Vigil Office Confusion

I have been confused regarding the Vigil Office - as I finally discovered after Lauds today: I should have said Lauds II (whose first psalm is Ps 50) rather than Lauds I as usual. While there would be no obligation to do so in any case, I read the omitted parts later. My having to read the Vulgate psalms from Tome I of the Breviary, and the rest from Tome II, is probably to blame for this stuff-up; my Breviaries are mismatched, since Tome II has the horrible neo-Ciceronian psalm version in it, which I avoid by juggling the two volumes.

Vigil of St John Baptist

Owing to pressure of events I didn't blog this yesterday as intended...

Yesterday was the Vigil of the Nativity of St John the Baptist (Midwinter's Eve, in other words): I was surprised to find that Lauds I, not Lauds II, was appointed, and that the Preces were not said: it turned out that they had been snipped out from Vigils, once called "kneeling days" after the Preces said thereon, in one of the last pre-Conciliar reforms, or rather impoverishments, of the Office. So I tacked on all the omitted bits as devotions after the Hours instead. One curious feature of the Vigil Office: the Lessons at Matins are proper, but the responsories are ferial.

**UPDATE**

I was wrong: Lauds II is the correct Hour to use on a Vigil; my bad.

******

In the evening, having arrived early at the Pro., I led the Rosary for once, and served Fr's Mass - always a privilege. Being a Vigil, the vestments were purple, there was no Gloria nor Alleluia. Using the Common Preface for so great a saint seemed a bit infra dig. There was no Ite, either, but Benedicamus Domino.