Saints Will Arise

Liturgical Code of St Benedict: Lauds/2 (Feb 15)

2012-02-15T00:00:00.145+11:00

Today's section of the Rule looks at the structure and content of Lauds on ferial days, or days throughout the week.

Caput XIII: Privatis diebus qualiter agantur matutini

Diebus autem privatis Matutinorum sollemnitas ita agatur: id est, ut sexagesimus sextus psalmus dicatur sine antiphona, subtrahendo modice sicut Dominica, ut omnes occurrant ad quinquagesimum, qui cum antiphona dicatur. Post quem alii duo psalmi dicantur secundum consuetudinem: id est, secunda feria quintus et trigesimus quintus, tertia feria quadragesimus secundus et quinquagesimus sextus, quarta feria sexagesimus tertius et sexagesimus quartus, quinta feria octogesimus septi-mus et octogesimus nonus, sexta feria septuagesimus quintus et nonagesimus primus, sabbato autem centesimus quadragesimus secundus et canticum Deuteronomium, quod dividatur in duas Glorias. Nam ceteris diebus canticum unumquodque die suo ex prophetis, sicut psallit Ecclesia Romana, dicantur. Post haec sequantur Laudes; deinde lectio una apostoli memoriter recitanda, respon-sorium, ambrosianum, versu, canticum de 'Evangelia', litania, et completum est.

Chapter 13: How Lauds shall be said on ordinary days

On ordinary days Lauds shall be celebrated in the following manner: let the sixty-sixth psalm be said without an antiphon and somewhat slowly, as on Sunday, in order that all may assemble in time for the fiftieth, which should be said with an antiphon.

After this let two other psalms be said according to custom: that is, on Monday the fifth and thirty-fifth; on Tuesday the forty-second and fifty-sixth; on Wednesday the sixty-third and sixty-fourth; on Thursday the eighty-seventh and eighty-ninth; on Friday the seventy-fifth and ninety-first; and on Saturday the hundred and forty-second and the canticle from Deuteronomy, which must be divided into two parts.

But on the other days let there be a canticle from the prophets, each on its own day, according to the custom of the Roman church. After that let the Laudate psalms follow; then a lesson from the apostle to be said by heart, the responsory, the hymn, the versicle, the canticle from the Gospels, the Kyrie eleison, and so the end.

Commentary

The hour of Lauds is absolutely central to St Benedict's construction of the Office, reflecting two key principles, namely repetition each day of certain key psalms, and secondly (more controversially) the progression of the week according to a thematic program.

The value of repetition

These days we tend to shy away from repetition, preferring instead novelty! Yet repetition of key messages is a central feature of St Benedict's Office. Indeed, the fixed psalms and canticle of Lauds make up well over half of the verses said at this hour each day.

The twentieth century saw a rejection of the value of repetition in the liturgy, reflected in the reform of the Roman Breviary by Pope Pius X, and then in the reforms of the Mass of Vatican II. But modern liturgists, following the work of people such as Dom Gerard Calvet of Le Barroux and theologian Catherine Pitstock, are starting to rediscover the importance of repetition in the process of building up and reinforcing those spiritual walls that protect us from the enemy. The new English translation of the Mass has even seen the reintroduction of some of those much despised repetitions.

In the case of the Benedictine Office, the fixed psalms I think, very much reflect St Benedict's core spirituality and are meant to be memorized and internalized, and repeated over and over so that they truly become automatic to our thinking.

The hour starts each day by asking for God’s blessing and grace (Psalm 66), echoing that call in the first section of the Prologue of the Rule that before undertaking any good work, we ask God to perfect it.

In Psalm 50 we express our repentance and dependence on God, again reflecting that call to return to him from whom we have strayed from by the sloth of disobedience.

And the hour ends in the Laudate psalms (148-150).

Abbot Lawrence of Christ in the Desert argues for the importance of this repetition:

"It is important that we notice the repetitions that occur in the Divine Office. If we follow the Divine Office exactly as it is outline in the Rule of Benedict, we will end up with praying about 279 Psalms in a week because of the repetitions…Saint Benedict knows that the Divine Office is longer because of repetitions but he still seems to like them because certain Psalms add a distinctive flavor, at least to some of the Divine Offices. Is there any value in repetition? Certainly! It is the principal element of the Divine Office because every week we repeat the same Psalms. Over many years of monastic life, we can come to know most of the Psalms by heart. Saint Benedict would have presumed that every monk would know the entire Book of Psalms by heart and probably also all of the New Testament."

Thematic progress?

St Benedict also sets out, in this chapter, the variable content of the hour, in the canticles, imported from the Roman Office, and the two variable psalms.

It is often suggested that the Benedictine Office does not have any thematic unity or underlying program. I don't agree. My thesis is that St Benedict has shaped the variable psalm cursus quite carefully in order to provide thematic links that flow largely from the program set up by the canticles, a view I might add, that I'm finding some support for in the medieval literature. Note here that I am talking about the 'ferial' canticles - the festal ones are a much later addition to the Office.

I'll say more on the programmatic dimension of the Benedictine Office later in this series in the context of the rest of St Benedict's psalm cursus. Still, I do want to suggest that St Benedict sets out these provisions for Lauds here rather than later in order to stress their centrality, their role as a key to the whole Office. So do take a close look at those ferial canticles, and keep an ear our for the connections to (some of ) the psalms of the day for yourself!

The Saturday ferial canticle

There is one other point worth noting in relation to the 1962 Office in particular, relating to the Saturday canticle.

St Benedict specifies it should be divided, and in the 1962 breviary, but not for some reason, the Diurnal, it is. But even in the Monastic Breviary, the canticle as it appears in the 1962 Office has been drastically cut, the victim, it would appear, of revisionist liturgical butchery: in its full form it amounts to some 65 verses. By contrast, the 27 verses included in the 1962 version don’t even take us up to the divisio point in the older version of the Office!

Reading it one can see why modernists might bulk at it, since it falls into that Old Testament of hard – but important – sayings. After chronicling the infidelity of the people, it promises judgment.

Yet the full version of the canticle has been retained (at least for some times of the year) in the traditional Roman Office, and is worth a good read or two!

St Benedict's Liturgical Code: Lauds/1 (Feb 14)

2012-02-14T00:00:00.085+11:00

Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, folio 182v

Today's section of the Rule describes the structure and content of Lauds on Sunday.

If you look at the Latin you will see that St Benedict uses the word 'Matutinis' to describe this hour (and vigils for what we now call Matins) - don't be confused by the terminology, this is the first of the day hours we are talking about here, taking its modern name from the three 'Laudate' psalms that conclude the psalmody for the hour.

Caput XII: Quomodo matutinorum sollemnitas agatur

In Matutinis dominico die, inprimis dicatur sexagesimus sextus psalmus sine antiphona in directum. Post quem dicatur quinquagesimus cum Alleluia; post quern dicatur centesimus septimus decimus et sexagesimus secundus; inde Benedictiones et Laudes, lectio de Apocalypsi una ex corde et responsorium, ambrosianum, versu, canticum de 'Evangelia', litania, et completum est.

Chapter 12: How the Office of Lauds is to be Said

LAUDS on Sundays should begin with the sixty-sixth psalm chanted straight through without an antiphon. After that let the fiftieth psalm be said, with Alleluia; then the hundred and seventeenth and the sixty-second; then the Benedicite and the Laudate psalms; then a lesson from the Apocalypse to be recited by heart, the responsory, the hymn, the versicle, the canticle from the Gospel book, the Kyrie eleison, and so the end.

Commentary

Sunday in the Office and Mass is a weekly celebration of the Resurrection, and the imagery, texts and rubrics St Benedict specifies for this hour all reinforce this.

The symbolism of light and darkness

In the previous chapters (especially chapter 8) it was made clear that the timing and length of Matins was to be adjusted in order that Lauds started strictly at daybreak (McCann translates it as dawn, but the general consensus is that daybreak or first light is the actual meaning). Unlike the Roman Office, where Matins and Lauds are typically joined together, St Benedict, you will recall from Chapter 8, actually provides for a separation between them, of shorter or longer duration depending on the season.

Some modern commentators see this daybreak start as a relic of a bygone age that was driven by the rhythms of agriculture, and there is a certain truth in this in that St Benedict clearly expected his monks to follow the flow of the seasons. Still, St Benedict seems actually to have taken the structure of his office of Lauds, as he implies in the next chapter, pretty much entirely from the urban `Cathedral' Office of Rome, not the desert or the countryside traditions.

Moreover the symbolism of light and darkness St Benedict draws on in these provisions reflects a tradition dating back to the first Christians, and indeed, in all probability, Jewish practice as attested to not least in the very psalms we sing at the hour. But in Christian practice the hour became strongly linked to the Resurrection. Dom Delatte, for example, in his classic commentary on the Rule, states that Lauds "represents the hour of victory of light over darkness, the hour of Our Lord's resurrection."

The psalms of Sunday Lauds

St Benedict is very specific in the psalms to be said at Lauds on Sunday, so it is worth considering the specific content of the psalms he sets for it.

The first psalm to be said, the invitatory psalm, Psalm 66, clearly sets the tone for the hour, by asking for God's blessing on the day to come.

Psalm 50 can be seen as serving as something of a continuation of the invitatory, addressing our need to purify ourselves from sin before offering God praise, and to help us recognize that, as Dom Delatte suggests, "God alone can make it [the soul] come forth from its darkness". That he freely gives us this grace is reflected in the Alleluia St Benedict adds as its antiphon.

The resurrection focus of Sunday, however, is given pre-eminence by the use of Psalm 117: the verse Haec Dies is used throughout the Easter Octave at Mass. In the old Roman Office, this psalm was said at Prime. St Benedict shifts it to the more important hour of Lauds, presumably in the interests of symmetry: Psalm 117 is the last of the 'Hallel' psalms on major Jewish feasts, and in an interesting reversal of their order (the first shall be last and the last first?), the first of this group of psalms (psalm 112) closes off Sunday Vespers.

Psalm 62 which follows perhaps provides something of a counterpoint to the Resurrection focus of Psalm 117, stressing the 'almost but not yet' character of the age we live in, speaking of the longing for Christ's return.

Above all though, the rejoicing at the rising sun/Son is most aptly captured in the Benedicite, the three Laudate psalms, and the Benedictus (Gospel canticle), all of which serve to link God's work of creation, salvation and the re-creation of the world through Christ.

St Antoinine of Sorrento OSB

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Today the martyrology remembers St Antoinine, an abbot who died in 625. He is one of those early, largely ignored, Benedictine saints who help attest to the continuity of the Order.

According to the Wikipedia, he was born at Campagna, he left his native town to become a monk at Monte Cassino.

"During that time, Italy was suffering from barbarian invasions and Antoninus was forced to leave this monastery. Monte Cassino had been plundered by the Lombards and the monks escaped to Rome to seek protection from Pope Pelagius II. Antoninus, however, headed for Campania where he ended up at Castellammare di Stabia. Here Saint Catellus (San Catello) was bishop. Catellus, wishing to become a hermit, gave up his office as bishop and entrusted Antoninus with the task of serving as the town's bishop. Catellus withdrew to Monte Aureo.

The desire to remain a hermit himself led Antoninus to convince Catellus to return to his see. Antoninus retired to Monte Aureo himself and lived in a natural grotto. However, Catellus again decided to withdraw to this mountain and dedicate himself only sporadically to the cares of his diocese.

An apparition of Saint Michael is said to have convinced the two to construct the stone church now known as Monte San Angelo or Punta San Michele.

Subsequently, Catellus was accused of witchcraft by a priest named Tibeius (Tibeio) of Stabia and was held captive at Rome until a new pope released him. Catellus returned to Stabia and dedicated himself to expanding the church that he had helped found.

Inhabitants of Sorrento, meanwhile, convinced Antoninus to settle at Sorrento. Antoninus became an abbot of the Benedictine monastery of San Agrippino, succeeding Boniface (Bonifacio) in this capacity.

A miracle attributed to Saint Antoninus states that he saved a young child from a whale after it had been swallowed up by this sea creature. The sorrentini erected a crypt and basilica in honor of Antoninus. He was credited with saving the city from many dangers: a Moorish naval invasion; the revolt of the Sorrento leader Giovanni Grillo against Spanish domination; demonic possession; bubonic plague; and cholera."

St Benedict's Liturgical Code: Matins/4 (Feb 13)

2012-02-13T00:00:00.037+11:00

Agnès de Kiqeumberg's Matins, c1425

Today's section of the Benedictine Rule deals with the much longer than usual Sunday Night Office.

Caput 11: Qualiter diebus Dominus Vigiliae Agantur

Dominico die temperius surgatur ad Vigilias. In quibus Vigiliis teneatur mensura: id est, modulatis ut supra disposuimus sex psalmis et versu, residentibus cunctis disposite et per ordinem in subselliis, legantur in codice ut supra diximus quattuor lectiones cum responsoriis suis; ubi tantum in quarto responsorio dicatur a cantante Gloria, quam dum incipit, mox omnes cum reverentia surgant. Post quas lectiones sequantur ex ordine alii sex psalmi cum antiphonis, sicut anteriores, et versu. Post quos iterum legantur aliae quattuor lectiones cum responsoriis suis, ordine quo supra. Post quas dicantur tria cantica de 'Prophetarum',quae instituerit abbas; quae cantica cum Alleluia psallantur. Dicto etiam versu, et benedicente abbate, legantur aliae quat-tuor lectiones de Novo Testamento, ordine quo supra. Post quartum autem responsorium incipiat abbas hymnum Te Deum laudamus. Quo perdicto, legat abbas lectionem de 'Evangelia', cum honore et timore stantibus omnibus. Qua perlecta respondeant omnes Amen; et subsequatur mox abbas hymnum Te decet laus, et data benedictione incipiant Matutinos. Qui ordo Vigiliarum omni tempore tam aestatis quam hiemis aequaliter in die dominico tene-atur; ni, si forte (quod absit) tardius surgant, aliquid de lectionibus breviandum est aut responsoriis. Quod tamen omnino caveatur ne proveniat; quod si contigerit, digne inde satisfaciat Deo in oratorio, per cujus evenerit neglectum.

Chapter 11: How the Night Office is to be said on Sundays

On Sundays let the brethren rise earlier for the Night Office, in which let this order be kept. When the six psalms and the versicle have been chanted, as we ordained above, and all are seated in their stalls, duly and in order, then let there be read from the book, as we said before, four lessons with their responsories. In the fourth responsory only shall the reader chant the Gloria, and when he begins it let all rise immediately with reverence. After these lessons let there follow in order another six psalms with antiphons, like the previous ones, and a versicle. After these again let four more lessons be read with their responsories, in the same way as before. After these let there be three canticles from the book of the prophets, as appointed by the abbot, and let these canticles be chanted with Alleluia. Then, when the versicle has been said and the abbot has given the blessing, let another four lessons be read from the New Testament, in the same way as before. When the fourth responsory is finished, let the abbot begin the hymn Te Deum Laudamus. When that has been said, the abbot shall read the lesson from the book of the Gospels, all standing with fear and reverence. That having been read, let all answer Amen, and then let the abbot follow with the hymn Te decet laus, and the blessing having been given let them begin Lauds. This order of Matins shall be observed on Sundays all the year round, both in summer and winter; unless (which God forbid) they be late in rising, so that the lessons and responsories have to be shortened. However, let the greatest care be taken that this do not happen; but if it happen, let him through whose neglect it has occurred, make due satisfaction to God in the oratory.

Commentary

These days we tend to think of Sundays as a day of rest; St Benedict, however, presents it as a day for worship, with his monks rising earlier order to say a much longer than usual Night Office.

Though this approach to Sunday might seem counter-cultural to us today, in fact St Benedict’s schema represented a considerable concession at the time, compared to the common monastic practice of the time of staying up all night as Vigil for Sunday.

Blessed Pope John Paul II’s letter Dies Domini suggests that we need to recover something closer to St Benedict’s conception of the Sunday, and treat it as a ‘day of faith’ first and foremost rather than a day of rest:

“The commandment of the Decalogue by which God decrees the Sabbath observance is formulated in the Book of Exodus in a distinctive way: "Remember the Sabbath day in order to keep it holy" (20:8). …Before decreeing that something be done, the commandment urges that something be remembered. It is a call to awaken remembrance of the grand and fundamental work of God which is creation, a remembrance which must inspire the entire religious life of man and then fill the day on which man is called to rest. Rest therefore acquires a sacred value: the faithful are called to rest not only as God rested, but to rest in the Lord, bringing the entire creation to him, in praise and thanksgiving, intimate as a child and friendly as a spouse….Therefore, the main point of the precept is not just any kind of interruption of work, but the celebration of the marvels which God has wrought.”

The second point to note, also reflected in Pope John Paul II’s exposition, is the joyous character of Sunday’s Office.

The psalms are upbeat in tone, containing many obvious allusions to the Resurrection and the coming joy of heaven, starting from psalm 20 at Matins, one of the Royal psalms which speaks of the crowning of the King.

It is normally festooned with Alleluias.

And each week, a Te Deum is sung (the hymn was probably composed by Bishop Nicetas c400) in thanksgiving for all God does for us, as well as the Te Decet Laus.

Sunday, Pope John Paul II reminds us, was viewed by the early Church as a mini-Easter:

‘"We celebrate Sunday because of the venerable Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we do so not only at Easter but also at each turning of the week": so wrote Pope Innocent I at the beginning of the fifth century, testifying to an already well established practice which had evolved from the early years after the Lord's Resurrection. Saint Basil speaks of "holy Sunday, honoured by the Lord's Resurrection, the first fruits of all the other days"; and Saint Augustine calls Sunday "a sacrament of Easter".’

Finally, minor additions of prayers and blessing aside, it is worth noting that the modern Office differs from that prescribed by S Benedict in one important respect, and that is the selection of readings: Patristic commentaries on the Gospel now generally substitute for the New Testament readings that St Benedict prescribed for the third nocturn.

St Benedict's Liturgical Code:Matins/3 (Feb 12)

2012-02-12T00:00:00.085+11:00

Hours of Jeanne d'Évreux
c14th

Today's section of the Benedictine Rule looks at the structure of Matins in Summer.

Caput X: Qualiter aestatis tempore agatur nocturna laus

A pascha autem usque ad Kalendas Novembres, omnis ut supra dictum est psalmodiae quantitas teneatur, excepto quod lectiones in codice, propter brevitatem noctium, minime legantur; sed pro ipsis tribus lectionibus una de Veteri Testamento memoriter dicatur, quam brevis responsorius subsequatur, et reliqua omnia ut dictum est impleantur; id est, ut numquam minus a duodecim psalmorum quantitate ad Vigilias nocturnas dicantur, exceptis tertio et nonagesimo quarto psalmo.

Chapter 10: How the Night Office is to be said in summer

From Easter to the first of November, let the number of the psalms be exactly as given above; but let there be this difference, that the lessons from the book be not read, on account of the shortness of the nights. Instead of the three lessons, let there be but one from the Old Testament, said by heart, and let it be followed by a short responsory. But all else should be done as has been said; that is to say that there should never be less than twelve psalms at the Night Office, not counting the third and ninety-fourth.

Commentary

That demanding Benedictine moderation

The abbreviation of Matins in summer reinforces St Benedict's first message of this section of the Rule, namely that the life of the monk is not based on sleep deprivation or other artificial austerities. The Office comes first, yes, but in the context of a balanced life.

St Benedict, I think, does emphasize moderation rather than the 'more is better' approach of his contemporaries, whose monks spent many more hours of the day reciting the psalms than St Benedict prescribes. Still, the saint does insist on a minimum number of psalms to be said at Matins - twelve plus the two invitatory psalms - that is not small. Accordingly, it seems to me a considerable stretch to get from St Benedict's prescriptions to the 'less is more' approach of most monasteries today, who instead of retaining the weekly psalter, put a greater emphasis on the readings.

The primacy of the psalms

Indeed, this chapter also makes clear the primacy of the psalms as the basis of the Benedictine Office: readings and other elements are less important than this core, and can be dropped out as the seasons and other needs dictate.

It is true that the inclusion of readings at Matins does seem to have been a Benedictine innovation. Still, it does seem to me a considerable irony that most modern versions of the Office actually reverse the relative emphasis between psalms and readings that St Benedict proposes. Abbot Lawrence of Christ in the Desert Monastery, for example, argues that:

"In this short Chapter 10, we have an important teaching about the Divine Office as understood by Saint Benedict. In the modern age, our focus is very much on intellectual content and thus on listening to the readings. For Saint Benedict, it is clear, the psalms are the most important part of the Divine Office and so if the Divine Office has to be shorted, the readings are the first things to be omitted. So in the summer, when the night is shorter, the three longer readings are dropped and one shorter reading from the Old Testament is substituted."

This emphasis reflects the long tradition that saying the psalms is especially pleasing to God. St Romuald's (950-1027) brief Rule for his Comaldolese Congregation of Benedictines, for example, instructed his monks as follows:

"Sit in your cell as in paradise. Put the whole world behind you and forget it. Watch your thoughts like a good fisherman watching for fish. The path you must follow is in the Psalms — never leave it.

If you have just come to the monastery, and in spite of your good will you cannot accomplish what you want, take every opportunity you can to sing the Psalms in your heart and to understand them with your mind.

And if your mind wanders as you read, do not give up; hurry back and apply your mind to the words once more.

Realize above all that you are in God's presence, and stand there with the attitude of one who stands before the emperor.

Empty yourself completely and sit waiting, content with the grace of God, like the chick who tastes nothing and eats nothing but what his mother brings him."

Ordo notes Sexagesima Sunday and week of 12 February

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This Sunday is Sexagesima Sunday. At Matins today (reflected in the Magnificat antiphon for Saturday Vespers), the first Nocturn readings are of Noah and the flood, from Genesis 5-6.

The Gospel is the parable of the sower, from Matthew 8:

"And when a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable:

"A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold." As he said this, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience."

This week in the Benedictine and EF Calendars

This week's saints are:

Tuesday 14 February – St Valentine, priest and martyr, memorial. In Europe it is the feast of SS Cyril and Methodius, patrons of Europe, Class II;
Wednesday 15 February –SS Faustinus and Jovita Commemoration (EF only).

St Benedict's Liturgical Code: Matins/2 (Feb 11)

2012-02-11T00:00:00.060+11:00

Gray-Fitzpayn Book of Hours, c14th

Continuing my series on St Benedict's liturgical code, today's section of the Benedictine Rule continues to set out details of the night Office, Matins.

Caput 9: Quanti psalmi dicendi sunt Nocturnis horis

Hiemis tempore suprascripto, in primis versu tertio dicendum, Domine labia men aperies, et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam; cui subjungendus est tertius psalmus et Gloria: posthunc, psalmus nonagesimus quartus cum antiphona, aut certe decantandus. Inde sequatur ambrosianum: deinde sex psalmi cum antiphonis. Quibus dictis, dicto versu, benedicat abbas; et sedentibus omnibus in scamnis legantur vicissim a fratribus in codice super analogium tres lectiones, inter quas et tria responsoria cantentur. Duo responsoria sine Gloria dicantur; post tertiam vero lectionem, qui cantat dicat Gloriam; quam dum incipit cantor dicere, mox omnes de sedilibus suis surgant ob honorem et reverentiam Sanctae Trinitatis.

Codices autem legantur in Vigiliis divinae auctoritatis tarn Veteris Testamenti quam Novi; sed et expositiones earum, quae a nominatis et orthodoxis catholicis Patribus factae sunt. Post has vero tres lectiones cum responsoriis suis, sequantur reliqui sex psalmi cum Alleluia canendi. Post hos lectio apostoli sequatur ex corde recitanda, et versus, et supplicatio litaniae, id est Kyrie eleison; et sic finiantur Vigiliae nocturnae.

Chapter 9: How Many Psalms are to be said at the Night Office

In the aforesaid winter season, there is first the versicle Domine labia mea aperies, et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam [O Lord open my lips, that my mouth may declare thy praise], to be said three times; then must follow the third psalm and the Gloria; then the ninety-fourth psalm to be chanted with an antiphon, or at any rate to be chanted.

Let the hymn follow next, and then six psalms with antiphons. When these are finished and the versicle said, let the abbot give a blessing; and then, all being seated in their places, let three lessons be read from the book on the lectern by the brethren in their turns, and let three responsories be chanted between them. Two of the responsories shall be said without the Gloria; but after the third lesson let the reader chant the Gloria. And as soon as he has begun it, let all rise from their seats in honour and reverence to the Holy Trinity.

The books to be read at Matins shall be the inspired Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and also the commentaries on them which have been made by well-known and orthodox Catholic Fathers.

After these three lessons with their responsories, let there follow the remaining six psalms, which shall be chanted with Alleluia. After these shall follow the lesson from the apostle, to be recited by heart, the versicle, and the petition of the litany, that is Kyrie eleison. And so shall the Night Office end. (trans J McCann)

Commentary

This chapter sets out the structure of daily Matins, and its prescriptions continue to be followed with only minor variants in the 1962 version of the Office.

In designing a liturgy for his monks, St Benedict took as his starting point the contemporary (fifth century) Roman Office. But he seems to have done a fair amount of recrafting of its design to reflect his own particular school of spirituality, and this is particularly apparent in Matins.

First, the opening versicle that he has selected, Domine labia mea aperies, seems to serve as a reminder of what I would argue is the primary purpose of the Benedictine Office, namely to praise God. Pope Benedict XVI has said:

"Monks pray first and foremost not for any specific intention, but simply because God is worthy of being praised. ‘Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus! – Praise the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy is eternal!’: so we are urged by a number of Psalms (e.g. Ps 106:1). Such prayer for its own sake, intended as pure divine service, is rightly called officium. It is “service” par excellence, the “sacred service” of monks.”

Secondly, consider first the Trinitarian focus St Benedict gives Matins. The Fathers loved the symbolism of numbers (have a read of Benedict's contemporary Cassiodorus' commentary on the psalms for example), and St Benedict is no exception to this, opening Matins with a threefold repetition of a verse from Psalm 50; having three readings and three responsories on winter weekdays.

Similarly, the doxologies he instructs be added to the psalms, as well as reinforcing that trinitarian message, are perhaps also intended to reinforce the idea that the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New, and the New interprets the Old. They also serve as a constant reminder of why we offer the Office: as Pope Benedict XVI has said, the Office “is offered to the triune God who, above all else, is worthy “to receive glory, honour and power” (Rev 4:11), because he wondrously created the world and even more wondrously renewed it."

There is also I suspect some symbolism in the number of psalms to be said: twelve variable psalms to represent the twelve apostles? And perhaps fourteen to reflect the Incarnation (St Matthew's genealogy of Our Lord comes in three groups of fourteen generations)?

Finally, St Benedict inserts not one but two 'invitatory' psalms to be said daily, namely Psalms 3 and 94. These psalms, I think, strongly reflect the spirituality set out in the Benedictine Rule.

In particular, Psalm 3 asks for help in the daily spiritual warfare, and uses the kind of robust martial imagery that St Benedict frequently uses in the Rule.

Psalm 94, by contrast, is a joyful invitation to worship our creator, redeemer and protector. But it also has a darker message, namely a warning not to put off repentance, but to respond to God’s call here and now, a theme St Benedict dwells on at length, referencing this psalm, in the Prologue to the Rule.

St Scholastica OSB (Feb 10)

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St Scholastica Altar, Austria, 1765

Today is the feast of St Scholastica (480-543), twin sister of St Benedict, and foundress and patroness of Benedictine nuns. The martyrology entry is:

"On Monte Cassino, St. Scholastica, virgin, whose soul was seen by her brother, St. Benedict, abbot, leaving her body in the form of a dove, and ascending into heaven."

Almost everything we know about St Scholastica, as for so many Italian saints of the era, comes from St Gregory the Great's Dialogues. In them, she outshines her brother in holiness, able to call on God's help in the form a storm to prolong her visit when St Benedict is being overly stuffy about sticking to the rules! St Gregory also records St Benedict's vision of her entry into heaven in the form of a dove.

Tradition holds that she established a convent at Piumarola in Italy, living under the same Rule as used at nearby Monte Cassino. A useful reconstruction of some aspects of the social context in which she lived can be found here. It is worth noting that scholars have found early calendars and place-names in the Monte Cassino region which do offer some independent evidence of a modest nature for the historical reality of St Scholastica.

St Benedict's liturgical code: Matins/1 (Feb 10)

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circa 1405-10 Parisian Book of Hours

I want to start my series on the Benedictine Office today, with a look at the section of the Rule of St Benedict set for February 10 (as well as June 11/October 11), which deals with the hour of Matins (aka Vigils or Office of Readings in the modern Liturgy of the Hours).

I've included the Latin, as well as the English, of the Rule both for reference purposes and because in many traditional monasteries, the Latin version is read as part of 'chapter' (traditionally said immediately after Prime), and then the vernacular translation is read at lunch or dinner.

Caput VIII: De Officiis Divinis in Noctibus

Hiemis tempore, id est, a Kalendis Novembribus usque in Pascha, juxta considerationem rationis, octava hora noctis surgendum est, ut modice amplius de media nocte pausetur, et jam digesti surgant. Quod vero restat post Vigilias, a fratribus qui psalterii vel lectionum aliquid indigent, meditationi inserviatur. A Pascha autem usque ad supradictas Novembres, sic temperetur hora ut Vigiliarum Agenda parvissimo intervallo, quo fratres ad necessaria naturae exeant, mox Matutini, qui incipiente luce agendi sunt, subsequantur.

Chapter 8: The Divine Office at Night

In winter, that is from the first of November until Easter, prudence dictates that the brethren shall rise at the eighth hour of the night, so that their sleep may extend for a moderate space beyond midnight, and they may rise with digestion completed. Those brethren, who need a better knowledge of them, should devote the time that remains after Matins to the study of the psalms and lessons. From Easter to the aforesaid first of November, let the hour of rising be so arranged that there be a very short interval after Matins, in which the brethren may go out for the necessities of nature, to be followed at once by Lauds, which should be said at dawn. (trans J McCann)

Commentary

One of the difficulties in reading St Benedict’s liturgical code is that he just launches right in, without providing any rationale for how and why to say the Office (though some of that is set out later), and without providing much explanation for the choices he makes. Accordingly, we need to read between the lines.

The first point to note is that this chapter on some of the practicalities around saying Matins (aka Vigils aka Office of Readings) reinforces that St Benedict's is a training scheme involving body, mind and soul. There is therefore a strong continuity between this chapter and the last, which instructed his monks on how to develop and maintain an attitude of humility in mind and body at all times.

The needs of the body

In terms of the body, there is something of a pattern in the Rule of St Benedict first asserting that is regime is moderate and easy, a Rule for mere beginners - and then setting out a regime that in fact looks pretty tough to modern eyes at least. This section on the Office, with its quite long and detailed requirements is just such a case!

The reference to the “eighth hour” is to the Roman system of time keeping that divided the hours of light and darkness into equal sized hours, whose length changed with the season. Since the length of the night ‘hours’ is much shorter in summer, there is less time for study if the monks are still to get the bare six to seven hours of sleep this regime allows (supplemented by a siesta).

Further on in the Rule (particularly in Chapters 41, 42 and 48) St Benedict provides a fair amount of flexibility in arranging the times of the 'hours' of the Office to fit the needs of the monks: to enable them to eat in light, fit in the demands of work, and so forth. Although as St Benedict later states, the liturgy has absolute priority, it is not supposed to squeeze out all other considerations and duties. There is an important message in that, particularly for those not bound to the observance of the full breviary such as oblates and other laypeople!

Unlike other contemporary rules, there are no all night Vigils legislated for here, no asceticism based on sleep deprivation. St Benedict is not an extremist when it comes to asceticism, at least by the standards of his time. He specifies that the days and nights are to be arranged so that the monks get adequate sleep. Nonetheless, even seven hours sleep is only just enough for most people, particularly coupled with rising around midnight.

The needs of the soul

One of the ongoing debates about the Office is its primary purpose: is it primarily an act of worship, an act of the Church to give glory to God, or is it meant more to provide meat for the monk’s contemplation?

St Benedict’s regulations here certainly seem to reject the Eastern desert idea of the Office as an extended meditation session, with the psalms seen primarily as readings rather than prayers. Instead, St Benedict seems to put more emphasis on the pure praise of God when it comes to the Office.

He does not neglect to feed the soul in the course of this act of worship, however, using devices such as the symbolism of light and darkness in the Office. He specifies that there should be a Vigil prayer said in the dark hours of the night, but with Lauds timed to start at first light, for example.

Nor does St Benedict neglect to mention the mind, specifying that study and meditation on the psalms and other texts of the Office to take place outside the hours of the liturgy, in times set aside for study.

The monastic character of Matins

Finally, it is useful to keep in mind that although the Office in general seems to have been something equally said by the laity, ascetics and priests in the early and medieval church, there was no expectation that the clergy and lait would say all of the hours of the Office each day. Rather, Matins or night prayer was generally regarded as something more appropriate to religious than the laity. Even today, this view still holds in many places. Abbot Lawrence of Christ in the Desert for example argues that this hour is absolutely crucial to the monastic vocation:

“We can probably say, without much dispute, that Vigils is a defining office of the monk. The monk is a Christian who keeps vigil every day.”

For this reason then, the Monastic Diurnal aimed at Oblates and other laypeople, does not contain Matins (though for those who wish to say it there are a number of books around around to enable you to do so).

As we read these instructions on the saying of Matins then, laypeople should perhaps reflect on the sacrifices offered on our behalf by those monks and nuns who still rise in the dark and pray for the whole world on our behalf. We should consider how we can support them both financially and through our own prayers. And we can consider how we can join our prayers to theirs even if we don't have the time or knowledge to say Matins each day, for example by saying the much shorter Matins of the Little Office of Our Lady or the Office of the Dead (contained in the Diurnal), or even just a short prayer if we wake up on the dark.

Understanding the Benedict Office: Introduction

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I signalled yesterday that I would offer a series of posts, starting on February 10, commenting on the 'liturgical code' contained in the Rule of St Benedict, by way of an aid to understanding the Benedictine Office better.

Today I wanted to provide a short introduction to the series explaining just why they are important.

The importance of the liturgical code for monks

Abbot Lawrence of the Monastery of Christ in the Desert says in his commentary on the Rule that:

"These Chapters, from 8 through 20, are very important for understanding life in a Benedictine monastery. Today very few follow these chapters of the Rule, especially with regard to the structure of the Divine Office. Unless we understand them well, we will begin to lose a truly Benedictine life, which has at its heart the praying of the Divine Office. There is no way that one can follow this structure of Rule of Benedict and not be aware of the truly important place of the Divine Office in the daily life of the monk and the amount of time that Saint Benedict presumed that a monk would spend in public prayer...For our spirituality, we must reflect on whether the Divine Office is at the heart of my personal spirituality. This is a teaching of the Rule that is very important. Let us strive to keep the Divine Office central in our lives by being present, by praying and by giving ourselves generously to the demands of this type of prayer."

I certainly agree with his comments on the importance of the liturgical code for the life of a monastery.

Understand the structure of the Office - and more

The most obvious value in studying these sections of the Rule lies in helping us understand the structure of the Benedictine Office, and to look at how the Office has evolved since St Benedict's time.

The chapters describe the eight hours that make up St Benedict's Office, their structure and content, when they are to be said, and how they should be approached.

And the number of chapters of the Rule that St Benedict devotes to the liturgy clearly signals that for the monk, the liturgy is the centrepoint of the life.

But I think the importance of these chapters goes far beyond that. St Benedict provides within it, I think, specific tools to aid the spiritual life. He explicitly mentions, for example, the recitation of the Our Father by the superior each day as a means of combating scandal and division within the monastery. The daily use of that ultimate penitential psalm, Psalm 50, at Lauds perhaps has a similar purpose.

More generally, the pattern of repetitions of the psalms and their progression through the week, is designed, in my view, to reinforce and teach the spirituality set out in the Rule more broadly.

For the laity too

The implicit lessons contained in this section of the Rule are just as important for Oblates and other followers of St Benedict as for monks in my view.

That is not to say that we should be reading them too literally.

First, in some areas the Church has amended St Benedict's prescriptions for the Office, and we are bound by this later legislation.

Secondly, I am not suggesting that laypeople should attempt the full monastic Office, far from it! Some may be able to, but the primary vocation of the Oblate is in the world, and the duties associated with that. Oblates will normally try and say some form of the Office or some hours from it on a regular basis, but they are certainly not bound to say the whole thing, particularly if to do so would be at the expense of other duties such as spending time with one's family.

There are though, I think, some important things being said in this section about the importance of the liturgy, about obedience and humility, and much more.

Following the structure of the Rule

Before I get down to the actual chapters though, I think it is worth noting that the start of the section of the Rule on the liturgy seems to start rather abruptly. In fact, though, I think it is deeply connected to what comes immediately before it.

The first chapters of the Benedictine Rule take the reader through why we should embrace the monastic/true Christian life (the Prologue); the essentials for success, viz a genuine community, with someone in charge, but where authority is based on genuine listening (chapters 1-3); that getting to heaven requires us to undertake good works (ch 4); and that in whatever we do we must adopt the right attitudes, particularly of humility and obedience (chs 5 – 7).

The Divine Office, in my view, represents the practical application of all that has come so far in the Rule: our liturgical prayer articulates our response to God’s invitation to us all to be workers in his vineyard; it said communally, requires both speaking and listening, and is said in ways that reflect the internal hierarchy of the monastery; it is an active good work to praise God on behalf of ourselves and the whole Church; and it requires an attitude of obedience and humility to follow the prescriptions set out in the Rule.

So if you aren't familiar with the Benedictine Rule, do take the time, if you can, to have a quick read of the chapters up to Chapter 8 (it really isn't very long) by way of preparation for this series.

Understanding the Benedictine Office: upcoming series

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There are quite a few people who are relatively new to the Benedictine Office looking in on this blog, so I thought it might be helpful to run a short series on the structure and underlying spirituality of the traditional Benedictine Office.

The Rule of St Benedict on the Office

In fact, the Rule of St Benedict devotes quite a few chapters to the Office, and these are traditionally read between February 10 and 26 (and again in June and October) in monasteries.

Reading these chapters reflectively, will I think, help you to get more out of the Office, as well as aid your understanding of how it all fits together and works.

Many who do read the Rule regularly, struggle, I think, to get much spiritual juice out of the section on the Office. But my own view is that the Benedictine Office as broadly set out in the Rule is a vital element of Benedictine spirituality, teaching and reinforcing many of the messages set out elsewhere in the Rule, as well as important in its own right.

Accordingly, I plan to offer a short series of posts each day here by way of commentary on this section of it.

You don't have to have read what comes before it in the Rule to make sense of that is often described as St Benedict's 'liturgical code', but if you do have time for a quick read or refresher of the Prologue up to Chapter 7, that will certainly be helpful. You can find online versions of the Rule of St Benedict in a variety of languages here.

Each day, starting on February 10 (Australian time) I'll set out the prescribed section of the Rule for the day in Latin and English (using the translation by Abbot Justin McCann). I'll then set out a few notes on it for you to consider, question and debate!

And before I start that, I'll offer a sort introduction to this section of the Rule. So more soon....

Understanding the psalms

I'd also like to draw your attention to my other blog, Psallam Domino. Over there I'm providing a series of notes aimed at helping people pray the psalms in the Office more deeply, and particularly, to pray them in Latin, in line with the Church's tradition!

If you have a look through it, I've already provided notes on quite a few psalms, but at the moment I've just started on the psalms of Sunday Vespers, with an introductory post on Psalm 109.

St Romuald OSB (Feb 7)

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Fra Angelico ca1440

Today is the feast of St Romuald (950-1027), founder of the Camaldolese Congregation of Benedictines. The Martyrology says:

"St. Romuald, founder of the Camaldolese monks, whose birthday is the 19th of June, but celebrated today because of the transference of his body."

Butler's Lives of the Saints sets out his life as follows:

"IN 976, Sergius, a nobleman of Ravenna, quarrelled with a relative about an estate, and slew him in a duel. His son Romuald, horrified at his father's crime, entered the Benedictine monastery at Classe, to do a forty days’ penance for him. This penance ended in his own vocation to religion. After three years at Classe, Romuald went to live as a hermit near Venice, where he was joined by Peter Urseolus, Duke of Venice, and together they led a most austere life in the midst of assaults from the evil spirits. St. Romuald founded many monasteries, the chief of which was that at Camaldoli, a wild desert place, where he built a church, which he surrounded with a number of separate cells for the solitaries who lived under his rule. His disciples were hence called Camaldolese. He is said to have seen here a vision of a mystic ladder, and his white-clothed monks ascending by it to heaven. Among his first disciples were Sts. Adalbert and Boniface, apostles of Russia, and Sts. John and Benedict of Poland, martyrs for the faith. He was an intimate friend of the Emperor St. Henry, and was reverenced and consulted by many great men of his time. He once passed seven years in solitude and complete silence.

In his youth St. Romuald was much troubled by temptations of the flesh. To escape them he had recourse to hunting, and in the woods first conceived his love for solitude. His father's sin, as we have seen, first prompted him to undertake a forty days' penance in the monastery, which he forthwith made his home. Some bad example of his fellow monks induced him to leave them and adopt the solitary mode of life. The penance of Urseolus, who had obtained his power wrongfully, brought him his first disciple; the temptations of the devil compelled him to his severe life; and finally the persecutions of others were the occasion of his settlement at Camaldoli, and the foundation of his Order. He died, as he had foretold twenty years before, alone, in his monastery of Val Castro, on the 19th of June, 1027.

Reflection.—St. Romuald's life teaches us that, if we only follow the impulse of the Holy Spirit, we shall easily find good everywhere, even on the most unlikely occasions. Our own sins, the sins of others, their ill will against us, or our own mistakes and misfortunes, are equally capable of leading us, with softened hearts, to the feet of God's mercy and love."

From the martyrology: St Dorothy (Feb 6)

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SS Elizabeth of Hungary, Catherine of Alexandria and Dorothy
c1480

St Dorothy is one of those saints dropped from the 1969 calendar, unwisely in my view, allegedly because of the relative scarcity of early details of her life. In reality, one can't help but conclude that she is a victim of the modernist disdain for famous miracle working saints: she was often included as one of the 'fourteen holy helpers', and regarded as one the four 'main Virgins'. She had a widespread cult, and was frequently depicted in art throughout the middle ages and beyond.

Here is Alban Butler's take on her life:

"ST. DOROTHY was a young virgin, celebrated at Cæsarea, where she lived, for her angelic virtue. Her parents seem to have been martyred before her in the Diocletian persecution, and when the Governor Sapricius came to Cæsarea he called her before him, and sent this child of martyrs to the home where they were waiting for her.

She was stretched upon the rack, and offered marriage if she would consent to sacrifice, or death if she refused. But she replied that "Christ was her only Spouse, and death her desire." She was then placed in charge of two women who had fallen away from the faith, in the hope that they might pervert her; but the fire of her own heart rekindled the flame in theirs, and led them back to Christ. When she was set once more on the rack, Sapricius himself was amazed at the heavenly look she wore, and asked her the cause of her joy. "Because," she said, "I have brought back two souls to Christ, and because I shall soon be in heaven rejoicing with the angels." Her joy grew as she was buffeted in the face and her sides burned with plates of red-hot iron. "Blessed be Thou," she cried, when she was sentenced to be beheaded,—"blessed be Thou, O Thou Lover of souls! Who dost call me to Paradise, and invitest me to Thy nuptial chamber."

St. Dorothy suffered in the dead of winter, and it is said that on the road to her passion a lawyer called Theophilus, who had been used to calumniate and persecute the Christians, asked her, in mockery, to send him "apples or roses from the garden of her Spouse." The Saint promised to grant his request, and, just before she died, a little child stood by her side bearing three apples and three roses.

She bade him take them to Theophilus and tell him this was the present which he sought from the garden of her Spouse. St. Dorothy had gone to heaven, and Theophilus was still making merry over his challenge to the Saint when the child entered his room. He saw that the child was an angel in disguise, and the fruit and flowers of no earthly growth. He was converted to the faith, and then shared in the martyrdom of St. Dorothy."

Septuagesima Sunday: Ordo notes for the week of 5 February

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This Sunday is Septuagesima Sunday, the start of the 'pre-Lenten' or 'Shrovetide' season.

Septuagesimatide is intended to help us ease us into Lenten mode, and so is a good time to start thinking about what book to choose as spiritual reading for Lent, and what penances you plan to adopt.

During this time, the Alleluia is no longer used in the Office - but it is first solemnly 'buried' with extra Alleluias added to the close of the Office of I Vespers today.

The Gospel is St Matthew 20:1-16, the parable of the workers being hired for the vineyard.

Saints feasts in the traditional Benedictine and Extraordinary Form calendars this week are:

Tuesday, 7 February, St Romuald, OSB;
Wednesday 8 February (EF only): St John of Matha;
Thursday 9 February (EF only): St Cyril of Alexandria
Friday, 10 February: St Scholastica, Class I/II;
Saturday, 11 February (EF only): Apparition of the BVM.

Other saints who feasts occur this week that are particularly worth noting include St Benedict of Aniane, the great Carolingian codifier and reformer of monastic life.

In the Ordinary form, it is the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, and the Gospel is St Mark 1:29-39, the healing of St Peter's mother-in-law, and preaching in Galilee.

From the (2001) martyrology: St Rabanus Maurus (Feb 4)

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St Rabanus supported by Alcuin
dedicates his work to AB Otgar of Mainz
Manuscript circa 831-40

Today is the feast of an important but still rather neglected Benedictine saint, St Rabanus Maurus, likely author of the Veni Creator.

Pope Benedict XVI gave a General Audience on him in 2009:

"Today I would like to speak of a truly extraordinary figure of the Latin West: Rabanus Maurus, a monk. Together with men such as Isidore of Seville, the Venerable Bede and Ambrose Autpert of whom I have already spoken in previous Catecheses, during the centuries of the so-called "High Middle Ages" he was able to preserve the contact with the great culture of the ancient scholars and of the Christian Fathers. Often remembered as the "praeceptor Germaniae", Rabanus Maurus was extraordinarily prolific. With his absolutely exceptional capacity for work, he perhaps made a greater contribution than anyone else to keeping alive that theological, exegetic and spiritual culture on which successive centuries were to draw. He was referred to by great figures belonging to the monastic world such as Peter Damian, Peter the Venerable and Bernard of Clairvaux, as well as by an ever increasing number of "clerics" of the secular clergy who gave life to one of the most beautiful periods of the fruitful flourishing of human thought in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Born in Mainz in about 780, Rabanus entered the monastery at a very early age. He was nicknamed "Maurus" after the young St Maur who, according to Book II of the Dialogues of St Gregory the Great, was entrusted by his parents, Roman nobles, to the Abbot Benedict of Norcia. Alone this precocious insertion of Rabanus as "puer oblatus" in the Benedictine monastic world and the benefits he drew from it for his own human, cultural and spiritual growth, were to provide an interesting glimpse not only of the life of monks and of the Church, but also of the whole of society of his time, usually described as "Carolingian". About them or perhaps about himself, Rabanus Maurus wrote: "There are some who have had the good fortune to be introduced to the knowledge of Scripture from a tender age ("a cunabulis suis") and who were so well-nourished with the food offered to them by Holy Church as to be fit for promotion, with the appropriate training, to the highest of sacred Orders" (PL 107, col. 419 BC).

The extraordinary culture for which Rabanus Maurus was distinguished soon brought him to the attention of the great of his time. He became the advisor of princes. He strove to guarantee the unity of the Empire and, at a broader cultural level, never refused to give those who questioned him a carefully considered reply, which he found preferably in the Bible or in the texts of the Holy Fathers. First elected Abbot of the famous Monastery of Fulda and then appointed Archbishop of Mainz, his native city, this did not stop him from pursuing his studies, showing by the example of his life that it is possible to be at the same time available to others without depriving oneself of the appropriate time for reflection, study and meditation. Thus Rabanus Maurus was exegete, philosopher, poet, pastor and man of God. The Dioceses of Fulda, Mainz, Limburg and Breslau (Wrocław) venerate him as a saint or blessed. His works fill at least six volumes of Migne's Patrologia Latina. It is likely that we are indebted to him for one of the most beautiful hymns known to the Latin Church, the "Veni Creator Spiritus", an extraordinary synthesis of Christian pneumatology. In fact, Rabanus' first theological work is expressed in the form of poetry and had as its subject the mystery of the Holy Cross in a book entitled: "De laudibus Sanctae Crucis", conceived in such a way as to suggest not only a conceptual content but also more exquisitely artistic stimuli, by the use of both poetic and pictorial forms within the same manuscript codex. Suggesting the image of the Crucified Christ between the lines of his writing, he says, for example: "This is the image of the Saviour who, with the position of his limbs, makes sacred for us the most salubrious, gentle and loving form of the Cross, so that by believing in his Name and obeying his commandments we may obtain eternal life thanks to his Passion. However, every time we raise our eyes to the Cross, let us remember the one who died for us to save us from the powers of darkness, accepting death to make us heirs to eternal life" (Lib. 1, fig. 1, PL 107 col. 151 C).

This method of combining all the arts, the intellect, the heart and the senses, which came from the East, was to experience a great development in the West, reaching unparalleled heights in the miniature codices of the Bible and in other works of faith and art that flourished in Europe until the invention of printing and beyond. In Rabanus Maurus, in any case, is shown an extraordinary awareness of the need to involve, in the experience of faith, not only the mind and the heart, but also the senses through those other aspects of aesthetic taste and human sensitivity that lead man to benefit from the truth with his whole self, "mind, soul and body". This is important: faith is not only thought but also touches the whole of our being. Since God became Man in flesh and blood, since he entered the tangible world, we must seek and encounter God in all the dimensions of our being. Thus the reality of God, through faith, penetrates our being and transforms it. This is why Rabanus Maurus focused his attention above all on the Liturgy as a synthesis of all the dimensions of our perception of reality. This intuition of Rabanus Maurus makes it extraordinarily up to date. Also famous among his opus are the "Hymns", suggested for use especially in liturgical celebrations. In fact, since Rabanus was primarily a monk, his interest in the liturgical celebration was taken for granted. However, he did not devote himself to the art of poetry as an end in itself but, rather, used art and every other form of erudition as a means for deepening knowledge of the word of God. He therefore sought with great application and rigour to introduce his contemporaries, especially ministers (Bishops, priests and deacons), to an understanding of the profoundly theological and spiritual meaning of all the elements of the liturgical celebration.

He thus sought to understand and to present to others the theological meanings concealed in the rites, drawing from the Bible and from the tradition of the Fathers. For the sake of honesty and to give greater weight to his explanations, he did not hesitate to indicate the Patristic sources to which he owed his knowledge. Nevertheless he used them with freedom and with careful discernment, continuing the development of patristic thought. At the end of the "Epistola prima", addressed to a "chorbishop" of the Diocese of Mainz, for example, after answering the requests for clarification concerning the behaviour to adopt in the exercise of pastoral responsibility, he continues, "We have written all these things for you as we deduced them from the Sacred Scriptures and the canons of the Fathers. Yet, most holy man, may you take your decisions as you think best, case by case, seeking to temper your evaluation in such a way as to guarantee discretion in all things because it is the mother of all the virtues" (Epistulae, I, PL 112, col. 1510 C). Thus the continuity of the Christian faith which originates in the word of God becomes visible; yet it is always alive, develops and is expressed in new ways, ever consistent with the whole construction, with the whole edifice of faith.

Since an integral part of liturgical celebration is the word of God Rabanus Maurus dedicated himself to it with the greatest commitment throughout his life. He produced appropriate exegetic explanations for almost all the biblical books of the Old and New Testament, with clearly pastoral intentions that he justified with words such as these: "I have written these things... summing up the explanations and suggestions of many others, not only in order to offer a service to the poor reader, who may not have many books at his disposal, but also to make it easier for those who in many things do not succeed in entering in depth into an understanding of the meanings discovered by the Fathers" (Commentariorum in Matthaeum praefatio, PL 107, col. 727 D). In fact, in commenting on the biblical texts he drew amply from the ancient Fathers, with special preference for Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine and Gregory the Great.

His outstanding pastoral sensitivity later led him to occupy himself above all with one of the problems most acutely felt by the faithful and sacred ministers of his time: that of Penance. Indeed, he compiled the "Penitenziari" this is what he called them in which, according to the sensibility of his day, sins and the corresponding punishments were listed, using as far as possible reasons found in the Bible, in the decisions of the Councils and in Papal Decretals. The "Carolingians" also used these texts in their attempt to reform the Church and society. Corresponding with the same pastoral intentions, were works such as "De disciplina ecclesiastica" and "De institutione clericorum", in which, drawing above all from Augustine, Rabanus explained to the simple and to the clergy of his diocese the basic elements of the Christian faith: they were like little catechisms.

I would like to end the presentation of this great "churchman" by quoting some of his words in which his basic conviction is clearly reflected: "Those who are negligent in contemplation ("qui vacare Deo negligit"), deprive themselves of the vision of God's light; then those who let themselves be indiscreetly invaded by worries and allow their thoughts to be overwhelmed by the tumult of worldly things condemn themselves to the absolute impossibility of penetrating the secrets of the invisible God" (Lib I, PL 112, col. 1263 A). I think that Rabanus Maurus is also addressing these words to us today: in periods of work, with its frenetic pace, and in holiday periods we must reserve moments for God. We must open our lives to him, addressing to him a thought, a reflection, a brief prayer, and above all we must not forget Sunday as the Lord's Day, the day of the Liturgy, in order to perceive God's beauty itself in the beauty of our churches, in our sacred music and in the word of God, letting him enter our being. Only in this way does our life become great, become true life."

From the martyrology: St Gilbert of Sempringham (Feb 4)

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Today the martyrology records the feast of the founder of England's distinctive double order, the Gilbertines (alas, long since defunct!):

"At Sempringham in England, St. Gilbert, priest and confessor, who founded a religious order at Sempringham."

St Gilbert (1083-1190) founded an order after failing to gain the assistance of the Cistercians for a group of women. His order included nuns, who followed the Rule of St Benedict with a Cistercian spirituality, supported by lay-sisters, lay brothers, and canons who followed the Rule of St Augustine (to say Mass and provide spiritual direction to the nuns). By the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, there were 28 houses of the Order in England.

St Gilbert himself was born at Sempringham, near Bourne in Lincolnshire, the son of the local lord. There is some evidence that he was physically disabled. In any case, he studied theology at the University of Paris, and on his return in 1120 he became a clerk in the household of Robert Bloet, Bishop of Lincoln, where he started a school for boys and girls. He was eventually ordained a priest.

When his father died in 1130 he became lord of the manor of Sempringham, and immediately began using his inherited wealth to fund expansion of the Gilbertines, his new order. Eventually he had a chain of twenty-six convents, monasteries and missions.

He was imprisoned in 1165 on a charge of aiding Thomas Becket when Thomas had fled from King Henry II after the council of Northampton, but he was eventually found innocent. Then, when he was 90, some of his lay brothers revolted, but he received the backing of Pope Alexander III. Gilbert resigned his office late in life because of blindness and died at Sempringham in about 1190, at the age of 106.

From the martyrology: St Blaise and the blessing of throats (Feb 3)

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Today in the Office we celebrate the memorial of St Blaise, one of the fourteen holy helpers, of whom the martyrology says:

"At Sebaste in Armenia, in the time of the governor Agricolaus, the passion of St. Blase, bishop and martyr, who, after working many miracles, was scourged for a long time, suspended from a tree where his flesh was lacerated with iron combs. He was then imprisoned in a dark dungeon, thrown into a lake from which he came out safe, and finally, by order of the judge, he and two boys were beheaded. Before him, seven women who were gathering the drops of his blood during his torture, were recognized as Christians, and after undergoing severe torments, were put to death by the sword."

There is a traditional sacramental blessing of throats that can take place today, particularly of relevant to those who sing in choirs, or sing the Office!

The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Feb 2)

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Hans Holbein, c1500

This feast has acquired several names over the centuries - the Purification of Our Lady; Candlemas Day (for the blessing of candles which takes place before Mass); and in the Novus Ordo calendar, the Presentation of Our Lord. It is also set aside as a special day for Consecrated Life in the Church.

Pope Benedict XVI's sermon of 2010 for the feast explains:

"On the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple we are celebrating a mystery of Christ's life linked to the precept of Mosaic Law which prescribed that 40 days after the birth of their first-born child parents should go to the Temple of Jerusalem to offer the infant to the Lord and for the ritual purification of the mother (cf. Ex 13:1-2, 11-16; Lv 12:1-8). Mary and Joseph also fulfilled this rite, offering to comply with the law a couple of turtle doves or pigeons. In giving a deeper interpretation to these things we understand that at this moment it is God himself who is presenting his Only-Begotten Son to humanity through the words of the elderly Simeon and the Prophetess Anna. Simeon, in fact, proclaimed Jesus as the "salvation" of humanity, a "light" for all the nations and a "sign that is spoken against", because he would reveal the thoughts of hearts (cf. Lk 2:29-35). In the East this Feast was called Hypapante, a feast of encounter. In fact, Simeon and Anna, who met Jesus in the Temple and recognized him as the Messiah so long awaited, represent humanity that encounters its Lord in the Church. Subsequently, this Feast also spread to the West, where above all the symbol of light and the procession with candles which gave rise to the term "Candlemas" developed. This visible sign is intended to mean that the Church encounters in faith the One who is "the light of men" and in order to bring this "light" into the world, receives him with the full dynamism of her faith.

In conjunction with this Liturgical Feast, as from 1997, Venerable John Paul II decreed that a special Day of Consecrated Life be celebrated in the whole Church. In fact, the sacrifice of the Son of God symbolized by his presentation in the Temple is the model for every man and woman who consecrate their life totally to the Lord. The purpose of this Day is threefold: first of all to praise and thank the Lord for the gift of consecrated life; secondly to promote knowledge and appreciation of it among the whole People of God and lastly to invite all those who have dedicated their life totally to the cause of the Gospel to celebrate the marvels that the Lord has worked in them. As I thank you for coming here in such numbers, on this Day dedicated particularly to you I would like to greet each one of you with great affection men and women religious and consecrated people and to express to you my cordial closeness and heartfelt appreciation for the good you do at the service of the People of God."

You can read more on this feast from Pope Benedict XVI's 2011 sermon here.

From the martyrology: St Brigid (Feb 1)

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Today the Office celebrates the feast of St Ignatius (d. 110 at Rome):

"St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch and martyr, who gloriously suffered martyrdom on the 20th of December."

Several letters written by St Ignatius while on route to his martyrdom in Rome have survived and well worth reading.

But in many places it is also the feast of St Brigit (439-524), Abbess, a famous leader of the early celtic church and foundress of several monasteries:

"At Kildare in Ireland, St. Bridget, virgin. Once, when she touched the wood of an altar, it immediately sprouted into life, in testimony of her virginity."

St Brigit has become something of a feminist icon in recent times, because of her authority over the double monasteries she established, a system which continued until the twelfth century.

St Alban Roe OSB (Jan 31)

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Today a number of monasteries of the English Congregation of Benedictines celebrate the feast of St Alban Roe, one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, and in 1642 at Tyburn.

His perhaps particularly a saint for those who tend to rub people up the wrong way, and follow a difficult path to fulfilling their vocation, at least as the account on Wikipedia tells it:

"...Details of Fr.Roe’s life are scanty. He was not typically monastic, but of an explosive and unpredictable temperament. Yet in spite of all this the outstanding characteristic of his life was cheerfulness and tenacity, and his sanctity is unquestionable.

Bartholomew Roe was born in 1583, in Suffolk. He was brought up a Protestant and with his brother James converted to Catholicism; both became Benedictine monks.

...His conversion experience was unusual: he tried to convert an imprisoned Catholic to Protestantism, but found himself defeated in argument. From this time, according to Challoner, “Mr. Roe was very uneasy in mind upon the score of religion; nor did this uneasiness cease till by reading and confessing with Catholic Priests he was thoroughly convinced of his errors and determined to embrace the ancient faith. Having found the treasure of God’s truth himself, he was very desirous to impart the same to the souls of his neighbours.” Consequently in 1607 he entered the English College at Douai (France) to study for the priesthood.

He had a very interesting attitude: he wasn’t only content to rub people up the wrong way, but to make sure they noticed. When the Prior had some cupboards removed from near to his bed, Roe declared: “There is more trouble with a few fools than with all the wise; if you pull down, I will build up; if you destroy, I will rebuild.”

He was expelled in 1610 due his temperament, ‘we consider the said Bartholomew Roe is not at all fitted for the purposes of this College on account of his contempt for the discipline and for his superiors and of his misleading certain youths living in the College and also of the great danger of his still leading others astray, and therefore we adjudge that he must be dismissed from the College’.

Roe didn’t leave quietly, but used his considerable skills to organise a campaign against the authorities. A significant body of monks seem to have seen him as some sort of hero and backed his appeal to the President. This allowed him later in 1613 to join the English Benedictine Community of St. Lawrence at Dieulouard in Lorraine, being ordained in 1615. There is no record of him being at all troublesome at Dieulouard. He became a founder member of the new English Benedictine Community at St.Edmund, Paris, hence his religious name Fr.Alban of St. Edmund.

He was professed in 1612 and after ordination (1615) joined the missions and worked in London, being arrested and deported shortly after his arrival.

He returned in 1618 and was imprisoned until 1623, whereby his release and re-exile was organised by the Spanish Ambassador, Gondomar. He returned two years later and was incarcerated for 17 years in the Fleet prison. Conditions in the Fleet were relaxed and he was able to minister to souls during the day provided he was back in his cell at night. He was zealous for the conversion of souls and lacking a church could be found in ale houses playing cards with the customers. This was permitted under the Constitutions of the English Benedictine Congregation at the time; the stakes were not monetary, but short prayers. Of course, this behaviour scandalised the Puritans, but as he was already a prisoner, there was little more they could do against him. He was also allowed to receive visitors in prison where in addition to strengthening his resolve through private prayer he taught visitors prayers and made many converts. Richard Challoner notes him translating “several pious tracts into English, some of which he caused to be published in print, others he left behind him in manuscript.”

In 1641 he was transferred to close confinement within the strict Newgate prison. In his trial in 1642 he was found guilty of treason under the statute 27 Eliz c.2 for being a priest.

Challoner details his initial refusal to enter a plea. It then transpired that the chief witness against him was a fallen Catholic who he had formerly helped. Thinking he could win him round again, he pleaded not guilty, but objected to being tried by “twelve ignorant jurymen”, who were unconcerned about the shedding of his innocent blood. Clearly the judge was a little bit intimidated by Roe making a mockery of the proceedings so they had a private chat. This didn’t go well, Roe declaring “My Saviour has suffered far more for me than all that; and I am willing to suffer the worst of torments for his sake.” The judge sent him back to prison where he was advised by who Challoner describes as “some grave and learned priests” to follow the example of those before him and consent to being tried by the court. The jury took about a minute to find him guilty. He then (with a bit of mockery) bowed low to the judge and the whole bench for granting him this great favour which he greatly desired.

The judge was so put out he suspended the sentence and sent him back to prison for a few days. This didn’t work either because as a celebrity he had a constant stream of visitors, one of whom smuggled in the necessary for him to say mass in his cell.

At Tyburn he preached in a jovial fashion to the crowd about the meaning of his death. He was still playing to the crowd, holding up the proceedings by asking the Sheriff whether he could save his life by turning Protestant. The Sheriff agreed. Roe then turned to the crowd declaring “see then what the crime is for which I am to die and whether religion be not my only treason?”

His remark to one of his former gaolers was “My friend, I find that thou art a prophet; thou hast told me often I should be hanged.”

He created quite an impression by his death and when his remains were quartered there was a scramble to dip handkerchiefs into his blood and pick up straws covered in his blood as relics. The speech he made is rumoured to have been sent to Parliament and stored in their archives.

He was declared venerable on December 1921 by Pope Pius XI and beatified one week later on December 15. Blessed Alban Roe was canonized nearly 49 years later on October 25, 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales with a common feast day of October 25. His feast day is also celebrated on January 21, the day of his martyrdom."

Ordo notes for week of January 29

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This Sunday is the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany in the Extraordinary Form. The Gospel this week, to which the Benedictus and Magnificat antiphons for Sunday refer, is from Matthew 8, where a boat the apostles are on is caught in a storm, and Jesus calms the waters.

There is also a memorial of St Frances de Sales.

The Feast of the Purification: change of Compline antiphon

The major feast this week is of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, on Thursday, which marks the end of the last remnants of the Christmas season (for example in the Saturday Office of Our Lady, which reverts back to the antiphons and prayers used throughout the year after the feast).

It also marks a change of Marian antiphon at Compline: from Wednesday night, Ave Regina Caelorum is said or sung.

Saints in the traditional Benedictine and Roman EF calendar this week

Monday January 31 - St Martina (EF only);
Tuesday January 31: St John Bosco, memorial;
Wednesday 1 February: St Ignatius of Antioch, Class III;
Thursday 2 February: Purification of Our Lady, Class II;
Friday 3 February, St Blaise, memorial (blessing of throats);
Saturday 4 February, St Andrew Corsini (EF only).

The Ordinary Form calendar

This is the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Gospel is St Mark 1:21-28, Our Lord preaches at Capernaum and expels an evil spirit from a man.

From the martyrology - St John Chrysostom (Jan 27)

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"St. John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, confessor and doctor of the Church, and the heavenly patron of preachers, who fell asleep in the Lord on the 14th of September. His holy body was brought to Constantinople on this day in the reign of Theodosius the younger; it was afterwards taken to Rome and placed in the basilica of the Prince of the Apostles."

You can read Pope Benedict XVI's General Audience on this important Doctor of the Church here.

From the martyrology: SS Polycarp and Paula (Jan 26)

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In the Office today we celebrate the feast of St Polycarp:

"St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna and martyr, who gained the crown of martyrdom on the 23rd of February."

St Paula and her daughter with St Jerome
Francisco de Zurbaran, c1638-40

The martyrology also lists, however, St Paula (347-404), who assisted St Jerome in his translation work and established a monastery for men and women in Bethlehem:

"At Bethlehem of Judea, the death of St. Paula, widow, mother of St. Eustochium, a virgin of Christ, who abandoned her worldly prospects, though she was descended from a noble line of senators, distributed her goods to the poor, and retired to our Lord's manger, where, endowed with many virtues, and crowned with a long martyrdom, she departed for the kingdom of heaven. Her admirable life was written by St. Jerome."

St Jerome wrote a life of her, and a number of their letters also survive.

From the martyrology: Conversion of St Paul; St Poppo OSB (Jan 25)

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1467 Polish

Today in the Extraordinary Form, Ordinary Form and traditional Benedictine Office we celebrate the famous conversion of St Paul:

"The conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, which occurred in the second year after the Ascension of our Lord."

Bamberg, Church of SS Peter and George

The martyrology also mentions, however, St Poppo, an eleventh century monastic reformer:

"At Marchiennes in France, St. Poppo, priest and abbot, renowned for his miracles."

St Poppo had a colourful life, as the Catholic Encyclopedia chronicles:

"Abbot, born 977; died at Marchiennes, 25 January, 1048. He belonged to a noble family of Flanders; his parents were Tizekinus and Adalwif. About the year 1000 he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with two others of his countrymen. Soon after this he also went on a pilgrimage to Rome. He was about to marry a lady of noble family, when an impressive experience led him to seek another mode of life. As he was journeying late at night a flame burst forth over his head and his lance radiated a brilliant light. He believed this to be an illumination of the Holy Spirit, and soon after, 1005, he entered the monastery of St. Thierry at Reims."

He was appointed to head a number of monasteries to aid their reform in the spirit of Cluny, working under the guidance of St Richard of Saint-Vannes.

SS Timothy and Suranus, Abbot (Jan 24)

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Today in the Office we celebrate in the Office the feast of St Timothy, of whom the martyrology says:

"At Ephesus, St. Timothy, disciple of the apostle St. Paul, who ordained him bishop of that city. After many labours for Christ, he was stoned for rebuking those who offered sacrifices to Diana, and shortly after went peacefully to his rest in the Lord."

But also mentioned is St Suranus:

"Also, blessed Suranus, abbot, who lived in the time of the Lombards."

The saint is mentioned in Book I of St Gregory's Dialogues:

"At such time as I yet lived in the Monastery, I understood by the relation of certain religious men, that in the time of the Lombards, in this very province called Sura and not far off, there was an holy Abbot called Suranus, who bestowed upon certain prisoners, which had escaped their hands, all such things as he had in his Monastery: and when he had given away in alms all his own apparel, and whatsoever he could find either in the monks' cells or in the yards, and nothing was left: suddenly the Lombards came thither, took him prisoner, and demanded where his gold was: and when he told them that he had nothing, they carried him to an hill hard by, where there was a mighty great wood in which a certain prisoner that ran away from them had hid himself in an hollow tree. There one of the Lombards, drawing out his sword, slew the foresaid venerable Abbot, whose body as it fell to the ground, suddenly all the hill together with the wood did shake, as though the earth by that trembling had said, that it could not bear the weight of his holiness and virtue."

From the martyrology: SS Emerentiana and Martyrius (Jan 23)

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St Agnes cup, c14th

In the Office today we celebrate the feast of St Emerentiana, of whom the martyrology says:

"At Rome, the holy virgin and martyr, St. Emerentiana. Being yet a catechumen, she was stoned to death by the heathens while praying at the tomb of St. Agnes, her foster sister."

The martyrology also mentions St. Martyrius, a monk, mentioned by St Gregory the Great in his Dialogues, Book I:

"A certain man lived in that province, called Martirius, who was a very devout servant of almighty God, and gave this testimony of his virtuous life. For, upon a certain day, the other monks, his brethren, made a hearth-cake, forgetting to make upon it the sign of the cross: for in that country they use to make a cross upon their loaves, dividing them so into four parts: when the servant of God came, they told him that it was not marked: who, seeing it covered with ashes and coals, asked why they did not sign it, and speaking so, he made the sign of the cross with his hand against the coals: which thing whiles he was in doing, the cake gave a great crack, as though the pan had been broken with the fire: after it was baked and taken out, they found it marked with the sign of the cross, which yet not any corporal touching, but the faith of Martirius had imprinted."

St Vincent of Saragossa (Jan 22); St Anastasius, monk of Persia

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From the martyrology for January 22:

"At Valencia in Spain, while the wicked Dacian was governor, St. Vincent, deacon and martyr, who, after suffering imprisonment, hunger, the rack, and the disjointing of his limbs, was burned with plates of heated metal and on the gridiron, and tormented in other ways, then took his flight to heaven, there to receive the reward of martyrdom. His noble triumph over his sufferings has been skillfully set forth in verse by Prudentius, and also was eulogized by St. Augustine and Pope St. Leo."

You can read more about him here.

Also in the martyrology today, St Anastasius, a convert martyred in 628:

"At Bethsaloen in Assyria, St. Anastasius, a Persian monk, who after suffering much at Caesarea in Palestine from imprisonment, stripes, and fetters, had to bear many afflictions from Chosroes, king of Persia, who caused him to be beheaded. He had sent before him to martyrdom seventy of his companions, who were drowned in a river. His head was brought to Rome, at Aquae Salviae, together with his revered image, by the sight of which demons are expelled, and diseases cured, as is attested by the Acts of the second Council of Nicea."

Ordo notes for the week of January 22

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Codex Egberti, c10th

This Sunday is the Third Sunday after Epiphany in the EF/traditional Benedictine calendar, and the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time in the OF.

This week in the traditional Benedictine and EF calendars

This Sunday's Gospel is St Matthew 8:1-13, Our Lord heals a leper and the Centurion's servant.

Sunday Jan 22 - St Vincent of Saragossa, memorial EF: also St Anastasius of Persia, martyr)
Monday Jan 23 - St Emerentiana, memorial, foster sister of St Agnes, killed by pagans while praying at her sister's grave (EF: St Raymond of Pennafort);
Tuesday Jan 24 - St Timothy, bishop, memorial;
Wednesday, Jan 25 - Conversion of St Paul, Class III;
Thursday, Jan 26 - St Polycarp, Bishop and martyr, memorial;
Friday, Jan 27 - St John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, Class III;
Saturday, Jan 28 - St Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, Class III (EF: St Peter Nolasco).

Ordinary Form calendar

This week's Gospel is St Mark 1:14-20.

Tuesday 22 January, St Frances de Sales;
Wednesday 23 January, The Conversion of St Paul; St Cadoc (English Congregation);
Thursday, January 26: SS Angela Merici, Timothy and Titus (OF); St. Robert, St. Alberic and St. Stephen, abbots of Citeaux - Optional Memorial (Benedictine Confed);
Saturday, January 28: St Thomas Aquinas.

St Agnes (January 21)

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Zenobi Strozzi, c1448-9

From the 1962 Roman Martyrology:
"At Rome, the passion of St. Agnes, virgin, who under Symphronius, governor of the city, was thrown into the fire, but after it was extinguished by her prayers, she was slain with the sword. Of her, St. Jerome writes: "Agnes is praised in the writings and by the tongues of all nations, especially in the churches. She overcame the weakness of her age, conquered the cruelty of the tyrant, and consecrated her chastity by martyrdom."

You can read more about the saint here.

Benedictine FAQ's Part II: Is there such a thing as "the Order of St Benedict"?

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I want to continue today, my series of Frequently Asked Questions about the Benedictine Order and its spirituality. As I've previously flagged, a key issue whether there is in fact any such thing as the "order of St Benedict'!

If you hunt around Benedictine websites and books, particularly those of recent decades, one of the more bemusing things to stumble across are assertions to the effect that there is no such thing as the Order of St Benedict.

It is often followed by claims that St Benedict had no intention of forming an order, and that the saint is not the founder in any real sense, of monasteries claiming to be Benedictine.

Are these claims correct? Personally I don't think so.

Here is why.

The 'Order of St Benedict' has, for centuries, appeared in the lists of historico-canonical precedence for religious orders put out annually by the Vatican in its annual statistics book, Annuario Pontificio, and is listed as having been founded in the sixth century for this purpose.   It still appears in the modern version, under Institutes of Consecrated Life.

So if there is no such thing as the Benedictine Order, it would appear to be news to the Vatican!

Canon law and the Order of St Benedict

But let's take a look at the arguments of those who claim there is no such thing as the Order of St Benedict.

Take for example, Fr Luke Dysinger OSB's version of the storyline, which pretty well encapsulates most of the standard arguments.

He starts his treatment of the subject by saying:

"PREPARE yourself for a shock: from the perspective of canon law there is no such thing as "The Benedictine Order."

That's sort of true.

But only because, in the 1983 Code of Canon Law, there is no longer such a thing as a 'religious order' at all, technically speaking!

I'm not a canonist, but the old 1917 Code of Canon Law (and pre-1917 canonical conventions) did talk about religious orders, and basically defined membership of them in terms of those religious who took solemn (as opposed to simple) vows.

What made a religious a member of a religious order prior to 1983, rather than a 'religious congregation', in other words, was not a matter of how they were centrally organized, but about the effects of their vows.

And on that definition of course, most, though not all, Benedictines were considered members of a religious order (the story is complicated by the existence of active, missionary institutes, and the loss of the right to take solemn vows by American Benedictine women's monasteries).

It is true though that the 1983 Code however drops all these older distinctions and talks only about Institutes of Consecrated Life. Still, if you are going to talk about religious orders, then the weight of ecclesial tradition would suggest that 'the Order of St Benedict' certainly is one'!

The arguments don't just rest on canonical history or technicalities, however.

The early history of the Benedictine 'order'

Fr Dysinger goes on to argue that there is no order because Benedictine monasticism predates the very concept:

"Are you surprised? You should be. After all, everyone knows that O.S.B., the letters which Benedictine monastics (sisters, nuns and monks) sign after their names stand for Ordine Sancti Benedicti - the Order of St. Benedict. However, there is no Benedictine "Order." There were Benedictine monks and nuns long before anyone spoke of religious orders: in fact, for several centuries, Benedictine monasticism was the only form of religious life in the Western Church. Benedictines are thus much older than the concept of a religious order."

But is it really true that Benedictine monasticism was the only form of religious life in the Church for several centuries? Well actually no.

In fact of course there were a wide variety of forms of religious life, and many different rules (and collections of rules) in use throughout the first millennium of the churches life.

Indeed, when the Benedictines, at the time of Pope St Pius V, tried to argue for precedence for the Order over all later comers using just the type of argument adduced by Fr Luke, that claim was rejected in favour of the Canons Regular of St Augustine on the basis that their rule was dated earlier, and two popes ruled the canons regular concept at least in fact had apostolic origins! To this day, the Annuario Pontificio credits them as having been founded in the fourth century.

Does continuity matter?

Some argue that one of the reasons for rejecting the idea that there is an 'order of Benedict' is that there is no clear chain of continuity from the founder himself down through history. The continuity, they argue, rests only within individual Benedictine Congregations.

It should be noted first that Pope Pius V's sixteenth century ruling on the precedence of the Augustinians didn't rest on any claim of continuity, because there was none in their case!  After the death of St Augustine, Africa was largely lost to Christianity, and there is no evidence that his concept of organising the priests of a diocese in a quasi-monastic way survived that destruction.  Rather, the Augustinian Canons were a later revival of the charism. So even if it were true, as some have argued, that Benedictine monasticism is a Carolingian invention (a view I for one reject!), that doesn't mean that there is no such thing as the Benedictine Order.

I also think a reasonably strong case for some considerable degree of continuity in the Benedictine charism can actually be made. The case rests, it is true, partly on an oral tradition written down much later, partly on extrapolation from what we do know. But the counter-argument basically starts from a hermeneutic of suspicion: if a hard document such as a charter can't be produced proving that the rule was passed on by a disciple of St Benedict and used, then it clearly didn't happen. Yet we know perfectly well that very little of the records of this period have survived. But what has is consistent with the traditional storyline of how the Order spread! In any case, I've set out some of the possible links in the chain my series on St Benedict for the Novena leading up to his feastday.

In fact I think in many ways a stronger case for continuity in the Benedictine Order can be made for the earlier period than for more recent times. The founder of the nineteenth century revival of Benedictine Monasticism, for example, Dom Prosper Gueranger, didn't even meet his first Benedictine monk until four years after his the foundation of his monastery. And that meeting (with the English Congregation monk, Dom William Ullathorne) was on the road to Rome where Gueranger did a whole fortnight by way of 'noviciate' at St Paul Without-the Walls before making his solemn profession and being formally appointed Abbot of Solesmes!

I'm not suggesting that there was in reality no continuity with the earlier form of the Benedictine charism in the case of Solesmes: quite the contrary. In fact Dom Gueranger and his monks undertook detailed studies of earlier monastic customs and interpretations of the Rule. But the continuity in the end came mostly from living the Rule, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, not some notional apprenticeship system down the centuries!

Lack of a central organizational structure

Another argument often put is that the real distinction between Benedictines and other religious orders has to do with organizational structures. Dysinger says:

"THE TERM "religious order" usually implies an international structure in which common observance is maintained through submission to a single authority figure, usually a "superior general." Benedictines have never had such a structure. That is, there has never been a single abbot who could claim jurisdiction over all Benedictine monasteries. Only the Holy Father in Rome can claim that privilege."

It is true that Benedictines lack a central governing structure with the sort of powers that many other orders give to a superior general.

You can't just set up a monastery and claim to be members of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) for example, unless the official order accepts you. Mind you, of course, these days there are more than a few Dominicans by any other name (such as the traditionalist Fraternity of St Vincent Ferrer) who don't call themselves OP, but do claim the spirituality!

By contrast, you can (in theory at least; in practice the bishop and/or the Holy See will need some convincing that you really are Benedictine) set up a Benedictine monastery and write OSB after your names without the agreement of any official Benedictine central governing body.

There is, it is true, a 'Benedictine Confederation' (established in the nineteenth century) which monasteries and groups of monasteries can affiliate with.

But there are also more than a few very prominent, indisputably Benedictine monasteries, that are not, or have not been until very recently (such as Le Barroux for example) members of it.

It is also true that many do think of religious orders as highly centralized affairs with a central governing body. But in reality, there are others who, like the Benedictines, do not have such a structure - including those old rivals, the Augustinian Canons - yet have always been accepted as religious orders

The root of the problem: agreeing on what it means to be Benedictine!

The root cause of the modern reluctance to lay claim to being an order in any real sense, I would suggest, goes to some very longstanding, often quite bitter, and in many cases still unresolved disputes about just what the nature of the Benedictine 'Black Monk' charism really is.

When it comes down to it, when we talk about a particular religious order, we usually really mean a distinctive spirituality and mode of operation associated with a particular founder or foundress. Benedictines have always been extremely diverse, but the last several decades have seen major divides in most religious orders as to just what their charism really is. And some, I would suggest, just don't want to be associated with certain other views of Benedictine spirituality...

In reality the first grouping of monasteries to look like the later religious orders, in the sense of having a central governing authority and many closely regulated offshoots, was arguably the Cluniac Congregation of Benedictines, founded in the tenth century.

And the first really public great debate on the nature of the Benedictine charism was in the twelfth century between the Cluniacs (particularly under Peter the Venerable) and the Cistercians (particularly under Bernard of Clairvaux).  So great was the divide between the two interpretations of the Rule, that the Cistercians became a separate religious order(s) to the Black Monks.

In reality, many of the issues debated back then and down the centuries in subsequent outbreaks of hostilities within the Order about what it means to follow the Rule are still much contested.

There are those, for example, who have held, from the nineteenth century revival onwards, that the Benedictine charism is strictly contemplative, and that those congregations or monasteries who undertake active apostolic works should be considered oblates only, not monks or nuns. This view gained ground in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, with more than a few monasteries of women in particular being forced to either abandon their limited apostolic works (such as schools within the cloister) or lose the right to make solemn vows. Others, however, point out that the Benedictine charism has historically embraced a very wide variety of forms indeed, and point to the early missionary tradition!

The ins and outs of the various debates on the nature of the charism are perhaps best left for possible future posts.

Suffice it to suggest that the tradition of the fiercely guarded autonomy of individual monasteries and/or congregations, and resistance to central authority, is a reaction to the Order's long history.

OSB?

All the same, there surely is such as thing as the 'Order of St Benedict' - after all, would so many write it after their names if it doesn't actually mean anything?

But do let me know if you agree or not, or want more detail or references for any of the points I've made.

And if you have suggestions for future FAQs to cover, do let me know.

Notes on the Office for the week of January 15

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Duccio di Buononsegna, the Marriage at Cana

Epiphanytide is now over and we are now back in 'time throughout the year'!

Second Sunday after Epiphany

The Epiphany themes, however, are not altogether left behind in the Sundays after Epiphany (which, once upon a time was a distinct season), as this post on the Second Sunday after Epiphany) explains. This week's Gospel tells the story of the wedding at Cana.

Saints this week in the traditional Benedictine Office and EF

The saints celebrated in this week's Office are:

Monday 16 Jan - Pope St Marcellus I (pope from May 308 to 309) - he died not long after being banished by the Emperor Maxentius;
Tuesday 17 Jan - St Anthony (251-356), made famous by St Athanasius' life, which did much to promote monastic life in both the East and West;
Wednesday 18 January - commemoration of St Priscus, martyred under the Emperor Claudius, in the EF only. The Feast of St Peter's Chair was also formerly celebrated on this day;
Thursday 19 January – SS Marius, Martha, Audifax and Abachum, a family from Persia martyred in Rome under the Emperor Aurelian;
Friday 20 January - SS Fabian and Sebastian. St Fabian was Pope from 236 to 250 when he was martyred; St Sebastian was a layman martyred under Diocletian;
Saturday 21 January - St Agnes, one of the saints mentioned in the Roman canon.

In some places and Benedictine monasteries, Saturday is also the feast of St Meinrad OSB, a swiss monk killed by thieves attempting to raid a shrine at his monastery in 861.

Ordinary Form calendar

In the Ordinary Form, this Sunday is the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Ordinary Form General Calendar also celebrates St Anthony, SS Fabian and Sebastian and St Agnes this week.

The OSB General Calendar (1975) also celebrates the feast of SS Maurus and Placid on January 15 (in the traditional calendar, their feast is in October).

The English Congregation also celebrate the feast of St Wulfstan OSB, Bishop of Worcester (d 1095) on January 19.

St Peter Orseolo (Jan 10)

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In the Benedictine calendar today (EF calendar Jan 15), today is the memorial of St Paul the first hermit.

But the martyrology also recalls today another hermit, this time a Benedictine, in the form of St Peter Orseolo, a Doge of Venice who became a simple monk of the Order of St Benedict.

St Peter was a Doge of Venice, and lived between 928 and 987.

He was married at 18 and had one son, who also eventually became a Doge of Venice.

At 20, he led the Venetian fleet against Dalmatian pirates.

In 976 he became Doge after a revolution against the sitting Doge's attempts to create a monarchy. In that position he started the rebuilding of St Mark's, as well as building hospitals and supported other social programs.

Two years later, he quietly left town and joined a Benedictine monastery in the South of France, living a life of great asceticism.

He subsequently became a hermit with the encouragement of St Romuald, living in the forest surrounding the monastery.

He was acclaimed a saint some forty years after his death, and the canonization was ratified in 1731 by Pope Clement XII.

Order of St Benedict FAQs, Part I

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This is a slightly edited version of an article originally posted on my Australia Incognita blog which mysteriously started getting a lot of hits last year (I'd love to know who was recommending it?), so I thought it might be useful to repost it here.

It was essentially written to counter some misinformation and misunderstandings about the Order of St Benedict that I'd heard, so doesn't pretend to be either comprehensive or systematic!

I do plan to do more parts of this though (starting of the question of whether there is such a thing as 'the order of St Benedict'!), so do let me know if you have any particular questions you'd like answered about Benedictine spirituality or the nature of the Benedictine Order/monastic practices, and I'll see what I can do!

Please do feel free to provide corrections or additional information, or to comment and disagree on my take on the subject!

1. Do Benedictine nuns have to practice papal enclosure?

No, not necessarily. Strict papal enclosure was imposed on all female religious after the Council of Trent as a way of responding to Protestant propaganda about religious, but (unlike many other Orders such as Franciscan, Dominican and Carmelite nuns) it was not part of the original charism.

St Benedict certainly encouraged a strict division from the world for both his monks and nuns, but a good case can be made that the charism was originally for the 'mixed life' rather than strictly contemplative (his monks acted as chaplains to nearby communities, and their immediate successors, both monks and nuns, included many missionaries; and St Benedict's emphasis on hospitality is pretty much incompatible with strict enclosure) of the type allowed for under current canon law as 'constitutional enclosure'.

In fact the most famous story we have about the first Benedictine nuns concerns St Scholastica's annual trip to visit her brother St Benedict at the foot of his monastery, something certainly not possible under papal enclosure.

St Benedict's Rule (except for the section on priests) in principle applies equally to men and women, and includes provisions on how to behave outside the monastery, rituals for long journeys, and instructions on dealing with guests within the monastic enclosure.

In the nineteenth century revival of monasticism, the charism split two ways - in the US Benedictine nuns became actives, and lost the right to solemn profession, whereas most of their European sisters accepted papal enclosure. Today canon law allows more leeway, and while some traditional nuns (such as Le Barroux) continue the tradition of strict papal enclosure, others (such as Jouques), while maintaining the forms of enclosure (grille and parlour so forth) take turns at extern duties, and practice hospitality in the spirit of the Rule.

2. How is the seeming affluence of some Benedictines compatible with the vow of poverty?

Actually, Benedictines don't technically make a vow of poverty (though it is certainly encompassed in the vows they do make) - they actually promise stability, conversion of life, and obedience, in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict.

And there is an interesting difference between Benedictines and Franciscans. St Francis wanted his friars to both be poor and look poor - to wear patched habits and so forth. St Benedict by contrast instructed his monks to wear the patched habits within the monastery - but when going outside on a journey, to be given a nicer outfit stored up for the purpose.

Similarly, Benedictines generally wear choir cowls over their normal habit in Church to present a nicer face to the outside world. Benedictine poverty and austerity, in other words, was to be practiced in secret within the monastery, but not to be made obvious to the outside world. So don't make assumptions about how the monks or nuns are living based on the little glimpses you get to see!

Secondly, though, religious poverty in the Benedictine tradition is about collective ownership of goods - no solemnly professed monk or nun 'owns' anything personally, anything they use is supposed to be allocated to them by the abbot/abbess on the basis of need only. That means that if you give a monk a gift, the abbot decides whether or not he gets it, or it goes to someone else.

3. Can the monastery buy up lots of nice stuff under the guise of common ownership?

It depends!

If we are talking expensive tvs/entertainment equipment, aeroplanes (yes one new Cistercian community, now defunct, actually owned a plane) and the like, then I personally think that is totally inconsistent with the Rule.

St Benedict, after all, specifies a certain degree of austerity - no more clothes than are needed for the locality and type of work done for example.

But the Rule does assume the monastery will spend up big on necessary things - like books in particular, since reading and study is a big part of the life.

He also put a lot of emphasis on adapting the Rule of the monastery to individual needs - if some needed more things in order to persevere in the life, then the abbot should allow what was necessary (and others should not be jealous of whatever privileges they were allowed), since perseverance is far more important than uniformity.

And whereas St Dominic, for example, specified that the chapels of his order should not be filled with expensive items, prohibiting for example the use of silk, Benedictines have always prized beauty, particularly in the worship of God (Cistercians of course, split off in the more austere school of monastic life, with whitewashed chapels instead of wall paintings and so forth).

Benedictines have also traditionally tried to make their monasteries appear attractive - they live in them for life, remember, not wondering about as friars and others do, and shouldn't often leave them. They do not generally get four week overseas holidays a year; or to go out to visit art galleries or attend a concert, or have a meal. Instead their recreation periods are strictly regulated, and are generally communal (typically a group walk). So if they are allowed an occasional more relaxed form of entertainment in the monastery as a special treat, or spend some communal money on entertainment, that's not (necessarily) inconsistent with poverty.

By way of context, it's worth knowing that the most ascetic Order of them all, the Carthusians, filled their monasteries with some of the greatest art works of the middle ages until the Reformation (and subsequent waves of anti-catholic forces) destroyed so many of them.

4. Do the monks/nuns eat the same food as guests?

St Benedict's Rule puts a lot of emphasis on hospitality. The monks were supposed to maintain a separate kitchen (where meat could be served, in contrast to the diet specified for the monastery itself), and the abbot or a senior monk was to dine with the guests. Even the internal fasts of the monastery were to take second place to the duty of hospitality, with an instruction to break the fast in order to dine with a new arrival.

It's an approach that has firm roots in the desert monk tradition, where two visiting monks were scandalized by the rich meal offered to them by a famous monk - they didn't realize that what he offered them was very far from his normal fare.

Within the monastery proper, the Rule specifies a regime of either one or two meals a day depending on the season (but able to be modified by the abbot if the needs of the time and place demand it), with no meat of four-hoofed animals (so birds and fish are ok). The monastic fasts specified by the Rule are generally about how many meals and when the meal is taken (in Lent, the one meal is delayed until the evening, rather than being mid-afternoon for example) rather than quantity consumed.

St Benedict's emphasis was on moderation in food (and other things) rather than strict asceticism (he specifically allows wine with meals for example, even while noting that many see it as unsuitable for monks), and on ensuring that everyone has enough to eat to cope with the other rigours of the life. In this light, over time the Rule has generally been modified somewhat - most monasteries do allow some light breakfast, and many eat at least some red meat (Dom Gueranger didn't think frenchmen could survive without it, so his Solesmes Congregation set the trend)! But most also have regular stricter fasts.

Some men's monasteries allow male guests to eat in the refectory, so you do actually get to see what the monks eat. But elsewhere, if the religious are feeding you, don't assume - what you are consuming in the guesthouse may not be what the monks or nuns are eating (or not eating)!

The week after Epiphany...

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c15th book of hours,
Jesus among the doctors

Holy Family or First Sunday after Epiphany?

In the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, this Sunday is titled the feast of the Holy Family, and the Monastic Diurnal includes the texts for that feast in the supplement section at the back. In the universal Benedictine Calendar, however, the Office for Sunday is actually that of the First Sunday after Epiphany.

The Gospel is the same either way: the finding of the child Jesus in the Temple with the doctors.

The reason for this oddity in names is that the Feast of the Holy Family is quite recent - it was instituted in 1893 - and was never picked up by the Benedictines. The Gospel though, creates provides a bridge between the Adoration of the Nativity and the Baptism of Our Lord on January 13, which marked the end of the old Octave of the Epiphany.

You can read more on this in my post from last year on the subject.

Epiphanytide and the Commemoration of Our Lord's Baptism (Friday, January 13)

This week we are in epiphanytide, which uses texts that are the remnants of the old Octave.

The major feast of this week, the commemoration of Our Lord's baptism marks the formal end of Christmastide (of which epiphanytide is a part) in the liturgical calendar, and a move into 'time throughout the year'.

Saints in the calendar this week

This week's saints in the Benedictine Calendar are:

St Paul the First Hermit (Tuesday, January 10);
St Felix of Nola (Saturday January 14); and
St Hilary, bishop and doctor of the Church (Jan 14).

Another great saint, whose feast is included this week (January 12) in the calendar of the English Congregation, is St Benet Biscop, a great saint for the traditionally inclined, who played a key role in the preservation of Western civilization in the 'dark ages'.

As a monk he had a reputation as being pious, ascetic, learned and holy. He is particularly honoured as the founder of the twin monasteries of Wearmouth whose Church still stands and Jarrow, where he was St Bede the Venerable's first abbot.

But his particular interest is the way his fascinating career illustrates the cross-fertilization of cultural currents at the time, and his work in importing books and skills to England where they were preserved and re-exported back to the Continent a century later. Do go and read my full post on him.

Ordinary Form calendar

In the Ordinary Form, the Benedictine calendar this week includes the optional memorial of St Gregory of Nyssa (January 10).

Feast of Epiphany (January 6)

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Vicente Gil, 1498-1519

January 6 is, in some countries, as well as in the Extraordinary Form, the feast of the Epiphany.

Christmastide and the date of the feast

In many more places, unfortunately, where it is not a Holy Day of Obligation, it is celebrated this coming Sunday instead. And that is unfortunate, because the celebration of the feast of the Epiphany (the word means manifestation) on January 6 is very ancient as a decree of the Holy See dating back to 376 attests.

It marks, among other things, the end of the traditional twelve days of Christmas, and is traditionally one of the great feasts around which the Church year is traditionally arranged (with Sundays after the Epiphany).

It is worth noting, though, that Epiphany does not in fact mark the end of the broader Christmas season: the 1963 breviary rubrics split 'de tempore natalicio' into two sections: Nativitytide and Epiphanytide, which runs up to and includes 13 January (ie encompassing the old and now abolished octave of the Epiphany).

Manifestations of the divinity of Our Lord

The Feast actually celebrates three different 'manifestations' of our Lord's divinity:

the visit of the Wise Men from the East (the primary focus of the liturgy of the feast of the Epiphany);
the baptism of Our Lord by St John the Baptist (especially remembered on the old octave day in the feast of the Commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord, January 13; and
the changing of wine into water at the wedding feast of Cena.

It is perhaps worth noting that the recent publication of an early account of the Magi's journey, The Revelations of the Magi, which suggests that there were in fact quite a large group of wise men who travelled to worship the Christ child, in no way contradicts the Gospel, which is silent on the size of the group...

The feast is rich in devotional traditions, including the blessing of holy water (of the 'super-charged' variety!), frankinsense, gold and chalk (to be used in the annual blessing of your house).

Saints of the martyrology for January 5: St Telesphorus, Pope;St Apollinaris of Egypt; St Emiliana, virgins

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I thought I would pick out some saints not featured in the Benedictine 1963 universal calendar to highlight this year.

Today's are from the 1962 Roman Martyrology. The Martyrology for the day before is traditionally read in monasteries in chapter (at Prime if it is said), and highlights the actual date of death of saints whose feastday in the calendar is moved for one reason or another, as well as the many more saints who don't make it into the universal calendar.

St Telesphorus

St Telesphorus, who is commemorated today in the Extraordinary Form calendar, was pope between around 127 to 136 AD. He was an anchorite prior to becoming pope. Martyred under Emperor Antonius Pius, the custom of midnight masses at Christmas, inter alia, is attributed to him.

St Apollinaris of Egypt

St Apollinaris is one of the "desert mothers". Apparently the daughter of an emperor of Rome, she put on male clothes and lived as hermit as a disciple of St. Macrius. Her true story was revealed at her death.

St Emiliana

St Emiliana was an aunt of St Gregory the Great. St Gregory came from a saintly family: his mother and two of his paternal aunts are revered as saints, and today we celebrate one of them. SS Trasilla and Emiliana devoted themselves to a life of virginity, fasting and prayer in their home in Rome.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, after many years in the service of God, St. Felix III, an ancestor, appeared to Trasilla and bade her enter her abode of glory. On the eve of Christmas she died, seeing Jesus beckoning. A few days later she appeared to Emiliana, who had followed well in her footsteps, and invited her to the celebration of Epiphany in heaven.

Make reading the Benedictine Rule daily a new year's resolution!

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A Benedictine spiritual practice that you might want to consider adopting (or picking up again) is to read a section of the Rule of St Benedict each day.

St Benedict's Rule, probably written for his monastery of Monte Cassino before the death of the saint in 547, was originally primarily a legislative work, setting out the broad outlines for how a monastery should work for the benefit of novices. But it has proved remarkably durable - adaptable to many times and places, and able to be used as a spiritual guide by religious, priests and laity alike.

Because St Benedict wanted the Rule to be read to novices three times before profession in full, it became the custom, maintained in many monasteries up to this day, to divide it up into daily sections so as to read it aloud in chapter (traditionally said immediately after Prime) three times a year. Many oblates and others have likewise adopted this custom, and you can find an online edition of the Rule divided up for daily reading here (the website will send you a daily email if requested).

It is helpful to read it with a good commentary. You can find links to Simon's Commentary for Oblates and Dom Delatte's classic commentary in the sidebar at the right. But for something online, I'd suggest a read of that by Abbot Philip Lawrence of Christ in the Desert Monastery. It is aimed at monks, and you may not agree with all of it, but it provides some very solid food for thought.

Notes on the Ordo for the week of 1 January

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Simone Martini, 1333

I'm going to experiment a little this year with the format and content of my notes on the saints of the calendar - please do let me know whether or not you like it, or any suggestions you may have.

In particular, rather than repeat previous notes on individual saints, in most cases I will simply provide a link to relevant posts from previous years or material on other sites. Hopefully that will provide some space to add in a few posts on saints from various calendars, as well as other material on Benedictine spirituality...

The liturgical seasons

Up until the evening of January 5 (with I Vespers of the Epiphany) the season is still Christmas (nativitytide), and you can find the texts (chapters, versicles, hymns etc) for this season (Jan 2-5) in the Monastic Diurnal from page 119*.

The proper texts for Epiphanytide (Jan 7-12), remnants of the now abolished Octave of the Epiphany, are on MD 133*ff.

If however, you are following the Ordinary Form calendar (or in a place where the 'external solemnity' is transferred to the nearest Sunday) be aware that Epiphany is celebrated this year on January 8.

Note also that Saturdays Office is of Our Lady, said according to the 'After Christmas' rubrics.

Feasts

Epiphany aside (on which I will post later in the week), the only feast in the universal Benedictine calendar this week is the memorial of St Titus (celebrated on another date entirely in the Roman EF calendar).

In the Extraordinary Form, however, January 2 (January 3 in the Ordinary Form as an optional memorial) is a feast day. For my previous comments on this, and notes on how to say the Office for the feast, see my previous discussion of the Holy Name of Jesus.

Also in the Ordinary Form, January 7 is the optional memorial of St Raymond of Penyafort.

In some countries and Benedictine Congregations this week also sees the feasts of St Elizabeth Anne Seton, St Andre Bessette and/or St John Neumann.

Feast of Mary, Mother of God? (aka New Year, aka Circumcision of Christ aka Octave Day of Christmas)

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This Sunday's feast is curious in that it has undergone a number of name changes in recent years - yet retained its key text, viz St Luke 2:21, which describes the circumcision of Our Lord.

Traditionally, this Sunday would have been the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord. The feast celebrated the first time the blood of Christ was shed, and thus the beginning of the process of the redemption of man. It also serves to demonstrate that Christ was fully human, and his obedience to Biblical law.

In the 1962 Calendar (including the Benedictine Universal Calendar), all of the traditional texts for the feast are retained, but the name is dropped in favour of the Octave Day of the Nativity.

In the Novus Ordo calendar, it has become the Feast of Mary, Mother of God, apparently for reasons of ecumenism (with the Eastern Orthodox).

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet...

On calendars and ordos...

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For those wanting to say some form of the Benedictine Office in 2012, I thought it might be helpful to include links to various online Ordos and calendars.

There are essentially three (licit) choices as far as calendars and ordos go, but quite a few variants to them, so herewith a guide!

Why calendars and rubrics are important

Once upon a time (essentially between Trent and Vatican II) the delegation to say the Divine Office on behalf of the Church was restricted to priests and religious.

Current Church law opens up the Office to the laity as well, but that brings with it great responsibility.

The Office is not just some other prayer that you can just toss off - even when said by one person alone, the presumption will normally be that it is part of the official public, liturgical prayer of the Church. Thus it must be said in line with the rules that go with it.

That means paying attention to the rubrics, and using an approved calendar.

Benedictine 1963 (EF)

The first and easiest approach, open to any Benedictine Oblate, is to use the Benedictine universal calendar for 1963, adding in any local feasts for your region, country, diocese, monastery and parish church.

This calendar is pretty similar to the 1962 Extraordinary Form one, though there are some variations in the number and level of feasts.

The Farnborough Diurnal is keyed to this calendar, and the monthly Ordo on this blog (or if you want it by emails/word file, join the tradben yahoo group) should help you find the appropriate pages in the book.

Adapting the Benedictine to the Extraordinary From calendar

If you are attending daily Mass in the Extraordinary Form some place that is not a Benedictine monastery, you may want to adapt the Office you say to reflect the Mass of the day. That is actually pretty easy to do, and I think it can be argued, perfectly licit - the liturgical seasons and major feasts are mostly identical; just make use of the 'Commons' of the appropriate type of saint and, if desired, use the collect of the day from your missal. Some traditional monasteries actually do more or less follow the EF calendar appropriate to their country, one of which is Le Barroux.

Novus Ordo/Ordinary Form calendar

It is of course possible to adapt the traditional Office to one or more variants of the Novus Ordo calendar, and indeed the monastery of Solesmes has published a series of volumes doing just that, including canticle antiphons and collects linked to the novus ordo three year lectionary. The problem for many is that these volumes are in Latin only, and there are as far as I can discover no authorised English translations. There are, however, an unauthorized set of translations you could use for study purposes here.

One solution for those praying the Office devotionally rather than liturgically if you want to stick with the traditional psalter but don't have enough Latin (and aren't prepared to learn a little!), would be to start from the Farnborough Diurnal but take the collects and Sunday canticle antiphons, etc from a current edition of the Liturgy of the Hours.

To that you could add the list of the standard Novus Ordo Benedictine feasts for the Order as a whole here.

Note that you will need to be very familiar with the traditional Office though to find the right parts!

Calendars and rubrics for individual monasteries/congregations

As the Benedictine "order' is very loosely connected indeed, most monasteries (or groups of monasteries) actually have the authority (within limits) to set up own calendars and often variants to the rubrics - Le Barroux for example, retains I Vespers for Class II feasts; and some traditional monasteries use the 1963 Office but with what is (more or less) the Novus Ordo calendar.

So if you are an Oblate, try and obtain the Ordo of the monastery you are affiliated to, and adapt the Office accordingly.

Or, if you are affiliated with a monastery of a particular Congregation, use their Ordo in association with the 'Commons of Saints':

Norcia in Italy provides a weekly ordo to go along with their broadcasts of the Office;
a calendar for the monasteries of the English Congregation is available online;
so too, the American Cassinese (note large file).

There may be others, if so do let me know.

Older calendars...

There are of course many older Diurnals and Breviaries around, and so many do use the older calendar that comes with them.

My personal view is that while studying these older variations can be helpful, actually using them is a form of liturgical abuse, an example of the liturgical creativity of recent decades infecting even traditionalists.

It isn't at all hard, after all, to use these older books but apply the 1963 calendar and rubrics.

Still, if you must, you can buy calendars for the Western or Orthodox rites over at Lancelot Andrewes Press...

Seventh day of the Octave; St Sylvester, Pope

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Today is the seventh day of the Octave of the Nativity (and of course New Year's Eve, a good time to reflect on the past year and plan for the new....).

St Sylvester was pope between 314 and 335, encompassing the period in which Constantine granted the Church official status in the Empire and the Council of Nicaea.

Despite this, very little is known of him, in part because of the confusion created by later fabrications such as the 'donation of Constantine', which purported to grant St Sylvester and his successor popes dominion over many lands.

The picture above depicts another much later legend that has St Sylvester slaying a dragon and resurrecting its victims.

Sixth Day in the Octave of the Nativity (December 30)

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Fifth Day in the Octave of the Nativity (Dec 29)/St Thomas of Canterbury

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Bernadino Luini c1525-30

In the Extraordinary Form calendar today, and in many places, today is the feast of St Thomas of Canterbury, better known as St Thomas a Becket, martyred in his own Cathedral for defending the rights of the Church against the State.

Holy Innocents (December 28)

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Giotto, c1304

The Biblical account of the reasons for this ancient feast of the first martyrs for Christ is St. Matthew 2:16-18:

"Herod perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry; and sending killed all the men children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias the prophet, saying: A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not."

St John the Evangelist (December 27)

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c1125

Pope Benedict XVI has given a series of General Audiences on St John. Here is the first of the series:

"Let us dedicate our meeting today to remembering another very important member of the Apostolic College: John, son of Zebedee and brother of James. His typically Jewish name means: "the Lord has worked grace". He was mending his nets on the shore of Lake Tiberias when Jesus called him and his brother (cf. Mt 4: 21; Mk 1: 19).

John was always among the small group that Jesus took with him on specific occasions. He was with Peter and James when Jesus entered Peter's house in Capernaum to cure his mother-in-law (cf. Mk 1: 29); with the other two, he followed the Teacher into the house of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue whose daughter he was to bring back to life (cf. Mk 5: 37); he followed him when he climbed the mountain for his Transfiguration (cf. Mk 9: 2).

He was beside the Lord on the Mount of Olives when, before the impressive sight of the Temple of Jerusalem, he spoke of the end of the city and of the world (cf. Mk 13: 3); and, lastly, he was close to him in the Garden of Gethsemane when he withdrew to pray to the Father before the Passion (cf. Mk 14: 33).

Shortly before the Passover, when Jesus chose two disciples to send them to prepare the room for the Supper, it was to him and to Peter that he entrusted this task (cf. Lk 22: 8).

His prominent position in the group of the Twelve makes it somewhat easier to understand the initiative taken one day by his mother: she approached Jesus to ask him if her two sons - John and James - could sit next to him in the Kingdom, one on his right and one on his left (cf. Mt 20: 20-21).

As we know, Jesus answered by asking a question in turn: he asked whether they were prepared to drink the cup that he was about to drink (cf. Mt 20: 22). The intention behind those words was to open the two disciples' eyes, to introduce them to knowledge of the mystery of his person and to suggest their future calling to be his witnesses, even to the supreme trial of blood.

A little later, in fact, Jesus explained that he had not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many (cf. Mt 20: 28).

In the days after the Resurrection, we find "the sons of Zebedee" busy with Peter and some of the other disciples on a night when they caught nothing, but that was followed, after the intervention of the Risen One, by the miraculous catch: it was to be "the disciple Jesus loved" who first recognized "the Lord" and pointed him out to Peter (cf. Jn 21: 1-13).

In the Church of Jerusalem, John occupied an important position in supervising the first group of Christians. Indeed, Paul lists him among those whom he calls the "pillars" of that community (cf. Gal 2: 9). In fact, Luke in the Acts presents him together with Peter while they are going to pray in the temple (cf. Acts 3: 1-4, 11) or appear before the Sanhedrin to witness to their faith in Jesus Christ (cf. Acts 4: 13, 19).

Together with Peter, he is sent to the Church of Jerusalem to strengthen the people in Samaria who had accepted the Gospel, praying for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 8: 14-15). In particular, we should remember what he affirmed with Peter to the Sanhedrin members who were accusing them: "We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4: 20).

It is precisely this frankness in confessing his faith that lives on as an example and a warning for all of us always to be ready to declare firmly our steadfast attachment to Christ, putting faith before any human calculation or concern.

According to tradition, John is the "disciple whom Jesus loved", who in the Fourth Gospel laid his head against the Teacher's breast at the Last Supper (cf. Jn 13: 23), stood at the foot of the Cross together with the Mother of Jesus (cf. Jn 19: 25) and lastly, witnessed both the empty tomb and the presence of the Risen One himself (cf. Jn 20: 2; 21: 7).

We know that this identification is disputed by scholars today, some of whom view him merely as the prototype of a disciple of Jesus. Leaving the exegetes to settle the matter, let us be content here with learning an important lesson for our lives: the Lord wishes to make each one of us a disciple who lives in personal friendship with him.

To achieve this, it is not enough to follow him and to listen to him outwardly: it is also necessary to live with him and like him. This is only possible in the context of a relationship of deep familiarity, imbued with the warmth of total trust. This is what happens between friends; for this reason Jesus said one day: "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.... No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (Jn 15: 13, 15).

In the apocryphal Acts of John, the Apostle is not presented as the founder of Churches nor as the guide of already established communities, but as a perpetual wayfarer, a communicator of the faith in the encounter with "souls capable of hoping and of being saved" (18: 10; 23: 8).

All is motivated by the paradoxical intention to make visible the invisible. And indeed, the Oriental Church calls him quite simply "the Theologian", that is, the one who can speak in accessible terms of the divine, revealing an arcane access to God through attachment to Jesus.

Devotion to the Apostle John spread from the city of Ephesus where, according to an ancient tradition, he worked for many years and died in the end at an extraordinarily advanced age, during the reign of the Emperor Trajan.

In Ephesus in the sixth century, the Emperor Justinian had a great basilica built in his honour, whose impressive ruins are still standing today. Precisely in the East, he enjoyed and still enjoys great veneration.

In Byzantine iconography he is often shown as very elderly - according to tradition, he died under the Emperor Trajan - in the process of intense contemplation, in the attitude, as it were, of those asking for silence.

Indeed, without sufficient recollection it is impossible to approach the supreme mystery of God and of his revelation. This explains why, years ago, Athenagoras, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the man whom Pope Paul VI embraced at a memorable encounter, said: "John is the origin of our loftiest spirituality. Like him, "the silent ones' experience that mysterious exchange of hearts, pray for John's presence, and their hearts are set on fire" (O. Clément, Dialoghi con Atenagora, Turin 1972, p. 159).

May the Lord help us to study at John's school and learn the great lesson of love, so as to feel we are loved by Christ "to the end" (Jn 13: 1), and spend our lives for him."

St Stephen the Protomartyr (Dec 26)

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Pope Benedict XVI gave a General Audinece on St Stephen in 2007. Here are a few extracts:

"St Stephen is the most representative of a group of seven companions. Tradition sees in this group the seed of the future ministry of "deacons", although it must be pointed out that this category is not present in the Book of Acts. In any case, Stephen's importance is due to the fact that Luke, in his important book, dedicates two whole chapters to him.

Luke's narrative starts with the observation of a widespread division in the primitive Church of Jerusalem: indeed, she consisted entirely of Christians of Jewish origin, but some came from the land of Israel and were called "Hebrews", while others, of the Old Testament Jewish faith, came from the Greek-speaking Diaspora and were known as "Hellenists". This was the new problem: the most destitute of the Hellenists, especially widows deprived of any social support, ran the risk of being neglected in the daily distribution of their rations. To avoid this problem, the Apostles, continuing to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word, decided to appoint for this duty "seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom" to help them (Acts 6: 2-4), that is, by carrying out a social and charitable service.

To this end, as Luke wrote, at the Apostles' invitation the disciples chose seven men. We are even given their names. They were: "Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolaus. These they set before the Apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them" (cf. Acts 6: 5-6).

The act of the laying on of hands can have various meanings. In the Old Testament, this gesture meant above all the transmission of an important office, just as Moses laid his hands on Joshua (cf. Nm 27: 18-23), thereby designating his successor. Along the same lines, the Church of Antioch would also use this gesture in sending out Paul and Barnabas on their mission to the peoples of the world (cf. Acts 13: 3).

...The most important thing to note is that in addition to charitable services, Stephen also carried out a task of evangelization among his compatriots, the so-called "Hellenists". Indeed, Luke insists on the fact that Stephen, "full of grace and power" (Acts 6: 8), presented in Jesus' Name a new interpretation of Moses and of God's Law itself. He reread the Old Testament in the light of the proclamation of Christ's death and Resurrection. He gave the Old Testament a Christological reinterpretation and provoked reactions from the Jews, who took his words to be blasphemous (cf. Acts 6: 11-14).

For this reason he was condemned to stoning. And St Luke passes on to us the saint's last discourse, a synthesis of his preaching. Just as Jesus had shown the disciples of Emmaus that the whole of the Old Testament speaks of him, of his Cross and his Resurrection, so St Stephen, following Jesus' teaching, interpreted the whole of the Old Testament in a Christological key. He shows that the mystery of the Cross stands at the centre of the history of salvation as recounted in the Old Testament; it shows that Jesus, Crucified and Risen, is truly the goal of all this history.

St Stephen also shows that the cult of the temple was over and that Jesus, the Risen One, was the new, true "temple". It was precisely this "no" to the temple and to its cult that led to the condemnation of St Stephen, who at this moment, St Luke tells us, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and seeing heaven, God and Jesus, St Stephen said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God" (cf. Acts 7: 56).

This was followed by his martyrdom, modelled in fact on the passion of Jesus himself, since he delivered his own spirit to the "Lord Jesus" and prayed that the sin of those who killed him would not be held against them (cf. Acts 7: 59-60).

The place of St Stephen's martyrdom in Jerusalem has traditionally been located outside the Damascus Gate, to the north, where indeed the Church of Saint-Étienne [St Stephen] stands beside the famous École Biblique of the Dominicans. The killing of Stephen, the first martyr of Christ, unleashed a local persecution of Christ's disciples (cf. Acts 8: 1), the first one in the history of the Church. It was these circumstances that impelled the group of Judeo-Hellenist Christians to flee from Jerusalem and scatter. Hounded out of Jerusalem, they became itinerant missionaries: "Those who were scattered went about preaching the word" (Acts 8: 4)...

Stephen's story tells us many things: for example, that charitable social commitment must never be separated from the courageous proclamation of the faith. He was one of the seven made responsible above all for charity. But it was impossible to separate charity and faith. Thus, with charity, he proclaimed the crucified Christ, to the point of accepting even martyrdom. This is the first lesson we can learn from the figure of St Stephen: charity and the proclamation of faith always go hand in hand.

Above all, St Stephen speaks to us of Christ, of the Crucified and Risen Christ as the centre of history and our life. We can understand that the Cross remains forever the centre of the Church's life and also of our life. In the history of the Church, there will always be passion and persecution. And it is persecution itself which, according to Tertullian's famous words, becomes "the seed of Christians", the source of mission for Christians to come...."

Happy Christmas!

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May all readers of this blog enjoy a happy and holy Christmastide....

Vigil of the Nativity (Dec 24)

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Enrolment for tax,
mosaic Istanbul

O Emmanuel (December 23)

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Today the last of the great O Antiphons for the Magnificat:

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.

Antiphon for the Magnificat: O Rex Gentium (Dec 22)

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O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.

December 21: St Thomas, Apostle /O Oriens

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Caravaggio: The incredulity of St Thomas

Today is the feast of the apostle Thomas. Pope Benedict devoted a General Audience to the Apostle in 2006:

"Continuing our encounters with the Twelve Apostles chosen directly by Jesus, today we will focus our attention on Thomas. Ever present in the four lists compiled by the New Testament, in the first three Gospels he is placed next to Matthew (cf. Mt 10: 3; Mk 3: 18; Lk 6: 15), whereas in Acts, he is found after Philip (cf. Acts 1: 13).

His name derives from a Hebrew root, ta'am, which means "paired, twin". In fact, John's Gospel several times calls him "Dydimus" (cf. Jn 11: 16; 20: 24; 21: 2), a Greek nickname for, precisely, "twin". The reason for this nickname is unclear.

It is above all the Fourth Gospel that gives us information that outlines some important traits of his personality.

The first concerns his exhortation to the other Apostles when Jesus, at a critical moment in his life, decided to go to Bethany to raise Lazarus, thus coming dangerously close to Jerusalem (Mk 10: 32).

On that occasion Thomas said to his fellow disciples: "Let us also go, that we may die with him" (Jn 11: 16). His determination to follow his Master is truly exemplary and offers us a valuable lesson: it reveals his total readiness to stand by Jesus, to the point of identifying his own destiny with that of Jesus and of desiring to share with him the supreme trial of death.

In fact, the most important thing is never to distance oneself from Jesus.

Moreover, when the Gospels use the verb "to follow", it means that where he goes, his disciple must also go.

Thus, Christian life is defined as a life with Jesus Christ, a life to spend together with him. St Paul writes something similar when he assures the Christians of Corinth: "You are in our hearts, to die together and to live together" (II Cor 7: 3). What takes place between the Apostle and his Christians must obviously apply first of all to the relationship between Christians and Jesus himself: dying together, living together, being in his Heart as he is in ours.

A second intervention by Thomas is recorded at the Last Supper. On that occasion, predicting his own imminent departure, Jesus announced that he was going to prepare a place for his disciples so that they could be where he is found; and he explains to them: "Where [I] am going you know the way" (Jn 14: 4). It is then that Thomas intervenes, saying: "Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?" (Jn 14: 5).

In fact, with this remark he places himself at a rather low level of understanding; but his words provide Jesus with the opportunity to pronounce his famous definition: "I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life" (Jn 14: 6).

Thus, it is primarily to Thomas that he makes this revelation, but it is valid for all of us and for every age. Every time we hear or read these words, we can stand beside Thomas in spirit and imagine that the Lord is also speaking to us, just as he spoke to him.

At the same time, his question also confers upon us the right, so to speak, to ask Jesus for explanations. We often do not understand him. Let us be brave enough to say: "I do not understand you, Lord; listen to me, help me to understand". In such a way, with this frankness which is the true way of praying, of speaking to Jesus, we express our meagre capacity to understand and at the same time place ourselves in the trusting attitude of someone who expects light and strength from the One able to provide them.

Then, the proverbial scene of the doubting Thomas that occurred eight days after Easter is very well known. At first he did not believe that Jesus had appeared in his absence and said: "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe" (Jn 20: 25).

Basically, from these words emerges the conviction that Jesus can now be recognized by his wounds rather than by his face. Thomas holds that the signs that confirm Jesus' identity are now above all his wounds, in which he reveals to us how much he loved us. In this the Apostle is not mistaken.

As we know, Jesus reappeared among his disciples eight days later and this time Thomas was present. Jesus summons him: "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing" (Jn 20: 27).

Thomas reacts with the most splendid profession of faith in the whole of the New Testament: "My Lord and my God!" (Jn 20: 28). St Augustine comments on this: Thomas "saw and touched the man, and acknowledged the God whom he neither saw nor touched; but by the means of what he saw and touched, he now put far away from him every doubt, and believed the other" (In ev. Jo. 121, 5).

The Evangelist continues with Jesus' last words to Thomas: "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (Jn 20: 29). This sentence can also be put into the present: "Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe".

In any case, here Jesus spells out a fundamental principle for Christians who will come after Thomas, hence, for all of us.

It is interesting to note that another Thomas, the great Medieval theologian of Aquinas, juxtaposed this formula of blessedness with the apparently opposite one recorded by Luke: "Blessed are the eyes which see what you see!" (Lk 10: 23). However, Aquinas comments: "Those who believe without seeing are more meritorious than those who, seeing, believe" (In Johann. XX lectio VI 2566).

In fact, the Letter to the Hebrews, recalling the whole series of the ancient biblical Patriarchs who believed in God without seeing the fulfilment of his promises, defines faith as "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Heb 11: 1).

The Apostle Thomas' case is important to us for at least three reasons: first, because it comforts us in our insecurity; second, because it shows us that every doubt can lead to an outcome brighter than any uncertainty; and, lastly, because the words that Jesus addressed to him remind us of the true meaning of mature faith and encourage us to persevere, despite the difficulty, along our journey of adhesion to him.

A final point concerning Thomas is preserved for us in the Fourth Gospel, which presents him as a witness of the Risen One in the subsequent event of the miraculous catch in the Sea of Tiberias (cf. Jn 21: 2ff.).

On that occasion, Thomas is even mentioned immediately after Simon Peter: an evident sign of the considerable importance that he enjoyed in the context of the early Christian communities.

Indeed, the Acts and the Gospel of Thomas, both apocryphal works but in any case important for the study of Christian origins, were written in his name.

Lastly, let us remember that an ancient tradition claims that Thomas first evangelized Syria and Persia (mentioned by Origen, according to Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 3, 1) then went on to Western India (cf. Acts of Thomas 1-2 and 17ff.), from where also he finally reached Southern India.

Let us end our reflection in this missionary perspective, expressing the hope that Thomas' example will never fail to strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Our God."

O Oriens...

And today's O antiphon is O Oriens, dayspring, brightness of eternal light and sun of justice....

Another monastery goes live...

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The Monastery of Le Barroux, France has announced, with the support of the Archbishop of Avignon, that it will make available four hours of the Office each day available online - Prime, Sext, Vespers and Compline.

You can either listen via the 'Barroux' application on your iphone (you can download the application via their website), or on your computer.

As far as I can see, unlike Norcia, it is a live broadcast only, no archiving, so it will depend what time zone you are in whether or not it is useful to you or not - Prime normally starting at 7.45am translates to 1.45am in New York, and 5.45pm here in Australia (Eastern Summer Time)!

Still, if you can listen, your Diurnal should do the job in allowing you to follow it, as the website points you to the Latin-French version of the same book (very cute marketing!).

Note that Le Barroux uses its own calendar which differs from the General Benedictine calendar slightly (mainly to align it more closely to the Roman EF one, but also of course to reflect local feasts), and generally sings the 'Prolix Responsories' contained in the Antiphonale Monasticum at I Vespers of major feasts instead of the short responsory provided in the Diurnal.

**Listening to Compline now (1945 French time) - very cool! Even if I should actually be saying Matins....

The O Antiphons: O Key of David (Clavis David) - December 20

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Today's O antiphon is O clavis David:

O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;
you open and no one can shut;
you shut and no one can open:
Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,
those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death

O Come, O Come Emmanuel...

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This week, the Magificat antiphons, the O antiphons, are the verses often sung as part of the hymn O come, O Come Emmanuel.

So here is the modern setting in Latin that you may be more familiar with.

Advent antiphons for the Magnificat: O radix Jesse (Dec 19)

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The series of the the great O Antiphons continues today with O Radix Jesse.

Today's antiphon is, in English:

O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

Fourth Sunday of Advent (December 18)

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John the Baptist preaching, Brueghel the younger, 1601

Today's Gospel is St Luke 3: 1-6, outlining St John the Baptist's mission.

And Sunday's O antiphon is O Adonai:

December 17: the start of the great O antiphons

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The liturgy enters a new level of intensity from today, with antiphons for Lauds to Vespers for each day of the week, and the singing of the wonderful 'O' antiphons with the Magnificat at Vespers.

Today's antiphon is O Sapientia, the translation of which is:

O Wisdom,who proceeds from the mouth of the Most High, reaching out mightily from end to end, and sweetly arranging all things: come to teach us the way of prudence.

Feasting and fasting: Advent Ember Days

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The Church has always advocated that we prepare for our feasting first by fasting, and so the third week of Advent (and week of the feast of St Lucy) traditionally includes the Advent Ember Days.

The days are Class II, with a rather more elaborate mass.

For Advent the focus is particularly on Our Lady. Wednesday's Mass is about the Annunciation. It starts with the beautiful Introit Rorate Caeli (Drop down dew ye heavens) and includes the famous prophesy from Isaiah (Behold a virgin shall conceive) as well as the Gospel from St Luke with the angel Gabriel appearing to Mary.

Friday's Gospel is about the Visitation.

Saturday's ancient and complex Mass is a more general message about the preparation for the coming of Our Lord, with the Gospel on St John the Baptist.

So do try and get to a Mass on these days if there is one that celebrates the Ember Days in your area (they are optional in the Novus Ordo calendar).

And remember that they are also traditionally days of fasting and abstinence.

St Lucy (December 13)

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Saint Lucy (283–304), was a Christian during the Diocletian persecution.

According to her legend, her mother was cured dysentery by them praying together at Saint Agatha's tomb (pictured). She consecrated her virginity to God, refused to marry a pagan, and had her dowry distributed to the poor. Her would-be husband denounced her as a Christian to the governor of Syracuse, Sicily, who ordered her to burn a sacrifice to the emperor's image. Lucy replied that she had given all that she had: "I offer to Him myself, let Him do with His offering as it pleases Him."

Sentenced to be defiled in a brothel, Lucy asserted:

“ No one's body is polluted so as to endanger the soul if it has not pleased the mind. If you were to lift my hand to your idol and so make me offer against my will, I would still be guiltless in the sight of the true God, who judges according to the will and knows all things. If now, against my will, you cause me to be polluted, a twofold purity will be gloriously imputed to me. You cannot bend my will to your purpose; whatever you do to my body, that cannot happen to me.”

Our Lady of Guadelupe (December 12)

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Ordo for March 2012

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Herewith the Benedictine Ordo according to the general calendar for the Order, and rubrics approved in 1961/2, with page references to the Monastic Diurnal (MD) published by Farnborough Abbey, 2004.

You will of course need to add in any local feasts celebrated in your monastery, parish, diocese and country.

Note that EF=Roman Extraordinary Form calendar.

Please let me know if you find any errors, or have any questions on the Ordo.

Ordo for March

Thursday 1 March – Class III

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 197*- 198*

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), as noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*;Collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 193-5*; Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 198*

Friday 2 March – Ember Friday, Class II

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 198-9*

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), as noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*;Collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 193-5*; Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 199*

Saturday 3 March – Ember Saturday, Class II

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 199*

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), as noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*;Collect of Lauds.

I Vespers of the Second Sunday of Lent: Psalms and antiphons of Saturday, chapter etc from MD 199* ff

Sunday 4 March – Second Sunday of Lent, Class I

See MD 20*:

Lauds: Antiphons, MD 201* ff with psalm scheme 1 (Ps 50, 117, 62); chapter etc, MD 202*

Prime to None: Antiphons and chapter verses, MD 204-5*

Vespers: Psalms and antiphons of Sunday; chapter etc as per I Vespers; versicle and Magnificat antiphon, MD 205*

Monday 5 March – Class III

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 206*

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), as noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*;Collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 193-5*; Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 206*

Tuesday 6 March – Class III; SS Perpetua and Felicitas, memorial

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 206-7*; for the commemoration, MD [74]

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*;Collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 193-5*;Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 207*

Wednesday 7 March – Class III; St Thomas Aquinas, memorial

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 207-8*; for the commemoration, MD [75]

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*;Collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 193-5*; Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 208*

Thursday 8 March – Class III

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 208*

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*;Collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 193-5*; Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 208-9*

Friday 9 March – Class III; St Frances of Rome OSB, Memorial

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 209*; for the commemoration, MD [75-6]

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*;Collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 193-5*;Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 209-10*

Saturday 10 March – Class III; The Forty Holy Martyrs, Memorial [EF St John of God, Memorial]

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 210*; for the commemoration, MD [76]

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*; Collect of Lauds.

I Vespers of the Third Sunday of Lent, MD 210* ff: antiphons and psalms of Saturday, rest from MD 210* ff

Sunday 11 March – Third Sunday of Lent, Class I

See MD 212*ff:

Lauds: Antiphons, MD 212* ff with psalm scheme 1 (Ps 50, 117, 62); chapter etc for the Sunday

Prime to None: Antiphons and chapter verses, MD 215*

Vespers: Psalms and antiphons of Sunday; chapter etc as per I Vespers; versicle and Magnificat antiphon MD 216*

Monday 12 March - St Gregory the Great OSB, Class II [EF: Memorial only]

See MD [77] ff; with a commemoration of the feria at Lauds and Vespers, MD 217*.

Tuesday 13 March – Class III

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 217-8*

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*; Collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 193-5*;Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 218*

Wednesday 14 March – Class III

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 218*

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*;Collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 193-5*; Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 218-9*

Thursday 15 March – Class III

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 219*

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*; Collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 193-5*; Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 219-20*

Friday 16 March – Class III

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 220*

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), noted in the psalter and MD 192*as Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, as noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*;Collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 193-5*; Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 220*

**Or I Vespers of St Patrick (all from the Common of a Confessor Bishop, collect MD 22**) with a commemoration of the feria

Saturday 17 March – Class III (in some places, St Patrick, Class I)

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 220-1*

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*; Collect of Lauds.

For St Patrick, see MD 22**

I Vespers of the Fourth Sunday of Lent: Antiphons and psalms of Saturday, rest from MD 221* ff

Sunday 18 March – Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday), Class I; St Cyril, memorial
MD 223*ff:

Lauds: Antiphons, MD 223* with psalm scheme 1 (Ps 50, 117, 62); chapter etc for the Sunday; for the commemoration, MD [83]

Prime to None: Antiphons and chapter verses, MD 226-7*

Vespers: Psalms and antiphons of Sunday; chapter etc as per I Vespers; versicle and Magnificat antiphon MD 227* with a commemoration of St Joseph, MD [84]

Monday 19 March – St Joseph, Class I

MD [84] ff, with a commemoration of the feria at Lauds and Vespers, MD 227-8*

Tuesday 20 March – Class III [in some places, St Cuthbert]

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 227*

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*;Collect of Lauds.

Vespers: I Vespers of St Benedict, MD [91]ff, with a commemoration of the feria, MD 228-9*

Wednesday 21 March – St Benedict Class I

MD [91] ff, with a commemoration of the feria at Lauds and Vespers, MD 229-30*

Thursday 22 March – Class III (in some places St Nicholas of Flue)

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 230*

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*;Collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 193-5*; Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 230*

For St Nicholas of Flue, MD 23**

Friday 23 March – Class III

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 230-1*

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*; Collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 193-5*; Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 231*

Saturday 24 March – Class III [EF: St Gabriel, memorial]

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 190*; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 231-2*

Prime: antiphon for the season (Vivo ego), noted in the psalter and MD 192*

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter and versicle for the season, noted in the psalter and MD 192-3*;Collect of Lauds.

I Vespers of Sunday, MD 232*: Psalms and antiphons of Saturday, rest from MD 232* ff

Sunday 25 March – First Passion Sunday, Class I

MD 234*ff:

Lauds: Antiphons for the day, MD 234* ff with psalm scheme 1 (Ps 50, 117, 62); rest from MD 234* ff

Prime to None: Antiphons and chapter verses, MD 238-9*

Vespers: Psalms and antiphons of Sunday; chapter etc as per I Vespers, MD 234*ff; versicle and Magnificat antiphon MD 239*; commemoration of the Annunciation, MD [100]

Monday 26 March – Annunciation of the BVM, Class I

See MD [102] ff, with a commemoration of the feria at Lauds and Vespers, MD 246-7*

Tuesday 27 March – Class III, St John Damascene, Memorial

Note the rubrics of Passiontide (including propers of the season), MD 240* ff

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 240*ff; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 247-8*; for the commemoration, MD [106]

Prime: antiphon for first Passion week (Libera me), noted in the psalter and MD 242*

Terce to None: Antiphon, chapter and versicle for the first Passion week, noted in the psalter and MD 242-244*, collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 244-6*; Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 248*

Wednesday 28 March – Class III [EF: Commemoration of St John of Capistran]

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 240*ff; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 248-9*

Prime: antiphon for first Passion week (Libera me), noted in the psalter and MD 242*

Terce to None: Antiphon, chapter and versicle for the first Passion week, noted in the psalter and MD 242-244*, collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 244-6*; Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 249*

Thursday 29 March – Class III

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 240*ff; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 249-50*

Prime: antiphon for first Passion week (Libera me), noted in the psalter and MD 242*

Terce to None: Antiphon, chapter and versicle for the first Passion week, noted in the psalter and MD 242-244*, collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 244-6*; Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 250*

Friday 30 March – Class III [EF: Commemoration of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary]

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 240*ff; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 250-1

Prime: antiphon for first Passion week (Libera me), noted in the psalter and MD 242*

Terce to None: Antiphon, chapter and versicle for the first Passion week, noted in the psalter and MD 242-244*, collect of Lauds.

Vespers: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 244-6*; Magnificat antiphon and collect of the day, MD 251-2*

Saturday 31 March – Class III

Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of the psalter; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle for the season, MD 240*ff; Benedictus antiphon and collect of the day, MD 252*

Prime: antiphon for first Passion week (Libera me), noted in the psalter and MD 242*

Terce to None: Antiphon, chapter and versicle for the first Passion week, noted in the psalter and MD 242-244*, collect of Lauds.

I Vespers of Second Passion Sunday (Palm Sunday): Antiphons and pslams of Saturday; rest from MD 252* ff

Third Sunday of Advent: Gaudete Sunday

2011-12-11T06:23:00.001+11:00

This Sunday's Gospel, John 1:19-28 - At that time the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and levites to John, to ask him, Who art thou?) is one of my absolute favourites, in large part due to the wonderful English setting of it by Orlando Gibbons - do take the chance to listen it.

The Sunday takes its name though, from the Introit, Rejoice in the Lord always (Phil 4:4-6), a theme that echoes through the Office and Mass for this Sunday.

Today is also the memorial of Pope St Damasus I (305-384), most famous now for appointing St Jerome as his personal secretary and encouraging his Vulgate translation of the bible, and for presiding over the Council of Rome in 382, which set down the canon of scripture.

In two Roman synods (368 and 369) he condemned Apollinarianism and Macedonianism, and sent legates to the First Council of Constantinople that was convoked in 381 to address these heresies. A fierce opponent of the Arians, he did much to promote veneration of the martyrs and enrich the churches and liturgy.

Blog glitch...

2011-12-10T08:42:00.002+11:00

Apologies for taking the blog down temporarily overnight, there is a glitch in it which is preventing posts updating in blogrolls and google reader that I'm trying to fix.

I've tried the google help forum for suggestions to fix, one of which was swapping it to another URL for a period and seeing if that clears caches sitting on servers etc. Alas, it word fine on another URL, but when swapped back the problem is still there...

Suggestions welcome!

**Finally fixed! I think.

***Apparently not. But I think I've pinned down the problem, which relats to scheduling of posts in advance. In any case, do check the block as it is being updated!

And if I have to go offline again, I'll swap to saintswillarise.blogspot.com....

December 8: Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Class I

2011-12-07T16:00:00.001+11:00

From Ineffabilis Deus, the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius IX on the Immaculate Conception (December 8, 1854):

"We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful."

Some of the reasoning leading up to the definition:

"God ineffable -- whose ways are mercy and truth, whose will is omnipotence itself, and whose wisdom "reaches from end to end mightily, and orders all things sweetly" -- having foreseen from all eternity the lamentable wretchedness of the entire human race which would result from the sin of Adam, decreed, by a plan hidden from the centuries, to complete the first work of his goodness by a mystery yet more wondrously sublime through the Incarnation of the Word. This he decreed in order that man who, contrary to the plan of Divine Mercy had been led into sin by the cunning malice of Satan, should not perish; and in order that what had been lost in the first Adam would be gloriously restored in the Second Adam. From the very beginning, and before time began, the eternal Father chose and prepared for his only-begotten Son a Mother in whom the Son of God would become incarnate and from whom, in the blessed fullness of time, he would be born into this world. Above all creatures did God so lover her that truly in her was the Father well pleased with singular delight. Therefore, far above all the angels and all the saints so wondrously did God endow her with the abundance of all heavenly gifts poured from the treasury of his divinity that this mother, ever absolutely free of all stain of sin, all fair and perfect, would possess that fullness of holy innocence and sanctity than which, under God, one cannot even imagine anything greater, and which, outside of God, no mind can succeed in comprehending fully.

SUPREME REASON FOR THE PRIVILEGE: THE DIVINE MATERNITY

And indeed it was wholly fitting that so wonderful a mother should be ever resplendent with the glory of most sublime holiness and so completely free from all taint of original sin that she would triumph utterly over the ancient serpent. To her did the Father will to give his only-begotten Son -- the Son whom, equal to the Father and begotten by him, the Father loves from his heart -- and to give this Son in such a way that he would be the one and the same common Son of God the Father and of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was she whom the Son himself chose to make his Mother and it was from her that the Holy Spirit willed and brought it about that he should be conceived and born from whom he himself proceeds.[1]

LITURGICAL ARGUMENT

The Catholic Church, directed by the Holy Spirit of God, is the pillar and base of truth and has ever held as divinely revealed and as contained in the deposit of heavenly revelation this doctrine concerning the original innocence of the august Virgin -- a doctrine which is so perfectly in harmony with her wonderful sanctity and preeminent dignity as Mother of God -- and thus has never ceased to explain, to teach and to foster this doctrine age after age in many ways and by solemn acts. From this very doctrine, flourishing and wondrously propagated in the Catholic world through the efforts and zeal of the bishops, was made very clear by the Church when she did not hesitate to present for the public devotion and veneration of the faithful the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin.[2] By this most significant fact, the Church made it clear indeed that the conception of Mary is to be venerated as something extraordinary, wonderful, eminently holy, and different from the conception of all other human beings -- for the Church celebrates only the feast days of the saints.

And hence the very words with which the Sacred Scriptures speak of Uncreated Wisdom and set forth his eternal origin, the Church, both in its ecclesiastical offices and in its liturgy, has been wont to apply likewise to the origin of the Blessed Virgin, inasmuch as God, by one and the same decree, had established the origin of Mary and the Incarnation of Divine Wisdom.

ORDINARY TEACHING OF THE ROMAN CHURCH

These truths, so generally accepted and put into practice by the faithful, indicate how zealously the Roman Church, mother and teacher of all Churches, has continued to teach this doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin. Yet the more important actions of the Church deserve to be mentioned in detail. For such dignity and authority belong to the Church that she alone is the center of truth and of Catholic unity. It is the Church in which alone religion has been inviolably preserved and from which all other Churches must receive the tradition of the Faith.[3]

The same Roman Church, therefore, desired nothing more than by the most persuasive means to state, to protect, to promote and to defend the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. This fact is most clearly shown to the whole world by numerous and significant acts of the Roman Pontiffs, our predecessors. To them, in the person of the Prince of the Apostles, were divinely entrusted by Christ our Lord, the charge and supreme care and the power of feeding the lambs and sheep; in particular, of confirming their brethren, and of ruling and governing the universal Church.

VENERATION OF THE IMMACULATE

Our predecessors, indeed, by virtue of their apostolic authority, gloried in instituting the Feast of the Conception in the Roman Church. They did so to enhance its importance and dignity by a suitable Office and Mass, whereby the prerogative of the Virgin, her exception from the hereditary taint, was most distinctly affirmed. As to the homage already instituted, they spared no effort to promote and to extend it either by the granting of indulgences, or by allowing cities, provinces and kingdoms to choose as their patroness God's own Mother, under the title of "The Immaculate Conception." Again, our predecessors approved confraternities, congregations and religious communities founded in honor of the Immaculate Conception, monasteries, hospitals, altars, or churches; they praised persons who vowed to uphold with all their ability the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. Besides, it afforded the greatest joy to our predecessors to ordain that the Feast of the Conception should be celebrated in every church with the very same honor as the Feast of the Nativity; that it should be celebrated with an octave by the whole Church; that it should be reverently and generally observed as a holy day of obligation; and that a pontifical Capella should be held in our Liberian pontifical basilica on the day dedicated to the conception of the Virgin. Finally, in their desire to impress this doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God upon the hearts of the faithful, and to intensify the people's piety and enthusiasm for the homage and the veneration of the Virgin conceived without the stain of original sin, they delighted to grant, with the greatest pleasure, permission to proclaim the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin in the Litany of Loreto, and in the Preface of the Mass, so that the rule of prayer might thus serve to illustrate the rule of belief. Therefore, we ourselves, following the procedure of our predecessors, have not only approved and accepted what had already been established, but bearing in mind, moreover, the decree of Sixtus IV, [4] have confirmed by our authority a proper Office in honor of the Immaculate Conception, and have with exceeding joy extended its use to the universal Church.[5]

THE ROMAN DOCTRINE

Now inasmuch as whatever pertains to sacred worship is intimately connected with its object and cannot have either consistency or durability if this object is vague or uncertain, our predecessors, the Roman Pontiffs, therefore, while directing all their efforts toward an increase of the devotion to the conception, made it their aim not only to emphasize the object with the utmost zeal, but also to enunciate the exact doctrine.[6] Definitely and clearly they taught that the feast was held in honor of the conception of the Virgin. They denounced as false and absolutely foreign to the mind of the Church the opinion of those who held and affirmed that it was not the conception of the Virgin but her sanctification that was honored by the Church. They never thought that greater leniency should be extended toward those who, attempting to disprove the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, devised a distinction between the first and second instance of conception and inferred that the conception which the Church celebrates was not that of the first instance of conception but the second. In fact, they held it was their duty not only to uphold and defend with all their power the Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin but also to assert that the true object of this veneration was her conception considered in its first instant. Hence the words of one of our predecessors, Alexander VII, who authoritatively and decisively declared the mind of the Church: "Concerning the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, ancient indeed is that devotion of the faithful based on the belief that her soul, in the first instant of its creation and in the first instant of the soul's infusion into the body, was, by a special grace and privilege of God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, her Son and the Redeemer of the human race, preserved free from all stain of original sin. And in this sense have the faithful ever solemnized and celebrated the Feast of the Conception."[7]

Moreover, our predecessors considered it their special solemn duty with all diligence, zeal, and effort to preserve intact the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. For, not only have they in no way ever allowed this doctrine to be censured or changed, but they have gone much further and by clear statements repeatedly asserted that the doctrine by which we profess the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin is on its own merits entirely in harmony with the ecclesiastical veneration; that it is ancient and widespread, and of the same nature as that which the Roman Church has undertaken to promote and to protect, and that it is entirely worthy to be used in the Sacred Liturgy and solemn prayers. Not content with this they most strictly prohibited any opinion contrary to this doctrine to be defended in public or private in order that the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin might remain inviolate. By repeated blows they wished to put an end to such an opinion. And lest these oft-repeated and clearest statements seem useless, they added a sanction to them...."

December 7: St Ambrose, Class III

2011-12-07T00:00:00.001+11:00

Saint Ambrose (340-397), was bishop of Milan, and is a doctor of the Church.

Pope Benedict XVI gave a General Audience on the saint in October 2007:

"Holy Bishop Ambrose - about whom I shall speak to you today - died in Milan in the night between 3 and 4 April 397. It was dawn on Holy Saturday. The day before, at about five o'clock in the afternoon, he had settled down to pray, lying on his bed with his arms wide open in the form of a cross. Thus, he took part in the solemn Easter Triduum, in the death and Resurrection of the Lord. "We saw his lips moving", said Paulinus, the faithful deacon who wrote his Life at St Augustine's suggestion, "but we could not hear his voice". The situation suddenly became dramatic. Honoratus, Bishop of Vercelli, who was assisting Ambrose and was sleeping on the upper floor, was awoken by a voice saying again and again, "Get up quickly! Ambrose is dying...". "Honoratus hurried downstairs", Paulinus continues, "and offered the Saint the Body of the Lord. As soon as he had received and swallowed it, Ambrose gave up his spirit, taking the good Viaticum with him. His soul, thus refreshed by the virtue of that food, now enjoys the company of Angels" (Life, 47). On that Holy Friday 397, the wide open arms of the dying Ambrose expressed his mystical participation in the death and Resurrection of the Lord. This was his last catechesis: in the silence of the words, he continued to speak with the witness of his life.

Ambrose was not old when he died. He had not even reached the age of 60, since he was born in about 340 A.D. in Treves, where his father was Prefect of the Gauls. His family was Christian.

Upon his father's death while he was still a boy, his mother took him to Rome and educated him for a civil career, assuring him a sound instruction in rhetoric and jurisprudence. In about 370 he was sent to govern the Provinces of Emilia and Liguria, with headquarters in Milan. It was precisely there that the struggle between orthodox and Arians was raging and became particularly heated after the death of the Arian Bishop Auxentius. Ambrose intervened to pacify the members of the two opposing factions; his authority was such that although he was merely a catechumen, the people acclaimed him Bishop of Milan.

Until that moment, Ambrose had been the most senior magistrate of the Empire in northern Italy. Culturally well-educated but at the same time ignorant of the Scriptures, the new Bishop briskly began to study them. From the works of Origen, the indisputable master of the "Alexandrian School", he learned to know and to comment on the Bible. Thus, Ambrose transferred to the Latin environment the meditation on the Scriptures which Origen had begun, introducing in the West the practice of lectio divina. The method of lectio served to guide all of Ambrose's preaching and writings, which stemmed precisely from prayerful listening to the Word of God. The famous introduction of an Ambrosian catechesis shows clearly how the holy Bishop applied the Old Testament to Christian life: "Every day, when we were reading about the lives of the Patriarchs and the maxims of the Proverbs, we addressed morality", the Bishop of Milan said to his catechumens and neophytes, "so that formed and instructed by them you may become accustomed to taking the path of the Fathers and to following the route of obedience to the divine precepts" (On the Mysteries 1, 1). In other words, the neophytes and catechumens, in accordance with the Bishop's decision, after having learned the art of a well-ordered life, could henceforth consider themselves prepared for Christ's great mysteries. Thus, Ambrose's preaching - which constitutes the structural nucleus of his immense literary opus - starts with the reading of the Sacred Books ("the Patriarchs" or the historical Books and "Proverbs", or in other words, the Wisdom Books) in order to live in conformity with divine Revelation.

It is obvious that the preacher's personal testimony and the level of exemplarity of the Christian community condition the effectiveness of the preaching. In this perspective, a passage from St Augustine's Confessions is relevant. He had come to Milan as a teacher of rhetoric; he was a sceptic and not Christian. He was seeking the Christian truth but was not capable of truly finding it.

What moved the heart of the young African rhetorician, sceptic and downhearted, and what impelled him to definitive conversion was not above all Ambrose's splendid homilies (although he deeply appreciated them). It was rather the testimony of the Bishop and his Milanese Church that prayed and sang as one intact body. It was a Church that could resist the tyrannical ploys of the Emperor and his mother, who in early 386 again demanded a church building for the Arians' celebrations. In the building that was to be requisitioned, Augustine relates, "the devout people watched, ready to die with their Bishop". This testimony of the Confessions is precious because it points out that something was moving in Augustine, who continues: "We too, although spiritually tepid, shared in the excitement of the whole people" (Confessions 9, 7).

Augustine learned from the life and example of Bishop Ambrose to believe and to preach. We can refer to a famous sermon of the African, which centuries later merited citation in the conciliar Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum: "Therefore, all clerics, particularly priests of Christ and others who, as deacons or catechists, are officially engaged in the ministry of the Word", Dei Verbum recommends, "should immerse themselves in the Scriptures by constant sacred reading and diligent study. For it must not happen that anyone becomes" - and this is Augustine's citation - ""an empty preacher of the Word of God to others, not being a hearer of the Word in his own heart'" (n. 25). Augustine had learned precisely from Ambrose how to "hear in his own heart" this perseverance in reading Sacred Scripture with a prayerful approach, so as truly to absorb and assimilate the Word of God in one's heart.

Dear brothers and sisters, I would like further to propose to you a sort of "patristic icon", which, interpreted in the light of what we have said, effectively represents "the heart" of Ambrosian doctrine. In the sixth book of the Confessions, Augustine tells of his meeting with Ambrose, an encounter that was indisputably of great importance in the history of the Church. He writes in his text that whenever he went to see the Bishop of Milan, he would regularly find him taken up with catervae of people full of problems for whose needs he did his utmost. There was always a long queue waiting to talk to Ambrose, seeking in him consolation and hope. When Ambrose was not with them, with the people (and this happened for the space of the briefest of moments), he was either restoring his body with the necessary food or nourishing his spirit with reading. Here Augustine marvels because Ambrose read the Scriptures with his mouth shut, only with his eyes (cf. Confessions, 6, 3). Indeed, in the early Christian centuries reading was conceived of strictly for proclamation, and reading aloud also facilitated the reader's understanding. That Ambrose could scan the pages with his eyes alone suggested to the admiring Augustine a rare ability for reading and familiarity with the Scriptures. Well, in that "reading under one's breath", where the heart is committed to achieving knowledge of the Word of God - this is the "icon" to which we are referring -, one can glimpse the method of Ambrosian catechesis; it is Scripture itself, intimately assimilated, which suggests the content to proclaim that will lead to the conversion of hearts.

Thus, with regard to the magisterium of Ambrose and of Augustine, catechesis is inseparable from witness of life. What I wrote on the theologian in the Introduction to Christianity might also be useful to the catechist. An educator in the faith cannot risk appearing like a sort of clown who recites a part "by profession". Rather - to use an image dear to Origen, a writer who was particularly appreciated by Ambrose -, he must be like the beloved disciple who rested his head against his Master's heart and there learned the way to think, speak and act. The true disciple is ultimately the one whose proclamation of the Gospel is the most credible and effective.

Like the Apostle John, Bishop Ambrose - who never tired of saying: "Omnia Christus est nobis! To us Christ is all!" - continues to be a genuine witness of the Lord. Let us thus conclude our Catechesis with his same words, full of love for Jesus: "Omnia Christus est nobis! If you have a wound to heal, he is the doctor; if you are parched by fever, he is the spring; if you are oppressed by injustice, he is justice; if you are in need of help, he is strength; if you fear death, he is life; if you desire Heaven, he is the way; if you are in the darkness, he is light.... Taste and see how good is the Lord: blessed is the man who hopes in him!" (De Virginitate, 16, 99). Let us also hope in Christ. We shall thus be blessed and shall live in peace."

December 6: St Nicholas, Memorial

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Saint Nicholas (270–346) was Bishop of Myra (part of modern-day Turkey). He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus, whose English name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas. In 1087, his relics were translated to Bari, in southeastern Italy; for this reason, he is also known as Nikolaos of Bari.

December 4: Second Sunday of Advent

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Today's first Nocturn readings for Matins are from Isaiah 11:

"And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord, He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears. But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity the meek of the earth: and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.

And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle of his reins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb: and the leopard shall lie down with the kid: the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall abide together, and a little child shall lead them. The calf and the bear shall feed: their young ones shall rest together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

And the sucking child shall play on other hole of the asp: and the weaned child shall thrust his hand into the den of the basilisk. They shall not hurt, nor shall they kill in all my holy mountain, for the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the covering waters of the sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who stands for an ensign of the people, him the Gentiles shall beseech, and his sepulchre shall be glorious.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand the second time to possess the remnant of his people, which shall be left from the Assyrians, and from Egypt, and from Phetros, and from Ethiopia, and from Elam, and from Sennaar, and from Emath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up a standard unto the nations, and shall assemble the fugitives of Israel, and shall gather together the dispersed of Juda from the four quarters of the earth. And the envy of Ephraim shall be taken away, and the enemies of Juda shall perish: Ephraim shall not envy Juda, and Juda shall not fight against Ephraim."

Ordo for February 2012

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Ordo for January 2012

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Herewith the Benedictine Ordo according to the general calendar for the Order, and rubrics approved in 1961/2, with page references to the Monastic Diurnal (MD) published by Farnborough Abbey, 2004.

Please let me know if you find any errors, or have any questions on the Ordo.

Note that EF=Roman Extraordinary Form calendar.

You will of course need to add in any local feasts celebrated in your monastery, parish, diocese and country.

The Ordo

Sunday 1 January – Octave of the Nativity of Our Lord, Class I

See MD 108*.

Matins: Proper antiphons etc, psalms of Christmas
Lauds: Antiphons and proper texts for the feast MD 108* with festal (Sunday) psalms, MD 44.
Prime: Antiphon 1 of Lauds, MD 108*
Terce to None: Antiphons, chapters, versicle and collect of the feast, MD 111*
Vespers: As for I Vespers, MD 104* with Magnificat antiphon Magnum hereditatis, MD 113*.
Compline: Marian Antiphon Alma Redemptoris Mater

Monday 2 January – Class IV (**St Thomas of Canterbury; Holy Name of Jesus)

Note: See rubrics for the Ordinary of the Office after the Octave of the Nativity, MD 119*-115ff

Matins: Readings for 2 January

Lauds: Psalms and antiphons for Monday throughout the year; chapter, responsory, hymn, Benedictus antiphon and collect for the Nativity, MD 120*-121*
Prime: All as for Monday ‘throughout the year and Nativitytide’
Terce to None: All as for Monday in the psalter, with chapter, versicle and collect for nativitytide MD 122*-123*
Vespers: Antiphons and psalms for Monday with chapter, responsory, hymn and Magnificat antiphon for Nativitytide, MD 123*-125*

**for St Thomas, see MD 2**

Tuesday 3 January – Class IV

Matins: Readings for 3 January

Lauds: Psalms and antiphons for throughout the year with chapter, responsory, hymn, Benedictus antiphon and collect for the Nativity, MD 120*-121*
Prime: All as for Tuesday ‘throughout the year and Nativitytide’
Terce to None: All as for Tues to Saturday with antiphons for throughout the year and nativitytide, chapter and versicles for nativitytide
Vespers: Antiphons and psalms for Tuesday with chapter, responsory, hymn and Magnificat antiphon for Nativitytide, MD 123*-125*

Wednesday 4 January – St Titus, Bishop and Confessor, Memorial

Matins: Readings for 4 January
Lauds: Psalms and antiphons for throughout the year with chapter, responsory, hymn, Benedictus antiphon and collect for the Nativity, MD 120*-121*. After the collect make a commemoration of St Titus, using the texts from MD 125*-126*.
Prime: All as for ‘throughout the year and Nativitytide’
Terce to None: All as for throughout the year and nativitytide
Vespers: Antiphons and psalms for Wednesday with chapter, responsory, hymn and Magnificat antiphon for Nativitytide, MD 123*-125*

Thursday 5 January – Class IV [EF: Vigil of the Epiphany]

Matins: Readings for 5 January
Lauds: Psalms and antiphons for throughout the year with chapter, responsory, hymn, Benedictus antiphon and collect for the Nativity, MD 120*-121*
Prime to None: All as in the psalter for ‘throughout the year and nativitytide’

END OF NATIVITYTIDE

Vespers: I Vespers of the Epiphany of Our Lord – see MD 126*ff: Antiphons, chapter, responsory, hymn for the feast, MD 126*-129* with Sunday psalms, MD 203 ff

Friday 6 January – Epiphany of Our Lord: Class I

See MD 129*ff.
Matins: All of the feast
Lauds: Antiphons and proper texts for the feast, MD 129*, with festal (Sunday) psalms, MD 44.
Prime: Antiphon 1 of Lauds, Ante luciferum, MD 129* with psalms etc of Friday.
Terce to None: Antiphons, chapters, versicle and collect of the feast, MD 132*-133* with hymns and psalms for 'throughout the week'.
Vespers, antiphons for the feast, as at I Vespers, MD 126*ff, with Magnificat antiphon from MD 133*.

Saturday 7 January – Saturday of our Lady

Matins: as for Office of Our Lady throughout the year except for collect for after the Nativity; reading 3 for Saturday I of January
Lauds to None: Office of Our Lady after Christmas, see MD (133) ff
(All as for throughout the year except for the Benedictus antiphon and collect, and antiphons for Prime to None)
I Vespers of the first Sunday after Epiphany: MD 140*
(Psalms antiphons of Saturday, with proper chapter, versicle, hymn etc)

Sunday 8 January – First Sunday after the Epiphany: Class II [EF and in some places: Holy Family**]

For Holy Family see MD 3**
Matins: Invitatory, hymn and versicles of Epiphanytide; antiphons and psalms of Sunday; Canticles (Third Nocturn) of Epiphany.
Lauds: psalm schema 2 – 92, 99, 62; Sunday antiphons with chapter, hymn etc from MD142*ff
Prime: as in the psalter for Sunday
Terce to None: see MD 144*ff – as for Sunday but with chapter, versicle and collect of the First Sunday after Epiphany
Vespers: Psalms and antiphons of Sunday with chapter, short responsory and hymn of I Vespers; Magnificat antiphon MD 146*

Monday 9 January – Class IV

EPIPHANYTIDE: Note instructions for the Ordinary of the Epiphany (Epiphanytide), MD 133*ff.

Lauds: Chapter, hymn etc, MD 133*ff; Benedictus antiphon Day II, MD 135*
Prime to None: Antiphons etc of epiphanytide; collect MD 136*

Tuesday 10 January – St Paul the First Hermit, Confessor, Memorial

Lauds: Chapter, hymn etc, MD 133*ff; Benedictus antiphon Day III, MD 135*; after the collect make a memorial of St Paul, MD [23].
Prime to None: Antiphons etc of epiphanytide; collect MD 136*
Vespers: Chapter, hymn, etc, MD 137*; Magnificat antiphon Day III, MD 139*

Wednesday 11 January – Class IV

Lauds: Chapter, hymn etc, MD 133*ff; Benedictus antiphon Day IV, MD 135*; after the collect make a memorial of St Paul, MD [23].
Prime to None: Antiphons etc of epiphanytide; collect MD 136*
Vespers: Chapter, hymn, etc, MD 137*; Magnificat antiphon Day IV, MD 139*

Thursday 12 January – Class IV (**in some places: St Benedict Biscop, Abbot, Class I)

Lauds: Chapter, hymn etc, MD 133*ff; Benedictus antiphon Day V, MD 136*
Prime to None: Antiphons etc of epiphanytide; collect MD 136*
Vespers: Chapter, hymn, etc, MD 137*; Magnificat antiphon Day V, MD 139*
For St Benedict Biscop, see MD 10**

Friday 13 January – Commemoration of Our Lord’s Baptism: Class II

All is said as on the feast of the Epiphany, MD 129*ff, but with collect from MD 140*:

Matins: Three nocturns.
Lauds: Antiphons and proper texts for the feast, MD 129*, with festal (Sunday) psalms, MD 44; collect from MD 140*.
Prime: Antiphon 1 of Lauds, Ante luciferum, MD 129*with psalms etc of Friday.
Terce to None: Antiphons, chapters, versicle and collect of the feast, MD 132*-133* with hymns and psalms for 'throughout the week' and collect from MD 140*.
Vespers, antiphons for the feast, as at I Vespers, MD 126*ff, with Magnificat antiphon from MD 133*; collect from MD 140*.

Saturday 14 January – Our Lady on Saturday; St Hilary, Bishop, Confessor and Doctor; St Felix, priest: Memorials

Note: From now until Septuagesima, all is said as for ‘throughout the year’ as set out in the psalter

Matins to None: Office of Our Lady after Christmas, see MD (133) ff; for the commemoration, MD [24]; at Matins reading 3 is of second Saturday of January
I Vespers of Second Sunday of Epiphany, MD 146*

Sunday 15 January – Second Sunday after the Epiphany (**Our Lady of Prompt Succour: Class I; EF: St Paul the First Hermit)

All as in the psalter for Sundays throughout the year:
At Lauds, psalm schema 1 – 50, 117, 62 with hymn Aeterne rerum Conditor.
Collect and canticle antiphons from MD 146* -147*

Monday 16 January –St Marcellus I, Pope and Martyr, Memorial

All as for throughout the year for Monday; collect MD 147*; for the commemoration, MD [25]

Tuesday 17 January – St Anthony, Abbot: Class III

Matins: Reading 3 of the feast
Lauds and Vespers, psalms and antiphons of Monday, with the rest from the Common of a Confessor not a bishop, MD (78) and collect MD [26].
Terce to None, chapter and versicle from the Common with collect from MD [26].

Wednesday 18 January – Class IV [EF: Commemoration of St Prisca]

All as in the Office for Wednesday, with the collect of Sunday, MD 147*

Thursday 19 January – SS Marius, Martha, Audifax and Abachum, Martrys, Memorial

All as in the Office for Thursday with the collect of Sunday, MD 147*; at Lauds, make a commemoration after the collect, using the texts from MD [26].

Friday 20 January – SS Fabian, Pope and Sebastian, Martyrs: Class III

At Lauds and Vespers, psalms and antiphons of Friday, with the rest from the Common of Many Martyrs, MD (43). Terce to None, chapter and versicle from the Common.
At all hours, collect from MD [27].

Saturday 21 January – St Agnes, Virgin and Martyr: Class III (Class II for monasteries of nuns) (**St Meinrad, Class I)

See MD [27] – [34].

Matins: Invitatory and hymn from the Common of Virgins, lessons 1&2 of the day, lesson 3 and responsories of the feast.
Lauds: Antiphons and proper texts for the feast, MD [27] ff with festal (Sunday) psalms, MD 44.
Prime: Antiphon 1 of Lauds, with psalms of Saturday.
Terce to None: Antiphons, chapters, versicle and collect of the feast, MD [30] ff with hymns and psalms [for 'throughout the week'].

For St Meinrad, MD 16**ff

I Vespers of Third Sunday, MD 147*ff

Sunday 22 January –Third Sunday after the Epiphany; St Vincent, Martyr, Memorial (**in some places, St Meinrad)

All as in the psalter for Sundays throughout the year.
At Lauds, psalm schema 1 – 50, 117, 62 with hymn Aeterne rerum Conditor; make a commemoration after the collect, MD [34].
Collect and canticle antiphons from MD 148*-149*.

For St Meinrad, MD 20**

Monday 23 January – St Emerentiana, Virgin and Martyr, Memorial

All as for Monday throughout the year, collect MD 148*; for the commemoration at Lauds, see MD [35].

Tuesday 24 January – St Timothy, Bishop, Martyr, memorial

All as in the Office for Tuesday throughout the year, with the collect of Sunday, MD 148*; at Lauds, make a commemoration after the collect, using the texts from MD [35] – [36].

Wednesday 25 January – Conversion of St Paul, Apostle, Class III

See rubrics from MD [36] – [42]

Matins: Invitatory, hymn, readings and collect of the feast; rest as in the psalter
Lauds: Antiphons and proper texts for the feast, MD [36]ff with festal (Sunday psalms, MD 44), with collects of St Paul and St Peter under one conclusion.
Prime: Antiphon 1 of Lauds, with psalms of Wednesday.
Terce to None: Antiphons, chapters, versicle and collect of the feast, MD [39] ff with hymns and psalms [for 'throughout the week']. Collect of St Paul, MD [39].
Vespers: Antiphons for the feast, MD [40] with psalms for the Common of Apostles, MD (13). Chapter, responsory etc for the feast, with collects of St Paul and St Peter under one conclusion

Thursday 26 January – St Polycarp, bishop and martyr, Memorial

All as in the Office for Thursday with the collect of Sunday, MD 148*; at Lauds, make a commemoration after the collect, using the texts from MD [42] – [43].

Friday 27 January – St John Chrysostom, bishop, confessor and doctor, Class III

Matins: Readings 1&2 of the day with responsories 1&3; reading 3 of the feast.
Lauds and Vespers: psalms and antiphons of Friday, with the rest from the Common of a Confessor Bishop, MD (64) except for the Magnifcat antiphon at Vespers, from MD [43].
Terce to None: chapter and versicle from the Common.
At all hours, collect from MD [43]

Saturday 28 January – St Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop, Confessor and Doctor, Memorial

Office of Our Lady on Saturday after Christmas, MD (133); make a commemoration after the collect, MD [44]

Sunday 29 January – Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany; St Frances de Sales, bishop, confessor and doctor, Memorial**

All as in the psalter for Sundays throughout the year.
At Lauds, psalm schema 1 – 50, 117, 62 with hymn Aeterne rerum Conditor; make a commemoration after the collect, using the texts from MD [44] – [45].
Collect and canticle antiphons from MD149* - 150*.
Vespers: As for Saturday in the psalter with Magnificat antiphon and collect, MD 149* - 150*.

**As Class I, see MD 21**

Monday 30 January – Class IV

All as for Monday throughout the year, collect MD 149-50*

Tuesday 31 January - St John Bosco, Confessor, Memorial

All as for Tuesday throughout the year, with the collect of Sunday, MD149* - 150*. At Lauds, make a commemoration after the collect, MD [45] – [46].

December 3: S Francis Xavier, Memorial

2011-12-03T00:00:00.001+11:00

Saint Francis Xavier (1506 – 1552) was a missionary.

From the Wiki:

Born in Spain, he was co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a student of Saint Ignatius Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who dedicated themselves to the service of God at Montmartre in 1534. He led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly in the Asian Portuguese Empire of the time. He was influential in the spreading and upkeep of Catholicism most notably in India, but also ventured into Japan, Borneo, the Moluccas, and other areas which had thus far not been visited by Christian missionaries. He died in China...

He is said to have converted more people than anyone else has done since Saint Paul. By his compromises in India with the Christians of St. Thomas, he developed the Jesuit missionary methods along lines that subsequently became a successful blueprint for his order to follow. His efforts left a significant impression upon the missionary history of India and, as one of the first Jesuit missionaries to the East Indies, his work is of fundamental significance to Christians in the propagation of Christianity in China and Japan. India still has numerous Jesuit missions, and many more schools. There has been less of an impact in Japan. Following the persecutions of Daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the subsequent closing of Japan to foreigners, the Christians of Japan were forced to go underground and developed an independent Christian culture.

Pope Benedict XVI said of both Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier: "not only their history which was interwoven for many years from Paris and Rome, but a unique desire — a unique passion, it could be said — moved and sustained them through different human events: the passion to give to God-Trinity a glory always greater and to work for the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ to the peoples who had been ignored."

December 2: St Peter Chrysologus, Memorial

2011-12-02T00:00:00.001+11:00

St Peter Chrysologus, circa 380 – 450, was Bishop of Ravenna from about AD 433 until his death. He is a Doctor of the Church.

According to the Wikipedia:

"Peter was born in Imola, where he was ordained a deacon by Cornelius, Bishop of Imola. He was made an archdeacon through the influence of Emperor Valentinian III. Pope Sixtus III appointed Peter to the See of Ravenna in about the year 433, apparently rejecting the candidate elected by the people of the city. The traditional account, as recorded in the Roman Breviary, is that Sixtus had a vision of St. Peter and St. Apollinaris, the first bishops of Rome and Ravenna respectively, who showed Sixtus a young man and said he was the next Bishop of Ravenna. When the group from Ravenna arrived, including Cornelius and his archdeacon Peter from Imola, Sixtus recognized Peter as the young man in his vision and consecrated him as a bishop.

Known as The Doctor of Homilies, Peter was known for his short but inspired talks; he is said to have been afraid of boring his audience. After hearing his first homily as bishop, Empress Galla Placidia is said to have given him the surname Chrysologus, by which he is known. Galla Placidia was to become the patroness of many of Peter's projects. Peter spoke against the Arian and Monophysite teachings, condemning them as heresies, and explained topics such as the Apostles' Creed, John the Baptist, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the mystery of the Incarnation, in simple and clear language. Peter advocated daily reception of Holy Communion. He urged his listeners to have confidence in the forgiveness offered through Christ.

He was a counsellor of Pope Leo I. The monophysite Eutyches appealed to Peter to intervene with the pope on his behalf after he was denounced at a synod held in Constantinople in 448. The text of Peter's letter in response to Eutyches has been preserved in the Acts of the Council of Chalcedon; in it, Peter admonishes Eutyches to accept the ruling of the synod and to give obedience to the Bishop of Rome as the successor of Saint Peter."

November 30: St Andrew, Class II

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St Andrew was the brother of St Peter. Pope Benedict XVI devoted a General Audience to him on 14 June 2006:

"...Therefore, today we shall speak of Simon Peter's brother, St Andrew, who was also one of the Twelve.

The first striking characteristic of Andrew is his name: it is not Hebrew, as might have been expected, but Greek, indicative of a certain cultural openness in his family that cannot be ignored. We are in Galilee, where the Greek language and culture are quite present. Andrew comes second in the list of the Twelve, as in Matthew (10: 1-4) and in Luke (6: 13-16); or fourth, as in Mark (3: 13-18) and in the Acts (1: 13-14). In any case, he certainly enjoyed great prestige within the early Christian communities.

The kinship between Peter and Andrew, as well as the joint call that Jesus addressed to them, are explicitly mentioned in the Gospels. We read: "As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men'" (Mt 4: 18-19; Mk 1: 16-17).

From the Fourth Gospel we know another important detail: Andrew had previously been a disciple of John the Baptist: and this shows us that he was a man who was searching, who shared in Israel's hope, who wanted to know better the word of the Lord, the presence of the Lord.

He was truly a man of faith and hope; and one day he heard John the Baptist proclaiming Jesus as: "the Lamb of God" (Jn 1: 36); so he was stirred, and with another unnamed disciple followed Jesus, the one whom John had called "the Lamb of God". The Evangelist says that "they saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day..." (Jn 1: 37-39).

Thus, Andrew enjoyed precious moments of intimacy with Jesus. The account continues with one important annotation: "One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah' (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus" (Jn 1: 40-43), straightaway showing an unusual apostolic spirit.

Andrew, then, was the first of the Apostles to be called to follow Jesus. Exactly for this reason the liturgy of the Byzantine Church honours him with the nickname: "Protokletos", [protoclete] which means, precisely, "the first called".

And it is certain that it is partly because of the family tie between Peter and Andrew that the Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople feel one another in a special way to be Sister Churches. To emphasize this relationship, my Predecessor Pope Paul VI, in 1964, returned the important relic of St Andrew, which until then had been kept in the Vatican Basilica, to the Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop of the city of Patras in Greece, where tradition has it that the Apostle was crucified.

The Gospel traditions mention Andrew's name in particular on another three occasions that tell us something more about this man. The first is that of the multiplication of the loaves in Galilee. On that occasion, it was Andrew who pointed out to Jesus the presence of a young boy who had with him five barley loaves and two fish: not much, he remarked, for the multitudes who had gathered in that place (cf. Jn 6: 8-9).

In this case, it is worth highlighting Andrew's realism. He noticed the boy, that is, he had already asked the question: "but what good is that for so many?" (ibid.), and recognized the insufficiency of his minimal resources. Jesus, however, knew how to make them sufficient for the multitude of people who had come to hear him.

The second occasion was at Jerusalem. As he left the city, a disciple drew Jesus' attention to the sight of the massive walls that supported the Temple. The Teacher's response was surprising: he said that of those walls not one stone would be left upon another. Then Andrew, together with Peter, James and John, questioned him: "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign when these things are all to be accomplished?" (Mk 13: 1-4).

In answer to this question Jesus gave an important discourse on the destruction of Jerusalem and on the end of the world, in which he asked his disciples to be wise in interpreting the signs of the times and to be constantly on their guard.

From this event we can deduce that we should not be afraid to ask Jesus questions but at the same time that we must be ready to accept even the surprising and difficult teachings that he offers us.

Lastly, a third initiative of Andrew is recorded in the Gospels: the scene is still Jerusalem, shortly before the Passion. For the Feast of the Passover, John recounts, some Greeks had come to the city, probably proselytes or God-fearing men who had come up to worship the God of Israel at the Passover Feast. Andrew and Philip, the two Apostles with Greek names, served as interpreters and mediators of this small group of Greeks with Jesus.

The Lord's answer to their question - as so often in John's Gospel - appears enigmatic, but precisely in this way proves full of meaning. Jesus said to the two disciples and, through them, to the Greek world: "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. I solemnly assure you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit" (12: 23-24).

Jesus wants to say: Yes, my meeting with the Greeks will take place, but not as a simple, brief conversation between myself and a few others, motivated above all by curiosity. The hour of my glorification will come with my death, which can be compared with the falling into the earth of a grain of wheat. My death on the Cross will bring forth great fruitfulness: in the Resurrection the "dead grain of wheat" - a symbol of myself crucified - will become the bread of life for the world; it will be a light for the peoples and cultures.

Yes, the encounter with the Greek soul, with the Greek world, will be achieved in that profundity to which the grain of wheat refers, which attracts to itself the forces of heaven and earth and becomes bread.

In other words, Jesus was prophesying about the Church of the Greeks, the Church of the pagans, the Church of the world, as a fruit of his Pasch.

Some very ancient traditions not only see Andrew, who communicated these words to the Greeks, as the interpreter of some Greeks at the meeting with Jesus recalled here, but consider him the Apostle to the Greeks in the years subsequent to Pentecost. They enable us to know that for the rest of his life he was the preacher and interpreter of Jesus for the Greek world.

Peter, his brother, travelled from Jerusalem through Antioch and reached Rome to exercise his universal mission; Andrew, instead, was the Apostle of the Greek world. So it is that in life and in death they appear as true brothers - a brotherhood that is symbolically expressed in the special reciprocal relations of the See of Rome and of Constantinople, which are truly Sister Churches.

A later tradition, as has been mentioned, tells of Andrew's death at Patras, where he too suffered the torture of crucifixion. At that supreme moment, however, like his brother Peter, he asked to be nailed to a cross different from the Cross of Jesus. In his case it was a diagonal or X-shaped cross, which has thus come to be known as "St Andrew's cross".

This is what the Apostle is claimed to have said on that occasion, according to an ancient story (which dates back to the beginning of the sixth century), entitled The Passion of Andrew:

"Hail, O Cross, inaugurated by the Body of Christ and adorned with his limbs as though they were precious pearls. Before the Lord mounted you, you inspired an earthly fear. Now, instead, endowed with heavenly love, you are accepted as a gift.

"Believers know of the great joy that you possess, and of the multitude of gifts you have prepared. I come to you, therefore, confident and joyful, so that you too may receive me exultant as a disciple of the One who was hung upon you.... O blessed Cross, clothed in the majesty and beauty of the Lord's limbs!... Take me, carry me far from men, and restore me to my Teacher, so that, through you, the one who redeemed me by you, may receive me. Hail, O Cross; yes, hail indeed!".

Here, as can be seen, is a very profound Christian spirituality. It does not view the Cross as an instrument of torture but rather as the incomparable means for perfect configuration to the Redeemer, to the grain of wheat that fell into the earth.

Here we have a very important lesson to learn: our own crosses acquire value if we consider them and accept them as a part of the Cross of Christ, if a reflection of his light illuminates them.

It is by that Cross alone that our sufferings too are ennobled and acquire their true meaning.

The Apostle Andrew, therefore, teaches us to follow Jesus with promptness (cf. Mt 4: 20; Mk 1: 18), to speak enthusiastically about him to those we meet, and especially, to cultivate a relationship of true familiarity with him, acutely aware that in him alone can we find the ultimate meaning of our life and death."

November 29: St Saturninus, Martyr, Memorial

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Saint Saturnin of Toulouse was one of the "Apostles to the Gauls" sent out 250-251 to Christianize Gaul after the persecutions under Emperor Decius had all but dissolved the small Christian communities.

Pope St Fabian sent out seven bishops from Rome to Gaul to preach the Gospel: Saint Gatien to Tours, Saint Trophimus to Arles, Saint Paul to Narbonne, Saint Saturnin to Toulouse, Saint Denis to Paris, Austromoine to Clermont, and Saint Martial to Limoges.

St Saturnin was martyred by pagan priests who blamed the silence of their oracles on him, and tied by the feet to a bull which dragged him about the town until the rope broke.

November 27: First Sunday of Advent

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Once more, it is the start of a new liturgical year, and time to swap breviary volumes! You can find an overview of the changes to the Office for Advent here.

The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that "During this time the faithful are admonished:

•to prepare themselves worthily to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord's coming into the world as the incarnate God of love,
•thus to make their souls fitting abodes for the Redeemer coming in Holy Communion and through grace, and
•thereby to make themselves ready for His final coming as judge, at death and at the end of the world.

At Matins the readings start on the Book of Isaiah, but all of the texts for I Vespers and Sunday are proper for the day, and draw out the nature of the new liturgical season.

November 26: St Sylvester OSB, Memorial

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Saint Sylvester Gozzolini (1177 - 1267) is the founder of the Sylvestrine Congregation:

"Born of the noble family of the Gozzolini at Osimo, Marche, he was sent to study jurisprudence at Bologna and Padua, but, feeling within himself a call to the ecclesiastical state, abandoned the study of law for that of theology and Holy Scripture, giving long hours daily to prayer. On his return home we are told that his father, angered at his change of purpose, refused to speak to him for ten years. Sylvester then accepted a canonry at Osimo and devoted himself to pastoral work with such zeal as to arouse the hostility of his bishop, whom he had respectfully rebuked for the scandals caused by the prelate's irregular life.

The saint was threatened with the loss of his canonry, but decided to leave the world on seeing the decaying corpse of one who had formerly been noted for great beauty. In 1227 he retired to a desert place about thirty miles from Osimo and lived there in the utmost poverty until he was recognized by the owner of the land, a certain nobleman named Conrad, who offered him a better site for his hermitage. From this spot he was driven by damp and next established himself at Grotta Fucile, where he eventually built a monastery of his order.

In this place his penances were most severe, for he lived on raw herbs and water and slept on the bare ground. Disciples flocked to him seeking his direction, and it became necessary to choose a rule. According to the legend the various founders appeared to him in a vision, each begging him to adopt his rule. St. Sylvester chose for his followers that of St. Benedict and built his first monastery on Montefano, where, like another St. Benedict, he had first to destroy the remains of a pagan temple.

In 1247 he obtained from Innocent IV, at Lyon, a papal bull confirming his order, and before his death founded a number of monasteries."

Today the congregation has nineteen houses, eleven of them in Asia, on in Australia, one in the US, and the rest in Italy. You might perhaps say a prayer to St Sylvester for vocations for them...

November 24: SS John of the Cross & Chrysogonus, Memorials

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In February 2011, Pope Benedict XVI gave a General Audience on St John of the Cross:

"Two weeks ago I presented the figure of the great Spanish mystic, Teresa of Jesus. Today I would like talk about another important saint of that country, a spiritual friend of St Teresa, the reformer, with her, of the Carmelite religious family: St John of the Cross. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1926 and is traditionally known as Doctor mysticus, “Mystical Doctor”.

John of the Cross was born in 1542 in the small village of Fontiveros, near Avila in Old Castille, to Gonzalo de Yepes and Catalina Alvarez. The family was very poor because his father, Gonzalo, from a noble family of Toledo, had been thrown out of his home and disowned for marrying Catalina, a humble silk weaver.

Having lost his father at a tender age, when John was nine he moved with his mother and his brother Francisco to Medina del Campo, not far from Valladolid, a commercial and cultural centre. Here he attended the Colegio de los Doctrinos, carrying out in addition several humble tasks for the sisters of the Church-Convent of the Maddalena. Later, given his human qualities and his academic results, he was admitted first as a male nurse to the Hospital of the Conception, then to the recently founded Jesuit College at Medina del Campo.

He entered the College at the age of 18 and studied the humanities, rhetoric and classical languages for three years. At the end of his formation he had a clear perception of his vocation: the religious life, and, among the many orders present in Medina, he felt called to Carmel.

In the summer of 1563 he began his novitiate with the Carmelites in the town, taking the religious name of Juan de Santo Matía. The following year he went to the prestigious University of Salamanca, where he studied the humanities and philosophy for three years.

He was ordained a priest in 1567 and returned to Medina del Campo to celebrate his first Mass surrounded by his family’s love. It was precisely here that John and Teresa of Jesus first met. The meeting was crucial for them both. Teresa explained to him her plan for reforming Carmel, including the male branch of the Order, and suggested to John that he support it “for the greater glory of God”. The young priest was so fascinated by Teresa’s ideas that he became a great champion of her project.

For several months they worked together, sharing ideals and proposals aiming to inaugurate the first house of Discalced Carmelites as soon as possible. It was opened on 28 December 1568 at Duruelo in a remote part of the Province of Avila.

This first reformed male community consisted of John and three companions. In renewing their religious profession in accordance with the primitive Rule, each of the four took a new name: it was from this time that John called himself “of the Cross”, as he came to be known subsequently throughout the world.

At the end of 1572, at St Teresa’s request, he became confessor and vicar of the Monastery of the Incarnation in Avila where Teresa of Jesus was prioress. These were years of close collaboration and spiritual friendship which enriched both. The most important Teresian works and John’s first writings date back to this period.

Promoting adherence to the Carmelite reform was far from easy and cost John acute suffering. The most traumatic episode occurred in 1577, when he was seized and imprisoned in the Carmelite Convent of the Ancient Observance in Toledo, following an unjust accusation. The Saint, imprisoned for months, was subjected to physical and moral deprivations and constrictions. Here, together with other poems, he composed the well-known Spiritual Canticle. Finally, in the night between 16 and 17 August 1578, he made a daring escape and sought shelter at the Monastery of Discalced Carmelite Nuns in the town. St Teresa and her reformed companions celebrated his liberation with great joy and, after spending a brief period recovering, John was assigned to Andalusia where he spent 10 years in various convents, especially in Granada.

He was charged with ever more important offices in his Order, until he became vicar provincial and completed the draft of his spiritual treatises. He then returned to his native land as a member of the General Government of the Teresian religious family which already enjoyed full juridical autonomy.

He lived in the Carmel of Segovia, serving in the office of community superior. In 1591 he was relieved of all responsibility and assigned to the new religious Province of Mexico. While he was preparing for the long voyage with 10 companions he retired to a secluded convent near Jaén, where he fell seriously ill.

John faced great suffering with exemplary serenity and patience. He died in the night between 13 and 14 December 1591, while his confreres were reciting Matins. He took his leave of them saying: “Today I am going to sing the Office in Heaven”. His mortal remains were translated to Segovia. He was beatified by Clement X in 1675 and canonized by Benedict XIII in 1726.

John is considered one of the most important lyric poets of Spanish literature. His major works are four: The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night, The Spiritual Canticle and The Living Flame of Love.

In The Spiritual Canticle St John presents the process of the soul’s purification and that is the gradual, joyful possession of God, until the soul succeeds in feeling that it loves God with the same love with which it is loved by him. The Living Flame of Love continues in this perspective, describing in greater detail the state of the transforming union with God.

The example that John uses is always that of fire: just as the stronger the fire burns and consumes wood, the brighter it grows until it blazes into a flame, so the Holy Spirit, who purifies and “cleanses” the soul during the dark night, with time illuminates and warms it as though it were a flame. The life of the soul is a continuous celebration of the Holy Spirit which gives us a glimpse of the glory of union with God in eternity.

The Ascent of Mount Carmel presents the spiritual itinerary from the viewpoint of the gradual purification of the soul, necessary in order to scale the peaks of Christian perfection, symbolized by the summit of Mount Carmel. This purification is proposed as a journey the human being undertakes, collaborating with divine action, to free the soul from every attachment or affection contrary to God’s will.

Purification which, if it is to attain the union of love with God must be total, begins by purifying the life of the senses and continues with the life obtained through the three theological virtues: faith, hope and charity, which purify the intention, the memory and the will.

The Dark Night describes the “passive” aspect, that is, God’s intervention in this process of the soul’s “purification”. In fact human endeavour on its own is unable to reach the profound roots of the person’s bad inclinations and habits: all it can do is to check them but cannot entirely uproot them. This requires the special action of God which radically purifies the spirit and prepares it for the union of love with him.

St John describes this purification as “passive”, precisely because, although it is accepted by the soul, it is brought about by the mysterious action of the Holy Spirit who, like a burning flame, consumes every impurity. In this state the soul is subjected to every kind of trial, as if it were in a dark night.

This information on the Saint’s most important works help us to approach the salient points of his vast and profound mystical doctrine, whose purpose is to describe a sure way to attain holiness, the state of perfection to which God calls us all.

According to John of the Cross, all that exists, created by God, is good. Through creatures we may arrive at the discovery of the One who has left within them a trace of himself. Faith, in any case, is the one source given to the human being to know God as he is in himself, as the Triune God. All that God wished to communicate to man, he said in Jesus Christ, his Word made flesh. Jesus Christ is the only and definitive way to the Father (cf. Jn 14:6). Any created thing is nothing in comparison to God and is worth nothing outside him, consequently, to attain to the perfect love of God, every other love must be conformed in Christ to the divine love.

From this derives the insistence of St John of the Cross on the need for purification and inner self-emptying in order to be transformed into God, which is the one goal of perfection. This “purification” does not consist in the mere physical absence of things or of their use; on the contrary what makes the soul pure and free is the elimination of every disorderly dependence on things. All things should be placed in God as the centre and goal of life.

Of course, the long and difficult process of purification demands a personal effort, but the real protagonist is God: all that the human being can do is to “prepare” himself, to be open to divine action and not to set up obstacles to it. By living the theological virtues, human beings raise themselves and give value to their commitment. The growth of faith, hope and charity keeps pace with the work of purification and with the gradual union with God until they are transformed in him.

When it reaches this goal, the soul is immersed in Trinitarian life itself, so that St John affirms that it has reached the point of loving God with the same love with which he loves it, because he loves it in the Holy Spirit.

For this reason the Mystical Doctor maintains that there is no true union of love with God that does not culminate in Trinitarian union. In this supreme state the holy soul knows everything in God and no longer has to pass through creatures in order to reach him. The soul now feels bathed in divine love and rejoices in it without reserve.

Dear brothers and sisters, in the end the question is: does this Saint with his lofty mysticism, with this demanding journey towards the peak of perfection have anything to say to us, to the ordinary Christian who lives in the circumstances of our life today, or is he an example, a model for only a few elect souls who are truly able to undertake this journey of purification, of mystical ascesis?

To find the answer we must first of all bear in mind that the life of St John of the Cross did not “float on mystical clouds”; rather he had a very hard life, practical and concrete, both as a reformer of the Order, in which he came up against much opposition and from the Provincial Superior as well as in his confreres’ prison where he was exposed to unbelievable insults and physical abuse.

His life was hard yet it was precisely during the months he spent in prison that he wrote one of his most beautiful works. And so we can understand that the journey with Christ, travelling with Christ, “the Way”, is not an additional burden in our life, it is not something that would make our burden even heavier but something quite different. It is a light, a power that helps us to bear it.

If a person bears great love in himself, this love gives him wings, as it were, and he can face all life’s troubles more easily because he carries in himself this great light; this is faith: being loved by God and letting oneself be loved by God in Jesus Christ. Letting oneself be loved in this way is the light that helps us to bear our daily burden.

And holiness is not a very difficult action of ours but means exactly this “openness”: opening the windows of our soul to let in God’s light, without forgetting God because it is precisely in opening oneself to his light that one finds strength, one finds the joy of the redeemed.

Let us pray the Lord to help us discover this holiness, to let ourselves be loved by God who is our common vocation and the true redemption...."

St Chrysogonus, Martyr

As well as St John of the Cross, today is also the memorial of St Chrysogonus (pictured above with St Anastasia), who was martyred under Diocletian at Aquileia. A titular church in Rome, probably dating originally from the fourth century, at Trastevere, bears his name.

According to his legend, Chrysogonus was a functionary of the vicarius Urbis, and was the Christian teacher of Anastasia, the daughter of the noble Roman Praetextatus. Being thrown into prison during the persecution of Diocletian, he comforted by his letters the severely afflicted Anastasia. By order of Diocletian, Chrysogonus was brought before the emperor at Aquileia, condemned to death, and beheaded. His corpse, thrown into the sea, was washed ashore and buried by the aged priest, Zoilus.

Tues 23 – St Clement I, Pope and Martyr, Class III; St Felicity memorial

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St Clement (c96 AD) was St Peter's successor as Bishop of Rome. His only surviving writing, a letter to the community at Corinth (which deals with a dispute over priests that had been removed from office for assorted offences) is important evidence for the primacy of the Bishop of Rome in the early Church. It also provides an early assertion for the authority of priests in relation to the laity, a useful counter to 'congregationalism' (while also demonstrating that there are no new heresies, no new disputes in the Church; only old ones reborn...).

St Felicitas of Rome (c. 101 - 165) is an early martyr who was buried in the Cemetery of Maximus, on the Via Salaria on a 23 November. She was the mother of the seven martyrs whose feast is celebrated on 10 July.

November 22: St Caecilia, Class III

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According to the Wikipedia:

"It was long supposed that she was a noble lady of Rome who, with her husband Valerian, his brother Tiburtius, and a Roman soldier Maximus, suffered martyrdom, c. 230, under the Emperor Alexander Severus.

The research of [nineteenth century archeologist] Giovanni Battista de Rossi, however, appears to confirm the statement of Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers (d. 600), that she perished in Sicily under Emperor Marcus Aurelius between 176 and 180. A church in her honor exists in Rome from about the 5th century, was rebuilt with much splendor by Pope Paschal I around the year 820, and again by Cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfondrati in 1599. It is situated in Trastevere, near the Ripa Grande quay, where in earlier days the Ghetto was located, and is the titulus of a Cardinal Priest, currently Carlo Maria Martini.

The martyrdom of Cecilia is said to have followed that of her husband and his brother by the prefect Turcius Almachius. The officers of the prefect then sought to have Cecilia killed as well. She arranged to have her home preserved as a church before she was arrested. At that time, the officials attempted to kill her by smothering her by steam. However, the attempt failed, and she was to have her head chopped off. But they were unsuccessful three times, and she would not die until she received the sacrament of Holy Communion.

Cecilia survived another three days before succumbing. In the last three days of her life, she opened her eyes, gazed at her family and friends who crowded around her cell, closed them, and never opened them again. The people by her cell knew immediately that she was to become a saint in heaven. When her incorruptible body was found long after her death, it was found that on one hand she had three fingers outstretched and on the other hand just one finger, denoting her belief in the trinity. The skull of Saint Cecilia is kept as a relic in the cathedral of Torcello."

She is patroness of music because she sang as she lay dying. Here's a snippet from Purcell's tribute to the saint:

November 21: Presentation of the Blessed Virgin, Class III; St Columbanus, Memorial

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c1460-5

The basis for the feast of the Presentation lies in the infancy narrative contained in the Protoevangelium of James, which was possibly written around 145 AD, though the feast itself dates from 543.

Some modern historians claim the Protoevangelium is a fraud, as it does not reflect an awareness of the Judaism of the time, claiming, for example, that the idea of temple virgins is a conflation of Roman practice.

In reality, however, there are explicit Old Testament references to vows of celibacy. In addition, there were several contemporary Jewish groups with close connections to Jesus and his family, such as the Essenes, that did practice celibacy. And we also have from Scripture the story of the Prophetess Anna (Lk 2:25-35), who lived constantly in the Temple.

Accordingly, though not inspired Scripture, the early date of the Protoevangelium of James suggests that it should be taken seriously as relating a genuine early historical tradition regarding to Our Lady.

According to the text, Mary's parents, Joachim and Anne, who had been childless, received a heavenly message that they would bear a child. In thanksgiving for the gift of their daughter, they brought her, when still a child, to the Temple in Jerusalem to consecrate her to God, and she was educated for her future role there.

St Columbanus

St Columbanus (540-615) was an Irish monk missionary responsible for founding many monasteries on the continent. His brand of monasticism was much stricter and more penitential in orientation than St Benedict's, and the two rules were often used in combination.

Pope urges pray the Office: and there's a new edition of the Diurnal out to help you do it!

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Photos and dimension details: Jonah Smith

At his General Audience last week, the Pope concluded his series of talks on the psalms as the prayer-book of the Church by urging everyone to pray Lauds, Vespers and Compline.

And with absolutely perfect timing, the new, seventh edition of the Monastic Diurnal has just been released by the monks of Farnborough Abbey to enable you to do just that!

The Farnborough Monastic Diurnal provides the day hours of the Office (ie all the hours except the long monastic night Office of Matins) with parallel English and Latin texts, according to the 1963 rubrics.

And unlike the modern Liturgy of the Hours (1970), or even the 1962 Roman Breviary (which uses the 1911 reordering of the psalter), the Monastic Diurnal utilises a traditional ordering of the psalms for each day and hour, namely that set out by St Benedict in his Rule and in use now for over 1400 years.

For those familiar with the previous edition of the book, it is on rather heavier paper, giving increased durability, and its dimensions are 150 mm x100mm x51mm.

At £45.00 plus shipping from the Abbey direct, it is a considerably cheaper option than most other breviaries around.

And thanks too to Father Abbot for giving this blog a bit of a plug!

The monks also have their own blog now, so you can follow their doings.

November 20: Last Sunday after Pentecost/Fifth Sunday of November

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And so we reach the last Sunday of the liturgical year!

At Matins this Sunday, the Scripture readings are from the prophet Micah (who prophesied around 740-701 BC). Micah and Isaiah were contemporaries, and the Chapter of his book set for Sunday Matins (Ch 1) tells of the coming punishment for Israel's sins. The antiphon for I Vespers though, actually comes from Isaiah 62, and perhaps anticipates the promises contained in later chapters of Micah for the preservation of a remnant, and the coming of the new David in glory.

The Gospel this Sunday, referred to in the two canticle antiphons, is Matthew 24:15-35, which is a prophecy of the end times:

"When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that reads let him understand. Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains: And he that is on the housetop, let him not come down to take anything out of his house: And he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat. And woe to them that are with child and that give suck in those days. But pray that your flight be not in the winter or on the sabbath. For there shall be then great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be....And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven. And then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty. And he shall send his angels with a trumpet and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them... Amen I say to you that this generation shall not pass till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass: but my words shall not pass."

November 18: Dedication of the Basilica of SS Peter and Paul, Class III

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This day actually commemorates the dedication of two famous Roman Churches - St Peter's on Vatican Hill, and St Paul without the Walls. The picture below depicts the cloister of the Benedictine monastery attached to St Paul's.

November 17: St Gertrude the Great OSB, Class II/III

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St Gertrude the Great (1256 - 1301) was one of a group of women mystics in this period, a student of St Matilda of Hackleborn. She has become popular in recent years because her liturgically based piety fits well with modern preoccupations, and for her role in the origins of devotion to the sacred heart.

Pope Benedict XVI recently devoted a General Audience to her:

"St Gertrude the Great, of whom I would like to talk to you today, brings us once again this week to the Monastery of Helfta, where several of the Latin-German masterpieces of religious literature were written by women. Gertrude belonged to this world. She is one of the most famous mystics, the only German woman to be called "Great", because of her cultural and evangelical stature: her life and her thought had a unique impact on Christian spirituality. She was an exceptional woman, endowed with special natural talents and extraordinary gifts of grace, the most profound humility and ardent zeal for her neighbour's salvation. She was in close communion with God both in contemplation and in her readiness to go to the help of those in need.

At Helfta, she measured herself systematically, so to speak, with her teacher, Matilda of Hackeborn, of whom I spoke at last Wednesday's Audience. Gertrude came into contact with Matilda of Magdeburg, another medieval mystic and grew up under the wing of Abbess Gertrude, motherly, gentle and demanding. From these three sisters she drew precious experience and wisdom; she worked them into a synthesis of her own, continuing on her religious journey with boundless trust in the Lord. Gertrude expressed the riches of her spirituality not only in her monastic world, but also and above all in the biblical, liturgical, Patristic and Benedictine contexts, with a highly personal hallmark and great skill in communicating.

Gertrude was born on 6 January 1256, on the Feast of the Epiphany, but nothing is known of her parents nor of the place of her birth. Gertrude wrote that the Lord himself revealed to her the meaning of this first uprooting: "I have chosen you for my abode because I am pleased that all that is lovable in you is my work.... For this very reason I have distanced you from all your relatives, so that no one may love you for reasons of kinship and that I may be the sole cause of the affection you receive" (The Revelations, I, 16, Siena 1994, pp. 76-77).

When she was five years old, in 1261, she entered the monastery for formation and education, a common practice in that period. Here she spent her whole life, the most important stages of which she herself points out. In her memoirs she recalls that the Lord equipped her in advance with forbearing patience and infinite mercy, forgetting the years of her childhood, adolescence and youth, which she spent, she wrote, "in such mental blindness that I would have been capable... of thinking, saying or doing without remorse everything I liked and wherever I could, had you not armed me in advance, with an inherent horror of evil and a natural inclination for good and with the external vigilance of others. "I would have behaved like a pagan... in spite of desiring you since childhood, that is since my fifth year of age, when I went to live in the Benedictine shrine of religion to be educated among your most devout friends" (ibid., II, 23, p. 140f.).

Gertrude was an extraordinary student, she learned everything that can be learned of the sciences of the trivium and quadrivium, the education of that time; she was fascinated by knowledge and threw herself into profane studies with zeal and tenacity, achieving scholastic successes beyond every expectation. If we know nothing of her origins, she herself tells us about her youthful passions: literature, music and song and the art of miniature painting captivated her. She had a strong, determined, ready and impulsive temperament. She often says that she was negligent; she recognizes her shortcomings and humbly asks forgiveness for them. She also humbly asks for advice and prayers for her conversion. Some features of her temperament and faults were to accompany her to the end of her life, so as to amaze certain people who wondered why the Lord had favoured her with such a special love.

From being a student she moved on to dedicate herself totally to God in monastic life, and for 20 years nothing exceptional occurred: study and prayer were her main activities. Because of her gifts she shone out among the sisters; she was tenacious in consolidating her culture in various fields.

Nevertheless during Advent of 1280 she began to feel disgusted with all this and realized the vanity of it all. On 27 January 1281, a few days before the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, towards the hour of Compline in the evening, the Lord with his illumination dispelled her deep anxiety. With gentle sweetness he calmed the distress that anguished her, a torment that Gertrude saw even as a gift of God, "to pull down that tower of vanity and curiosity which, although I had both the name and habit of a nun alas I had continued to build with my pride, so that at least in this manner I might find the way for you to show me your salvation" (ibid., II, p. 87). She had a vision of a young man who, in order to guide her through the tangle of thorns that surrounded her soul, took her by the hand. In that hand Gertrude recognized "the precious traces of the wounds that abrogated all the acts of accusation of our enemies" (ibid., II, 1, p. 89), and thus recognized the One who saved us with his Blood on the Cross: Jesus.

From that moment her life of intimate communion with the Lord was intensified, especially in the most important liturgical seasons Advent-Christmas, Lent-Easter, the feasts of Our Lady even when illness prevented her from going to the choir. This was the same liturgical humus as that of Matilda, her teacher; but Gertrude describes it with simpler, more linear images, symbols and terms that are more realistic and her references to the Bible, to the Fathers and to the Benedictine world are more direct.

Her biographer points out two directions of what we might describe as her own particular "conversion": in study, with the radical passage from profane, humanistic studies to the study of theology, and in monastic observance, with the passage from a life that she describes as negligent, to the life of intense, mystical prayer, with exceptional missionary zeal. The Lord who had chosen her from her mother's womb and who since her childhood had made her partake of the banquet of monastic life, called her again with his grace "from external things to inner life and from earthly occupations to love for spiritual things". Gertrude understood that she was remote from him, in the region of unlikeness, as she said with Augustine; that she had dedicated herself with excessive greed to liberal studies, to human wisdom, overlooking spiritual knowledge, depriving herself of the taste for true wisdom; she was then led to the mountain of contemplation where she cast off her former self to be reclothed in the new. "From a grammarian she became a theologian, with the unflagging and attentive reading of all the sacred books that she could lay her hands on or contrive to obtain. She filled her heart with the most useful and sweet sayings of Sacred Scripture. Thus she was always ready with some inspired and edifying word to satisfy those who came to consult her while having at her fingertips the most suitable scriptural texts to refute any erroneous opinion and silence her opponents" (ibid., I, 1, p. 25).

Gertrude transformed all this into an apostolate: she devoted herself to writing and popularizing the truth of faith with clarity and simplicity, with grace and persuasion, serving the Church faithfully and lovingly so as to be helpful to and appreciated by theologians and devout people.

Little of her intense activity has come down to us, partly because of the events that led to the destruction of the Monastery of Helfta. In addition to The Herald of Divine Love and The Revelations, we still have her Spiritual Exercises, a rare jewel of mystical spiritual literature.

In religious observance our Saint was "a firm pillar... a very powerful champion of justice and truth" (ibid., I, 1, p. 26), her biographer says. By her words and example she kindled great fervour in other people. She added to the prayers and penances of the monastic rule others with such devotion and such trusting abandonment in God that she inspired in those who met her an awareness of being in the Lord's presence. In fact, God made her understand that he had called her to be an instrument of his grace. Gertrude herself felt unworthy of this immense divine treasure, and confesses that she had not safeguarded it or made enough of it. She exclaimed: "Alas! If you had given me to remember you, unworthy as I am, by even only a straw, I would have viewed it with greater respect and reverence that I have had for all your gifts!" (ibid., II, 5, p. 100). Yet, in recognizing her poverty and worthlessness she adhered to God's will, "because", she said, "I have so little profited from your graces that I cannot resolve to believe that they were lavished upon me solely for my own use, since no one can thwart your eternal wisdom. Therefore, O Giver of every good thing who has freely lavished upon me gifts so undeserved, in order that, in reading this, the heart of at least one of your friends may be moved at the thought that zeal for souls has induced you to leave such a priceless gem for so long in the abominable mud of my heart" (ibid., II, 5, p. 100f.).

Two favours in particular were dearer to her than any other, as Gertrude herself writes: "The stigmata of your salvation-bearing wounds which you impressed upon me, as it were, like a valuable necklaces, in my heart, and the profound and salutary wound of love with which you marked it.

"You flooded me with your gifts, of such beatitude that even were I to live for 1,000 years with no consolation neither interior nor exterior the memory of them would suffice to comfort me, to enlighten me, to fill me with gratitude. Further, you wished to introduce me into the inestimable intimacy of your friendship by opening to me in various ways that most noble sacrarium of your Divine Being which is your Divine Heart.... To this accumulation of benefits you added that of giving me as Advocate the Most Holy Virgin Mary, your Mother, and often recommended me to her affection, just as the most faithful of bridegrooms would recommend his beloved bride to his own mother" (ibid., II, 23, p. 145).

Looking forward to never-ending communion, she ended her earthly life on 17 November 1301 or 1302, at the age of about 46. In the seventh Exercise, that of preparation for death, St Gertrude wrote: "O Jesus, you who are immensely dear to me, be with me always, so that my heart may stay with you and that your love may endure with me with no possibility of division; and bless my passing, so that my spirit, freed from the bonds of the flesh, may immediately find rest in you. Amen" (Spiritual Exercises, Milan 2006, p. 148).

It seems obvious to me that these are not only things of the past, of history; rather St Gertrude's life lives on as a lesson of Christian life, of an upright path, and shows us that the heart of a happy life, of a true life, is friendship with the Lord Jesus. And this friendship is learned in love for Sacred Scripture, in love for the Liturgy, in profound faith, in love for Mary, so as to be ever more truly acquainted with God himself and hence with true happiness, which is the goal of our life. Many thanks. "