On saying Matins Pt 2: Quick start guide to the moving parts

 (First responsory for Sundays 1&2 of September )

In the last part of my notes on Matins, I said that there were basically two forms of Matins, the ferial and festal/Sunday.

Today, by way of a quick start guide, I want to talk about some of the moving parts of the hour that you should focus on when learning it.

 The opening section

The two ‘new’ elements of this hour are the opening prayer, and the way the invitatory antiphon is used with Psalm 94.

Opening prayer: Although some earlier breviaries add several starting prayers to the hour, including the Deus in Adjutorium, the 1963 breviary restores the hour to St Benedict’s specifications, opening with the prayer O Lord open my lips that I may announce your praise (Domine labia mea aperies...).  Note that it is said three times, as the Rule provides, while making the sign of the cross over your lips with your thumb.

Invitatory antiphon: Psalm 94 at Matins is the sole remaining example of responsorial psalmody in the Office, with part or all of the antiphon repeated after each group of verses.  

To see a written out example of how it works, take a look at Sunday Matins, pg (23).  Monday Matins (Feria secunda) uses ** to show where the antiphon should be repeated in full, and * for the use of just the second part of the antiphon.

There is a different invitatory antiphon (and a different hymn) for each day of the week, and these also change for feasts of all levels.  So on Class III feasts, for example, if there isn’t a proper antiphon or hymn for the feast, you use the appropriate one from the Common.

 For those who want to read more on the components that make up the opening section of Matins, just follow the links below: 

OPENING SECTION

Opening prayer - Domine labia mea aperies

Psalm 3 - 'in directum'

Invitatory antiphon and Psalm 94

Hymn

The psalmody of the Nocturns 

The psalmody of Matins is said or sung in exactly the same way as other hours, with antiphons and a doxology at the end of each psalm.  The only new feature is the third Nocturn of canticles, but these are treated exactly like psalms.

Most of the year Nocturn I has three antiphons (so each antiphon is used with two psalms) on weekdays, while Nocturn II on weekdays just has one alleluia based antiphon.  

Class III feasts always use the ferial psalter, while Class I&II feasts use either the psalms of the relevant Common, or are proper to the feast.

Versicle: At Nocturn I on weekdays, and all three Nocturns on Sundays and feasts, a short versicle and response is said immediately after the last antiphon.  These vary with the season.  Class III feasts just use the appropriate seasonal versicle, while higher level feasts usually have their own, or use the ones in the relevant Common.

Absolution: After the Our Father an absolution formula is said.  Normally, the three used on Sundays are then rotated throughout the week, but there are a few special ones, including for the Office of Our Lady on Saturday. 

If you want to read more, click on the links below:

NOCTURNS - Psalmody and canticles

Psalms, canticles and antiphons

Psalms of the day of the week - listing Psalms of the Commons listing

Canticles - listing

Versicle, Our Father and absolution

Readings and responsories

The name 'new' element of Matins relates to the readings and their responsories.

Blessings for the readings: The Sunday blessings used before each reading, as well as the couple of variants used on major feasts and weekdays are summarised at the front of the Breviary.

The formula 'Iube, domne, benedicere' (pray Lord, give a blessing) is used before each blessing, and each reading concludes with the formula 'Tu autem, Domine, miserere nobs. Deo gratias.

On weekdays, you need to pay attention as to which set of blessings to use, as there are different ones for Scriptural readings (and these vary depending on the day of the week), Patristic readings, feasts of saints and the Office of Our Lady on Saturday.

Readings: In 'summer' on weekdays, only a short fixed reading for the day of the week more is used in Nocturn I on ordinary days, in conjunction to a short responsory; the rest of the year there are three readings and full responsories for the day of the week of the season (or month between August and November).

Where there are three readings said, on Class III feasts and Saturdays of Our Lady, the second and third readings of the day are combined, to allow the third reading to be of the feast.

Responsories: First, responsories are usually given in shorthand, abbreviated form in the breviary, so you need to know their structure so as to read them in full.  In particular, the last responsory of each Nocturn has a doxology inserted into it.

The other trick with responsories is in knowing just where to find the correct ones.  

On Class III feast, always check the propers in advance, as some feasts have more than one responsory.  

For August to October, the Sunday responsories are set out under the relevant Sunday of the month, not with the third Nocturn readings (which are of the Sunday after Pentecost), while in the period after Epiphany, which set you use depends on the date and when Epiphany falls.

READINGS

Blessings for the reader& readings

Responsories

The concluding section to the hour

On weekdays and Class III feasts, the concluding prayers of Matins essentially follows the same pattern as the day hours.

On Sundays and major feasts, however, the hour adds several new elements.  The psalter section of the breviary on Sundays gives you all the relevant fixed texts on pages (48) and (49), but keep in mind are that unless you are a priest or deacon, simply omit the 'Dominus vobiscum/Et cum spiritu tuo'  immediately before the Gospel.

CONCLUDING SECTION

Te Deum (hymn)

Gospel

Te Decet Laus (hymn)

Concluding prayers

In the next post I will start a series of notes on the history and spirituality of the hour. 

On saying Matins Pt 1: The two forms of Matins

As promised a few notes on how to say Benedictine Matins.

Today, a quick overview of the differences to the Roman Office version of Matins, and then a quick look at the two basic forms of Benedictine Matins.  In the next post I will provide a quick start guide to the moving parts that you need to keep an eye out for, particularly for feasts and special days.

1953 vs 1963

I am of course providing notes in the context of 1963 breviary’s calendar and rubrics.

But, with two exceptions (relating to the opening of the hour and the commemoration of feasts displaced by another three Nocturn Office), as far as I am aware Benedictine Matins did not actually change in structure over the twentieth century.  

The only substantive content changes, as far as I am aware, are very minor (to a few readings).

The changes that did affect it relate primarily to additions and omissions from the calendar, changes to the rankings of some feasts, and rules of precedence.

Accordingly, if you want to add back feasts, or give them a higher ranking than their 1960 one using the supplement in the new reprint of the Monastic Breviary, you should find these instructions will still work for this purpose. 

 How much do you already know?!

How you approach learning Matins basically depends on your starting point.  

If you have been using the day hours of the monastic Office using the Diurnal, focus on the components of the hour that aren’t common to the other hours, as well as on how feasts of various levels impact on Matins.

If you are familiar with the Roman (1911 - 1962) Office, you have a huge head-start on everyone else, so just focus on the differences between the two.

Swapping from Roman 1962?

That said, Benedictine Matins has long puzzled commentators, because it looks quite different, in many respects to the Roman version of the hour.  Over time, some of those differences have been erased, but they do still look quite different. 

I’ll come back to the historical differences and possible reasons for them in a later post, but for now, if you are used to the 1962 Roman Office, be warned that overall, the Benedictine Office is much longer than the Roman (post 1910), and that is especially true on feast days.

There are three main reasons for the extra length. 

First, the psalmody is longer.  The Roman Office of Pius X divides a lot more psalms, and into smaller chunks.  Psalm 77 in the Roman Office for example is split into six sections, but in the Benedictine, it is only divided in two.

Secondly, on Sundays, there are twelve readings and responsories, not three (or if you have been using an earlier version of the Roman Office, eight). Sundays also have an extra Nocturn of canticles, on top of the usual twelve psalms, as well as several other extra components.

 And finally, instead of a shorter, nine psalm and readings of the Roman Office on feasts, Class I&II feasts use the longer Sunday structure, while Class III feasts retain the full ferial twelve psalm/two Nocturn structure.

Some of the other key differences you may notice are that:

• there is an extra invitatory psalm, Psalm 3; 
• where the Roman hour starts on Psalm 1, St Benedict starts at Psalm 20;
• during ‘summer’ Benedictine Matins has only a short reading and responsory of the day of the week, while the Roman has three readings and responsories throughout the year; and 
• on Sundays the Gospel of the Sunday or feast is read at the end of Matins.

 The two forms of Benedictine Matins

As the table below shows, Benedictine Matins basically comes in two forms: the three Nocturn Office used on Sundays and major feasts; and the two nocturn version said on weekdays throughout the year, as well as on Class III feasts.  

Both forms of Matins have an identical opening section (in earlier breviaries, an Ave, Pater and Credo are also said, as is the Deus in adjutorium), which is then followed by twelve psalms spread between two Nocturns. 

There are three key differences between the two forms, relating to the number of readings, the number of Nocturns, and the concluding section used on Sundays and major feasts. 

First, on weekdays, there is only either one reading (from Easter to November) or three readings (the rest of the year) in Nocturn I, plus a short chapter appropriate to the season or feast at the end of Nocturn II.  On Sundays and major feasts, by contrast, each Nocturn has four readings and responsories.  

Secondly, on Sundays an extra Nocturn consisting of canticles )for the season or feast) is added. 

And thirdly, Sundays and major feasts have a much longer concluding section, including two hymns and the recitation of the Gospel for the Sunday or feast. 

SECTION OF THE HOUR	WEEKDAYS/CLASS III FEASTS	SUNDAYS AND FEASTS
OPENING SECTION	Domine mea labia aperies…*3 Ps 3 Invitatory antiphon with Psalm 94 Hymn
NOCTURN I	6 psalms with 1 or 3 antiphons   Versicle Our Father Absolution	6 psalms with 1, 3 or 6 antiphons Versicle Our Father Absolution
READINGS FOR NOCTURN I	Blessings with 1 or 3 readings and responsories	Blessings with 4 readings and responsories
NOCTURN 2	6 psalms with 1 or 3 antiphons	6 psalms with 1, 3 or 6 antiphons Versicle Our Father Absolution
READINGS WITH NOCTURN 2	Short chapter and versicle for season or feast	Blessings with 4 readings and responsories
NOCTURN 3	NA	Antiphon and three canticles Versicle Our Father Absolution
READINGS FOR NOCTURN 3	na	Blessings with 4 readings and responsories
CONCLUDING SECTION	As per days hours, Kyrie, Pater, collect, concluding blessing	Te Deum Gospel Te decet laus Collect Concluding formula if separated from Lauds

If you are familiar with the day hours of the Benedictine Office, a lot of this will already familiar.  But Matins does have several components that will be new to you, such as Psalm 94 which is said responsorially (with a repeated refrain) rather than antiphonally, the use of blessings, the use of responsories with the readings, and more.  

So if you are planning on saying the hour, I’d urge you to take a look at my more detailed notes on the hour which you can find here.  

But if you just want to cut to the chase, in my next post I’ll provide a quick guide to the moving parts, and what to look out for.  

Saints of September: A guide to the various calendars!

September,
Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry 

For those interested in adding additional feasts to the Benedictine 1963 calendar, or utilising the Diurnal in conjunction with later versions of the calendar,  I've done a summary listing of the various calendars for the month of September below.

Can you add feasts to the Benedictine calendar?

By way of context, the decree Cum Sanctissima gave permission for saints canonised after 1962 to be celebrated in the earlier form of the Office, as well as for the inclusion of other feasts included in previous books and/or the Martyrology to be celebrated as Class III feasts.

Strictly speaking, it is supposed to be done in both Mass and Office of the day, so you should follow whatever your monastery or parish church is doing.

For modern calendar feasts that do not have propers in the Diurnal, you can simply utilise the appropriate Common (and where appropriate, take the collect from your Missal or Roman Breviary

Pre-1960 Benedictine calendar

For September, the main differences between the 1960 and earlier calendars relates to assorted saints remembered in memorials only (though in the earlier books memorials were generally marked at both Lauds and Vespers, not just the first!).  

And as you will see if you look down the list, several victims of the 1960 'pruning' were (as for the rest of the year) female saints, the most important of whom is St Thecla, once generally regarded (in the East at least still), as the first female monastic saint.  

Her very early Vita (dating from the second century) was widely circulated in the early centuries of the Church, but met some early, rather misogynistic opposition in the West led by Tertullian, but her cult was commented on favourably by many others, such as St Augustine.  Twentieth century scholarship was similarly inclined to downplay her historicity, and she was removed from the General Calendar in 1969, but, as in several other cases, the tide has turned again recently, at least terms of in academic scholarship.

Day of September	1960 Benedictine	1962 Roman	1953 Benedictine	Ben Con/ 2025 Roman (where extra/different)	Other
1		St Giles, Memorial (Abbot)
2		St Stephen, Cl 3 (Confessor)
3	St Pius X, Cl 3	St Pius X, Cl 3		St Gregory the Great F (March 12, MD [77])
4					St Marcellus, Martyr
5		St Lawrence Justinian, Cl 3 (Confessor)		St Teresa of Calcutta OM (Virgin)
6					St Zachariah (OT prophet)
7
8	Nativity of the BVM		Nativity of the BVM with a simple Octave; St Hadrian, Memorial	Nativity of the BVM, F
9	St Gorgonius, Memorial	St Gorgonius, Memorial	St Gorgonius	St Peter Claver, Confessor, OM
10		St Nicolas of Tolentino, Cl 3 (Confessor)
11	SS Protus and Hyacinth, Memorial	SS Protus and Hyacinth, Memorial	SS Protus and Hyacinth, M		St Theodora
12		Most Holy Name of Mary, Cl 3	Most Holy Name of Mary	Most Holy Name of Mary OM
13				St John Chrysostom, M (Jan 27, MD [43])
14	Exaltation of Holy Cross, Cl 2	Exaltation of Holy Cross, Cl 2	Exaltation of Holy Cross, SS Cornelius and Cyprian Memorials (1960 Ben: 16 Sept)	Exaltation of Holy Cross, F
15	Seven Sorrows of the BVM, Cl 3	Seven Sorrows of the BVM, Cl 2	Seven Sorrows of the BVM; St Nicodemus, Memorial	Seven Sorrows of the BVM, M
16	SS Cornelius and Cyprian, Memorial	SS Cornelius and Cyprian, Cl 3	SS Euphemia, Lucy & Germanianus, Memorial	SS Cornelius and Cyprian, M
17	St Hildegard (V, Doctor), Memorial	Imprinting of the Holy Stigmata on the body of St Francis, Memorial (Confessor)	St Hildegard	St Hildegard, OM or St Robert Bellarmine, OM (MD: 13 May)
18		St Joseph of Cupertino, Cl 3 (Confessor)
19		St Januarius and companions, Cl 3 (Martyrs)		St Januarius, OM
20		St Eustace and companions, Memorial (Martyrs)	Vigil of St Matthew	St Andrew Kim, Paul Chong and companions (the Korean martyrs)
21	St Matthew, Cl 2	St Matthew, Cl 2	St Matthew	St Matthew, F
22	St Maurice and Companions, Memorial	St Thomas of Villanova, Cl 3 (Confessor bishop)	St Maurice and Companions
23	St Linus, Memorial	St Linus, Cl 3 (Pope martyr)	SS Linus and Thecla (Virgin martyr), Memorials	St Pius of Pietrilcina, Confessor, M
24		Our Lady of Ransom, Memorial
25
26		SS Cyprian and Justina, Memorial	SS Cyprian and Justina, Memorial	SS Cosmas and Damian OM (Sept 27)
27	SS Cosmas and Damian, Memorial	SS Cosmas and Damian, Cl 3 (Martyrs)	SS Cosmas and Damian, Memorial	St Vincent de Paul, M (July 19, MD [195])
28		St Wenceslas, Cl 3 (Martyr)		St Wenceslaus, Martyr, OM or St Lawrence Ruiz and companions OM (Japanese martyrs)
29	Dedication of St Michael the Archangel, Cl 1	Dedication of St Michael the Archangel, Cl 1	Dedication of St Michael the Archangel	St Michael and all the Angels, F
30	St Jerome, Cl 3	St Jerome, Cl 3	St Jerome	St Jerome, M

 Key: S=Solemnity (Class I); F= Feast (Class II); M=Memorial (Class III), OM = Optional memorial (Class III or Memorial).