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.