Brush up your rubrics: Terce, Sext and None

Today's rubric refresher notes relate to the three 'little hours', Terce, Sext and None.

Many people tend to skip the three little hours, and a lot of modern monasteries only say one of them, but that seems to me a great shame, not least because these three hours are actually probably the most ancient.

And as with Prime, St Benedict has, I think, crafted these hours very carefully to link up, teach and reinforce the spiritual theology of the Rule.

They are in addition, very short, so very possible to fit into a morning/afternoon tea and/or lunch break, and relatively easy to memorise.

History and associations of the little hours

Many of the early Fathers pointed to the references to prayer three times a day in the book of Daniel (6:10), as well as to the references in Acts to prayer at these times, as the rationale for these hours.

The Fathers also saw these hours as having an overall Trinitiarian association, due to their threefold nature (which St Benedict reinforces by assigning three psalms to each of them).  But they also pointed to particular associations with each of them:

• Terce: Christ condemned by Pilate; the hour of the coming of the Holy Ghost on the disciples who were praying at the third hour at Pentecost (Acts 2), ;
• Sext: Christ ascends the cross and darkness covers the world (Mark 15:33), St Peter praying (Acts 10), angelic visitors to Abraham (Gen 18), against the noonday devil (Ps 90);
• None: Christ's death on the cross, SS Peter and John go to the Temple at the hour of prayer (Acts 3), Cornelius' vision while praying (Acts 10).

St Benedict's Office, I think, builds on a number of these themes in his selection of psalms (the first nine Gradual psalms, and Psalm 118).  In these hours, I think, St Benedict particularly invites us to imitate Christ, pick up our cross, and make the ascent to heaven through growth in humility and with the help of the grace flowing from his wounded side.

The structure of the little hours

The table below summarises the structure of Terce, Sext and None.  In essence, the structure of these hours is identical to that of Prime.  

As with Prime, the hymn assigned to each of these hours is the same each day, and does not change for feasts (with a few rare exceptions such as Pentecost for Terce).

As with Prime, the antiphon is usually set for the particular day or days of the week, but can change to reflect the season, special days, or feast.

The key differences to Prime are that:

• rather than a daily set of psalms, there are only three sets, for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to Saturday;
• the chapter and versicle can change to reflect the season or feast; and
•  the collect is that of the previous Sunday, day or feast.

Structure and rubrics for the little hours

PART OF THE HOUR	COMMENT/RUBRICS
Opening prayers (Deus in adjutorium/Gloria Patri/Alleluia)	Same as for all of the day hours (MD 1); stand, make sign of cross
Hymn	Same each day for that hour; said standing, bow for last verse
Antiphon	Can change according to season, day of week, feasts etc
Psalm+Gloria Patri Psalm+Gloria Patri Psalm+Gloria Patri	Of the day(s) of the week; sit for psalm, stand for Gloria Patri
Antiphon	Repeat earlier antiphon
Chapter	For the hour, can change according to day of week, season, feasts etc.  Said standing
Versicle	For the hour, can change according to day of week, season, feasts etc.  Said standing
Closing Prayers (Kyrie/Pater noster/…Benedicamus Domino…Fidelium animae)	Basic structure as for all day hours, said standing, bow for Our Father
-          Collect	Of the week, day or feast

Finding the pages in the Diurnal

The key thing to remember about these hours is that they appear in the Diurnal after Lauds and before Vespers.

Page numbers for Terce 

TERCE	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday to Saturday
Opening prayers	MD 1
Hymn (Nunc Sancte)	MD 151	MD 162	MD 183
Antiphon	Of the season, day, date or feast
Psalms	MD 152	MD 164	MD 184
Antiphon	Of the season, day, date or feast
Chapter
Versicle
Closing prayers	MD 154-5 plus collect of the season, day, date or feast (see weekly Ordo)

Page numbers for Sext

SEXT	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday to Saturday
Opening prayers	MD 1
Hymn (Rector Potens)	MD 155	MD 169	MD 183
Antiphon	Of the season, day, date or feast
Psalms	MD 156	MD 171	MD 191
Antiphon	Of the season, day, date or feast
Chapter
Versicle
Closing prayers	MD 154-5 plus collect of the season, day, date or feast

Page numbers for None

NONE	Sunday	Monday	Tuesday to Saturday
Opening prayers	MD 1
Hymn (Rerum Deus)	MD 159	MD 176	MD 196
Antiphon	Of the season, day, date or feast
Psalms	MD 160	MD 178	MD 198
Antiphon	Of the season, day, date or feast
Chapter
Versicle
Closing prayers	MD 154-5 plus collect of the season, day, date or feast

Questions/follow up?

I should let those interested know that I am making word files of these tables in this series available for download through the Traditional Benedictine Office Facebook group.

And if there are any particular questions you would like me to cover off in this brush up your rubrics series, please do let me know.

Brush up your rubrics: Prime

Today in this quick revision series I want to look at Prime.

Why you should say Prime!

Prime is the ideal hour for beginners in my view, a much better place to start than Lauds, because it is very straightforward to say.  But more importantly, it is an ideal hour to say as preparation for the day's work.

Prime is less familiar to many people coming from the modern Liturgy of the Hours, since Vatican II abolished it for the Roman (but not monastic) Office, largely as far as I can gather in the interest of shortening the length of the Office, and its perceived duplication of Lauds.

In the Benedictine Office though it is extremely important structurally and theologically, so it is a great shame in my view, that so many monasteries have followed the Roman Office and suppressed it.  So let me take this opportunity to say why I think they should revert to tradition on this front and why you should embrace this hour yourself.

The Lord's call for labourers at the first hour of the day: First, St Benedict uses the image of the labourer in the vineyard in the prologue to the Rule, calling out for workers:

And the Lord, seeking his workman among the multitudes to whom he thus crieth, saith again: What man is he that desireth life and would fain see good days?

The image of us as God's labourers, above all in the Opus Dei, is a key one in the Rule I think, and several of the early commentaries on the Office, most notably Cassian, linked the times for the day hours with the times the master seeks out workers for his vineyard in the marketplace in St Matthew 20:

The kingdom of heaven is like to an householder, who went out early in the morning [primo mane] to hire labourers into his vineyard. And having agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

Prime then, stands for the first of the hours at which the Master calls for his faithful to join his cause.

Christ aleph and tau: Secondly, the hour is foundational, teaching us that Christ is both first and last, alpha and omega, or, in the Hebrew alphabet, aleph and tau.  On the first day of the week, Sunday, Prime actually starts with the stanza of Psalm 118 in which each line starts with the letter aleph in the Hebrew.  And the last psalm of Prime on Saturday, Psalm 19, is about the triumph of Christ the King.  It is noteworthy then, that the hour also consists of exactly 22 'psalms' (St Benedict counts each stanza of Psalm 118 as a separate psalm), the same number as the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

Through and with Christ:  The importance of 'preferring nothing to Christ' is also reinforced by the two beatitudes that feature in this hour.  Psalm 1 (Beatus vir) on Monday can be interpreted as presenting us with the image of Christ the perfect man, who invites us to choose his path, and meditate on his law day and night.  The opening verse of Psalm 118, said on Sunday, which is both the first day of the week (of creation) and last day of the week (the eighth day, of the Resurrection), can be interpreted as Christ leading the many (Beati immaculati in via) who have persevered in his way into heaven.

Prime  in the Rule:The psalms set for the hour are extremely important ones too - Psalms 1 and 2 (Monday) are generally regarded as introductions to the whole psalter and centre on the Incarnation and Passion.   There are strong links between the psalms of Prime with several of the other key themes of the Rule, such as God's constant scrutiny of us, and our proper focus on entering heaven; several of the psalms set for this hour are quoted extensively in the Rule.

The rubrics - key tips

There are a few key things to keep in mind in saying Prime with the aid of the Diurnal.

Opening and closing sections:  The Diurnal only includes the opening and closing sections of Prime once, for Monday Prime, but these are in fact said each day.

So the hour always starts with the standard opening prayer for the day hours, Deus in Adjutorium...

This is then always followed by the hymn, Iam Lucis Orto Sidere (the sole exception is during the Sacred Triduum).

And Prime always has the same chapter (though note that older books provide an alternative one for use on some days), versicle and concluding prayers.

The collect of Prime is always the same, asking for God's protection for us during the day, so even if you don't actually say the full hour it is perhaps worth adding this one to your routine:

O Lord, our heavenly Father, Almighty and everlasting God, who has safely brought us to the beginning of this day: defend us by thy mighty power; and grant that this day we not fall into sin, but that all our words, thoughts and works may be directed to doing what is righteous in thy sight. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Psalms and antiphons: The middle section of Prime consists of an antiphon said before and after the three psalms of the day of the week.

Feasts: Note that there is no 'festal' set of psalms for Prime in the Benedictine Office: the psalms are always of the day of the week.

In fact on feasts, the only thing that changes at Prime (in terms of the texts, there are different chant tones if you are singing it) is the antiphon.

Chapter: It is worth noting that in a monastery, Prime is generally followed by 'chapter', which normally includes the reading of the martyrology, the Rule, remembrance of the monastery's dead, and some prayers for the day.

This isn't included in the Diurnal, as traditionally this is said in the chapter room (hence its name), and each Congregation or monastery is free, according to the rubrics in the breviary, to use their own version of it.  But if you listen to the podcasts of Le Barroux, they use the version provided in the Antiphonale Monasticum (which can be downloaded at CC Watershed).  Many monasteries also include some preaching from the abbot at chapter, for example on the Rule (and I believe Silverstream Priory provides podcasts of some of their Prior's chapter talks).

 The key rubrics and page numbers in the Diurnal

The table below summarises the key parts of Prime, and where you can find them in the Diurnal.

PRIME	Where to find it in your book…*	RUBRICS (if possible, optional when said alone)
Opening prayers	MD 1	Stand, ☩
Hymn	MD 1-2; 146-7 (Sunday)	Sung standing, medium bow last verse
Antiphon	[It depends]	Sung standing. In choir or in a group cantor intones, rest join in at *
Psalms of the day of the week	Monday - start MD 3 Tuesday - start MD 10 Wednesday – MD 16 Thursday – MD 21 Friday - MD 25 Saturday - MD 32 Sunday- MD 146	Sit after first half of verse 1 of psalm; stand and bow for the Gloria Patri at the end of each psalm.
Antiphon	[It depends]	Stay standing.
Chapter	MD 7	Note response,  ‘Deo Gratias.
Versicle	MD 7
Closing prayers, including collect	MD 8-9	Bow for Our Father (said silently) and collect. Ends with ‘fidelium animae…’☩

* Page numbers may differ in other editions.

Brush up your rubrics: memorials/commemorations

Continuing this little 'brush up your rubrics' series in the lead up to the feast of St Benedict, today's rubrics note mainly relates to Lauds, and concerns how to mark memorials of saints, or make a 'commemoration'.

This is a subject that everyone seems to struggle with, and you need to know about, because while my Ordo does set these out, you may need to take note of a feast that is particular to your country/diocese/monastery.

What are commemorations?

Commemorations basically come up in two ways:

(1)  To mark the feast of a saint listed as 'memorial' in the Diurnal (ordinary commemorations).

This is the lowest level way that the Office takes note of a saint - the feast doesn't affect any of the hours except Lauds, and then only adds a few prayers onto the end of the hour after the collect of the week.

The Ordo for July 3 for example says: Class IV; SS Processus and Martinian, memorial.  It then points you to page [184] of the Monastic Diurnal for the texts you need for the commemoration of the saint.

(2) To mark a feast or day displaced by a higher level day 

When two feasts or days clash there are rules about which one to celebrate.  In 2017 for example, the Sunday took precedence over the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  When two feasts or special days fall on the same date, there are basically three possibilities:

• one of the feasts is transferred to the next available day.  In the 1962 calendar this only occurs with first class feasts; or
• one of the feasts or days prevails, and the other feast is not celebrated at all that year.  Third class feasts that clash with Sundays, for example, are treated this way; or
• the main Office is of one of the feasts, but a commemoration of the other is made at Lauds (as this year with the Visitation) and sometimes also Vespers (for example when a Lent day is displaced by a feast).

There are tables at the front of the Monastic Diurnal (see page xxv) that summarise the rules on which feasts take precedence, and what notice, if any, is taken of the other feast.  

The tables basically reflect the principle that whether a day is commemorated at Lauds only, or at both Lauds and Vespers, is whether it is a 'privileged' commemoration (first class feasts; Sundays; Octave of Christmas; September Ember Days; Lent, Advent and Passiontide days; Major Litanies) or not.

How many commemorations?

It is also worth knowing that there are rules about how many commemorations can be said on a particular day.  

On first class feasts, for example, only one commemoration is permitted, and then only if it is a 'privileged' commemoration.

On normal Sundays (Class II), only one commemoration is permitted, of either a first or second class feast.

On second class days, one privileged and one ordinary commemoration can be said.

On third or fourth class days, two commemorations can be made.

Where there is a clash, the highest ranking commemoration(s) are used, and any others are dropped for that year. 

How to make a commemoration

Commemorations are said immediately after the collect in the closing prayers of the hour.  They normally consist of (in this order):

• an antiphon (either for the Benedictus if the commemoration is at Lauds, or for the Magnificat at Vespers);
• the short verse and response, or versicle that would have been said before it at Lauds or Vespers;
• and a prayer (collect). 

For the memorial of saints, the Diurnal sets all these out in the correct order, so you really just need to say what's there.  On other days you might need to pull these three texts out from amongst the others for the day or feast.

If you are singing the Office, the Antiphonale Monasticum includes a section providing the chants for commemorations from the Common of Saints starting at page 735.

The key exception to the 'how to make a commemoration' rules is feasts of SS Peter and Paul, but we've just passed the most recent of these, so hopefully you followed the instructions in your Diurnal!