Quick reference guide - Advent week days to December 16

 

Matins

 

Opening as usual (Domine labia mea aperies…)

Psalm 3

Invitatory antiphon for Advent (MB 14), Regem venturum Dominum with Ps 94

Hymn for Advent: Verbum supernum prodiens

Nocturn I: psalms and antiphons of the day

Versicles for Advent, MB 14

3 readings and responsories (for the particular day and week of Advent)

Nocturn II: psalms and antiphons of the day

Chapter and versicle for Advent

Closing prayers

 

Lauds

 

Opening prayers and invitatory psalms as usual

Psalms and antiphons of the day (up until 17 December)

Chapter, responsory and hymn for Advent, MD 9*

Canticle antiphon for the day and week of Advent

Collect of the previous Sunday, MD 11*

 

Prime

 

Opening prayers

Antiphon for week of Advent: Week I (Iucundare/Be glad), MD 13*

Psalms of day

Chapter, versicle and closing prayers as usual

 

Terce

 

Opening prayer and hymn as usual;

Antiphons for the week of Advent (Week I, Urbs/Sion), MD 13*;

Psalms for day;

Chapter and versicle for Advent, MD 14* or psalter;

Closing prayers as usual;

Collect of the week, MD 11*

 

Sext

 

Opening prayer and hymn as usual;

Antiphons for the week of Advent (Week I, Ecce/Behold), MD 14*;

Psalms for day;

Chapter and versicle for Advent, MD 14* or psalter;

Closing prayers as usual;

Collect of the week, MD 11*

 

None

 

Opening prayer and hymn as usual;

Antiphons for the week of Advent (Week I, Ecce/Behold), MD 15*;

Psalms for day;

Chapter and versicle for Advent, MD 15* or psalter;

Closing prayers as usual;

Collect of the week, MD 11*

 

Vespers

 

Opening prayers as usual

Psalms and antiphons of the psalter

Chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle of Advent, MD 15*- 17*

Magnificat antiphon for the day and week of Advent/Magnificat

 

Compline

 

Starts MD 25

Marian Antiphon: Alma Redemptoris Mater, MD 265

Quick Reference Guide for the daily Office - Sundays in Advent up to the Third Sunday

 For those wanting the page numbers for the 'Ordinary' texts...

Sunday Matins

Not found in the Diurnal, refer to the Monastic Breviary.

Note:

Invitatory antiphon: from Sunday I to Sunday III Regem venturum

                                From Sunday III to 23 December, Prope est

Hymn: Verbum supernum

Nocturns I&II: Antiphons of Advent, readings and responsories of the Sunday of Advent

Nocturn III: Canticles of Advent

Sunday Lauds (at first light)

• Starts MD 37;
• Psalm schema 1: Psalms 50, 117, (jump over 92, 99), 62, then canticle, Psalms 148-150;
• Antiphons, chapter, hymn (Vox clara), versicle and Benedictus antiphon and collect of [the Sunday of] Advent

Sunday Prime (early morning)

• Starts  MD 146;
• Antiphon is the first antiphon of Lauds of the Sunday
• Concluding prayers MD 8;
• Note that the ‘Capitular Office’ said in monasteries (including the reading of the Rule and the Martyrology) is not included in the Diurnal.

Sunday Terce (mid-morning)

• Opening prayers MD 151;
• Hymn Nunc Sancte MD 151;
• Antiphon (said before and after psalms) is the second antiphon of Lauds;
• Psalms MD 152-154;
• Chapter from Lauds
• Versicle for the Sunday; 
• Closing prayers as at MD 154 (from Kyrie);
• Collect for the particular Sunday.

Sunday Sext (noon)

• Starts  MD 155;
• Antiphon 3 of Lauds
• Chapter and versicle of the particular Sunday
• Collect set for the particular Sunday.

Sunday None (mid-afternoon)

• Starts MD 159;
• Antiphon 5 of Lauds
• Chapter and versicle of the Sunday
• Collect set for the particular Sunday.

Sunday Vespers (evening)

• Starts MD 203 (opening prayer as on MD 1);
• Antiphons as for I Vespers of the particular Sunday;
• Sunday psalms
• Chapter, responsory and hymn as for I Vespers
• Antiphon for the Magnificat (MD 209) for II Vespers of the Sunday
• Concluding prayers MD 210-11 with collect of the Sunday (or feast)

Sunday Compline (before bed)

• Starts MD 257;
• Marian antiphon: Alma Redemptoris Mater, MD 265

Notes on the Office: Advent up to December 16

Advent starts this coming week, and is a particularly challenging time in the Office.

Where to put your ribbons....

the first thing to do to prepare is make sure you have your ribbons properly positioned!

In particular, you need to keep one ribbon on:

• the Ordinary of Advent (in the Proper of the Season section at the front of the Diurnal) for the relevant hour;
• the collect of the week (unless displaced by a saints feast or Ember Day); 
• the page for the canticle antiphons of the day of the Advent week at Lauds and Vespers;
• the saints section of your book; and
• the relevant parts of the psalter section of your book for the particular hour you are saying.

Key things to remember

On Sundays there are ‘proper’ texts for all hours, set out in the Proper of the Season (temporale) section of the Farnborough edition of the Monastic Diurnal (MD) or Breviary (MB) for the relevant Sunday.

Remember that at Lauds and Vespers, the chapters, hymns and other texts in the psalter section of your book are replaced by those for the season.  

And at Prime to None, the antiphons are of the week of Advent (ie the first, second, third and fifth antiphons of the previous Sunday's Lauds).

On feast days, a commemoration of Advent, consisting of the canticle antiphon (of the Advent day), versicle (of the season) and collect of the Advent week (in that order), is normally made at both Lauds and Vespers.

Getting ready for Advent - The Office in Advent

Advent starts this weekend, so I thought a quick run through some key features of the season might be in order.

The eight days before Christmas

Although Christmas was celebrated quite early in Rome, it was originally Epiphany, and not Christmas that seems to have been regarded as the more important feast.

All the same, a lead up week to Christmas was added by at least the sixth century, featuring the use of the Ó antiphons' (sung with the Magnificat) each day.

Each of the texts refers to key prophesies of Christ, mostly from Isaiah.  There is, however, another level to them, as they have been arranged so that if you work backwards, the first letter of each one together forms two words, viz Ero Cras, or tomorrow I will come.

During this most intense period of Advent, there are special sets of antiphons for the psalms for each day of the week, as well as Benedictus antiphons at Lauds specific to December 21 and 23.

Christmas also has a Vigil attached to it, like many of the greater (and older feasts).

The three (or four) weeks of Advent

At some point though (and just when is a matter of some debate), the season of Advent was extended back to start on the Sunday nearest to 30 November.

Each of the four weeks of Advent (though the fourth, as this year, sometimes only consists of the Sunday itself) has a special set of antiphons for the psalms, which are used at Saturday Vespers (I Vespers of Sunday), Sunday Lauds, and then throughout the week at Prime to None.

The season also has its own hymns, short responsory and versicle at Lauds and Vespers which replace those in the psalter section of your Office book), as well as special canticle antiphons each day, to be found in the temporale, or óf time' section of your Diurnal or other book.

Unlike Lent though, the collect is usually that of the Sunday (except for the three Émber days' and of course on any feasts),

Ribbons at the ready!

The key trick to saying the Office during Advent is to remember that you need to keep track of, and keep a ribbon on:

• the normal texts used at each hour' (psalter section of the book);
• the fixed texts that displace some of the normal parts of the hours used throughout Advent, particularly at Lauds and Vespers (the Ordinary of Advent);
• the particular week of Advent, as well as what day in that week it is (antiphons for the little hours, canticle antiphons for each day, collect); 
• texts used on particular dates, from December 17 onwards (canticle antiphons); and
• texts used on particular days of the week from December 17 onwards (antiphons for the psalms for use on Monday, Tuesday, etc).

The Ordo provided here should help with all that though!

Brush up your rubrics for Advent - The canticle antiphons and collects in Advent

In the previous part of this series I talked about how the canticle antiphons and collects usually work; today I want to work on the canticle antiphons and collects of Advent.

Advent days and dates

The first thing you need to know is that during Advent, the antiphons for the Benedictus at Lauds and the Magnificat at Vespers are different each day, being either of the Advent day (eg Monday in the First week of Advent, Tuesday in the first week of Advent, etc) or of the date (unless, of course, displaced by a feast).

The trick is that between December 17 and 23, the Lauds canticle is generally (subject to two key exceptions) of the Advent day (not date), while the Vespers canticles of the Advent day are displaced by those of the date (viz the O antiphons).

So this year (2017) for example, at Lauds on Monday 18 November, the canticle is of Monday in the Third Week of Advent (Egredietur virga).

The O antiphons

At Vespers, however, you have to ignore the Magnificat antiphon set down for the Monday in the third week in your book and instead use the O antiphon of the date, O Adonai.

• The Great O's as they are known, can be found in the Diurnal on page 35-6*, or in the Antiphonale on page 208-11.  In other books, look after the Third Sunday of Advent.

The O antiphons are ancient indeed, known to St Benedict's contemporary Boethius, and all have essentially the same melody, so are easy to learn, and there are numerous recordings of them available on youtube.

Lauds canticles

Although Lauds mostly sticks to canticles of the Advent day, it does have some canticles of the date as well, namely for December 21 (Nolite Timere, used in the commemoration of the day as it is the feast of St Thomas) and December 23 (Ecce completa).

The table below summarises the source of the canticles between December 17 and the end of Advent - and of course don't forget that the first word of the O antiphons working backwards spells out Ero Cras - tomorrow I will come!

	Lauds	Vespers
Dec 17	Of the Advent day (2017: Third Sunday of Advent)	O Sapientia
Dec 18	Of the Advent day (2017: Monday in the third week of Advent)	O Adonai
Dec 19	Of the Advent day (2017: Tuesday wk III)	O Radix Iesse
Dec 20	Of the Advent day (2017: Ember Wednesday of Advent)	O Clavis David
Dec 21	Of the Advent day (St Thomas – for the commemoration of the Advent Day, Nolite Timere)	O Oriens
Dec 22	Of the Advent day (2017: Ember Friday of Advent)	O Rex gentium
Dec 23	Of the date – Ecce completa est	O Emmanuel
Dec 24	Of the Vigil of the Nativity	Of I Vespers of the Nativity

The collects

The collects for Advent follow the normal pattern, generally being of the Sunday each week (except at Prime and Compline).

The key exception is the three Ember days (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in the third week of Advent), which each have their own collect.

Brush up your rubrics for Advent - The antiphons for the psalms Part II

In the last part of this series aimed at preparing for Advent I gave a bit of an overview on the antiphons, and ended on where to find them in your Office book.

Today I want to say a bit more about their use in general, as well as cover the antiphons for the particularly tricky period of Advent between December 17 and 23.

The Lauds antiphons as the core

The first thing to keep in mind not only for Advent, but also for feasts and seasons throughout the year is that 'core' set of antiphons are usually those for Lauds.

During the first part of Advent for example, the antiphons for Sunday Lauds are also used (omitting the fourth) at I Vespers of Sunday (ie Saturday Vespers) and at Prime to None.

So during the first week of Lent, the antiphon 'In illa die' is the first antiphon sung for Advent, at Saturday Vespers (MD 1*/AM 187), is repeated at Lauds (MD 4*), and then used at Prime throughout the week (MD 6*).

Which antiphon at which hour?

Office books will sometimes simply refer to you the antiphons of Lauds (or in the case of Prime, just expect you to know!), without spelling out which is for which hour. 

An important example of this is the antiphons used between December 17 and 23, which can be found on page 37* of the Monastic Diurnal, or page 212 of the Antiphonale Monasticum.

In these cases, the basic principle you need to remember is that on feasts and during Advent, the antiphon for Prime is the first antiphon of Lauds (either of the feast itself or from the Common of the type of feast or saint); the second antiphon of Lauds is used at Terce; the third antiphon of Lauds is used at Sext; and the fifth is used at None.  The table below provides a summary.

Hour of the Office	Antiphon for the hour	Notes
Prime	1st antiphon of Lauds	The antiphon is the only thing that changes at this hour for most feasts and seasons
Terce	2nd of Lauds	Chapter, versicle and collect (but not hymn or psalms) also change for seasons and feasts
Sext	3rd of Lauds
None	5th of Lauds
(Sunday) Vespers	1st of Lauds=1st of Vespers 2nd of Lauds=2nd of Vespers 3rd of Lauds=3rd of Vespers 5th of Lauds=4th of Vespers	Some feasts have their own sets of Vespers antiphons. Psalms and chapter, responsory and rest of texts other than canticle may change for feasts and seasons.
Compline	No antiphons used with psalms

The antiphons for December 17 to 23

The most important application of this during Advent is the special sets of antiphons for the day of the week during the second part of Advent.

As noted earlier, from December 17 onwards, Advent becomes much more intense, with antiphons for the day of the week.

In 2017, December 17 is a Sunday, so the antiphons are for the (Third) Sunday of Advent.  On Monday December 18, though, you use the set for Monday (or feria secunda in the Antiphonale or a breviary).

That means 'Ecce veniet Dominus' to start Lauds, Prime and Vespers.

Note that these antiphons are used with the normal psalms that are said on the particular day of the week.

Antiphons at weekday Lauds and Vespers during Advent

The other key point to note is that while Lauds and I&II Vespers of Sunday use the antiphons for the first week of Advent, on weekdays in the first part of Advent, the antiphons (and psalms) at Lauds and Vespers are just the usual ones used throughout the year.

It is only from December 17 onwards that the Advent psalms are used at all the hours.

Antiphons for Matins

For those who say Matins, there is one set of Advent antiphons, noted in the psalter, for use on Sundays during Advent; the normal antiphons are used on all other days.

Want to learn to sing the Advent antiphons by ear?

And for those wanting to sing the Office, a very useful resource to be aware of is the archive function of the site the Chant of Le Barroux - provided you know the date of the relevant feast from last year, you can retrieve many of the hours there.

So if you can't read music (or even if you can but want to check you are doing it correctly), just go to the recording for the relevant date last year (try here for the First Sunday of Advent in 2022) and go over it until you know the antiphons for the first week. 

Note however that Le Barroux generally sings the antiphons and psalms 'recto tono' at Lauds, so start with Vespers for this purpose.

Brush up your rubrics for Advent - The antiphons for the psalms, Part I

We are rapidly approaching the end of the liturgical year and thus approaching Advent, which is surely the most complicated period for the Office of the entire year.

Time to get ready!

Accordingly, I thought this might be a good time to do a little brush-up your rubrics series, with a particular emphasis on how to say the Office is during Advent.

This series is particularly aimed at those who are relatively new to the Office, but others may find it of use as well, by way of a refresher.

In particular, for those who want to follow along with the Le Barroux monks or sing the Office themselves, I have now added page references for the Antiphonale Monasticum to my Ordo notes.  So I thought it might also be helpful to make a few comments along the way about how to adapt that book to the 1960 (and Le Barroux variant) rubrics.

The antiphons - a brief introduction

Today I want to start looking at the antiphons for the psalms, the short refrain used at the beginning and end of each psalm or group of psalms.

St Benedict specifically mentions the use of antiphons in his description of the Office in his Rule, including the use of particular sets of antiphons for festivals, in a way that seems to make it pretty clear that he is talking of antiphons in the same way we use the term (and not just the psalms sung antiphonally).   The actual sets of antiphons for various feasts and seasons though, gradually expanded over the centuries as seasons and feasts were added or became more elaborated.

Singing the Office

The antiphons are particularly important musically, as their 'mode' determines the chant tone that the psalm is sung on.

If you take a look at page 3 of the psalter section of the Antiphonale Monasticum (from page 1 in Part I if you download it), for example, you will see annotations of 'VIII G' next to the start of the antiphon (incipit) for Monday Prime during the year (Feria Secunda ad Primam...In Feriis Officio per Annum, Antiphona).

That means that the psalms that follow (Psalms 1, 2&6) are sung to Tone 8.

Textual function

But their key textual function is to introduce and conclude the psalm, either by highlighting a particularly important verse in what is being sung, or by reminding us of an aspect of the feast or season.

For this reason, Advent has several sets of antiphons just for the season:

• one set of antiphons for Sunday Matins in the season of Advent to replace those used throughout the year; 
• a set of antiphons for each week of Advent, used at I Vespers of Sunday (Saturday), Sunday Lauds to Vespers, and Prime to None each day up until 16 December; and
• a set of antiphons for Lauds to Vespers for each day of the week used between December 17 and 23.

Finding the antiphons for Advent

For much of the year the antiphons used at each hour are included in the psalter section of your Diurnal, breviary, psalter or other Office book.

If you look again at page 3 of the Antiphonale for example, you will see that it provides the leads in to the antiphons for time throughout the year (Officio per annum), Lent (Tempore Quadragesimae), Passiontide and Easter (Tempore Paschale).   You can find the same selection of antiphons in the Monastic Diurnal at the start of its psalter section (MD  2-3 in the 2004 onwards editions).

For Advent though, with the exception of Sunday Matins (where the Advent antiphons are included in most books) because they change each week or day, they are found in the 'temporale' section of Office books, which provide the texts for the special seasons of the year.

Accordingly, your first bit of preparation for Advent is to make sure you can find the antiphons.  For the first part of Advent (up to and including December 16):

• in the Monastic Diurnal, look in the Proper of the Season section near the start of the book - the first page provides the antiphons for 1 Vespers of the First Sunday of Advent which are also used at Lauds (with the addition of the missing fourth antiphon, MD 4*), and then for subsequent weeks.  The antiphons for Prime to None for each week are also included in the Ordinary of the ferial office of Advent, MD 9* ff;
• in the Antiphonale Monasticum, the antiphons for the first Sunday of Advent (also used at I Vespers, viz Sabbato ante Dominicam I Adventus) are on AM (Part I of the download version) on page 187, with subsequent weeks following; 
• if you are using a breviary, make sure you have the right volume, and look for them in the temporale.  In the 1962 breviary the relevant section starts on page 3 and is headed Tempus Adventus;
• in the Psautier Monastique, the antiphons for Prime to None can be found in the Ordinary of Advent section, which starts on page 560.

Antiphonale shortcuts

And one final point - I noted earlier that on page 3 of the Antiphonale it provides just the 'incipits' of the Prime antiphons.  That is because in earlier versions of the Office, the antiphons were not always sung in full before the psalms.  In many cases, only the incipit was sung before; the full thing after. 

In the 1962 Office though, it was decided to restore what was almost certainly the original practice of singing the antiphon in full both before and after the psalm(s).  So if you are using the Antiphonale, in some cases you may need to turn over to the end of the psalms to find the full antiphon written out (unless of course you know them by heart and just use the incipits as a memory prompt).

The Great O's : O Emmanuel (December 23)

The Annunciation, by Jacopo Torriti, Santa Maria Maggiore.

At Lauds today, the Benedictus antiphon is of the date rather than the Advent day: it announces that all the things the angel promised to Our Lady have been fulfilled (Ecce completa sunt omnia, quae dicta sunt per Angelum de Virgine Maria).

At Vespers today, we enjoy the final O antiphon, O Emmanuel:

O Emmanuel, our King and our Law-giver, Longing of the Gentiles, yea, and Salvation thereof; come to save us, O Lord our God!

Let us pray therefore that all might be filled with the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom...

The Great Os: O Rex gentium (December 22)

Today's O antiphon is O Rex Gentium:

O King of the Gentiles, yea, and Desire thereof, O Cornerstone that makest of twain one; come to save man, whom thou hast made of the dust of the earth!

Pray therefore for the gift of piety - godliness -  so that all may acknowledge and truly serve our King.

The Great O's: O Oriens (December 21)

Today's O antiphon, O Oriens, is sung as part of the commemoration of the feria:

O Day-Spring, brightness of the everlasting Light, Sun of Righteousness; come, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death!

The antiphon reflects the prophesy of Isaiah 9:2

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined. Isaiah 9:2

We should pray then, for the gift of knowledge to illuminate us and guide our leaders.

December 21: St Thomas, Class II

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Great O's: O clavis David (December 20)

O Key of David, and Sceptre of the house of Israel that openest, and no man shutteth; and shuttest and no man openeth; come to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death!

The prophesies:

I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open. Isaiah 22:22

To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. Isaiah 42:7.

Let us then pray for the gift of fortitude for ourselves and our leaders, so that we may be lead out of prison and darkness at the proper time.

The Great O's: O Radix Iesse (December 19)

Today's O antiphon is O root of Jesse, a reference to the famous concept of the 'Jesse tree' that traces the ancestry of Jesus, and typically key events in salvation history, based on Isaiah 11:

And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root.  And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness.  And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. 

He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears. But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: land he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.  And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle of his reins.

The text of the antiphon itself is:

O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people, at whom the kings shall shut their mouths, to whom the Gentiles shall seek; come to deliver us, make no tarrying!

Let us therefore pray for the gift of counsel for ourselves and above all for our leaders, that they might discern and follow the path he has flagged, and not some other, and thus avoid judgment and condemnation at the last.

The Great O's: O Adonai (December 18)

Moses receives the law, c840

Today's O antiphon is O Adonai (Lord):

O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.

Perhaps we could pray especially today for all lawmakers and leaders, including those God is calling to step up to the plate, that they might respond to the graces given to them, and that they and we might be granted the gift of understanding.

The Great Os: December 17 and wisdom

St Hildegarde Scivias manuscript: Wisdom

From Saturday this week (December 17) the liturgy intensifies, with all days being Class II, and set antiphons used at Lauds to Vespers for each day of the week.

Rubrics reminder

The Office between December 17 and December 23 is at its most complex for the year, so just a quick reminder of the essentials:

• the psalms continue to be those used throughout the year for the appropriate day of the week  as normal (so  for December 17, of Saturday as set out in the psalter section of your Diurnal, or Breviary);
• the antiphons for the psalms from Lauds to Vespers are for the day of the week between December 17 and 23 (so for Saturday December 17, the first antiphon of Lauds, also used at Prime, is Intuemini, quam sit gloriosus iste) and can be found in the front of your Diurnal or Breviary (normally around the texts for week III of Advent depending on the edition);
• the chapters, versicles, hymns (at Lauds and Vespers) and responsories are from the Ordinary of Advent (front section of your Diurnal or Breviary, Propers of Time);
• the Benedictus antiphon at Lauds is either of the Advent day (ie Saturday in the third week of Advent, viz Quomodo fiet istud) or the date (in the case of December 23); and
• the Magnificat antiphon is the O antiphon set for the date.

The main exception to these rules is the feast of St Thomas on December 21.

O antiphon of the day

The highlight of this period is surely the singing of the 'O' antiphons at Vespers.

Tomorrow's is O Sapientia:

O Wisdom, that comest out of the mouth of the Most High, that reachest from one end to another, and dost mightily and sweetly order all things; come, to teach us the way of prudence!

You might want to consider using the O antiphons to pray for the sevenfold gifts of the spirit, both for ourselves and for our leaders each day.  In that light, pray then, not just for ourselves, but also that our leaders - secular and ecclesiastical - might be blessed with the gift of wisdom.

Truly I will come: The Great O's

The liturgy is becoming more intense in the lead up to Christmas.  This Sunday at Matins the invitatory antiphon has become 'The Lord is now near O come, let us adore Him'.

And from next Saturday we enter the most intense part of the liturgy in the lead up to Christmas, with daily sets of antiphons for the psalms from Lauds to Vespers, and special sets of canticle antiphons.

At Lauds, the Benedictus antiphons are mostly those of the day of the Advent week, but there are some reserved for particular dates.  At Vespers though, we sing the famous 'O Antiphons' which particular to the dates.

I'll post some notes on the liturgy each day once the O antiphons start, but as requested, herewith a short introduction.

An ancient tradition

Just how old the O antiphons are is not known, however they seem to have been known in sixth century Italy, given a reference to them by St Benedict's contemporary, St Boethius.   

At Fleury, famous (or infamous depending on your perspective!) for its raid on Monte Cassino to acquire the relics of SS Benedict and Scholastica circa 660, the antiphons were recited by the abbot and senior monks in descending rank, and then a gift was given to each member of the community. 

The texts of the O antiphons will probably seem pretty familiar to most people, because they were paraphrased into a twelfth century hymn, Veni, veni Emmanuel (O Come O come Emmanuel) which continues to be sung in both English and Latin in numerous versions.

The texts

Each of the texts refers to key prophesies of Christ, mostly from Isaiah.  There is, however, another level to them, as they have been arranged so that if you work backwards, the first letter of each one together forms two words, viz Ero Cras, or tomorrow I will come, viz:

(December 23) O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, exspectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster. (O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour: Come and save us, O Lord our God.)

(December 22) O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti. (O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one: Come and save the human race, which you fashioned from clay.)

(December 21) O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis. (O Dayspring, splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.)

(December 20) O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel; qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis. (O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel; you open and no one can shut; you shut and no one can open: Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house, those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.)

(December 19) O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem Gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare. (O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples; before you kings will shut their mouths, to you the nations will make their prayer: Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.)

(December 18) O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento. (O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.)

(December 17) O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae. (O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from one end to the other, mightily and sweetly ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence.)

Truly, I will come...

But there is also a very nice piece of the English tradition that is worth knowing about.  In medieval England an eighth antiphon was added by starting the set a day early and adding an extra antiphon to the end of the sequence, thus making the acrostic Vero cras, or truly tomorrow (I will come).  An alternative solution, adopted in the recording below, is to sing it on December 24.

Here is the traditional text:

O Virgo virginum, quomodo fiet istud?
Quia nec primam similem visa es nec habere sequentem.
Filiae Jerusalem, quid me admiramini?
Divinum est mysterium hoc quod cernitis.

Or:

O Virgin of virgins, how shall this be?
For neither before thee was any like thee, nor shall there be after.
Daughters of Jerusalem, why marvel ye at me?
The thing which ye behold is a divine mystery.

The O antiphons are pretty easy to learn, as they all have a very similar chant tone.  Over time of course, numerous other settings of them have also been made.

Brush up your rubrics - Getting ready for Advent - Lauds, Part I

Today I want to continue my series on getting ready for Advent with a look at Lauds in the first part of Advent.

Ordinary of Advent

For the first half of Advent (up to and including December 16), although there are special antiphons for each Sunday of Advent, on weekdays the psalms and antiphon on weekdays at Lauds are exactly as set out in the psalter.

The key thing to remember is not to use the chapter, short responsory, hymn and versicle from the psalter section, but instead use the texts for the 'Ordinary of Advent', MD 9* (ie the same chapter, hymn etc every day)

Proper of Advent

In addition,  there is a Benedictus antiphon for each Advent day - so you need to keep a track of which day and week you are in.

Where to put your ribbons

In other words, you basically need to deploy three ribbons  - one for the psalms and antiphons of the day; one for the Ordinary of Advent; and one for the Advent day (plus from Tuesday onwards, one for Psalm 66 and another the text of the Benedictus).

 The table below summarises where the texts can be found in the Diurnal.

Lauds on weekdays in Advent up to and including 16 December

LAUDS	‘Default’ texts
Opening prayers – Deus…	MD 1
Psalm 66 – Deus miseratur…	MD 38, 58
Antiphons	Of day of the week
Antiphon(s), Psalm 50; 2 variable psalms; OT canticle; Laudate psalms Ps 148-150	Monday - MD 59 Tuesday - start MD 76 Wednesday – MD 89 Thursday – MD 102 Friday - MD 118 Saturday - MD 133
Chapter	Of Advent – Venite et ascendamus
Short Responsory	Of Advent – Veni ad liberandum
Hymn	Of Advent – Vox Clara
Versicle	Of Advent – Vox clamantis
Antiphon for the Benedictus	Of the Advent Day (ie Monday in the first week of Advent, Tuesday in..., etc)
Benedictus	MD 56, 73
Antiphon for the Benedictus
Closing prayers	MD 57
-          Collect	Of the Advent week/day
-          Commemoration of the saint	Canticle antiphon, versicle and collect said immediately after the collect of the day

The hymn: Vox clara

If you want to learn the hymn, the recordings below give the correct tune (but with some minor word differences).