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granted that all but the most proficient sleepers cannot remain the entire day and night unconscious, those who have withdrawn from the world may as well pray in their cells (there being little else to do), and therefore the Breviary exists.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.

Vespers pre- and post-1912

As all men know, Pope St Pius X did two very daring things: 

• first, he caused a change to the traditional order of reception of the sacraments - not of set purpose but because he desired to encourage all frequently to partake of Holy Communion, and so ordered that all children having reached the age of reason could communicate - as the age for Confirmation remained what it had been previously, in most countries it transpired that children began making their first Holy Communion before being confirmed; 
• second, he had the weekly order of reciting the psalmody in the Divine Office rearranged - so that nearly all the psalms were recited only once in the week (rather than some being repeated every day), and thereby shortening the Office, while ensuring, by a change of the rubricks, that on most days (other than the great feasts) the ferial psalms were said, so that each week most of the Psalter was prayed (by the growth in the number of feasts over the centuries, which took their psalms from the Common, many psalms allotted to ferial days were hardly ever said).

Whatever of the first concern, the second I think, over all - beware, those besotted with the ancient Roman cursus psalmorum! "Rome has spoken..." and all that - to have been beneficial.  

For a start, rather than daily reading the long Psalm 118 at the  Little Hours, and having twelve psalms to get through each night at Matins, it was decided to reduce Matins to nine psalms or portions thereof, and to redistribute the surplus psalms over Prime, Terce, Sext and None, moreover making each of those Hours somewhat shorter than before.  

This to be honest made the Little Hours much more interesting, and reduced the fatigue of the Night Office - certainly I enjoy the daily variation at Prime, Terce, Sext and None (unfortunately, the lengthy and highly repetitive nature of Psalm 118 still can make these Hours difficult on Sundays and feasts, I find), and given that I find even nine psalms or parts thereof rather tiring, I hate to imagine how twelve full psalms would seem.  The reforms reduced the length of Matins on most days by half, or even by two-thirds!

(That said, it is said that an angel appeared to one of the Desert Fathers to reveal that twelve was the right number of psalms for Matins.  Then again, I'm not a holy hermit!)

I will leave aside the changes made to Lauds for a later post...

As for Compline, I do wish that it hadn't been changed, and had remained invariable - Psalms 4, 90 and 133 are supremely suitable for the Hour.  As it is, on ferias other psalms, redistributed from Matins, were introduced, which rather destroyed one beauty of Compline: that it could be said from memory in darkness just before retiring for the night.  (Benedictines retained both their ancient invariable Compline, and the lovely custom of singing it in choir entirely unlit, but for a candle burning before the image of Our Lady, to which all turned at the end to sing her anthem.)

But my real interest is Vespers, pre- and post-1912.

Vespers had always consisted of five psalms each day, taken in order from Psalms 109 to 147 (except for four: 117, used at Prime or Lauds; 118, used at the Little Hours; 133, at Compline; and 142 at Lauds one morning).  Psalms 1 to 108 were nearly all used at Matins, and some at Lauds, Prime and Compline; Psalms 148 to 150, the Laudate psalms par excellence, were used daily together at Lauds, which was named after them.

Surprisingly little change was made: only five psalms were removed entirely (and employed at Lauds), and four were moved forward by a day, while four were divided into portions:

• Sunday — Pss 109, 110, 111, 112, 113 [unchanged]
• Monday — Pss 114, 115, (116 - moved to Lauds), 119, 120 (plus 121 from Tuesday)
• Tuesday — Pss (121 - moved back), 122, 123, 124, 125 (plus 126 from Wednesday)
• Wednesday — Pss (126 - moved back), 127, 128, 129, 130 (plus 131 from Thursday)
• Thursday — Pss (131 - moved back), 132, (134 - moved to Lauds) 135 (broken into two), 136 (plus 137 from Friday)
• Friday — Pss (137 - moved back), 138 (broken into two), 139, 140, 141
• Saturday — Pss 143 (broken into two), 144 (broken into three), (145, 146, 147 - all moved to Lauds)

One happy consequence of this reform was that the disparity in length of psalmody (measured by the number of verses of the psalms to be recited) between different evenings at Vespers was diminished: before 1912, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Vespers were all very short, less than half as long as Vespers of the other days - while Thursday evening had a particularly lengthy Vespers, which was cut down to size by the reforms.  By roughly evening the evenings up, it would seem that some good was effected.

In summary, Sunday Vespers remained unchanged, Vespers of Monday through to Friday more or less had two changes each, but remained mainly unchanged, and only Saturday Vespers (first Vespers of Sunday) was markedly affected.

Yes, it will be noticed that it is Saturday Vespers - such as first Vespers of Septuagesima, which I've claimed below can be truly called the start of the Church's Year of Grace - that has been cut down.

Perhaps, pro pia devotione, one could read Psalms 145, 146 and 147 after Saturday Vespers, to experience somewhat of the character of that Hour in its older form.

Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum

Spiritual aerobics: walking up and down and up and down and up and down the stairs here at home, reading Matins.  Told you I was crazy.

Because of time constraints, I usually say Matins (if at all) out of due order: before work, I say Lauds and Prime (asking for a blessing the day and my actions), perhaps fit in Terce and/or Sext at breaks, but in any case get them and None done by mid- to late-afternoon (I hope)... Vespers is said in the evening, then Compline to complete the day.  Or at least that is my general aim...

I must note that to me, Wednesday Matins are very beautiful because of their sublime (and not overly long) psalmody: Psalms 44 (Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum - a royal epithalamium, the song of David's love for his wife the queen, of God's love for Israel, of Jesus' love for His Mother, for His Church, for the Christian soul), 45 ("God is for us a refuge and strength"), 47 ("Great is the Lord and exceedingly to be praised"), 48 ("Hear this, all ye nations"), 49 ("The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken and summoned the earth") and 50 - the incomparable Miserere.  (Psalm 46, which would fit in the midst of these, is read at Lauds on Mondays - "All nations, clap your hands... psallite sapienter...")  Since to-day is the feast of a canonized queen who, widowed, took the habit as a holy religious, how fitting to sing Psalm 44 at the opening of her Office!

While my Latin is by no means perfect, I know these psalms well, having prayed them for many years in English in the modern Divine Office (let us say that some psalms aren't quite so well-recalled)...

Friends, such as Terra, prefer to pray the Benedictine Breviary, wherein Psalm 44 is instead the last of the twelve psalms at Monday Matins (or "Vigils"), while on Tuesdays at Matins the following psalms are prayed: the six Psalms 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51 in the First Nocturn, and another six, Psalms 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58 in the Second Nocturn.  Phew!  (And Psalm 50 makes its appearance as the second psalm daily at Lauds.)  

It is considered that St Benedict based his arrangement of the weekly cursus of psalms on that then current at Rome, making various changes here and there, while the Roman arrangement endured until the minor reform of St Pius V (who removed Psalms 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25 from Sunday Prime, and redistributed them among the other weekdays - until his day, Sunday Prime had nine psalms!) and the major reform of St Pius X (who decreed that each psalm - with the exception of the Venite, Psalm 94, and at penitential times the Miserere, Psalm 50 - was to be assigned but one Hour at week at which it was to be said, thus cutting back substantially on the length of the Office). 

Before 1912, the Roman Breviary, too, had twelve psalms at Matins - this number allegedly goes back to the Egyptian Fathers of the Desert, who received a response from an angel to their question of the proper number of psalms for the night office.  To this day, their lineal descendants, the Copts, pray in their Office an astonishing number of psalms every day, but they have a cheeky way of speeding up their devotions: one monk says the first of the psalms appointed, another the second, and so on - all together saying their respective psalms at once!

Whatever of this, the psalms for Wednesday Matins in the 1962 Breviary were previously included in the twelve said at Tuesday Matins until 1912: Psalms 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, and 51 - for Psalm 50 was instead said every day at ferial Lauds (and when this happens in the 1962 Breviary on Wednesdays, as in Lent, Psalm 50 is dropped from that day's Matins).