Learn the Office 2.14: The short responsories of Lauds and Vespers

What is the short responsory?

There are two types of responsories that are used in the Office - the 'prolix' responsories of Matins, also used at I Vespers of major feasts by some monasteries; and the short responsories (responsoria brevia) of Lauds and Matins.

The key challenge in saying the responsories is that while the form of the short responsory is written out in full for Sunday Lauds (MD 52), after that they are only provided in abbreviated form, so if you want to say Lauds and Vespers you need to learn how the responsory works.

The structure of the responsory

If the normal responsory for Sunday Lauds was summarised the way it usually is in Office books it would look like this:

R Inclina cor meum, Deus, * In testimonia tua. Inclina. V Averte oculos meo ne videant vanittem, in via tua vivifica me. In testimonia. Gloria Patri. Inclina

The red letters are cues to remind you that you need to fill out the text.

In chant books, as the illustration above shows, only the parts with separate chants are normally written out in full.

But from the abbreviated version provided above:

R Inclina cor meum, Deus, * In testimonia tua. Inclina. V Averte oculos meo ne videant vanittem, in via tua vivifica me. In testimonia. Gloria Patri. Inclina

What is actually said is:

Inclina cor meum, Deus, * In testimonia tua.
Inclina cor meum, Deus, * In testimonia tua.
Averte oculos meo ne videant vanittem, in via tua vivifica me.
In testimonia tua.
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.
Inclina cor meum, Deus, * In testimonia tua.

Saying the responsory

In private recitation, you sing or say the whole thing, including all of the repetitions.  But it actually makes more sense when you think about how it is performed in a monastery.

The Respond

In a monastery, the opening line (respond) is sung by the person leading the Office for the day (hebdomadary), the whole line is then repeated by everybody:

Inclina cor meum, Deus, * In testimonia tua.

The Verse

The person leading the Office then sings the verse:

Averte oculos meos, ne videant vanitatem: in via tua vivifica me.

The respond

Everyone then replies with the second half of the first line:

 In testimonia tua.

The short doxology

Then a short doxology (note that the normal followup verse Et in saecula...is not added) is sung by the person leading:

Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.

The Respond again

Everyone then responds by repeating the whole of the first line (Inclina cor meum...In testimonia..).

Where to find the responsories

The 'default' responsories for Lauds and Vespers for Sundaysand weekdays throughout the year are included in the psalter section of your Office book.

These responsories are, however, often displaced by those for feasts or seasons, found in the 'sanctoral', Commons, or 'temporale' sections of the Office books.

In some cases, such as Octaves of a feast, the Antiphonale Monasticum provides a slightly more elaborate version for use at I Vespers of the feast, and then a ferial version for use throughout the week.

The chants currently employed for the short responsories are very simple, usually employing only around three standard formulas, and so can easily be learnt.

Practice

You can check your understanding of how to read the cues in your Office book by looking at the text for Lauds for Christmas in the Diurnal (MD 72*) (Verbum caro).  Write out the responsory in full, then cross-check what you have written against the recording below.

(Nb if the recording is not accessible in your location, write out your answer and put it in the comments box if you'd like me to check it).

SUMMARY

Short responsories are used at Lauds and Vespers.

Office and chant books typically do not write out the responsories in full, so you need to learn how to expand the cues given.

The basic format of the responsory is:

Respond (said twice in full)

Verse

Second half of the respond

Short doxology

Respond

And for the next part in this series, continue on here.

Learn the Office 2.13: The Marian antiphons

The Marian antiphons 

Compline concludes each night with a Marian 'Antiphon' (in reality a host hymn or anthem), versicle and a short prayer.

The Marian antiphons are so named because they were originally used as antiphons to the psalms or canticles - but they have been sung as standalone anthems since at least 1239, when Pope Gregory IX ordered that the antiphon proper to the season be sung at the end of the Divine Office.

There are four different antiphon/versicle/prayer sets that are used in the current Office, depending on the time of year:

• Alma Redemptoris Mater (Advent up until to the Feast of the Purification);
• Ave Regina Caelorum (Purification to Maundy Thursday);
• Regina Caeli laetare (Easter Sunday until the end of the Octave of Pentecost); and
• Salve Regina (the rest of the year).

Singing the Marian antiphons

If you are singing the Office, each of the Marian antiphons have both a 'simple' and a 'solemn' tones, the chants for which can be found in the Antiphonale Monasticum (as well as many other places) under Compline.

The 'Solemn tone' is used on Saturday and Sunday night, and major feasts.

The concluding section of Compline

The rubrics for the closing section of Compline are summarised in the table below.

The final section of Compline	WORDS	GESTURES
ANTIPHON OF OUR LADY	Varies by time of year – Salve Regina, Alma Redemptoris Mater, Ave regina caelorum, Regina caeli laetare	Said kneeling except Saturdays, Sundays and Eastertide.
VERSICLE	Varies to fit with antiphon
COLLECT	Varies to fit with antiphon
VERSICLE	V. Divínum auxílium máneat semper nobíscum. R. Et cum frátribus nostris abséntibus. Amen.	In some places, sign of the cross is m

And for the next part in this series, on responsories, continue on here.

Learn the Office 2.12: The concluding prayers Pt 3: Commemorations

On the feast of Saints and on all festivals let the Office be performed as we have prescribed for Sundays, except that the psalms, antiphons and lessons belonging to the particular day are to be said; but the general arrangement of the Office shall be as laid down above.

Rule of St Benedict, chapter 14

What is a commemoration?

In St Benedict's time, relatively feasts were included in the calendar in most places.  Over time, however, the number of feasts has proliferated, necessitating the development of a ranking system for the various feasts, and ways of dealing with cases where one feast (or day) displaces another.   

Commemorations are part of this system, and are used the lowest level of saints days (memorials), or when the feast or day is displaced by a higher level day or feast.  

Where a commemoration is made, it comes immediately after the collect of the day, and normally consists 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 with the canticle at Lauds or Vespers;
• and the prayer (collect) that would have used on the relevant feast or day. 

Memorials

In the 1962 calendar, memorials are the lowest level way of marking a saints feast, and the feast is marked in the Office by making a commemoration at Lauds.

The Monastic Diurnal usually sets out the antiphon, verse and collect you need to make the commemoration in the correct order, so you simply insert these after the collect of the day.  

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, where the commemoration is made by combining two collects (one pertaining to each saint) under one concluding formula.

Commemorating higher level days and feasts

Where the commemoration relates to a displaced feast or day however days you might need to pull these three texts out from a number of different places in the texts for the day or feast.

During Lent, for example, when the 'feria' is displaced by a feast, a commemoration is made at both Lauds and Vespers using:

• the canticle antiphon for the ferial day for either Lauds or Vespers respectively (ie for the day of the week of Lent);
• the versicle that would have been said with the canticle (from the Ordinary of Lent); and 
• the Lenten collect that would have been said at Lauds or Vespers on that day.

How do commemorations arise?

Commemorations basically occur for two reasons:

(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) Feasts displaced by a higher level feast or day

When two feasts or 'days' clash there are rules about which one to celebrate.

During Lent, for example, all third class feasts are reduced to commemorations marked  at Lauds only.

Conversely, Lent days are regarded as so important that they are usually commemorated at both Lauds and Vespers even when a Class I or II feast displaces the Lenten feria.

Similarly, Sundays usually take precedence over other feasts, but if they are displaced by a first class feast, they will normally be commemorated.

And Second Class feasts displaced by the Sunday also usually warrant a commemoration.

The tables of  'occurrence' or 'concurrence'

There are two 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 first (ocurrence) deals with what happens when two feasts or days fall on the same date in a particular year.  The second deals with what happens at a clash between two feasts or days at Vespers (ie do you say II Vespers of the feast of the day, or I Vespers of the following day, with or witout a commemoration of the other).

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?

There are also 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. 

SUMMARY

Commemorations are a way of marking the feasts of the lowest ranked saints, or of a feast or day displaced in the calendar in a particular year.

Commemorations are usually made at Lauds only, though they can also be said at Vespers in some circumstances.

Commemorations normally consist of an antiphon, versicle and collect, said immediately after the collect of the day.

Learning the Office 2.11 - The concluding prayers of the Office Pt 2: The collect and its concluding formulas

Christ both composed and established prayers for us to intercede with the Lord.  When, therefore the apostles sought to entreat with God and did not know how to intercede, they said to Christ: ‘Lord, teach us to pray’, that is, compose prayers for us.  Immediately the Lord taught from the book of the heavenly law how they should pray or how they should beseech the Lord.  From this the custom of the church has grown to entreat God by prayers against sorrows of the soul and to use prayers like those that Christ constituted, and like those the first Greeks began to compose by which the Lord was supplicated.

Isidore of Seville, De Ecclesiasticis Officiis, Bk I ch 9.

The closing prayers follow the same basic structure at all the hours.

There are potentially two key moving parts though -  the collect and the commemoration(s).  This post covers collects.

About collects

If you read the description of the Office in the Rule of St Benedict, you will not find an explicit reference to the saying of a collect - instead St Benedict uses rather more generic descriptions of the concluding prayers.

There are two main theories to explain this.

The first is that the term 'missae' generally translated as dismissal, did in fact include some intercessory prayers of the type that appear in later breviaries, such as prayers for absent brethren.

The alternative, though, is that collects were not included because of the specifically monastic, as opposed to clerical, character of the Benedictine Office in its origins.

St Jerome, for example, mentions that the saying of the collect was thought appropriate to a priest rather than a (normally lay) monk, and there are some early descriptions examples of the clergy joining the Office specifically to say the collect and give the blessing.  And as late as the thirteenth century, William Durandus gives the collect of the Office a specifically priestly character in his description of the Office.

In their earliest form, collects probably didn't follow the annual liturgical cycle as they do now.

Instead, the earliest surviving set of Office collects from sixth century Rome, which were probably used in the 'tituli' (more or less equivalent to parish churches) provided two for each day of the week, probably for Matins and Vespers respectively.

As the Office developed over time, though, the Office became less ferial and more aligned to the changes of seasons, saints and liturgical weeks in part by using the same collects at both the Mass and Office, at least for some of the hours.

Where the collect occurs in the Office

The collect is part of the concluding section of each of the day hours.  The table below show where it fits in the standard closing of each hour.

LATIN	ENGLISH
Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison	Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy
Pater noster…	Our Father…
Domine, exaudi orationem meam Et clamor meus ad te veniat	O Lord hear my prayer And let my prayer come unto Thee
Oremus	Let us pray
INSERT  COLLECT HERE
[Sometimes at Lauds and/or Vespers: commemoration]
Domine, exaudi orationem meam Et clamor meus ad te veniat	O Lord hear my prayer And let my prayer come unto Thee
Benedicamus Domino Deo Gratias	Let us bless the Lord Thanks be to God
Fidelium animae… [omitted at Compline and replaced with blessing]	May the souls of the faithful departed……

Where to find the text of the collect

At some hours and days, the collect is a fixed part of the hour or Office.

In particular, the collect is the same each day at Prime and Compline (a few very special days such as All Souls and the Sacred Triduum), and can be found in the psalter section of your Office book.

Similarly, on fourth class Saturdays (Class IV), the collect for Matins, Lauds and Terce to None is from the Office of Our Lady on Saturday (note some monasteries also retain the older custom of starting the Office of Our Lady on Saturday at Friday Vespers).

At all the other hours, the collect will be of the week (the relevant Sunday of the year), day or feast, and so will normally be found in either the Proper of the Season or Proper of Saints (or Common if there isn't a proper prayer) section of the Diurnal.  

For most of the year the 'default' collect, used on days that are not feasts from Saturday Vespers (I Vespers of Sunday) to Friday Vespers is that of the Sunday of the year.  Note that it is the same prayer that is said at (the EF) Mass.  During the more intensive times of the liturgical year, there may a collect (or even two) for each day of the week.

The table below summarises the source of the collect for each hour.

HOUR	SOURCE OF COLLECT
Matins, Lauds, Terce-None	Sunday - Friday (or Saturday if Class III without a proper prayer): Of the Sunday (ie the week), day or feast Class IV Saturdays: Of the Office of Our Lady
Prime	Collect of Prime, Monastic Diurnal  (MD) and Antiphonale Monasticum (AM) pg 8 (Domine Deus omnipotens...)
Vespers	Sunday-Friday: Of the Sunday (ie the week), day or feast Saturdays: Of the coming Sunday
Compline	Collect of Compline, MD 264, AM 173 (Visita quaesumus Domine)

The simplest way to work out where to fine the appropriate collect in your book is to use an Ordo, such as the one on the Saints Will Arise Blog.

The conclusions to the collects

Collects generally end in one of several set formulas.

Most of the time Office books do not, however, write out the full conclusions to the collects, they just provide a few key words to remind you to add it to the text provided.

It is important to keep in mind that there are several different conclusions to the collects, indicated by slightly different key words, such as PER DOMINUM NOSTRUM, or PER EUNDEM DOMINUM.

You can find the full set of variants written out in full in the Diurnal on page xxix.

If you look at the concluding prayers for Compline, at MD 264, the collect appears in the Diurnal more or less like this (I've bolded the key words):

Oratio . Orémus. Vísita, quǽsumus, Dómine, habitatiónem istam, et omnes insídias inimíci ab ea lónge repélle: Ángeli tui sancti hábitent in ea, qui nos in pace custódiant; et benedíctio tua sit super nos semper. Per Dóminum nostrum . R. Amen.

Prayer Let us pray  Visit, we beseech thee, O Lord, this dwelling, and drive far from it the snares of the enemy; let Thy holy angels dwell herein to preserve us in peace, and let Thy blessing be always upon us. Through our Lord, R. Amen.

Instead of just saying 'Per Dominum nostrum' or 'Through our Lord', though, you need to add on the whole conclusion to the prayer.

So what you actually say is:

Orémus. Vísita, quǽsumus, Dómine, habitatiónem istam, et omnes insídias inimíci ab ea lónge repélle: Ángeli tui sancti hábitent in ea, qui nos in pace custódiant; et benedíctio tua sit super nos semper. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.  Amen.

Let us pray Visit, we beseech thee, O Lord, this dwelling, and drive far from it the snares of the enemy; let thy holy angels dwell herein to preserve us in peace, and let thy blessing be always upon us. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son, Who with Thee liveth and reigneth, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.

You can find the ending written out in the Diurnal in the reference material at the front of the Diurnal on MD  xxix.

It looks like this:


The words in upper case are the cue words that the Diurnal gives you to tell you which one to use, so it is important to be able to find this page when you need it, and recognise the cues.

Singing the collect

The chant tones for the collects can be found in the Antiphonale Monasticum.

There is a solemn tone, for use at Lauds and Vespers at AM 1237, and simple tone for the other hours at AM 1240.

The antiphonale also provides chant tones for the alternative endings (AM 1241).

SUMMARY

A collect, or short prayer, is included in the concluding prayers of each of the hours.

At Prime and Compline it is the same each day; the Office of Our Lady on Saturday also has a fixed collect.  At the other hours the ‘default’ collect is of the Sunday, but feasts, special days and during some seasons of the year special collect(s) displace the Sunday collect.

Most office books do not write out the conclusion to the collect in full – instead it gives you a few words as a cue to the appropriate ending.

And you can find the next part of this series, covering commemorations, here.

Learn the Office 2.10 - The closing prayers of the hours - Pt 1

Knowledgeable people understand missae [the dismissal] in two ways: let the missae be done, that is, let absolutions be done; missae can also be called transmissions, akin to that prayer by which the prayers of the people are addressed to God through the ministry of the priest, whence the priest says: Hear, Lord, the voice of your people and so on .

Hildemar, Commentary on the Rule of St Benedict, c850

All of the day hours use more or less the same framework of prayers to conclude the hour.  The key moving parts are the collect, which I will deal with in the next post, and commemorations.

Interpreting the Office books

The words of the closing prayers (except the Collect) do not change except on a few special days in the Office, and are the same for all hours, except for some minor variants at Compline.

For this reason, most Office books do not bother writing them out in full each time they occur.

Accordingly, you either need to learn these by heart or keep a ribbon on the correct page (Monastic Diurnal  page 8 is probably the best one to use, but see the table below for the pages numbers for each hour). 

In addition, most Office books use some shortcuts which make it easy to make mistakes if you are not familiar with the Rules.

(1) The litany

The concluding prayers for most of the hours start with a short litany: 'Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison' (Greek for Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy).

Note that these are not repeated as at the Mass, they are just said once each.

The litany is generally sung on one note at Prime (see AM 1243).  For the other hours, the chant tones for the short litany can be found on AM 1236 and 1239 of the Antiphonale Monasticum.

(2) The Our Father

One of the distinctive features of the Benedictine Office is that the Our Father is said at each of the hours, so at least eight times in total each day.

At most of the hours, the first words 'Pater Noster' are said aloud by the person leading the hour (or you if you are praying it alone), and then everyone prays it through silently until the last line, 'sed libera nos a malo', which is said aloud.  Everyone then joins in the Amen.  The chant tones are set out on AM  1239.

At Lauds and Vespers the entire Pater Noster is sung aloud, traditionally by the Superior, in accordance with the instruction in chapter 13 of the Rule.  Everyone else joins in the last line only (ie from Sed libera nos a malo).  The chant tone for this purpose (which is not the same as that used at Mass) can be found on AM 1236.

(3) The Office with priests vs laity

The particular form of the closing prayers varies depending on whether said by clerics or non-clerics.

If you look at the Diurnal in the psalter section, MD 8 (closing prayers of  Prime on Monday) you will see that it instructs you not to use the verse 'Dominus vobiscum' (the Lord be with you) suggesting the standard response 'Et cum spiritu tui' (and with your spirit), as in the Mass, when praying the Office alone, or with non-clerics.

Instead you have to substitute in 'Domine exaudi orationem' and the response 'Et clamor meus ad te veniat' (O Lord hear my prayer, And let my cry come unto Thee).'

Unfortunately, the Diurnal (and most other Office books) provides the clerical option in most places, and it mostly doesn't bother repeating that instruction, it just expects you to know.

Accordingly, it is important to know where you are likely to find it, and train yourself to automatically say the proper verse and response. The table below smmarises the various places the issue arises in the Monastic Diurnal.

Dominus vobiscum vs Domine exaudi orationem meam - Guide to the Diurnal 

HOUR	Full instruction	'Dominus vobiscum vel Domine exaudi'	Dominus vobiscum only
Lauds (2 places)	na	na	MD 57,75
Prime	MD 8	na	na
Terce, Sext and None	na	na	MD 155
Vespers (2 places)	na	MD 211, 220	na
Compline	na	MD 264	na

(4) Benedicamus Domino/Deo Gratias


The Antiphonale Monasticum provides a large number of chant tones for use with the words Benedicamus Domino/Deo Gratias'(Let us bless the Lord/Thanks be to God), depending on the level of solemnity of the day, the season, and the hour, from AM 1244 onwards.

(5) Fidelium animae...

The final prayer at each hour is a prayer for the repose of the dead, and in some cases, a prayer for absent brethren.  These are generally sung softly on one note, see AM 1242.

Body postures and gestures

The other key thing to keep in mind is the gestures and postures used when saying the prayers.  While these are not compulsory when saying the Office by yourself, the rubrics specify they should be used 'as convenient'.

In a monastery the hebdomadary (person in change of leading the chant for the day) normally says the opening words, everyone else responds.  The abbot or abbess (or Prior/Prioress) sings the Pater Noster out loud at Lauds and Vespers, and gives the blessing at Compline.  When saying it by yourself, of course, you need to say (or sing) it all.

The  closing prayers for Compline are on MD 264 - look there to follow the table below.

CLOSING PRAYERS
WORDS	GESTURES	NOTES
[v] Kýrie, eléison. (R) Christe, eléison. Kýrie, eléison. Pater noster...Et ne nos indúcas in tentatiónem: R. Sed líbera nos a malo.	Stand (kneel in Advent and Lent) (Bow)	Superior alone customarily sings the Pater Noster at Lauds  and Vespers; otherwise silent except for opening two words and closing lines.
V. Dominus vobiscum... or Dómine, exáudi oratiónem meam....		Version for celebration with a priest vs when alone.
Oremus: COLLECT  for the hour (with appropriate ending)	(Bow)	Prime and Compline always have the same Collect; the collect for all other hours varies (see next post)
V. Dómine, exáudi oratiónem meam. R. Et clamor meus ad te véniat.
V. Benedicámus Dómino. R. Deo grátias.		Prime-None  and Compline use simple one;  there are 21 different possible chant tones for Lauds and Vespers depending on season, feast however.
Blessing: Benedícat et custódiat nos omnípotens et miséricors Dóminus,  Pater, et Fílius, et Spíritus Sanctus. R. Amen.	☩ (Sign of the cross)	Compline only
[V. Fidélium ánimæ per misericórdiam Dei requiéscant in pace. R. Amen.]	[☩] Not specifically mentioned in the rubrics, but customary	Not said at Compline; can be found at MD 9.
V. Divínum auxílium  máneat semper nobíscum. R. Et cum frátribus nostris abséntibus. Amen.	☩ (Sign of the cross)	Lauds, Vespers and Compline (after the Marian antiphon) in public recitation

SUMMARY

In the closing prayers of the Office each phrase of the litany (Kyrie eleison/Christe eleison/Christe eleison, or Lord have mercy/Christ have mercy/Lord have mercy) is said once only.

The formula ‘The Lord be with your spirit’ is only used when led by clerics.  In private recitation by laypeople, use ‘O Lord hear my prayer And let my cry come unto you’ instead.

The basic structure of the closing prayers is:

Litany (Kyrie…)

Pater Noster (Our Father)

Domine exaudi...(O Lord hear my prayer...)

Collect

Domine exaudi... (O Lord hear my prayer...

Benedicamus Domino/Deo Gratias (Let us bless the Lord...)

Fidelium animae... (May the souls...)

The next part of this series covers collects.

Learn the Office 2.9 - The chapter (capitulum)

After these psalms let a lesson be recited…

Rule of St Benedict, ch 17

Each of the hours of the Benedictine Office normally contains a very short Scriptural reading, typically not more than a sentence, called the capitulum in Latin, or chapter (verse).**

It is important to take note of where the chapter is in each hour, as if you are saying the Office, as opposed to singing it, it is easy to forget to add the words 'Deo Gratias' (Thanks Be to God) to the end of it by way of response, something rarely spelt out in the Office books.

In addition, it is worth noting that the rubrics for the chapter differ slightly from those for the readings at Matins, and the short reading at Compline.

**NB This should not be confused with the Office of chapter, attached to Prime, which I will deal with separately.

Where to find the chapters

The position of the chapter varies depending on the hour.

At Lauds to Vespers the chapter comes immediately after the psalms and their antiphon, so you say the antiphon for the psalms (without a Deo gratias) and then the chapter (with a Deo gratias).

At Compline, the chapter comes immediately after the hymn.

At Matins, the chapter comes after the last antiphon for the psalms in the second Nocturn on weekdays.

At some hours - notably Prime and Compline - the chapter is the same every day.**

The remaining hours have chapters that can vary with the day of the week, season or feast.  Default chapters are provided in the psalter section of Office books such as the Diurnal and Antiphonale; the variants can be found in the sections providing texts for the seasons, individual saints and commons of types of feasts.

**Note: Those using older books such as the Antiphonale Monasticum should be aware that an alternative chapter is provided for Prime (eg AM 6) for use on some occasions and times during the year, however, this was suppressed in the 1962 Office.

The rubrics

The chapter differs from the readings and short readings in that there is no preliminary blessing of the reader, and 'Tu autem Domine...' is not added at the end of it.

When said in common or in choir, everyone stands for the chapter, and it is desirable to do this when saying the Office by yourself as well.

In a monastery, the person in charge of the Office for the day (hebdomadary) says the verse, then everyone responds with the words 'Deo gratias'.  In private recitation, just add the Deo gratias yourself.

In the Monastic Diurnal, the 'Deo gratias' it is written out for Compline, but elsewhere, the Diurnal often just expects you to know to say this this (have a look, for example, at Vespers on Monday, MD 217-8).

The chant tones for the chapter can be found in the Antiphonale Monasticum on pages 1233-4. - the standard tone is on AM 1233; the following page provides variant tones used when the chapter includes a question mark, or when it ends with a question mark (Clausula interrogative).

The Compline chapter

The videos below provide examples using the  Compline chapter for learning purposes (note that some or all of the videos may not be accessible from your location for copyright reasons).

  



 or

SUMMARY

Each of the hours of the Benedictine Office normally contains a very short Scriptural reading, typically not more than a sentence, called the capitulum in Latin, or chapter (verse).

The position of the chapter depends on the particular hour.

The words 'Deo Gratias' (Thanks Be to God) need to be added to the end of the chapter.

And you can continue on to the next part in this series, on the closing prayers of the Office.

Learn the Office 2.8 - The singing the hymn at Compline and the other hours

The Consecration of St Ambrose

At this time it was instituted that, after the manner of the Eastern Church, hymns and psalms should be sung, lest the people should pine away in the tediousness of sorrow; which custom, retained from then till now, is imitated by many, yea, by almost all of Your congregations throughout the rest of the world.

St Augustine on St Ambrose’s introduction of hymns, Confessions Bk 9:7

The hymns of the Benedictine Office are very straightforward rubrics-wise, so most of the notes below relate to using the Antiphonale Monasticum and other resources to sing them.  There are a few things that are worth knowing about them though, so do at least skim this post!

About hymns in the Office

The use of hymns was introduced to the Western Church by St Ambrose of Milan.  A number of St Benedict's monastic contemporaries also used hymns, but the Roman Office didn't add hymns until about four centuries after St Benedict.

St Benedict specifies that the hymns for the 'minor hours' (Compline, Prime, Terce, Sext and None) should be proper to them (ie not change each day).  Accordingly, while the tunes can change with the day of the week (Sundays generally have a different tune for example) season or feast, the texts don't.

In St Benedict's time, the hymns at Lauds and Vespers were probably the same each day, changing only for feasts and perhaps the summer and winter seasons.   The set of Vespers hymns usually used each day from Sunday to Friday, however, were early attributed to St Gregory the Great, and were certainly used widely from the eighth century onwards.

Over time, the repertoire has expanded even greatly, with the composition of hymns for use at Vespers and Lauds on most feasts and seasons.

With a few notable exceptions (such as the Te Deum and Te decet at Matins), the hymns we sing now (with a few exceptions) are not necessarily the one's that were used in St Benedict's time.  In fact the hymns used have changed several times over the centuries, and different ones have been used at different times and places.  St Benedict may well have known an earlier version of the Compline hymn though, given its antiquity.

The Benedictine Office has, however, retained the traditional texts of the hymns throughout its history.  This means that they often differ from the versions used in the Roman Office, which were amended by Pope Urban VIII in the seventeenth century to make them conform with his ideals of classical Latin.  More recent editions of the Roman Breviary have reverted to the original forms of the hymns.

The position of the hymn in the hours and their rubrics

Each hour of the Benedictine Office has at least one hymn, while Matins has three.

St Benedict specifies three different positions for the hymn in the day hours:

• at Prime to None it comes right at the beginning, following the standard opening prayers, and before the psalms;
• at Compline it follows immediately after the psalms; and
• at Lauds and Vespers the hymn comes after the chapter and responsory, and before the New Testament canticle and its antiphon.

In choir or singing the Office with a group, you should stand for the hymn.  You also bow during the last verse (in honour of the reference to the Trinity in the 'doxology).

An amen is always added to the end of the hymn, and you can find the chant tones for this written out on AM 1231.

WHEN	Gestures/postures	Who says it in a monastery/notes
For the hymn	All stand
verses		Verses alternate between sides of the choir
Last verse (doxology)	Bow
Amen		Added to end of all hymns (and sometimes also an alleluia)

Singing the hymns of Prime to None and Compline 

Where hymns are proper to the hour (ie the same each day), they usually have different chant tones for days throughout the week, Sundays, for different levels of feasts, and for special seasons of the year.

If you look at the first page of the Ordinary in the Antiphonale Monasticum (see image below), for example, you will see it provides the chant tone for the hymn Iam Lucis Orto Sidere for 'feriis et officiis Simplicibus per annum', that is, for use on ordinary days (ferias) throughout the year.

On page 81, an additional tone is provided for use on Sundays.

Note though that AM 2 also provides alternative versions for use on Class III feasts (equivalent to Tonus in festis minoribus per annum); Class II feasts (Tonus in Festis Majoribus); and Class I feasts (Tonus in Solemnitatibus).

A similar variety of tones is provided for the other hours with one fixed hymn, that is:

• Terce (Nunc Sancte Nobis), on AM 84-5 and 93-94;
• Sext (Rector Potens), AM 87-8 and 98-9;
• None (Rerum Deus), AM  90-1 and 98-9; and
• Compline (Te Lucis ante terminum), AM 170-1-2.

Note that in the case of Compline, because it is said after I Vespers of the Sunday, it counts as part of the Sunday Office, so uses a Sunday psalm tone on both nights.

In addition to these tones, some seasons have set hymn tones, which can be found in the Ordinary of time section.  During Advent, for example, the tone for Compline can be found on AM 183, and for Prime to None on AM 185.



You can recordings of many of these hymns in their various tones on youtube.  A particularly useful resource though is the online Liber Hymnarius.  Although it is arranged for the 1970 Liturgy of the Hours, most of the traditional chant tones (Prime aside) can be found on it with a bit of searching.

Singing the hymns of Lauds and Vespers

Lauds and Vespers "during the year'' usually have a hymn specific to the day of the week.  These hymns though, have specific chant tones for summer and winter, both of which can be found in the Antiphonale Monasticum or the Liber Hymnarius.

During the key seasons there are usually special hymns for the hour, noted in the ordinary of time section'of the Antiphonale.

Feasts also generally have their own hymns.  There are also a default set of hymns in the Commons of Saints.  For many feasts the same hymn is for Vespers and Matins, with an another used at Lauds.  There are some feasts with three or even four hymns though.

Further reading/resources

Chant books

The Liber Hymnarius published by Solesmes can be purchased via most monasteries.  If you are singing from the Antiphonale Monasticum, it often only gives one verse set to the chant - the hymnarius often (though not always) sets it out in full.

Understanding the hymns and their context

There are two books that provide translations and notes on the texts of the hymns:

Matthew Britt OSB, Hymns of the Office and Missal, 1922.  Reprints also available.

Joseph Connelly, Hymns of the Roman Liturgy, Newman Press, 1957, reprinted by FSSP.

SUMMARY

Each of the hours of the Office has at least one hymn. 

The hymn for Prime to None and Compline is generally fixed for (proper to) the hour.  The hymns of Lauds and Vespers vary with the day of the week, season, day or feast.

An amen is added to the end of hymns

And for the next part on this series, on the chapter (capitulum), continue on here.