Brush up your rubrics - Lauds

We are coming up to the feast of St Benedict on July 11 so don't forget the Novena to St Benedict!

And by way of a lead in to the feast, I've been getting a few comments on the blog of late that suggest a little reminder on the structure of the hours and key page numbers might be helpful, so herewith the first one on Lauds.

I'm not sure Lauds is really the best place to start, since it is the most complicated of all the hours (if you are a beginner, I strongly recommend starting with Prime and Compline, as these are the most straightforward with the fewest moving parts, make a nice morning and evening prayer, and provide a good way into learning the Office).  Nonetheless, I'll take the hours in order.

Comments on ways to improve these summaries and make them more user friendly, or particular questions you would like to see covered, are welcome.

Fixed vs variable parts of the hour

The first thing you need to be clear on, I think, is which parts of the hour can and cannot change with the seasons or particular feasts.  The table below summarises the various elements of Lauds in its three main versions - Sundays, feasts and weekdays.

For Sundays during the year, the key things to note are that:

• the canticle antiphon and collect are always of the particular Sunday;
• the hymn used depends on the season - there is a winter (Aeterne rerum Conditor) and summer (Ecce Iam Noctis) version; and
• although the Diurnal provides the 'festal' psalms under Sunday, these are only used on a few specified Sundays - the normal psalms of Sunday, as set out below are Psalms 50, 117 and 62.

For weekdays, the reason the table gets a bit messy is that some lower level feasts don't use the 'festal' psalms, but do change other elements of the hour (including, on occasion, the antiphons), and seasonal texts displace those 'of the day of the week' for large chunks of the year.  

But on most days of the week after Pentecost (ie ones that are not feasts) the psalms, antiphons (including for the Benedictus), chapter, responsory etc are fixed for the particular day of the week  - the only thing that changes is the collect, which is of the week.

The psalmody at Lauds	Sunday	Festal	Weekday
Opening prayers	Fixed
Psalm 66	Fixed
Antiphon:	Variable (normally alleluia)
Psalm 50+ Gloria	Fixed	Psalm 92+variable antiphon	Fixed +variable antiphon (normally of the day)
Psalm+Gloria	Psalm 117	Psalm 99+variable antiphon	Of the day +variable antiphon (normally of the day)
Psalm+Gloria	Psalm 62	Psalm 62+variable antiphon	Of the day +variable antiphon (normally of the day)
Antiphon	Variable (normally alleluia)
Antiphon for the canticle	Variable (normally Tres Pueri)	Variable	Variable - Of the day of the week unless displaced by feast or season
OT Canticle	Benedicite Domino (no Gloria)	[Festal] canticle of the day of the week with Gloria	Ferial or festal canticle of the day of the week  with Gloria
Antiphon	Variable (normally Alleluia)	Of the feast	Of the day of the week or feast
Ps 148+149+150+Gloria	Fixed
Antiphon	Variable (normally of the day unless displaced by feast or season)
Chapter	Variable (normally of the day of the week, unless displaced by feast or season)
Responsory	Variable (normally of the day of the week, unless displaced by feast or season)
Hymn	Variable – summer winter and seasons	Of the feast	Of the day of the week or season
versicle	Variable (normally of the day of the week, unless displaced by feast or season)
Antiphon for the Benedictus	Variable – of the Sunday of the year, day of the week or feast/season
Benedictus	Fixed
Antiphon	Variable
Closing prayers	Fixed
-          Collect	Of the Sunday	Of the feast	Of the Sunday or day
-          Commemoration (if applicable)	Of the feast	Of the feast or day (ie Lent or Advent days)	Of the feast or day

Where to put your ribbons

Before you start the hour, I suggest putting a ribbon on the pages you will need.  The table below summarises the key elements of the hour; you will need to supplement this though with the page numbers provided in the weekly ordo for the collects and texts for any feasts/commemorations, etc.

LAUDS	‘Default’ texts
Opening prayers – Deus…	MD 1
Psalm 66 – Deus miseratur…	MD 38, 58
Antiphons	of day of the week or feast/season
Antiphon(s), Psalm 50; 2 variable psalms; OT canticle; Laudate psalms Ps 148-150	Sunday, MD 39 Festal (for feasts), MD 44 Monday - MD 59 Tuesday - start MD 76 Wednesday – MD 89 Thursday – MD 102 Friday - MD 118 Saturday - MD 133
Chapter	See in psalter as above or for season/feast
Short Responsory	See in psalter as above or for season/feast
Hymn	Of the day of the week (pg nos above) or feast/season
Versicle	See in psalter as above or for season/feast
Antiphon for the Benedictus	Of the day of the week/feast/season [on Sundays, of the week of the liturgical year]
Benedictus	MD 56, 73
Antiphon for the Benedictus	M-S of the day of the week; Sun of the week in the calendar
Closing prayers	MD 57
-          Collect	Of the week of the liturgical year or day/feast
-          Commemoration of the saint or day	Canticle antiphon, versicle and collect said immediately after the collect of the day

Hope this helps!

Have a question about the Benedictine Office?

Just to let you know that if you have questions about the Ordo, or want to discuss the Benedictine Office, the best way to do this is to join the facebook group called Traditional Benedictine Office.

This is where you can ask questions and seek help from others in the group (including me), discuss aspects of the Benedictine Office, or suggest topics for me to blog on.

In addition, of course my assorted blogs provide notes you can refer to:

(1) The Ordo - each Saturday (Australian time) the weekly Ordo is scheduled to appear on this blog, but you can also find the full year's Ordo, together with more detailed notes on the Office in particular seasons, and feasts that occur each month here.

(2) For notes on the rubrics - try the Learn to say the Office page of this blog.  For notes on how to say Matins, go here.

(3) For advice on books and other sources of help, try the resources page of this blog.

(4) For help understanding the psalms in the context of the Benedictine Office, try the Psallam Domino Blog.

(5) For Matins readings - Lectio Divina Notes Blog provides translations of the readings and responsories for major feasts (and lower level days depending on how much time I have and availability of the texts online).

Where available, the readings are generally scheduled to appear on the blog at 2.30pm Australian Eastern Standard Time the day before the relevant day.  If this timing doesn't work for me, let me know.

St Romuald OSB (June 19; Feb 7)

Fr Angelico

Today is the feast of St Romuald in some calendars - in the 1962 calendar his feast is celebrated in Feburary, but he actually died on June 19 and his feast has been restored to the date in most modern calenars.  The Martyrology says:

At Ravenna, St. Romuald, anchoret, founder of the monks of Carnaldoli, who restored and greatly extended monastic discipline, which was much relaxed in Italy. He is also mentioned on the 7th of February.

You can read more about the saint here.

Feast of Corpus Christi

St Augustine tells us that:

By use of meat and drink men would fain that " they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more," and yet there is but one Meat and one Drink, Which doth work in them that feed thereon that " this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality,"  namely communion with that general assembly and Church of God's holy children, who are "kept in perfect peace," and are "all one," fully and utterly.

And therefore it is, as men of God before our time have taken it, that our Lord Jesus Christ hath set before us His Body and His Blood in the likeness of things which, from being many, are reduced into one. In one loaf are many grains of corn, and one cup of wine the juice of many grapes.

And now He giveth us to know how that which He spake cometh to pass, and how indeed "this Man can give us His Flesh to eat," and His Blood to drink. "He that eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him." To dwell in Christ, therefore, and to have Him dwelling in us, is to "eat of that Bread and drink of that Cup."...

Tuesday of St Benedict: June readings

The readings for the old votive Office of St Benedict on Tuesday in June are as follows:

Reading 1: From the First Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians - But, as it is written: That eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him. But to us God hath revealed them, by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, but the spirit of a man that is in him? So the things also that are of God no man knoweth, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit that is of God; that we may know the things that are given us from God. Which things also we speak, not in the learned words of human wisdom; but in the doctrine of the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God; for it is foolishness to him, and he cannot understand, because it is spiritually examined. But the spiritual man judgeth all things; and he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Reading 2: From the Second Book of the Dialogues of St Gregory the Great, Chapter Sixteen - At the same time a certain clergyman, that served in the church of Aquinum, was possessed: whom the venerable man Constantius, Bishop of the same city, sent unto many places of holy martyrs for help: but God's holy martyrs would not deliver him, to the end that the world might know what great grace was in the servant of God, Benedict: wherefore at length he was brought unto him, who, praying for help to Jesus Christ our Lord, did forthwith cast the old enemy out of the possessed man's body, giving him this charge: "Go your way, and hereafter abstain from eating of flesh, and presume not to enter into holy orders, for whensoever you shall attempt any such thing, the devil again will have power over you." The man departed safe and sound, and because punishment fresh in memory useth to terrify the mind, he observed for a time what the man of God had given him in commandment. But after many years, when all his seniors were dead, and he saw his juniors preferred before him to holy orders, he neglected the words of the man of God, as though forgotten through length of time, and took upon him holy orders: whereupon straightways the devil that before had left him entered again, and never gave over to torment him, until he had separated his soul from his body.

Reading 3: [Peter] This holy man, as I perceive, did know the secret counsel of God: for he saw that this clergyman was delivered to the power of the devil, to the end he should not presume to enter into holy orders.  [Gregory] Why should he not know the secrets of God, who kept the commandments of God: when as the scripture saith: He that cleaveth unto our Lord, is one spirit with him? Holy men, in that they be one with our Lord are not ignorant of his sense: for the same Apostle saith For what man knoweth those things which belong to man, but the spirit of man which is in him? Even so, the things which belong to God, no man knoweth, but the spirit of God. And to show also that he knew such things as belong to God, he addeth straight after: But we have not received the spirit of this world, but the spirit which is of God. And for this cause, again he saith: that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor it hath ascended into the heart of man, those things which God hath prepared for them that love him, but God hath revealed to us by his spirit.

Tuesdays of St Benedict

 Spinello Aretino, 1387 Fresco S. Miniato al Monte, Florence 

Traditionally, Benedictines devoted the first free Tuesday of each month to a Votive Office of St Benedict.

Votive Offices, were, alas, abolished under the first of the twentieth century liturgical wreckovators popes, Pius X, but have been revived in the modern Liturgy of the Hours.

I've previously provided all of the texts for the hours:

• I Vespers of St Benedict on Tuesdays;
• Matins of St Benedict on Tuesday;
• Lauds of St Benedict on Tuesdays;
• Prime to None of St Benedict on Tuesdays.

But at Matins the readings are for the particular month.  Even if you don't say Matins, it is well worth reading and meditating on the Life of St Benedict, so here are the readings for June are as follows:

Reading 1: From chapter 2 of the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians -  As it is written: That eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him.  But to us God hath revealed them, by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, but the spirit of a man that is in him? So the things also that are of God no man knoweth, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit that is of God; that we may know the things that are given us from God. Which things also we speak, not in the learned words of human wisdom; but in the doctrine of the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.  But the sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God; for it is foolishness to him, and he cannot understand, because it is spiritually examined.  But the spiritual man judgeth all things; and he himself is judged of no man.  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

R: Sanctus Benedictus plus appetiit mala mundi  perpeti quam laudes pro Deo laboribus fatigari * Quam vitae hujus favoribus extolli V: Divina namque praeventus gratia magis ac magis ad superna animo suspirabat R: Quam vitae hujus favoribus extolli

R St Benedict desiring rather the miseries of the world than the praises of men: rather to be wearied with labor for God's sake * than to be exalted with transitory commendation V: For filled greatly with divine grace, his soul aspired to even higher things R: Than to be exalted with transitory commendation

Reading 2: From Book II of St Gregory's Dialogues, chapter 16  - At the same time a certain clergyman, that served in the church of Aquinum, was possessed: whom the venerable man Constantius, Bishop of the same city, sent to many places of holy martyrs for help: but God's holy martyrs would not deliver him, to the end that the world might know what great grace was in the servant of God, Benedict: wherefore at length he was brought to him, who, praying for help to Jesus Christ our Lord, forthwith cast the old enemy out of the possessed man's body, giving him this charge: "Go your way, and hereafter abstain from eating of flesh, and presume not to enter into holy orders, for whenever you shall attempt any such thing, the devil again will have power over you." The man departed safe and sound, and because punishment fresh in memory used to terrify the mind, he observed for a time what the man of God had given him in commandment. But after many years, when all his seniors were dead, and he saw his juniors preferred before him to holy orders, he neglected the words of the man of God, as though forgotten through length of time, and took on him holy orders: whereupon immediately the devil that before had left him entered again, and never ceased to torment him, until he had separated his soul from his body.

R: O laudanda sancti Benedicti merita gloriosa qui dum pro Christo patriam mundique sprevit pompam adeptus omnium contubernium beatorum * Et particeps factus praemiorum aeternorum V: Inter choros confessorum splendidum possidet locum ubi ipsum fontem omnium intuetur bonorum R: Et particeps factus praemiorum aeternorum

O praise the glorious merits of St Benedict who for Christ left his fatherland and the pomp of the world, and arrived at the companionship of all the blessed * And was made a partaker of eternal rewards  V: He holds a splendid place among the chorus of confessors, where he gazes upon the font of all good R: And was made a partaker of eternal rewards

Reading 3: [Peter] This holy man, as I perceive, knew the secret counsel of God: for he saw that this clergyman was delivered to the power of the devil, to the end he should not presume to enter into holy orders. [GREGORY]: Why should he not know the secrets of God, who kept the commandments of God: when as the scripture says: "He that cleaves to our Lord, is one spirit with him?" [PETER:] If he that cleaves to our Lord, be one spirit with our Lord, what is the meaning of that which the Apostle says: "Who knows the sense of our Lord, or who hath been his counselor?" for it seems very inconvenient to be ignorant of his sense, to whom being so united he is made one thing. [GREGORY:] Holy men, in that they be one with our Lord are not ignorant of his sense: for the same Apostle says: "For what man knows those things which belong to man, but the spirit of man which is in him? Even so, the things which belong to God, no man knows, but the spirit of God." And to show also that he knew such things as belong to God, he added straight after: "But we have not received the spirit of this world, but the spirit which is of God." And for this cause, again he says: "that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor it hath ascended into the heart of man, those things which God hath prepared for them that love him, but God hath revealed to us by his spirit."

R: Sanctissime confessor Christi Benedicte monachorum pater et dux *  Intercede pro nostra omniumque salute V: Devotae plebi subveni sancta intercessione ut tuis adjuta precibus regna caelestia consequatur R: Intercede pro nostra omniumque salute V: Gloria Patri... R: Intercede...

R: O Benedict, Most holy confessor of Christ, father and leader of monks, * Intercede for us and the salvation of all V: Assist your devoted people with holy intercession so that with the help of your prayers they may reach the heavenly kingdom R: Intercede for us and the salvation of all V: Glory be... R: Intercede...

Happy Pentecost!

St Bede the Venerable, OSB

St Bede, I have to say, is currently my favourite saint.

Back in the day, Blessed Cardinal Newman wrote that 'Bede is truly the pattern of a Benedictine as is St Thomas of a Dominican'.   Today's Matins reading nicely sets out just why this is:

Bede the priest was born at Jarrow, on the borders of England and Scotland. When a monk, he so arranged his life as to devote himself completely to the study of the liberal arts and sacred doctrine, without in any way relaxing the discipline of the Rule. There was no kind of learning in which he was not thoroughly versed; but his special interest was the study of the Scriptures; and when he was made a priest, he undertook the task of explaining the holy books. In doing so, he adhered to the teaching of the holy Fathers so closely that he would say nothing not already approved by their judgment, and he even made use of their very words. Abhorring laziness, he would go straight from reading to prayer and from prayer to reading. To raise the level of morality among Christians and to defend and spread the faith, he wrote many books, which gained him such a reputation with everyone that his writings were publicly read in churches during his own lifetime. At length, worn out with age and labours, he fell asleep peacefully in the Lord. Leo XIII declared him a Doctor of the universal Church.

Although Bede's history of the English Church has long been available and appreciated, along with some of his lives of the saints, his output was actually much broader than this, including scientific works, guides to the holy lands, and a number of exegetical works.  English translations of his exegetical works are still only gradually becoming available, and this is leading to a new appreciation of Bede's originality: though he certainly drew heavily on the Fathers in his work, he was very much concerned with the politics of both church and state of his time, and his exegetical works in particular reflect this.

But for me at least, the most startling aspect of his work, though one not always acknowledged in modern translations of and commentary on his works (the exemplary work and valiant efforts of Scott DeGregorio aside) due to some typical 1970s revisionism, is the degree to which the Rule shaped his mindset.

Allusions to the Rule are scattered throughout his writings to the point where one can pretty much construct a commentary on the Rule from them (the Homilies alone for example include references to 50/73 tools of good works and 33 chapters of the Rule), and indeed even his use of Scriptural quotes frequently reflect's St Benedict use of the relevant text.  And while I've seen several theories advanced for the selection of the books of the Bible that he focused on, I haven't seen anyone as yet note what seem to me to be the obvious links between many of the texts he chose and his key themes (such as the Temple and Tabernacle) and the Rule...

Regardless, St Bede is an important saint well worth learning more about: a saint who lived a good life; provided us with a great legacy of his learning; and who also died a particularly holy death, which you can read about in this great post from A Clerk of Oxford.

St Augustine of Canterbury OSB (May 26) - Apostle to the English

St Augustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597.

The Matins reading for the feast is as follows:

Augustine, a monk of the Lateran monastery in Rome, was sent by Gregory the Great in 597 to England with about forty monks as his companions. They were invited by King Ethelbert to Canterbury, the chief city of the kingdom, and they built an oratory nearby. Through preaching the doctrine of heaven, Augustine brought many of the islanders and the king himself to the Christian faith, to the great joy of the king's wife, Bertha, who was a Christian. By order of Pope Gregory, Augustine was ordained bishop and founded the see of Canterbury; by the same Pontiff he was granted the use of the pallium and the right to organize the hierarchy of England. At length, after suffering great hardships for Christ, having set Mellitus over the Church of London, Justus over that of Rochester, and Lawrence over his own Church, he made his journey to heaven on the 26th day of May. He was buried in the monastery of St. Peter, which then became the burial place of bishops of Canterbury and of several kings.

He has traditionally been considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founder of the English Church.  St Bede records in his history of the English Church that the monks converted the locals by their preaching and example:

"…they began to emulate the life of the apostles and the primitive Church. They were constantly at prayer; they fasted and kept vigils; they preached the word of life to whomsoever they could….Before long a number of heathen, admiring the simplicity of their holy lives and the comfort of their heavenly message, believed and were baptized..."

St Augustine established schools and monasteries, and set about organising the missionary effort more broadly in England. His life was marked by miracles, and he was quickly acclaimed as a saint on his death.

Feast of the Ascension (May 25)

Bamburger Apocalypse

Today is the feast of the Ascension, and in a few days time we celebrate the feast of a Benedictine saint who died on the day of the feast, St Bede.  Accordingly, I thought it might be appropriate to share a poem of the saint written for the feast, often sung to the tune 'All creatures of our God and king':

A hymn of glory let us sing:
New songs throughout the world shall ring:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Christ, by a road before untrod,
Ascendeth to the throne of God.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

The holy apostolic band
Upon the Mount of Olives stand;
Alleluia! Alleluia!
And with his followers they see
Jesus' resplendent majesty.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

To whom the angels, drawing nigh,
"Why stand and gaze upon the sky?
Alleluia! Alleluia!
This is the Saviour!" thus they say;
"This is his noble triumph-day."
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

"Again shall ye behold him so
As ye today have seen him go
Alleluia! Alleluia!
In glorious pomp ascending high,
Up to the portals of the sky."
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Oh, grant us thitherward to tend
And with unwearied hearts ascend
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Unto thy kingdom's throne, where thou,
As is our faith, art seated now.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Be thou our Joy and strong Defence
Who art our future Recompense:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
So shall the light that springs from thee
Be ours through all eternity.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

O risen Christ, ascended Lord,
All praise to thee let earth accord,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Who art, while endless ages run,
With Father and with Spirit One.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

(Trans: Benjamin Webb)

Our Lady Help of Christians (May 24)

In Australia and a number of other countries, May 24 is the solemnity of Our Lady Help of Christians.  In Australia and those countries where it is a first class feast, we will naturally pray first and foremost for the conversion of our own countries.  Pope Benedict XVI, however, asked that this day be especially a day of prayer for China, so please do say the collect of the day as part of your devotions for this intention:

O Almighty and merciful God, Who didst wondrously appoint the most Blessed Virgin perpetual help for Christians in need of protection: grant in Thy mercy that after battling in life under such a protectress, we may be able to conquer our enemy at death. Through our Lord.

For those saying the Office of the feast, the Monastic Diurnal has the texts for the day hours, starting at MD  25** - for the psalms and antiphons, use the Common of feasts of Our Lady, but with the hymns, responsories, Magnificat antiphon and collect of the feast.

The 1962-3 breviary does include a specific set of texts for all of the hours (in the supplement at the back of Volume II for the Ottilien Congregation), but of course without chants.  If you don't have access to that, the Common of feasts of Our Lady would work for Matins.

St Romanus (May 22)

Today the martyrology remembers St Romanus, who clothed St Benedict in the holy habit, and aided him in his early years as a hermit:

But Benedict, desiring rather the miseries of the world than the praises of men: rather to be wearied with labour for God's sake, than to be exalted with transitory commendation: fled privily from his nurse, and went into a desert place called Sublacum, distant almost forty miles from Rome: in which there was a fountain springing forth cool and clear water; the abundance whereof doth first in a broad place make a lake, and afterward running forward, cometh to be a river.  

As he was travelling to this place, a certain monk called Romanus met him, and demanded whither he went, and understanding his purpose, he both kept it close, furthered him what he might, vested him with the habit of holy conversation, and as he could, did minister and serve him. 

The man of God, Benedict, coming to this foresaid place, lived there in a strait cave, where he continued three years unknown to all men, except to Romanus, who lived not far off, under the rule of Abbot Theodacus, and very virtuously did steal certain hours, and likewise sometime a loaf given for his own provision, which he did carry to Benedict....(St Gregory, Dialogues 2:1)

The tradition holds that St Romanus later went to Gaul and founded a small monastery at Dryes-Fontrouge, where he died about 550 and was venerated as a saint. 

Rogation days

Rogation days are traditionally days of prayer (particularly in the form of a procession accompanied by a sung litany of the saints), and fasting.

The three 'minor' rogation days before Ascension date back to the fifth century, instituted originally by Bishop Mammertus of Vienne (c470).  The practice quickly spread throughout Gaul  - the Council of Orleans in 510 ordered their use for example.  Rogation days were not adopted in Rome, though, until the early ninth century.

Their key purpose is to appease God's anger at man's transgressions, to ask protection in calamities, and to obtain a good and bountiful harvest.

You can find the litany and prayers in the Diurnal at pg (200) and the full chants in the Processionale Monasticum.  If said privately, it is usually done after Lauds.

In earlier versions of the Office, there were readings at Matins and a collect specific to the rogation day.  In the 1962 monastic version these have, unfortunately, been stripped out of the Office, but I have put up the readings over at the lectio divina notes blog, and here is the collect in case you want to use them devotionally.

Orémus Praesta quaesumus omnipotens Deus: ut qui in afflictione nostra de tua pietate confidimus; contra adversa omnia tua semper protectione muniamur. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum, Fílium tuum: qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum. R. Amen.

24 Let us pray. Grant, we beseech thee, O Almighty God, that we who in our tribulation are yet of good cheer because of thy loving-kindness, may find thee mighty to save from all dangers. 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.

Vocational discernment weekend for women (Sydney, Australia)

Please keep in your prayers if you would, an emerging religious community in Australia, the Daughters of the Maternal Heart of Mary.

This is a new, semi-contemplative community based in Sydney, and living a life of prayer and work according to the spirit of St. Benedict, with Mass in the Extraordinary Form and the Monastic Office chanted in Latin.  The charism of the group involves interceding for all Priests and praying daily for the Holy Father, bishops, priests and seminarians.  They also assist priests in various works, including teaching catechism, visiting the sick and sewing liturgical attire.

A vocational discernment weekend for young women is being held on July 14 -16, and will:

• enable participants to explore the life and charism of the Daughters of the Maternal Heart of Mary;
• include conferences on the religious life, vocation discernment and the spirituality of the community; and 
• provide opportunity for silent recollection, praying the Monastic Office and participating in some of the active apostolates of the community.

Those interested in attending can find further details here.

Tuesday of St Benedict: Matins readings

You may recall that my previous posts on the old votive Office of St Benedict, usually said on the first free Tuesday of each month.  This Tuesday being unencumbered, herewith the readings for May.

Reading 1: From the Third Book of Kings, chapter 17 - The son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick, and the sickness was very grievous, so that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elias: What have I to do with thee, thou man of God? art thou come to me that my iniquities should be remembered, and that thou shouldst kill my son? And Elias said to her: Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord my God, hast thou afflicted also the widow, with whom I am after a sort maintained, so as to kill her son? And he stretched, and measured himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord my God, let the soul of this child, I beseech thee, return into his body. And the Lord heard the voice of Elias: and the soul of the child returned into him, and he revived. And Elias took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber to the house below, and delivered him to his mother, and said to her: Behold thy son liveth. And the woman said to Elias: Now, by this I know that thou art a man of God, and the word of the Lord in thy mouth is true.

Reading 2: From Chapter 11 of the Dialogues of  St Gregory the Great - Again, as the monks were making of a certain wall somewhat higher, because that was requisite, the man of God in the meantime was in his cell at his prayers. To whom the old enemy appeared in an insulting manner, telling him, that he was now going to his monks, that were a-working: whereof the man of God, in all haste, gave them warning, wishing them to look unto themselves, because the devil was at that time coming amongst them. The message was scarce delivered, when as the wicked spirit overthrew the new wall which they were a building, and with the fall slew a little young child, a monk, who was the son of a certain courtier.  At which pitiful chance all were passing sorry and exceedingly grieved, not so much for the loss of the wall, as for the death of their brother: and in all haste they sent this heavy news to the venerable man Benedict;

Reading 3: Who commanded them to bring unto him the young boy, mangled and maimed as he was, which they did, but yet they could not carry him any otherwise than in a sack: for the stones of the wall had not only broken his limbs, but also his very bones. Being in that manner brought unto the man of God, he bad them to lay him in his cell, and in that place upon which he used to pray; and then, putting them all forth, he shut the door, and fell more instantly to his prayers than he used at other times. And O strange miracle! for the very same hour he made him sound, and as lively as ever he was before; and sent him again to his former work, that he also might help the monks to make an end of that wall, of whose death the old serpent thought he should have insulted over Benedict, and greatly triumphed.

St Pachomius (May 14/15)

 The feast of St Pachomius (circa 272-348) is celebrated in the modern Benedictine calendar today (May 15); in the 1962 calendar is memorial is May 14.  He is an important saint for monastics, as the author of the first known rule for coenibites (monks living in community).

Saint Pachomius was born in Egypt to pagan parents and was forced to become a soldier at age 21.  In this capacity he encountered a group of Christians ministering to the troops, and was so impressed by them that he decided to investigate the faith once he had left the army.  He was duly converted and baptised, and initially sought the guidance of a hermit named Palaemon.  After a few years he set out to live near St Antony, whose practices he imitated until Pachomius heard a voice in Tabennisi that told him to build a dwelling for the hermits to come to.  He established his first monastery 318 and 323, and the community grew rapidly, and made several new foundations.

You can read a life of the saint, translated from the Greek into Latin by one of St Benedict's contemporaries, Dionysius Exiguus, here.

Feast of SS Philip and James

Duccio di Buoninsegna

Today is the feast of SS Philip and James.  Their feast was originally celebrated together on May 1, the anniversary of the dedication of the Church housing their relics in Rome, established in the mid sixth century.  The Church in question, however, was later renamed as the Church of the Twelve Apostles (though there are some suggests it was always officially called that), so I guess the change of date is not as unfortunate as it might seem...

You can find the readings and responsories for the feast here, and additional notes on saying and/or singing Matins of the feast here.

You can also find Pope Benedict XVI's General Audiences on these saints here:

• St Philip;
• St James 'the lesser'.

St Gregory Nazianzus (May 9), Class III

The reading for the feast of St Gregory at Matins is as follows:

Gregory Nazianzus, a noble Cappadocian, earned the name of The Divine from his extraordinary knowledge of the sacred sciences. It was to these that he turned after being educated at Athens, together with St. Basil, in every branch of learning. He was first made Bishop of Sosima and then administered the Church of Nazianzus. Summoned to rule over the Church of Constantinople, he purged the city of heretical errors and brought it back to the Catholic faith. Although this deed should have won him the love of all, it earned him the hatred of many; so that, when a great quarrel had arisen among the bishops on his account, he resigned his See voluntarily, making his own the words of the prophet Jonah: If this storm hath arisen on my account, then throw me into the sea, that you may cease to be tossed about. He returned to Nazianzus, and having arranged that Eulalius should be its bishop, devoted himself wholly to prayer and the study of divine things. He wrote many famous works, both in prose and in verse, and was a most ardent defender of the doctrine of the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father. When Theodosius was emperor, Gregory, now grown old, departed to the life of heaven.

If you would like to know more about the saint and his teachings, Pope Benedict XVI gave two General Audiences which you find by following the links:

General Audience of 8 August 2007
General Audience of 22 August 2007

Sacra Liturgia Conference in Milan 2017

Just a note to let you know that the full programme for the Sacra Liturgia Conference being held this on 6-9 June, is now available, and part-time registrations are also now open.

This year's conference is being held in Milan, and includes a number of (EF) Ambrosian rite liturgies for Mass and Vespers.  There are presentations from leading figures such as Cardinals Sarah and Burke, and some wonderful sounding talks on subjects such as the Ambrosian Rite, music in the liturgy and much more.

Note that you will probably need to get in quickly if you want to attend!

Finding of Holy Cross (May 3)

Unless you are on oblate of Le Barroux (or another monastery that retains this feast), today is not the feast of the Finding of Holy Cross.

But it should be.

The Finding of Holy Cross is one of those feasts that fell victim to the calendar reforms of the 1950s and early 1960s, when it was combined with the Feast of the Exaltation of Holy Cross (which celebrates the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulcre).

It celebrated St Helena's (mother of Constantine the Great) discovery of the Holy Sepulcre in Jerusalem, and subsequent discovery of the Cross at the site.

Here are the readings on the subject from the former Roman version of the feast:

After that famous victory which the Emperor Constantine gained over Maxentius, in the year 312, on the eve of which the banner of the Cross of the Lord had been given to him from heaven, Helen, the mother of Constantine, being warned in a dream, came to Jerusalem, in 326, to seek for the Cross. There it was her care to cause to be overthrown the marble statue of Venus, which had stood on Calvary for about one hundred and eighty years, and which had originally been put there to desecrate and destroy the memorial of the sufferings of the Lord Christ. The like work Helen did at Bethlehem, by cleansing from an image of Adonis the stable where the Saviour was born, and from an idol of Jupiter, the place where He had arisen from the dead. 

Then she had thus cleansed the place where the Cross had stood, Helen caused deep excavations to be made, which resulted in the discovery of three crosses, and, apart from them, the writing which had been nailed on that of the Lord. But which of the crosses had been His was unknown, and was only manifested by a miracle. Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem, after offering solemn prayers to God, touched with each of the three a woman who was afflicted with a grievous disease. The two first had no effect, but at the touch of the third she was immediately healed. 

Helen, after she had found the life-giving Cross, built over the site of the Passion a Church of extraordinary splendour, wherein she deposited part of the Cross, shut up in a silver case. Another part which she gave to her son, Constantine, was laid up in the Church of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, which he built at Rome on the site of the Sessorian Palace. She also gave to her son the nails with which the Most Holy Body of Jesus Christ had been pierced. Constantine established a law abolishing the punishment of crucifixion for all time coming and thenceforth what had hitherto been a hissing and a curse among men, began to be esteemed worshipful and glorious.

St Athanasius, May 2

St Athanasius is extremely important not just as a Father of the Church, but also from a monastic point of view, for his Life of St Antony.  The reading for his feast at Matins is as follows:

Athanasius was Bishop of Alexandria, and a most vigorous defender of the Catholic religion. When he was still a deacon, he refuted the impiety of Arius at the Council of Nicaea, and earned such hatred from the Arians that, from that time on, they never ceased to lay snares for him. Driven into exile, he went to Treves in Gaul. He endured unbelievable hardships and wandered over a great part of the world, being often driven from his Church, and often restored by the authority of Pope Julius and the decrees of the Councils of Sardica and Jerusalem. All this while, he was persecuted by the Arians. Finally, rescued, by the help of God, from so many great dangers, he died at Alexandria during the reign of Emperor Valens. His life and death are marked by great miracles. He wrote many works, both of devotion and of catechetics, and, with great holiness, he ruled the Church of Alexandria, in those most troubled times, for forty-six years.

St Catherine of Siena (April 30)

The feast of St Catherine is displaced this year by the Sunday, but I wanted to include something for this important doctor of the Church, not least because it is my name day, so please say a prayer for me if you would.

From a General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI, given on 24 November 2010:

Today I would like to talk to you about a woman who played an eminent role in the history of the Church: St Catherine of Siena. The century in which she lived — the 14th — was a troubled period in the life of the Church and throughout the social context of Italy and Europe. Yet, even in the most difficult times, the Lord does not cease to bless his People, bringing forth Saints who give a jolt to minds and hearts, provoking conversion and renewal.

Catherine is one of these and still today speaks to us and impels us to walk courageously toward holiness to be ever more fully disciples of the Lord.

Born in Siena in 1347, into a very large family, she died in Rome in 1380. When Catherine was 16 years old, motivated by a vision of St Dominic, she entered the Third Order of the Dominicans, the female branch known as the Mantellate. While living at home, she confirmed her vow of virginity made privately when she was still an adolescent and dedicated herself to prayer, penance and works of charity, especially for the benefit of the sick.

When the fame of her holiness spread, she became the protagonist of an intense activity of spiritual guidance for people from every walk of life: nobles and politicians, artists and ordinary people, consecrated men and women and religious, including Pope Gregory xi who was living at Avignon in that period and whom she energetically and effectively urged to return to Rome.

She travelled widely to press for the internal reform of the Church and to foster peace among the States. It was also for this reason that Venerable Pope John Paul ii chose to declare her Co-Patroness of Europe: may the Old Continent never forget the Christian roots that are at the origin of its progress and continue to draw from the Gospel the fundamental values that assure justice and harmony.

Like many of the Saints, Catherine knew great suffering. Some even thought that they should not trust her, to the point that in 1374, six years before her death, the General Chapter of the Dominicans summoned her to Florence to interrogate her. They appointed Raymund of Capua, a learned and humble Friar and a future Master General of the Order, as her spiritual guide. Having become her confessor and also her “spiritual son”, he wrote a first complete biography of the Saint. She was canonized in 1461.

The teaching of Catherine, who learned to read with difficulty and learned to write in adulthood, is contained in the Dialogue of Divine Providence or Libro della Divina Dottrina, a masterpiece of spiritual literature, in her Epistolario and in the collection of her Prayers.

Her teaching is endowed with such excellence that in 1970 the Servant of God Paul VI declared her a Doctor of the Church, a title that was added to those of Co-Patroness of the City of Rome — at the wish of Bl. Pius ix — and of Patroness of Italy — in accordance with the decision of Venerable Pius XII.

In a vision that was ever present in Catherine's heart and mind Our Lady presented her to Jesus who gave her a splendid ring, saying to her: “I, your Creator and Saviour, espouse you in the faith, that you will keep ever pure until you celebrate your eternal nuptials with me in Heaven” (Bl. Raimondo da Capua, S. Caterina da Siena, Legenda maior, n. 115, Siena 1998). This ring was visible to her alone. In this extraordinary episode we see the vital centre of Catherine’s religious sense, and of all authentic spirituality: Christocentrism. For her Christ was like the spouse with whom a relationship of intimacy, communion and faithfulness exists; he was the best beloved whom she loved above any other good. This profound union with the Lord is illustrated by another episode in the life of this outstanding mystic: the exchange of hearts. According to Raymond of Capua who passed on the confidences Catherine received, the Lord Jesus appeared to her “holding in his holy hands a human heart, bright red and shining”. He opened her side and put the heart within her saying: “Dearest daughter, as I took your heart away from you the other day, now, you see, I am giving you mine, so that you can go on living with it for ever” (ibid.). Catherine truly lived St. Paul’s words, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).

Like the Sienese Saint, every believer feels the need to be conformed with the sentiments of the heart of Christ to love God and his neighbour as Christ himself loves. And we can all let our hearts be transformed and learn to love like Christ in a familiarity with him that is nourished by prayer, by meditation on the Word of God and by the sacraments, above all by receiving Holy Communion frequently and with devotion. Catherine also belongs to the throng of Saints devoted to the Eucharist with which I concluded my Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis (cf. n. 94). Dear brothers and sisters, the Eucharist is an extraordinary gift of love that God continually renews to nourish our journey of faith, to strengthen our hope and to inflame our charity, to make us more and more like him.

A true and authentic spiritual family was built up around such a strong and genuine personality; people fascinated by the moral authority of this young woman with a most exalted lifestyle were at times also impressed by the mystical phenomena they witnessed, such as her frequent ecstasies. Many put themselves at Catherine’s service and above all considered it a privilege to receive spiritual guidance from her. They called her “mother” because, as her spiritual children, they drew spiritual nourishment from her. Today too the Church receives great benefit from the exercise of spiritual motherhood by so many women, lay and consecrated, who nourish souls with thoughts of God, who strengthen the people’s faith and direct Christian life towards ever loftier peaks. “Son, I say to you and call you”, Catherine wrote to one of her spiritual sons, Giovanni Sabbatini, a Carthusian, “inasmuch as I give birth to you in continuous prayers and desire in the presence of God, just as a mother gives birth to a son” (Epistolario, Lettera n. 141: To Fr Giovanni de’ Sabbatini). She would usually address the Dominican Fr Bartolomeo de Dominici with these words: “Most beloved and very dear brother and son in Christ sweet Jesus”.

Another trait of Catherine’s spirituality is linked to the gift of tears. They express an exquisite, profound sensitivity, a capacity for being moved and for tenderness. Many Saints have had the gift of tears, renewing the emotion of Jesus himself who did not hold back or hide his tears at the tomb of his friend Lazarus and at the grief of Mary and Martha or at the sight of Jerusalem during his last days on this earth. According to Catherine, the tears of Saints are mingled with the blood of Christ, of which she spoke in vibrant tones and with symbolic images that were very effective: “Remember Christ crucified, God and man….. Make your aim the Crucified Christ, hide in the wounds of the Crucified Christ and drown in the blood of the Crucified Christ” (Epistolario, Lettera n. 21: Ad uno il cui nome si tace [to one who remains anonymous]). Here we can understand why, despite her awareness of the human shortcomings of priests, Catherine always felt very great reverence for them: through the sacraments and the word they dispense the saving power of Christ’s Blood. The Sienese Saint always invited the sacred ministers, including the Pope whom she called “sweet Christ on earth”, to be faithful to their responsibilities, motivated always and only by her profound and constant love of the Church. She said before she died: “in leaving my body, truly I have consumed and given my life in the Church and for the Holy Church, which is for me a most unique grace” (Raimondo da Capua, S. Caterina da Siena, Legenda maior, n. 363). Hence we learn from St Catherine the most sublime science: to know and love Jesus Christ and his Church. In the Dialogue of Divine Providence, she describes Christ, with an unusual image, as a bridge flung between Heaven and earth. This bridge consists of three great stairways constituted by the feet, the side and the mouth of Jesus. Rising by these stairways the soul passes through the three stages of every path to sanctification: detachment from sin, the practice of the virtues and of love, sweet and loving union with God.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us learn from St Catherine to love Christ and the Church with courage, intensely and sincerely. Therefore let us make our own St Catherine’s words that we read in the Dialogue of Divine Providence at the end of the chapter that speaks of Christ as a bridge: “out of mercy you have washed us in his Blood, out of mercy you have wished to converse with creatures. O crazed with love! It did not suffice for you to take flesh, but you also wished to die!... O mercy! My heart drowns in thinking of you: for no matter where I turn to think, I find only mercy” (chapter 30, pp. 79-80). Thank you.