The Nocturns/1 - Why are the psalms so important?

Bibliothèque municipale de Rouen

Let the hymn follow next, and then six psalms with antiphons… let there follow the remaining six psalms which shall be chanted with Alleluia.

Rule of St Benedict, chapter 9

Now that we have looked at the opening and closing sections of Matins, I want to move to the main sections of the hour, the Nocturns, and today, start looking at the psalms.

The psalms - the core of Matins

The table below is reminder of the structure of the hour.  The table shows that every day, the first two Nocturns include six psalms with antiphons, with a third Nocturn of canticles added for Sundays and major feasts.

SECTION
OPENING SECTION (INVITATORY)	Same elements everyday – opening prayer, Ps 3, Ps 94 (with verse), hymn
NOCTURN I	Six psalms with antiphon(s) Versicle, Our Father, absolution Blessing, reading and responsory (1,3 or 4 sets)
NOCTURN II	Six psalms with antiphon(s) Sundays and major feasts only: Versicle, Our Father, absolution Blessing, reading and responsory *4
NOCTURN III	Sundays and major feasts only: Three OT canticles under one antiphon Versicle, Our Father, absolution Blessing, reading and responsory *4
CONCLUDING SECTION	Weekdays and minor feasts: Chapter and versicle Sundays: Te Deum, Gospel, Te Decet Laus
CLOSING PRAYERS	Collect only or concluding prayers

In the Roman Office (particularly the modern Liturgy of the Hours), Matins has a strong focus on Patristic and Scriptural readings.  But this isn't true of the Benedictine monastic Office.   In fact through much of the year weekday Matins has only a short chapter verse.

Moreover, even where there are reading, St Benedict instructed his monks to cut the readings and responsories short if necessary, in order to start Lauds at first light: St Benedict makes it very clear that the psalms are the core of his Office.

Why are the psalms so important?

There are, I suspect, several different reasons why St Benedict put such a premium on the psalms, but the key ones, I think go to the importance of the psalms in general, particularly in spiritual formation; their thematic role in the design of the Office; the intercessory role of the Office more generally; and the function of the hour.

First, St Benedict gives a privileged status to the psalms as a source of spiritual formation.  He frequently quotes from them in the Rule, or alludes to them.  And in the Rule he talks about lectio (on the rest of Scripture) or meditation/learning of the psalms.  Monks and nuns of his time were expected to learn all of the psalter off by heart.

Secondly, and related to this, my own view is that the ordering of the psalms in the Benedictine Office is not random, but very carefully programmed.  The natural starting point for Sunday Matins, the first our of the liturgical week, would be, as in the Roman Office, to start at Psalm 1.  Instead St Benedict starts at Psalm 20.  Why?  Because this allows him to use a group of psalms that have a strong focus on the Resurrection on the day of the week most associated with that event.  And similar connections can be found with the other days of the week.

St Benedict also organises his psalter so that certain key themes, words and phrases resonate throughout a particular day, aiding us in reading each psalm in the context of Scripture as a whole, not just an isolated text, as well as suggesting directions for our meditation during the day.

The third reason, I think, has to do with the symbolism embedded in the architecture of the Office that signals, I think, the function of the Office.  Let me just briefly note here, for now, two pieces of symbolism particularly pertinent to this particular hour, viz:

• twelve psalms at Matins and again during the day from Prime to None perhaps symbolises offering praise to God for each hour of the day and night (with the seven psalms of Lauds and Vespers/Compline having its own figural associations); and
• if you add the two psalms of the opening section (Psalm 3 and 94) that adds up to fourteen, a number associated with the coming of Christ (from the generations to Christ in Matthew 1), and in the Night Office we especially wait for his second Coming. 

The daily psalms and the 1963 rubrics

In his Rule, St Benedict sets out the psalms to be said on each day of the week - the table below summarises his listing.  If you look at the wording of the Rule, it isn't necessarily obvious which ones should be divided, but in practice his specification of the longest psalms makes it pretty clear-cut.

Daily invitatory	3, 94
Sunday	20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25; 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 +three canticles of the season
Monday	32, 33, 34, 36, 36, 37; 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44
Tuesday	45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51; 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58
Wednesday	59, 60, 61, 65, 67, 67; 68, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72
Thursday	73, 74, 76, 77, 77, 78; 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84
Friday	85, 86, 88, 88, 92, 93; 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100
Saturday	101, 102, 103, 103, 104, 104; 105, 105, 106, 106, 107, 108

St Benedict does not, however, specify exactly what the dividing point of the psalms should be.  In reality though, the dividing points seem to be the product of fairly long established traditions.  The 1963 breviary, however, actually changes these division point in Psalm 106 (perhaps to highlight the well known hymn based on them?) so that the start of the second section is two verses earlier, at Qui descendant mare (Who go down to the sea).

The festal psalms

The other point to note on the psalms is that although St Benedict doesn't mention the concept (unsurprisingly given his emphasis on saying all of the psalms each and every week), over time the idea of a 'festal Office', including the use of especially selected psalms for major feasts has emerged.

This probably happened quite early - there is a letter associated with the refoundation of Monte Cassino after 717 that notes that they were following certain Roman customs there rather than the strict letter of the Benedictine Office when it came to the major feasts of the year.

Nonetheless, if you are praying the Office devotionally, one option is surely to ignore the 'Commons' and psalms specified for feasts, and stick with some or all of those set for the day of the week...