Showing posts with label commemorations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label commemorations. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Brush up your rubrics: memorials/commemorations

Continuing this little 'brush up your rubrics' series in the lead up to the feast of St Benedict, today's rubrics note mainly relates to Lauds, and concerns how to mark memorials of saints, or make a 'commemoration'.

This is a subject that everyone seems to struggle with, and you need to know about, because while my Ordo does set these out, you may need to take note of a feast that is particular to your country/diocese/monastery.

What are commemorations?

Commemorations basically come up in two ways:

(1)  To mark the feast of a saint listed as 'memorial' in the Diurnal (ordinary commemorations)

This is the lowest level way that the Office takes note of a saint - the feast doesn't affect any of the hours except Lauds, and then only adds a few prayers onto the end of the hour after the collect of the week.

The Ordo for July 3 for example says: Class IV; SS Processus and Martinian, memorial.  It then points you to page [184] of the Monastic Diurnal for the texts you need for the commemoration of the saint.

(2) To mark a feast or day displaced by a higher level day 

When two feasts or days clash there are rules about which one to celebrate.  In 2017 for example, the Sunday took precedence over the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  When two feasts or special days fall on the same date, there are basically three possibilities:

  • one of the feasts is transferred to the next available day.  In the 1962 calendar this only occurs with first class feasts; or
  • one of the feasts or days prevails, and the other feast is not celebrated at all that year.  Third class feasts that clash with Sundays, for example, are treated this way; or
  • the main Office is of one of the feasts, but a commemoration of the other is made at Lauds (as this year with the Visitation) and sometimes also Vespers (for example when a Lent day is displaced by a feast).
There are tables at the front of the Monastic Diurnal (see page xxv) that summarise the rules on which feasts take precedence, and what notice, if any, is taken of the other feast.  The tables basically reflect the principle that whether a day is commemorated at Lauds only, or at both Lauds and Vespers, is whether it is a 'privileged' commemoration (first class feasts; Sundays; Octave of Christmas; September Ember Days; Lent, Advent and Passiontide days; Major Litanies) or not.

How many commemorations?

It is also worth knowing that there are rules about how many commemorations can be said on a particular day.  

On first class feasts, for example, only one commemoration is permitted, and then only if it is a 'privileged' commemoration.

On normal Sundays (Class II), only one commemoration is permitted, of either a first or second class feast.

On second class days, one privileged and one ordinary commemoration can be said.

On third or fourth class days, two commemorations can be made.

Where there is a clash, the highest ranking commemoration(s) are used, and any others are dropped for that year. 

How to make a commemoration

Commemorations are said immediately after the collect in the closing prayers of the hour.  They normally consist of:
  • an antiphon (either for the Benedictus if the commemoration is at Lauds, or for the Magnificat at Vespers);
  • the short verse and response, or versicle that would have been said after it at Lauds or Vespers;
  • and a prayer (collect). 
For the memorial of saints, the Diurnal sets all these out in the correct order, so you really just need to say what's there.  On other days you might need to pull these three texts out from amongst the others for the day or feast.

If you are singing the Office, the Aniphonale Monasticum includes a section providing the chants for commemorations from the Common of Saints starting at page 735.

The key exception to the 'how to make a commemoration' rules is feasts of SS Peter and Paul, but we've just passed the most recent of these, so hopefully you followed the instructions in your Diurnal!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Learning the Office: 'opening' and 'closing' prayers of the day hours (including commemorations)**



Diurnal shortcuts

The opening prayers of the Office (though note that these actually occur in the middle of Compline due to its development over time) are the same for all of the day hours.  The basic structure and most of the content of the closing prayers, save for the collect) are also common to all of the hours (with some minor variations at Compline). 

However, the Diurnal generally doesn't write these prayers out in full, and sometimes doesn't even give a prompt to remind you that you need to use them. Under Monday Prime for example, for the opening prayers it simply says:

V. Deus, in adjutórium meum, and the rest as noted above. 

On page 9, for Tuesday Prime (and the other days of Prime up to Saturday), it doesn't even bother saying that, you are just expected to know to say the opening prayers.

Accordingly, it is important to learn these prayers thoroughly.

(1) The opening prayers


The opening prayers of the Office are written out in full on MD 1 (first page of psalter section of Diurnal).  They should be said standing if possible.

The first two sections are the same throughout the year.  The Alleluia is replaced by Laus tibi...from Septuagesima through Lent.

Stand
V. Deus + (make the sign of the cross) in adjutórium meum inténde.
R. Dómine, ad adjuvándum me festína.

V. (bow) Glória Patri, et Fílio, * et Spirítui Sancto.(stand straight)
R. Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, * et in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.

Alleluia or Laus tibi, Dómine, Rex ætérnæ glóriæ.


There are several different chant tones that can be used with these prayers, depending on the degree of solemnity of the hour and day.


(2) The Concluding Prayers

The concluding prayers are said standing (bow during the Pater Noster and collect).

Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison

Note that this is not an abbreviation for a doubled or tripled Kyrie as in the mass - each Kyrie is just said or sung once, exactly as written.
Pater Noster

At the minor hours (Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Compline) the Our Father is said silently, with only the first two words (Pater Noster) and the text from  ('Et ne nos') of the prayer said aloud. In a community, the person leading the Office for the day (the hebdomadary) says this, and then allows time for the prayer to be said by everyone, before finishing the prayer aloud.

At Lauds and Vespers the Our Father is said or sung aloud (in a monastic community, by the superior of the community, in line with St Benedict's injunction to use the prayer to focus on forgiveness, aimed at removing 'the thorns of scandal, or mutual offence, which are wont to arise in communities.' )(RB13).

Domine exaudi orationem meam
Et clamor meus ad te veniat


These two lines are used in private recitation any time you see 'Dominus vobiscum' in the text.

Oratio

At this point, the prayer (collect) of the hour or day is said.

At Prime and Compline, the prayer is always the same, so just read it from the book or learn it off by heart (pg 8 for Prime, 264 for Compline).

At the other hours, the collect will normally be of the (previous) Sunday.  If it is a third class feast or day or higher, it will be the prayer set for that feast or day.

Conclusions to the collects

Note that the Diurnal rarely gives you the conclusions of the collect - just a few words like 'Per Dominum nostrum'. There is actually more you have to say here, and you can find the full texts of the conclusions to the collects on page xxix, the very last page of the introductory section of the Diurnal.

(3) Commemorations


If there is a commemoration (memorial) on a particular day, it is said immediately after the collect.

There are basically two types of commemorations. The first are 'privileged' commemorations, for example of a Sunday when some other feast overrides it. Privileged commemorations really only come up on fairly rare occasions, and will generally either be noted in the diurnal or in my weekly Ordo. The main occasions are:
  • Sundays when a first class feast displaces the normal Sunday texts;
  • when two first or second class feasts occur on the same day, and one ends up taking precedence (very rare indeed, but can sometimes arise if a national, diocesan or local feast clashes with something in the universal calendar!);
  • particular seasons of the year which have daily collects (like Lent and Advent).
    On on the feast of the Annunciation for example, if you look on page [102]ff it tells you to make a commemoration of the feria at First Vespers, Lauds and Second Vespers.
In these cases, a commemoration is made both at Lauds and Vespers.

Ordinary commemorations (such as saints days that are memorials) only affect Lauds.

So, the commemoration of the Feast of St George for example, only affects Lauds. At every other hour, you would say the normal collect from Sunday only.

A commemoration consists of an antiphon (from the Benedictus at Lauds, Magnificat at Vespers), the short verse and response, or versicle that would have been said after it at Lauds or Vespers, and a prayer (collect). The Diurnal sets all these out in the correct order, so you really just need to say what's there!

So on the Feast of St George at Lauds, you say the Sunday collect, then turn to page [112] in the Diurnal and say the antiphon 'Filiae Ierusalem..', then the verse and response (Pretiosa...Mors..), then the prayer (Deus, qui...).

All you have to remember about commemorations really is that they are said immediately after the collect of the day.


(4) The final conclusion of the Office



After the collect, and commemoration if there is one, the Office continues with another 'Domine exaudi... and then

Benedicamus Domino...Deo Gratias
Fidelium animae...
The only exception to this pattern is Compline, where the Fidelium animae is not said, an extra final blessing is added, and the antiphon of the season for Our Lady follows.


**Updated August 2016