Learn the Office Pt 1.2 - Books for the Benedictine Office

THE first degree of humility is obedience without delay. This becometh those who hold nothing dearer to them than Christ; who, because of the holy service which they have professed, the fear of hell, and the glory of life everlasting, as soon as anything has been ordered by the superior, receive it as a divine command and cannot suffer any delay in executing it. Of these doth the Lord say: At the hearing of the ear he hath obeyed me. And again he saith to teachers: He that heareth you heareth me.

Rule of St Benedict, chapter 5

In order to say the traditional Benedictine Office, you need the right book or books.

A plethora of Offices

Since Vatican II, individual monasteries have been permitted, within certain guidelines, to develop their own forms of the Office.  That means that there are a lot of different forms of the Office that you might encounter if you visit a Benedictine Monastery.

Many modern Benedictine monasteries use different distributions of the psalms to those set out in the Rule.  They may not say all of the eight ‘hours’ St Benedict specifies should be said.  Some have adopted the 1970 Roman Liturgy of the Hours instead of the Benedictine form of it.

While all of these approaches are permitted under current Church law, this book is concerned with the form of the Benedictine Office that has been used by Benedictines since St Benedict’s own time, as described in chapters 8 to 19 of his Rule, as reflected in the 1962 Breviarum Monasticum (monastic breviary).

The 1962 Benedictine Office

One of the core features of the traditional form of the Benedictine Office is St Benedict’s arrangement of the psalms over a week, and this is preserved in its essentials in the 1962 monastic breviary.  St Benedict’s psalm distribution differs both from that of the older forms of the Roman Office (pre or post 1911), as well as the modern (1970) Liturgy of the Hours.

Pope Benedict XVI’s decrees Summorum Pontificum and Universe Ecclesiae confirmed that the form of the Benedictine Office set out in the 1962 monastic breviary and older chant books used with it (such as the Antiphonale Monasticum of 1934) can continue to be used. 

For those who are fluent in Latin, the notes here can also be used in conjunction with:

• the Nocturnale Monasticum published by Le barroux;
• the Breviarium Monasticum of 1962 (Latin only) and/or
• the Psautier Monastique (though this does not provide all of the necessary texts).

It is also possible to adapt the notes to older editions of the Monastic Diurnal (published by Collegeville in 1962 and earlier) though the page numbers will not align, as well as earlier editions of the breviary. 

The best option for laypeople, though, is to use the Monastic Diurnal published by St Michael’s Abbey in Farnborough in 2005, which reflects the 1962 monastic breviary (it is a reprint of the 1962 Collegeville text), to learn the Office, since it includes the English for study purposes.  

The Diurnal provides a Latin-English version of the day hours of the Benedictine Office (ie all of the hours except Matins), enabling oblates and others to follow the Office when they visit a monastery, or listen to podcasts of the Office, as well as to learn to say some of the hours for themselves. 

The Diurnal, like the 1962 Breviary and Antiphonale Monasticum uses the traditional Vulgate translation of the psalter, and older versions of the hymns.   

Aps and other shortcuts

If you are unfamiliar with the Office though, there are a couple of resources that can be used to help you learn it.

One excellent starting point is the Office leaflets put out by Clear Creek Abbey.  These provide the texts for the core of the Office, the texts for normal 'ferial' days of the week for each of the hours in English and Latin.    They don't contain all the texts you will need for the feasts and some seasons, but they are an excellent way to get started.

Another option is to take a look at the Divinum Officium Website and select the 'monastic 1963' option.  The texts provided there now generally match up with the 1962 Office. 

Matins books

For those wishing to say (or sing) Matins, the situation is more complex.  An overview of the resources available can be found here.

Other books

It is also worth knowing that some monasteries who continue to use St Benedict’s ordering of the psalms use the neo-Vulgate version of the psalter promulgated in 1979 and revised volumes of the Antiphonale Monasticum published from 2005 onwards.  These books are, however, only available in Latin and use a different calendar and rubrics.

There are also a number of English only Monastic Diurnals published by assorted Anglican and Orthodox groups.  These typically use different calendars and older rubrics (as well as unapproved translations), so use at your own risk!

In addition, these notes will not align with:

·         books for the Roman Office (1962 or older, or 1970); or

·         Benedictine Daily Prayer (a devotional rather than liturgical office published by Collegeville).

SUMMARY

The notes provided here are designed to be used with the English-Latin Monastic Diurnal published by St Michael’s Abbey, Farnborough, 2005 editions onwards.

They can also be used in conjunction with the chants provided in the Antiphonale Monasticum of 1934.

You can find the next part in this series, on finding your way around the Diurnal here..