Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Office of the Dead

The Diurnal includes the texts for the Office of the Dead (starting from MD (135), and saying it on behalf of a particular soul, selected souls, or all souls in purgatory is a great spiritual work of mercy. For those with ambitions to say Matins but whose Latin (or stamina) is not yet up to the task, saying Matins of the Dead each day might be a good and worthy way to work up to the full thing. It is also a particularly beautiful and haunting Office.

What is the Office of the Dead?

The Office of the Dead consists of first Vespers (ie said the night before), Matins and Lauds, and is said for the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. It can be said for one person, or for many.

It is a very ancient Office, and probably took on its current form around the seventh century. It became very popular in the middle ages, with many monasteries earning considerable income by saying it on behalf of laypeople.

It can be said any day, but traditionally it was not said on the equivalent of second and first class feasts, but was said:
  • on the day of burial, and third and seventh day after the funeral;
  • on the anniversary of the death;
  • Pius V recommended it be said on the the first free day in the month, the Mondays of Advent and Lent, on some vigils, and ember days; and
  • All Soul's Day.
How to say it.

The Office can of course be said instead of the normal Office (unless you are a priest or religious bound to the recitation of the Office). But if you want to say it as well, say the normal Office of Vespers first, then Vespers for the Dead; Matins and Lauds of the day, then Matins and Lauds of the Dead. You might also choose just to say one of these hours, not all three.

The Office for the Dead has no introductory texts, you just launch into the antiphons and psalms as written. There are though two things you need to decide in advance:
  • if you are saying Matins, whether to say all three 'Nocturns" or choose the one appropriate for the day of the week (you will find Sunday, Monday and Thursday on MD (137); Tuesday and Friday on MD (145); and Wednesday and Saturday on MD (154);
  • which collect to use - there is a selection from MD (174) onwards, make your choice depending on who you are saying it for and when. Mark your selection with a ribbon.
The only other thing to remember is that instead of the normal Gloria (Glory be) at the end of each psalm, you say "Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis" - have a look at MD (137).

Vespers of the Dead

Vespers of the Dead can be found on MD (181). It consists of:
  • five psalms each with an antiphon;
  • a versicle - MD (185);
  • Magnificat with antiphon, MD (185-6);
  • the Our Father, said kneeling, intercessory prayers and the selected collect - MD (187)
  • conclusion - MD (187).

Matins of the Dead

Can be found on MD (136)ff.

It consists of:

  • the invitatory psalm (94) with antiphon said responsorially (follow the text as set out);
  • one or three nocturns. Each nocturn consists of three psalms each with an antiphon, and three readings each followed by a responsory.
  • the collect and conclusion - MD (163).

Note that there are instruction on what to do if Lauds is not said, or Lauds is separated from Matins on MD (163).

Lauds of the Dead

Lauds of the Dead can be found on MD (163). Apart from stripping out the introductory sections of normal Lauds, it follows the same basic pattern for the psalms and canticles. The concluding prayers for the hour are on MD (173).

Friday, June 12, 2009

On Ordos!

I gather there are a few people searching around for an Ordo to use with the Office, and some confusion about which Ordo is what. So I thought I'd just try and summarise the key differences between the various Ordos I know of, or have been told about, as a bit of an aid to those searching.

This is also a chance for those who are using the Ordo I produce each week to let me know what additional details they would like me to include (no guarantees on delivery though!).

What is an Ordo?

An Ordo is essentially a calendar for use in conjunction with the Mass and/or Office that tells you which feasts are celebrated on a particular date so that you can ensure you use the appropriate texts for the day. At a minimum, it simply lists the feast of the day and tells you the level of it (as in the summary in the sidebar to the right on this blog page). But it often provides a few more details of the particulars of the day (see for example the more detailed weekly notes on this site).

An Ordo is pretty essential - some feast days (such as Easter) change their date every year, and everything else flows from that. And there are inevitably clashes between possible feasts on particular dates, so you need to know what the rules determine should be celebrated on a particular date, and an Ordo should do that.

Some Ordos are extremely detailed - but this is the exception not the norm! In general, unless you live in a monastery where someone else is working it all out for you, you will need to become sufficiently familiar with the structure of the Office to be able to work out that if it is a third class feast, the things that change are....

The choices

The most commonly referred to Ordos are as follows:

  • the Novus Ordo calendar used by the Catholic Church post 1970 - you can find a version of it here. This is the calendar most people will see used at Mass, and works well with the Liturgy of the Hours. It talks about feasts being solemnities or memorials. It is pretty hard to use it, however, in conjunction with one of the traditional forms of the Office (see below);
  • the 1962 Roman Calendar, which you can find here, used for the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, and fits easily with the Roman Breviary. It talks about feasts being Class I, II or III, memorials or commemorations;
  • the 1962-3 Benedictine Calendar, which is what I am providing on this site, is very similar to the 1962 Roman Calendar, differing only in terms of a few saints' feasts in the main. It can readily be used (or adapted) by anyone attending the EF mass, and using any of the traditional forms of the Benedictine Office (ie 1962 or earlier);
  • a pre-1962 Benedictine or Roman calendar, used I gather in the Anglican Breviary and older forms of the Breviary - if your calendar talks about 'doubles' or 'duplexes' and such like terms then it is using one of these calendar variants. If your breviary uses this terminology it is actually pretty easy to superimpose the 1962 calendar onto it (it means dropping a few octaves and other changes though);
  • Anglican or Anglican Use Ordos - Anglican Ordos will not include all feasts used in the Catholic Church, and may include some additional saints' feasts. Anglican Use ordos will presumably be something of a hybrid;
  • the Western Rite Orthodox Ordo - uses the Orthodox calendar which dates Easter differently to the Western Church;
  • Ordos for other religious orders such as the Dominicans, Carmelites, etc. These may come in either Novus Ordo, 1962 or pre-1962 forms.

Note also that most individual Benedictine monasteries (such as Le Barroux) produce their own Ordos for internal use, and by their Oblates, which are likely to differ in some respects from the Universal calendar.

Choosing and Ordo to use

Most people will instinctively want to use the Ordo that goes with whichever form of the Office they have purchased in the interests of simplicity. Fair enough, especially when you are just starting off and struggling to learn the Office.

My own view though is that as far as possible you should work up to using the calendar that aligns most closely with the Mass you attend (particularly if you are a daily mass goer), but admitting of variants to reflect a particular spirituality, such as Benedictine or Dominican, to which you may be attached. So if you attend an EF Mass, by all means use the variants provided by the Benedictine Ordo, it will fit well enough.

The reason is simple: the Office takes the Mass as its starting point, and expands out from it. So on a Sunday, for example, the Gospel at Mass will often provide the antiphon for the Benedictus and Magnificat. At Matins, the Patristic readings will relate to that Gospel. And so forth.

Using the Mass as your starting point of course is harder than it sounds if you want to use one of the traditional forms of the Office, whether Roman, Monastic or some other in conjunction with the OF Mass. Essentially, if you attend a Novus Ordo Mass, you might be able to line up saints' feast days, but the normal passage of liturgical seasons is harder to make work (though technically possible if your Latin is good enough, at least in relation to the Benedictine Office - you need to purchase the new Antiphonale Monasticum from the Monastery of Solesmes).

You should also be aware that whatever Ordo you use, there are local feasts that you will need to add to it - feasts particular to your country, diocese and parish.

My Ordo notes

This site is primarily dedicated to the Benedictine Use. If you are using any of the breviaries or diurnals that are based around the monastic form of the Office (modelled on the provisions set out in the Rule of St Benedict), you should be able to use the Ordo and notes I provide here.

I normally provide page references to the Farnborough edition of the Monastic Diurnal, but if there is sufficient demand, I would be happy to either provide references to the 1962 Monastic Breviary as well. From some of the queries I'm receiving, I think I perhaps need to provide a few more details of the texts to be used in any case, and it may be that this would assist those using other editions of the Diurnal (such as the Lancelot Andrews Press version). I'd certainly be happy to add in Ordo notes for Matins if that would be of assistance to anyone (presumably references to the English of the Office would be preferred?). So let me know what information would be useful - no guarantees, but I'll see what I can do!

Further reading

To learn a bit more about Ordos and the issues associated with them, take a look at my series on learning the Office in the sidebar - parts II, III and XII are relevant.

Friday, May 22, 2009

The Ordinary of Ascensiontide

Now that the great feast of the Ascension is over, we move into 'Ascensiontide' for the next week and a bit. In the pre-1962 calendar this was an 'octave', and remnants of the octave can be found in the Office as it now stands.

You can find the rubrics for this period on page 383* of the Diurnal, and do make sure you know what changes!

The appropriate texts for the minor hours (except for the collects) are set out in the psalter. For the collects, Lauds and Vespers however, you need to keep your ribbon on the page for the Ordinary of Ascensiontide. The key points to note are set out below.

At Lauds

  • the antiphons are as for Eastertide;
  • the chapter is Conresuscitavit..., MD 384*
  • the short responsory is Ascendit Deus, MD 384*
  • the hymn is Iesu, nostra redemptio, MD 384-5* (written out in the Liber Hymnaius, pp 88-9)
  • versicle Dominus in caelo, MD 385*
  • Benedictus antiphon (note that this is used each day except where displaced by a feast, Sunday etc), Ascendo, MD 386*
  • the collect for Friday is on MD 386, for Saturday is of the Little Office of Our Lady, for Sunday, of the Sunday, MD 391* (except in places where Our Lady Help of Christians or another feast is celebrated), for the week after, MD 386*
At Prime
  • the antiphon is as noted in the psalter, Alleluia
  • versicle has alleluia added to it (as for TP)
At Terce, Sext and None
  • the antiphon is alleluia, as noted in the psalter
  • note that the chapters and versicles are in the psalter for Ascensiontide (Tempore Ascensionis).
At Vespers
  • the (single) antiphon is alleluia, as for Eastertide;
  • the chapter is Conrescuscitavit, as for Lauds, MD 384*
  • the responsory is Ascendens, MD 388*
  • the hymn is Iesu, as for Lauds, 384-5*
  • the versicle is Ascendit, MD 388*
  • the antiphon for the Magnificat each day (unless displaced) is O Rex, MD 388*
  • the collects are as for Lauds.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Le Barroux video

Fr Z has a nice spread on the monks of Le Barroux, with photos excerpted from a video on their life - a selection here, plus a teaser video.


Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Learning the Office: Hymns, chapters, versicles, responsories

This post reviews the rubrics for some key parts of the Office that are common to several of the hours.

All of these parts of the Office are properly said while standing.

The hymn


The hymn uses the same text each day at Prime (Iam Lucis), Terce (Nunc Sancte), Sext (Rector Potens), None (Rerum Deus) and Compline (Te Lucis).

At Lauds and Vespers (and Matins), the text (and chant tone) can vary according to the day of the week, season, feast or day.  

The last verse (doxology) is sung while bowing (medium).

The chant for the hymns can be found either in the Antiphonale Monasticum (which can be downloaded from CC Watershed or you can use the more recent versions of the chant provided in the Liber Hymnarius published by Solesmes.  Note however that the versions of the hymns used in the Antiphonale (and most traditional monasteries) differ from those used in the Roman Office in both text and chant tones.

Useful resources for learning the chant versions of the hymns (but check that they are the correct ones in the Antiphonale) include:


The versicle


The versicle is a short statement and response.

In the Diurnal it is usually just marked V: and R:

You can find an example in the psalter section of the Diurnal on page 55, where the versicle for Sundays during the year is Dominus regnavit....Induit Dominus...During Eastertide, an alleluia is added to each line.

The versicle is always the same at Prime and Compline, but can vary depending on the day of the week, season, feast or day at the other hours.

At Lauds and Vespers a more elaborate chant tone is generally used.

Chapter (Capitulum) 


The chapter is really just a short Scriptural readings used at each Hour.

It is always rounded off with a 'Deo Gratias' (Thanks Be to God) - have a look for example at the chapter for Prime  on page 7 (of the Psalter).

The chapter is always the same at Prime and Compline, but can vary depending on the day of the week, season, feast or day at the other hours.

(Brief) responsory 


The responsory occurs at Lauds and Vespers. It is often labelled Short R or brief, because it stands in contrast to the 'Prolix' version that can be sung at first vespers of major feasts. You can find an example of the standard format for this on page 52, for Sunday Lauds, and it is important to spend a little while familiarising yourself with the structure because the Diurnal abbreviates these mostly, and you have to remember how to say it. And I'm afraid its one of those cases where it makes a lot more sense when you are singing it with someone leading and the rest responding!

So take a look at the example. The first line goes:Inclina cor meum, Deus, * In testimonia tua.

The whole line is then repeated. Let's call the first half of the line (Inclina..) x, and the second half after the asterix (In testimonia) y.

So the structure so far is:
x*y
x*y

Then the verse (and let's call this bit z) goes:
Averte oculos meos, ne videant vanitatem: in via tua vivifica me.
Then the second half of the first line is added on. So the structure so far is now:
x*y
x*y
z*y

Then a short doxology is added:
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.
Then the whole of the first line (Inclina cor meum...In testimonia..) is repeated again.

So the structure of the whole responsory is:

x*y
x*y
z*y
Gloria...
x*y

You can check your understanding by looking at the text for Lauds for Christmas in the Diurnal (MD 72*) (Verbum caro) and listening to the recording below.



Monday, April 27, 2009

Diurnal traps and shortcuts to be aware of**



  
TOPIC
KEY POINT

Layout of the Diurnal


Page numbering

Each section of the Diurnal is page numbered separately, so you need to pay attention to  [], *, etc to know which section you are in

Order of Psalter section

In order (broadly) of psalm numbers, not hours

Sunday Prime, S&M Terce-None 

Located after Saturday Lauds

Versions of prayers for use by laypeople/Office  vs with priests

At Compline, use second version of Confiteor (no repetition) unless you are saying it with a priest.

Use Domine exaudi orationem meam, not Dominus vobiscum
(for example in closing prayers of each hour)

Opening’ prayers


Said at all hours, even where book does not note this (but in middle of Compline).
Seasonal variation for Septuagint and Lent (Laus tibi…instead of Alleluia)
(Deus in adjutorium…/Gloria Patri.../Alleluia)
Written out in full at beginning of psalter section (MD 1), but abbreviated thereafter

Antiphon(s)

Said in full before and after a psalm, group of psalms or canticle

Psalms

Gloria Patri…is added to the end of all psalms unless otherwise indicated

Hymns

Always end in amen (with alleluia added during Eastertide)

Chapters

Always end in (response) ‘Deo Gratias’

Responsory (Lauds and Vespers)

Abbreviated form in Diurnal needs to be filled out; note no ‘sicut erat…’

Concluding prayers


Litany (Kyrie eleison) one repetition of each set of words only, not triple as at Mass

Note: do not use Dominus vobiscum, as above

Need to add correct conclusion to collect (see conclusions to the collects in front matter)