Lent Office hymns - Vespers: Audi benigne conditor

March 17: Feast of St Patrick (Class I in some places)

Depending on what country you live in, today may be a first class feast, and thus a day off Lenten discipline! 

The saint being honoured is, of course, St Patrick (c387-493).

St Patrick was captured by Irish pirates at the age of 16, and forced to work as a slave.  After several years, he managed to escape and return home.  He then entered the Church and became a missionary bishop to the land in which he had been held captive.

Ash Wednesday, Class I

Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and abstinence.

As the ashes are imposed, the priest says "Remember, O man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return." (Genesis 3:19)

As the Matins readings each day are generally Patristic commentaries on the Gospel of the day, I will try and post the relevant Gospel here in advance so you can re-familiarise yourself with it!  For Ash Wednesday, the Gospel is Matthew 6:15-21:

"And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Notes on the rubrics for Lent, Part I - Ash Wednesday to Passion Sunday

During Lent the liturgy becomes much more elaborate, and the Office reflects that. 

In particular, there are specific readings set for each day of the week at (EF) Mass.  So at Matins the readings are general patristic commentaries on the Gospel for the day, and the canticle antiphons also generally pick up the key messages from the Gospel.

Lent in the Benedictine Office actually encompasses a number of quite diverse sets of rubrics:

• Ash Wednesday to first Vespers of the First Sunday of Lent, when the Office basically stays as if it were still Septuagesimatide;
• First Sunday of Lent up until first Vespers of First Passion Sunday - the rubrics of Lent;
• Passiontide (First Passion Sunday to Palm Sunday); and
• Holy Week (up until the Easter Vigil). 

Note that psalms used do not change - they are the same throughout the year, except on major feasts at Lauds and Vespers and a few other very limited exceptions such as the Sacred Triduum.  It is, however, particularly appropriate to use the ferial canticle at Lauds during the penitential season.

The notes here cover the first two of these parts of Lent.

Ash Wednesday to the First Sunday of Lent

This period was something of a later add-on to Lent to make up the correct number of days (given that Sundays are not counted for fasting and other purposes, although in reality we still don't quite make it to forty days, due to the several first class feasts that normally intervene).  The liturgy does intensify, with canticle antiphons for both Lauds and Vespers, but the rest of the Office at Lauds to Vespers remains that of  'throughout the year'.

First Sunday to (First) Passion Sunday

The Ordinary of the ferial Office in Lent is set out in the Farnborough edition of the Monastic Diurnal at MD 190*ff.

For those saying Matins (not in the Diurnal):

• the invitatory antiphon on weekdays is the same as throughout the year;
• the hymn is for the season of Lent and is the same each day (Ex more);
• the readings during the week are usually patristic, relating to the Gospel of the Mass set for that day;
• the chapter verse for Nocturn II is for the season (Is 1:16-18).

At Lauds and Vespers:

• chapters, hymns, etc of the season replace those in the psalter section;
• the canticle antiphons are proper for each day.

Each day there are two sets of collects: the first for use from Matins to None; the second for Vespers.

It is also important to be aware that when a feast displaces the Lent texts, a commemoration of the day is made at both Lauds and Vespers using the respective collects, canticle antiphon and versicle that occurs before the relevant canticle at that hour.

Lent in the Rule of St Benedict III - Fasting and abstinence

According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, all the days of Lent (ie excluding Sundays and solemnities) are, like all Fridays throughout the year, days of penance.  Traditionally, this meant that they were all days of fasting and partial or full (on Fridays) abstinence.  These days fasting and abstinence are only required on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and some other penance can be substituted on other days.

Still, fasting is the traditional discipline, so we should perhaps give it serious consideration in considering our options.  Thus, it may be helpful to look at what St Benedict envisaged his monks would do during Lent.

Food in the Rule during the year

St Benedict's monks lived a fairly tough regime by modern standards (though not by contemporary ones) when it came to food.

For much of the year, they ate only one meal a day, and although wine, fish and fowl were allowed, red meat wasn't.

Still, it wasn't as tough as it might have been - St Benedict specifies providing a choices of dishes so that everyone could eat something they like for example.

And on 'monastic fast days' what changes is the time that the meal was served (so on Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to mid-afternoon after None), not the amount served.  Fasting in the Rule is about refraining from food for a longer period of time, not changing what is eaten or how much is eaten.

 St Benedict also made it clear that there should be some flexibility, for example when more was warranted because of the demands of heavy labour.

It is important to note though, that in the Rule he distinguishes (albeit in passing, in reference to guests) between the monastic fasts, and those imposed by the Church for all.  The Rule covers off the monastic fasts, but doesn't deal with the generally applying rules at all, it just assumes that they apply.

Meals during Lent in the Rule

So the Rule makes only two provisions for fasting during Lent:

• the one meal served is to be taken in the evening (Chapter 41); and
• abstinence in food and drink is mentioned as one of the possible things that the monk could offer (with the abbot's approval) over above their usual ascetic practices (Chapter 49).

Presumably, though the monastery did also follow the much stricter contemporary rules about what could be eaten during Lent - which would have excluded eggs, dairy products and so forth.

Fasting rules over time

Over the history of the Church, few disciplines have changed as much as those relating to fasting!

Although its value as an ascetic practice has always been emphasized, what is actually required of both monks and laity has changed substantially, with numerous concessions to weakness granted at various times. 

Fasting for example, is now generally defined as a reduction in the amount eaten, rather than a delayed meal as in the Rule.  In the 1917 Code of Canon Law, while the Fridays of Lent required fasting and abstinence, the other days were of fasting and partial abstinence (ie one meat meal permitted).  And today of course, fasting and abstinence are only required on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, with all other Fridays (as always) days of abstinence.

So what can/should we do?

Whatever we give up has to be doable - which means a step up from whatever it is we normally do, but not an altogether radical change in our regime. 

The 1917 regime is probably within most families' reach.

Or one could adapt some of St Benedict's provisions.

St Benedict for example shifts the one meal a day from after None of the 'monastic Lent' that applies from November until Lent proper, to the evening.  So perhaps we could consider shifting our usual lunchtime to a few hours later where that is feasible, or something similar for the evening meal depending on when we normally eat it.

We could certainly consider cutting out meat (with appropriate care, particularly for women, to making sure we get enough iron etc) and alcohol.

And we could cut out food between meals, deserts and other treats...

Lent in the Rule of St Benedict II - Refrain from sin and apply ourselves to prayer

So to continue this little mini-series on Lent in the Rule of St Benedict, a look at Chapter 49 in the Rule, which is entitled the 'Of Observance of Lent'.

The chapter recaps the idea of extra reading (covered in the previous part of this series), and mentions abstaining from food and drink, which I'll come back to in the third part of this series.  But its main focus is on prayer and other forms of offering we can make during this period.

Chapter 49: Of the Observance of Lent

Here is the relevant text of the Rule (trans J McCann):

"The life of a monk ought at all times to be lenten in its character; but since few have the strength for that, we therefore urge that in these days of Lent the brethren should lead lives of great purity, and should also in this sacred season expiate the negligences of other times.

This will be worthily done if we refrain from all sin and apply ourselves to prayer with tears, to reading, to compunction of heart, and to abstinence.

In these days, therefore, let us add something beyond the wonted measure of our service, such as private prayers and abstinence in food and drink. Let each one, over and above the measure prescribed for him, offer God something of his own free will in the joy of the Holy Spirit.

That is to say, let him stint himself of food, drink, sleep, talk, and jesting, and look forward with the joy of spiritual longing to the holy feast of Easter.

Let each one, however, tell his abbot what he is offering, and let it be done with his consent and blessing; because what is done without the permission of the spiritual father shall be ascribed to presumption and vainglory and not reckoned meritorious. Everything, therefore, is to be done with the approval of the abbot."

Approval of a spiritual director or confessor?

The Rule mentions that whatever should be done, should be done with the approval of the abbot.  That is consistent with the whole Benedictine concept that for the monk, obedience is the higher virtue.

So ideally lay people too, should consult their spiritual director.

That isn't always possible though, and perhaps isn't necessary if what is chosen is something moderate and appropriate to one's state of life.  Stinting one's self of sleep, for example, might be possible and even desirable if you are in a monastery - but rather less so if you are a truck driver!  But many of us could for example decide to get up half an hour earlier and, say pray the penitential psalms, even if we then go to bed earlier to compensate.

Stirring up that compunction of heart

There are of course any number of things you could do by way of a suitable offering here, such as giving up or cutting back on tv or other leisure activities.  But I think St Benedict's injunction to focus on compunction of heart, or contrition, is well worth keeping in mind, and a very good positive way of achieving that is to pray the penitential psalms.

So, just in case anyone is interesting in praying the penitential psalms during Lent (you could for example just do one a day...), I plan to offer a series on them here, focusing on one a week...

Lent in the Rule of St Benedict, Part I - Sacred Reading

Lent is rapidly approaching, so I thought I'd post the relevant sections of the Rule to aid preparation for it! The Benedictine Rule has three main sections dealing with the Lenten discipline:

• Chapter 48, which prescribes extra time for lectio divina, involving reading an assigned book through from beginning to end;
• Chapter 49, which sets out some guidelines for ascetic practices during Lent; and
• Chapter 41 on the Lenten fast.

So today, the section on the book.

Lectio Divina for Lent

Chapter 48 says:

"In the days of Lent let them apply themselves to their reading from the morning until the end of the third hour, and from then until the end of the tenth hour let them per­form the work that is assigned to them. In these days of Lent let them each receive a book from the library, which they shall read through consecutively; let these books be given out at the beginning of Lent." (trans J McCann)

Thus, St Benedict adds around an extra hour to the amount of time devoted to sacred reading each day, and also asks that a book be read from cover to cover over the six week period, rather than just dipped in and out of.

Note that the book was assigned to the monk, not chosen by the individual

Adapting to our own regime

The idea of forgoing some of our normal leisure time and using it for holy reading is obviously a good spiritual practice that all of us can probably find time for - even if we have to choose a relatively short book to make it work

So ideally our Lenten book should be assigned to us by our spiritual director.  That is not always possible though, but one can pray over the possible choices for guidance....