Traditional Benedictine Ordo for December

All pages references are to the Farnborough edition of the Monastic Diurnal (MD).

Saturday November 28 – Saturday of Our Lady

See MD (129)

First Vespers for Sunday I in Advent – MD 1*ff

At Compline: Marian antiphon, Alma Redemptoris Mater

Sunday 29 November – First Sunday of Advent

See MD 4*ff (and pay careful attention to the notes on the Ordinary of Advent)

Monday 30 November - St Andrew, Class II, with a commemoration of Monday of the First Week of Advent

See MD [2] - at Lauds and Vespers make a commemoration of the feria with the versicle, canticle antiphons and collect for the first Monday of Advent, MD 17*, 11*), ie:

. at Lauds: Benedictus antiphon Angelus Domini, versicle Vox clamantis, collect of Sunday I.
. at Vespers: Magnifcat antiphon Leva Ierusalem, versicle Rarate caeli, collect of Sunday I.

1 December 2009 – Tuesday in the first week of Advent, Class III [**in some places Blessed Richard, Hugo, John, abbots and companions, martyrs, memorial]

[Note the instructions on the Ordinary of Advent, MD 9*-17*]

At Lauds: antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory and hymn from MD 18*, 9*ff; canticle antiphon of the day, MD 18*.

Prime: use antiphon for the first week of Advent (from the Sunday), MD13*, in conjunction with psalms of the psalter;

Terce to None: antiphons for the week (MD 13-15*) with psalms of the psalter; versicle and chapter for Advent as noted in the psalter; Collect of I Sunday of Advent from MD11*

Vespers:antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory and hymn from MD 15*; canticle antiphon of the day, MD18*

For the commemoration, see MD 1**

2 December - Wednesday in the First Week of Advent (Class III) with a memorial of St Peter Chrysologus, bishop, confessor and doctor

Collect from MD 11*; canticle antiphons MD18*; at Lauds for the commemoration, MD [8]

3 December - Thursday in the first week of Advent (Class III) with a memorial of St Francis Xavier, Confessor [***in some places, Class I]

Collect from MD 11*; canticle antiphons MD18*; at lauds for the commemoration, MD [8]

For St Francis Xavier as a Class I feast, see MD 1**

4 December - Friday in the first week of Advent, Class III

Collect from MD 11*; canticle antiphons MD19*

5 December - Saturday in the first week of Advent, Class III

Collect from MD 11*; at Lauds Benedictus antiphon MD18*.

First vespers of the Second Sunday in Advent – antiphons etc from MD19*ff

6 December – Second Sunday of Advent, Class I

See MD 22*

7 December – St Ambrose, Bishop, Confessor and Doctor, Class III

See MD [10], with a commemoration of the Monday of the second week in Advent (MD 11*, 17*).

First Vespers of the Immaculate Conception, MD [11] with a commemoration of the feria (MD 11*, 17*)

8 December – The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Class I

See MD [13]ff, making a commemoration of the Tuesday of the second week of Advent at Lauds and Vespers (MD 11*, 17*, 18*).

9 December – Wednesday of the second week of Advent, Class III

At Lauds: antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory and hymn from MD 9*ff; canticle antiphon of the day, MD 27*

Prime: use antiphon for the second week of Advent (from the Sunday), MD13*, in conjunction with psalms of the psalter;

Terce to None: antiphons for the week (MD 13-15*) with psalms of the psalter; versicle and chapter for Advent as noted in the psalter; Collect of Sunday II of Advent from MD11*

Vespers: antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory and hymn from MD 15*; canticle antiphon of the day, MD 27*

10 December – Thursday of the second week of Advent, Class III [**in some places, Blessed Mark Barkworth, John Roberts and companions, martyrs, memorial]

As for Wednesday, with collect from MD 11*; canticle antiphons MD 27**;[For the commemoration, see MD 2**]

11 December – Friday of the second week of Advent, Class III, St Damasus I, Pope and Confessor, Memorial

As for Wednesday with Collect from MD 11*; canticle antiphons MD 28*; for the commemoration at Lauds, see MD [17]

12 December – Saturday of the second week of Advent, Class III [**In some places, Our Lady of Guadeloupe]

As for Wednesday, with Collect from MD 11*; canticle antiphon MD 28*

For Our Lady of Guadeloupe, use Common of the BVM, MD (119)

First Vespers of the third Sunday of Advent, MD 28*

13 December – Third Sunday of Advent, Class I (Gaudete Sunday)

See MD 31*

14 December – Monday in the third week of Advent, Class III

At Lauds: antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory and hymn from MD 9*ff; canticle antiphon of the day, MD 41*

Prime: use antiphon for the third week of Advent (from the Sunday), MD13*, in conjunction with psalms of the psalter;

Terce to None: antiphons for the week (MD 13-15*) with psalms of the psalter; versicle and chapter for Advent as noted in the psalter; Collect of Sunday III of Advent from MD11*

Vespers: antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory and hymn from MD 15*;canticle antiphon of the day, MD 41*

15 December - Tuesday in the third week of Advent, Class III

As for Monday with Collect MD 11*; canticle antiphons MD 42*

16 December – Ember Wednesday in the third week of Advent, Class II

As for Monday with Collect and canticle antiphons MD 42-43*

17 December – Thursday in the third week of Advent, Class II

At all hours: Psalm antiphons from MD 39* with psalms of the psalter (antiphon 1 for Prime, Antiphon 2 for Terce, antiphon 3 for Sext, antiphon 4 for Nones; at Vespers omit antiphon 4).

At Lauds, chapter, responsory and hymn from MD 9*ff; Benedictus antiphon and collect MD 43*

At Vespers, O Antiphon for the Magnificat – O Sapientia, MD 35*; collect MD 43*

18 December – Ember Friday in the third week of Advent, Class II

Antiphons MD 40*; Benedictus antiphon and collect MD 44*

At Vespers, O Antiphon for the Magnificat – O Adonai, MD 35*

19 December – Saturday in the third week of Advent, Class II

Antiphons MD 40*; Benedictus antiphon and collect MD 44-45*

Vespers for the fourth Sunday of Advent, MD 45*, O Antiphon for the Magnificat – O Radix Iesse, MD 35*

20 December – Third Sunday of Advent, Class I

See MD 48*; at Vespers O Antiphon O clavis David, MD 36*

21 December – St Thomas, Apostle, Class II

See MD [22]ff

22 Deccember – Tuesday in the fourth week of Advent, Class II

Antiphons for the psalms, MD 37*ff; Benedictus antiphon MD 52* (Consurge); Magnificat antiphon – O Rex gentium, MD 36*; collect MD 12*

23 December – Wednesday in the fourth week of Advent, Class II

Antiphons for the psalms, MD 38*; Benedictus antiphon (Ecce completa), MD 45*; Magnificat antiphon - O Emmanuel, MD 36*; collect MD12*

24 December - Vigil of the Nativity, Class I

See MD 54*.

I Vespers of the Nativity of Our Lord, MD 58*

25 December – The Nativity of Our Lord, Class I with a II Class Octave

See MD 61*ff

26 December – St Stephen, Protomartyr, Class II

See MD 83*ff

27 December – Sunday within the Octave within the Octave, Commemoration of St John

See MD 77*ff; for the commemoration at Lauds and Vespers, MD 90*ff

28 December - Holy Innocents, Martyrs, Class II

See MD 97*ff

29 December – Fifth Day within the Octave of the Nativity, Class II

See MD 103*

30 December – Sixth Day within the Octave of the Nativity, Class II

See MD 103*

31 December – Seventh Day within the Octave of the Nativity, Class II
See MD 103*ff

I Vespers of the Octave of the Nativity of Our Lord, MD 104*ff

Office of the Dead

The Diurnal includes the texts for the Office of the Dead (starting from MD (135), and saying it on behalf of a particular soul, selected souls, or all souls in purgatory is a great spiritual work of mercy. For those with ambitions to say Matins but whose Latin (or stamina) is not yet up to the task, saying Matins of the Dead each day might be a good and worthy way to work up to the full thing. It is also a particularly beautiful and haunting Office.

What is the Office of the Dead?

The Office of the Dead consists of first Vespers (ie said the night before), Matins and Lauds, and is said for the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. It can be said for one person, or for many.

It is a very ancient Office, and probably took on its current form around the seventh century. It became very popular in the middle ages, with many monasteries earning considerable income by saying it on behalf of laypeople.

It can be said any day, but traditionally it was not said on the equivalent of second and first class feasts, but was said:

• on the day of burial, and third and seventh day after the funeral;
• on the anniversary of the death;
• Pius V recommended it be said on the the first free day in the month, the Mondays of Advent and Lent, on some vigils, and ember days; and
• All Soul's Day.

How to say it.

The Office can of course be said instead of the normal Office (unless you are a priest or religious bound to the recitation of the Office). But if you want to say it as well, say the normal Office of Vespers first, then Vespers for the Dead; Matins and Lauds of the day, then Matins and Lauds of the Dead. You might also choose just to say one of these hours, not all three.

The Office for the Dead has no introductory texts, you just launch into the antiphons and psalms as written. There are though two things you need to decide in advance:

• if you are saying Matins, whether to say all three 'Nocturns" or choose the one appropriate for the day of the week (you will find Sunday, Monday and Thursday on MD (137); Tuesday and Friday on MD (145); and Wednesday and Saturday on MD (154);
• which collect to use - there is a selection from MD (174) onwards, make your choice depending on who you are saying it for and when. Mark your selection with a ribbon.

The only other thing to remember is that instead of the normal Gloria (Glory be) at the end of each psalm, you say "Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis" - have a look at MD (137).

Vespers of the Dead

Vespers of the Dead can be found on MD (181). It consists of:

• five psalms each with an antiphon;
• a versicle - MD (185);
• Magnificat with antiphon, MD (185-6);
• the Our Father, said kneeling, intercessory prayers and the selected collect - MD (187)
• conclusion - MD (187).

Matins of the Dead

Can be found on MD (136)ff.

It consists of:

• the invitatory psalm (94) with antiphon said responsorially (follow the text as set out);
• one or three nocturns. Each nocturn consists of three psalms each with an antiphon, and three readings each followed by a responsory.
• the collect and conclusion - MD (163).

Note that there are instruction on what to do if Lauds is not said, or Lauds is separated from Matins on MD (163).

Lauds of the Dead

Lauds of the Dead can be found on MD (163). Apart from stripping out the introductory sections of normal Lauds, it follows the same basic pattern for the psalms and canticles. The concluding prayers for the hour are on MD (173).

Learning Matins: The structure of the Hour and the readings

I've had a request to list all the readings for Matins, I assume to assist in construction of a do it yourself edition of Matins.

I'm not going to quite do that, but instead thought I'd provide a few notes that will help those intent on such a path work out something suitable for themselves, as well as introducing those who are interested in saying Matins to the pattern of its readings.

To understand how the readings work, you need to understand something about the structure of the Monastic Office of Matins itself, so to that first!

Just to explain briefly for those who haven't come across Matins at all yet, the basic structure of Matins is as follows:

INVITATORY SECTION

It starts with 'Domine labia mea aperies; et os meum annuntiabit lauden tuam' (O Lord open my lips, that I may announce your praise', said three times while making a sign of the cross on your lips.

Then Psalm 3 (uniquely to the Monastic Office) is said.

Then Psalm 94, interspersed with the antiphon of the day, season or feast (there is a slightly complicated pattern to the interspersing which you can get by looking at Office for the Dead in the Farnborough Diurnal, the Little Office of Our Lady, or a Roman version of the Office).

Then the hymn of the day, season or feast.

Both the antiphon and hymn are generally (though not always) the same as in the Roman Office, so you can find them here (note this link, I'll refer to it again. And make sure you specify 1962 rubrics for this purpose, assuming that is what you are saying otherwise).

THE NOCTURNS

Monastic Matins, like Matins in the Roman Office, is divided into 'Nocturns' - the psalms with antiphons followed by a versicle, Our Father, Absolution, and lessons each with responsory. There are significant differences between the Roman and Monastic Office here though:

• in the Monastic Office, the first two Nocturns almost invariably consist of six psalms with antiphons, compared to the Roman three;
• the Third Nocturn (used on Sundays and major feasts) consists of canticles and antiphons rather than psalms;
• the number of readings often differs between the Roman and Monastic Offices.

Matins comes with either two or three Nocturns, and with one, three and twelve 'lessons', depending on the day of the week, time of the year and feast. Each lesson is followed by a responsory, the last of which in each Nocturn includes the Gloria Patri...

The conclusion of the Hour is essentially the same as for the day hours (though it can be somewhat abbreviated on Sundays where Lauds follows immediately).

THE READINGS

Sundays and First Class Feasts

On Sundays, there are twelve lessons (each with a request for a blessing, blessing, and responsory), followed by a reading of the Gospel for the Sunday (the same as used at Mass). The normal pattern (to which there are exceptions) is as follows:

• First Nocturn - Scriptural readings
• Second Nocturn - Patristic commentary on the first nocturn readings;
• Third Nocturn - Patristic readings relating to the Gospel of the day, followed by the Te Deum, Gospel, the hymn Te Decet Laus, then the Collect.

In most (though not all) cases the Scriptural and patristic readings are the same as in the pre-1960 Roman Office, but split into four sections rather than three (and so with an extra responsory). So you could use the site I provided a link to above to simply substitute in the Roman version and not be too far off what is said in the Monastic Office (just make sure you specify 'reduced 1955' under rubrics rather than 1962 - the 1962 Roman Office cuts out several of the readings). The Roman Office doesn't actually read out the Gospel though, so you will need to note the reference provided in the third Nocturn (or look it up in your Missal) in order to do this in accordance with the Monastic rubrics.

Days of the week in (Northern Hemisphere) Summer

If the Sunday Office is much longer than the Roman, St Benedict cuts down the number of readings at least in the weekday Office during summer to allow his monks to get enough sleep (remember the night was measured by hours of darkness, so a lot shorter in summer)!

So when it comes to readings all you get during this time of year for Nocturn I is a very short, set lesson which is closer to a chapter in length, though does come with an introductory request for a blessing, together with a responsory. For Monday for example, it is from Lamentations, Chapter 2, vs 19.

Nocturn II also has a chapter and versicle of the day, and variants based on the time of saint for Class III feasts.

It really would be too much work for me to list these all out at the moment (but see below), but if someone else with a breviary wants to do it and send it to me, I'll post it!

The ferial Office in winter

In winter, Nocturn I has three readings with responsories, normally identical to those in the Roman Office, so just take it from there. You could follow the Roman pattern for summer as well if you really want to say a reading or two...

Third Class feasts

Third class feasts during summer generally have one reading, usually on the life of the saint - you can generally find these in the Roman Office. In winter, there are three, often the same as in the Roman (assuming the saint is celebrated in both calendars. There is a common of saints where no proper exists).

Second Class Feasts

Second class feasts usually have two nocturns with three three readings (typically patristic, but sometimes including something from the life of the saint) in Nocturn I, and a chapter relating to the type of saint in Nocturn II. You can generally find the Nocturn I readings in the Roman Office.

So I hope all this helps, even if it doesn't quite give you what you need in the absence of a Monastic Breviary...

Books for Matins

Someone asked about chant books for Monastic Matins, so I thought I'd set out what I've found on books for Matins more generally - others may wish to chip in!

This is a post for the enthusiasts only!

The Breviary

The essential book for officially approved version of Matins is the Monastic Breviary - in full, 'Breviarium Monasticum Summorum Pontificum cura recognitum pro omnibus sub regula S. P. Benedicti militantibus issu abbatis primatis editum'. It is published by Marietti at Rome, 1963 and comes in two volumes. These days it is of course out of print, but can be found readily in secondhand book shops. This edition is of course in Latin only.

If you really want the English, there are a couple of options. Lancelot Andrews Press have published an edition of it entirely in English. It follows the structure for Matins set out by St Benedict, but uses the psalms from the Book of Common Prayer/Scripture from the King James Version. It obviously doesn't come with an imprimatur.

The other option is that Clear Creek monastery has, I gather, produced a partial parallel Latin-English text for the use of their novices, covering ferias only. You would need to contact them to see if you can obtain a copy; their website current flags a forthcoming downloadable version. I also mentioned in a previous post the book of Liturgical Readings put out by Grail Publications which provides many of the patristic readings (but is pretty hard to find these days!).

Singing Matins

In terms of actually singing Matins, a fair amount of the music is available from books you may already have, or that can be downloaded from the net. In particular:

• the Liber Usualis provides Roman Matins for major feasts, and most of the chants are the same (you will just be missing a few antiphons and responsories); and
• the Liber Hymnarius provides most (though not all) of the invitatory antiphons and hymns.

The Nocturnale Romanorum will also give you a lot of the rest of Matins.

To get the invitatory antiphon, hymn and antiphons for ferias, you basically need the Psalterium 'DISPOSITUM PER HEBDOMADAM PRO NOCTURNIS HORIS SECUNDUM REGULAM SS. PATRIS NOSTRI BENEDICTI' (publication details unknown to me). This is a pretty rare book (I don't have it, though probably couldn't afford it now even if I did find one), although there is a French-Latin version around (although I believe it doesn't use the Vulgate for the psalms). There was a PDF of the Psalter up on the web at one stage, but the site is now down. If you would like a copy though, contact me offline.

Fortunately, the situation for feasts (which I'd have to say is the only time most monasteries actually sing all the chants of Matins!) is a much happier one. For that you need the Liber Responsorialis, which has been reprinted by Nova et Vetera.

The other useful book you may wish to acquire is the Processionale Monasticum (though most of its contents also appear in the Liber Responsorialis), which is also readily available in a reprint.

Do let me know of other books you are aware of!

Getting ready to tackle Matins!

Yesterday I suggested you should think twice about how much Office you should be saying. But there are some people who want and will be able to say Matins, even if not everyday, so I am going to provide some notes on it.

I'd have to warn though, that Matins has a higher level of difficulty than the day hours, so I strongly recommend a programme of preparation before you actually start trying it. And this post is about some suggestions on what to prepare.

So why is Matins harder?

Monastic Matins is much longer than the Roman EF version, and quite a bit tougher than the day hours to tackle for a number of reasons including that:

• it is much longer than any of the day hours - around double the length of Lauds on a short day;
• it is much more variable in length than the day hours - its length differs significantly between days of the week, for feasts, between summer and winter, etc, making it potentially more difficult to fit into your daily schedule;
• it is much more tailored to particular feasts and seasons - depending on the level of feast and the time of year it can have 1, 3 or 12 readings. Many feasts have their own set of psalms as well as hymns etc;
• lacks a complete parallel Latin-English edition - there are some partial ones around, and all Latin or all English versions, but a little more work is required;
• if you do say it in Latin, the text is a bit more challenging than the day Office - lots of Patristic readings, the more difficult psalms, etc.

So, before you start actually saying it, my advice is to thoroughly prepare.

Be familiar with the day Office first

In many of the traditional monasteries, postulants, and even novices don't necessarily say Matins. Instead, they go through a few cycles of the Day Hours first, so that they really understand the different levels of feasts, and acquire some familiarity with the Scriptural and Patristic readings first. So my first suggestion is that laypeople saying the Office should consider taking the same approach! If you want to block out the time for Matins, use it to study and really penetrate the meaning of the Day Office first, and then to prepare for Matins.

Start with a short Office version of Matins

My second suggestion is to start by saying a short Office version of Matins to 'mark the spot' in your day and become familiar with some of the structural features of the hour.

A good option is Matins for the Dead, contained in the Monastic Diurnal. Apart from being an excellent work of spiritual mercy, it will help you become familiar with the structure of Matins - the way the Invitatory antiphon and psalms work, the Nocturns etc, not to mention expanding your repertoire of psalms a little.

Another good option, and a good step up (as the Office for the Dead cuts out a lot of the standard lead ins to the Office) and a way of building up your repertoire of psalms further, is the Little Office of Our Lady. Baronius put out a very nice edition of this, including the chants for the Office, so well worth acquiring in any case. But there is also an online version.

As there are three Nocturns, one used for each day, in these two short Offices, you could use the two in combination to say a different set of psalms for Matins six days a week. Many people may saying Matins from one or both these short Offices sufficient to satisfy their desire to pray all of the Hours of the day.

Study the psalms in advance

If you do plan on tackling the full thing though, I'd also suggest a systematic study of the psalms used before you start (look at the psalm schema provided on the kellerbook site as a guide). This is something you should really do in any case for the day hours, but is especially important I think for Matins.

Even if you read them in English, a lot of these psalms rely on your knowing the Scriptural references for it to make sense - so sit down with a concordance or good commentary and learn the context. And if you are doing it in Latin, prepare the text so you can mentally translate the psalm when you say it with ease.

Study the hymns, responsories, chapters etc

These will be less of an issue if you say the Office in English, but still worth becoming familiar with before you really start on in. The hymns are generally the same as for the Roman Office (though in a nicer version of the Latin!), so use the sites that provide the Roman Breviary online to get a working translation. Or better still, acquire a copy of Connelly's Hymns of the Roman Liturgy for literal translations and helpful notes.

The Benedictine Office has more responsories than the Roman, but the Roman Office is still a useful starting point. In the end though, familiarity with the Vulgate Scripture (which will come from doing the readings at Matins) is the key here if you are saying the Office in Latin.

The Readings

The readings for Matins are a mix of Scripture, the Fathers, the lives of saints, and more. A monk novice would traditionally become familiar with many of these texts through his lectio divina, which was often structured around reading the entire Bible in a year. Consider doing something similar! You might find this post on my other blog a useful introduction.

In terms of the Patristic readings, again, they are mostly the same as the Roman Office (though split into four lessons on Sundays and major feasts rather than three). It is, though, possible to buy second hand (although copies are scarce) a book containing most of them in English (not including the Commons of Saints, and with some gaps due to differences between the pre-1962 and 1962 Offices). It is called 'Liturgical Readings The Lessons of the Temporal Cycle and the Principle Feasts of the Sanctoral Cycle according to the Monastic Breviary', Grail Publications, St Meinrad, 1943. This can then either be used as a crib, to help you to prepare the Latin, or even to substitute for the Latin if you prefer.

Hope these suggestions prove helpful, more soon!

On Ordos!

I gather there are a few people searching around for an Ordo to use with the Office, and some confusion about which Ordo is what. So I thought I'd just try and summarise the key differences between the various Ordos I know of, or have been told about, as a bit of an aid to those searching.

This is also a chance for those who are using the Ordo I produce each week to let me know what additional details they would like me to include (no guarantees on delivery though!).

What is an Ordo?

An Ordo is essentially a calendar for use in conjunction with the Mass and/or Office that tells you which feasts are celebrated on a particular date so that you can ensure you use the appropriate texts for the day. At a minimum, it simply lists the feast of the day and tells you the level of it (as in the summary in the sidebar to the right on this blog page). But it often provides a few more details of the particulars of the day (see for example the more detailed weekly notes on this site).

An Ordo is pretty essential - some feast days (such as Easter) change their date every year, and everything else flows from that. And there are inevitably clashes between possible feasts on particular dates, so you need to know what the rules determine should be celebrated on a particular date, and an Ordo should do that.

Some Ordos are extremely detailed - but this is the exception not the norm! In general, unless you live in a monastery where someone else is working it all out for you, you will need to become sufficiently familiar with the structure of the Office to be able to work out that if it is a third class feast, the things that change are....

The choices

The most commonly referred to Ordos are as follows:

• the Novus Ordo calendar used by the Catholic Church post 1970 - you can find a version of it here. This is the calendar most people will see used at Mass, and works well with the Liturgy of the Hours. It talks about feasts being solemnities or memorials. It is pretty hard to use it, however, in conjunction with one of the traditional forms of the Office (see below);
• the 1962 Roman Calendar, which you can find here, used for the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, and fits easily with the Roman Breviary. It talks about feasts being Class I, II or III, memorials or commemorations;
• the 1962-3 Benedictine Calendar, which is what I am providing on this site, is very similar to the 1962 Roman Calendar, differing only in terms of a few saints' feasts in the main. It can readily be used (or adapted) by anyone attending the EF mass, and using any of the traditional forms of the Benedictine Office (ie 1962 or earlier);
• a pre-1962 Benedictine or Roman calendar, used I gather in the Anglican Breviary and older forms of the Breviary - if your calendar talks about 'doubles' or 'duplexes' and such like terms then it is using one of these calendar variants. If your breviary uses this terminology it is actually pretty easy to superimpose the 1962 calendar onto it (it means dropping a few octaves and other changes though);
• Anglican or Anglican Use Ordos - Anglican Ordos will not include all feasts used in the Catholic Church, and may include some additional saints' feasts. Anglican Use ordos will presumably be something of a hybrid;
• the Western Rite Orthodox Ordo - uses the Orthodox calendar which dates Easter differently to the Western Church;
• Ordos for other religious orders such as the Dominicans, Carmelites, etc. These may come in either Novus Ordo, 1962 or pre-1962 forms.

Note also that most individual Benedictine monasteries (such as Le Barroux) produce their own Ordos for internal use, and by their Oblates, which are likely to differ in some respects from the Universal calendar.

Choosing and Ordo to use

Most people will instinctively want to use the Ordo that goes with whichever form of the Office they have purchased in the interests of simplicity. Fair enough, especially when you are just starting off and struggling to learn the Office.

My own view though is that as far as possible you should work up to using the calendar that aligns most closely with the Mass you attend (particularly if you are a daily mass goer), but admitting of variants to reflect a particular spirituality, such as Benedictine or Dominican, to which you may be attached. So if you attend an EF Mass, by all means use the variants provided by the Benedictine Ordo, it will fit well enough.

The reason is simple: the Office takes the Mass as its starting point, and expands out from it. So on a Sunday, for example, the Gospel at Mass will often provide the antiphon for the Benedictus and Magnificat. At Matins, the Patristic readings will relate to that Gospel. And so forth.

Using the Mass as your starting point of course is harder than it sounds if you want to use one of the traditional forms of the Office, whether Roman, Monastic or some other in conjunction with the OF Mass. Essentially, if you attend a Novus Ordo Mass, you might be able to line up saints' feast days, but the normal passage of liturgical seasons is harder to make work (though technically possible if your Latin is good enough, at least in relation to the Benedictine Office - you need to purchase the new Antiphonale Monasticum from the Monastery of Solesmes).

You should also be aware that whatever Ordo you use, there are local feasts that you will need to add to it - feasts particular to your country, diocese and parish.

My Ordo notes

This site is primarily dedicated to the Benedictine Use. If you are using any of the breviaries or diurnals that are based around the monastic form of the Office (modelled on the provisions set out in the Rule of St Benedict), you should be able to use the Ordo and notes I provide here.

I normally provide page references to the Farnborough edition of the Monastic Diurnal, but if there is sufficient demand, I would be happy to either provide references to the 1962 Monastic Breviary as well. From some of the queries I'm receiving, I think I perhaps need to provide a few more details of the texts to be used in any case, and it may be that this would assist those using other editions of the Diurnal (such as the Lancelot Andrews Press version). I'd certainly be happy to add in Ordo notes for Matins if that would be of assistance to anyone (presumably references to the English of the Office would be preferred?). So let me know what information would be useful - no guarantees, but I'll see what I can do!

Further reading

To learn a bit more about Ordos and the issues associated with them, take a look at my series on learning the Office in the sidebar - parts II, III and XII are relevant.

Learning the Office part XIVB: Singing the Office continued

I want to continue, in this part (if you've just found this series, start at Part I, to be found n the righthand side bar) to say something about singing the Office, and I'm going to do this by working through the various types of chant you will find in the Office.

I can't, of course, in one part, teach you how to sing the office. But I can give you some pointers to resources to help you, and provide a bit of a guide through as you attempt to work it out for yourself. The key text is of course the Antiphonale Monasticum, a page of which (for Sunday Vespers) is pictured above - click on the picture to see a larger version of it.

How music reflects the solemnity of the Office

One of the reasons it is important to tackle the music of the Office is that music is used, amongst other things, to indicate the degree of solemnity of the particular hour and day. For example:

• for many basic chants, such as the introductory 'Deus in adjutorium' there are different versions to use at the little hours (the simple tone), and a 'solemn tone' to use at Lauds and Vespers;
  
• the tone for standard hymns (at the minor hours) can differ between Sundays and weekdays, for different classes of feasts, and in particular seasons and feasts; and
  
• there are lots of beautiful settings of the concluding 'Benedicamus Domino...Deo Gratias' that vary depending on the type and level of feast, hour and season.

Start recto tono

I said in the last part that it is always an option to sing everything on one note - called recto tono. My suggestion is to stat by doing just that - it will get you singing the Latin aloud and getting familiar with how it sounds. And that will help you immensely when you come to sing to the proper tones.

There are basically two methods of singing the psalms. The first is to follow speech rhythm, lengthening the accented syllables of the words (either the first syllable or the one marked). The second is to make all syllables the same length, slightly lengthening the last two syllables of each half of the verse. The first method allows you to put more meaning into the text - but the second is a lot simpler and particularly useful in keeping together large groups of singers, so is often used in monasteries.

Build up gradually

My second suggestion is, build up gradually. Pick a little section to add each week. There are many variants to the Office chants - ignore these at first and stick to it until you know it really well without worrying to much about whether it is the correct tone for the day or season at first. Then, once you are comfortable with it, add the next variant or element to your repertoire.

And start with the simpler types of chant in the Office. The main types of chant in the Office, in increasing degree of elaborateness, are:

• the common tones used for things like the Deus in adjutorium.., versicles and so forth, which often aren't much more than a few variations on one note. They generally come in two or more variants, a simple tone for the little hours, and a solemn tone for Lauds and Vespers;
  
• the set patterns - called psalm tones - used for the psalms and canticles. I'll say more about these below;
  
• the antiphons, which are typically very short, and often use the same tunes or phrases over and over, but can be quite elaborate;
  
• the hymns;


• more elaborate chants, often for feasts, such as the 'prolix responsories' that are an option for First Vespers of major feasts.

You might want to skip down this list a little and say add a few hymns in fairly early on, but in general, I'd suggest starting at the top of this list, and working down it.

The Liber Usualis and Roman Office chant books

One way of starting off is to start off by working from the Liber Usualis, which contains most of the chants for the Mass, and a lot of the chants for the (Roman) Office, particularly the common tones. It is available online, contains instructions on how to sing the psalms, and is rather easier to follow in places to the Antiphonale, so a good place to begin. As well as setting out most of the chants for the (Roman) Sunday day Office (which is very similar to the Benedictine, but remember to skip the extra psalm!), as well as the antiphons for most major feasts, the Liber also has the proper antiphon for the Magnificat in with the Mass propers for each week (though for the Roman Office, they are normally pretty much the same as the Benedictine ones).

There are some minor differences in the chants between the Roman Office and the Benedictine - but a lot of them, I suspect, reflect nothing other than the state of the monastery of Solesmes' views at the date the various books were published (in general, Benedictine chant is the source for Roman chant!). In any case, if you start off by working from the Liber, you can always correct to the Monastic version once you feel more confident of the chant and have acquired the Monastic Antiphonary.

I won't attempt to give page references, you really need to sit down and look through the section starting 'The Ordinary Chants of the Office', and looking through the Offices provided for Sunday for yourself. Be careful though - though the chant tones are often the same, or differ only in minor ways, the Offices themselves are do have significant differences, so watch out for those as you work your way through it.

The psalms and antiphons

The psalms are of course the core of the Office. Essentially, the psalms are normally sung to one of eight set patterns. Which pattern or 'psalm tone' is to be used depends on the antiphon. If you look at the page from the Antiphonale above, for example, you will see it says 'VIIc2' on the line above the antiphon. The VII means psalm tone 7, and the 'c2' refers to the particular ending to be used (there is usually a choice of several) in this case. And in fact if you look down three lines of chants you will see a few notes with 'euouae' underneath them - this is the abbreviation for 'Et in saecula saeculorum. Amen', and shows you how those words fits against ending c2 in case you have forgotten which one it is!

A useful resource to get a flavour of the various psalm tones can be found in the sidebar of the chant blog. The examples given on the MP3s are, I think, all in English, but it will still give you the basic idea. Note that there are some minor variants in the ending labels etc between the Antiphonale and the Liber, plus a few extra purely monastic psalm tones, so if you switch from one to the other, watch out for these!

In order to sing using the psalm tones of course you need to know which tone to use (which tees off the antiphon) and then when to change from the reciting note to the midpoint and ending patterns in the verse. The Liber uses italics and bolding to 'point' the psalms to tell you when to change note so is a very useful resource. It points most of the psalms for Sunday Vespers, and a few others - you will find a lot more of the ones needed for the monastic office in the book I noted yesterday for Vespers and Compline (and the publication details can also be found by following the link in the sidebar under Office books available via Amazon - although 'available' might be too strong a word in reality - as they are mostly out of print, you will probably need to search out other sources for them!).

In terms of learning the psalm tones, I would strongly suggest learning them one at a time, then adding relevant psalms (or perhaps the Magnificat on Sunday in the simple tone version) in that tone into your Office. Start with the easiest, tone 8, then 5, then 2. Tones 3, 4 and 7 are the hardest.

Good luck!