All Saints, All Souls and their accompanying days* Updated

October 31 marks the start of several days that have been the subject of considerable liturgical change, both over the centuries and more recently, so I thought it might be of interest to list out the various days, and provide some notes or link on their history for those interested.

The relevant days are:  

Feast or day	Instituted	Abolished or modified
Vigil of all Saints	In the Office: Breviary of 1568	1955
All Saints	Disputed: 13 May 608 (dedication of Pantheon) later transferred to November, and/or 735 (Dedication of Oratory in St Peter’s) made general in 835.	na
Commemoration of All Souls	C9th (originally Cluniac)	1960 changes to all hours instead of saying Office of Dead in addition to Office of Octave
Octave of All Saints	C1471-84	1955
All Saints OSB	?
All Soul’s OSB	1918	As for all Souls

 The Vigil (suppressed in the 1962 books)

There is a useful article on this from a few years back by Gregory di Pippio, on the  New Liturgical Movement Blog.

The key points he makes are that marking Vigils in the Office (as opposed to the Mass, and by fasting and/or abstinence) is (largely) a post-Tridentine innovation, and in some ways an odd one given that the Mass of the Vigil was traditionally celebrated after None. 

At the day hours, the only change was in the collect used.

The Feast of All Saints

The traditional explanation for the origin of this feast, repeated in many early sources, gives it a Byzantine origin, translated to the West in the dedication of the Pantheon in May 608, and then transferred to November in the eighth century.

Mr di Pippio has suggested an alternative explanation, which you can read here and here, suggesting it was instituted as a counter to the heresy of iconoclasm. 

It is certainly a plausible explanation though I tend to think that it could be a case of both explanations being true: a feast originally more limited in scope later repurposed in response to a particular need.

Commemoration of All Souls

 All Souls was originally a Benedictine (Cluniac) innovation, though it quickly gained popularity and spread.  

Earlier versions of the Monastic Office had the office of the Octave day, with the Office of the Dead said in addition to that.  The 1950 breviary, though, changed that to the current integration of the Office of the Dead into all hours (though some monasteries do retain the earlier practice),

You can read more about the history of the day here.

The Octave of the feast

The addition of an Octave to All Saints dates from the fifteenth century, and was abolished in 1955.  

I'm always torn between enjoying the Matins readings for octaves, while believing that the ancient Scriptural sequence should generally have precedence - so the best solution is to read them outside the office in my view!  If you don't have a copy of the Liturgical Readings volume, you can find most of them on Divinum Officium (select a pre 1955 office version).

Feasts of all Saints and All Soul's OSB

All Soul's OSB is an early twentieth century addition.

I haven't been able to track how far back All Saints of the Benedictine Order goes, but there were certainly votive offices of All Saints used in various places from at least the twelfth century, but they had a mixed fate!   There are equivalent feasts for many religious orders, and for some regions.

*Update: A reader has also alerted me to a note in The Saint Andrew Daily Missal (page 44 of the section near the end entitled "Supplement for the order of St. Benedict"), which says:

"Up to the end of the sixteenth century, there was no general feast of this name for the whole Order since the "Order of St. Benedict", in the modern sense, was unknown. In individual monasteries, as Monte Cassino, Cluny, Fontenelli, etc., a feast of all the saints proper to the monastery was observed on different dates; only by the revision of the monastic Breviary by Paul V., in 1621, a general feast of All holy Monks of the Order was instituted on the above date."

While I'm not quite convinced of the claim about the status of the 'Order' per se (it still isn't really an order in the traditional sense, but there was certainly earlier regional and papal legislation specifically directed at the 'Black Monks'), the explanation for when a general feast was instituted sounds plausible!

Ordo for 2023-24 liturgical year: now available

The Ordo for the coming liturgical year (starting from December) is now available for purchase on Lulu. in both paperback and PDF form.

Ordo for the Benedictine Office according to the '1962' books

As usual, the Ordo provides detailed instructions on the Office according to the General Calendar and Rubrics of the Benedictine Confederation, which I have, in the past, shorthanded as 1962.

But to be technically correct, they should perhaps be referred to as those of 1960, when they were approved  - or perhaps 1961, since they came into effect on 1 January 1961 (and later also published in the Monastic Breviary of 1963)!

The Monastic Calendar is broadly aligned to that of the 1962 Roman, but there are differences in both the feasts included, and the rubrics.

Contents of the Ordo

The core of the Ordo is a detailed guide to the seasons, days and feasts of the monastic Office as set out in the Monastic Diurnal published by St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough, with cross-references to the Antiphonale Monasticum for those who wish to chant the Office (or follow podcasts of monasteries such as le Barroux). 

This year the Ordo also contains some quick reference guides to pages in the Diurnal for the day hours for reference purposes.

A new feature of this years Ordo is the inclusion of references to the Nocturnale Monasticum published by Le Barroux earlier this year.

Although the Ordo is primarily based around the General Calendar and rubrics for the Benedictine Confederation (with modifications permitted by more recent decrees such as Cum Sanctissima), the Ordo also contains cross-references to:

• the 1962 Roman Extraordinary Form calendar of 1962 (where this differs to the Benedictine);
• feasts specific to some monasteries and congregations, including the newer feasts of the 1975 Benedictine Congregation calendar;
• pre-1962 practices revived by some monasteries, such as I Vespers for Saturday of Our Lady and Class II feasts, with rubrical notes to aid those following these;
• older feasts, octaves and days removed from the 1960 calendar but revived by some monasteries;
• selected feasts of saints canonised (or in the case of Benedictines, beatified) since 1962 for whom optional Class III feasts can be said; and
• updated national calendars for the USA, Canada, England, Wales, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand.

The liturgical calendar online

I have also made a liturgical calendar for the Benedictine Office according to the 1960 calendar with brief notes on the day hours, including the key page references for the Monastic Diurnal,  available on the blog via the 'pages' widget at the top of the blog.

The version on the blog though, is the barebones version - if you want more detailed instructions on how to say the Office on feasts and special days, or notes on where Le Barroux, Gower and others follow alternative rubrics, you will need to consult the full Ordo!

November 2023

This post provides summary notes on the Ordo for November for the Benedictine Office according to the rubrics and calendar approved in 1960 (and published in the Monastic Breviary of 1963).  

Page references are to the St Michael's Abbey (Farnborough) editions of the Monastic Diurnal (MD) and Antiphonale Monasticum (AM) of 1934.

Note that you can also access these notes from the pages menu on the blog, or from this link.

The Ordo for the coming liturgical year will be available in the next few days.....more soon.

 

NOVEMBER 2023

Wednesday 1 November – All Saints, Class I [Previously: with a Common Octave] 

MD [331]/AM 1102 ff with festal psalms. 

Thursday 2 November – All Souls, Class I 

MD [337]/AM 1108 ff. 

Friday 3 November – Class IV 

All as in the psalter for throughout the year with collect, MD 481*/AM 614. 

Saturday 4 November – Class IV; Saturday of Our Lady; St Charles Borromeo, Memorial [EF: Class III] 

For the commemoration, MD [344-5]/AM 1112; 1 Vespers of the first Sunday in November: Magnificat antiphon, MD 459*/AM 590; collect of the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost, MD 482*/AM 615. 

Sunday 5 November – Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost/First Sunday of November, Class II

 MD 482*/AM 615.  

Monday 6 November – Class IV 

All as in the psalter for throughout the year with collect, MD 482*/AM 615; Matins. 

Tuesday 7 November – Class IV [Benedictine Confederation: St. Willibrord, Optional Memorial] 

Wednesday 8 November – Class IV; The Four Crowned Martyrs, Memorial [Previously: Octave Day of All Saints]

For the commemoration at Lauds, MD [345]/AM 1113. 

Thursday 9 November – Dedication of the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour (St John Lateran), Class II 

MD (114)/AM 697 ff. 

Friday 10 November – Class IV; St Theodore, Memorial [EF: St Andrew Avellino, Class III] 

For the commemoration at Lauds, MD [346]/AM 1113. 

Saturday 11 November – St Martin of Tours, Class II [EF: Class III] 

MD [346]/AM 1115 ff; 2 Vespers of St Martin, MD [352]/AM 1118 with a commemoration of the Third Sunday of November/ Fifth remaining after Epiphany, Magnificat antiphon and versicle, MD 460*/AM 591, collect, MD 485*/AM 617. 

Sunday 12 November – Fifth Sunday Remaining after Epiphany/Third Sunday of November, Class II

 MD 485*/AM 309. 

Monday 13 November – All Saints of the Benedictine Order, Class II [EF: St Didacus, Class III; USA: St Frances Xavier Cabrini, Class III] 

MD [353]/AM 1121 ff with festal psalms of Sunday. 

Tuesday 14 November – All Souls of the Benedictine Order, Class II [EF: St Josaphat, Class III] 

MD [360]/AM 1126/ SupAnt 153-4. 

Wednesday 15 November – Class IV; St Albert the Great, Memorial [EF: Class III] 

For the commemoration at Lauds, MD [362-3]/AM 1127. 

Thursday 16 November – Class IV [EF: St Gertrude, Class III] 

Friday 17 November – St Gertrude, Class II (monasteries of nuns)/III [EF: St Gregory Thaumaturgis, Class III]

 MD [363]/AM 1130 ff. 

Saturday 18 November – Dedication of the Basilicas of SS Peter and Paul, Class III 

MD (114)/AM 697 ff; 1 Vespers of the Fourth Sunday of November: Magnificat antiphon, MD 460*/AM 592; Collect of the Sixth Sunday remaining after Epiphany, MD 486*/AM 617. 

Sunday 19 November – Sixth Sunday Remaining after Epiphany/Fourth Sunday of November, Class II

 MD 486*/AM 617. 

Monday 20 November – Class IV [**In some places: St Edmund; EF: St Felix of Valois, Class III] 

All as in the psalter for throughout the year with collect, MD 486*/AM 617; Matins readings of the fourth week of November. 

Tuesday 21 November – Presentation of the BVM, Class III; St Columba, Memorial 

MD [371]/AM 1138 ff. 

Wednesday 22 November – St Caecilia, Class III 

MD [373]/AM 1140 ff. 

Thursday 23 November – St Clement, Class III; St Felicitas, Memorial 

MD [377]/AM 1145 ff. 

Friday 24 November – Class IV; SS John of the Cross and Chrysogonus, Memorials [EF: St John of the Cross, Class III; OF/Optional Class III: SS Andrew Dung-Lac and the Vietnamese Martyrs] 

For the commemorations at Lauds, MD [382-3]/AM 1148-9. 

Saturday 25 November – Class IV; Saturday of Our Lady; St Catherine of Alexandria, Memorial [EF: Class III] 

For the commemoration at Lauds, MD [383-4]/AM 1149; 1 Vespers of the Fifth Sunday of November: Magnificat antiphon, MD 461*/AM 592; collect of the last Sunday after Pentecost, MD 487*/AM 617-8. 

Sunday 26 November – Twenty-six and last Sunday after Pentecost/ Fifth Sunday of November, Class II

 MD 487*/AM 617-8. 

Monday 27 November – Class IV [Gower: Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Memorial] 

All as in the psalter for throughout the year with collect, MD 487*/AM 618; Matins readings of the fifth week of November. 

Tuesday 28 November – Class IV 

Wednesday 29 November – Class IV; St Saturninus, Memorial [In some places: Vigil of St Andrew] 

For the commemoration at Lauds, MD [385]/AM 753. 

Thursday 30 November – St Andrew, Class II 

MD [2]/AM 755 ff. 

Book review: Latin Prayer by David Birch

 This is a very belated review, for which my deepest apologies, of a book I flagged well over a year ago, but which I think will be of interest to many readers.

David Birch, Latin Prayer Aspects of Language and Catholic Spirituality, Rivo Torto@Drouin: Pax et Bonum, 2022. $US 27.95 (paperback); also available on kindle.

Latin, private devotion and the liturgy

There is a growing genre of books that focus on the reasons for retaining both Latin, rather than using the vernacular, and the traditional forms of the liturgy, in the face of the antipathy to the tradition that led to the revolution in worship post-Vatican II, and is currently in high favour.

This book though, tackles the problem from a rather different perspective, namely the Latin language's importance in conveying the truths of the faith; its deep integration into the spiritual infrastructure of the Western Church; and its importance to the very nature of prayer in the Catholic tradition.

Although it draws on numerous liturgical texts, including the office hymns, psalms and more, its primary focus is actually the relevance of Latin to public and private devotional prayer.

It is also almost unique in that rather than being polemical in character, it is clearly both the product of lectio divina, and a potential source for it.

The book provides a rich source of liturgical, devotional and other material to meditate on from all ages of the Church's history, and is surely meant to be read slowly; savoured and pondered, rather than read right through quickly in one go.  

The problem of translation

A key focus of the book is the problems associated with trying to translate theologically dense concepts from Latin into English. 

For most of the Church's history, prayers, litanies, theological formulas were normally composed in Latin: capturing all of the nuances of them in a single English translation is virtually impossible.  

Early on the text, the book points out that most the translations in Missals and other sources do not even attempt to convey the underlying grammatical structures of the original, but rather focus on trying to convey the meaning in terms a person speaking today would understand. 

This leads to two key threads running through the book. 

Layers of meaning

First, Dr Birch, a retired academic linguist, provides a lot of explanation of the differences between the way the two languages work, and the alternative possible translations of many Latin prayers that should ideally co-exist in our minds as we read or pray them.  

There are of course quite a number of books that explore similar ground for students of Latin, but rather fewer that do so in an ecclesiastical context, or in such a systematic way. 

As such, the book will be extremely helpful for those with a knowledge of Latin but who want to gain a greater depth of understanding of it, as well as for those with little or Latin but who want to understand the way the language works in the context of the liturgy. 

And on this topic the book is also a very useful bibliography for liturgical Latin, which includes links where texts are available online.

The book will also, I think, hopefully serve to inspire those with no Latin to actually learn the language.

Retention of Latin as a liturgical and theological language

The second thread running through the book, though, is a plea, based on these issues, to retain Latin as the language of the church (regardless of the form of the Mass) since without it, the tradition is all too easily distorted.  

The book avoids entering into judgments on the reasons for the anti-Latin push, but the cynics amongst us (and that means pretty much all traditionalists these days) would say that that is precisely why so many church leaders today are intent on eradicating the use of Latin even in the Novus Ordo Mass. 

 How, after all, can one possibly justify so many novel propositions if people are constantly assailed with traces of the tradition!

The spiritual infrastructure of the church

The second, and perhaps equally important theme of the book is that the liturgy - in the form of the Mass, Office and sacraments - does not exist in isolation from either public devotional or private prayer, rather it is part of a much broader spiritual infrastructure that also needs to be preserved.

Litanies and other prayers, the book argues, provide important distillations of theological truths that both build on and support our understanding of the liturgy and faith more generally, and we need to pay deep attention to them.

Prayer and 'grammar'

The third key theme, and perhaps the most difficult for the non-linguist (such as myself!) to grasp, is on the nature of prayer, where Dr Birch categorizes types of prayer not by their purpose (thanksgiving, intercession, etc), but by linguistic, functional categories.

The terminology used - nominative prayer, vocative prayer, sociative prayer and so forth - though sometimes requiring some effort to grasp, need not necessarily be a barrier, since they are all carefully explained.  

And there certainly is some value, I think, to be gained from thinking about analysing prayer from a linguistic perspective, though these categories wouldn't be my ultimate choice for regular use.

Competing approaches to exegesis and contemplation

That said, the book's emphasis on grammar and textual analysis as a way to prayer and contemplation (albeit not with these particular grammatical categories) is not entirely novel: as the book points out, an emphasis on the tools of the linguist to draw out meaning has a long genealogy in the Church, going back to influential writers such as Origen amongst others.

But it has to be said that the emphasis on grammatical analysis, even if only as a starting point for exegesis, has long been the subject of considerable debate, with the pendulum swinging back and forth, both within the Benedictine Order and more widely in the Church. 

St Benedict's contemporary Cassiodorus, for example, sought desperately to preserve the Classical grammatical  tradition in his Monastery of the Vivarium, but St Gregory the Great was directly critical of his approach, instead lauding St Benedict's rejection of the liberal arts, and proclaiming that the Bible was superior to the rules and analytical methods of the grammarians.

My own perspective is that while this type of analysis can certainly provide a useful starting point, it shouldn't be an end-point - and personally I see more gain from the study of typological and other allegorical approaches to meaning in Scripture and liturgy than deep grammar. But that is just my own personal preference!

Moreover, the book provides a rich selection of hymns, litanies, prayers, Magisterial documents, Scriptural and other liturgical texts that will be useful fodder for lectio divina, and the dimensions of them drawn out in the text will certainly repay the reader's effort.

It is worth noting too, that the royalties from the book go to Colebrook (Notre Dame) Priory, a traditional Benedictine foundation in Australia.

Coming soon: Ordo for the liturgical year 2023-4

I've been receiving a few inquiries on the Ordo for the coming year; fear not, it is coming!

I expect to send it to the printer for a proof copy later this week, so should be on track for release in early November.

In the interim, I have put the draft Ordo for December up on the pages accessible from the top bar of the blog so that you can see what it will look like - please do let me know if you find any errors!