Frequently asked questions no 4: Why aren’t the hours set out in the order in which they are said in the Monastic Diurnal and breviary? Whis Sunday Prime separated from the other days of the week?

One of the oddities of most monastic Office books is the ordering of the hours, as rather than starting with Sunday Matins (which St Benedict specified in his Rule as the starting hour of the week), they start with Monday Prime.  Newcomers to the Office also often struggle to find Sunday Prime, since it is placed after Saturday Lauds, rather than with the other days of Prime. 

The reason for this arrangement has to do with the history of the breviary, where the psalter was originally literally the book of psalms with a few insertions for the various hours, together with the influence of the Roman Office, which originally largely followed the Bible order of the psalms. 

The section of the Office book containing the opening and other standard components of each hour is known as the psalter section, and it is broadly organised around the numerical order of the psalms as they appear in the Bible.  It starts with Monday Prime because that hour starts with Psalms 1 and 2.  

The problem with this arrangement though, is that the Benedictine Office does not really go in strict numerical sequence, so some compromises have to be made.  

The system is useful if you are looking for a particular psalm, and since traditionally Benedictines were expected to know the entire psalter (and Office) by heart, the organisation of the book probably wasn't seen as that important.

For the modern layperson though, the net result is confusing at first, as the order of the hours in Benedictine books such as the breviary and Diurnal, the order of the psalter section by hour typically goes like this: 

Monday to Saturday Prime (Psalms 1-2, 6-19)

Sunday to Saturday Matins (not included in the Diurnal) and Lauds (Psalms 3, 5, 20-89, 91-108, 142, 148-150)

Sunday Prime to None (Psalm 118)

Monday Terce to None (Psalm 118 continued)

Tuesday to Saturday Terce to None (Psalms 119-127)

Sunday to Saturday Vespers (Psalms 108-147 minus those used at other hours)

Compline (Psalms 4, 90, 133).

By contrast, the order in which the hours are actually said is Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline.

Frequently asked questions no 3: When do you use the festal canticles of Lauds?

Most Office books generally provide two sets of canticles for Lauds on weekdays - the ferial ('of the day of the week') set, and 'festal' canticles. The ferial canticles for each day of the week are the set specified by St Benedict in his Rule, and St Benedict states that they were already traditional ones in Rome by his time.  The festal were introduced into the Benedictine Office, on a purely optional basis, following the reform of the Roman Office in 1913.

 Accordingly, the default option is to ignore the festal canticles and instead use the ‘ferial’ canticles for each day of the week, except where as feast has its own antiphons (ie Class IIII feasts with antiphons of the feast, and Class I&II feasts), in which case the ‘Benedicite canticle’ (ie the Sunday canticle) is used instead, in conjunction with the ‘festal’ psalms (92&99) of Lauds.

 If you wish to use the festal canticles, there are two systems.  The first is to use the festal canticles on all days except penitential days (Advent, Lent and Ember days), when the ferial canticles are used, and (higher level) feasts when the Benedicite is used.  The second system is to use the festal canticles for Class III feasts (without proper antiphons) and for the Office of Our Lady on Saturday.

Frequently Asked Questions 2: When do you and don’t you use a doxology (Gloria Patri…/Glory be to the Father…) with a psalm or canticle?

 A two verse doxology (the verses Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum Amen, or ‘Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.  As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen’) is normally added to the end of each psalm, part of a psalm, and canticle in the Benedictine Office, regardless of whether an antiphon is said before or after the psalm or not. 

This means that each of the individual stanzas of Psalm 118 said at the hours of Prime to None on Sunday and Monday have a doxology, as do psalms split in two and usually marked divisio. 

There are however a number of exceptions to this practice that are clearly indicated in the rubrics in most Office books, namely: 

• at Lauds the doxologies for Psalms 148, 149 each day are omitted, so that all three psalms are said under one doxology (after Psalm 150) ;
• at Vespers on Monday Psalms 115 and 116 are said under one doxology; 
• at Lauds on Sunday and feasts, the canticle Benedicite does not have a doxology (as one is incorporated into the text); and 
• during the Sacred Triduum all doxologies are omitted.

When the Office is said in choir, it is usual to stand for the doxology, and bow for the first verse of it.

 

 

Frequently asked questions: 1. How and when do you make a commemoration?

Commemorations are a way of marking the feasts of the lowest ranked saints in the calendar, or of marking a feast or day displaced in a particular year. Commemorations are made at Lauds and/or Vespers only.

 They are made immediately after the collect of the day, and follow straight on without any intervening words. Commemorations normally consist of an antiphon, versicle and collect (said in that order). After the commemoration, the conclusion to the hour is said as normal.

 There are two reasons you may need to make a commemoration in the Office. The first case is that some feasts, called Memorials in the Diurnal, are only ‘commemorated’ at Lauds. The second case is where a feast or special day displaces the Office that would normally be said, and the original day is still ‘commemorated’. When a feast occurs during Lent or Advent, for example, the Lent or Advent day is normally ‘commemorated’.

 Accordingly, if you are commemorating a Lent day, at Lauds the antiphon is the Benedictus antiphon of the Lent day, followed by the versicle from the Ordinary of Lent, and the collect that would have been said at Lauds on that day. Similarly, at Vespers, the Magnificat antiphon of the (Lent or Advent) day, versicle of the season, and collect that would have been said at Vespers is used. For Memorials, the Diurnal normally provides the necessary texts (in their correct order), which are often taken from the Common of the relevant saint. For other days, note that the order (Antiphon-versicle-collect) is not the same as if you were actually saying the full feast on that particular day.

 The key exception to this way of making a commemoration is feasts of SS Peter and Paul, where the commemoration is made by the two collects of the saints one immediately after each other without an intervening concluding section to the first collect.

What types of commemoration are there?

 There are three types of commemoration: ordinary, privileged, and feasts of St Peter and/or St Paul.

 A 'privileged' commemoration arises when the day or feast being displaced is First Class; a Sunday; a day in the Octave of Christmas; a September Ember Day; or a Lent, Advent or Passiontide day.  All others are ordinary.

 Privileged commemorations are made at both Lauds and Vespers; ordinary commemorations are made at Lauds only.  Whether a commemoration is privileged or ordinary also affects the number of commemorations that can be made on a particular day.

 In general, whether a commemoration is made at Lauds only or at both Lauds and Vespers depends on the level of the feast(s) and/or day(s) involved, as set out in the 'two tables' (occurrence and concurrence) in the Diurnal. Alternatively, simply consult an Ordo!

 How many commemorations are permitted?

•  On first class feasts, 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.  

Other posts on this subject

Brush up your rubrics: commemorations

The concluding prayers

The opening and closing prayers of the Office