tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-161859105609206022024-03-18T14:30:33.921+11:00Saints Will AriseFocusing on the Traditional Benedictine Office in accordance with the 1963 Benedictine calendar and rubrics, including the Farnborough edition of the Monastic Diurnal.Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.comBlogger928125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-61139231815695852842024-03-18T14:11:00.003+11:002024-03-18T14:12:09.524+11:00The Office in Passiontide<div><p>Just a reminder that from Sunday, we are now in the season of Passiontide.</p><p>That means that the 'Ordinary' (antiphons, chapters, versicles, responsories, hymns and so forth) are of the season of Passiontide, not Lent, while the canticle antiphons and collects are of the day of Passiontide.</p><p>One of the most distinctive aspects of the season is the omission of the doxologies in the responsories, and for the invitatory at Matins.Where the Passiontide day is displaced by a feast (such as St Joseph on March 19, and St Benedict, on March 21), a commemoration of the Passiontide day is made at Lauds and Vespers, by saying the canticle antiphon of the Passiontide day and hour, versicle (of the season) and collect of the day and hour immediately after the collect of the feast.</p><p>The hymn below is sung at Matins and Vespers each day.</p></div><div><br /></div><div>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://youtube.com/embed/nZZ-V_Kj8jU?si=b35NZa4o-7TCb_Nx" width="480"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="background-color: white; border: 1pt solid windowtext; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; padding: 1pt 4pt;"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">The Office during Passiontide<o:p></o:p></span></b></p></div><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: none; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; width: 944.453px;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 930.078px;" valign="top" width="100%"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">Passiontide (the period up to and including Wednesday in Holy Week) has its own ‘Ordinary’ which can be found in the 'of time' section of an office book.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">At Matins, the Ordinary can be found at NM 278-9:</span></p><ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0in 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px 2.5em;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">The invitatory antiphon each day is for the season (<i>Hodie si vocem Domini audieritis</i>), and is said without the doxology;<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">The hymn is for the season and is the same each day (<i>Pange lingua</i>);<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">The readings during the week are usually patristic sermons, relating to the Gospel of the Mass set for that day;<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">The responsories omit the doxology, instead simply repeating the response; and<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">The chapter verse for Nocturn II is for the season (Jer 11:18-19).<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">The Ordinary for the day hours can be found at MD 240* ff.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">At Prime to None:</span></p><ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0in 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px 2.5em;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">The antiphons, chapters and versicles are of the season of Passiontide, and can be found in the psalter section; and<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">The collect for Terce to None is the same as for Lauds of that day.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">At Lauds and Vespers:</span></p><ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0in 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px 2.5em;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">Chapters, hymns, responsories and versicles of the season replace those in the psalter section;<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">The responsories (but not the psalms) omit the <i>Gloria Patri,</i> instead repeating the opening verse;<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">The canticle antiphons are proper for each day. They generally reflect the (EF) Gospel for the day; and<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="font-size: 9pt;">There is a specific collect for both Lauds and Vespers each day.</span></li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table></div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-72812604055207035722024-02-14T08:00:00.000+11:002024-02-14T08:00:07.807+11:00On the observance of Lent<p> Today is Ash Wednesday, and traditionally in monasteries, Chapter 49 of the Benedictine Rule, dealing with the observance of Lent is read, so here it is:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">The life of a monk ought always to be a Lenten observance. However, since such virtue is that of few, we advise that during these days of Lent he guard his life with all purity and at the same time wash away during these holy days all the shortcomings of other times. This will then be worthily done, if we restrain ourselves from all vices. Let us devote ourselves to tearful prayers, to reading and compunction of heart, and to abstinence.</span></blockquote><br style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">During these days, therefore, let us add something to the usual amount of our service, special prayers, abstinence from food and drink, that each one offer to God "with the joy of the Holy Ghost" (1 Thes 1:6), of his own accord, something above his prescribed measure; namely, let him withdraw from his body somewhat of food, drink, sleep, speech, merriment, and with the gladness of spiritual desire await holy Easter.</span></blockquote><br style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Let each one, however, make known to his Abbot what he offereth and let it be done with his approval and blessing; because what is done without permission of the spiritual father will be imputed to presumption and vain glory, and not to merit. Therefore, let all be done with the approval of the Abbot.</span></blockquote><div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">A few other chapters of the Rule also touch on Lent, covering fasting and additional sacred reading.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">St Benedict's contemporary Caesarius of Arles gave a sermon (196) directed at the laity that echoes many of the same themes, so is well worth a read:</div><br style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Caesarius of Arles' Sermon 196, directed at the laity, provides a useful perspective on the practice of Lent in this period:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">My dear brothers and sisters, the season of Lent draws near through God’s mercy. And so I ask you, beloved, that with God’s help we may celebrate these days, which are healthful for the body and medicinal for the soul, in such a holy and spiritual way that our observance of this holy Lent may bring us not to judgement but to perfection. If we act negligently, if we become involved in too many activities, if we do not wish to be chaste, <b>if we do not participate in fasting, vigils, and prayer, if we do not read or listen to others reading the holy Scriptures,</b> then what should have been our medicine is turned into our wounds; what should have been our remedy becomes our judgement.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">And so I ask you, my brothers and sisters, to rise up at an early hour for the vigils; gather especially for Terce, Sext, and None. May none remove themselves from this holy work unless sickness, public need, or what is clearly a great necessity occupy them. Nor is it enough that you hear the holy readings only in church; read them at home or have them read by others and gladly listen to them. Recall, my brothers and sisters, what our Lord said, “What will it profit them if they gain the whole world but give up their life?” Especially remember and constantly fear what is written: “The world’s burdens have made them miserable.” And so when at home act in such a way that you do not neglect your soul. Should you be incapable of more, at least try to labour as much for your soul as you do for your body.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, it is by fasting, reading, and prayer that we during these days of Lent should <b>store up food for our souls as if for the whole year.</b> For although you frequently and faithfully hear with God’s help the holy lessons throughout the whole year, during these days we should rest from the waters and waves of this world and have recourse to the port of Lent. Silently and quietly we should receive the holy readings into the receptacle of our hearts. </blockquote>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-59889536070295280332024-01-16T15:03:00.002+11:002024-01-16T15:03:51.692+11:001963 vs 1953: To go forward or back?<p>Apologies for being slow in getting to this final part of my series on the 1953 vs 1963 breviaries, but here it is. In the last several posts I've pointed out some of the differences between the 1953 and 1963 breviaries, and their relative merits.</p><p>So should we go forward, as most of the traditional monasteries are doing, and make judicious amendments to the rubrics and calendar (as would presumably have occurred in the natural course of events, had Vatican II's license to 'experiment' not intervened), or should we, as some are vigorously advocating, revert back to the 1953, or some earlier version of the breviary?</p><p><b>A monastic Office</b></p><p>The first point to make is that when it comes to the Benedictine Office, this is, in the end, a decision for monasteries to make, not laypeople.</p><p>While the monastic office is used by many Catholic laypeople, it is, strictly speaking, the form of liturgy approved for the use of member monasteries of the Benedictine Confederation.</p><p>Its use by priest oblates was approved in 1948, and, following the publication of successive editions of the Monastic Diurnal from the 1950s onwards, many monasteries now encourage or permit its use by their oblates.</p><p>But the 'default' form of the Office for laypeople is the Roman Office, not the Benedictine, so I think a strong case can be made for saying that lay users of the monastic office, whether oblates or not, should accept it as it is set out in the official books, or as modified by the particular monastery to which they are affiliated.</p><p>That said, the widespread promotion of the monastic office in recent years by monasteries, in the form of the Monastic Diurnal, podcasts of the Office and more, has introduced many to the Benedictine Office, and so it is inevitable that those who say it will have opinions.</p><p>And perhaps it is not altogether inconsistent with the spirit of the Rule for us, as visitors or junior members of the monastic family to offer them, without any particular expectation for how they will be necessarily be accepted.</p><p><b>Monastic considerations vs the secular</b></p><p>A second key point to note is that, in my view at least, the underlying logic of the Roman and Benedictine Offices are fundamentally different.</p><p>While it is true that from Trent onwards, the Benedictine Office has largely (been forced to) follow the Roman, this is an aberration, not the norm.</p><p>While the two forms of the Office has long interacted and influenced each other, for most of monastic history the two forms have not followed the same rubrics or calendar.</p><p>In particular, the Rule has always served as an important reference point for the Benedictine Office, and that has generally been interpreted to mean prioritising the ferial psalm cursus set out in the Rule over the (probably Roman in origin) festal psalms; and the Scriptural cycle over the lives of saints (other than those particular to a monastery or congregation, or location) and other feasts. </p><p>Of course, the extent to which fidelity to the Rule should take precedence over developments in the liturgy and Romanising encroachments has been hotly debated at regular intervals, but the general principle remains.</p><p><b>The deregulation of the liturgy</b></p><p>The third issue concerns the status of the 1963 breviary, and this is something on which I have changed my position.</p><p>My previous view was that as the 1963 breviary (based on the1960 calendar and rubrics) is nominally still the normative book for member monasteries of the Benedictine Confederation, we should follow its prescriptions fairly strictly, out of obedience.</p><p>In essence, the permission to develop one's own form of the Office granted to monasteries after Vatican II, as made clear by the monastic Thesaurus, was contingent on adoption of the new sanctoral calendar (hence the odd combination, in the traditional Solesmes monasteries, of the 1977 sanctoral calendar and the 1960 temporal).</p><p>The use of the liturgy, after all, is regulated by the Church for good reasons, and for Benedictines in particular, obedience is an important virtue!</p><p>However, in the last few years quite a few things have changed, and I now think its reasonable to take the view that monasteries using the 1963 breviary as their starting point have the same freedom to make changes to the rubrics that monasteries using the Novus Ordo calendar do. </p><p>My reasoning is as follows. </p><p>First, in the normal course of events, the Benedictine Confederation would surely have made further revisions to fix some of the obvious problems with the 1960 calendar and rubrics. But because control of the monastic liturgy had effectively been deregulated, leaving control over it to individual monasteries in the expectation that the 1960 books would cease to be used, that never happened.</p><p>When the Thesaurus governing the Office for monasteries was published in 1977, after all, the assumption was that monasteries would adopt the new calendar, since the 1960 calendar had been de facto suppressed. </p><p>However, a series of permissions, most particularly the decree Summorum Pontificum (2007) effectively restored the status of the 1960 calendar. </p><p>Accordingly, I think a good case can be made (particularly in the light of later decisions) that monasteries using the 1960 calendar have the same right to design or amend their own Office rubrics (such as restoring 1 Vespers for Class II feasts) as monasteries following the novus ordo calendar in combination with the monastic feasts set out in the Thesaurus (and since supplemented).</p><p>Secondly, and perhaps more fundamentally, <i>Cum Sanctissima</i> (2020) effectively unlocked the freeze on the calendar, providing a mechanism for incorporating both newer feasts into the calendar, as well as reviving older ones, at least as Class III feasts, thus granting a lot more flexibility to those starting from the 1960 calendar.</p><p>Thirdly, a series of official Ordos for the Extraordinary Form have indicated that there is some room to go further when it comes to reviving older feasts, since one mentioned at least the possibility of marking the Octave of Corpus Christi where appropriate to local conditions. And if one can revive one octave, why not others?</p><p>All of these decisions provide, I think, a basis for modifying the 1960 calendar and rubrics in ways that can address many of the concerns raised by the 'restore the 54 movement', given the canonical principle that permissions should be interpreted broadly, and the normal principles that allow for some liturgical development.</p><p><b>The case for going forward from 1960</b></p><p>But the key question remains, does the 1960 Office provide a reasonable basis for going forward, or are its changes so radical as to warrant being jettisoned altogether?</p><p>I have to say that I don't like the approach of saying we dislike those involved in the reform process, and are suspicious of their motives, and so should therefore reject everything that changed. </p><p>Instead, we should assess the changes made on their merits, in the light of experience in using them.</p><p>And my own view remains that there are many good things in the 1960 reforms that are worth retaining, and nothing so bad that it cannot be rectified by judicial modifications of the calendar and rubrics.</p><p>In particular:<br /></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I really much prefer singing the antiphons in full both before and after the psalms, rather than just the incipit (opening words) as was done previously for most hours except on major feasts;</li><li>I like the fact that the original structure of Prime as set out in the Rule was restored, with Chapter separated out;</li><li>I support the pruning that occurred of prayers before the hours, preces, suffrages and so forth noting that there is nothing stopping one from using these outside the hours; and</li><li>I think the attempt to reduce the number of grades of feasts was a move in the right direction, even if the current rules around the four main categories of feasts and days need further changes.</li></ul><div>But I'm willing to hear to hear the counter-arguments!</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>The sanctoral calendar</i></div><div><br /></div><div>When it comes to the calendar, I also support the reduction of many feasts to two Nocturns over three, as it is far more consistent with the intent of the Rule. </div><div><br /></div><div>First, the number of three nocturn feasts added to the calendar was surely driven by the Roman Office's incentive to avoid the ferial Office in favour of the shorter festal one; for Benedictines though, the incentive is reversed, with the three Nocturn Office being much much longer than the ferial office.</div><div><br /></div><div>My view, for what it is worth, is that the extra time needed to say the festal Office would be better used to sing more of Matins in chant (rather than <i>recto tono</i> as most monasteries currently do) and ideally to revive the practice of chanting the responsories. </div><div><br /></div><div>Secondly, three nocturn feasts, at least under the current rubrics, generally means abandoning the ferial psalm cursus in favour of the Commons or specific festal psalms - but the ferial psalm cursus is the element of the Office that is most distinctively Benedictine, spelt out in the Rule. </div><div><br /></div><div>For similar reasons, while the culling of octaves went a long way too far, I don't support their wholesale revival - while marking some feasts on their octave day, or through some texts or commemoration might be appropriate in some cases, pushing out the ancient Matins Scriptural cycle in favour of saints lives, papal or patristic commentaries on particular feasts for large chunks of the year seems to me to distort the original focus of the hour.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>What changes would one make to 1963 if it was up to you?</b></div><p></p><p>Most of the traditional monasteries have already made a number of changes to the 1963 breviary, for practical or other reasons, including:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>saying 1 Vespers of Class II feasts and the Office of Our Lady on Saturday;</li><li>ignoring the cuts and changes to division points in the psalms and canticles; and </li><li>restoring selected feasts.</li></ul><div>My own view, for what it is worth, is there are a couple of small further rubrical steps worth considering.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think the remaining distinction between Class I and II feasts, namely the transfer/commemoration rules, make no sense and should be abolished so that the rules for Class I feasts also apply to Class II feasts - it is ridiculous to reduce important feasts to a commemoration if they clash on a Sunday, or sometimes to omit them altogether. It may be that monasteries would still want to make some differentiations between these feasts in terms of the ceremonial they use, but that is easily managed.</div><div><br /></div><div>And if it really is necessary to have two classes of more solemn feasts, maybe the way to do it would be to retain the ferial psalter (in conjunction with the antiphons of the Common or feast) for the first two Nocturns?</div><div><br /></div><div>Secondly, where a Class III feast would otherwise have no Vespers at all (because it occurs on a Saturday or before a Class I or II feast, where 1 Vespers of the Sunday or feast has precedence) it should have 1 Vespers and/or be commemorated.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thirdly, the differentiation between Class III feasts with their own antiphons (where the festal psalms are said at Lauds and Vespers) and Class III feasts without their own antiphons (where the ferial psalms and antiphons are used at Lauds and Vespers, but antiphons of the Commons at Prime to None) seems to me an oddity. Why not use antiphons of the feast (either specific to the feast or from the Common) at all the day hours, but in conjunction with the ferial psalms?</div><div><br /></div><div>There are other small things that can be done - the seasonal hymn doxologies should be restored, and the alternative chapter for Prime for example. But these are easily done without needing a wholesale reversion to an earlier from of the Office.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Forward march!</b></div><div><br /></div><div>In conclusion, I hope you have enjoyed this series, and found something of interest in it - and I'm happy to hear other perspectives on the points I've made.</div><p></p>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-66424352683242064092024-01-07T15:19:00.003+11:002024-01-08T15:33:54.447+11:001953 vs 1963 Pt 3: The hours<p>Continuing my <a href="https://saintsshallarise.blogspot.com/2023/12/1953-vs-1963-monastic-breviary.html">series</a> on the differences between the 1953 and 1963 breviaries, I want to focus today mainly on the psalter section of the breviary.</p><p>The main changes were to separate out Prime and the chapter office; make some (unnecessary in my view) simplifications; remove some verses of Psalm 13 and the Saturday ferial canticle; make some changes to the division points in the psalms; and remove some post-Tridentine accretions to the Office.</p><p><b>Prime and the Chapter Office</b></p><p>The first change, I think, concerns the separation of the texts for Prime and Chapter, and is relatively harmless in my view. </p><p>In the Roman Office, chapter has long been, and remains, formally part of Prime. </p><p>In the monastic use, though, its position has always been somewhat different, since it was generally said not in the church, but in the chapter room of the monastery (hence the name) and not counted as one of the formal parts of the Office (since St Benedict does not mention it in the Rule).</p><p>Although the post Tridentine breviaries generally did provide a version of chapter integrated into Prime, many monasteries used their own version of it (some of which have been published in the Rituales of the various congregations). </p><p>Accordingly, as far as I can see the 1963 breviary's approach of placing Prime and the chapter office in different places in the book and explicitly noting that monasteries are free to use their own version just codifies existing practice (though it is unfortunate that the monastic Diurnal didn't include the chapter office in full).</p><p><b>Silly simplifications</b></p><p>There are, I have to say, some changes made presumably in the name of 'simplification' that I think are just silly, and can and should easily be restored, namely the abolition of hymn doxologies for the seasons and feasts, and abolition of the ferial Prime short chapter (Love truth and peace, says the Lord) in favour of using the Sunday version (Regi saeculorum) all the time.</p><p><b>Changes to the psalter</b></p><p>One of the least desirable changes between 1953 and 1953, though, in my view, concerns the psalter.</p><p>On the face of it changing the division points for Psalms 9 and 106, ostensibly to make them align with the Hebrew Masoretic Text version of these psalms, sounds relatively innocuous. But I think there is more to it than that, and I've written previously on why I don't like these changes:<a href="https://psallamdomino.blogspot.com/2014/01/introduction-to-psalm-9-part-1.html">Psalm 9 pt 1</a>; <a href="https://psallamdomino.blogspot.com/2014/01/psalm-9-pt-2.html">Psalm 9</a> (pt 2); and <a href="https://psallamdomino.blogspot.com/2016/09/psalm-106-and-1962isms.html">Psalm 106</a>.</p><p>Similarly a number of verses - admittedly almost certainly not an authentic part of the psalm, but included in the Vulgate translations and so treated as such in the West for centuries - were removed from <a href="https://psallamdomino.blogspot.com/2016/07/psalm-13-prime-no-2-thursday-short.html">Psalm 13.</a></p><p>But by far the biggest and most fundamental change was to cut out around half of the <a href="https://psallamdomino.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-canticle-for-sabbath-that-god.html">Saturday ferial canticle</a>, almost certainly because it offends modern sensibilities with its condemnations of sodomy and other immoral behaviours. </p><p><b>Prayer pruning</b></p><p>The final group of changes, and one I'm in favour of, essentially shorten the Office by removing assorted prayers that have been added to it at various points in time.</p><p>As I've noted before, the fact that the Benedictine Rule spells out the components of each hour and the order in which they are said has long served as an anchor point for this particular form of the Office. St Benedict, moreover, clearly favoured keeping the hours (relatively) short.</p><p>It is human nature, though, to keep adding things to the hours - thus the periodic need to prune.</p><p><i>Preparation for the hours</i></p><p>In terms of unnecessary accretions, my personal view is that the previous requirement to say the Creed (before Matins) and/or Our Father and Hail Mary before (or as an extra part of ) each hour is at the top of the list, particularly given the Our Father is included in each hour of the Benedictine office (though not the Roman) anyway.</p><p>We do of course need to put ourselves in the right frame of mind before starting an hour (such as the prayer <i>Aperi Domine</i>, that appears in many breviaries), but there is surely no need to regulate this.</p><p><i>Deus in adjutorium at Matins</i></p><p>Similarly, starting the Night Office with <i>Deus in adjutorium</i> is a Romanism imported into the Benedictine Office that in my view makes no sense, and so was rightly removed.</p><p>St Benedict, after all, is clear that the first words the monk says each day, ending the great silence of the night, should be O Lord open my lips, that I may announce your praise.</p><p><i>Suffrage of All Saints/Commemoration of the Cross at Lauds and Vespers</i></p><p>One of the things that has regularly been added to the Office at various points is explicit intercessions for assorted causes, or requests for assistance to particular saints (including St Benedict in the pre 1911 monastic breviaries).</p><p>The suffrages formerly said at Lauds and Vespers are one example of this, with suffrages added in the Tridentine reforms of 1563 gradually increasing in number, but then replaced by two suffrages, of All Saints and the Cross (depending on the season), in the 1911 Pius X reforms.</p><p>These (in their twentieth century versions) consisted of an antiphon, versicle and collect, so look like a commemoration, and like commemorations, they were said after the collect of the day, generally on days that were not feasts. </p><p>The two new suffrage (of All Saints) apparently did not get positive reviews at the time of its introduction though its not obvious at first glance why - both of the 1911 suffrages are nice prayers of medieval origin that were often included in books of hours. </p><p>But I don't personally have a problem with trimming them out of the office proper.</p><p><i>Marion antiphon after Lauds and Vespers</i></p><p>Lauds and Vespers also added the Marian antiphons to the end of the hours. The 1960 revisions retained it for Compline only.</p><p><i>The preces at Prime and Compline</i></p><p>On ferial days, Prime and Compline previously had a set of additional prayers inserted into it, namely the Creed (that makes three times!), an extra Confiteor (confession and absolution formulas) at Prime, and a versicle.</p><p>Given that the Confiteor is said in the daily conventual Mass (as well as any private masses), I can see why this was thought to be an unnecessary duplication.</p><p><b>Working forward or reverting back?</b></p><p>In this quick comparison between of the 1953 and 1963 monastic breviaries, the issue I've touched only lightly on concerns the rubrics, particularly when clashes of feasts occur.</p><p>It is, I think, an important topic, so I will cover it briefly in my next and last post on this series, where I will look again at the question of whether it is better to start from the 1963 breviary, and make some amendments to its rubrics and calendar (as most of the traditional monasteries are doing), or revert back altogether to some earlier date.</p><p><br /></p>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-43669182795930292612024-01-03T17:44:00.005+11:002024-01-07T15:24:58.377+11:001953 vs 1963 breviary comparions Pt 2 - the temporal cycleAs I mentioned in a previous post, through Advent I used a 1953 breviary, adapting it to the 1960 rubrics - a task made easier I should note by the inclusion in the volume I bought, of a 1960 supplement, coupled with a few pencil deletions done by a previous owner of the books!<div><br /></div><div>I've previously posted on the differences to the sanctoral cycle; so today I thought I'd continue on, and take a look at the differences to Advent itself.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Advent and Christmas</b></div><div><br /></div><div><div>When it comes to Advent, the readings and texts in the Benedictine Office (in contrast to the Roman) have not, as far as I can see, changed over the course of the twentieth century.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are only two differences that I could see.</div><div><br /></div><div>The first is to extend the use of the special antiphons for the day hours between December 17 and 23 to Vespers in 1960, a change I quite like - it seems odd to me (no matter how traditional it might be) to use a set of special antiphons at Lauds to None then revert to the throughout the year set at Vespers on Class II days.</div><div><br /></div><div>The second is that under the previous rubrics, the set of special antiphons not used on December 21 because of the feast of St Thomas were used on Saturday. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the 1960 office a specific set of antiphons for Saturday are included, so one day's worth of antiphons are not used each year. The Saturday antiphons are not new inventions however, but rather apparently a relic of Solesmes' own in-house practice, the change brought the Benedictine office into line with practice in the Roman Office following the 1911 reforms.</div><div><br /></div><div>I assume the main argument for these changes was simplicity, and there is something to be said for that - juggling the multiple moving parts during these days is hard enough as it is.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>The temporal cycle</b></div><div><br /></div><div>In Advent, then, there are a few minor differences of no great consequence (indeed arguably even improvements). </div><div><br /></div><div>And indeed, for most of the year, there are no differences at all in the temporal cycle between the two editions of the monastic breviary.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Epiphanytide</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Even during the former octaves of the temporale cycle, for example, one of the worst of the wreckovations in my view, the key texts (such as for the Gospels for the relevant Sunday within the Octave) have been retained, with many of the Office texts have been transformed into the 'Ordinary' of the season.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the former Octave of the Epiphany, for example, the canticle antiphons of the octave are retained, except where another feast or a Saturday of Our Lady intervenes. </div><div><br /></div><div>What a shame, though, that they didn't just make these days Class III, and thus allow us to enjoy a full de facto octave every year. That said, I suspect the provisions of <i>Cum sanctissima</i> arguably would now authorise this approach.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Holy Week</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Apart from January, the other contender for worst wreckovation, as a commenter on another post has noted, is Holy Week.</div><div><br /></div><div>And when it comes to the Mass and other ceremonies outside the Office, that's certainly true (though mitigated for many these days by the permissions to use the earlier version of Holy Week)..</div><div><br /></div><div>When it comes to the Office there are, it has to be said, the admittedly peculiar instructions to omit certain Offices if one attends some of the main ceremonies.</div><div><br /></div><div>But there is surely nothing stopping one from saying these hours if one wishes - outside a monastery these are rarely said publicly in any case, and in a monastery they are mostly all said regardless of the rubrics as far as I can gather!</div><div><br /></div><div>When it comes to the texts of the Office itself, though, there has been much less tinkering - it is perfectly possible to use the 1928 Triduum book for the office for example (I've done it) - the main difference being a few additional repetitions of Psalm 50 and the times at which certain hours are (supposed to be) said.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The structure of the Office</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The case for 'restoring the 54', then, as far as I can see - though it may well be that I've missed something - does not rest on the temporal cycle (octaves aside), at least in the case of the Benedictine office, but rather on the sanctoral and perhaps other features of the breviaries.</div><div><br /></div><div>I plan to look at the extra prayers and other changes to the hours themselves in the next post in this series.</div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-2937968313410401372024-01-01T18:57:00.004+11:002024-01-04T15:17:56.707+11:00Happy New year...and welcome to the most liturgically wreckovated time of the year!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/XV14_-_Roma%2C_Museo_civilt%C3%A0_romana_-_Adorazione_dei_Magi_-_sec_III_dC_-_Foto_Giovanni_Dall'Orto_12-Apr-2008.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="800" height="262" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/XV14_-_Roma%2C_Museo_civilt%C3%A0_romana_-_Adorazione_dei_Magi_-_sec_III_dC_-_Foto_Giovanni_Dall'Orto_12-Apr-2008.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adoration of the Magi - Roman catacombs c3rd<br />Source: Giovanni Dall'Orto, Wiki commons</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>For most of the year, I don't have major problems with most of the calendar changes made in 1960 - if it was up to me (which it isn't!) there are some feasts I'd restore, but octaves aside, the changes to the calendar mostly were not too drastic (certainly not by comparison with those made in 1970, when whole seasons were excised).</p><p>But the period January 2 to January 13, is, I have to admit, something of a disaster zone liturgically.</p><p>Let's take a look at the key issues.</p><p><b>January 2 - 4</b></p><p>For centuries, January 2 - 4 were taken up by the Octave days of St Stephen, St John and the Holy Innocents.</p><p>In the Benedictine office, at least in its twentieth century versions, these days were, in my view, very well-designed so as to provide a reminder of the feast without disrupting the Benedictine psalm cursus and reading cycle. </p><p>The psalms of the day were used at all hours, with the antiphons of the feast at Prime to None. There were only two Nocturns at Matins, with two readings from Romans, and third Patristic reading for the Octave.</p><p>I've posted both versions of matins for these days over at <a href="https://benedict-iana.blogspot.com/2019/12/january-2.html">Lectio Divina Notes blog</a> for those interested in seeing the differences between the two versions, but on the face of it, I find it hard to see what the rationale for abolishing these very ancient octaves really was. </p><p><b>Most Holy Name of Jesus (January 2 or the first Sunday of January)</b></p><p>I'm rather less concerned about the abolition, in the Benedictine (but not the Roman) 1960 calendar, of the feast of the <a href="https://saintsshallarise.blogspot.com/2011/01/jan-2-once-wasfeast-of-holy-name-of.html">Holy Name</a> on January 2. </p><p>Its move to that date in the twentieth century is something of an oddity in my view, since the Gospel is identical to that for January 1, and it cuts across the ancient octave days. </p><p>A better solution than outright abolition, though, would surely have been to move it to an alternative date, or just use it when there is a second Sunday after the Nativity.</p><p><b>Vigil of the Epiphany (January 5)</b></p><p>The Vigil of the Epiphany used to be one of the four especially privileged Vigils to mark the four major feasts of the year. </p><p>Its abolition, I suppose parallels the downgrading of Epiphany itself, but it was actually restored in 2002 (where the feast is not moved to the relevant Sunday!), so there is a strong case for arguing that it is legitimate to restore it also to the 1960 calendars.</p><p>You can find a useful discussion of its celebration <a href="https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2017/01/liturgical-notes-for-vigil-of-epiphany.html">here.</a></p><p><b>The feast of the Epiphany and the thirteen days of Christmas?</b></p><p>By far the most bizarre changes, of course, occur in the Novus Ordo calendar in places (such as here in Australia) where Epiphany is celebrated where this year we have not the on January 6, thus marking the end of the twelve days of Christmas, but this year, on January 7, giving us thirteen days of Christmas!</p><p>Actually though, it seems some places did have a tradition of thirteen days of Christmas, so maybe this year's outcome is not as odd as some year's!<br /></p><p>Less explicable though, is that for reasons I don't understand, the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord is not on the octave day of Epiphany (January 13), but on January 8.</p><p>As <a href="https://saintsshallarise.blogspot.com/2018/01/epiphany-sunday-and-other-liturgical.html">I've written before</a>, the number of days around these various feasts are not meant to be random, but have a deep symbolic meaning. Why try so hard to remove this?</p><p><b>Octave of the Epiphany</b></p><p>Last, but far from least, the abolition of the <a href="https://saintsshallarise.blogspot.com/2014/01/not-octave-of-epiphany.html">octave of the Epiphany</a> is surely one of the most unwise of the 1960 reforms, since this is one of the most ancient of all octaves, already celebrated at least in the East in the fourth century.</p><p>Fortunately, at least in the day hours, all of the texts of the Octave are preserved as the 'Ordinary of Epiphanytide'.</p><p>Still, if you want to go a step further and revert to the 1953 rubrics, all you have to do is add back the psalms and antiphons of the feast at the day hours. At Matins, there are antiphons for each Nocturn for each day, which are used in conjunction with the psalms of the days of the week, as well as Patristic readings.</p><p>An alternative solution for the 1960 reformers, if the concern was to preserve the psalm and reading cycles, might have been to use the psalms of the day in conjunction with the antiphons and other texts of the feast, and make the Patristic reading the third of the day....</p>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-18113268398197997772023-12-30T16:12:00.008+11:002024-01-04T15:18:18.551+11:001953 vs 1963: Monastic breviary comparisons<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMA2WsV9kP2jLZjhCONLkkOY_D1jHuFDWy5HFrDCPEozNIBE4kvHFmw1wUpusfqzfY57hmshDXYXyXs016wRbApHaKWm2CfnPJvGG1tp4sahc9UNeS9eg9ndaQLpHQ1qvICZycv2rX7jK5LZ-R6aUaj77lwBmcPGdW8hdH0HzWe7wrkoav1ZbSs8fkv4c" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="896" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMA2WsV9kP2jLZjhCONLkkOY_D1jHuFDWy5HFrDCPEozNIBE4kvHFmw1wUpusfqzfY57hmshDXYXyXs016wRbApHaKWm2CfnPJvGG1tp4sahc9UNeS9eg9ndaQLpHQ1qvICZycv2rX7jK5LZ-R6aUaj77lwBmcPGdW8hdH0HzWe7wrkoav1ZbSs8fkv4c" width="179" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p>There is increasing interest, these days, in the use of older breviaries, at least amongst liturgical nerds and in some parts of traddy world.</p><p>Accordingly, this Advent I decided to use a 1953 (Latin only) monastic breviary as my main office book, adapting it to the 1963 calendar and rubrics, but reading the texts that differ outside the Office, so I could get a better feel for features of the older rubrics and calendar.</p><p>So herewith some reflections on the differences between the books and their respective merits, in the hope that it might spark some debate!</p><p>I plan to divide up my comments into a couple of posts, covering:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>the physical books;</li><li>the calendar differences for the sanctoral and temporal cycles;</li><li>differences the structure and content of the hours themselves (things like preces, hymn doxologies, etc).</li></ul><p></p><p><b>The books</b></p><p>So first something about the physical books.</p><p>None of the monastic breviaries are currently in print, and they are all fairly scarce and expensive to buy secondhand (although the 1930 breviary is available online).</p><p><i>Four volumes vs two</i></p><p>The 1963 breviary (and the 1930) comes in two volumes, but the 1953 edition follows the Roman by being spread over four volumes, thus increasing the cost. </p><p>The need for four volumes is presumably because of the slightly smaller size - 1953 book is two centimeters in length shorter - but I don't personally find that any more convenient than the slightly bigger book.</p><p>The type size and fonts seem to be the same.</p><p><i>Psalter placement</i></p><p>Secondly, the 1963 breviary places the psalter at the middle of the book. Personally I prefer that - it helps to prolong the book's life a bit, but also makes it easier to see where the temporale vs sanctorale are. By contrast, the 1953 follows the older structure of putting the psalter at the beginning.</p><p><i>Repeated texts</i></p><p>Perhaps the most annoying feature of the 1953 book is that, like the Diurnale, it doesn't bother repeating key fixed part of the hours such as the Prime hymn and the Benedictus and Magnificat each day - with four volumes to spread it over, it seems to me that more concession to convenience could have been made.</p><p>I guess part of the rationale is that monks will tend to know these parts by heart - and yes I do know them too, but I like having them in front of me all the same! </p><p>More importantly perhaps, breviaries were presumably mostly only used when a monk was out of the monastery, for the Matins readings (with a psalter or the Antiphonale for the psalms), and as a reference document for rubrics and planning purposes. But it is still annoying.</p><p><b>Sanctoral calendar</b></p><p>When it comes to the sanctoral calendar, the changes are in my view, a bit of a mixed bag. The changes were that:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>the feast of St Peter Chrysologus on December 2 (a fifth century bishop of Ravenna) was reduced to a commemoration in 1963 (previously the equivalent of Class III);</li><li>the feasts of St Ambrose and St Lucy are reduced from being a Class II equivalent, with three Nocturns, to Class III; </li><li>the Octave of the Immaculate Conception was abolished;</li><li>the second and third class equivalent feasts (St Lucy and St Thomas in December) no longer have a first Vespers; </li><li>the commemorations of St Melchiadus (Pope 311-313, December 10) and St Thomas (Beckett, December 20) were abolished; and</li><li>commemorations were generally previously made at both Vespers and Lauds; under the 1960 rubrics they occur at Lauds only.</li></ul><p></p><p><i>The Octave of the Immaculate Conception</i></p><p>The biggest change is clearly the abolition of the Octave of the Immaculate Conception, and in my view that was a positive step. </p><p>The effect of the Octave (introduced to the Roman office in the eighteenth century) was to displace the ancient texts of Advent, including the antiphons set for the day hours each week, and replace them with the same repeated texts each day in the day hours; and to replace the reading of Isaiah, a tradition dating back to St Benedict's time, with readings from the Papal Bull of Pius IX. </p><p>In a year when the feast of the Immaculate Conception falls on a Sunday, the antiphons wouldn't be said at all. </p><p>I really can't see a strong case for the suppression of the seasonal texts, particularly as the season already has a strong Marian flavour in its readings and the responsories.</p><p>It has been pointed out to me though, that the monks of Norcia have come up with a sensible compromise approach to this problem for those keen on octaves, namely commemorating the Octave at Lauds and Vespers but privileging the Advent days.</p><p><b>Class III vs Class II?</b></p><p>Similarly, I don't mind the reduction of St Ambrose and St Lucy to Class III feasts - Class II feasts in the Benedictine Office are not very different when it comes to the day hours, but festal Matins is very very long indeed compared to both the Class III structure (3 vs 12 readings and responsories, plus extra three canticles, Te Deum and Gospel) and the Roman Office version.</p><p>It is not obvious though, why St Peter Chrysologus was demoted, or the two commemorations abolished - they all represent quite important saints on the face of it.</p><p><b>First Vespers</b></p><p>One of the most important rubrical changes between the 1953 Office and the 1963 was the abolition of First Vespers for most feasts.</p><p>It was a mistake I think, as it means that Class III feasts regularly don't have any Vespers at all, such as when they fall on a Saturday.</p><p>Most monasteries have restored them for class II feasts, but I think there is scope to go further.</p><p>If the concern is the displacement of the ferial psalm cursus in favour of the festal, a concern I agree with in principle, the simple solution would surely be to specify the use of the ferial psalms in conjunction with the antiphons of the feast at either First and/or Second Vespers.</p><p>But anyway, more anon...</p>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-21578944761738077672023-12-26T11:30:00.000+11:002023-12-26T11:30:16.381+11:00So I got a Diurnal for Christmas - where do I start?!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Hw+0Vmk4L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="478" height="500" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Hw+0Vmk4L.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>If you've just received a Monastic Diurnal, and want to learn to pray the Office St Benedict as laid out in his Rule written around 530 AD, and used ever since by monks and nuns of his Order, welcome to the club!<p></p><p>First, though, take a deep breathe - learning to say the Office takes a bit of effort, so you need to get familiar with the book first, and learn a little bit about the structure of each of the individual 'hours' that make up the Office before trying to start to use it.</p><p><b>1. Learn the Office notes - get oriented first</b></p><p><a href="https://saintsshallarise.blogspot.com/p/the-notes-linked-to-below-are-around.html">The Learn the Office</a> page on this blog has a lot of material on it for you to choose from, but here are some suggested starting points.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>If you are completely new to the traditional (ie 1960 and earlier) forms of the Office, start with this post on <a href="https://learnbenoffice3.blogspot.com/2018/01/benedictine-office-basics.html">Benedictine Office basics.</a></li><li>To help find your way around the book itself, <a href="https://learnbenoffice3.blogspot.com/2018/01/learn-office-pt-13-finding-your-way.html">try this post.</a></li></ul><p></p><p>If you already know something about the Office, or are anxious to try to get started as quickly as possible, make sure you take a look at these key posts:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://saintsshallarise.blogspot.com/2009/04/learning-office-part-5a-diverse-part-of.html">Diurnal traps and shortcuts</a> - the diurnal assumes you know a few things; this is a guide to some of the key ones;<br /></li><li><a href="https://saintsshallarise.blogspot.com/2009/04/learning-breviary-conclusion-of-office.html">how the opening and closing prayers of the hours work</a>; and<br /></li><li>a quick look at some of the parts common to all the hours, <a href="https://saintsshallarise.blogspot.com/2009/04/learning-office-part-5b-diverse-parts.html">hymns, chapters, versicles and responsories</a>.</li></ul><p></p><p><b>2. Start slowly and build up</b></p><p>Once you have oriented yourself, then you can start looking at the notes on each of the individual hours.</p><p>You don't need to say all of the hours, and my strong advice is, start with <a href="https://learnbenoffice3.blogspot.com/2018/02/learn-office-31-compline.html">Compline</a>, as it changes the least, and the texts are pretty much all written out in full in the Diurnal. It also makes a nice prayer for the evening, before bed.</p><p>There are also several good videos on youtube of monastic Compline so you can follow along.</p><p>The next hour to add in is Prime, a good prayer to say before starting work. It will also help you get used to having a few moving parts (the antiphon and psalms of the day), before you move onto the more complex hours.</p><p>When it comes to Lauds and Vespers in particular, I'd suggest focusing on understanding how the hours work on normal days (non-feasts) first, then worry about feasts and seasons once you are confident.</p><p>As the Office is meant to be sung, another good way to get started is listen to the podcasts of Le Barroux (or others).</p><p>3. <b>Aids to learning</b></p><p>Before you get too far along, I would strongly recommend buying <a href="https://www.lulu.com/search?contributor=Katrina+Edwards&adult_audience_rating=00&page=1&pageSize=10">the Ordo</a> I put together in either PDF (ebook) or paperback.</p><p>It contains a summary of the page numbers in the Diurnal for the main parts of each of the day hours, as well as detailed instructions on the moving parts for feasts and seasons. </p><p>A short version of the Ordo can also be found on the Saints Will Arise blog, but be warned, it is only a summary version, intended for more expert users.</p><p>Secondly, you can use the <a href="https://www.divinumofficium.com/">Divinum Officium</a> monastic option as a cross-check on what you are doing - it doesn't always entirely line up with the 1960 rubrics and calendar, but it can be useful when just starting out.</p><p>Thirdly, I would recommend reading through the chapters of <a href="https://www.solesmes.com/sites/default/files/upload/pdf/rule_of_st_benedict.pdf">St Benedict's Rule</a> (8-19), and trying to match them up to the sections in the Diurnal - it will give you a feel for both the continuity with the Rule and the organic development of it that has occurred over the centuries.</p><p>You might also find <a href="https://saintsshallarise.blogspot.com/2023/11/book-review-companion-to-monastic.html">A Companion to the Monastic Breviary</a> a useful acquisition.</p>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-12470191617720604552023-12-25T00:00:00.135+11:002023-12-25T00:00:00.126+11:00Happy Christmas! Puer natus est.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Nativity_01.jpg/800px-Nativity_01.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="671" height="640" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Nativity_01.jpg/800px-Nativity_01.jpg" width="537" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Nativity depicted in an English liturgical manuscript, c. 1310–1320<br />National Library of Wales</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br />Happy Christmas!</div><div><br /></div><div>Over Advent I've been posting on the responsories.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Chant 'dialects'</b></div><div><br /></div><div>For Christmas day though, I thought it might be nice to provide a Mass proper that serves as a reminder that the versions of the chants that we are used to represent (mostly nineteenth and twentieth century) reconstructions of the style of chant of the high middle ages, namely what we call Gregorian chant.</div><div><br /></div><div>Musicologists though, tend to prefer the term Franco-Roman chant for the style that came to dominate in the middle ages, to reflect the fact that this particular 'dialect' of chant is most probably the result of the interaction of at least two different chant traditions, that of Rome, and Gallic. </div><div><br /></div><div>So today, one of Ensemble Organum's beautiful reconstructions of 'Old Roman' chant, which may be closer to the style of chant sung in Rome in St Benedict's time.</div><div><br /></div><div>The chant is the Introit for the midnight Mass of Christmas:</div><div><br /></div><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/h_Ez91zGm4Y?si=mIlojdsBbGJMJK0C" style="background-image: url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/h_Ez91zGm4Y/hqdefault.jpg);" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><b>St Benedict</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Though Benedictines in Rome from the sixth century onwards almost certainly used this style of chant, whether St Benedict's monks at Subiaco and Monte Cassino did in his time is an open question. </div><div><br /></div><div>Indeed, one of the dimensions of the Rule rarely emphasised these days is its various non-Roman character - St Benedict's Rule doesn't follow the Roman custom of fasting on Saturdays for example; sets a summer reading pattern for Matins that is certainly at odds with the Roman as we know it; and includes hymns and other elements in his Office that are not in the Roman.</div><div><br /></div><div>Monte Cassino at least at some later points certainly used Beneventan chant (a term actually embraces all surviving Italian chant outside of Rome or Milan), at least until it was forbidden to do so by a tenth century Frankish pope! Other styles St Benedict may well have encountered include Ambrosian and Gallican, and perhaps even Syrian and other Eastern rites (given that both Norcia and Rome had populations of Eastern refugee monks in the fifth and sixth centuries). </div><div><br /></div><div>And of course, Benedictines down the ages have often adopted the chant traditions of their locale, such as the Mozarabic, Ambrosian and many others.</div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-18324816042652410202023-12-24T15:15:00.005+11:002023-12-24T15:54:48.776+11:00Responsory for 1 Vespers of the Nativity: Judaea et Jerusalem<div>As I was preparing for today's Office I decided I couldn't resist posting on one more responsory, with a nice recording of it by the monks of Solesmes, which you can use for First Vespers of the Nativity (to replace the short responsory).</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The text</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The mostly non-Scriptural text (the first phrase is from Zachariah 8:15) is identical to two antiphons - the respond text is the same as the first antiphon of Lauds for the Vigil, while the verse is used at the day hours on Friday in the period December 17-23.</div><div> </div><div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr>
<td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 225.4pt;" valign="top" width="301">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span lang="FR" style="color: red; mso-ansi-language: FR;">R.</span><span lang="FR"> Judaea et Jerusalem; nolite timere: * Cras egrediemini, et Dominus erit
vobiscum.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 225.4pt;" valign="top" width="301">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: red;">R.</span>
Judaea and Jerusalem, fear not: * Tomorrow you shall go forth, and the Lord
will be with you.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 225.4pt;" valign="top" width="301">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span lang="FR" style="color: red; mso-ansi-language: FR;">V.</span><span lang="FR"> Constantes estote, videbitis auxilium Domini super vos.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 225.4pt;" valign="top" width="301">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: red;">V. </span>Be
steadfast and you shall see the salvation of the lord upon you.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: 1pt solid windowtext; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 225.4pt;" valign="top" width="301">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span lang="FR" style="color: red; mso-ansi-language: FR;">R.</span><span lang="FR"> Cras egridiemini, et Dominus erit vobiscum.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: 1pt solid windowtext; border-left: none; border-right: 1pt solid windowtext; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 225.4pt;" valign="top" width="301">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: red;">R.</span>
Tomorrow you shall go forth, and the Lord will be with you.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Although there are a large number of surviving manuscripts of the responsory version of these texts, most of which place it at Matins for the Vigil of the Nativity, it doesn't actually feature in the modern Office at all in the Benedictine or Roman uses (but does seem to have survived in the Dominican Rite).</p></div><div>It is included, though, in the set of responsories for use at I Vespers of major feasts which can be used on an optional basis, in the 1934 Antiphonale Monasticum:</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPdqWtKYBx2m27fIT9RqOeLZgXd-HSLuEDGMJKbNuhuHbupXtuYgQC607S46dfIUldskdFqRtymCu1d7NZ6VJOfNYMBogU0izLJlMjV_wb6a6ExktfObMFKGSEFsSX40OWYk6hbG-gO586SBSn1jOopWg5_ghrI1JHm5SyEh55rdxmE7KD_aGTUOazaw0" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img data-original-height="511" data-original-width="415" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPdqWtKYBx2m27fIT9RqOeLZgXd-HSLuEDGMJKbNuhuHbupXtuYgQC607S46dfIUldskdFqRtymCu1d7NZ6VJOfNYMBogU0izLJlMjV_wb6a6ExktfObMFKGSEFsSX40OWYk6hbG-gO586SBSn1jOopWg5_ghrI1JHm5SyEh55rdxmE7KD_aGTUOazaw0=w520-h640" width="520" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Gregobase</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div><div>And here's the recording:</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://youtube.com/embed/KZYKxwaacsI?si=YVjMwAYANzRCobmR" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>May you have a very happy Christmas!</div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-79103320332826261042023-12-23T06:00:00.535+11:002023-12-24T08:31:54.009+11:00Advent responsory: Rod of Jesse<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Bnf_Ms_Fran%C3%A7ais_245%2C_fol._84%2C_Arbre_de_Jess%C3%A9.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="736" data-original-width="512" height="400" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Bnf_Ms_Fran%C3%A7ais_245%2C_fol._84%2C_Arbre_de_Jess%C3%A9.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miniature, Jacques de Besançon, Paris, c.1485. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br />Today, for the last in this series on the Advent responsories, one of two responsories for the day that draw on the image of the 'Jesse tree' (one of the many versions of which is depicted above), inspired by Isaiah 11:1, named for the father of King David, and depicts the genealogy of Christ.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Isaiah 11 and the rod of Jesse</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>The text for the other responsory on this theme set for today, <a href="https://responsoryblog.blogspot.com/2018/11/radix-iessesuper-ipsum-advent-ember.html" target="_blank">Radix Jesse</a> is only loosely based on Scripture, and largely takes its cue from St Paul's allusion to Isaiah in Romans 15:12.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>The text for this responsory, though, is taken straight from Scripture, from Isaiah 11:1-5 (the verses used in the responsory are bolded):</div><div><br /></div><div><div>1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root.</div><div><b>Et egredietur virga de radice Jesse, et flos de radice ejus ascendet.</b></div><div><br /></div><div> 2 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.</div><div><b>Et requiescet super eum spiritus Domini</b> : <b>spiritus sapientiae et intellectus, spiritus consilii et fortitudinis</b>, spiritus scientiae et pietatis;</div><div><br /></div><div> 3 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.</div><div>et replebit eum spiritus timoris Domini. Non secundum visionem oculorum judicabit, neque secundum auditum aurium arguet;</div><div><br /></div><div> 4 But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity for 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.</div><div>sed judicabit in justitia pauperes, et arguet in aequitate pro mansuetis terrae; et percutiet terram virga oris sui, et spiritu labiorum suorum interficiet impium.</div><div><br /></div><div> 5 And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle of his reins.</div><div><b>Et erit justitia cingulum lumborum ejus, et fides cinctorium renum</b> <b>ejus.</b></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Egrediétur / virga de radíce Iesse, et flos de radíce eius ascendet: * Et erit iustítia cíngulum lumbórum eius, † et fides cinctórium renum eius.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="FR" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V. </span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 12pt;">Et requiéscet super eum spíritus Dómini: † spíritus sapiéntiæ, et intelléctus: spíritus consílii, et fortitúdinis.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="FR" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 12pt;">Et erit iustítia cíngulum lumbórum eius, † et fides cinctórium renum eius.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></td><td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots. * And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.<o:p></o:p></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 10pt;">LR 395/NR 145</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://youtube.com/embed/RdHUnpTmPeY?si=V-DVkjA-J0XOC4Uv" style="background-image: url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RdHUnpTmPeY/hqdefault.jpg);" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://nocturnale.marteo.fr/static/pngs/A3F7R1_dcrochu.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="609" height="400" src="https://nocturnale.marteo.fr/static/pngs/A3F7R1_dcrochu.png" width="305" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /><br />Source: <i>Nocturnale Romanum Project (D Crochu)</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><b>Origins of the responsories</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I noted at the beginning of this (somewhat meandering) series that there are basically two modern theories around the origin of the responsories as we know them, namely a Roman origin in the fifth century, or an external origin, so that they were imported into the Roman Office perhaps through St Benedict's influence.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Roman origin theory hangs largely on the use of the same term,<i> responsorium</i>, to describe both the singing of the psalms with a refrain, in earlier Roman use, and the great responsories of Matins. </div><div><br /></div><div>But the use of the same term in itself is a pretty thin basis on which to construct a theory since many Office terms seem to have had completely different meanings in different places in late antiquity. An <i>antiphon</i>, for instance can mean variously a psalm sung antiphonally (Roman); a block of psalms (Jerusalem Office); or a refrain used in the modern sense (St Benedict); while the term <i>missa</i> means the ending of an hour with the Our Father in St Benedict, but a block of psalms, readings and prayers in Caesarius of Arles' Rules.</div><div><br /></div><div>More importantly perhaps, if psalm based responsories were the prototype, one would surely expect there to be psalm based responsories in the sets used in association with the various books of the Bible as the repertoire expanded, rather than using texts taken from those books. In the Mass after all, most of the propers are clearly psalm based, and there are, after all, many psalm verses that directly relate to the various Scriptural books. </div><div><br /></div><div>In fact though, psalm based responsories represent a very small part of the overall repertoire, and are mostly confined to use for particular seasons or feasts rather than in the 'histories' that likely formed the early core of the repertoire.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is more to it than that, of course, and I hope to come back to this with a look at the <i>de psalmiis</i> responsories now used after Epiphany in the new year.</div><div> </div><div>In the meantime though, I thought a good way to wind up this series on the Advent responsories, would be to take a quick look at some of the early claims around the origin of the responsories.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Gennadius and Isidore</i></div><div><br /></div><div>I've already discussed Gennadius' witness to a mid-fifth century search for suitable psalm based texts for responsories for both the Mass and Office. </div><div><br /></div><div>Another key reference point is Isidore of Seville's <i>De Ecclesiis Officiis</i>, which claims an Italian (but not specifically Roman) origin for them. The difficulty with this theory though, is just how widespread the several distinctive 'dialects' of responsories seem to be - indeed the early Coptic office also apparently used from form of responsory.</div><div><br /></div><div>Accordingly, an eighth century text's claims on their origins, the <i>Ratio de cursus</i>, which claims Gallic origins for them, is of particular interest.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>The Ratio de Cursus</i></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Written by an Irish monk, the <i>Ratio de Cursus</i> is largely a defense of the validity of the Irish and Gallican forms of the divine office in the face of Carolingian efforts to impose the Roman and Benedictine forms universally.</div><div><br /></div><div>Its main argument is that although Rome's Office may derive from St Peter's authority, the distinctive liturgies of other places too, had their roots in the teaching of the other apostles who evangelised them, as well as their successor bishops who developed and safeguarded those forms of the Office.</div><div><br /></div><div>While some of its claims for the Gallican and Irish liturgy in particular are surely overstated, it is an intriguing document for several reasons.</div><div><br /></div><div>First, it provides a useful witness to the existence of and awareness of several different of local Office traditions in use at that time in both the Easter and West, such as those of Alexandria, Antioch and Milan. </div><div><br /></div><div>Secondly and more controversially, he argues that these different traditions reflect the patterns taught by different apostles, transmitted and developed through their successor bishops (for which he provides lists for several places). </div><div><br /></div><div>The idea of the Office as either a divine or apostolic tradition, safeguarded and developed by the bishops, is not one you will find teased out in most standard books on the history of the Office, which are mostly more concerned with either the search for Jewish origins for it; or alternatively argue that the Office did not exist at all before the fourth century. </div><div><br /></div><div>But in fact there are a number of earlier references to the Office as an ecclesial or apostolic tradition, and the topic deserves more exploration.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thirdly, it is clear that the author has actually had very little contact with either the Roman or Benedictine Offices, and knew little or nothing about their history.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Ratio de cursus on the origin of the responsories</i></div><div><br /></div><div>The key section of the document for our purposes, though, is this statement:</div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">John the Evangelist chanted the first liturgy in Gaul, then later blessed Polycarp, disciple of saint John, then Iraneus, who was third bishop of Lyons of Gaul, sang this liturgy among the Gauls. From there, <b>they composed reciprocal antiphons and responsories or chants [sonus] and Alleluias as a flow in modulations of the writings of the New and Old Testament,</b> <b>not from their own writings, but from the sacred scriptures.</b> And the order of he Church, namely the liturgy of the Gauls, travelled the whole world and was diffused through the entire globe, which Jerome the priest ordained...<i>(Trans Constant Mews, in Lynette Olson (ed), St Samson of dol and the earliest History of Brittany, Cornwall and Wales)</i>.</div></blockquote><p>Whether we accept the claim that the responsories were Gallic in origin or not, it is clear that by the eighth century at least, the responsories were certainly not viewed as a Roman creation by those outside its sphere of influence.</p><p>Meanwhile, I hope you have found this series of interest (and any comments on it, on or offline will be welcome). I plan to go back and fill in footnotes for these posts, and may try and pull together a distillation of it over at Psallam Domino in due course). </p><div></div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-6532732307972723642023-12-22T06:30:00.363+11:002023-12-22T15:24:52.270+11:00Advent responsory: Send forth the lamb<div>Today's Advent responsory, Send forth the lamb, is the third for Friday in the third week, and also the last for the fourth Sunday of Advent. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Send forth the lamb</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The text of the respond is taken directly from Isaiah 16:1; the verse is from Psalm 84:8:</div><div><br /></div><div><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: none; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: 1pt solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">R.</span> <span style="color: black;">Emítte / Agnum, Dómine, Dominatórem terræ, * De Petra desérti ad montem fíliæ Sion.</span><br /><span style="color: red;">V.</span> <span style="color: black;">Osténde nobis, Dómine, misericórdiam tuam, et salutáre tuum da nobis.</span><br /><span style="color: red;">R.</span> <span style="color: black;">De Petra desérti ad montem fíliæ Sion.</span><br /><span style="color: red;">V. </span><span style="color: black;">Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto</span><br /><span style="color: red;">R.</span> <span style="color: black;">De Petra desérti ad montem fíliæ Sion.</span></span></div></td><td style="border: 1pt solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: red;">R.</span> <span style="color: black;">Send forth the Lamb, O Lord, the Ruler of the land; * From the rock in the wilderness unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.</span><br /><span style="color: red;">V.</span> <span style="color: black;">Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.</span><br /><span style="color: red;">R.</span><span style="color: black;"> From the rock in the wilderness unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.</span><br /><span style="color: red;">V.</span> <span style="color: black;">Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.</span><br /><span style="color: red;">R.</span><span style="color: black;"> From the rock in the wilderness unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.</span></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div><div><i>The chant</i></div><div><br /></div><div>The chant itself is a very short chant in mode 2, drawing on standard melodic patterns, making it look, at least to my admittedly inexpert eye, as if it belongs to the older layers of responsories. </div><div><br /></div><div>But although it appears in multiple sources, surprisingly it isn't contained in either of the two main 'Old Roman' manuscripts. </div><div><br /></div><div>That in itself is not of course decisive, since some responsories that appear in earlier 'Ordines' aren't in the Old Roman manuscripts, so either moved in and out of the repertoire, were perhaps used in particular basilicas or churches not captured by the old Roman manuscripts, or perhaps have a non-Roman (but older) origin.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6ccXeuCd5R_eXovd5J-S3qEW2qM_OV3dJ5hz5eZQJ8Rl1_2mlQHn7MiMs4duoTyvaMenKAyBZilH5Cjn2R4C4stbqmst20l6oxTYf3SIKG2ASGhEDSua95BFEXli-pRmWefcLCDr-JlYbBM81K_jzHVKWStMPw2W4luPviM0uSwfMmxqI5gnJg0-utQY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="371" data-original-width="415" height="573" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6ccXeuCd5R_eXovd5J-S3qEW2qM_OV3dJ5hz5eZQJ8Rl1_2mlQHn7MiMs4duoTyvaMenKAyBZilH5Cjn2R4C4stbqmst20l6oxTYf3SIKG2ASGhEDSua95BFEXli-pRmWefcLCDr-JlYbBM81K_jzHVKWStMPw2W4luPviM0uSwfMmxqI5gnJg0-utQY=w640-h573" width="640" /></a></div><br /><i>The lamb, the rock and the daughters of Sion</i></div><div><div><br /></div><div>This responsory is one of those (relatively few) that it are entirely Scriptural and make no changes at all to the text. The psalm verse is identical in both the Romanum and Gallican versions, so there are no clues as to its origin or age there either. </div><div><br /></div><div>The text of the respond is one of those highly symbolic texts from Isaiah, actually part of two chapters taking the form of an oracle directed against the ancient kingdom of Moab, condemned as a race of idolaters. </div><div><br /></div><div>And there is certainly a long exegetical tradition around it. St Jerome, for example, explained that the lamb is of course Christ; the rock refers to Ruth, who, although of the race of Moab, forms part of the genealogy of Christ; and the daughter of Jerusalem refers to Sion or the Church.</div><div><br /></div><div>Although there are a number of variant verses, none of them really give much aid to Scriptural interpretation: they assume this is one that everyone is familiar with, despite its complexity.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since the versicle is also used at Matins of Fridays as the first Nocturn versicle though, as well as the second antiphon for the day hours on Tuesdays in the period December 17 - 23, it was clearly well-known as an Advent text.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Canonical texts and otherwise </b></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Given the strictly Scriptural nature of today's text, a relative rarity amongst the Advent responsories, this seems like a good point to talk a little about the use of non-Scriptural texts in the Office responsory repertoire.</div><div><br /></div><div>As we've seen, many responsories adapt the Scriptural texts somewhat, either to make the link with its usage clearer, to provide an interpretative gloss (sometimes quoting directly from Patristic commentaries), or make it more suitable to be sung as a short extract.</div><div><br /></div><div>The merits of adapting Scriptural texts, or using non-Scriptural texts in the Office have long been hotly contested at times, with early prohibitions on the use of hymns in some places; indeed the debate still raged in the high middle ages, where the Carthusians, for example, 're-scripturalised' their responsories and other texts.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>The responsory repertoire</i></div><div><br /></div><div>The sixth century Italian Rule of St Stephen and Paul for example, seems to reflect Roman attitudes in admonishing its monks to stick strictly to the text of Scripture:</div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b>May no one in this community presume to sing, learn, or say the responses and antiphons,</b> as some are wont to sing on an ornate tone, doing so as they wish, and <b>not taking them from the canonical Scriptures.."</b></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"> Only sing what you read is to be sung," as blessed Augustine has written; "do not sing what you read is not to be sung." What the Lord desired to reveal to us through his prophets and apostles is not to be rendered in praise so that it differs from what he himself has prescribed.</p></blockquote><p>The comment rather implies that two competing repertoires of responsories, one Scriptural based, one with a more broader set of source texts, were already available in the mid to later sixth century, and indeed one of the earliest preserved Gallic psalm responds, for example, is actually non-Scriptural.</p><p>The instruction goes on to insist that what is supposed to be sung should not sound like the recitation of a reading, and vice versa. </p><p><i>Benedictine vs Roman attitudes</i></p><p>It is difficult, with the limited sources we have for the early Office, to know how this really played out in the acceptance into the repertoire and development of responsories, but it does seem likely that the wider debate about the use of non-Scriptural texts, which extended far beyond responsories, did have an impact. </p><p>In many of the early Eastern Rites, the use of non-Scriptural texts in the office, in the form of psalm refrains, hymns and other texts, flowered early on. This tradition was apparently imported to the West by St Ambrose and others.</p><p>But in Rome and some other places in the West, there was active resistance to this.</p><p>And on this, it is worth noting that the Benedictine Rule is, in this respect (and many others), quite different in its attitude to that reflected in the early Roman Office.</p><p>We are used, today, to seeing the Roman and Benedictine Offices as very closely linked, sharing a common rubrics and core texts. </p><p>But in reality this reflects a long history of mutual influence between the two forms of the Office.</p><p>Hymns, for example, though certainly part of the Ambrosian and Arles monastic Offices, seem not to have been used in the Roman secular office (and possibly the Roman monastic office as well, as the rule of the Master likewise did not include them) until very late indeed. </p><p>By contrast, St Benedict prescribes at least one hymn (and three for festal/Sunday Matins) for all of the hours of the Office.</p><p>Similarly, when it came to readings, where St Benedict famously prescribed Patristic (and possibly saints lives) readings for Matins, these may not have been part of the Roman secular Office until perhaps the eighth century.</p><p>These connections may well have played a role in the particular texts selected for responsories, and their allocation over the course of the year, as I hope to show in due course.</p><div>And by way of something to listen to for today, I couldn't locate a recording of today's responsory, but one of the other responsories of the day is Rorate Caeli, so herewith Byrd's setting of the text.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/9q9D40039rg?si=5o4VdSBlGgp1QBys" width="480"></iframe>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-81675297633128522023-12-21T06:00:00.022+11:002023-12-21T06:00:00.134+11:00Feast of St Thomas<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Thomas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="233" height="500" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Thomas.jpg" width="233" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Today is the feast of St Thomas, the apostle who evangelized Syria, Persia and India.</div><div>The responsories for the day are all of the Common of Apostles, so I thought I would provide a setting of the antiphon used for both the Benedictus and Magnificat for the feast, quia vidisti me Thoma, credidisti, instead:<div> <div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody><tr>
<td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 225.4pt;" valign="top" width="301">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span lang="FR">Quia vidísti me * Thoma, credidísti: beáti qui non vidérunt, et
credidérunt, allelúia.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 225.4pt;" valign="top" width="301">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Because thou hast seen me, *
Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen and have
believed, alleluia.<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /><div>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://youtube.com/embed/rHrrLSZ2AEk?si=8qweSbMNZzZJH_sJ" width="480"></iframe></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>The Matins reading on his background is fairly short (in all the versions of the breviary that I can find), presumably because the Third Nocturn readings are all on him, albeit mostly dealing with the Gospel account of his post-Resurrection skepticism:</div><div><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;">The Apostle Thomas, called Didymus, or the Twin, was a Galilean. After the descent of the Holy Ghost, he went into many provinces to preach Christ's Gospel. He gave knowledge of the rules of Christian faith and life to the Parthians, Medes, Persians, Hyrcanians, and Bactrians. He went last to the East Indies. Here he provoked the anger of one of the idolatrous kings, because the holiness of his life and teaching, and the number of his miracles, drew many after him, and brought them to the love of Christ Jesus. He was therefore condemned, and slain with lances. He crowned the dignity of the Apostleship with the glory of martyrdom, on the Coromandel coast, not far from Madras.</div></div></blockquote><p>You can read a longer account of him though, in a <a href="https://saintsshallarise.blogspot.com/2016/12/december-21-st-thomas-class-ii.html">General Audience</a> given. by Pope Benedict XVI.</p><p>Alternatively, if you are game, the Apocryphal (and in places outright heretical) Acts of St Thomas, available over at New Advent, makes an entertaining read.</p><p><b>Five days to go...</b></p><p>And just a quick reminder that when you commemorate the Advent day at Lauds, the antiphon is of the date, Nolite timere, and reminds us that there are only five days to go before Christmas!</p><p>You can hear the antiphon chanted with the Benedictus by the nuns of Jouques <a href="https://app.neumz.com/listen/laudes-nolite-timere-quinta-enim-die-8g-laud/21-12-2020">here.</a></p></div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-35083446261269196932023-12-20T13:40:00.006+11:002023-12-22T11:10:35.897+11:00Advent Ember Wednesday responsory: Cry out with strength<div>Today is the first of the Advent <a href="https://saintsshallarise.blogspot.com/2010/09/ember-days.html">Ember Days</a>, long designated as fast days, an ancient practice indeed in the Roman liturgy.</div><div><br /></div><div>As a result, today's responsory, the first for Ember Wednesday, Clama in fortitudine, is one of the lucky few to have made into the 1895 Liber Responsorialis, and so is actually (occasionally at least) still sung in Benedictine monasteries.</div><div><br /></div><iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://youtube.com/embed/7wPudRe-X0E?si=s4KD0OkK52V2ssfI" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>O thou that tellest good tidings to Sion</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Here is the text of the responsory, and a translation of it:</div><div><br /></div><div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="ES" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="color: black;">Clama / in fortitúdine, qui annúntias pacem in Ierúsalem: * Dic civitátibus Iudæ, et habitatóribus Sion: † Ecce Deus noster, quem exspectábimus, advéniet.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="ES" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V.</span><span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="color: black;">Supra montem excélsum ascénde tu, qui evangelízas Sion, † exálta in fortitúdine vocem tuam.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="ES" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="color: black;">Dic civitátibus Iudæ, et habitatóribus Sion: Ecce Deus noster, quem exspectábimus, advéniet.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div></td><td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Cry out with strength, you who announce peace to Jerusalem:</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span>*</span> Say to the cities of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Behold, our God will come, for whom we waited.</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="color: black;">Get thee up upon a high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Sion: lift up thy voice with strength.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Say unto the cities of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Behold, our God will come, for whom we waited.</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The text is based on Isaiah, which has been the book of the Bible read in Advent as far back as the evidence for Matins in Rome. The particular text for today's responsory comes from chapter 40 and was also used by Handel in the Messiah for several arias and recitatives, including one based on the this text, O though that tellest good tidings to Sion. Here are the relevant verses from Isaiah in their broader context:</div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">Isaiah 40: 5-10 - The voice of one, saying: Cry. And I said: What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field. The grass is withered, and the flower is fallen, because the spirit of the Lord hath blown upon it. Indeed the people is grass: The grass is withered, and the flower is fallen: but the word of our Lord endureth for ever. thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem: lift it up, fear not. Say to the cities of Juda: Behold your God: Behold the Lord God shall come with strength, and his arm shall rule: Behold his reward is with him and his work is before him.</div></blockquote><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">Vox dicentis : Clama. Et dixi : Quid clamabo? Omnis caro foenum, et omnis gloria ejus quasi flos agri. Exsiccatum est foenum, et cecidit flos, quia spiritus Domini sufflavit in eo. Vere foenum est populus; exsiccatum est foenum, et cecidit flos; verbum autem Domini nostri manet in aeternum. Super montem excelsum ascende, tu qui evangelizas Sion; exalta in fortitudine vocem tuam, qui evangelizas Jerusalem; exalta, noli timere. Dic civitatibus Juda : Ecce Deus vester: ecce Dominus Deus in fortitudine veniet, et brachium ejus dominabitur, ecce merces ejus cum eo, et opus illius coram illo.</div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div><b>Singing of the psalms in the Office and the responsories</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Continuing on, now on the history and context of the responsories, in my last post on the history of the responsories, I pointed to some evidence for mid-fifth century Gallican responsory production, which arguably involved both the Mass and the Office. I want to say a little more on that today.</div><div><br /></div><div>As I noted earlier in the series, one of the theories for the origins of responsories relates to the move from responsorial singing to antiphonal.</div><div><br /></div><div>The claim is that when psalm refrains were no longer needed due to the shift to antiphonal performance of the psalms, they were repurposed as mass propers, and Office responsories. </div><div><br /></div><div>Leaving aside the issue of how well fits (or rather does not fit) with our understanding of the evolution of the Mass propers, I want to suggest that there is no evidence at all for the proposition that there was some huge repertoire of refrains that were suddenly made redundant and looking for a home in the fifth century.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Antiphons</i></div><div><br /></div><div> First, if there had been a switch from congregational singing to antiphonal, the most obvious 'repurposing' would surely have been to use the refrains as antiphons in the modern sense of a short musical composition used at the beginning and/or end of a psalms.</div><div><br /></div><div>The early history of antiphons (including whether they existed at all) is (naturally) highly contested, but the Rule of St Benedict makes pretty clear references to them in way that is entirely consistent with their use in the way we know them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Moreover some have, for example proposed (albeit without much evidence to support the idea) that antiphons were originally repeated at regular intervals throughout a psalm, much in the way that the refrain was used in responsorial psalmody.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Solo psalm performance in the early Office</i></div><div><br /></div><div>More fundamentally though, most responsorial singing of the psalms almost certainly originally happened in the context of the Mass, not the Office - or at least not in the monastic Office.</div><div><br /></div><div>The earliest evidence we have on how the psalms were performed in the monastic Office comes from Cassian and Rufinus for Egypt, both of whom suggest that the psalms were generally sung by one person, with the rest listening in silence except to join in a doxology or other form of response at the end of the psalm (such as a prayer).</div><div><br /></div><div>That approach (or variants on it) continued to be used in many places including Gaul and Celtic influenced monasteries well into the eighth century. </div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>The Benedictine Office</i></div><div><br /></div><div>In Rome though, or at least in the Rule of St Benedict, it is pretty clear that the use of two alternating choirs was the norm. While the Rule itself is arguably ambiguous on this subject, the slightly later Italian Rule of Stephen and Paul (which was clearly influenced by the Rule of St Benedict) makes it quite clear that one singer intones the psalms, then others join in. </div><div><br /></div><div>The two verse doxology we still use for the psalms was almost certainly introduced in Rome by at least the early sixth century precisely to reflect this style of singing (the older version had only one verse).</div><div><br /></div><div>And one of the distinctive features of Roman psalmody following its introduction to Anglo-Saxon England was seen as precisely this choral style of performance.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><div><i>The shift to antiphony</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Moreover, in the context of the Mass, the Liber Pontificalis attributes the shift to antiphonal psalmody to Pope Celestine (422- 432). But it also states that he decreed that the psalms should be performed antiphonally by everyone, in explicit contrast to the Epistle and Gospel. </div><div><br /></div><div>The shift to a more elaborate style of melody suitable for performance by a specialist singer then, was a later development, likely not a direct consequence of the shift away from responsorial psalmody.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Where then, did the responsories come from? I will come back to this question in due course!</div></div></div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-53264943320665584052023-12-19T17:42:00.004+11:002023-12-19T17:50:57.317+11:00Advent responsory: Rain on a fleece as a symbol of the Incarnation<iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://youtube.com/embed/n1RYfaU84JY?si=oJuablrnlgWwPiOT" width="480"></iframe>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzJq8FNxqHQ5seUAYpDG-Fyzm_LUnCDjmF89HM9nERmMvuTnS1_n3RMfaZxfT8LpLe1oeUi1r_2w1v3n-JMB4KC_0VzLuMM14Mi4Gx9qQcJWnyGzV3NBACpFdhIeosPP32THYaThTE8Jk1TnRYWnUSXDksa5KgFUFAe3zSqa3ePoCF0k6c6SnOzcRZMVQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img data-original-height="516" data-original-width="415" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzJq8FNxqHQ5seUAYpDG-Fyzm_LUnCDjmF89HM9nERmMvuTnS1_n3RMfaZxfT8LpLe1oeUi1r_2w1v3n-JMB4KC_0VzLuMM14Mi4Gx9qQcJWnyGzV3NBACpFdhIeosPP32THYaThTE8Jk1TnRYWnUSXDksa5KgFUFAe3zSqa3ePoCF0k6c6SnOzcRZMVQ=w322-h400" width="322" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Today's responsory is the third for Tuesday in week three of Advent (also the seventh of Sunday), and contains some rich imagery of the Incarnation. The text is largely taken from Psalm 71:<div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="IT" style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span lang="IT" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Descéndet / Dóminus sicut plúvia in vellus: * Oriétur in diébus eius iustítia, et abundántia pacis.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="IT" style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">V.</span><span lang="IT" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Et adorábunt eum omnes reges, omnes gentes sérvient ei.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="IT" style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span lang="IT" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Oriétur in diébus eius iustítia, et abundántia pacis.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="IT" style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">V.</span><span lang="IT" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="IT" style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span lang="IT" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Oriétur in diébus eius iustítia, et abundántia pacis.<o:p></o:p></span></div></td><td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Lord shall come down like rain upon a fleece. * In His days shall righteousness flourish, and abundance of peace.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">V.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> All the kings of the earth shall fall down before Him, all nations shall serve Him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> In His days shall righteousness flourish, and abundance of peace.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">V.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> In His days shall righteousness flourish, and abundance of peace.</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><p>St Augustine's commentary on this psalm links it to the story of Gideon and the fleece in Judges 6:</p></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p style="text-align: left;">He has called to our minds and admonished us, that what was done by Gedeon the Judge, in Christ has its end. For he asked a sign of the Lord, that a fleece laid on the floor should alone be rained upon, and the floor should be dry; and again, the fleece alone should be dry, and the floor should be rained upon; and so it came to pass. </p></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p style="text-align: left;">Which thing signified, that, being as it were on a floor in the midst of the whole round world, the dry fleece was the former people Israel. </p></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p style="text-align: left;">The same Christ therefore Himself came down like rain upon a fleece, when yet the floor was dry: whence also He said, I am not sent but to the sheep which were lost of the house of Israel. There He chose out a Mother by whom to receive the form of a servant, wherein He was to appear to men...</p></div></blockquote><p><b>The earliest responsories?</b></p><div><p>Most of the responsories we've looked at so far this Advent have been either non-psalm based, so this is an interesting example of a distinct set of psalm responsories clearly chosen for their appropriateness to the season or feast.</p><p>And indeed, one of the oldest possible references to the responsory repertoire relates to exactly this type of responsory. Gennadius of Marseilles wrote about some work commissioned by his predecessor Venerius (428-52), saying:</p></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p style="text-align: left;">Musaeus, presbyter of the church at Marseilles, a man learned in Divine Scriptures and most accurate in their interpretation, as well as master of an excellent scholastic style, on the request of Saint Venerius the bishop, selected from Holy Scriptures passages <b>suited to the various feast days</b> of the year, also <b>passages from the Psalms for responses suited to the season</b>, and the passages for reading. </p></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p style="text-align: left;">The readers in the church found this work of the greatest value, in that it saved them trouble and anxiety in the selection of passages, and was useful for the instruction of the people as well as for the dignity of the service.</p></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p style="text-align: left;">He also addressed to Saint Eustathius the bishop, successor to the above mentioned man of God, an excellent and sizable volume, a Sacramentary, divided into various sections, according to the <b>various offices and seasons</b>, readings and psalms<b>, both for reading and chanting</b>, but also filled throughout with petitions to the Lord, and thanksgiving for his benefits.</p></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p style="text-align: left;">By this work we know him to have been a man of strong intelligence and chaste eloquence. He is said to have also delivered homilies, which are, as I know, valued by pious men, but which I have not read. He died in the reign of Leo and Majorianus.</p></div></blockquote><div><p>It is unclear in this, of course, whether he is talking about the Office was well as the Mass, particularly as the Gallic equivalent of the Roman Gradual was called a responsory. Still, the comment seems broad enough to encompass both uses of psalms.</p></div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-71930556130256955972023-12-18T16:17:00.002+11:002023-12-18T16:17:12.892+11:00Advent responsory: Bethlehem, the city of the most high God<p><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/5ksGKdogrCI?si=p7sgBlYbS8RJKqGv" width="480"></iframe></p><p>Today's O antiphon is O Adonai.</p><p>And for a responsory, I want to take a brief look at <i>Bethlehem civitas Dei</i>, the second responsory for the Third Sunday of Advent as well as Monday in week three of Advent, brings us back firmly to the events of Christmas itself, but also on the implications of the Incarnation: </p><div class="post-header" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10.8px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><div class="post-header-line-1"></div></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-8307506468283374029" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 546px;"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. Bethléhem, / cívitas Dei summi, ex te éxiet Dominátor Israël, † et egréssus eius sicut a princípio diérum æternitátis, † et magnificábitur in médio univérsæ terræ: * Et pax erit in terra nostra, dum vénerit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Loquétur pacem in géntibus, † et potéstas eius a mari usque ad mare.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Et pax erit in terra nostra, dum vénerit.</span><span lang="IT" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div></td><td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> From you, Bethlehem, city of the Most High God, shall come forth he that is to be ruler of Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting, and now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. * And there will be the peace in our land when he comes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> He shall speak peace unto the gentiles, and shall have dominion from sea to sea.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span>And there will be the peace in our land when he comes.</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div><p>The text of the respond is based on Micah 5:2:</p><p>Et tu, Bethlehem Ephrata, parvulus es in millibus Juda; ex te mihi egredietur qui sit dominator in Israël, et egressus ejus ab initio, a diebus æternitatis.</p><p>Bethlehem-Ephrata! Least do they reckon thee among all the clans of Juda? Nay, it is from thee I look to find a prince that shall rule over Israel. Whence comes he? From the first beginning, from ages untold. (Knox translation).</p><p>The verse is from Zachariah 9:10.</p><p>This is another responsory that may have come into the Roman repertoire from Gaul or Spain.</p><p>It is worth noting though, that many of the Advent seasonal responsories we have been looking at were almost certainly not those used in the Benedictine Office in St Benedict's time due to the strongly ferial character of the Office at that time, but also because Advent (the Ember days aside) was mostly a rather late arrival to Rome. Although Christmas was introduced into the calendar early on, and the lead up to the feast quickly spread in the West, in Rome the pre-season itself seems to have developed only over the later part of the sixth century.</p><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-8307506468283374029" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 546px;"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"></div></div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-83518458847536093202023-12-16T15:26:00.001+11:002023-12-16T15:51:34.966+11:00Advent responsory: Make haste O Lord and do not tarry - and preparing for the last week of Advent in the Office (Responsories Pt 8)
<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/pyj89Fg5pmE?si=6C4H1QN6vLp4T7ik" width="480"></iframe> <br /><p>First, a reminder that we are coming into the last week of Advent, when things become particularly complicated in the Office, so make sure you set up your ribbons and prayer cards in advance!</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Advent between December 17 and 23</span></b></p><p>In particular, keep in mind that the days between December 17 and 23 are Class II days, and at Lauds to Vespers a set of antiphons for the psalms for <b>each day of the week</b> <b>in the period December 17-23</b> are used, set out at MD 37*/AM 212 ff.</p><p><b>At Lauds the Benedictus antiphons </b>are normally of the<b> day of the week in the third week of Advent</b>, but there are specific antiphons said on December 21 and 23.</p><p><b>At Vespers, the 'O Antiphons' </b>for the Magnificat<b> are of the date </b>(MD 35-6*/AM 208 ff), displacing the Magnificat antiphon of the Advent day. you can listen to ta recording of the first of the set above.</p><p>At Matins there is a proper Invitatory antiphon for the season (Prope est, NM 14).</p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Advent responsory: Festina ne tardaveris</span></b></p><p>Today's Advent responsory is the second responsory for Saturday in the second week of Advent, also said as the tenth of the Second Sunday. </p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 258.516px;" valign="top" width="49%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Festína, / ne tardáveris, Dómine: * Et líbera pópulum tuum.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Veni, Dómine, et noli tardáre: † reláxa facinóra plebi tuæ.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Et líbera pópulum tuum.<o:p></o:p></span></div></td><td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 258.734px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Make haste, O Lord, make no tarrying. * And deliver thy people.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> O Lord, come and make no tarrying loose the bonds of thy people.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> And deliver thy people.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><i>The text</i><br /><div><br /></div><div>The text is non-Scriptural, but perhaps loosely based on Habakukk 2 which says:<div><br /></div><div>Write down thy vision, the Lord said, on a tablet, so plain that it may be read with a glance a vision of things far distant, yet one day befall they must, no room for doubting it. Wait thou long, yet wait patiently; what must be must, and at the time appointed for it. <p>[Quia adhuc visus procul; et apparebit in finem, et non mentietur: si moram fecerit, exspecta illum, quia veniens veniet, et non tardabit]</p><p>The wording also, though, has echoes of the final verse of Psalm 39, a psalm which prophesizes the Incarnation, as these couple of extracts illustrate:</p></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p style="text-align: left;">2 Patiently I waited for the Lord’s help, and at last he turned his look towards me... 8 See then, I said, I am coming to fulfil what is written of me, where the book lies unrolled; 9 to do thy will, O my God, is all my desire, to carry out that law of thine which is written in my heart... 17 Rejoicing and triumph for all the souls that look to thee; Praise to the Lord, will ever be their song, who now long for thy aid. 18 I, so helpless, so destitute, and the Lord is concerned for me! Thou art my champion and my refuge; do not linger, my God, do not linger on the way. [Adjutor meus et protector meus tu es; Deus meus,<b> ne tardaveris</b>.]</p></div></blockquote><div><p><i>Which are the oldest responsories?</i></p><p>I have included it in part firstly because although the liturgists would argue that its non-Scriptural text makes it more likely a later composition, it seems on the face of it to be very old indeed. </p><p>It appears, for example, in the surviving Old Roman manuscripts (possibly capturing at least part of the seventh century repertoire of responsories in Rome), as well as multiple other sources. </p><p>But the other key point of note is that it has a very short respond, and is musically very straightforward indeed - at least as short and straightforward to sing, if not more so, as many of the psalm based responsories that the liturgists argue represent the oldest layer of responsories.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjqmxkWwSArrmq76TY-2Pjv-gTDxa2cm1AcVtC_uQrsfmvCChcOdPFUsht-J57xoacAhVEjFtEeIKN2-AW7nTrAhm6IEhFd5yJS76hjIDreuslrNlMPWFz3gkLFBhvkEpiiJXh-I1O6Fr121vhsjKCznnf2wKiGbZGdEyYE3vMaPyqOfDIMVJSpNzqsvQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="504" data-original-width="415" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgjqmxkWwSArrmq76TY-2Pjv-gTDxa2cm1AcVtC_uQrsfmvCChcOdPFUsht-J57xoacAhVEjFtEeIKN2-AW7nTrAhm6IEhFd5yJS76hjIDreuslrNlMPWFz3gkLFBhvkEpiiJXh-I1O6Fr121vhsjKCznnf2wKiGbZGdEyYE3vMaPyqOfDIMVJSpNzqsvQ=w528-h640" width="528" /></a></div><br />But more on this anon!<p></p></div></div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-9418941888880886372023-12-15T15:31:00.006+11:002023-12-16T15:50:27.050+11:00Advent responsory: Jerusalem plantabis vineam (Responsories Pt 7)<div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjz5ijN9Rk6t9_jsSAY-QZXEoa5VQ028tNOznxPjwdODPbN-Qn4xJEdiJRptxqykQliCk9Dvevuyb-D8P-5lXVD5b-htrQGDs0Goch9LF5mp41i1n5uFiVFSuZBEygZbbD9Idc_UDgH9ooZAoK_2sVjANDqUb1mnIKmyoIfk_sup2mKJn264qcZ6X8MHlA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img data-original-height="953" data-original-width="415" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjz5ijN9Rk6t9_jsSAY-QZXEoa5VQ028tNOznxPjwdODPbN-Qn4xJEdiJRptxqykQliCk9Dvevuyb-D8P-5lXVD5b-htrQGDs0Goch9LF5mp41i1n5uFiVFSuZBEygZbbD9Idc_UDgH9ooZAoK_2sVjANDqUb1mnIKmyoIfk_sup2mKJn264qcZ6X8MHlA=w279-h640" width="279" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Gregobase (Gregofacsimil)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div><div>Today's Advent responsory is used on Sunday and Friday in the second week of Advent. </div><div><br /></div><div>You can listen to it in a setting by Lassus below, but it focuses on the imagery of Jerusalem, and above all the vineyard which the Lord plants and calls his labourers to tend. The text is actually from Jeremiah 31: 5-7:</div><div><br /></div><div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"> Ierúsalem, / plantábis víneam in móntibus tuis: † exsultábis, quóniam dies Dómini véniet: † surge, Sion, convértere ad Dóminum Deum tuum: gaude et lætáre, Iacob: * Quia de médio géntium Salvátor tuus véniet.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"> Exsúlta satis, fília Sion: iúbila, fília Ierúsalem.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"> Quia de médio géntium Salvátor tuus véniet.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"> Glória Patri, et Fílio, * et Spirítui Sancto.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"> Quia de médio géntium Salvátor tuus véniet.<o:p></o:p></span></div></td><td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Thou shalt yet plant vines upon thy mountains, O Jerusalem thou shalt sing for joy, for the day of the Lord cometh; arise, O Zion, and turn unto the Lord thy God; rejoice and be glad, O Jacob. * For thy Saviour cometh from the midst of the nations.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Sing aloud for joy, O daughter of Zion; shout with gladness, O daughter of Jerusalem.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">For thy Saviour cometh from the midst of the nations.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"> Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">For thy Saviour cometh from the midst of the nations.</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div>The original text of the respond though reads as follows:</div><div><br /></div><div>5 Once more thou shalt plant vineyards over the hill-country of Samaria; planted they shall be, and the men who planted them await the appointed time before they gather the vintage. Watchmen there shall be, when that day comes, in the hill-country of Ephraim that will cry aloud, Up, to Sion go we, and there worship the Lord our God! Rejoice, the Lord says, at Jacob’s triumph, the proudest of nations greet with a glad cry; loud echo your songs of praise, Deliverance, Lord, for thy people, for the remnant of Israel! (Knox translation)</div><div><br /></div><div>The verse is from Zachariah 9:9, which then continues 'See where thy king comes to greet thee, a trusty deliverer; see how lowly he rides, mounted on an ass, patient colt of patient dam'.</div><div><br /></div><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/77dC4QmgfwM?si=c8kgCA-yyvomJoB3" style="background-image: url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/77dC4QmgfwM/hqdefault.jpg);" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-90828337396550599182023-12-14T18:05:00.004+11:002023-12-16T15:49:24.042+11:00Advent responsory Ecce Dominus veniet and the diverse chant traditions of late antiquity (Responsories Pt 6)<div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcStQ4YrIJIU_bPqOLAL9JOEo91MrNLSgQITY30MmWU-K67_vjmiOyOSSaZk5kesa9U1j1KN8aBL0swX-T16PYc6Y13Nu5t7KbJbJF8GsGjYF-l2x8zJFTcmD0vFHLToRMsd61GV3PLf9W5GoBQPRqOsFtj1qD345LtHaA4pOqAyQSMVb5kzco17QKfAw" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img data-original-height="589" data-original-width="415" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcStQ4YrIJIU_bPqOLAL9JOEo91MrNLSgQITY30MmWU-K67_vjmiOyOSSaZk5kesa9U1j1KN8aBL0swX-T16PYc6Y13Nu5t7KbJbJF8GsGjYF-l2x8zJFTcmD0vFHLToRMsd61GV3PLf9W5GoBQPRqOsFtj1qD345LtHaA4pOqAyQSMVb5kzco17QKfAw=w451-h640" width="451" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: Gregobase (Sandhofe)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>For today's Advent responsory I have selected Ecce Dominus veniet, which is used both on Thursday in the second week of Advent, and on the Second Sunday of Advent.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's a nice example of Advent texts with something of an eschatological dimension to them. Here is the text, which is based on Zachariah 14, and Isaiah 40:</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Ecce / Dóminus véniet, et omnes Sancti eius cum eo, † et erit in die illa lux magna: † et exíbunt de Ierúsalem sicut aqua munda: et regnábit Dóminus in ætérnum * Super omnes gentes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Ecce Dóminus cum virtúte véniet: † et regnum in manu eius, et potéstas, et impérium.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="ES" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt;">Super omnes gentes.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></td><td style="border: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Behold, the Lord shall come, and all His saints with Him, and it shall come to pass in that day that the light shall be great; and they shall go out from Jerusalem like clean water; and the Lord shall be King for ever, * Over all the earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Behold, the Lord cometh with a host, and in His hand are the kingdom, and power, and dominion.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Over all the earth.</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div>One of the intriguing aspects of this particular responsory is that a recent study has identified it as one of a group of responsories that may have entered into the Roman repertoire from Gaul and/or Spain, since the adaptations to the text are mirrored in a responsory in the Old Hispanic repertoire, and although the melody is different too the Gregorian chant version, the number of notes allocated to each syllable is essentially the same in the Gregorian and Old Hispanic versions (1).</div><div><br /></div><div>And that brings us nicely to the topic I want to start exploring today, namely, when and where did responsories originate, and how did the repertoire develop to the form that we know know it in?</div><div><br /></div><div>Pretty much everything about these questions, it has to be said upfront, is highly contested, with no clear answers on many points.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Different chant traditions for responsories?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The repertoire of responsories used today in the Office (to the very limited extent that they are actually used) are examples of Gregorian chant, or as musicologists prefer to call it, Franco-Roman chant, to reflect the fact that what emerged as Gregorian chant somewhere around the twelfth century probably represents (largely) the interaction of two different styles and repertoires of chant, Old Roman and Gallican.</div><div><br /></div><div>The best known and arguably earliest unambiguous reference to the great responsories of Matins is in the Rule of St Benedict (circa 510-28). </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Roman origins?</b></div><div><br /></div><div><div>For this reason, most liturgiologists have long assumed that responsories originated in Rome sometime in the fifth century with a set of psalm based responsories derived repertoire of refrains used with psalms displaced by the shift from responsorial (soloist sings the verses, people sing the refrain) to antiphonal (two choirs singing alternating verses) singing of the psalms (2). </div><div><br /></div><div>They also argue that a particular set of psalm based responsories, used since the eighth century reform of the Matins reading cycle in the period after Epiphany, represent a set of proto-responsories that attest to a shift to a fixed weekly psalm cursus before St Benedict, some time in the late fifth century (3).</div><div><br /></div><div>The alternative theory is that responsories - as for several other elements such as hymns - were introduced into the Roman Office at some point, perhaps through the influence of the Benedictine Office.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'll go into the arguments for and against these theories in due course, but suffice to note now that many musicologists have long been skeptical of the Roman origin theory, and there is a growing body of evidence to support those doubts.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Non-Roman responsory repertoire</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Those doubts have rather been amplified by the discovery, in recent decades, that responsories seem to have been a part of all of the major Western chant traditions that we know about from late antiquity and through the early middle ages. </div><div><br /></div><div>In some cases, such as Ambrosian and old Hispanic chant, the distinct responsories of these traditions survived long enough to be recorded in some form, and continued to evolve along side the Gregorian tradition. </div><div><br /></div><div>Similarly, although Beneventan and Old Roman chant were eventually suppressed in favour of Gregorian, musicologists have been able to identify a number of manuscripts that preserve at least some of the distinctive repertoire or versions of responsories of these traditions. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Gallican repertoire dissapeared rather earlier (from the late eighth century onwards, under Pepin the Short, compared to the tenth century for Beneventan for example) and was more thoroughly suppressed, though some work aimed at identifying the traces it has left on the repertoire has been done.</div><div><br /></div><div>How far back do these various responsory sets go though, and do they all originate from one common source?</div><div><br /></div><div>More on that anon.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the meantime, here is a polyphonic setting of the respond to today's responsory by Praetorius to listen to.</div><div><br /></div><div> <iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/47XjzbGIZHU?si=pwaAtZtvXh0wIFNi" width="480"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Notes</b></div><div><br /></div><div>(1) Rebecca Maloy, Mason Brown, Benjamin Pongtep Cefkin, Ruth Opara, Megan Quilliam And Melanie Shaffer, Revisiting ‘Toledo, Rome, and the Legacy of Gaul’: new evidence from the</div><div>Divine Office, <i>Plainsong and Medieval Music</i>, 31, 1, 1–35, 2022.</div><div><br /></div><div>(2) The most developed version of the theory is set out in R. Le Roux: ‘Etude de l’office dominical et férial: les répons “de psalmis” pour les matines de l’Epiphanie à la Septuagésime selon les cursus romain et monastique’, <i>EG</i>, vi (1963), 39–148.</div><div><br /></div><div>(3) For the most recent articulation and summary of this theory, see Lazlo Dobsay, The Divine Office in History, in Alcuin Reid (ed), <i>T&T Clark Companion to the Liturgy</i>, London, 2016, pp 207-238.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-19775423110020808912023-12-13T12:20:00.001+11:002023-12-13T12:26:22.087+11:00Feast of St Lucy<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Niccol%C3%B2_di_Segna_-_Saint_Lucy_-_Walters_37756.jpg/330px-Niccol%C3%B2_di_Segna_-_Saint_Lucy_-_Walters_37756.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="330" height="507" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Niccol%C3%B2_di_Segna_-_Saint_Lucy_-_Walters_37756.jpg/330px-Niccol%C3%B2_di_Segna_-_Saint_Lucy_-_Walters_37756.jpg" width="330" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Niccolò di Segna c. 1340<br />Source: Wiki commons</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Today is the feast of St Lucy, martyred in 304, after she distributed her dowry to the poor, her betrothed denounced her as a Christian. Here is the Matins reading on her for the feast:</div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;">Lucy a virgin of Syracuse, noble by birth and by her Christian faith, went to the tomb of St. Agatha at Catheria and obtained the cure of her mother, Eutichia who was suffering from a hemorrhage. Soon after, she gained her mother's permission to distribute to the poor all the possessions which were to have served as her dowry. As a result of this charitable action, she was accused of being a Christian and brought before Paschasius the Prefect. When neither promises nor threats could induce her to sacrifice the idols, Paschasius became enraged and commanded Lucy to be taken to a place where her virginity would be violated. But the power of God gave the virgin a strength that matched the firmness of her resolution, so that no force could move her where she stood. And so the prefect commanded a fire to be kindled all around here, but the flames did not harm her. After she had suffered many torments, therefore her throat was pierced through with a sword. So wounded she foretold that the Church would have peace after the deaths of Diocletian and Maximilian, and on December 13 she gave up her spirit to God. Her body was first buried at Syracuse, than taken to Constantinople, and finally transferred to Venice.</div></div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>You can listen to one of the responsories for the feast here:</div><div><br /></div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="817" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Risp_ABHjCc" title="Lucia virgo - Gregorian Chant - VoceDAnimA (Elisa Malatesti)" width="460"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>The text is as follows:</div><div><br /></div><div><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: 1pt solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">R. Lúcia virgo, quid a me petis quod ipsa póteris præstare continuo matri tuæ? nam et fides tua illi subvenit, et ecce salváta est: * Quia jucúndum Deo in tua virginitate habitáculum præparásti.<br />V. Sicut per me cívitas Catanensium sublimátur a Christo, ita per te Syracusana cívitas decorábitur.<br />R. Quia jucúndum Deo in tua virginitate habitáculum præparasti.</div></td><td style="border: 1pt solid; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">R. Maiden Lucy, why seekest thou of me that which thou thyself canst presently give thy mother? For thy faith hath helped her, and, behold, she is made whole * Because thou hast made in thy virginity a pleasant dwelling-place for thy God.<br />V. Even as Christ hath by me glorified Catania, so by thee shall He glorify Syracuse.<br />R. Because thou hast made in thy virginity a pleasant dwelling place for thy God.</div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-55283738321137333542023-12-11T15:28:00.006+11:002023-12-19T01:21:56.032+11:00Advent responsories: Rejoice ye heavens (Responsories pt 5)<div>Today I want to continue my series on the history and function of the responsories of the Night Office, with a focus on the Advent set.</div><div><br /></div><div>In each post I plan to highlight one of the responsories, but also discuss some of the context around their development, which, I should note, is a subject on which there is no consensus among musicologists and/or liturgiologists!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Rejoice ye heavens</b></div><div><br /></div><div>So for our Advent focus, today's responsory is actually the second responsory for Monday in weeks 1& 2 of Advent, also used as the eighth responsory in the Benedictine Office on the First Sunday of Advent.</div><div><br /></div><div>The text of this responsory received several polyphonic settings, including by Orlando di Lasso, and Byrd, the latter of which I've chosen for today, as it gives a wonderful sense of the joy of the season that is one of its sub-themes, along with the focus on Our Lady, and preparation for Christmas - and the Second Coming - through repentance for sins.</div><div><br /></div><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/FSJfAG4YOOY?si=dWvbvVdHgdQ0p_46" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>The text of the respond section has been adapted from Isaiah 49:13; the verse comes from Psalm 71:7, although there are two alternative verses associated with this respond preserved in various sources.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here is a translation of the text showing the structure of the responsory when it is used as the last responsory of a set (as it is on the First Sunday of Advent) - in its other uses it ends after the first repetition of the second half of the respond.</div><div><br /></div><div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Læténtur / cæli, et exsúltet terra, iubiláte, montes, laudem: † quia Dóminus noster véniet, * Et páuperum suórum miserébitur.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Oriétur in diébus eius iustítia, et abundántia pacis.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Et páuperum suórum miserébitur.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="IT" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V. </span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 12pt;">Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto.</span><span lang="IT" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="IT" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span lang="IT" style="font-size: 12pt;">Et páuperum suórum miserébitur.<o:p></o:p></span></div></td><td style="border: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains, for our Lord will come; * And will have mercy on his afflicted.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In his days shall righteousness flourish and abundance of peace.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">And will have mercy upon his afflicted.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">And will have mercy upon his afflicted.</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>This text also nicely illustrates the adaptation process that is typical of responsories - while the first half of the respond follows the biblical text closely (the variants probably just reflecting different versions of the Biblical text, the second part is heavily adapted, in order to help us apply the text to its liturgical context:</div><div><br /></div><div>Isaiah 49:13 actually reads (I've bolded the words where alternatives have been substituted into the respond):<br /><br /></div><div><div>Laudate, cæli, et exsulta, terra; jubilate, montes, laudem, <b>quia consolatus est</b> Dominus <b>populum suum, </b>et pauperum suorum miserebitur.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Stock responsories (2)</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I noted in an earlier post that this repertoire of chant seems to have been preserved largely through oral transmission. Some eighth century (and a few other, mostly non-Roman earlier) sources give incipits or even full texts for some of them, but it wasn't until the development of neumes around the mid-ninth century, that the melodies were notated. I also noted that there is evidence the number of responsories expanded substantially over time, particularly once musical notation made the transmission process easier.</div><div><br /></div><div>Most of the expansion in the repertoire, after the eighth century at least, though, relates to specific feasts, displacing the use of the Commons, rather than those relating to the annual bible reading cycle or the seasons. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>Even now, for most of the year, for example, rather than new responsories, the Sunday responsories are said again during the week, as was the case for the responsory discussed above.</div><div><br /></div><div>But there do also seem to have been other key sources of 'stock' responsories that could be drawn on to fill out the necessary number on Sundays and major feasts. </div><div><br /></div><div><i>Individual semi-fixed responsories </i></div><div><br /></div><div>One source was individual responsories that had some broader appropriateness, such as that relating to the patron saint of a church. St Peter's in Rome, for example, seems to have used the responsory <i>Petro amas me</i> (Peter do you love me) throughout the year. </div><div><br /></div><div>Similarly, Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) composed the responsory <a href="https://responsoryblog.blogspot.com/2017/05/duo-seraphim-clamabant.html">Duo seraphim clamabant</a>, (two seraphim called out, each to the other) and mandated its use as the last responsory of Sunday Matins for much of the year.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>De Psalmiis responsories</i></div><div><br /></div><div>A second source of 'stock' responsories seems to have been those based on the psalms, as one of the Roman 'ordines', XVI, which (probably) dates from circa 680, mentions a set of of psalm based responsories used throughout the year and for feasts. </div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately Ordo Romani XVI (and the other Ordines and other early sources), don't actually tell us which particular responsories were used this way.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the forms of the Office that have come down to us, there are actually several groups of psalm based responsories: some are used for particular feasts (in some cases parts of sets used at other times of the year as well), but the main ones are three sets now used in conjunction with Biblical 'letters', namely Jeremiah in Holy Week; the Catholic Epistles in Eastertide; and the letters of St Paul, in Epiphanytide.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is the last set, those used in Epiphanytide since the reorganisation of the Matins reading cycle in the eighth century, that are of especial interest, since the liturgists have long claimed them as evidence that Rome had a fixed weekly psalm cycle before St Benedict's Office.</div><div><br /></div><div>My own view is that the particular organisation of them in the Office as we know it is more likely to be a product of the eighth century reforms than witness to the earlier organisation of the psalter. </div><div><br /></div><div>But to understand the debate, we need first, I think, to look at the history of the Matins readings cycle in Rome, and some of the possible sources for the responsories, on which more anon.</div></div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-37781778953162763772023-12-08T12:48:00.003+11:002023-12-11T15:29:30.608+11:00Book alert: Monastic psalter with psalm pointing<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/25b14e_1857106a67fc42fda21a1feae6e59ef6~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_274,h_418,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/Cover%20Page_bmp.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="274" height="400" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/25b14e_1857106a67fc42fda21a1feae6e59ef6~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_274,h_418,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/Cover%20Page_bmp.png" width="262" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Psalterium Monasticum: horae diurnae</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div>I want to alert readings to a wonderful new resource, a <i>Psalterium Monasticum</i> designed to help you sing the Office by 'pointing' the psalms, put together and published by the monks of Chavagnes-en-Paillers (aka <a href="https://www.glastonburymonastery.co.uk/">The Community of Our Lady of Glastonbur</a>y). <div><div><br /></div><div>The book details are:<br /><div><br /></div><div><div><i>Dom Bede Rowe, Psalterium Monasticum: Horae Diurnae, 2023; $US18 for the paperback version; $US22.23 for the hardback), available from Amazon (search in <a href="https://www.glastonburymonastery.co.uk/psalterium">your country's Amazon version</a> to minimise postage costs).</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>To use it, you will need to download <a href="https://www.glastonburymonastery.co.uk/_files/ugd/25b14e_5b57f6366e954c69b12054ceb70b737d.pdf">the explanation of the pointing system</a> from the monk's website - they also offer a convenient <a href="https://www.glastonburymonastery.co.uk/_files/ugd/25b14e_ef4a3360681a4a4abedabca3cd71a326.pdf">two page summary of the monastic psalm tones and their endings</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The book will be a key resource for anyone who wants to sing or already sings the Benedictine Office - and that should be everyone - the Office is intended to be sung, not said, after all!</div><div><p><b>What the book provides</b></p><p>In essence, the new Psalter sets out 'pointed' versions (ie the text of the psalms with embedded cues for where to change note when chanting it) of the Latin text of the psalms for the day hours. </p><p>It has been designed to supplement the <i>Antiphonale Monasticum</i> of 1934, and so follows the same ordering of the text, and provides the page number for the corresponding page in the <i>Antiphonale.</i></p><p>In essence, if you want to sing the Office, <a href="https://learnbenoffice3.blogspot.com/2018/01/learn-office-27-psalms-pt-3-singing.html">the <i>Antiphonale</i></a> gives you the chants for the fixed parts of the hours, hymns, antiphons and so forth. </p><p>When it comes to the psalm though, it just tells you which of the several psalm tones and many endings for those tones to use - you then have to apply that psalm tone to the particular psalm being said, and the <i>Antiphonale</i> doesn't give you any help with this. This book fills that gap. </p><p>It therefore includes a complete version of the psalms of the psalter section of the <i>Antiphonale</i>, along with a selection of other psalms needed for particular feasts (such as Christmas, the Triduum, Commons, and so forth).</p><p>So if you want to sing Prime on Monday for example, you go to page 1 of the <i>Antiphonale</i> for the hymn, antiphon and other texts, but then turn to the Psalterium for the pointed versions of the psalms.</p><p><b>Universal psalm pointing</b></p><p>There is, it has to be said, a bit of a learning curve involved in the particular system (universal psalm pointing) used in this book, but the learning curve is not a steep one, and once mastered, it is extremely powerful tool indeed.</p></div><div><div>In general, psalm pointing provides a series of cues (such as bolding and italics) in the text of the verses of the psalm that tell you when to change note for each of psalm chant tones and endings (there are eight basic tones, but several others used at various times in the monastic office, and each chant tone can have a number of different endings).</div><div><br /></div><div>Most traditional Office books offering pointed psalms (such as the Liber Usualis and assorted older Benedictine books for Vespers) point the psalms for each chant tone and ending individually. Indeed, there are a couple of <a href="https://bbloomf.github.io/jgabc/psalmtone.html">excellent psalm tone generators</a> available online that will automatically generate pointed psalms for any particular psalm tone and ending variant that I've long relied on.</div><div><p>This book, however, lets us in on something entirely new to me at least - what appears to be some 'secret monk business' (possibly secret newer office business, in which case this is a wonderful case of 'mutually enrichment!) - namely a 'universal' pointing system that provides one set of pointing for a verse that can be used to sing all of the different psalm tones and endings.</p><p>The system uses four different cues - bolding, italics, upper case and a circumflex (^) - but which ones you pay attention to and how depends on the particular psalm tone and ending of the psalm being sung.</p><p>The monks have put up an explanation of the system on their website - I hope though, that a version of this will be included in the next edition of the book, as it is not self-evident, and I haven't been able to find anything online that explains the system (or even much that mentions its existence!).</p><p><b>How it works</b></p><p>Consider for example, the first verse of Psalm 1 as it appears in the new Psalter:</p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Beátus vir, qui non ábiit in consílio impiórum, † et in via pecca<b>tô</b>rum non <b>ste</b>tit, * et in cáthedra
pestilén<i>t</i>i<b>âe</b> non <b>se</b>dit :</span></p><p><span>To use the universal pointing, you need a key which tells you which of the markings in the psalm to take note of, and how.</span></p><p><span>For the first half of the psalm (up to the asterix), for example, the flex indicated by the dagger sign aside, some psalm tones (I, III, VII and tonus irregularis) have two change points from the reciting note, so you change on the two bolded syllables. </span></p><p><span>For a second group of psalm tones (II and V), the change note occurs at the second bolded syllable, so you simply ignore the first bold.</span></p><p><span>For tones IV and VI, the note change occurs two syllables before the second bolded syllable, while in the Tonus Peregrinus, you change on the syllable with the cirumflex.</span></p><p>A similar set of cues for each tone is used for the second half of the psalm.</p><p><b>Easy to use</b></p><p>That might all sound a bit complicated, but in fact provided you have <a href="https://www.glastonburymonastery.co.uk/_files/ugd/25b14e_589c17bd854c4a3d88439648e804034d.pdf">the key to the psalm tones </a> you want to sing, I have found that with a bit of practice, it is actually fairly straightforward to use.</p><p>Some of the psalm tones are much easier than others in the universal system (counting back a syllable or two from bolded syllables, for example, takes more effort than simply changing on the relevant symbol).</p><p>But after testing it out for a few of the hours, I've found that it quickly becomes normal and with time would become automatic.</p><p><b>The power of the system</b></p><p>And the learning time you put in upfront is worth it for the incredible power of the system: instead of having to leaf through several pages of a book or print out a separate page for each of the ten main chant tones and thirty eight or so possible endings, one set of pointing in combination with the key for each tone will do the job.</p><p>That certainly makes it worth the effort to learn the system.</p><p>It also means that this book can be a relatively small, relatively slim volume, instead of a massive tome like the Liber Usualis!</p><p><b>Singing the Office</b></p><p>Psalm pointing, I would suggest, is important for all levels of those who sing the Office, from absolute beginner to seasoned monk or nun, so I strongly urge you to buy it.</p><p>Psalm pointing is pretty much essential for absolute beginners learning to sing the psalms in chant.</p><p>But it is also extremely helpful for the more advanced singer, particularly for days where the standard antiphons (and thus chant tones) are not used, such as feasts and in particular seasons; and useful even to those who know the psalms and psalm tones very well indeed, as a way of avoiding those inevitable slipups that occur from time to time.</p><p>It will be particularly useful for monastic communities.</p><p>The book also contains, by way of introduction, the relevant sections of the Rule of St Benedict in Latin) dealing with the office, a useful reminder that the version of the Office being used is one that actually follows the Rule rather than more recent experimentation; as well as a longer version of the psalm tones and endings.</p><p>I highly recommend buying this, the Chavagnes (Glastonbury) monks have done a great service for us all here.</p></div></div></div></div></div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-52340265121143479092023-12-07T11:29:00.004+11:002023-12-16T15:47:35.893+11:00The feast of St Ambrose and the recycling of responsories (Responsories Pt 4)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/AmbroseOfMilan_(cropped).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="306" height="336" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/AmbroseOfMilan_(cropped).jpg" width="306" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Late antique mosaic in St.Ambrogio church in Milan<br />Source: Wiki commons</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>St Ambrose</b><p></p><p>Today is the feast of St Ambrose, a wonderful saint, who Pope Benedict XVI, in a General Audience you can read <a href="https://saintsshallarise.blogspot.com/2016/12/december-7-st-ambrose-class-iii.html">here</a> credited with the introduction of lectio divina to the West.</p><p>One of his key works to this end is his commentary on Psalm 118, which has as its base a translation and adaption of Origen's (now lost except in the form of catena extracts) commentary on the longest of the psalms, which had also been translated into Latin (with some amendments) independently by St Hilary of Poitiers a few decades earlier. </p><p>St Ambrose's commentary though, is some four times larger than St Hilary's version, expanded by instruction on lectio divina; its links to contemplation through an embedded commentary on the Song of Songs; as well as an extended discussion of humility that may have influenced the ordering of the twelve steps of humility in the Rule as well as the organisation of Psalm 118 in the Benedictine Office (1). </p><p><b>The responsories and memory</b></p><p>I hope to come back to St Ambrose's influence on St Benedict in due course, but today I want to continue my discussion of the responsory repertoire of Matins, picking up from the point I made yesterday about it being a largely oral repertoire for several centuries.</p><p>One of the key questions for the responsories is, what strategies did monks use to maintain the repertoire?</p><p><i>Memorising</i></p><p>Most people's memories in late antiquity were, of course, much better trained than ours. Monks for example, were expected to memorise the entire psalter and be able to sing it from memory. </p><p>But then as now, some found it much easier to do than others. There are two nice saint's stories that draw out just how major an undertaking this could be. Many monks could learn the psalter in a year or so. St Alexander the Sleepless, however, a Syrian monk who eventually ended up in Constantinople, and famous for the perpetual liturgy he established there, which involved shifts of monks, apparently took seven years to learn the psalter, because, his biographer tells us, he insisted on knowing their meanings as he learnt them (2).</p><p>Similarly, when the seventh century Northumbrian monk (later bishop) St Wilfrid decided to make a pilgrimage to Rome, he first headed for Kent, where he spent a year relearning the psalter according to the version in use in Rome, as he had previously learnt St Jerome's other translation (3).</p><p><i>Collective memory</i></p><p>Even with this effort though, it is unlikely that all monks learnt all of the responsories.</p><p>Monks generally learned large chunks of Scripture by heart for example, but some early sources suggest that different monks in a community would learn different sections of Scripture, and then would be responsible for those particular readings in the Office. Over time of course, greater availability of books, certainly implied by St Benedict's Rule, probably reduced the need for this. But something similar could well have occurred with responsories, with different monks responsible for maintaining different parts of the repertoire.</p><p>The other key factor in their maintenance though, was the repurposing of responsories for different feasts and occasions.</p><p><b>'Stock' responsories (1) The saints</b></p><p>For feasts like today's of St Ambrose, for example, there are actually no responsories specific to the saint in the Roman or Benedictine Offices even today. Instead, the responsories linked to the feast are those of the 'Common of a confessor bishop and doctor'.</p><p>Similarly, two of today's 'Advent' responsories actually are actually also used on the feast of the Annunciation, possibly remnants of the original placement of this feast before Christmas rather than in March.</p><p>This practice of reusing responsories for different feasts is nicely attested to by a ninth century antiphoner from Prüm dating from the 860s which represents the earliest surviving Benedictine antiphoner, and which Todd Mattingly has argued is derived from a now lost exemplar that was intended to serve as a kind of how to say the Benedictine (rather than Roman) Office starter-kit, including where to source the additional responsories needed, such as from the various Commons (4).</p><p><i>Properization?</i></p><p>And unlike the Mass, where 'properization' (fixing of texts to particular feasts) seems to have largely finalised by at least the eighth century (and probably a lot earlier for many days), there seems to have been a great deal more flexibility around which responsories were used and when until quite late, probably reflecting that earlier reliance on memory and perhaps dependence on the availability of particular singers for particular chants.</p><p>The late tenth century Hartker MSS, for example, gives a choice of fourteen different responsories for the common of a confessor, for example, two more than could ever be needed. By contrast, it only lists three responsories for the feast of All Saints. That doesn't mean that only three responsories were said however - even in the 1960 version, the feast has only two unique responsories; the rest are drawn from the feasts of various saints and from the commons.</p><p>All of this has important implications for the history of the Office, not least because several historians have pointed to the lack of a sufficient number of responsories in early antiphoners as a key plank for their claims that the Benedictine Office was not said in Gaul or Anglo-Saxon England until the tenth century, and that the Carolingian reforms aimed at imposing the Rule and Office on all monks were probably never fully implemented in practice (5).</p><p>But more on this anon.</p><p><b>Missus est angelus</b></p><p>In the meantime, enjoy this version of one of today's responsories, also used for the feast of the Annunciation:<br /></p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Missus est / Gábriel Angelus ad Maríam Vírginem desponsátam Ioseph, † núntians ei verbum; et expavéscit Virgo de lúmine: † ne tímeas, María, invenísti grátiam apud Dóminum: * Ecce concípies, et páries, † et vocábitur Altíssimi Fílius.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Dabit ei Dóminus Deus sedem David, patris eius, et regnábit in domo Iacob in ætérnum.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="FR" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 12pt;"> Ecce concípies, et páries, † et vocábitur Altíssimi Fílius.<o:p></o:p></span></div></td><td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 233.75pt;" valign="top" width="312"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> The Angel Gabriel was sent to Mary, a Virgin espoused to Joseph, to bring unto her the word of the Lord, and when the Virgin saw the light, she was afraid. Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace from the Lord. * Behold, thou shalt conceive and bring forth a son, and He shall be called the Son of the Highest.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bring forth a son, and He shall be called the Son of the Highest.</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d_kwSmqYfs4?si=TG16Y495jIeDP6Ek" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><p>You can find a copy of the chant setting <a href="https://nocturnale.marteo.fr/chant/0325N1R1/">here.</a></p><p><b>Notes</b></p><p>1. For a discussion of the differences between Hilary and Ambrose's translations, with comparisons to the Palestinian catena, see Isabella Image, The Human Condition in Hilary of Poitiers The Will and Original Sin between Origen and Augustine, Oxford, 2017.</p><p>2. Translations of the Life of St Alexander the Sleepless can be found in Daniel Caner, Wandering, Begging Monks Spiritual Authority and the Promotion of Monasticism in Late Antiquity, University of California Press, 2002, pp 250 - 280 and Jean-marie Baguendard (trans), Les Moines acémètes, Vies des Saints Alexandre, Marcel et Jean Calybite, Bellefintaine, 1988.</p><p>3. Eddius Stephanus, Life of Wilfrid. A translation by J F Webb is available in Penguin under the title the Age of Bede. It is not clear that Wilfrid needed the entire year to relearn the psalter - his hagiographer claims he was held up in Kent in part by the need to find a satisfactory escort and obtain royal permission for his departure. But as Susan Rankin pointed out in 'Singing the Psalter in the Early Middle Ages' (in Daniel J Di Censo and Rebecca Maloy eds, Chant, Liturgy and the Inheritance of Rome Essays in Honour of Joseph Dyer, London 2017), it was not simply a matter of learning the variant texts, but also absorbing differences in how the psalms were divided into verses and sub-divided for pause places.</p><p>4. Todd Matthew Mattingly, "Trier Stadtbibliothek 1245/597:A Ninth-Century Antiphoner and the Conciliar Origins of the Monastic Office", paper given at the Leeds Medieval Congress, July 2014.</p><p>5. Anne Walters Robertson, The Service-Books of the Royal Abbey of Saint-Denis Images of Ritual and Music in the Middle Ages, Oxford, 1991; Jesse Billett, The Divine Office in Anglo-Saxon England, 597-c.1000. London: Henry Bradshaw Society, 2014.</p>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-41279936634490799962023-12-06T10:05:00.004+11:002023-12-16T15:47:10.041+11:00Advent responsory: The shut gate and Our Lady's perpetual virginity (Responsories Pt 3)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg43psRXQwWpt6t0OG4oJUiG0zxXGG9cEdzwT9t8-KebMOe2x4S5ap_mxp1MEt0JMl8B02Zfn6YSNYqoj4fYUpssz9iK1uYAFpD7WhZfdTD7Ptw3y8AIt7eCdJ29iyzr55PnX5JrIaeO3y39ErOiZH53RhLX5xTUFcvVrDanklo0SiSKb6K1FSUkr3_qmY" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img data-original-height="728" data-original-width="415" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg43psRXQwWpt6t0OG4oJUiG0zxXGG9cEdzwT9t8-KebMOe2x4S5ap_mxp1MEt0JMl8B02Zfn6YSNYqoj4fYUpssz9iK1uYAFpD7WhZfdTD7Ptw3y8AIt7eCdJ29iyzr55PnX5JrIaeO3y39ErOiZH53RhLX5xTUFcvVrDanklo0SiSKb6K1FSUkr3_qmY=w365-h640" width="365" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="https://gregobase.selapa.net/chant.php?id=13361">Gregobase</a> </td></tr></tbody></table><br />I want to continue today, my series on the Matins responsories with a look at the second responsory for Tuesday in weeks I&II of Advent, Ante multum tempus, which offers a nice example of the use of responsories as keys to interpretation of the Scriptural texts. I also want to provide the first of a few posts looking at the history of the repertoire.<div><br /></div><div><b>Ante multum tempus</b><br /><div><p>Here is the text of the responsory, laid out as it is sung. </p><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="background: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"> Ante / multum tempus prophetávit Ezéchiel: Vidi portam clausam; † ecce Deus ante sæcula ex ea procedébat pro salúte mundi: * Et erat íterum clausa, demónstrans Vírginem, † quia post partum permánsit virgo.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"> Porta quam vidísti, Dóminus solus transíbit per illam.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"> Et erat íterum clausa, demónstrans Vírginem, † quia post partum permánsit virgo.<o:p></o:p></span></div></td><td style="border: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"> A long time ago, said Ezekiel the Prophet, I saw the gate shut: behold, God went forth from it before the ages for the salvation of the world. * And it was shut again, for it is a figure of the Virgin, in that after childbirth she remained a Virgin still.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;">The Lord alone shall enter by the gate that thou savest.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-size: 12pt;"> And it was shut again, for it is a figure of the Virgin, in that after childbirth she remained a Virgin still.</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The text of both the respond and the verse is based on Ezekiel 44:1-2, though with some obvious non-Scriptural glossing in the second part of the respond. </p><p>Here are the relevant verses from Ezekiel, with some of the verbal allusions to the responsory text highlighted:</p></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div><p style="text-align: left;">Et convertit me ad viam portæ sanctuarii exterioris, quæ respiciebat ad orientem: et erat clausa. 2 Et dixit Dominus ad me: <b>Porta hæc clausa erit</b>: <b>non aperietur</b>, et <b>vir non transibit per eam,</b> quoniam <b>Dominus Deus Israël ingressus est per eam</b>: eritque clausa principi. Princeps ipse sedebit in ea, ut comedat panem coram Domino: per viam portæ vestibuli ingredietur, et per viam ejus egredietur.</p></div></div></blockquote><div><p>And the Vulgate translation:</p></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p style="text-align: left;">Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.</p></div></blockquote><div><p>The interpretation of the text provided by the responsory is very conventional, reflecting a long line of exegesis on Ezekiel's text as references to Our Lady's perpetual virginity that can be found in St Ambrose, St Augustine and many other Fathers.</p><p>The doctrine itself, though, was formally defined at the Lateran Council of 649, and there is at least one other Advent responsory (which I'll come to, <i>Bethlehem civitas</i>) that may have come into the repertoire at this time to reflect that.</p><p><b>The history of responsories: oral transmission</b></p><p>You can find the chant for it at the top of the post, but it is worth keeping in mind that up until the tenth century (or thereabouts), as far as we know, the transmission of the responsory (and other) chants was entirely oral.</p><p>There are a few early sources that preserve the texts of responsories in different (mostly non-Roman, at least for the earliest sources) traditions, and rather more that just provide the initial words of the responsory (incipit) for the relevant season or feast, but the melodies associated with them had to be committed to memory and passed down through generations of singers.</p><p>The transmission process could be fragile at times and places: if almost the entire body of monks was wiped out by illness (as happened during St Bede the Venerable's childhood at Wearmouth-Jarrow), invasions or other factors, the sources might have to be reimported from outside.</p><p>That oral traditions could be preserved faithfully over relatively long periods, though, is attested to by the similarities in many chants from quite diverse regions when they were finally written down. </p><p>It represents an extraordinary achievement, particularly given that the responsory repertoire is far larger than that of Mass propers. </p><p>It has been estimated that in the seventh century, for example, there were around 200 responsories in use; the late tenth/early eleventh century (monastic) Hartker Manuscript contains around 600 responsories (annotated with neumes); but by the high middle ages the number had expanded to over 2000. By way of comparison, the 1963 breviary contains around 800 responsories.</p><p><b>A Benedictine link...</b></p><p>Today's particular responsory, Ante multum tempus, doesn't appear in all that many manuscripts - the Cantus database lists only sixteen, most of them allocating it to the Third Sunday of Advent. </p><p>Nor does it appear in the Old Roman manuscripts (which are thought to represent seventh century Roman practice). </p><p>It does, however, appear in one that has many similarities to them, suggesting it may date from the same period, and appears in a manuscript written in Rome in the eleventh century preserved in the Biblioteca Vallicelliana, C.5.</p><p>This particular manuscript was used until 1219 by the Benedictine nuns of San Sisto on the Via Appia. It was then taken to the (by then Benedictine) Monastery of Sant' Eutizio in Norcia, near St Benedict's birthplace. That monastery was originally founded in the fifth century by Abbot Spes and <a href="https://citydesert.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/the-desert-in-central-italy-the-thebaide-of-umbria/">St Eutychius</a>, both monks (along with other hermits who settled near Norcia around this time whom St Benedict may well have known) displaced from Syria by heresies there, mentioned in Book III of St Gregory's Dialogues (ch 38). </p></div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16185910560920602.post-23042215485605593792023-12-05T11:36:00.008+11:002023-12-16T15:46:41.710+11:00Advent reflections: Drop down, ye heavens, from above (Responsories Pt 2)<div>I want to continue my series today, on the wonderful Matins repertoire of responsories, important both as a source for meditation and aid to Scriptural interpretation; but also as a source for insights on the early history of the Office.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today, apart from looking at the responsory itself, a bit of background on their structure.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The responsories for meditation and reflection</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Although I'm a keen advocate for monasteries reviving the Matins responsories where possible in chant (or polyphonic) settings, I should note that even if you just read them in text form outside of the Office, or sing them on one note in the context of the Office, I still think they have great value.<br /><br />In particular, many of these texts preserve key theological concepts and themes that help us understand the meaning of the season, feast or bible book. </div><div><br /></div><div>Accordingly today and tomorrow I want to take a quick look at a couple of responsories for which I can't locate a recording. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>A responsory for Tuesday in the first week of Advent: Montes Israel</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Today's responsory is the first of the responsories set for Tuesday in week one and two of Advent, Montes Israel, also used on the Fourth Sunday of Advent.</div><div><br /></div><div>First of all, here's the text as it is said, with a translation:</div><div><br /></div><div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="ES" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="color: black;">Montes / Israël, ramos vestros expándite, † et floréte, et fructus fácite: * Prope est ut véniat dies Dómini.</span></span><span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="ES" style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V. </span><span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black;">Roráte, cæli, désuper, et nubes pluant iustum: † aperiátur terra, et gérminet Salvatórem.</span></span><span lang="ES" style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="color: black;">Prope est ut véniat dies Dómini.</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></td><td style="border: none; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 258.625px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> O ye mountains of Israel, shoot forth your branches and blossom and bring forth fruit. * The day of the Lord is at hand to come.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">V.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down the Righteous One let the earth open, and let her bring forth the Saviour.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: red; font-size: 12pt;">R.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> The day of the Lord is at hand to come.</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div>First, a bit of background. The responsory, it should be noted is sung immediately after each reading of the day at Matins, 'respond' in some sense to the (ever changing) readings.</div><div><br /></div><div>Although there are far fewer responsories than readings (typically the same set of up to eleven responsories is used from periods between a week and a month or more while the same book or set of books of the Bible is being read), in most cases the link between the responsory and the readings is fairly obvious, drawing us back to key overarching themes in the book being read, the season, or feast.</div><div><br /></div><div>For most of the year, the texts of the respond are typically drawn from the Scriptural books being read (in December, the Matins readings are mostly from Isaiah), while the verses that then comment on it may be from the same or another biblical book, the psalms, or non-Scriptural sources.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The mountain of God in Ezekiel</b></div><div><br /></div><div>The 'respond' section (marked R.), in this case is 'O ye mountains of Israel, shoot forth your branches, bloom and bring forth fruit, for the day of the Lord is at hand' and is sung to a composed melody specific to the responsory.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>As for a few other Advent responsories, today's text comes from Ezekiel (36:8), though like most responsory texts, has been adapted somewhat. The book of Ezekiel was actually read in November rather December, so its use may possibly be a remnant of the original rather longer duration of Advent in Rome. </div><div><br /></div><div>That theory gains some weight from the fact that it appears in the two 'Old Roman' manuscript sources, thought to preserve the seventh century Roman Office (as well as multiple other sources: the cantus database lists 82 manuscript sources for it).</div><div><br /></div><div>Either way, it is worth looking also at the verses that comes after the respond text in Ezekiel, as it helps us understand the meaning of the responsory:</div><div> </div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div style="text-align: left;"> But you, mountains of Israel, must burgeon anew, and grow fruit for my own people to enjoy; their home-coming is not far off now. Watch for me, I am coming back to you; soil of you shall be ploughed and sown anew; and men, too, shall thrive on it, Israel’s full muster-roll, peopling the cities, restoring the ruins. (Knox translation)</div></div></blockquote><div><div><br /></div><div>Although the Advent responsories have arguably been selected mainly for their connection to Advent themes rather than to the book of Isaiah (which is read through December) per se, today's text does actually link quite directly (whether by accident or design), with the first reading for today from Isaiah, which is:</div><div><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div><div style="text-align: left;">The word that Isaias the son of Amos saw, concerning Juda and Jerusalem.<b> And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains,</b> and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go, and say: Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths:<b> for the law shall come forth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.</b></div></div></div></blockquote><div><div><br /></div><div><b>The verse - Rorate caeli</b></div><div><br /></div><div>In terms of the standard structure of responsories, the respond is followed by a verse (marked V.) in the text for today above, which is normally sung on a more or less fixed psalm tone varying according to the mode of the respond, which is then followed by a repeat of the second half of the respond.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are some variants on this basic pattern - Aspiciens a longe, which I posted on previously, for example, is not alone in having more than one verse, and in some cases the repeated sections start from different places, but these are rare in the modern breviary at least.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today's verse, Rorate caeli de super, is actually does come from Isaiah (45:8), and is probably best known in its hymn form. There are, however, many different settings of it both in responsory form (including as a respond), antiphon and more.</div></div>
<div><br /></div><iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/f06qdhO_sEY?si=mcAbB0R8r_ll0gsy" style="background-image: url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/f06qdhO_sEY/hqdefault.jpg);" width="480"></iframe>
<div><br /></div><div>And for those interested in the chant version of the responsory, here it is:</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbpI0SlW0pSvRgWOt6VsTfUWmTy8eF7CvlGpR7U4YqNG-9XXeDqKLOignVnRB8u7j3lq2ZeAvgSNU8nPWeDktcXbcgIyNj6RaSs7nW8-WhKivL8x-89BhRb4YC1Ip5lUr6iAy-JdWMDqlELMY0g8Zovg0wofOzQrfeV2hQQlZk8LosP-WhymU0GWo5wQo" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img data-original-height="513" data-original-width="415" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjbpI0SlW0pSvRgWOt6VsTfUWmTy8eF7CvlGpR7U4YqNG-9XXeDqKLOignVnRB8u7j3lq2ZeAvgSNU8nPWeDktcXbcgIyNj6RaSs7nW8-WhKivL8x-89BhRb4YC1Ip5lUr6iAy-JdWMDqlELMY0g8Zovg0wofOzQrfeV2hQQlZk8LosP-WhymU0GWo5wQo=w517-h640" width="517" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Source: Stanhofe Nocturnale Romanum, via Gregobase</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />You can find an alternative version of the chant <a href="http://gregofacsimil.free.fr/01-Restitution/Repons/Repons-en-pdf/supplement/01-Dom-I-Adv/13-Montes-Israel.pdf">here.</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Kate Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01000040465724868745noreply@blogger.com0