A quick guide to Vespers

 Continuing my series with some summary notes to get you started, and links to where to find out more, today some notes on the sixth of the day hours, Vespers.

What is Vespers?

Vespers is technically the parallel hour to Lauds, and so was originally said at sunset.  In late antiquity it was also often known as lucernarium, for the lamp-lighting ceremony that was often part of it, and which symbolised the idea of Christ as light in the darkness.  

In Rome, however, unlike the East and many other places, lucernarium seems to have been strictly a domestic ceremony, and so was, so far as the evidence can show, never incorporated into the liturgy of Vespers as such.

For that reason, perhaps, St Benedict's Rule actually somewhat subverts the idea of it as paralleling Lauds, by suggesting that the monks say it a little earlier in order to have dinner without needing to light the lamps and candles. 

Instead, Benedictine Vespers, focuses more on the humility theme that runs through Prime to None, particularly the proposition that the humble will ultimately triumph, while the proud will ultimately fall, both through the use of the Magnificat at the hour, and verses in the psalms each day around the same theme.   

Where to find Vespers in your book

Because Vespers uses the psalm sequence 109 - 147 (jumping over a few used at other hours along the way), it appears towards the end of the psalter section, starting at page 203 in the Monastic Diurnal.

The structure of Vespers

Vespers has a similar structure to Lauds, but with no invitatory or fixed psalm, and only variable four psalms (or parts of psalms) each day.

But although the basic structure of the hour is always the same, Vespers can be a difficult hour to locate all the necessary texts for since, as the table below indicates, pretty much every element of it (except the opening and closing formulas and the Magnificat) can change according to the season and/or feast.

Where Lauds, for example, has only one set of 'festal' psalms, there are many different variants for Vespers.

The structure of Vespers
Opening prayers	MD 1
Antiphons (normally said before and after each psalm) and psalms	Sunday: MD 203 ff (or of the feast) Monday: MD 212 ff (or of the feast). Tuesday: MD 220 ff (or of the feast). Wednesday: MD 226 ff (or of the feast). Thursday: MD 235 ff (or of the feast). Friday: MD 243 ff (or of the feast). Saturday: MD 249 ff.
Chapter	Of the day, season or feast.
Short Responsory	Of the day, season or feast.
Hymn	Of the day, season or feast.
Versicle	Of the day, season or feast.
Antiphon for the Magnificat (repeated before and after the canticle)	Saturday: For I Vespers of the Sunday of the liturgical year. Sunday: For the Sunday of the liturgical year (or feast). Monday to Friday: For day, season or feast.
Magnificat	MD 209
Closing prayers	MD 210
Collect	Of the week of the liturgical year, day or feast.

 

You can find more detailed notes on the hour here.

Tips and traps

First, note that the opening of the hour (Deus in adjutorium) is not written out in full for each day at Vespers - if you don't know it by heart, go back to page 1 of the psalter section of the book and put a ribbon there until you have learn it!

Secondly, the short responsory at Vespers works the same way as that for Lauds - but remember that the Diurnal doesn't usually write it out in full, you need to treat the words as cues only.

Thirdly, Saturday Vespers has a variable antiphon for the Magnificat which generally links to the book of the Bible being read at Matins.  From August to November, they are labelled for the calendar month (starting on page 451* in the Diurnal) rather than the Sunday after Pentecost.

Related to this, the collect for Saturday Vespers is that of the next day (Sunday), not the previous one.   

Finally, remember that first class feasts have a 'first Vespers' the night before the feast.  I've provided some more detailed notes on the effect of feasts in the more detailed series on Vespers, but here is a summary to help you prepare.

LEVEL OF FEAST	EFFECT ON VESPERS
Memorial	None (Lauds only).
Class III without proper antiphons	Psalms and antiphons of the day;  Chapter, responsory, hymn etc from the Common
Class III with proper antiphons	Psalms of Sunday or the Common; antiphons of the feast; chapter etc for the feast (from the proper of the feast or the Common)
Class II	All for the feast (or from the Common of Saints or season), including psalms of feast, Sunday or Common
Class I	All for the feast (or from the Common of saints or season) with I Vespers the night before

The psalms and spirituality of the hour

If you want to dig into the meaning of the psalms a little deeper, you can find notes on them here.

I've also done some posts on the themes that run through Vespers which you can find here.

A quick guide to Matins Part 1

 The final part of my 'quick guide' series, this time for the 'eighth' or first hour of the Office, Matins.

And as this hour has become rather more accessible of late, I'll say a little more about this hour than the others.

This first post provides a bit of an overview.

When is Matins said?

Matins is given a lot of different names in the Benedictine Rule, such as Vigils, the Night Office, Nocturns and variants on these.  

But they all basically point to the same thing - this is the Office that is said in the middle of the night, or rather, as St Benedict specified, the 'eighth hour' of the night, which translates to around 3-3.30 am depending on the season (since the 'hours' of the night refer strictly to hours of darkness) and your location.

In reality of course the start time for the hour has varied considerably over time - some monasteries do it at midnight, some early in the morning, and some (despite the best efforts of assorted reformers at various points in time) anticipate it the night before.

Who should say Matins?

Benedictine Matins is not something to be embarked on lightly. 

With fourteen psalms on weekdays, as well as readings, and a much longer structure for Sundays, it is by far the longest of the hours even on ordinary days, and on feasts becomes longer still.

So saying the full hour is probably something to save until you retire or have a lot of time on your hands!

But if you are an early riser, you could for example, start by just saying the opening section of the hour, which includes two fixed psalms very appropriate to the start of the day, and then perhaps build up by adding a two or four week rotation of its variable psalms.

What books can you use for Matins?

Matins  is not contained in the Monastic Diurnal (as Diurnal refers to the day hours), so you will need to buy another book or books for it if you want to say it.

A few years ago, it was almost impossible to find books for Matins according to the 1960 rubrics and calendar; these days we are spoiled for choices!

For the key texts of Matins, your basic choices are:

1.  The 1963 Monastic Breviary (Latin only).

Has everything you need for the hour (and all of the others), in reasonably compact form, comes in two volumes, with a nice supplement of older feasts.

2. Gower set of Latin-English Matin's books.

Has everything you need at a very reasonable price, and the obvious choice if you need help understanding the Latin.  But be warned: it takes a bit of effort to work out where to find the various texts you need (but I'll provide some help with that in subsequent posts).

3. Volume 1 of the Brignoles Nocturnale (the psalter).

If you want to sing the hour (as you should!), this is the book you will need, giving you not only the basic texts of the psalter, but also the chants for the ferial and seasonal invitatory antiphons, hymns, antiphons for the psalms each day, and so forth.  It is Latin only, and Volumes 2 (the temporale) and 3 (sanctorale) are still to come, but there is enough in this one to get you started.

4. Le Barroux's Nocturnale Monasticum (available in Latin only or French-Latin versions).

Nicely laid out and well-organized in a nice large print that is excellent for putting on a choir stand, but not very portable or easy to use if you are just holding it in your hands.

5. Clear Creek's Latin-English Matins Psalter.

Doesn't provide the variable texts of the hour (such as the readings, texts for feasts, seasons etc), but still a very useful starting point for learning the basic structure of the hour and the psalms.

Others

There are a number of other books I've previously suggested as supplements for Matins, or have often been used for the hour in the absence of anything better (such as Monastic Breviary Matins) but the options above are the better choices in my view.

The structure of Matins

As the table below illustrates, Matins basically consists of an introductory section, consisting of an opening verse repeated three times (O Lord open my lips that I may proclaim your praise), two invitatory psalms, and a hymn; followed by either two or three 'nocturns' each made up of psalms or canticles, and readings and responsories.  

Table 1: 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 (Sundays) or standard concluding prayers

On ordinary weekdays in summer (Easter to the end of October) Matins has only a short reading and short responsory of the day of the week in the first Nocturn, and the second Nocturn is followed by a short chapter and versicle before the normal conclusion to the hour.

On 'winter' weekdays Nocturn I has three readings and responsories.

The third structure, used for Sundays and major feasts, consists of three Nocturns, the third consisting of three canticles. Each nocturn has four readings and responsories, as well as the Te Deum reading of the Gospel, and another short hymn, the Te decet laus.

And you can find the next part in this series here.

A quick guide to Matins Part 2

 In the first part of this brief overview of Matins, I provided something of an overview of the hour.  

In this part, I want to point you particularly to the opening section of the hour and the psalmody, and where to find it in your Office book.

Where to find Matins in your book

If you are using a breviary, the core texts for Matins can be found starting immediately after Prime for Monday to Saturday.  For each day of the week, the breviary starts with Matins and then provides Lauds of the day before moving to Matins of the next day.

In breviaries and the Le Barroux Nocturnale, the psalter section is towards the middle of the book

 Page numbers for the basic texts for each day of the week for the most commonly used books are set out in the table below.

Matins page numbers
OFFICE BOOK	Gower (For Sundays, ferias…)	Brignoles Nocturnale vol 1 (Psalter)	Breviary (1963)	Le Barroux Nocturnale Monasticum
Dominica (Sunday)	Pg 4	Pg 9	Pg (22)	Pg 652
Monday (Feria II)	Pg 28	Pg 48	Pg (58)	Pg 668
Tuesday (Feria III)	Pg 49	Pg 70	Pg (85)	Pg 678
Wednesday (Feria IV)	Pg 64	Pg 86	Pg (105)	Pg 690
Thursday (Feria V)	Pg 82	Pg 104	Pg (126)	Pg 703
Friday (Feria VI)	Pg 101	Pg 123	Pg (149)	Pg 714
Sabbato (Saturday)	Pg 118	Pg 141	Pg (172)	Pg 715

 Where to find the "ordinary' of Matins

 The first challenge you will encounter though, is that each of these books takes a different approach on where it places the various texts of the opening section of the hour.

In essence, as the table below illustrates, the opening section of the hour has a fixed structure used for ordinary (ferial) days, Sundays and feasts alike.  But the invitatory antiphon and hymn are of the day of the week.

Note that the links in the table go to more detailed notes on each of these Office components.

OPENING SECTION	VARIABLE COMPONENTS
Opening prayer - Domine labia mea aperies
Psalm 3 - 'in directum'
Invitatory antiphon (integrated with Psalm 94)	Of the day, feast or season
Psalm 94
Hymn	Of the day, feast or season

Note that Psalm 94 is said responsorially rather than antiphonally: the invitatory antiphon is repeated twice in full at the beginning, then inserted after each couple of verses either in full or in part, so if you aren't familiar with how to do this, do look carefully at the more detailed notes on how to say (or preferably) sing it!

The various books differ on whether to put all of the repeated components in a separate section or under the Sunday, and then whether to repeat some or all of the material each day.

The Gower book, for example, provides the Ordinary of the hour upfront, including the invitatory antiphons, and then just starts from the section for each day of the week with the ferial hymn.  In general, they don't bother repeating Psalm 94 each day, leaving you to refer back to either the Ordinary Le Barroux), Sunday and/or Monday, or the section with Psalm 94 in each chant tone. 

The table below summarises the situation for each of these books: 

Matins page numbers
OFFICE BOOK	Gower (For Sundays, ferias…)	Brignoles Nocturnale vol 1	Breviary (1963)	Le Barroux Nocturnale Monasticum
‘Ordinary’	Pg 1 -3	Pg 9	Pg (58) – (59)	Pg 7 -12
Daily section	Starts at ferial hymn	On Sundays all; weekdays, invitatory antiphon and hymn only for each day	On Sunday and Monday all; on weekdays, opening prayer, Ps 3, invitatory antiphon and hymn of the day.	On Sundays, all; weekdays, includes ferial invitatory antiphon and hymn

The opening section of the hour on feasts and Saturdays of Our Lady

It is also worth noting that on feasts, the invitatory antiphon and hymn are either specific to the feast, or (particularly in the case of Class III feasts) taken from the relevant Common.  Le Barroux's Nocturnale includes all the commonly used ones in its Ordinary section, while Gower includes the relevant texts at the end of its psalter book.

The invitatory and hymn for Saturdays of Our Lady can either be found in the Ordinary, psalter section or after the Common of Our Lady (in the breviary). 

The psalmody

The other key component of the hour is the psalms, which are set out under each day of the week.

Benedictine Matins (unlike the Roman version) always includes twelve psalms, divided into two sets (Nocturns) of six.

The number of antiphons used varies between the seasons, but the normal pattern is that on weekdays (including Class III feasts) Nocturn I has three antiphons (ie one antiphon for two psalms), while Nocturn II has one (consisting of alleluias).

The psalms are said in exactly the same way as for other hours, with a doxology (Glory be) at the end of each psalm, or part of a psalm. 

On higher level feasts (Class I&II), however, sets of festal psalms, typically with one antiphon for each psalm are used, generally as set out in the Commons for various types of saints.

The canticles

On Sundays and major feasts, a third Nocturn is added on to the hour, but rather than adding additional psalms, it consists of three canticles, said exactly the same way as psalms are, said under one antiphon.

The table below summarises which types of days have special sets of antiphons, psalms and canticles.

	Psalms and antiphons	Nocturn III canticles
Sundays	Of the Sunday/ferial antiphons or of the season	Of the season
Class I&II feasts	Of the Common or feast	Of the Common or feast
Class III feasts, Vigils	Of the day of the week	none
Class IV days	Of the day of the week	none

The versicle

The psalter section for each day of the week also generally provides you with the versicle of the day or season said at the end of Nocturn I (and Nocturns II&III on Sundays).  Note that these do not change on Class III feast days.

In the next part of this series, I will look at the readings and other variable parts of the hour.

A quick guide to Matins part 3

 In the last part of this mini-series on Matins, I suggested starting focusing first on what you will find in the psalter section/ book you are using, rather than worrying about feasts and readings, and gave some starting points on the opening section of the hour and the daily psalmody.

In this post though, I want to focus primarily on the parts of Matins that differ in structure from the other hours, most particularly the readings.

Our Father, absolution, blessing(s) 

The first significant difference is that immediately after the versicle of the day or season in each Nocturn of Sunday, and Nocturn I on weekdays, the Our Father is said followed by an absolution formula, which is set out in the psalter section for each day of the week (and usually summarised elsewhere in the book as well ). 

There are also three absolution formulas (and an additional one for Saturdays of Our Lady) said immediately after the Pater Noster in each Nocturn on Sundays, and then rotated through during the week at Nocturn I.

The blessings for the readings

Each nocturn on Sundays, and Nocturn I on weekdays then has one or more readings, each of which repeats exactly the same structure, used whether in choir or said alone, exactly as written:

• a request for a blessing (Jube, domne, benedicere/Pray Lord give a blessing);
• the blessing;
• the reading, concluding with the formula Tu autem Domine, miserere nobis. Deo gratias;
• a responsory.

There are different sets of blessing formulas (used on different days of the week) for the one reading of summer, the three Scriptural readings said in 'winter'.  There are also separate sets for Sundays, major feasts, Class III feasts, and days with patristic readings.

Most of these can generally be found in the psalter section of your Office book, but note that the Gower book places the absolutions and blessings used for days with three or twelve readings towards the end of the book on pages 191 (for Sundays and Class I&II feasts) and pages 192-3 for days with three readings. 

The readings and responsories

The key 'new' element of Matins though, compared to the other hours is the readings and responsories.

On weekdays in Eastertide these are just one fixed short reading and short responsory; from Pentecost the short readings and short responsories are for the day of the week (or for Saturday of Our Lady).

On Sundays and 'winter' weekdays however, Matins basically follows a Scriptural reading cycle that can be found in the 'temporale' section of the breviary (or the separate books for different parts of the year in the case of the Gower books).  

The reading cycle is is arranged (loosely) around salvation history, starting with Genesis (from Septuagesima Sunday), and ending with the Pauline letters in Epiphanytide.

Each book of the Bible (or group of books) also has one (or more sets in the case of Lent when Genesis is read, and Advent, for the Prophets) of responsories that are used in conjunction with the readings of the day.

Finding the readings and responsories...

On Sundays:

• the first Nocturn readings are typically from Scripture; 
• Nocturn II are patristic commentaries related to the Nocturn I readings; and 
• Nocturn III are homilies related to the Gospel of that Sunday (ie the Gospel said at the Extraordinary Form Mass).  

From Advent until Pentecost, the readings for all three Nocturns are associated with the relevant Sunday of  the year, and so can be found in one place in the 'temporale' section of your book (or separate book for the time of the year).

Between  August and November, however, the Nocturn I&II readings are of the calendar month, so are in a separate section of the temporale.

The responsories for all three Nocturns, though, relate to the Nocturn I Scriptural book being read, so the same set may be reused over several Sundays.

Accordingly, some books don't repeat all of the responsories each time they are used.  Instead, they either place them:

• with the Ordinary of the season; and/or
• from August to November (when the readings are of the calendar month rather than fixed to the Sunday after Pentecost), immediately after the readings and responsories for Nocturn II (in the case of the breviary and Le Barroux Nocturnale); or
• in a separate section to the readings (in the Gower books).

Note also that the responsories follow a different pattern to the short responsories of the day hours, so make sure you can decrypt them from the abbreviated form used in most Office books.

The conclusion of the hour

At the other end of the hour, immediately after the last antiphon on weekdays, a chapter and verse is said, usually of the season.  The concluding prayers are said in exactly the same way as the other hours, with the collect for the week or day inserted (both the Gower book and Brignoles Psalter include all of the Sunday collects to save you having to look in another book for them).

In most books, the various chapters for seasons and saints' feasts are placed under each day of the week before the concluding prayers.  In the Gower books, only that for time Throughout the year is placed there; those for seasons and feasts can be found from page 141 (for feasts of types of saints) and seasons (from page 149).

On Sundays however, the concluding structure is completely different, with the Te Deum, Gospel (of the Sunday), Te decet laus and collect, so worth studying carefully.

And you can find more detailed notes on all of these topics here. 

Books for Matins

 

Benedictine Matins, or the Night Office, is not something to be embarked on lightly.

With fourteen psalms on weekdays, as well as readings, and a much longer structure for Sundays and major feasts, it is by far the longest of the hours even on ordinary days.  Indeed, it can sometimes as take as long to say or sing as all of the other hours added together.

That said, it is important in the monastic context: almost half of the psalms of the psalter are said at this hour, and its readings provide selections from most of the books of the Bible, thus serving to frame the practice of monastic lectio divina.

It also has one of the most extensive, spiritually rich and beautiful of all the types of chant repertoire, in the form of the responsories which follow each reading, and provide a meditation on them.

Books for Matins

A few years ago, it was almost impossible to find books for Matins according to the 1960 rubrics and calendar, and those that were available were either extremely expensive or highly unsatisfactory in one respect or another.

Fortunately, that situation has now completely turned around: these days we are almost spoiled for choices!

Latin-English

1. For those who need an English translation to help with the Latin, take a look at the Gower nuns' set of Latin-English Matin's books.

They have everything you need at a very reasonable price, and it is easily the best choice if you need help understanding the Latin.  

But be warned: you need to learn the structure of the how first, as the books are not always particularly user friendly!

Other useful books with English translations I've previously referred people to include the Clear Creek Matins psalter and the Liturgical Readings text, but if you have the Gower books, you won't really need these.

The Breviary/Nocturnale

For all of the texts of Matins, your basic choices are:

2.  The Monastic Breviary (Latin only).

Has everything you need for the hour (and all of the others), in reasonably compact form, comes in two volumes.   Aside from the original 1963 versions, there are two reprints available, from the monasteries of Brignoles (which includes a supplement with most older feasts included) and Farnborough.

3. Le Barroux's Nocturnale Monasticum (available in Latin only or French-Latin versions).

The alternative, if you want something for Matins only, are the Nocturnales from Le Barroux.  Nicely laid out and well-organized in a nice large print that is excellent for putting on a choir stand, but quite large and heavy, so not particularly portable or something you want to hold in your hands for a long period of time.

The chants

It is also worth mentioning that chants for the hour are also becoming more readily available.

The Monastery of Brignoles has already published Volume 1 of a full (Latin only) Nocturnale with chants, that essentially provides you with the core hymns and prayers contained in the psalter section of the hour. 

Volume 1 gives you the daily hymns, ferial antiphons, psalms, canticles and the key seasonal texts.  Volumes 2 (the temporale) and 3 (sanctorale) are still to come, but there is enough in this one to get you started.

And for the next part on this series on Matins, go here for ten things you need to know about Matins.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday Prime to None (Psalm 118)

Monday Terce to None (Psalm 118 continued)

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

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

Compline (Psalms 4, 90, 133).

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