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

I've left this book to last because, as you will have gathered from my comments through the series, my view is that it is better to use Latin for Matins, and use officially approved books as far as possible.

Accordingly, my personal recommendation is that if you want to pray this hour liturgically, you buy a 1963 breviary (or if that is unavailable, one to as close to that date as possible).  If there is a group of you, just buy one breviary, and use the Psautier Monastique for the psalms and standard prayers.

If you are happy to do it devotionally (in English), the best options in my view are to:

• use Divinum Officium; or 
• the Clear Creek booklet for the psalms and main prayers, in combination with the Liturgical Readings book.

But I am well aware that for many people, this book will seem a more practical option.

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

As noted above, if you want to pray some form of Matins devotionally, want more than just the psalms and weekday texts that the Clear Creek book provides, and your Latin is not up to the task, then this is an option to consider.  As a traditionalist Catholic, however, I can't recommend it!

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.  As I noted though, finding one can be hard and costly.  Accordingly, another option is to buy an older version, and adapt it to the 1962-3 calendar.

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) sources 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 psalter (such as the Clear Creek booklet) and the Liturgical Readings book for example.

If you want to sing some or all of the Office, you will need other books or resources to do that, but the breviary will remain an essential reference document.

The problem, though, is that 1963 monastic breviaries are hard to find and fairly expensive when you do.   Accordingly, the other option is to use an earlier breviary, and adapt it to the 1963 calendar (for example, using the Ordo on Saints Will Arise, or one from the monastery you an oblate of), and I'll say more about this in the next few posts.

1962isms

The other issue around this breviary is that although it remains the official book, still in force, in practice not even the traditional monasteries really follow its rubrics exactly, as far as I can gather, and for very good reasons!  Most of the issues with the 1962-3 calendar and rubrics don't really relate to Matins though, so I'll save my rant on this subject for another time...

Nocturns 7/ Resources for the responsories

In the previous post, we looked at what responsories are and their rubrics.  Today I want to look at where to find them.

There are basically three issues her as far as I can see:

• finding the Latin text;
• finding a translation to use to prepare them, even if you do have a breviary; and
• finding the chant settings for them.

Finding the responsories

The basic problem is that the Benedictine Office uses more responsories than the Roman, and the ones common to them both are not always used in the same order or on the same day.  That means that sites and resources such as Divinum Officium will only get you so far.  

For weekdays, the issue isn't a big one - although there are occasionally some variations between the Roman and Benedictine Office, the Roman responsories are a reasonable enough substitute on the face of it.  

In terms of Sundays, I am gradually attempting to fill in the gaps for Divinum Officium over at my Lectio Divina blog, and I am experimenting with a separate responsory database to see if it ultimately saves me time.  But assuming that I continue with it, it will take some time before it builds up to a useful level (though if anyone would care to volunteer to help, things could move faster!).

For major feasts, some of the responsories can be found in the Liber Responsorialis.  

But for a complete listing, the only option really is a breviary, and so I will provide a review of the 1963 breviary, and cover off issues around adapting earlier breviaries in due course.

Finding translations of the responsories

If you have a breviary, the next issue may be finding a translation for the text.  Divinum Officium provides a set of translations for those that are common to the Roman Office.  My Lectio Divina blog fill s in some of the gaps, and arranges the responsories in the order specified by the 1963 breviary.  In addition the Benedictine Responsory Blog should gradually include more and more of these.

If you are looking for them yourself, though, it is worth remembering that the Benedictine Office often 'borrows' the missing responsories from other days and feasts, so if you know the Latin key words, a Google search within the Divinum Officium website will often take you to a translation elsewhere on that website.  In addition translations for some responsories which have polyphonic settings can be found on the CDPL website.

Finally, most of the responsories are based on Scripture, but with a few words omitted, or the case changed.  Accordingly, either a google search, or a look at one of the chant databases (viz Cantus or Gregorien) will often point you to the particular source.

Finding the chants

The basic challenge relating to the responsories is that Solesmes, as far as I can tell, never really revived the singing of all of the responsories at Matins, and so has never published a Nocturnale for the Office.  As a result, most monasteries have perforce, resorted to psalm toning them.

Some of the chants can be found in the Liber Responsorialis, a few more in the Processione Monasticum.  But the best source for most of them in book form is the Standhofe Nocturnale Romanum, which has the virtue of having official approval in the form of an imprimaeur.  There are though, some particular to the monastic Office that are missing from all of these sources.

In addition, I have recently been pointed to an excellent website that does appear to fill in many (but I think not all, though I'm still working my way through it) of these gaps, viz Gregofacsimil.  There looks to be lots of wonderful material there, including complete sets of all the texts necessary for Matins on some feasts and Sundays, so do go take a look.

There are also a number of academic databases, most notably the Cantus website, which provides images of manuscripts and transcriptions for some chants that can assist if you are determined to sing all of the chants or to explore this wonderful repertoire.

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 one of those books I recommend thinking about buying if you are serious about Matins.

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.

What it contains

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.

Pros and cons

The big advantage of this book as far as a source of translations goes is that it invariably includes readings (or parts thereof) omitted in the Roman Office and so not otherwise available from places like Divinum Officium.  It also follows the traditional cycle of Mass readings (unlike Monastic Breviary Matins, which occasionally diverges from the Catholic cycle).

The translations are generally very good in my view (superior to those on Divinum Officium) and the book is nicely laid out and easy to read (at least in the edition I have).

It is perfect for study use, but for some (new or upgraded) feasts you would need to cross-check to make sure the readings are still current, as there are occasional differences to the 1963 breviary. 

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

As I have previously noted, there are essentially three types of options when it comes to books containing the psalms and main texts for Matins: psalters containing all of the hours; Matins only books (Nocturnale); and breviaries.  I will leave consideration of breviaries and the Monastic Breviary Matins book until we look at the readings for Matins.

There are, though, two other useful sources of the psalms and common prayers that it seems timely to look at now, both of which I think are worth considering acquiring.


(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.


What it contains

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.

Pros and cons

The text is a draft only, and unfortunately there are quite a few errors scattered through it - missing initials and mistakes in the psalter.  Most of them are fairly obvious though, and it is not a big deal to go through and correct them.

Its big advantage over sources is that it provides the chants needed to sing the Ordinary of Matins (ie invitatory antiphons, hymns and antiphons), the only publicly available source I've found for these.

One option would be to do a cut and paste job, and use the chants in conjunction with the Psautier.

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

Why you should acquire this book

Even if you aren't actually planning to sing Matins, the Liber Responsorialis is worth a look since it contains some of the key texts that are missing from most of the psalters arranged for the monastic Office (such as the Clear Creek booklet or the Psautier Monastique).

In particular, it contains the antiphons (and lists out the psalms) for the Commons of Saints, as well as those for a number of major feasts.

For those who do want to sing some or all of Matins at least occasionally, this is a key reference book, though you will need to supplement it from other sources such as the Nocturnale Romanum and online sources.

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 (194MB).

You can also buy a reprint through Sarto Verlag.

The lack of chant books!

Solesmes has never, as far as I know, put out a book that contains all the chants for Matins.  Even in the new revised series of the Antiphonale Monasticum, that for Matins (supposedly Volume 4), remains conspicuously missing from its releases.

Accordingly, if you are looking for the chants, you have to hunt through several different books (and even then some remain missing).

The Liber Responsorialis though, prepared under the supervision of Dom Joseph Pothier, provides an essential starting point.

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.

Alternatives?

If all you want is the texts (and which psalms to use etc), then a breviary is probably a better option, this is after all primarily a chant book.

And in terms of alternative sources for the chants themselves, the Nocturnale Romanum has a large proportion of the chants in the Responsorialis, as well as many others used on other days (although occasionally using alternative texts particular to the Roman Office) albeit not necessarily used in the same order/feast as the Benedictine Office.

In addition many of the chants are becoming available online through sources like Gregofacsimil.

Still worth having though in my view.

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

Some commentators point to St Benedict's adoption of the Roman Office canticles as evidence of his more general debt to Roman practice in his Office.  But one of the several respects in which he was decidedly not following Roman tradition would appear to be in his 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.

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 set out in breviaries, the Clear Creek Matins booklet and the Psautier Monastique under Matins for the particular day of the week.

Those for seasons and feasts will need to be found in other sections of the books or elsewhere, but 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 Liber Responsorialis or the Solesmes Liber Hymnarius.  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.

Resources for the hymns - chants

The daily hymns for Matins can be found in a convenient format in the Holger Peter Standhofe draft of the OSB Psalterium.  The chant tones for the hymns (also used in the Nocturnale Romanum) are not the same as the Solesmes Hymnarius, but generally come from the monastic office Codex Hartker manuscript.  Most of the hymns for feasts can be found in the Liber Responsorialis or the Antiphonale Monasticum (also available online for free download).

The Nocturnale Romanum is probably the other source to consider - it is expensive and hard to find, but does include most of the seasonal hymns missing from Liber Responsorialis.  It wouldn't be worth buying just for that (the Solesmes Hymnarius also has a version of most of them as well) but if you are also interested in the responsories, it might be worth considering.

Another option to consider, is the Solesmes 1983 Liber Hymnarius.  It has to be used with caution as it doesn't always line up with 1963 and earlier breviaries.  All the same, a useful book to have as it has most of the hymns you will need, and is extremely useful in (often but not always!) writing out hymns in full, rather than just giving you the first verse.

Resources - listening

Youtube searches will yield recordings of many of the Matins hymns.  The Liber Hymnarius website is also always worth checking.  Another great resource worth checking out is the Chant blog.