Pentecost

This Sunday is, of course, the feast of Pentecost, and in the traditional calendar, it comes with a first class octave, as befits its status as one of the big three (with Christmas and Easter) feasts of the liturgical year.

In the Ordinary Form, alas, the Octave is no more, and its back to Ordinary Time after Sunday.

This week in the traditional Benedictine Office


Sun 19 May Pentecost Sunday, Class I with Class I Octave
Mon 20 May Whit Monday, Class I
Tues 21 May Whit Tuesday, Class I
Wed 22 May Ember Wednesday, Class I
Thur 23 May   Whit Thursday, Class I
Fri 24 May Ember Friday, Class I
Sat 25 May Ember Saturday, Class I

Ascension Sunday

Depending on what calendar you follow, and/or where you live, this Sunday is either Sunday after the Ascension, the feast of the Ascension, or Sunday in the Octave of the Ascension.

The feast of the Ascension itself of course occurred last Thursday, consistent with Scripturally specified number of days following the Resurrection.  But the external solemnity is moved to this Sunday in many countries.

So far as the Office goes, prior to 1962, the feast had an octave, so the remnants of that are used to provide a distinct flavour to these nine days, even though the Octave itself has been abolished.

The Office this week in the 1962 Benedictine calendar


Sun 12 May Sunday after the Ascension, Class II; SS Nereus, Archilleus and Pancras,
        Memorial
Mon 13 May Class IV; St Robert Bellarmine, Memorial
Tues 14 May Class IV; St Pachomius, Memorial
Wed 15 May Class IV
Thurs 16 May Class IV
Fri 17 May Class IV
Sat 18 May Whitsun Eve (Vigil of the Pentecost), Class I

Fifth/Sixth Sunday (after/of Easter)!

We are now coming up to the end of the Easter season, with the Feast of the Ascension this Thursday (though celebrated only on the Sunday in many places in the Ordinary Form).

Ascensiontide, while part of the greater Easter season, has its own special texts (and special chants if you are singing it) in the Office, so you will need to pay attention.

It is also worth noting that the first three days of the week are Rogation Days, when a litany of the saints is traditionally said as a part of a procession at Mass.

The Ordinary of Ascensiontide

In the pre-1962 calendar the period after the Feast of the Ascension was an 'octave', and remnants of the octave can be found in the Office as it now stands.  The rubrics for this period on MD 383* ff.

Lauds: The antiphons are as for Eastertide; the chapter, short responsory, versicle and Benedictus antiphon (note that this is used each day except where displaced by a feast, Sunday etc) are set out at MD 383* ff.

Prime to None: The appropriate antiphons, chapter etc are set out in the psalter.

Vespers: The (single) antiphon is alleluia, as for Eastertide; the chapter, responsory, hymn, versicle and Magnificat antiphon are set out at MD 388*.

This week in the traditional Benedictine calendar

Sun 5 May Fifth Sunday after Easter, Class II; St Pius V, Memorial
Mon 6 May Class IV; Rogation Day
Tues 7 May Class IV; Rogation Day (EF: St Stanislaus, Class III)
Wed 8 May Vigil of the Ascension, Class II; Rogation Day

ASCENSIONTIDE

Thurs 9 May Ascension of Our Lord, Class I
Fri 10 May Class IV; SS Gordian and Epimachis, Memorial (EF: St Antoninus)
Sat 11 May SS Philip and James, Class II

Fourth Sunday after Easter/Fifth Sunday 'of' Easter

This Sunday, the Gospel in the Extraordinary Form, reflected in the canticle antiphons for Lauds and Vespers in the Monastic Diurnal, is St John 16:5-14.  In the Ordinary Form the Gospel is John 13:1-35.

In the traditional Benedictine calendar this week, the days run as follows:

Sun 28 April Fourth Sunday in Eastertide, Class II
Mon 29 April SS Odo, Majolus, Odilo and Hugh, Class III
Tues 30 April Class IV; St Catherine of Siena, Memorial
Wed 1 May St Joseph the Worker, Class I
Thurs 2 May St Athanasius, Class III
Fri 3 May   Class IV; SS Alexander, Eventius And Theodolus, Memorial
Sat 4 May Saturday of Our Lady; St Monica, Memorial

Third Sunday after Easter

This week in the Office 

Sun 21 April     Third Sunday after Easter, Class II
Mon 22 April    Class IV
Tues 23 April    Class IV; St George, Memorial
Wed 24 April    Class IV
Thurs 25 April   Greater Litanies; St Mark, Class II; ANZAC Day
Fri 26 April       Class IV; St Cletus, Memorial (Australia and NZ: St Mark, transferred)
Sat 27 April      Saturday of Our Lady; St Peter Canisius, Memorial

So which Sunday in Eastertide is it? Take your pick!

One of the more bizarre changes to the calendar in 1970, surely designed only to confuse, was the change in the numbering system of Sundays in certain seasons of the year.  The net result is that while in the Extraordinary Form, this Sunday is the Second Sunday after Easter, in the Ordinary Form it is the Third Sunday of Easter.  Go figure!

Naturally, the Gospels no longer align either - in the EF it is Good Shepherd Sunday (John 10: 11-16); in the OF, the text is John 21:1-19.

That's a shame it seems to me.  Whatever the merits of new lectionary's use of more of Scripture, there are certain texts, reflected in the Churches ancient Sunday Gospel cycle, that every Catholic ought to know more or less by heart, and repeating them every year helps ensure that.  But alas, in the Novus Ordo lectionary, this beautiful and important text comes around only once every three years, and you had your chance last year!

This week's Ordo in the 1962 Benedictine calendar


Sun 14 April   Second Sunday after Easter, Class II; SS Tiburtius, Valerian and Maximus,
          Memorial
Tues 16 April   Class IV
Wed 17 April   Class IV
Thurs 18 April  Class IV
Fri 19 April   Class IV
Sat 20 April   Saturday of Our Lady

Quasimodo Sunday and the season of Eastertide...

For the last week we have been experiencing, in the Divine Office, the extended Sunday of the Resurrection that is the Easter Octave.  From I Vespers of 'Low', 'White' or 'Quasimodo' (from the EF Introit) Sunday though, the rejoicing tones down a little at least, as move into the still very relaxed and joyful season of Easter-tide.

This Sunday, the Octave Day of Easter, has acquired numerous nicknames because of its rich liturgical history.

The name White Sunday is probably the oldest, since it comes from the association with the day the newly baptised put aside their white garments.

The term Low Sunday is to contrast it with Easter, or 'High' Sunday.

And of course in the Novus Ordo it has acquired yet another, as Divine Mercy Sunday (a Pope John Paul II innovation).

I have to admit that I always find the brief reversion in the psalter to the psalms of Saturday tonight for I Vespers a liturgical oddity (albeit seemingly a longstanding one).

Saturday Vespers aside though, don't be in too much of a hurry to move the ribbons in your Diurnal away from Sunday Lauds and Vespers, because apart from Low Sunday, on Monday we also get to enjoy the Feast of the Annunciation, transferred because of the clash of the normal feast date with Holy Week.

The rubrics for Easter-tide

The Ordinary for Eastertide in the Divine Office is set out at in the Farnborough editions of the Monastic Dirunal at MD 346* ff.

Note especially that at Lauds and Vespers, chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle are of the season, from the temporale and are not included in the psalter section.  In addition, the Lauds and Vespers canticles have proper antiphons for each day of the week.

This week's feasts

This week's traditional Benedictine calendar:

Sun 7 April Low Sunday, Class I
Mon 8 April Feast of the Annunciation, Class I (transferred from March 25)
Tues 9 April Class IV
Wed 10 April Class IV
Thurs 11 April St Leo I, Class III
Fri 12 April Class IV
Sat 13 April Saturday of Our Lady; St Justin, Memorial