Using a breviary to say Matins: a quick guide

Some of those saying Matins are using breviaries of various vintages, so in response to a request for more information on how to do that, a quick guide.  

A note of caution!

I should note though, that my view is that you shouldn't be attempting to use a breviary unless you have reasonably good Latin (or are in the process of learning the language) and are reasonably familiar with how the Office works.  

First, I see no point in saying an Office you can't understand even the gist of, and secondly, the Office is complex enough to learn without adding a language you don't know into the equation.  Accordingly, if you want to learn Matins, start with the bilingual Clear Creek Matins booklet to learn the fixed texts for that hour and become familiar with the structure of the hour.

Secondly, you really need to be familiar with how the Office works.  Accordingly, if your Latin is not good, I strongly recommend starting by learning the day hours using one of the bilingual editions of the Monastic Diurnal (it comes in Latin-English, Latin-French and Latin-Italian).   

Only once you have all that under your belt should you try and tackle the Office using a breviary in my view (unless of course you are able to visit a traditional monastery and learn by trying to follow what they are doing).

That said, here is a brief users guide.

(1) Which volume

The first point to note is that breviaries are generally multi-volume products.

The 1962-3 version has two parts labelled 'Tomus Prior' (covering Advent to Pentecost) and 'Tomus Alter' (Trinity Sunday onwards) on the cover page.  

Pre-twentieth century versions though typically have four parts, labelled for the seasons - so at the time I'm writing now (June), you need to be looking for Pars Aestiva (summer).  One quick cross-check is which months the texts for the feasts of saints cover.

(2) Finding key sections of text you need

Breviaries are typically divided into several sections. 

 Not all breviaries include all of the parts in each volume though, so you may need to hunt around a bit depending on the edition.  They also differ in which order they provide it - many older breviaries put the psalter section first in the book for example, though the 1962 version has it after the Propers of time (ie middle).

I would suggest taking a look at this post on the ordering of the Monastic Diurnal and making sure you can find the equivalent sections in your breviary volume(s).

In general, for Matins on ferial weekdays:

• after Pentecost in summer you only need to find the right day of the week in the psalter section, plus the collect from the previous Sunday from the Proprium de Tempore section; and
• in 'winter' and during the major liturgical seasons (Advent, Lent etc) you will need to find the readings and some other texts (such as canticle antiphons) from the propers of time section.

On feasts of saints, you will need some texts from the Proprium Sanctorum and/or Commune Sanctorum sections as well or instead.  On higher level feasts you may also need to refer to the Sunday psalter section for some of the texts (such as blessings for the readings, Te Deum etc), though some breviaries (such as the 1962) helpfully provide these separately upfront, and standard chanted parts of the Office such as the Te Deum can also be found in the Liber Responsorialis.

On Sundays you will need readings and responsories for the Sunday - and after Pentecost the readings for Nocturns I&II and those for Nocturn III generally come from separate parts of the Propers of Time section.

(3) Navigating the psalter section

The core of the Office is to be found in the psalter (Psalterium) section of the breviary.  

Most breviaries are organised roughly in order of the number of the psalms.  

That means they typically start with Prime (as it covers Psalms 1-19 less a few), then Matins followed by Lauds of each day of the week, starting with Sunday (Psalm 20).

The days are labelled mostly by numbers (of the days of creation) - so feria secunda = Monday; feria sexta= Friday.

(4) Breviary shortucts

Even though they are large, they could be larger still, so all breviaries take shortcuts.

In particular:

• they generally don't bother repeating texts common to a particular hour, such as the opening versicle for Matins, Psalms 3&94, they just assume you know to say them;
• they don't write out the Gloria at the end of each psalms, responses to chapters and readings, etc etc.  I've summarised some of the key shortcuts  here, but take a look at the other posts on this topic on my Learn the Office page as well if you haven't already.

(5) Adapting older calendars

Another issue particular to pre-1962 breviaries is differences in level of days and octaves which affect the readings and responsories used.  

If you want to use the 1962-3 calendar and rubrics, just keep a close eye on the Ordo on the Saints Will Arise blog, and where differences on the names of feasts/Sunday etc arise, double-check against the readings on Lectio Divina Notes. 

In most cases the changes are not hard to manage  - Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi, for example, has exactly the same readings as the 1962 equivalent Sunday II after Pentecost, but does change the responsories to be used (mind you, in these days of the 'External Solemnity' of Corpus Christi celebrated in many places, you could make a good case for sticking with the older responsories I think...).  The correct responsories can be found either on Lectio Divina Notes or by using the label function on the Benedictine Responsories Blog (in this case 'pp2').

Book review: Monastic Breviary Matins**updated

If you need an English translation of Matins, the best books to acquire now are those from Gower monastery (Our Lady Queen of Apostles), as they follow the 1963 monastic Office.

In particular, this is one to avoid in my view:

Monastic Breviary MATINS according to the Holy Rule of Saint Benedict With additional rubrics and devotions for its recitation in accordance with the book of Common Prayer and Monastic Diurnal, Society of the Sacred Cross, 1961.

What it is

The book (MBM) is published by Lancelot Andrewes Press, an Orthodox printing press, using an Anglican text.  The psalm translation is Coverdale; Scriptural readings King James Version.

The rubrics largely reflect the pre-1955 breviary, so the calendar includes many Octaves, as well as a lot of very distinctly English and Anglican feasts.

What it contains

MBM contains all of the texts necessary to say a form of Matins in English only.

The Sunday cycle does not always align with the Roman/Benedictine 1963 calendar - the Sundays after Trinity Sunday for example contain quite different Gospels and Third Nocturn readings (presuambly it is an older Anglican schema).  It also omits many of the feasts of the 1963 calendar.

Pros and cons

My basic problem with it is that while the translations are often very beautiful, they are often quite at odds with the Vulgate.

The book is potentially a useful source of translations of the readings and responsories for study purposes, but personally I have found the translations of many of the texts just a little looser than seems desirable to me. I have to admit I had hoped to use this as at least a reference point for translations for missing responsories from Divinum Officium, as these at least seem to be out of copyright.  But on the feast of St Benedict, for example, where most of the responsories are adaptations of St Gregory's Dialogues, the versions provided in the MBM have often left in words cut out in the Latin, or otherwise failed to reflect the text of the responsory, as opposed to the text of the Dialogues.  Accordingly I gave up and went back to the Dialogues and a standard translation of them, and started from scratch again for myself.

From a practical point of view, like most breviaries it is not particularly user friendly, made even less so than others by separating out the responsories for Sundays into a separate section for much of the year.

In addition, the rubrics, for some strange reason, are in black, not red.

Nonetheless, others have successfully used this book, and many take a much more positive view of it, so if you would like to read a more positive appreciation of it, go here.

Older breviaries - how hard is it to adapt them to 1963?

Yesterday I looked at the 1963 breviary.  

If you are interested in buying an older breviary, though, it helps to have a sense of what you might be buying, so today a little potted history by way of context.

How hard is it to adapt an older breviary?

I have to admit that I haven't done a systematic comparison, but the bottom line to this is that, as far as I can discover is that the core texts and readings have not changed significantly since at least 1615, when the first official Benedictine breviary was approved.  There has, it is true, been some tweaking here and there, particularly where feasts have changed, but the core of the Office can be found in these older books.

The rubrics, however, have been simplified over time, and that does lead to significant discrepancies and gaps.  In essence, the older the book, the less the calendar will follow the 1963 order and the more feasts that will be missing, so the more work you will have to do to align the two.

Calendar reforms

It is worth noting that the key differences between the various books relates to the calendar.  

First, at various points in time, new feasts have been added and others dropped, or their level changed; when this happens the texts for the feasts can also change.

Secondly, the categories for feasts have changed over time.  The table, from the Wikipedia accessed 4.4.17 below summarises the changes for the Roman Mass and Office.  The Benedictine Rite didn't always entirely align with these, but was broadly updated to follow the Roman at various points in time.

Thirdly, the impact of different feasts on the Office has changed over time - commemorations sometimes had readings associated with them, for example, that displaced the text of the day in some cases.

Pope	Date	Ranking
-	Antiquity	Doubles				Simples
-	13th century	Doubles				Semidoubles	Simples
Pius V	1568	Doubles, I Class	Doubles, II Class	Doubles		Semidoubles	Simples
Clement Vlll	1602	Doubles, I Class	Doubles, II Class	Greater Doubles	Doubles	Semidoubles	Simples
Pius XII	1955	Doubles, I Class	Doubles, II Class	Greater Doubles	Doubles	Simples	Commemorations
John XXIII	1960	I Class	II Class	III Class			Commemorations
Paul VI	1969	Solemnities	Feasts	Memorials and Optional Memorials			Ferias

The adaptation task then, requires you to be familiar with the 1963 rubrics, so that you know what texts you need for a particular day, and then be prepared to do a bit of hunting to find them!

Making sense of the many old breviaries...

The key challenge in buying an earlier breviary is that if you look on Abebooks or elsewhere, there are often many different options that look similar.

I have to admit that my own knowledge of this topic is pretty sketchy, and I only own or have access to a couple of breviaries myself, so I am largely going to draw on the work (indented quotes below) of an anonymous commentator on the Saints Will Arise blog (cross-posted from an Amazon review) from some years ago, slightly edited and reordered.  I will, though, also add a few things I've gleaned since.

For the Roman Office, Mr DiPippio has provided an extensive description of the various changes that have been made since Trent, but I am not aware of an equivalent set of documentation for the Benedictine Office.  Please do jump in if you know more though.

Note that I am only going to talk about Benedictine breviaries here - there is a whole other history for the Cistercian form of the Benedictine Office.

A potted history of the monastic breviary

1.  Prior to the Council of Trent

Prior to the Council of Trent, each monastery (or Congregation) effectively set its own Office.  There was a substantial common core of hymns, antiphons and responsories from very early on, but manuscripts from various monasteries capture a large number of variants as well.  In the past Solesmes and other experts have largely drawn on these collections to construct their breviaries and chant books, but these days images of many of these manuscripts are now available online, and many of the key chants from them have been transcribed and are available through websites such as the Cantus Database.

2.  After Trent - Breviarium Monasticum ordinis sancti Benedicti (various editions) up to 1915

"Pope Paul V allowed the Benedictines to preserve their proper Rite for the Divine Office in his Bull "Ex injuncto nobis" (1 October 1612) according to the ordinance in the Bull "Quod a nobis" of Pope St. Pius V (9 July 1568) that dispensed certain Dioceses and Religious Orders from the obligation of adhering to the Roman Breviary reformed by order of the Œcumenical Council of Trent. The Congregation of Sacred Rites promulgated the typical edition of the Monastic Breviary on 24 January 1615"

My comment: A number of versions of the monastic breviary were issued in this period.  First, each Congregation seems to have had its own edition, with the differences mainly being in the feasts included/their level, particular prayers and votive offices.  Some congregations, for example, did not say the Votive Office of St Scholastica.

In addition, the breviary was updated to include new feasts and other calendar changes at various points.

3. 1915 to 1962

 "When Pope St. Pius X commenced the great reform of the Roman Rite by his Bull "Divino afflatu" (1 November 1911), the Abbot-Primate of the Benedictine Order, the Most Rev. Dom Fidelis von Stotzingen, requested the Apostolic See to approve an adaptation of the new reforms for the Monastic Breviary. By authority of Pope Benedict XV, the Congregation of Sacred Rites granted the request on 28 April 1915.

The reforms mentioned above did not affect the substance of the Monastic Office, the heart of which is the Psalter. Now that St. Pius X did away with the old Roman Psalter of immemorial origin, the Monastic Psalter is now the most ancient in the Latin Occident, having been ordained by St. Benedict in his Holy Rule (chapters viii-xviii) in the 6th century. The Latin texts of the Hymns predate the recension of Pope Urban VIII, which made the Hymns of the Roman Breviary conform to Classical metre.

The Monastic Rite had enthusiastically embraced the programme of reform established by St. Pius X for the Roman Rite by giving precedence to the Dominical and Ferial Offices above the Sanctoral Offices. Decades before the reforms of John XXIII, the Benedictines had already eliminated the "Semi-Duplex" rite in the Sanctoral Offices, expunged a great number of Saints' Feasts from the General Calendar of the Order, and had imitated the Ambrosian Rite in reducing all "Duplex" Feasts to commemorations in the Quadragesimal and Passiontide Seasons. The Monastic Rite had anticipated the limitation of the Athanasian Creed "Quicumque" to Trinity Sunday alone (which the Roman Rite did in the simplification of the Rubrics promulgated by the Congregation of Sacred Rites by authority of Pius XII in 23 March 1955) when it conformed to the reforms of St. Pius X." 

My comment: The table below provides the rest of the material summarised on Wikipedia, this time relating to twentieth century calendar changes.

Aside from the calendar and those changes mentioned above aside, the key change made in 1915 seems to relate to Lauds, with the introduction of the Roman 'festal canticles' as an option.

4. 1962-3 

"When the Congregation of Sacred Rites promulgated further reforms for the Roman Rite in the Decree "Novum Rubricarum" (26 July 1960) by authority of John XXIII, the Abbot-Primate of the Benedictine Order, the Most Rev. Dom Benno Gut, followed the example of his above-mentioned predecessor and the same Roman Congregation promulgated a new typical edition of the Monastic Breviary on 15 December 1962...Unlike the Roman Rite, the reforms of John XXIII left Monastic Matins intact."

My comment: Most of the changes made to the 1962 (actually published in 1963) breviary, as far as I can see, relate to the calendar and rubrics, and largely (though not entirely) align them with the 1962 EF Mass and Roman Office.

There were some (in my view highly undesirable) changes made to the psalter though, including changing the divisio points in some psalms, cutting out most of the Saturday ferial canticle at Lauds, and cutting out some verses that have always been included in the Vulgate version of Psalm 13 (but long been regarded as interpolations by some, including St Jerome).  The changes to Matins though were minor.

Book review: 1963 Monastic Breviary

Now that we have looked at all of the essential elements of Matins, I thought it would be appropriate to look at the official (1962-3) source for them, viz the 1963 breviary.

Breviarium Monasticum summorum pontificum cura recognitum per omnibus sub regula militatntibus iussu abbatis primatis editum, 2 vols, Marietti, 1963

This Latin only set of books remains the official breviary for Benedictines, although most monasteries have subsequently constructed their own versions of the Office in accordance with the instructions set out in the 1977 Thesauris and subsequent documents.

Introduced in 1963, it was (in theory at least) used by all monasteries up until around about 1969 (though some did start experimenting earlier).

What it contains

Volume 1 (Tomus Prior) starts at Advent and ends with Saturday Nones in the Octave of Pentecocst (ie the official end of Eastertide); Volume 2 covers the rest of the year, as well as the rubrics for the Office.

For those familiar with the Monastic Diurnal, the structure of the Breviary is very similar, although the order of some sections is not the same.  The key difference is that whereas the Diurnal only includes the texts in each section that relate to the day hours, the breviary also includes Matins.

The two books contain the text only; it does not contain the chants.

Pros and cons

The breviary contains all of the texts you need to say the Office and accordingly is the ideal reference book if you want to say Matins liturgically.

If your Latin is shaky, or a work in progress, you could use it in combination with a bilingual book such as the Gower Matins books.

The breviary is readily available in reprint form.

Book review: Liturgical readings

Liturgical Readings The Lessons of the Temporal Cycle and the Principal Feasts of the Sanctoral Cycle according to the Monastic Breviary, Grail Publications, St Meinrad, 1943 (various reprints; I am using one from 1954).

Liturgical readings, still available as a reprint, is a useful book to have, particularly if you want to say some of the feasts omitted from the 1963 calendar. 

That said, the Gower Matins books contain all of the translations necessary for the 1963 calendar.

What it contains

This book wasn't put out for liturgical use - although it has an imprimateur, it specifically says it was for study purposes - but it can readily be used in conjunction with the Office.

The first section of the book contains the Patristic readings for the temporal cycle of the year.  For each Sunday and fixed feast, it lists out the (Scriptural) first Nocturn readings, then provides the second and third Nocturn (Patristic) readings.  Through Lent, it provides the weekday Patristic readings, Gospel and collect.

The second half of the book covers most of the first and second class feasts of the sanctoral cycle.

As a bonus, because it dates from before the culling of Octaves, you get a number of extra readings for some feasts (including local feasts of St Meinrad).

The readings are not headed reading 1, reading 2 etc, but the divides the paragraphs to follow the divisions of the Office.

What it doesn't include

The key things missing from a practical point of view are texts for newer feasts added to the calendar or upgraded.  Most of these, however, can be filled in from other sources such as Divinum Officium and the supplement put out by Clear Creek.

It doesn't include the readings for Class III feasts.

And the really unfortunate omission from a practical point of view is the responsories.

Book reviews - Matins only psalters** (Matins according to the Benedictine Ritual & Stanhofe draft Psalter)

If you are looking for a Matins psalter, the best options now are the Brignoles Nocturnale Volume 1 (which includes all the chants for the ferial Office as well as the main seasonal texts); the Gower Latin-English Matins books; a breviary; or the Le Barroux Nocturnale Monasticum.

There are, though, two other useful sources of the psalms and common prayers worth noting. 

(1) Matins According to the Benedictine Ritual with a Supplement Latin-English, Clear Creek 2008.



The Clear Creek Matins book was originally intended primarily to help visitors to the monastery to follow Matins there, but is also available through Lulu.

What it contains

The book contains texts for Matins each day in Latin and English, other than the readings, responsories and collects.  It includes the main seasonal antiphons but not all of the variants (such as the Sunday invitatory antiphon during Lent for example).   The supplement actually mainly deals with the other hours, but does include some Matins texts.

The translation of the psalms is (I think) one of the Challoner-Douay-Rheims versions (though not the one that I have).

Pros and cons

This is an especially useful book for beginners as it lays out all the texts (such as Psalm 94) exactly as it is said for most of the year in full.  This layout means the repeated texts appear in each day's pages, reducing the need for page flipping.

Of course, the downside is that this makes it slightly harder to use for feasts and other occasions when some of the texts change.

In addition, unlike the Psautier Monastique, it doesn't contain many of the seasonal texts.  Still, if you are praying Matins devotionally, primarily in order to extend the number of psalms you are saying, the seasonal texts are not essential.

As it is put out by a monastery, though without a formal imprimateur, it can be argued to satisfy the requirement for official approval (in these days when many monasteries have used plastic folders and ad hoc editions for years, it is hard to insist on the letter of the Code when it comes to deciding what constitutes official books in my view!).

A reader has noted though that it only comes in paperback form, so it is unclear how well it will stand up to daily use.

(2) Holger Peter Stanhofe, Psalterium dispositum per hebdomadam pro nocurnis horis secundum regulam SS Patris Nostri Benedicti, 2002.


This is a draft of a Benedictine Nocturnale produced by the late Holger Peter Standhofe, who put together the Nocturnale Romanum, and unfortunately never quite completed.  It is Latin only, but includes the standard texts and chants for the psalter section of Matins each day.

It can be freely downloaded here.

The text is a draft only, and unfortunately there are quite a few errors scattered through it - missing initials and mistakes in the psalter.  

Books reviews: Psalters (the Psautier Monastique & Psalterium Monasticum)

Today I want to provide you with some notes on possible books to acquire.  As I noted in the last post in this series, there are basically three categories of books you can use for the psalms of Matins:

• breviaries, which contain all of the texts for the Office (but not the chants);
• Matins only books; and 
• psalters which include the psalms and some of the other key texts.

Why consider buying a psalter?

Today I want to look at two books in the last category.

Both the books discussed below are current officially approved books, complete with imprimateur, so a useful reference point if you want to pray to Office liturgically, 

The big reason for choosing a psalter over a breviary, the other 'officially' approved bok, though, really comes down to price.  A 1963 breviary in particular is hard to find and pretty expensive.  The various psalters by contrast are readily available at a reasonable price, and can be used for all of the hours, not just Matins.

But they have a few other advantages too.

The options

(1) Psalterium cum canticis novi et veteris testamenti iuxta regulam S P N Benedicti & alia schemata liturgiae horarum monastiae cum cantu gregoriano cura et studio monachorum solesmensium, Solesmes, 2012 (reprint of 1980).

This is one I'm including largely for the sake of completeness, as it uses the neo-Vulgate psalms of 1979 which, as I noted yesterday, I don't recommend.  

That said, this psalter is used in most monasteries who use the Novus Ordo Mass and if you are an oblate of such a monastery, you should probably consider using it, alongside the new Antiphonales put out by Solesmes aligned to the new calendar.

What it contains

This is a Latin only book.

It includes the psalms laid out for each hour, including Matins, with standard daily prayers, and the antiphons with chant tones.  The type face is reasonably sized (though not as large as the Psautier Monastique which I will discuss below).

It also contains pretty much all the texts for the seasons and feasts of saints (ie invitatory, hymns, antiphons and listings of where to find the psalms, and collects).

Another nice feature are the short Scriptural or Patristic quotes that point to the meaning of the psalms.

Pros and cons

This is actually a very nicely laid out book, containing pretty much everything you need for Matins except the readings and responsories.

It is not really usable for the 1963 Office though - the antiphons have been updated to conform with the neo-Vulgate so are not always the same as in the older books, and it contains a number of other quirks, such as an antiphon for Psalm 3 at Matins!

(2) Psautier Latin-Francais du Breviare Monastique En Supplement: L'Ordinaire de l'office au temps de l'Advent du Careme, de la Passio et de Paques...Desclee &Cie, 1938, 2012 reprint  Editions Sainte-Madeleine (at time of writing, 35 Euros + shipping from Abbaye Le Barroux)

This is a book I recommend seriously considering acquiring, particularly if you are a french-speaker.

It is the book used on a day to day basis in most of the traditional monasteries for Matins as far as I can work out.  

What it contains

As for the Psalterium, it contains the psalms and prayers for all of he hours including Matins, together with a french translation.

It also contains a short commentary in french on the psalms.

Most of the texts necessary for the seasons (including Office of Our Lady on Saturday) are also included, but not those for the feasts of saints (presumably because these are largely included in the Liber Responsorialis).

Pros and cons

Like the Psalterium, this book contains most of the texts you will need on a daily basis for Matins except for the readings and responsories.  Though heavy, the book is not too large to hold and the type size is nice and large, a big bonus as far as I am concerned.

It doesn't number the psalms of Matins (ie 1 to 6) though, so it is easy to lose track of where in the Nocturn you are up to.  It also omits the commons and texts for saints and that's kind of annoying.

The really major disadvantage of it though, from my point of view, is that it does not contain any of the chants at all.

And while it is nice to have a commentary on the psalms in theory, it very much reflects its early twentieth century date of composition - though perfectly orthodox, it focuses unduly, in my opinion, on the literal rather than spiritual meanings of the psalms so for me at any rate, is not actually that helpful.

Psalter vs Matins only books

The big downside of these two books is that neither is Latin-English, so if you are an English speaker and your Latin isn't great, or you are planning to pray Matins in English, you probably need to look at one of the Matins only resources, which I will cover in the next post.

Book review: Liber Responsorialis (1895)

Liber Responsorialis pro Festis I Classis et communi Sanctorum iuxta ritum monasticum Adnectuntur Invitatorium et Hymnus Aliorum Festorum, Solesmes, 1895

Where to find it

The good news is that the Liber Responsorialis (with 1924 supplement) can be downloaded for free from the CC Watershed library: Liber Responsorialis (194 MB).

What it contains

The book provides the chant for invitatory, hymn, antiphons (and listing the psalms they are attached to) and at least some of the responsories for a selection of major feasts and seasons.

It also contains some of the 'ordinary' chants, such as the chant tones for Psalm 94.

The book can be frustrating in its gaps though.

The proper of time section, for example, contains the complete chants for Christmas and the Epiphany, for example, but then bypasses Lent altogether, skipping straight to Easter.  The separate 'responsories of time' section contains some of the responsories for Sundays of the year, but typically only one or two (out of twelve).

The list of feasts it covers is quite small and eclectic.

What it doesn't contain

The chants are for major feasts including some Sunday responsories - but it doesn't contain the weekday hymns and texts used throughout the year.  There are also quite a few responsories for Sundays of the year missing.

The Brignoles Nocturnale project is slowly working fill in these gaps, but in the interim, you can find some of the responsories on the Nocturnale Romanum Project website, and supplement it with this book where possible. 

Opening section of Matins/6 &Closing section/1 - The hymns of Matins

Let the [Ambrosian] hymn follow next (Rule of St Benedict 9)

…When the fourth responsory is finished, let the abbot begin the hymn Te Deum laudamus…then let the abbot follow with the hymn Te decet laus…Rule of St Benedict Chapter 11

The final part of the opening section of Matins is the hymn.  Matins on Sundays and feasts also has two other hymns though, so I thought I would cover those off here as well.

The structure of Matins

SECTION
OPENING (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

The use of hymns in the Benedictine Office

St Benedict took a quite different approach to the Roman Office in several matters, and one of those is in the use of hymns.  The Roman Church in the sixth century seems generally have been reluctant to use non-Scriptural texts in the liturgy, and even in the ninth century, the date of the earliest comprehensive description of it, the Roman Office was still devoid of hymns - the Te Deum appears to have been added in some places from the tenth century, but in Rome itself hymns were only adopted in the twelfth century. .

St Benedict, on the other hand, had no such hesitation in relation to non-Scriptural texts, happily adopting the tradition of Office hymns popularised in the West by St Ambrose.  A hymn is sung to close off the opening section of the hour each day.  In addition, the Te Deum and Te decet laus towards the end of the hour on Sundays and major feasts.

Where to find the hymn

The hymn in the opening section of Matins is usually of the day of the week, unless replaced by one for the season or feast.  The hymn for each day of the week for most of the year is generally set out under Matins for the particular day of the week - for the chants see the Brignoles Nocturnale Volume 1 (psalter).

Those for seasons can be found in the relevant section of the books or elsewhere.  On feasts the hymn is generally (though not always) the same as for Vespers.

The chant for the Te Deum and Te decet laus can be found in the Brignoles Nocturnale under Sunday Matins and/or the appendix.  Note that there are numerous versions of the Te Deum, and an Eastertide version of the Te decet laus.

How to say the hymns

The rubrics for the daily hymns in the opening section are the same as for the other hours - the hymn is properly sung standing, and one normally bows for the doxology in the last verse.  In addition an Amen is always added to the end of the hymn.

The Te Deum and Te decet laus are also said standing, and in the Te Deum everyone kneels at the verse Te ergo quaesumus.

The opening of Matins/5 - The invitatory: rubrics and resources

In the aforesaid winter season, there is first the versicle Domine labia mea aperies et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam to be said three times; then must follow the third psalm and the Gloria; then the ninety-fourth psalm to be chanted with an antiphon, or at any rate to be chanted. Let the hymn follow next…

Rule of St Benedict, chapter 9

Following Psalm 3, the rubrics specify that Psalm 94 is said.  This Psalm is called called the Invitatory because it specifically invites us to pray.

This is actually the trickiest part of the opening section of Matins, as this is the only psalm said responsorially in the Benedictine office, with part or all of the antiphon that accompanies it repeated after each couple of verses.

Where to find the invitatory antiphon

 Psalm 94 is said with an antiphon which is for the Office of the day of the week, season or feast.

On third class feasts and above, the invitatory antiphon is for the feast (note: unless I've missed something, which is possible, the 1963 rubrics seem to imply that on third class feasts with only one reading, ie in summer, the invitatory antiphon of the ferial day is used, but that doesn't seem to align fully with the sanctoral section of the book).

If there isn't a specific invitatory listed in the breviary or other book for the feast, you use the one from the Common of the relevant type of saint.

For ordinary days throughout the year

Using a breviary

If you are using a breviary, the best place to go if you are saying Matins (as opposed to chanting it) is Feria Secundum [Monday] ad Martutinum in the psalter section, since it provides the verses with  either a ** or * to indicate how much of the invitatory is said each time.

In most editions the breviary also sets out the invitatory used throughout the year for each day of the week under feria secunda as well as on each day of the week.

The Brignoles psalter provides the chant tones for Psalm 94 starting from page 164 (with notes under each day of the week or in the seasonal texts as to which one to use.

For invitatories for other feasts (pending Volume 3 of the Brignoles Nocturnale) the most convenient book for the Invitatory chants is Psalmus Venite Exultemus per varios tonos cum invitatoriis pro oficiis de tempore et de sanctis, Declee, 1928, now available via CC Watershed.  It is a very small book, but contains all of the chant tones for Psalm 94 together with the seasonal invitatories as well as those for most feasts.  

Postures and gestures

The invitatory and its psalm is said standing.

Everyone genuflects at the words Venite adoremus et procedamus (Come let us adore...) in the verse of the Psalm.

How to say the invitatory antiphon

The way in which the invitatory is said is set out in full in the Sunday section of the breviary, but after that you have to work it out for yourself.

In essence, each invitatory antiphon has a dividing point, indicated by an asterix.

So if you look at the Invitatory for a Sunday in Lent you get:

Ant. Non sit vobis vanum mane surgere ante lucem * Quia promisit Dominus coronam vigilantibus.

Let it not be vain for you to rise up early, before the light: * For the Lord hath promised a crown to them that watch.

To start with, the antiphon is repeated in full, so said twice.

Then either the whole antiphon (indicated by **), or the second half alone (*) is inserted between each group of verses of Psalm 94, on an alternating basis.

If you have done it correctly, you should end up, after the Gloria Patri, with the second half of the antiphon.  The full antiphon is then repeated again.

Divinum Officium writes it out in full, and so set the date for a Lent Sunday - to take a look - I've cut out the antiphon and replaed them with * or ** after the first two refrains so you cna see how it works.

Invitatorium  Ant. Non sit vobis vanum mane surgere ante lucem * Quia promisit Dominus coronam vigilantibus. Ant. Non sit vobis vanum mane surgere ante lucem * Quia promisit Dominus coronam vigilantibus. Veníte, exsultémus Dómino, jubilémus Deo, salutári nostro: præoccupémus fáciem ejus in confessióne, et in psalmis jubilémus ei. Ant. Non sit vobis vanum mane surgere ante lucem * Quia promisit Dominus coronam vigilantibus. (=**) Quóniam Deus magnus Dóminus, et Rex magnus super omnes deos, quóniam non repéllet Dóminus plebem suam: quia in manu ejus sunt omnes fines terræ, et altitúdines móntium ipse cónspicit. Ant. Quia promisit Dominus coronam vigilantibus. (=*) Quóniam ipsíus est mare, et ipse fecit illud, et áridam fundavérunt manus ejus veníte, adorémus, et procidámus ante Deum: plorémus coram Dómino, qui fecit nos, quia ipse est Dóminus, Deus noster; nos autem pópulus ejus, et oves páscuæ ejus. ** Hódie, si vocem ejus audiéritis, nolíte obduráre corda vestra, sicut in exacerbatióne secúndum diem tentatiónis in desérto: ubi tentavérunt me patres vestri, probavérunt et vidérunt ópera mea. * Quadragínta annis próximus fui generatióni huic, et dixi; Semper hi errant corde, ipsi vero non cognovérunt vias meas: quibus jurávi in ira mea; Si introíbunt in réquiem meam. ** V. Glória Patri, et Fílio, * et Spirítui Sancto. R. Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, * et in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen. * **

3Invitatory  Ant. Let it not be vain for you to rise up early, before the light: * For the Lord hath promised a crown to them that watch. Ant. Let it not be vain for you to rise up early, before the light: * For the Lord hath promised a crown to them that watch. Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.  Ant. Let it not be vain for you to rise up early, before the light: * For the Lord hath promised a crown to them that watch. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. For the Lord will not cast off his people: for in his hand are all the ends of the earth, and the heights of the mountains are his.  Ant. For the Lord hath promised a crown to them that watch. For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us: For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. **  Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts: As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works. * Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart. And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.  ** V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost. R. As it was in the beginning, is now, * and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. * **

Chant tones for Psalm 94

In choir, the whole group sings the invitatory antiphon, while one or two people chant the Psalm itself.

The chant tones for Psalm 94 are very ancient indeed, and provide a very beautiful and meditative start to the day if you make the time to learn them.

Notes and readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent

The notes below identify sources for the texts and chants for Matins for the Fourth Sunday of Lent.

Where to find the texts

In a breviary, you need to find the Sunday texts (Dominica ad Matutinum) plus Dominica IV in Quadragesima.

If you are new to Matins, don't have good Latin, and/or don't have a breviary, the simplest approach is to use the Divinum Officium website.  The main problem with it is the readings and responsories, where Roman texts are provided instead of the Benedictine arrangement.  The readings and responsories for this Sunday, arranged as for the Benedictine Office are set out below, including the missing responsories.

If you are using the Clear Creek booklet for the psalms and other texts, you need to substitute the Invitatory antiphon for Lent (Non sit vobis vanum) and the hymn (Ex more docti), both of which can be found on Divinum Officium.  If you are using the Psautier Monastique, the hymn is on page 575.

You will also need the readings and responsories, and the English version of these can be found below.

Chant tones - antiphons, invitatory, hymn

For the invitatory I use the Psalmus Venite Exultemus per varios tonos cum invitatoriis pro oficiis de tempore et de sanctis, Declee, 1928.  Copies can be obtained secondhand and there is also an 1895 version of this. It can also be found in the Nocturnale Romanum (published in 2002).

**If you know of an online source for the chant of the Lenten invitatory though, please do let me know.

The hymn (Ex more) can be found in the Liber Hymnarius published by Solesmes.  For the Te Deum and Te Decet Laus, either the Liber Hymnarius or the Liber Responsorialis (which can be downloaded from the CC Watershed library) provides the chants.

**Again, if you know of an online source for the hymn Ex more, please do let me know (CDPL had one but the link is broken; the only thing I can find is the Cantus database manuscript transcription).

The chant tones for the antiphons can be found in the OSB Psalterium (note this is an unofficial draft, and the text of the psalms contains a number of errors - an important resource for the chants though).

Chant tones - responsories

Most people will not be in a position to chant the responsories, as they can be among the more challenging chants to sing,  and of course they add to the already considerable length of Matins. Still, many of them are very beautiful and meaningful, and it is nice to at least worth having the option of doing some of them occasionally.

In the past, anyone who wanted to sing some or all of the responsories had to spend a great deal of time hunting down the chants for the responsories in places like the Nocturnale Romanum (hard to obtain these days but a very very useful text if you are serious about singing Matins), or via the admittedly wonderful, but not really aimed at performance, Cantus database.

However, a monk recently kindly pointed me to another source for many of them (along with alternatives for this Sunday used prior to the Breviary of Paul V), which can be found here.  Note that the order provided on the site for this Sunday doesn't quite follow the 1963 books - I've indicated the correct order/responsories below.

Nocturn I

 01 Locutus est Dominus ad Moysen
02 Stetit Moyses coram
03 Cantemus Domino gloriose
10 Audi Israel praecepta

Nocturn II

04 In mari via tua
06 Qui persequebantur populum

07 Moyses famulus Domini

11 Vos qui transituri estis

Nocturn III

08 Splendida facta est facies
05 Ecce mitto angelum meum
09 Attendite popule meus
14 Adduxi vos per desertum

Readings and responsories - translations

The Matins readings for the fourth Sunday of Lent in the Benedictine Office are set out below.

Nocturn I (Exodus 3:1-15)

Reading 1: Now Moses fed the sheep of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Madian: and he drove the flock to the inner parts of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, Horeb.  And the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he saw that the bush was on fire and was not burnt. And Moses said: I will go and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.  And when the Lord saw that he went forward to see, he called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said: Moses, Moses. And he answered: Here I am.  And he said: Come not nigh hither, put off the shoes from thy feet: for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. And he said: I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face: for he durst not look at God.

R. The Lord spake unto Moses, saying: Go down now into Egypt, and say unto Pharaoh * Let My people go. And the heart of Pharaoh shall be hardened, that he will not let My people go but by a mighty hand.
V. The cry of the children of Israel is come unto Me, and I have seen their affliction come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, and thou shalt say unto him
R. Let My people go. And the heart of Pharaoh shall be hardened, that he will not let My people go but by a mighty hand.

Reading 2: And the Lord said to him: I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of the rigour of them that are over the works:  And knowing their sorrow, I am come down to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land into a good and spacious land, into a land that floweth with milk and honey, to the places of the Chanaanite, and Hethite, and Amorrhite, and Pherezite, and Hevite, and Jebusite.

R. Moses stood before Pharaoh, and said Thus saith the Lord * Let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness.
V. The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying
R. Let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness.

Reading 3: For the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have seen their affliction, wherewith they are oppressed by the Egyptians.  But come, and I will send thee to Pharao, that thou mayst bring forth my people, the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said to God: Who am I that I should go to Pharao, and should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?  And he said to him: I will be with thee: and this thou shalt have for a sign, that I have sent thee: When thou shalt have brought my people out of Egypt, thou shalt offer sacrifice to God upon this mountain.

R. Let us sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. * The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation.
V. The Lord is a man of war; Almighty is His Name.
R. The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation.

Reading 4: Moses said to God: Lo, I shall go to the children of Israel, and say to them: The God of your fathers hath sent me to you. If they should say to me: What is his name? what shall I say to them?  God said to Moses: I AM WHO AM. He said: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: HE WHO IS, hath sent me to you.  And God said again to Moses: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me to you: This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

R. Hear, O Israel, the law of the Lord, and write it in thine heart as in a book * And I will give unto thee a land flowing with milk and honey.
V. Take heed therefore, and hearken unto My voice and I will be an enemy unto thine enemies.
R. And I will give unto thee a land flowing with milk and honey.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
R And I will give unto thee a land flowing with milk and honey.

Nocturn II:Sermons of St Basil the Great, 1st on Fasting.

Reading 5: We know that it was with and by fasting that Moses went up into the Mount, for he had not dared to go up to that smoking summit, nor to have entered that darkness, except he had been made strong by a Fast. It was with fasting that he received the commandments, written by the finger of God upon tables of stone. Upon the mountain, that Fast made interest with Him Whose law was given unto it; but, below, gluttony was leading the people to the worship of idols and polluting them. It is written The people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. That one fit of drunken frenzy, on the part of the people, made void and of none effect all the toil and patience of the forty days, during the which the servant of God had fasted and prayed unceasingly.

R. Thy way is in the sea, and thy paths in the great waters. * Thou leddest thy people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
V. Thou broughtest them through the Red Sea, and leddest them through much water.
R. Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Reading 6: To the Fast had been given those tables of stone written on with the finger of God; the Feast's work was to break them, by the hand of the most holy prophet, who deemed a nation of drunkards a nation unmeet to receive law from God. In a moment of time, that people, who had by great wonders been taught to worship God, were, by gluttony, dropped back into the cesspool of Egyptian idolatry. The which things if thou wilt consider, thou shalt see that the tendency of fasting is to God-ward, and that that of feasting is to hell-ward.

R. O Lord, Thou hast overwhelmed in the deep of the sea them which persecuted thy people * Even thy people which Thou leddest in the pillar of the cloud.
V. Thou leddest thy people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
R. Even thy people, which Thou leddest in the pillar of the cloud.

Reading 7: What was it that degraded Esau, and made him a slave to his brother? Was it not that one dish of pottage for which he sold his birthright?  Was it not prayer when joined to fasting that gave Samuel to his mother? What made the mighty Samson invincible? Was it not the fast during the which he was conceived in his mother's womb? The fast it was which made him to be conceived; the fast, which fed him; the fast, which made a man of him, even as the Angel of the Lord commanded his mother, saying She may not eat of anything that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink.  Fasting is the mother of prophets, the strength and stay of mighty men.

R. Moses, the servant of God, fasted forty days and forty nights * To make him meet to receive the Law of God.
V. Moses went up unto the Lord on Mount Sinai, and he was in the Mount forty days and forty nights.
R. To make him meet to receive the Law of God.

Reading 8: It is fasting which giveth wisdom to lawgivers; fasting which is the trustiest keeper of the soul, and the safest companion for the body. It is fasting which is strength and armour to mighty men; fasting which maketh supple them which run and which wrestle. It is fasting which maketh a man strong to strive against temptation, and which is to godliness as a fenced city; even fasting, whose fellow is soberness, and her work temperance. It is fasting which maketh men to wax valiant in fight; fasting which teacheth to rest in time of peace. Fasting maketh a Nazarite to be holy, and a priest perfect. Without a fast it is unlawful to touch the Sacrifice, not only in that mystic and true worship of God which now is, but also according to the law, in those sacrifices which were offered of old time as figures of the true. It was fasting which opened the eyes of Elias to look upon the visions of God, even as it is written, that when he had fasted forty days and forty nights he was in the mount of God, even Horeb, and he was made able, so far as man may be made able, to see God.  Even so also was Moses in that Mount forty days and forty nights, fasting, at what time he again received the Law. Unless the Ninevites had fasted, both man and beast, herd and flock, they had not escaped from the ruin that hung over them. In the wilderness fell some and who were they? Yea, they were such as lusted after flesh meat.

R. When ye be gone over Jordan, there shall ye build an altar unto the Lord * Of whole stones; ye shall not lift up any iron tool upon them; and ye shall offer burnt-offerings thereon, and peace-offerings, unto your God.
V. When ye shall pass over (Jordan) unto the land which the Lord giveth you, there shall ye build an altar unto the Lord.
R. Of whole stones; ye shall not lift up any iron tool upon them; and ye shall offer burnt-offerings thereon, and peace-offerings, unto your God.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
V. Of whole stones; ye shall not lift up any iron tool upon them; and ye shall offer burnt-offerings thereon, and peace-offerings, unto your God.

Nocturn III

Reading 9: The miracles which our Lord Jesus Christ did were the very works of God, and they enlighten the mind of man by mean of things which are seen, that he may know more of God. God is Himself of such a Substance as eye cannot see, and the miracles, by the which He ruleth the whole world continually, and satisfieth the need of everything that He hath made, are by use become so common, that scarce any will vouchsafe to see that there are wonderful and amazing works of God in every grain of seed of grass. According to His mercy He kept some works to be done in their due season, but out of the common course and order of nature, that men might see them and be astonished, not because they are greater, but because they are rarer than those which they lightly esteem, since they see them day by day.

R. After that the Lord had looked upon him, the face of Moses shone. * And when the elders saw that his face shone, they marvelled and were sore afraid.
V. And when he came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in his hand, he wist not that his face shone, because that God had spoken with him.
R. And when the elders saw that his face shone, they marvelled and were sore afraid.

Reading 10: Or it is a greater miracle to govern the whole universe, than to satisfy five thousand men with five loaves of bread; and yet no man marvelleth at it. At the feeding of the five thousand, men marvel, not because it is a greater miracle than the other, but because it is rarer. For Who is He Who now feedeth the whole world, but He Who, from a little grain that is sown, maketh the fulness of the harvest?

R. Behold, I send My Angel before thee, to keep thee. * Beware, and obey My voice; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries; for Mine Angel shall go before thee.
V. O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto Me, there shall no strange god be in thee, neither shalt thou worship any strange god for am the Lord.
R. Beware, and obey My voice; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries; for Mine Angel shall go before thee.

Reading 11: God worketh in both cases in one and the same manner. He Who of the sowing maketh to come the harvest, is He Who of the five barley loaves in His Hands made bread to feed five thousand men; for Christ's are the Hands which are able to do both the one and the other. He Who multiplieth the grains of corn multiplied the loaves, only not by committing them to the earth whereof He is the Maker.

R. Give ear, O My people, to My law * Incline your ears to the words of My mouth.
V. I will open My mouth in parables I will utter dark sayings of old.
R. Incline your ears to the words of My mouth.

Reading 12: This miracle, then, is brought to bear upon our bodies, that our souls may thereby be quickened; shown to our eyes, to give food to our understanding; that, through His works which we see, we may marvel at that God Whom we cannot see, and, being roused up to believe, and purified by believing, we may long to see Him, yea, may know by things which are seen Him Who is Unseen. Nor yet sufficeth it for us to see only this meaning in Christ's miracles. Let us ask of the miracles themselves what they have to tell us concerning Christ for, soothly, they have a tongue of their own, if only we will understand it. For, because Christ is the Word of God, therefore the work of the Word is a Word for us.

R. I, even I, the Lord, have led you forty years in the wilderness, and your clothes are not waxen old upon you.* I rained down manna upon you from heaven, and ye have forgotten Me, saith the Lord.
V. I led you forth out of the land of Egypt, and delivered you from the house of bondage.
R. I rained down manna upon you from heaven, and ye have forgotten Me, saith the Lord.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
V. I rained down manna upon you from heaven, and ye have forgotten Me, saith the Lord.

Gospel

The Gospel is St John 6:1-15:

After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is that of Tiberias.  And a great multitude followed him, because they saw the miracles which he did on them that were diseased.  Jesus therefore went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.  Now the pasch, the festival day of the Jews, was near at hand. When Jesus therefore had lifted up his eyes, and seen that a very great multitude cometh to him, he said to Philip: Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to try him; for he himself knew what he would do.  Philip answered him: Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may take a little.  One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, saith to him:  There is a boy here that hath five barley loaves, and two fishes; but what are these among so many?  Then Jesus said: Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. The men therefore sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves: and when he had given thanks, he distributed to them that were set down. In like manner also of the fishes, as much as they would.  And when they were filled, he said to his disciples: Gather up the fragments that remain, lest they be lost.  They gathered up therefore, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above to them that had eaten.  Now those men, when they had seen what a miracle Jesus had done, said: This is of a truth the prophet, that is to come into the world.  Jesus therefore, when he knew that they would come to take him by force, and make him king, fled again into the mountain himself alone.