In this last post in this series on understanding the calendar, I want to to finish off by treatment of the liturgical seasons and provide a bit of a recap of the series, in order to try and bring together everything I've covered, by way of completing the construction of the 'personal Ordo' for August that we have looked at as we've progressed through the series.
To do that, we need to recall that there are essentially five different cycles at work in the Office, consisting of: the hours; the day of the week; the date (fixed feasts); the calendar month and seasons; and the cycle of movable feasts and seasons of liturgical year, which depends on the date of Easter each year.
(1) THE HOURS
The first step in constructing your personal Ordo, you will recall, is to decide which hours you are going to say, and find the pages that relate to them in your Office book.
In Part IIA of this series, on the hours, we looked at the eight hours that make up the Office and the way they are spread through the day and night to sanctify time.
In Part IIB we looked at the particular character of each hour, which is reflected in the different structures employed for each of them, the hymns and other texts used at them, and the psalms allocated to each hour.
In a monastery using the traditional Office, all of the hours are normally sung each day.
Most Oblates and other laypeople though, would normally only say one or two hours - such as Prime and Compline, or Lauds and Vespers - a day.
The table below provides a starting point for your consideration, with page numbers for the Monastic Diurnal produced by Farnborough.
Hour
|
When said
|
Key considerations in deciding whether to say...
|
Page references in Monastic
Diurnal (Psalter section, middle of book)
|
Matins
|
After midnight, before first light
|
No available in Latin-English; longest hour by far (40-90 mins
depending on day if said).
|
na
|
Lauds
|
First light
|
Quite long (9 psalms & canticles) and complex structure; varies substantially
on feasts.
|
37-146
|
Prime
|
Morning before work
|
Simple structure (only psalms
and antiphons vary each day) makes it a good starting point for beginners;
theology of hour is about our foundations in Christ, awareness of presence of
God.
|
1-37 (M-Sat); 146-150 (Sunday)
|
Terce, Sext and None
|
Mid-morning, noon, mid-afternoon
|
Simple structure, each hour is very short, uses three sets of
psalms. Traces Passion of Christ, our
spiritual ascent through humility.
|
151-203
|
Vespers
|
Late afternoon/sunset
|
The most variable hour in content on feasts. Focuses on reflection on the day.
|
203-256
|
Compline
|
Before bed
|
Best starting point for
beginners as same each day of the week.
Preparation for sleep/death.
|
256-269
|
(2) THE DAYS OF THE WEEK
The second key cycle in the Office is of the day of the week, since one of the most distinctive features of the traditional Benedictine Office was originally that it ensured that the entire psalter was said each week.
Part IIIA of this series focused on the parts of each hour that vary with the day of the week in the 'ferial' Office, that is, as it said on days of the year that are not feasts, special days, or part of special seasons.
Part IIIB of the series started looking at the different ranking of days, providing a 'default' Ordo that listed Sundays as Class II and weekdays as Class IV, includes the Office of Our Lady each week, and for any given day of the week, looked something like this:
Wednesday - Class IV
Matins: All as for Wednesday in the psalter
Lauds: All as for Wednesday in the psalter
Prime: All as for Wednesday in the psalter
Terce to None: All as for Tuesday to Saturday in the psalter
Vespers: All as for Wednesday in the psalter
Compline: All as in the psalter every day
(3) FIXED DATE FEASTS OF THE YEAR
The next step in constructing our Ordo is to take account of the fixed date feasts of the year.
Part IVA of the series looked at the feasts of the general calendar that fall on ordinary weekdays.
Part IVB looked at the interactions of feasts with Sundays.
Part IVC looked at how to take account of local feasts, and the effects of different levels of feasts on each hour.
It showed that for August 2018, for example, the ferial texts have to be adjusted to take account of the memorial of the Holy Maccabees that falls on that day:
Wednesday 1 August - Class IV; The Holy Maccabees, memorial
Matins: All as for Wednesday in the psalter
Lauds: All as for Wednesday in the psalter with a commemoration of the Holy Maccabees
Prime: All as for Wednesday in the psalter
Terce to None: All as for Tuesday to Saturday in the psalter
Vespers: All as for Wednesday in the psalter
Compline: All as in the psalter every day
(4) MONTHS AND THE 'NATURAL' SEASONS
The fourth step in the construction of our Ordo is to take account of the months and seasons in the Office.
In Part VA of the series we saw that the Benedictine Office has only two 'natural seasons': winter (First Sunday of November to Easter), when three readings are said during the week at Matins; and summer (Easter to the end of October) when the weekday readings are reduced to one.
Part VB focused on the monthly cycle in the Office from August to the end of Epiphanytide, which depends on the interaction of calendar months and fixed date feasts.
For those who say Matins, it is worth noting that there is one other monthly cycle of readings in the 1962 version, namely for the Office of Our Lady on Saturday, there are readings for four Saturdays of each month of the year (December and March aside, where the liturgical seasons mean that there can never be more than one Saturday of Our Lady).
With that information, we can now look at the Ordo for August 2018, for example, we can now add in the Sunday cycle for the month of August to reflect the fact that the first Sunday of August fell on August 5, so our Ordo for the first few days of August now looks like this:
Wednesday 1 August - Class IV; The Holy Maccabees, memorial
Matins: All as for Wednesday in the psalter
Lauds: All as for Wednesday in the psalter with a commemoration of the Holy Maccabees
Prime: All as for Wednesday in the psalter
Terce to None: All as for Tuesday to Saturday in the psalter
Vespers: All as for Wednesday in the psalter
Compline: All as in the psalter every day
Or, in summary:
All as in the psalter for Wednesday with a commemoration of the Holy Maccabees at Lauds
Thursday 2 August – Class IV; St Alphonsus Mary de Liguori, memorial
All as in the psalter for Thursday with a commemoration of St Alphonsus at Lauds
Friday 3 August - Class IV
All as in the psalter for Friday
Saturday 4 August - St. Dominic, Class III
Matins: Invitatory antiphon and hymn from Common of a Confessor; antiphons and psalms of Saturday; one reading of the feast; chapter of a confessor; collect of the feast.
Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of Saturday; rest from the Common of a Confessor not a bishop, Collect of the feast.
Prime: Antiphon 1 of Lauds from the Common of a Confessor, rest as in the psalter for Saturday.
Terce to None: Antiphon, chapter and versicle from the Common of a Confessor; collect of the feast; rest as in the psalter for Tuesday to Saturday.
Vespers: I Vespers of Sunday (ie Saturday Vespers) with Magnificat antiphon for the First Sunday of August
Matins: All as for Sunday in the psalter with responsories and Nocturn I&II readings for the First Sunday of August
Lauds: All as for Sunday in the psalter
Prime: All as for Sunday in the psalter
Terce to None: All as for Sunday in the psalter
Vespers: All as for Sunday in the psalter
Compline: All as in the psalter every day
.....Saturday 11 August – Our Lady on Saturday, Class IV; St. Tiburtius, Memorial
Matins to None: Our Lady on Saturday with Matins reading of Saturday 2 of August and commemoration of St Tiburtius at Lauds.
I Vespers with Magnificat antiphon of the Second Sunday of August.
(5) THE LITURGICAL SEASONS
The last step in creating our Ordo is to take account of what is commonly known as the liturgical year, that is the cycle of feasts and Sundays whose date depends on that of Easter.
Part VIA of the series provided a bit of an overview, and focused on the parts of the Office that change each week depending on the part of the liturgical year.
Part VIB of the series looked at the special seasons of the year and their effect on the Office.
There are two last points to note on this topic.
First, the Marian antiphons and prayers said at the end of Compline also change at particular points of the liturgical year (viz Advent, 2 February, Easter and at the end of the octave of Pentecost).
Secondly, the Office of Our Lady on Saturday has some variants for the period after the Nativity and during Eastertide.
So we are now in a position to add in the final layer of the Office cycles to our sample Ordo for August 2018, to reflect the number of the Sunday after the Octave of Pentecost:
Wednesday 1 August - Class IV; The Holy Maccabees, memorial
Matins: All as for Wednesday in the psalter, collect of the tenth Sunday after the Octave of Pentecost
Lauds: All as for Wednesday in the psalter with a commemoration of the Holy Maccabees; collect of the tenth Sunday after the Octave of Pentecost
Prime: All as for Wednesday in the psalter
Terce to None: All as for Tuesday to Saturday in the psalter, collect of the tenth Sunday after the Octave of Pentecost
Vespers: All as for Wednesday in the psalter, collect of the tenth Sunday after the Octave of Pentecost
Compline: All as in the psalter every day, with Marian antiphon for time after Pentecost, Salve Regina
Or, in summary:
All as in the psalter for Wednesday with a commemoration of the Holy Maccabees at Lauds, collect of the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Thursday 2 August – Class IV; St Alphonsus Mary de Liguori, memorial
All as in the psalter for Thursday with a commemoration of St Alphonsus at Lauds, collect of the Tenth the Sunday [ie at all hours other than Prime and Compline]
Friday 3 August - Class IV
All as in the psalter for Friday, collect of the Tenth Sunday
Saturday 4 August - St. Dominic, Class III
Matins: Invitatory antiphon and hymn from Common of a Confessor; antiphons and psalms of Saturday; one reading of the feast; chapter of a confessor; collect of the feast.
Lauds: Antiphons and psalms of Saturday; rest from the Common of a Confessor not a bishop, Collect of the feast.
Prime: Antiphon 1 of Lauds from the Common of a Confessor, rest as in the psalter for Saturday.
Terce to None: Antiphon, chapter and versicle from the Common of a Confessor; collect of the feast; rest as in the psalter for Tuesday to Saturday.
Vespers: I Vespers of Sunday (ie Saturday Vespers) with Magnificat antiphon for the First Sunday of August; Collect of the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Matins: All as for Sunday in the psalter with responsories and Nocturn I&II readings for the First Sunday of August; Third Nocturn readings, Gospel and collect of the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Lauds: All as for Sunday in the psalter, Benedictus antiphon and collect of the Eleventh Sunday
Prime: All as for Sunday in the psalter
Terce to None: All as for Sunday in the psalter, collect of the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Vespers: All as for Sunday in the psalter, Magnificat antiphon and collect of the Eleventh Sunday
Compline: All as in the psalter every day
....Saturday 11 August – Our Lady on Saturday, Class IV; St. Tiburtius, Memorial
Matins to None: Our Lady on Saturday as for throughout the year with Matins reading of Saturday 2 of August and commemoration of St Tiburtius at Lauds.
I Vespers with Magnificat antiphon of the Second Sunday of August; collect for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost.
If you want to test your understanding, have a go at constructing a full Ordo for August 2018, then check it against the version you can find here.
FINAL NOTE: BREVIARIES AND THE SEASONS
There is one last issue I'd like to cover off, in response to a question, and that relates to Office books.
As I noted earlier, the Benedictine Office has only two 'natural' seasons, summer and winter.
So you might think the two volumes of the 1962 Monastic Breviary would align with this division. And if you are using an older breviary, you may find it comes in four volumes, labelled Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, you might think that the volume change occurs at the equinox, or some other fixed date associated with the change of seasons.
In fact, however, the divisions in these books are mostly based on the liturgical year, which only loosely aligns with the 'natural seasons'
The first of the two volumes of the 1962 breviary covers Advent to Pentecost; the second covers the Sundays after Pentecost to the end of the liturgical year.
My late nineteenth English Congregation breviary divides up as follows:
Pars Autumnalis (Autumn): First Sunday of September to Last Sunday after Pentecost
Pars Hiemalis (Winter): First Sunday of Advent to the Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Pars Vernalis (Spring): First Sunday of Lent to Pentecost
Pars Aestiva (Summer): Trinity Sunday to last Sunday of August
The date at which you change volumes, in other words, changes each year depending on the date of Easter and that of the first Sunday of Advent.
For this reason, the sections containing the feasts of saints includes some overlap between volumes.
COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS
I do hope you have found the series to be of interest and use, and please do ask any questions you may have through the comments box.
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