So slack and lazy

Mea culpa: having, finally, taken the beam out of my eye, I see clearly how slack and lazy I've been about my spiritual life. For, while the Holy Mass and Divine Office are my two great devotions, I have been remiss about going to the former (except on Sundays of course!) and about reciting the latter.

Ever since moving back to Tasmania, I have found it difficult to get to daily Mass – firstly, because I'd become so used to going to the Extraordinary Form (my definite and settled preference, for so many clear and cogent reasons) that I found return to the Novus Ordo very trying; but, secondly, since the only daily Mass that fits my work schedule is the early Mass at Carmel, and I prefer sleeping in, quite frankly.

Now Mass is Mass, the same Christ our God is offered and received as our all-prevailing Sacrifice and lasting Peace; and the presence of the holy nuns at Carmel puts priests on their best behaviour (so one who slumps in a chair and confects the Eucharist on a coffee table in his own parish tries to celebrate properly, not sloppily, in the nuns' chapel), so, while ideally I'd prefer Introibo ad altare Dei, I can cope, and fondly imagine an ad orientem liturgy; and the new translation renders the Latin well, so I don't need to bring along Fr Z's translations any more, nor read along in the Latin of the Ordinary.

But how slumber makes one forgetful of one's higher calling! Yet, as an Old Believer Canon of Preparation for Holy Communion sings (in Ode 3, troparion 3), "The preacher crieth out and commandeth us always to come to the House of God; let us not be lazy, but let us hasten now, for the time is at hand." Yes, in the words of that golden book, The Imitation of Christ, I will confess myself "So wakeful for tales, so drowsy at the sacred vigils" (Book IV, chapter 7): over the past years, I have in the main risen for work at seven or later, too late to get to Mass; and thus I've become disengaged from what ought be my priority.

As I wrote in my missal in a first flush of piety when at University, "I will always be thankful for the Mass, and put the Mass first in my life". What a shame to repeat these words and consider how I have neglected them! From being a daily or near-daily Mass-goer, for the past five years I've rarely gone to daily Mass, except while on holiday, strangely enough, and for a period last year, I think, when I got back into the habit - and then gave it away.

Now I am fearful that, having just resumed getting up at six and going to daily Mass, I will soon slacken off and reject the offer of grace again. As St Philip Neri taught his followers to say, "Do not trust me, Lord, for this day I will betray thee". Judas has more followers.

How did I manage to make a sudden, and, I beg and pray, a lasting change (as time will tell)? - by going on the Christus Rex Pilgrimage, and returning to my senses. On pilgrimage, I got up at five thirty every morning, in order to be ready for our early start each day: and the mornings are beautiful. I resolved – God grant I keep it – to get up with the dawn and go to Mass. Nowadays, when I open my curtains just after six, the sky is bright and soon the sun rises to the south-east, casting a beautiful glow over all things.

The second item so needful to me and yet so neglected has been the Breviary. Again, I must accept the rebuke of Thomas à Kempis, upbraiding me from beyond the grave with being "So negligent in saying thy office" (Im. Christi, IV, 7). I said the modern Divine Office for years; when in Perth, I switched to the Breviary – and since moving back to godless Tasmania, I've slipped further and further away from both. At one stage, I used the Little Office; but even that I gave up.

Any more slackness and I wouldn't have remembered God at all. As it was, I have become disengaged from the liturgical year, the true Year of the Lord, the year of salvation, with feasts even of apostles and evangelists slipping by unnoticed, seeing a reference to sundry celebrations even of the Lord and His Mother only by reference to reading blogs online after they had passed, and the words of the Venite being proven all too true: "if to-day you should hear His voice, harden not your hearts".

Oh, so the Divine Office is too long? I said it daily for years, and it takes less than half an hour. Oh, so the Breviary is a burden insuperable? Yet I said the Hours thereof while working full-time when in Perth, I said it while on pilgrimage this weekend past, and now am again fitting it into my schedule (I said Matins and Lauds before Mass this morning and the morning before quite easily).

I am angry at myself for listening to the siren voice of laziness and slackness, which is really the flesh, not to mention the world and the Devil, luring one down to Hell: a most beguiling journey. And it is entirely unsurprising that, daily Mass and Breviary gone, even the Angelus unsaid, and my other prayers neglected, or haphazardly said sometimes but less and less frequently, I find myself more sinful, judgemental, selfish, slack, nastier, coarser, and worse off. The Devil laughs to lead us astray, promising nothing in return.

As St Augustine taught, if we do not make continual progress in the spiritual life, then we begin to go backwards. My backsliding has been most wretched. At least I have kept going to confession, else God knows how practically atheistic I would have become. But frankly my love of what is holy is so caught up with receiving our Divine Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and singing God's praises in the psalms, that if I but weekly (yes, weakly) partake of the one, and less and less (indeed, hardly ever) of the other, then I turn from the Divinity towards the wretchedness of secularity.

A wise Dominican, Fr Gregory, told me that the last thing to do if one loses one's faith is to stop praying and stop going to Mass, since that is when one needs most of all to say one's prayers and go to Mass! But all unawares I have been praying less and less, and going to Mass less and less – tempting me to live a less and less Catholic life, tempting God, in fact, by spurning the great helps He provides by prayer and the sacraments, rejecting His graces, and preparing my soul to lose the little it has.

Now, thanks be to God that I have always had a strong Faith, ever since I received the grace of a real conversion of heart while a young man at University, and I cannot but believe (though, Christ absolve me, sometimes I have dared wish I didn't) – but I tremble when I think of how throughout my adolescence I hardly went to church, never went to confession, and held many erroneous notions, issuing in despairing thoughts. It was God's grace that delivered me then, lead me into the goodness and truth of orthodoxy, and spurred me on; but the old man is not dead, and my spiritual life has not been in a good way for a long time.

Dear readers, please pray for me, a sinner, that these good resolutions I have made, and the baby steps I have taken, may please God form again the good habits I have lost, to my enduring benefit. I hope this public rebuke of myself may remain fresh in my mind, and force me not to shame myself by going back on my word.

Dormitionist Breviary: Common of Saints

In response to requests, I am glad to proffer a further extract from the Dormitionist Breviary, illustrative of the devotion (not to say the peculiarly single-minded focus) of those most retiring of Canons Regular – for, just as their Missal, considering both their Mass rite and Mass propers, is a definite simplification to help concentrate upon "the one thing necessary", so too the Breviarium O.Dorm. is quite archaic in some ways, and yet also was at the outset deliberately simplified in other respects, the better to confirm, establish and strengthen the charism of the Order.

As the famous "four friars" revised and rendered uniform the liturgical books of the Friars Preachers, and as the Cistercians adapted the plainchant to their specific needs as an austere and reformed band of monastics, so the three Soporific Fathers, founders of the Dormitionists, were evidently zealous liturgists (with all that entails...).

I have previously given in full the Common Mass for feasts of Saints from the Missale O.Dorm. of 1785 (the current edition); now, from their Breviary, I (all unworthy) upload to the internet the Common of Saints according to the Divine Office pertaining to their Rite; because of their intrinsic interest, and their centrality to the Dormitionist Canons and their veneration of the Saints according to the custom of their Order, I first give the Matins lessons in translation, then append the Latin of the whole Common.

It will be noted that, for more expedition, I simply refer the interested reader to more easily-available Breviaries, rather than list the psalms appointed for the Hours (for the same reason, having noted some of them in an earlier post, I do not give the blessings for each lesson here); observe also that there is only one antiphon super psalmos at all Hours, similar to the Dominican custom of chanting all the Vesper psalms at feasts with only one antiphon appended, rather than one per psalm; and note the absence of a hymn at Matins – in common with the pre-Neo-Gallican Lyons Breviary, hymns are not used at all the Hours, but only at some (typically, Lauds, Vespers and Compline, and sometimes Matins).

But first, the Matins Lessons for Saints, in English – the first three from St Paul to the Hebrews, the middle three from the great St Augustine on the City of God, and the last three from Bl Macarius, a devout Greek author doubtless well-known to the first Dormitionists from their close study of ancient manuscripts brought back from the Holy Land:

DORMITIONIST MATINS LESSONS FROM THE COMMON OF SAINTS

From the Epistle to the Hebrews.

Heb. 11:33-38

(The Saints) by faith conquered kingdoms, wrought justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, recovered strength from weakness, became valiant in battle, put to flight the armies of foreigners: women received their dead raised to life again. But others were racked, not accepting deliverance, that they might find a better resurrection. And others had trial of mockeries and stripes, moreover also of bands and prisons. They were stoned, they were cut asunder, they were tempted, they were put to death by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being in want, distressed, afflicted: of whom the world was not worthy; wandering in deserts, in mountains, and in dens, and in caves of the earth. — But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us. R/. Thanks be to God.

Apoc. 14, 13; II Mach. 12:45

R/. i. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, * That they may rest. V/. They who had fallen asleep with godliness had great grace laid up for them, * That they may rest.

 Heb. 12:1-2, 22-24

And therefore we also having so great a cloud of witnesses over our head, laying aside every weight and sin which surrounds us, let us run by patience to the fight proposed to us: looking on Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who having joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and now sitteth on the right hand of the throne of God. But you are come to mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of angels, and to the church of the firstborn, who are written in the heavens, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the just made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new testament, and to the sprinkling of blood which speaketh better than that of Abel. — But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us. R/. Thanks be to God.

Wis. 3:1, 3; I Th. 4:12a

R/. ii. The souls of the just are in the hand of God. * They are in peace. V/. We will not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that are asleep. * They are in peace.

 Heb 12:26b-28; 13:20-21

Now he promiseth, saying: Yet once more, and I will move not only the earth, but heaven also. And in that he saith, Yet once more, he signifieth the translation of the moveable things as made, that those things may remain which are immoveable. Therefore receiving an immoveable kingdom, we have grace; whereby let us serve, pleasing God, with fear and reverence. And may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great pastor of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the blood of the everlasting testament, fit you in all goodness, that you may do his will; doing in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom is glory for ever and ever. Amen. — But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us. R/. Thanks be to God.

Rom. 6:3, 4a; Col. 3:3

R/. iii. Know you not that all we, who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in his death? * For you are dead; and your life is hid with Christ in God. V/. For we are buried together with him by baptism into death; * For you are dead; and your life is hid with Christ in God.

A Lesson of St Augustine the bishop.

There shall be accomplished the words of the psalm, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Ps 45:11) There shall be the great Sabbath which has no evening, which God celebrated among His first works, as it is written, “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God began to make.” (Genesis 2:2-3) For we shall ourselves be the seventh day, when we shall be filled and replenished with God's blessing and sanctification. There shall we be still, and know that He is God. — But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us. R/. Thanks be to God.

R/. iv. We shall have eternal leisure to see that He is God, for we shall be full of Him when He * Shall be all in all. V/. How great shall be that felicity, which shall afford leisure for the praises of God, who * Shall be all in all.

For even our good works, when they are understood to be rather His than ours, are imputed to us that we may enjoy this Sabbath rest. For if we attribute them to ourselves, they shall be servile; for it is said of the Sabbath, “You shall do no servile work in it.” (Deuteronomy 5:14) Wherefore also it is said by Ezekiel the prophet, “And I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctify them.” (Ezekiel 20:12) This knowledge shall be perfected when we shall be perfectly at rest, and shall perfectly know that He is God. — But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us. R/. Thanks be to God.

Ezechiel 20:20; Ps 45:11a

R/. v. Sanctify my sabbaths, that they may be a sign between me and you: and that you may know that I am * The Lord your God. V/. Be still and see that I am God. * The Lord your God.

After this period God shall rest as on the seventh day, when He shall give us (who shall be the seventh day) rest in Himself. Suffice it to say that the seventh shall be our Sabbath, which shall be brought to a close, not by an evening, but by the Lord's day, as an eighth and eternal day, consecrated by the resurrection of Christ, and prefiguring the eternal repose not only of the spirit, but also of the body. There we shall rest and see, see and love, love and praise. This is what shall be in the end without end. For what other end do we propose to ourselves than to attain to the kingdom of which there is no end? — But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us. R/. Thanks be to God.

Luke 1:32b-33; Heb 12:22-24a

R/. vi. Jesus shall reign for ever * And of his kingdom there shall be no end. V/. You are come to mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of angels, and to the church of the firstborn, who are written in the heavens, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the just made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new testament, * And of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Continuation of the holy Gospel according to Matthew.

Matthew 11, 25-30

At that time Jesus answered and said: I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to the little ones. — And so on.

A homily of blessed Macarius.

In the shadow of the law given by Moses, God decreed that everyone should rest on the Sabbath and do nothing. This was a figure and shadow of the true Sabbath given to the soul by the Lord. For the soul, that has been deemed worthy to have been set free from shameful and sordid thoughts, both observes the true Sabbath and enjoys true rest, being at leisure and freed from the works of darkness. For there in the typical Sabbath, even though they rested physically, their souls, however, were enslaved to evils and wickednesses. However, this, the true Sabbath, is genuine rest, since the soul is at leisure and is purified from the temptations of Satan and rests in the eternal rest and joy of the Lord. — But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us. R/. Thanks be to God.

II Par. 14, 7; Jos. 22, 4a

R/. vii. We have sought the Lord the God of our fathers, * And He hath given us peace round about. V/. The Lord your God hath given your brethren rest and peace. * And He hath given us peace round about.

Just as then God decreed that also the irrational animals should rest on the Sabbath, that the ox should not be forced under the yoke of necessity, they should not burden the ass (for even the animals themselves were to rest from their heavy works), so, when the Lord came and gave the true and eternal Sabbath, He gave rest to the soul heavily burdened and loaded down with the burdens of iniquity, of unclean thoughts and labouring under restraint in doing works of injustice as though it were under slavery to bitter masters. And He lightened the soul from its burdens, so difficult to bear, of vain and obscene thoughts. And He took away the yoke, so bitter, of the works of injustice and gave rest to the soul, that had been worn out by the temptations of impurity. — But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us. R/. Thanks be to God.

Lev. 16, 31; 23, 32b

R/. viii. It shall be a Sabbath of rest: * And you shall afflict your souls by a perpetual religion. V/. From evening until evening you shall celebrate your Sabbaths. * And you shall afflict your souls by a perpetual religion.

For the Lord calls man to his rest, saying: “Come, all you who labour and are heavily burdened and I will refresh you” (Mt 11:28). And as many persons as obey and draw near, He refreshes them from all these heavy and burdensome and unclean thoughts. And they are at leisure from every iniquity, observing the true, pleasing, holy Sabbath. And they celebrate a feast of the Spirit, of joy and ineffable exultation. And they celebrate a pure service, pleasing to God from a pure heart. This is the true and holy Sabbath. Let us, therefore, entreat God that we may enter into this rest (Heb 4:11) and we may be freed from shameful and evil and vain thoughts so that thus we may be able to serve God out of a pure heart and celebrate the feast of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, blessed is he who enters into that rest. Glory to the Father Who is so well pleased and the Son and the Holy Spirit, forever. Amen. — But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us. R/. Thanks be to God.

Isaias 58, 13b. 12b. 11a

R/. ix. If thou call the Sabbath delightful, * Thou shalt be called the repairer of the fences, † Turning the paths into rest. V/. The Lord will give thee rest continually. * Thou shalt be called the repairer of the fences, † Turning the paths into rest. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. † Turning the paths into rest.

******

DORMITIONIST OFFICE OF SAINTS

The Psalms appointed at Matins are the same as those in the Monastic Breviary for the various classes at Saints; those at first Vespers and Lauds are the festal five and nine respectively, as in the Office of the Dormition; those at second Vespers are as in the Roman Breviary prior to the reforms of St Pius X.

1^st & 2^nd VESPERS

Aña. Pretioſa in conſpectu Domini: mors Sanctorum ejus.

Cap. In paſcuis uberrimis paſcam eas, et in montibus excelſis Iſraël erunt paſcua earum: ibi requieſcent in herbis virentibus, et in paſcuis pinguibus paſcentur ſuper montes Iſraël.

R/. Iſte homo perfecit omnia, quæ locutus eſt ei Deus, et dixit ad eum: Ingredere in requiem meam: * Quia te vidi juſtum coram me ex omnibus gentibus. V/. Iſte est, qui contempſit vitam mundi, et pervenit ad cæleſtia regna. * Quia te vidi juſtum coram me ex omnibus gentibus. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. * Quia te vidi juſtum coram me ex omnibus gentibus.

Hymnus. O quanta qualia…

V/. Domine, quis habitabit in tabernaculo tuo?

R/. Aut quis requieſcet in monte ſancto tuo?

Pro Sancto

Magn. Aña. Domine, iſte Sanctus habitabit in tabernaculo tuo, operatus eſt juſtitiam, requieſcet in monte ſancto tuo.

Pro Sancta

Magn. Aña. Nigra ſum, ſed formoſa, filiæ Jeruſalem; ideo dilexit me Rex, et introduxit me in cubiculum ſuum.

Pro pluribus

Bened. Aña. Exſultabunt Sancti in gloria, lætabuntur in cubilibus ſuis: exaltationes Dei in faucibus eorum.

MATINS

Invit. Introivit/Introierint in * Requiem meam. (Ps 94:11c)

[S/he has/They have entered into * My rest.]

Non dicitur Hymnus.

Aña. Vacate, et videte quoniam ego ſum Deus.

V/. Beati qui habitant.

R/. In domo tua, Domine.

Lectio i.

De Epistola ad Hebræos.

c. 11, 33-38

Sancti per fidem vicerunt regna, operati sunt juſtitiam, adepti ſunt repromiſſiones, obturaverunt ora leonum, extinxerunt impetum ignis, effugerunt aciem gladii, convaluerunt de infirmitate, fortes facti ſunt in bello, caſtra verterunt exterorum: acceperunt mulieres de reſurrectione mortuos ſuos: alii autem diſtenti ſunt non ſuſcipientes redemptionem ut meliorem invenirent reſurrectionem. Alii vero ludibria, et verbera experti, inſuper et vincula, et carceres: lapidati ſunt, ſecti ſunt, tentati ſunt, in occiſione gladii mortui ſunt, circuierunt in melotis, in pellibus caprinis, egentes, anguſtiati, afflicti: quibus dignus non erat mundus: in ſolitudinibus errantes, in montibus, in ſpeluncis, et in cavernis terræ. Tu autem, Domine, miſerere noſtri. R/. Deo gratias.

Apoc. 14, 13; II Mach. 12, 45

R/. i. Beati mortui qui in Domino moriuntur, * Ut requieſcant. V/. Hi qui cum pietate dormitionem acceperant, optimam haberent repoſitam gratiam, * Ut requieſcant.

Lectio ii.

c. 12, 1-2 & 22-24

Ideoque et nos tantam habentes impoſitam nubem teſtium, deponentes omne pondus, et circumſtans nos peccatum, per patientiam curramus ad propoſitum nobis certamen: aſpicientes in auctorem fidei, et conſummatorem Jeſum, qui propoſito ſibi gaudio ſuſtinuit crucem, confuſione contempta, atque in dextera ſedis Dei ſedet. Sed acceſſiſtis ad Sion montem, et civitatem Dei viventis, Jeruſalem cæleſtem, et multorum millium angelorum frequentiam, et eccleſiam primitivorum, qui conſcripti ſunt in cælis, et judicem omnium Deum, et ſpiritus juſtorum perfectorum, et teſtamenti novi mediatorem Jeſum, et ſanguinis aſperſionem melius loquentem quam Abel. Tu autem, Domine, miſerere noſtri. R/. Deo gratias.

Wis. 3, 1 & 3; I Th. 4, 13a

R/. ii. Juſtorum animæ in manu Dei ſunt, * Illi ſunt in pace. V/. Nolumus autem vos ignorare fratres de dormientibus, * Illi ſunt in pace.

Lectio iii.

cc. 12, 26b-28 & 13, 20-21

Nunc autem repromittit, dicens: Adhuc ſemel, et ego movebo non ſolum terram, ſed et cælum. Quod autem, Adhuc ſemel, dicit: declarat mobilium tranſlationem tamquam factorum, ut maneant ea quæ ſunt immobilia. Itaque regnum immobile ſuſcipientes, habemus gratiam: per quam ſerviamus placentes Deo, cum metu et reverentia. Deus autem pacis, qui eduxit de mortuis paſtorem magnum ovium, in ſanguine teſtamenti æterni, Dominum noſtrum Jeſum Chriſtum, aptet vos in omni bono, ut faciatis ejus voluntatem: faciens in vobis quod placeat coram ſe per Jeſum Chriſtum: cui eſt gloria in ſæcula ſæculorum. Amen. Tu autem, Domine, miſerere noſtri. R/. Deo gratias.

Rom. 6, 3 & 4a; Col. 3, 3

R/. iii. An ignoratis quia quicumque baptizati ſumus in Chriſto Jeſu, in morte ipſius baptizati ſumus? * Mortui enim eſtis, et vita veſtra eſt abſcondita cum Chriſto in Deo. V/. Conſepulti enim ſumus cum illo per baptiſmum in mortem: * Mortui enim eſtis, et vita veſtra eſt abſcondita cum Chriſto in Deo.

Lectio iv.

Lectio beati Auguſtini Epiſcopi.

De Civitate Dei, XXII, 30

Ibi perficietur: Vacate et videte quoniam ego ſum Deus; quod erit vere maximum ſabbatum non habens veſperam, quod commendavit Dominus in primis operibus mundi, ubi legitur: Et requievit Deus die ſeptimo ab omnibus operibus ſuis, quæ fecit, et benedixit Deus diem ſeptimum et ſanctificavit eum, quia in eo requievit ab omnibus operibus ſuis, quæ inchoavit Deus facere. Dies enim ſeptimus etiam nos ipsi erimus, quando ejus fuerimus benedictione et ſanctificatione pleni atque refecti. Ibi vacantes videbimus quoniam ipſe eſt Deus. Tu autem, Domine, miſerere noſtri. R/. Deo gratias.

R/. iv. Vacabimus in æternum, videntes quia ipſe eſt Deus, quo pleni erimus quando ipſe * erit omnia in omnibus. V/. Quanta erit illa felicitas, vacabitur Dei laudibus, qui * erit omnia in omnibus.

Lectio v.

Nam et ipsa opera bona noſtra, quando ipſius potius intelleguntur eſſe, non noſtra, tunc nobis ad hoc ſabbatum adipiſcendum imputantur; quia ſi nobis ea tribuerimus, ſervilia erunt, cum de ſabbato dicatur: Omne opus ſervile non facietis; propter quod et per Hiezechielem prophetam dicitur: Et ſabbata mea dedi eis in ſignum inter me et inter eos, ut ſcirent quia ego Dominus, quo ſanctifico eos. Hoc perfecte tunc ſciemus, quando perfecte vacabimus, et perfecte videbimus quia ipſe eſt Deus. Tu autem, Domine, miſerere noſtri. R/. Deo gratias.

Ezechiel 20, 20; Ps. 45, 11a

R/. v. Sabbata mea ſanctificate, ut ſint ſignum inter me et vos, et ſciatis quia ego ſum * Dominus Deus veſter. V/. Vacate, et videte quoniam ego ſum Deus. * Dominus Deus vester.

Lectio vi.

Poſt hanc tamquam in die ſeptimo requieſcet Deus, cum eundem diem ſeptimum, quod nos erimus, in ſe ipſo Deo faciet requieſcere. Hæc tamen ſeptima erit ſabbatum noſtrum, cujus finis non erit veſpera, ſed dominicus dies velut octavus æternus, qui Chriſti reſurrectione ſacratus eſt, æternam non ſolum ſpiritus, verum etiam corporis requiem præfigurans. Ibi vacabimus et videbimus, videbimus et amabimus, amabimus et laudabimus. Ecce quod erit in fine ſine fine. Nam quis alius noſter eſt finis niſi pervenire ad regnum, cujus nullus eſt finis? Tu autem, Domine, miſerere noſtri. R/. Deo gratias.

Luc. 1, 32b. 33; Heb. 12, 22-24a

R/. vi. Jeſus regnabit in æternum, * Et regni ejus non erit finis. V/. Acceſſiſtis ad Sion montem, et civitatem Dei viventis, Jeruſalem cæleſtem, et multorum millium angelorum frequentiam, et eccleſiam primitivorum, qui conſcripti ſunt in cælis, et judicem omnium Deum, et ſpiritus juſtorum perfectorum, * Et regni ejus non erit finis.

Lectio vii.

Sequentia ſancti Evangelii ſecundum Joannem.

In illo tempore reſpondens Jeſus dixit: Confiteor tibi, Pater, Domine cæli et terræ, quia abſcondiſti hæc a ſapientibus, et prudentibus, et revelaſti ea parvulis. Et reliqua.

Homilia beati Macarii.

In umbra legis per Moyſen datæ mandavit Deus, unumquemque requieſcere in ſabbatho, et nihil agere. Hoc autem figura erat et umbra veri ſabbathi, quod animæ donatur a Domino. Anima enim, quæ digna cenſetur ab obſcœnis et turpibus cogitationibus liberari, tum verum ſabbathum celebrat, tum veram requiem requieſcit, otium agens et liberata ab omnibus operibus tenebroſis. Illic enim in typici ſabbathi celebratione, etſi corpora quieſcebant, verumtamen animæ nequitiis ac vitiis erant illigatæ. Hoc vero, verum ſabbathum vera eſt requies animæ, quæ vacat, et expurgata eſt a cogitationibus ſatanæ, et requieſcit in perpetua quiete et lætitia Domini. Tu autem, Domine, miſerere noſtri. R/. Deo gratias.

II Par. 14, 7; Jos. 22, 4a

R/. vii. Quæſierimus Dominum Deum patrum noſtrorum, * Et dederit nobis pacem per gyrum. V/. Dedit Dominus Deus veſter fratribus veſtris quietem et pacem. * Et dederit nobis pacem per gyrum.

Lectio viii.

Quemadmodum enim tunc mandavit, vt ipſa quoque bruta animalia ſabbatho quieſcerent, ne bos ſub jugum neceſſarium traheretur; ne aſino onera imponerentur; (quieſcebant enim ipſa quoque animalia a duris operibus;) ſic quoque cum veniſſet Dominus, et verum æternumque ſabbathum contuliſſet, refocillavit animam oneribus iniquitatis, immundarumque cogitationum gravatam et onuſtam, et operantem iniquitatis opera neceſſario, quippe quæ ſub acerborum dominorum ſervitutem erat redacta; et levavit eam ob oneribus intolerabilibus, variis atque obſcœnis cogitationibus, ſublatoque graui lugo operum iniquorum recreauit eam, cogitationibus impuris laborantem. Tu autem, Domine, miserere nostri. R/. Deo gratias.

Lev. 16, 31; 23, 32b

R/. viii. Sabbatum requietionis eſt, * Et affligetis animas veſtras religione perpetua. V/. A veſpera uſque ad veſperam celebrabitis ſabbata veſtra. * Et affligetis animas veſtras religione perpetua.

Lectio ix.

Dominus enim vocat hominem ad recreationem, inquiens: Venite ad me omnes, qui laboratis et onerati eſtis, et ego refocillabo vos. Itaque quæcumque animæ crediderint et acceſſerint, reficiet eas ab his gravibus, moleſtis, et immundis cogitationibus, quæ vacantes ab omni iniquitate, celebrant ſabbathum verum, deliciarum plenum et ſanctum: peragunt feſtum Spiritus, gaudii et exultationis inerrabilis, et ſerviunt ſervitium purum et Deo gratum ex puro corde, hoc eſt, verum et ſanctum ſabbathum. Obſecremus ergo nos quoque Deum, ut ingrediamur in hanc requiem, ut ſeriemur a turpibus, malitioſis atque vanis cogitationibus, quo hoc pacto poſſimus ſervitium exhibere Deo ex puro corde, ac celebrare feſtum Spiritus ſancti. Beatus ergo, qui ingreſſus eſt illam requiem. Gloria Patri, cui ſic placuit, et Filio, et Spiritui ſancto in ſecula. Amen. Tu autem, Domine, miſerere noſtri. R/. Deo gratias.

Isaias 58, 13b. 12b. 11a

R/. ix. Si vocaveris ſabbatum delicatum, * Vocaberis ædificator ſepium, † Avertens ſemitas in quietem. V/. Requiem tibi dabit Dominus ſemper. * Vocaberis ædificator ſepium, † Avertens ſemitas in quietem. Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto. † Avertens ſemitas in quietem.

Te Deum.

VERSICLE BEFORE LAUDS

V/. Congregati ſunt.

R/. Et in cubilibus ſuis collocabuntur.

LAUDS

Aña. Exſultabunt Sancti in gloria: lætabuntur in cubilibus ſuis.

Cap. In paſcuis uberrimis paſcam eas, et in montibus excelſis Iſraël erunt paſcua earum: ibi requieſcent in herbis virentibus, et in paſcuis pinguibus paſcentur ſuper montes Iſraël.

Hymnus. O quanta qualia…

V/. Corpora Sanctorum in pace ſepulta ſunt.

R/. Et vivent nomina eorum in æternum.

Pro Sancto

Bened. Aña. Obdormivit in Domino.

Pro Sancta

Bened. Aña. Elegit eam Deus, et præelegit eam: in tabernaculo ſuo habitare facit eam.

Pro pluribus

Bened. Aña. Beati mortui qui in Domino moriuntur, ut requieſcant.

PRIME

Aña. Exſultabunt Sancti in gloria: lætabuntur in cubilibus ſuis.

TERCE

Aña. Corpora Sanctorum in pace ſepulta ſunt: et vivent nomina eorum in æternum.

Cap. In paſcuis uberrimis paſcam eas, et in montibus excelſis Iſraël erunt paſcua earum: ibi requieſcent in herbis virentibus, et in paſcuis pinguibus paſcentur ſuper montes Iſraël.

R/. In cæleſtibus regnis Sanctorum * Habitatio est.

R/. In cæleſtibus regnis Sanctorum * Habitatio est.

V/. Et in æternum requies eorum. * Habitatio est.

Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.

R/. In cæleſtibus regnis Sanctorum * Habitatio est.

V/. Exſultabunt Sancti in gloria.

R/. Lætabuntur in cubilibus ſuis.

SEXT

Aña. In cæleſtibus regnis Sanctorum habitatio est, et in æternum requies eorum.

Cap. Audivi vocem de cælo, dicentem mihi: Scribe: Beati mortui qui in Domino moriuntur. Amodo jam dicit Spiritus, ut requieſcant a laboribus ſuis.

R/. Exſultabunt Sancti * In gloria.

R/. Exſultabunt Sancti * In gloria.

V/. Lætabuntur in cubilibus ſuis. * In gloria.

Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.

R/. Exſultabunt Sancti * In gloria.

V/. Pretioſa in conſpectu Domini.

R/. Mors Sanctorum ejus.

NONE

Aña. Congregati ſunt, et in cubilibus ſuis collocabuntur.

Cap. Juſtorum animæ in manu Dei ſunt, et non tanget illos tormentum mortis.  Viſi ſunt oculis inſipientium mori: illi autem ſunt in pace.

R/. Pretioſa * In conſpectu Domini.

R/. Pretioſa * In conſpectu Domini.

V/. Mors Sanctorum ejus. * In conſpectu Domini.

Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.

R/. Pretioſa * In conſpectu Domini.

V/. In cæleſtibus regnis Sanctorum habitatio est.

R/. Et in æternum requies eorum.

Chevra Tehillim

So good it is to have returned after a long absence to reading the whole Breviary daily! Strange to say, I seem always to best do this on holiday: all but part of Matins on Thursday, and all on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and now Monday, Deo gratias.

I love the psalms, old friends as they seem to me, and it is great to have the opportunity to recite all one hundred and fifty of them in a week.

Having just bought and read a book on Jewish liturgy, I was delighted to learn of a pious custom whereby Jews would meet together to pray the Tehillim or Psalms in a society called a Chevra Tehillim. Jewish prayer-books, to accommodate such needs, customarily divide the Psalter into seven portions, that such societies may recite the Psalter once a week, completing one division a day.

What a great idea, thought I - then I realized that, through my perseverance in the Breviary, I join with many many members of the new Israel of God the world over in a real spiritual union reciting the Psalms, inspired compositions of the Holy Ghost, whereby the Church, Christ's Body and Bride, praises God in the very words He has given us wherewith to praise Him, to the praise of His glory.

Hallelu-Jah: Alleluia! Praise the Lord!

Breviarium O.Dorm.

Liturgical purists (some would call them other names) agree that Pope St Pius X, as well as mucking up the order of the Sacraments by putting First Communion before Confirmation, rather ruined the traditional cursus of the Holy Roman Church, by redistributing the Psalms in a manner wholly different to that previously used in the Divine Office.  It will therefore glad strict hearts to learn that (thanks to their extremely infrequent General Chapters, only held once all who were in holy religion at the last such had died) the Canons Regular of the Dormition, alone of all the Orders in the Church, maintain the pre-Pian weekly arrangement of the Psalter; well, more or less.

As is the case with the Order of Preachers, adherence to any and all lesser rules may be dispensed by a superior, that a given religious without hindrance may the better attain the goal of the Order: in the case of the Dominicans, preaching; in the case of the Dormitionists, sleeping.  But granted that all but the most proficient sleepers cannot remain the entire day and night unconscious, those who have withdrawn from the world may as well pray in their cells (there being little else to do), and therefore the Breviary exists.  Furthermore, as all men know, long prayers engender much sleepiness, and this  is accounted a godly virtue by these Canons Regular.  Thus, reading the Hours materially assists in advancing one's proficiency in the following of  the Regula Patrum Soporificum.

Now those Soporific Fathers three, back at the end of the twelfth century, already noted that the ancient Roman ferial Office, while satisfyingly, stupefyingly lengthy, unfortunately varied materially in length from day to day.  Therefore, while drawing up the plan of all the observances for their novus Ordo, duly approved by the then Pope, they made certain wise modifications in the rite of both Mass and Office, yet in a most traditional spirit.

The Fathers most wisely reordered the distribution of the Psalms, that each day’s Office have very nearly an equal length of psalmody.  They achieved this above all by swapping Tuesday’s Matins psalms with those of Thursday, and Wednesday’s with Saturday’s.  Other minor changes were made, and in particular Psalm 9 was divided into two parts, according to the Hebrew (perhaps to be attributed to those holy Canons' sojourn in Outremer, where many religious traditions interacted more readily).  

For the benefit of the curious, the exact disposition of the psalms is as follows: 

• Sunday: Pss 1-3, 6-8, 9A-17, 19-20;
• Monday: Pss 27-38;
• Tuesday: Pss 68-79;
• Wednesday: Pss 97-108;
• Thursday: Pss 39-41, 43-49, 51-52;
• Friday: Pss 80-88, 93, 95-96;
• Saturday: Pss 53-61, 63, 65, 67. 

It will be seen that this admittedly drastic-seeming rearrangement is in fact far truer to the immemorial Roman Office than that made in 1911, above all by retaining the Matins psalms at Matins, avoiding the use of divisi, and keeping to the hallowed number of twelve psalms for this Hour, just as commended by an Angel to the Desert Fathers in the first ages of the Church.  (It is a Roman peculiarity to sing eighteen on Sunday, doubtless due to the relative brevity of most of those psalms compared to the average.)

Furthermore, to prevent the festal Office being all too short in comparison with the ferial, the Dormitionist Breviary took up the judicious arrangement of the Monastic Breviary, which provides twelve psalms for all feasts – although without adopting its other peculiarities.

Lauds, named for the famous Laudate psalms, the last three in the Psalter, has a fourth such: Psalm 116 (doubtless an echo of the Ambrosian Rite – one of the Fathers had returned from the East via Milan).  Another curious detail: Psalm 117 is sung at Lauds on Sundays, in place of Psalm 99 (which however takes its usual place on feasts), and not at Prime.  Otherwise, the psalms and canticles used at this Hour are the same as those of the Use of Rome.

Prime has a unique variant: not Psalm 53, but Psalm 18 is the first psalm, being therefore an exordium, as it were, to the great Psalm of the Law, of the contemplative life, Psalm 118, Beati immaculati in via.  Given the redistribution of the Matins psalmody undertaken at the foundation of the Order, it will be unsurprising that Psalms 21 to 25, plus also Psalm 26, are disposed somewhat differently to their manner of use in the post-Tridentine Roman Breviary: true, as is most appropriate, that great psalm of the Passion, 21, is used on Friday, and the Eucharistic 22 on Thursday (as in the Roman), but 23 is also allotted to Thursday, 24 is used on Monday, 25 on Saturday and 26 on Sunday – with none for Tuesday nor Wednesday!

Vespers, lacking Psalm 116, is supplied with the requisite five psalms per evening by the device of Psalm 113 being divided into two, as in the Hebrew: Psalm 113A, In exitu, is the last psalm of Sunday, while 113B, Non nobis, is the first of Monday Vespers.

Nothing need be said of Terce, Sext or None, as they simply employ the remainder of Psalm 118; and of course Dormitionist Compline has previously been surveyed in extenso.

In passing, it is right to note that, at Lauds and Vespers in their cells, these Canons Regular do read each day six commemorations or memorials, the better to adhere to the great exemplars of their peculiar charism, and – with the Collect of the Day – to mystically cleave to the seven petitions of the Lord's Prayer:

1. Of the Most Holy Sepulchre of Our Lord Jesus Christ;
2. Of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary;
3. Of St Lazarus Redivivus;
4. Of the Seven Sleepers;
5. For Rest;
6. For the Living and the Dead.

It will be recalled that the Founders of the Dormitionists were Canons of the Holy Sepulchre ere they were as it were inspired to found a new Order, and rightly maintained their devotion to Christ's sacred repose for three days in the Tomb; and of course to this superadded like piety – in honour of His Mother's Dormition or falling asleep, under whose mantle they sought to rest; in honour of St Lazarus, resting for four days in his tomb; and in honour of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus.  A prayer for the grace of sinless sleep, and a long survival from the Gallican Rite, imploring the saints' intercession for all the living and the dead foreknown to be elect, rounds out this set of six antiphons, versicles and collects.

Unusually (to post-mediæval minds) these are read after the Benedicamus Domino, or rather after the first Benedicamus; since after them, there is a second.  As in the Dominican Use, while the last Collect (in common with that of the day) has the full conclusion, the intervenient orations have the shorter (in the Roman Rite, the equivalents have none).

Herewith, their texts (again, as the Brev. O. Dorm. was last revised in the late eighteenth century, it employs the long ess, be it noted):

DE SS. SEPULCHRO D. N. J. C.

Aña. Qui expectant mortem et non venit, quaſi effodientes theſaurum, gaudentque vehementer, cum invenerint Sepulchrum.

V/. Factus eſt in pace locus ejus.

R/. Et habitatio ejus in Sion.

AD LAUDES: Or. Deus, qui per depoſitionem ſanctiſſimi Corporis Filii tui in Sepulchro, idem Sepulchrum ſanctificaſti, concede quæſumus, ut in hoc Sepulchro anima et corde habitemus. Per eumdem Chriſtum Dominum noſtrum. R/. Amen.

AD VESPERAS: Or. Deus, qui nos ſancti Sepulchri Filii tui lætari facis honore, præſta quæſumus, ut in eodem ſepulti, mundo moriamur, et tibi ſoli vivamus. Per eumdem Chriſtum Dominum noſtrum. R/. Amen.

DE DORMITIONE B. M. V.

Aña. In omnibus requiem quæſivi, et in hereditate Domini morabor.

V/. Et ſic in Sion firmata ſum.

R/. Et in civitate ſanctificata ſimiliter requievi.

Or. Veneranda nobis, Domine, illius diei memoria opem conferat ſalutarem, in qua ſancta Dei Genitrix mortem ſubiit temporalem, nec tamen mortis nexibus deprimi potuit, quæ Filium tuum Dominum noſtrum de ſe genuit incarnatum: Qui tecum vivit et regnat per omnia sæcula sæculorum. R/. Amen.

DE S. LAZARO

Aña. Lazarus amicus noſter dormit: Eamus et nos, ut moriamur cum eo.

V/. Domine, ſi dormit. 

R/. Salvus erit.

Or. Deus, reſurrectio et vita, qui beatum Lazarum quatriduanum a monumento ſuſcitaſti: erige nos de tumulo peccatorum, ut mereamur adipiſci conſortia electorum. Qui vivis et regnas per omnia sæcula sæculorum. R/. Amen.

DE SEPTEM DORMIENTIBUS

Aña. Dormierunt ſomnum ſuum.

V/. Dormitaverunt omnes.

R/. Et dormierunt.

Or. Concede, quæſumus, omnipotens Deus: ut ad meliorem requiem beatorum ſeptem Dormientium Epheſi exempla nos provocent; quatenus, quorum memoriam agimus, etiam ſomnum imitemur. Per Chriſtum Dominum noſtrum. R/. Amen.

PRO REQUIE

Aña. Veniat pax; requieſcat in cubili ſuo qui ambulavit in directione ſua.

V/. Inſuper et caro mea. 

R/. Requieſcet in ſpe.  

Or. Omnipotens Deus, qui mundo creato ab univerſo opere tuo requieviſti et diem requiei pro omnibus creaturis ſanctificaſti: concede nobis ut, ab omnibus curis terreſtribus nos ſeponentes, tempora ſint tua protectione tranquilla, et requies hac in terra nos paret ad æternam requiem plebi tuo promiſſam in cælo. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. R/. Amen.

PRO OMNIBUS VIVIS ET DEFUNCTIS

Aña. Retribuere dignare, Domine, omnibus nobis bona facientibus propter nomen ſanctum tuum requiem æternam.

V/. Exſultabunt Sancti in gloria.

R/. Lætabuntur in cubilibus ſuis.

Or. Omnipotens ſempiterne Deus, qui vivorum dominaris ſimul et mortuorum, omniumque miſereris, quos tuos fide et opere futuros eſſe prænoſcis; te ſupplices exoramus; ut pro quibus effundere preces decrevimus, quoſque vel præſens ſæculum adhuc in carne retinet, vel futurum jam exutos corpore ſuſcepit, intercedentibus omnibus ſanctis tuis, pietatiæ tuæ clementia, omnium delictorum ſuorum veniam conſequantur. Per Dñm.