Using an Ordo Part 3 - Days vs feasts

 

In the last post in this series I looked at the impact of the level of the day on the Office for Sundays and Class IV days.  Today I want to move on to Class III days and feasts. 

Higher level days 

And this seems a good point to note a key distinction, between Class I, II and III ‘days’ of various kinds, and feasts. 

Higher level ‘days’ (as opposed to feasts) basically take two forms.  

First they can mark the fact that a day is part of a special season of the year, such as Advent and Lent, with special seasonal and daily texts associated with it.  During the first part of Advent, for example, weekdays are ‘Class III’, and have antiphons of the Advent week at Prime to None, and their own canticle antiphons for each day.  In the second, more intense part of Advent, the days are Class II, and have a complex mix of texts for the days of the week, date and Advent day. 

The other type of higher level day - things like Vigils, days in the Christmas Octave, Ash Wednesday, and Ember Days - are more eccentric in the way they are marked, so you need to be careful to consult the rubrics in your Diurnal or other book on them. 

Feasts, by contrast, have more set patterns that you can learn and remember. 

Class III feasts – and Advent days 

Consider for example, a Class III feast, of which we had St Clement this week: 

Monday 23 November – St Clement, Class III; St Felicitas, Memorial 

Divinum Officium provides a little more information, on the type of saint, which can be important if you need to draw on the texts of the relevant Common: 

S. Clementis I Papæ et Martyris III. classis 

And the Le Barroux Ordo gives the same information, as usual in more abbreviated form: 

FII 23 S. Clementis I Pp. M. 3cl….Cm. S. Felicitatis M. 

For most Class III feasts:

·       At Matins, the invitatory antiphon, hymn, chapter and versicle are either specific to the feast or taken from the Common; at least one reading and responsory, as well as the collect, will be of the feast;

·       At Lauds and Vespers, the psalms an antiphons are of the day of the week; the chapter, responsory, hymn, versicle, canticle antiphons and collect will be of the feast (or from the relevant Common);

·       At Prime to None the antiphon will be of the feast or from the Common;

·       At Terce to None, the chapter, versicle and collect are of the feast (or taken from the Common).

Advent weekdays basically follow this pattern as well, with antiphons each week (taken from Sunday Lauds) at Prime to None, but the default antiphons at Lauds and Vespers.

There is, however, one exception to the ‘psalms and antiphons of the day of the week’ rule at Lauds and Vespers, namely, where a feast has a specific set of antiphons set out in the sanctorale.  

St Clement is one of the exceptions! 

Using an Ordo Part 2 - Levels of days

In the previous post in this series on interpreting Ordos, I looked primarily at the importance of the liturgical week.  Today I want to move onto the level, or 'Class' of the day, since this determines whether or not you will be saying the ‘default’ or ferial Office, or will need to look for extra texts to supplement the psalter.

 Sundays (=Dominica/Dom)

 Sundays, for example, in the 1962 rubrics, are always either Class I or Class II. 

If the Sunday is Class II, you will normally only need the collect and canticle antiphons of the relevant week. 

If it is Class I however, there will generally be specific antiphons for the psalms, and other texts that displace the ones for the chapter, hymn, versicle and so forth that are used throughout the year or within a particular season. 

This Sunday, for example, is Class II, so just uses the normal Sunday texts at the day hours:

Sunday 22 November– Twenty-fifth and last Sunday after Pentecost/Fifth Sunday of November, Class II

 Next Sunday, however, is the First Sunday of Advent, which is Class I, and so has special texts for all of the hours, set out in the temporale section of your Office book: 

Sunday 29 November – First Sunday of Advent, Class I

 Or:

 Dominica I Adventus    I. classis (Divinum Officium)

 Or

 Dom. 29 I Adventus I cl (Le Barroux)

 Weekdays

 Weekdays can in principle be anything from Class four (IV), the lowest rank, to Class One (I).

 Class IV days: Monday to Friday (aka feria II-VI)

 If a day is Class IV, such as this Friday, it uses the normal default texts for the time of year and day: 

Friday 27 November – Class IV

= Feria Sexta infra Hebd XXIV post Octavam Pentecostes V. Novembris    IV. Classis (DO)

=FVI 27 ■ de ea 4cl. (LeB)

 So you would simply use the psalter section of your Office book, plus the relevant collect for the week.

 Class IV Saturdays (Sabbato): Office of Our Lady

If a Saturday is labelled Class IV, as is this coming Saturday, the Office of Our Lady on Saturday is used from Matins to None instead of some of the standard Saturday texts in the psalter: 

Saturday 28 November – Class IV; Saturday of Our Lady

Sanctae Mariae Sabbato    IV. Classis (DO)

Sab. 28 de B.M.V. 4cl (LE B)

 The relevant texts are found near the end of the Commons in most Office books. The Office of Our Lady has a few variants for the period after Christmas, and in Eastertide, but otherwise stays the same throughout the year, with the exception of the reading at Matins.

 Note that prior to 1962, the Office of Our Lady had 1 Vespers (said on Friday night) and some monasteries still retain this custom. 

Memorials

 If a day is Class IV with a Memorial, the key addition is that a ‘commemoration’ (canticle antiphon, versicle, collect, in that order after the collect of the day) is made at Lauds only.

 So this Tuesday for example, is described in my Ordo as:

 Tuesday 24 November – Class IV; SS John of the Cross and Chrysogonus, memorials

 My own Ordo gives you the relevant page number (‘for the commemorations at Lauds, MD [382-3]/AM 1148-9’), but it is easy to find in the Diurnal at least under the correct date in the Sanctoral section.

 Divinum Officium tells you to make the commemoration at Lauds:

Feria Tertia infra Hebd XXIV post Octavam Pentecostes V. Novembris    IV. Classis. Commemoratio ad Laudes tantum: S. Joannis a Cruce Confessoris et Ecclesiæ Doctoris

 And the Le Barroux Ordo also includes an additional commemoration specific to their calendar (ie not in the General Calendar of the Order):

 FIII 24 de ea 4cl

Cm. S. Ioannis a Cruce…dein cm. S. Chrysogoni…

As Le Barroux includes quite a few extra feasts in their calendar, you need to keep an eye out for these, as they may not appear in your Office book.

Summary

Day of the week	Level of day	Effect
Sundays (Dominica)	Class I or II only	Start at 1 Vespers of Saturday
	Class I	Antiphons and other texts displace normal Sunday
	Class II	(At least) Canticle antiphons and collect of the Sunday
Weekdays (Feria II-VI, Sabbato)	Can be Class IV - I
Monday to Friday (aka feria II-VI)	Class IV	‘Ferial’ or ordinary psalms and texts of season with collect of the liturgical week
Saturday (Sabbato)	Class IV	Office of Our Lady on Saturday (Matins to None)
Monday to Saturday	Class IV + Memorial	Make a commemoration at Lauds

 More tomorrow, on the various levels of days and feasts.

Using an Ordo effectively - and how to do without one! Part I: The liturgical week and Sundays

 A few weeks ago I posted on reasons for using an Ordo, and this week I want to continue with some notes on how to use one more effectively, and ultimately how to be less reliant on one, with a particular focus on getting ready for Advent. 

In these notes I’m going to refer mainly to my own, the Le Barroux, and Divinum Officium Ordos. 

The week of the liturgical year 

The first key piece of information you need each week is which Sunday or week of the liturgical year it is, since most of the time this determines the default collect to use at the hours other than at Prime and Compline, as well as whether there are any seasonal texts that displace those normally used in the psalter. 

For this week, for example, my own Ordo tells you that this is the twenty-fifth week after Pentecost – so we are in time throughout the year, or time after Pentecost: 

Sunday 22 November– Twenty-fifth and last Sunday after Pentecost/Fifth Sunday of November, Class II

 Divinum Officium separates out the ‘temporale’ and ‘sanctorale’ cycles, and gives the same information, but in Latin.  The key difference is that where I've given the actual number of the Sunday this particular year, Divinum Officium gives you the number of the relevant Sunday texts (viz what the Diurnal labels as the 24th and last Sunday of the year). For 22 November, the entry is: 

Dominica XXIV et Ultima Post Pentecosten V. Novembris II. Classis 

The Le Barroux Ordo gives you essentially the same information in a more abbreviated form: 

Dom. 22 XXV & ultima post Pent. 5 nov. 2cl. 

From this, you can then look up the ‘temporale’ section of your Office book to find the collect you will need on most days, which in the Diurnal is at page 487* (MD 487*). 

Next week, though, the Sunday will be the first of Advent, so you will also need to look for the antiphons and other texts specific to that season. 

For Saturday Vespers and Sunday Lauds and Vespers. 

For Saturday Vespers and Sundays you also need to find the correct canticle antiphons. 

For most of the year, these have the same label as the relevant Sunday of the liturgical year. So from next week, with Advent, the canticles and other texts of Saturday Vespers can be found right at the beginning of the Diurnal, immediately followed by the texts for the Sunday. 

August to November

From August to November, however, the Magnificat antiphon for Saturday Vespers, as well as the Matins readings, are of the relevant week of the calendar month - in the example above for this week, the fifth week of November:

Sunday 22 November– Twenty-fifth and last Sunday after Pentecost/Fifth Sunday of November, Class II

 Dominica XXIV et Ultima Post Pentecosten V. Novembris II. Classis (Divinum Officium)

Dom. 22 XXV & ultima post Pent. 5 nov. 2cl. (Le Barroux)

And because the number of weeks this affects changes each year, most office books put some or all of the Saturday Magnificat antiphons for time after Pentecost in a separate section of the ‘temporale’ to the Sunday cycle. 

My own Ordo gives you the relevant page numbers (so for this week’s Saturday Vespers, MD 461*.

The Le Barroux Ordo just says ‘Vesp. De Dom. Seq‘ (‘Vespers of the following Sunday’), leaving you to find it for yourself. 

It is worth keeping in mind that in the period August to November, the relevant ‘calendar’ week may not correspond with the actual week of the month – under the 1962 rules, for example, there is never a second week of November (!).  

So you do either need to consult an Ordo on this, or sit down and read the rubrics!

More anon.

Why use an Ordo (not just a sales pitch!)

 As this is the time of year when Ordos become available (and my own is now available from Lulu!) , I thought it might be timely to talk, over a few posts, about why you should use an Ordo; how to use an ordo effectively; and the key differences between the various ones available.

Ordos primarily serve two purposes I think: saving you a lot of time; and helping ensure you say the Office correctly.

Ordos as a time saver

First, even if you are reasonably expert when it comes to saying the Office, an Ordo can save you a lot of time.  

In theory, for example, assuming you are reasonably familiar with the way the 'traditional' liturgical year works, with its several intersecting cycles, you could work out for yourself what season, month, week and day it is.

You could use the table in the front of your Diurnal or breviary that gives the dates of Easter and the other key 'moveable' feasts each year to work out what week of the liturgical year it is.

From August to November you could consult the notes in the temporale section of your Office book to  work out what 'week' of the relevant calendar month it is.

And you can consult the sanctorale section to track what feasts fall on a particular date.

And you could use the 'two tables' (of occurrence and concurrence) to work out which particular Office to say when where are competing days and feasts.

Or you could just consult an Ordo!

 Ordos for experts

If you are very familiar with the rubrics, you may not need a detailed Ordo.

In the case of my own Ordo, for example, you might just focus on a couple of key pieces of information in the topline entry, such as which Office is said on a particular day, and in some cases, whether Vespers is of the day of the week, or of the feast/special day.

For November 29 this year, for example, all you may need to know is:

Saturday 28 November – Class IV; Saturday of Our Lady

AT NONE: END OF TIME THROUGHOUT THE YEAR/ START OF ADVENT

 1 Vespers of the First Sunday of Advent.

Compline: Marian antiphon Alma Redemptoris Mater henceforward.

That is, from Matins to None, the Office is for Saturday of Our Lady; from Vespers onwards the season is Advent, including a new Marian antiphon at Compline.

This assumes of course, that you know where to find the relevant pages in your book, and are sufficiently familiar with the rubrics for Vespers and Advent (or can work them out by reading the sometimes cryptic notes in your Office book).

Le Barroux

If you are in this category of a high degree of comfort with the rubrics, the Le Barroux Ordo supplies just this level of information, albeit in Latin.  It is worth noting though, that Le Barroux not strictly follow the 1962 rubrics in all cases (including I Vespers for Class II feasts for example), and includes feasts particular to the monastery and its location.  

The Le Barroux Ordo is also worth considering acquiring, though, if you follow their podcasts of the Office, so you know what you are going to be listening to (and purchasing a copy and perhaps making a donation if you are in a position to do so is a nice thank you for their efforts in making the livestream available).

Divinum Officium

Another option for a 'bare bones' Ordo is the monastic option on the Divinum Officium website, which is now keyed to the 1962 Benedictine calendar.

Monastic calendars

The other source worth noting is calendars put out by individual monasteries.  These typically include the dates of feasts and so forth celebrated the monastery, which can be an important source of information on feasts particular to that monastery or congregation if you are one of their Oblates.

Hunting down chants and texts in other books

A second way an Ordo can save you some time is in linking you up to sources for the chants (which are typically in pre-1962 books, and so may be scattered in different places, or across different books).  My own Ordo provides page numbers to the Antiphonale Monasticum and other chant books for this purpose.

In addition, particular monasteries/countries/regions celebrate feasts particular to them, and so aids to finding the texts for these - such as to the 'in some places' supplement in the Diurnal and the Clear Creek supplement to the Antiphonale - can be helpful. As monasteries and others take advantage of the provisions allowing the celebration of new saints (and others now permitted), this is likely to become a growth area in future!

Ordos to help you get it right

Even  the most minimalist Ordos can be a key aid to ensuring you say the Office correctly using an Office book: knowing what week of the liturgical year it is, what Office is celebrated on it is an important start,

If you are less familiar with the Office though, having a bit more information than this can help.

For that reason, my own Ordo provides page numbers for texts in the Monastic Diurnal, and chants in the Antiphonale, where the Office of the day differs from the 'ferial' or ordinary day Office.

So for the entry I noted above, for the First Sunday of Advent, you get: 

Sunday 29 November – First Sunday of Advent, Class I

 [The feast of St Saturninus is not marked in the Office this year.]

Matins: Invitatory antiphon (Regem venturum Dominum), hymn (Verbum supernum), antiphons, versicles and canticles of Advent; readings, responsories and collect of Sunday I of Advent. 

Lauds: Antiphons, chapter, responsory, hymn, versicle, Benedictus antiphon and collect of the First Sunday of Advent, MD 4*/AM 187 ff. 

Prime: Antiphon 1 of Lauds, MD 6-7*/AM 187. 

Terce to None: Antiphon, chapter, versicle and collect of Sunday Advent I, MD 7-8*/AM 189-90 ff. 

2 Vespers: Antiphons, chapter, responsory, hymn and collect as for 1 Vespers, MD 1*/AM 186 ff; versicle and Magnificat antiphon of 2 Vespers, MD 8-9*/AM 190.

 More on how to use Ordos effectively anon, but in the meantime, do consider acquiring one (or more)!

Happy Christmas

May you have a happy and holy Christmas.

Pray for the monks of Tasmania, Australia - first professions

The traditional Benedictine monastery being established in Tasmania, Australia takes a major step forward this Saturday, with the first professions of the first group of novices of the community.

The professions are scheduled for December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, so please do keep them especially in your prayers.

The monks recently acquired a property, the Jerusalem Estate, so if you can also help them financially, please do consider making a donation, or buying something from their monk shop.

But above all, pray for the perseverance of the monks, and that the community might continue to grow and thrive.

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!