version of them).

Lectio divina around the liturgical cycle of readings

I've also previously posted notes over at the Lectio Divina blog on each of the Gospels, spread over a three month cycle (so you can read all of them in a year).  I've put up a masterpost for the notes on St Matthew, and plan to fill out gaps in them over the next quarter.  I'll also try and make the notes on the other Gospels more accessible in the same way, as well as provide brief notes on the books of the Bible being read in the Office (at Matins).

Reading the Rule of St Benedict

Thirdly, I'm planning a series, starting in the new year, offering some reading notes on the Rule of St Benedict, and you find these over at my new Lectio Regula blog (it is easier to keep topics separate rather than clog up this one I think).

Each day I'll provide both the English and the Latin, divided up over four months in the traditional arrangement.  I'll also try and provide some notes of my own on it (though no guarantees that I'll comment on every part of the Rule, though I will certainly do my best).

I'm not planning to provide a complete or polished commentary on the Rule, but rather to focus in on some particular aspects of it, mostly around the way that St Benedict uses Scripture, and the links between the Rule and the shape of the Benedictine Office.  I've written a post that sets out some of the main themes I plan to focus on that you can read here.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Notes on the saints and feasts (and former feasts) of January

Some time ago I put together summary pages of my notes on assorted feasts and saints for each month of the year.  The old posts are rather out of date though, so herewith an updated version.


Octave Day of Christmas/Circumcision of Our Lord

Monastic saints whose feasts fall on this day:




2 JANUARY


Pre-1960 calendar



3 January  

Pre-1960 calendar

St Elizabeth Anne Seton (in some places)

Octave Day of the Holy Innocents

5 January 

St John Neumann (in some places)

Pre 1960 calendar:


Monastic saints of note:

St Peter Orseleo OSB

St Gregory of Nyssa  (Benedictine Confederation 1975 calendar)

11 January 

Pre-1960: Not the sixth day in the Octave of the Epiphany

12 January

Monastic saints of note:

St Benedict Biscop OSB - English Congregation



St Margaret Bourgeoys (Canada)

13 January

Commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord Class II

14 January

St Hilary of Poitiers, bishop and doctor (Memorial)

St Felix Nola (memorial)

15 January 

Pre-1960/in some places: St Maurus

Our Lady of Prompt Succor (in some places)

SS Maurus and Placid, disciples of St Benedict (Benedictine Confederation 1975 calendar; 5 October in the 1962 calendar)

16 January 

St Marcellus I (Memorial)

Monastic saints of note:

St Honorius of Fondi


17 January 



St Antony, abbot (Cl III)

18 January 

Pre-1960: St Prisca

19 January 

SS Marius, Martha, Audifax and Abachum, martyrs (Memorial)

St Wulfstan OSB (wiki) (English Congregation)

20 January 

St Fabian (Pope) and St Sebastian, martyrs Cl III

21 January

St Agnes virgin and martyr  (Class II/III)

St Meinrad OSB (in some places)

22 January 

St Vincent of Saragosa (memorial) and St Anastasius

St Peter's Chair (in some places)

23 January 

St Emerenthiana (memorial)

24 January 

St Timothy, bishop & martyr (Memorial)

25 January 

Conversion of St Paul (Class III)

From the martyrology: St Poppo OSB

26 January 

St Polycarp, bishop and martyr (Memorial)

St Bathildis (wiki)Queen of France (Le Barroux)

From the martyrology: St Paula

St. Robert, St. Alberic and St. Stephen, Abbots of Citeaux (New Clairvaux website) - Optional Memorial (Benedictine Confederation 1975 calendar)

27 January 

St John Chrysostom, bishop, confessor & doctor Matins reading on the saint Cl III

28 January 

St Cyril of Alexandria, bishop, confessor, doctor Matins reading (Memorial)

29 January

St Frances de Sales, bishop, confessor, doctor Matins reading (Roman Office) (Memorial)

30 January 

St Adelgundis OSB 

Blessed Columba Marmion OSB

31 January

St John Bosco (memorial)

St Alban Roe OSB, priest and martyr  (English Congregation)

Friday, December 25, 2015

Happy Christmas!

Nativité-Heures-Getty.jpg

May you have a happy and holy Christmas!

Thursday, December 17, 2015

The O Antiphons

Here in Australia it is 17 December, a date that marks the start of our Christmas novena, a period of increased intensity in the Office.

This is actually the most complex period of the year in terms of saying the Office, since you have to juggle the antiphons for the day, psalms of the day, and the proper texts for Advent.  The reward, though, comes in the richness of the texts, above all in the O Antiphons for the Magnificat.

They are of course most commonly sung in their plainchant form.  But I have to admit I kind of like the idea of an O antiphon flashmob...

Monday, December 14, 2015

Blog reorganisation

Just to let readers know I've done a little tidying up of the blog, and in particular transferred a lot of the links I had in sidebars to new pages, which can be accessed from the links on the top bar (under the blog title).

There are now pages for the Ordo (though I'll keep current month stuff in the sidebar), learning the Office, Benedictine spirituality and Office related resources.

Most of this material is not new, just (hopefully) a bit better organised.

There is one new section of material you want to take a look at though, and that is the Office Resources page.  Contains listings of chant books for the Office available online, books about the hymns of the Office and a lot more.  I'd love to add in any other useful resources you are aware of that I may have missed.

PS Feedback on the org, especially if you hate it and want me to put something back n the sidebars, is welcome!