Guide to the appendices in the Brignoles breviary

I've now received my lovely new reprint of the 1963 breviary from Editions Pax inter spinas (Monastery of St Benedict at Brignoles), and it is wonderful to have the breviary finally back in print, packed with lots of bonus extras, and in a very nice edition at that!

As I've previously provided a guide to the contents of the 1963 breviary (ie the reprint section), I thought it might be useful now to highlight the contents of the new material included in its two volumes, which take the form of two appendices in each volume, essentially providing extracts from the 1953 breviary.

Overview of the supplement

The appendices are placed at the end of each volume of the book, starting at page 375* in Volume 1, and 348* in Volume II (the one you should be using currently).

The key contents are:

• the traditional prayers said before and after the Office (Aperi Domine, and Sacrosanctae), pg 375* in vol I, 348* in Vol II;
• additions to the Ordinary, essentially capturing changes made to it in the 1963 breviary, starting at pg 376* in Vol I, and pg 349* in Vol II;
• the propers of time, starting at pg 383* in Vol I, and pg 356* in Vol II; and 
• propers for feasts, starting from pg 426* in Vol I, and pg 386* in Vol II.

The Ordinary

The section on the Ordinary essentially covers the differences between the 1963 and all earlier breviaries, and they basically fall into a couple of different categories: some verses of psalms and canticles removed from the psalter in 1963 for no good reason in my view; some changes made in the name of 'simplification' that many traditional monasteries have restored; and other sections removed in 1963.

First, as those who follow my blogs know, I'm generally an advocate of sticking to the 1963 rubrics.  There are however a few key exceptions that I would urge you to consider, in particular:

• in the 1963 breviary, Psalm 13 (said at Prime on Thursday) had several verses verses removed from it, for reasons I've explained here.  The supplement gives you the full version;
• even more egregious in my view, is the utter butchering of the Saturday ferial canticle.  Again, the supplement gives you the full version.

I would note that the 1963 breviary also changed the divisio points in some psalms, but its easy enough to mark these in your psalter: if you want to read up on what they are and my speculations on why they were done, have a  look at my posts on Psallam Domino blog on 1962isms!

The second category of changes included in the supplement were made in the name of simplification, but are largely (though not universally) ignored by the traditional monasteries these days, partly because they add some richness to the Office, and partly for purely practical reasons, since they are included in the Antiphonale which most monks and nuns sing from, viz:

• seasonal doxologies for hymns; 
• the ferial chapter for Prime; and 
• 1 Vespers of the Office of Our Lady.

The third category is, I suspect things that were deemed to be unnecessary accretions to the Office, and to be honest, I tend to agree with that judgment, but everyone can make their own judgment.  These include the Preces at Prime and Compline (mostly consisting of the Creed, and still used by some monasteries), and Patristic readings for (mostly abolished) Vigils of Apostles (a Romanisation of the Monastic Office added post-Trent). 

The temporale 

This section includes the texts for things like the Octaves of Epiphany, Corpus Christi and Ascension.  There has been some support from Rome in times past (albeit informally, the form of the Vatican Ordo) for the restoration of the Corpus Christi Octave at least, and Epiphany is one of the earliest in the calendar, so worth having a look through.  

That said, my view of Octaves in general is that wherever possible the normal Scriptural reading cycle should have priority over purely patristic readings (however interesting they may be!).

Feasts of saints

The supplement starts from the 1953 breviary, the last printed before 1963, and this means it:

• picks up several feasts omitted from, or whose rubrics or texts changed significantly from the 1930 breviary.  This means that it aligns with the 1934 Antiphonale; and
• includes the one reading or several readings where feasts were downgraded to Class III or memorials in 1963; and
• provides the texts for feasts and octaves removed from the calendar in 1963.

The decree Cum Sanctissima provides a mandate for celebrating such feasts as Class III as desired.  If you want to go further on a devotional basis, these books give you the tools to do so!

Happy praying!