Summary notes for use in conjunction with the 'How to Say the Office' series - page references are to the psalter section of the Farnborough Monastic Diurnal.
Tuesday Lauds
Note: on some feasts, the antiphons, chapter, hymn etc are specific to the feast and the festal psalms (under Sunday in the psalter) may be used – see Ordo
• Opening prayers and Psalm 66 as for Monday, MD 58-59;
• Then go to MD 76ff;
• Select either the ferial (MD 80) or the festal (MD 82) canticle depending on season or class of day;
• Benedictus from the card, or MD 73;
• Concluding prayers as for Monday, MD 75;
• Collect of the previous Sunday or feast, see Ordo; if there is a commemoration (memorial), the relevant texts are said immediately after the collect of the day.
Tuesday Prime
• Opening prayer and hymn, MD 1-2;
• Antiphon (said before and after psalms) of the season, MD 9; or day or feast (see Ordo);
• With psalms MD 10-15;
• Chapter, versicle and concluding prayers MD 7-9.
Tuesday (to Saturday) Terce
• Opening prayer (Deus…) as per MD 1;
• Hymn Nunc Sancte MD 183;
• Select antiphon (said before and after psalms) for the season, MD 184, or feast (see Ordo); • Psalms MD 184-186;
• Chapter and versicle of season, MD 186ff or feast (see Ordo);
• Closing prayers as at MD 154 (from Kyrie);
• Collect of the week (from the Sunday) or day (see Ordo).
Tuesday (to Saturday) Sext
• Opening prayer (Deus…) as per MD 1;
• Hymn Rector potens MD 190;
• Select antiphon (said before and after psalms) for the season, MD 190-191, or feast (see Ordo);
• Psalms MD 191-193;
• Chapter and versicle of season, MD193ff, or feast (see Ordo);
• Closing prayers as at MD 154 (from Kyrie);
• Collect of the week (from the Sunday) or day (see Ordo).
Tuesday (to Saturday) None
• Opening prayer (Deus…) as per MD 1;
• Hymn Rerum Deus, MD 196-197;
• Select antiphon (said before and after psalms) for the season, MD 197, or feast (see Ordo);
• Psalms MD 198-199;
• Chapter and versicle of season, MD 200ff or feast (see Ordo);
• Closing prayers as at MD 154 (from Kyrie);
• Collect of the week (from the Sunday) or day (see Ordo).
Tuesday Vespers
Note: on some feasts and seasons, the antiphons, psalms, chapter, hymn etc are specific to the day – see Ordo.
• Starts MD 220 (opening prayer as on MD 1);
• Antiphons for the season or day (see ordo);
• Magnificat, MD 209-210;
• Concluding prayers MD 210-11 (from Kyrie);
• Collect of the Sunday (or feast) - see Ordo.
Compline
• Starts MD 257;
• Choose the Marian antiphon to conclude according to the season (in time throughout the year it is Salve Regina, MD 268).
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Quick reference card for the Benedictine Office - Monday
Summary notes for use in conjunction with the 'How to Say the Office' series - page references are to the psalter section of the Farnborough Monastic Diurnal.
Monday Matins
Not found in the Diurnal, refer to the Monastic Breviary.
Monday Lauds
Note: on some feasts, the antiphons, chapter, hymn etc are specific to the feast and the festal psalms (under Sunday in the psalter) may be used – if so the page reference will be provided in the Ordo.
• Starts MD 58;
• Select either the ferial (MD 65) or the festal (MD 66) canticle depending on season or class of day;
• Collect of the previous Sunday or feast, see Ordo; if there is a commemoration (memorial), the relevant texts are said immediately after the collect of the day.
Monday Prime
• Starts MD 1;
• Select antiphon for the season (MD 2-3) or feast (first antiphon of Lauds if not otherwise specified).
Monday Terce
• Starts MD 163 (as per full version, MD 1);
• Antiphons, chapter and versicle for the season (MD 163, 166ff) or feast (see Ordo);
• Closing prayers as at MD 154 (from Kyrie);
• Collect of the week (from the Sunday) or day (see Ordo).
Monday Sext
• Starts MD 169 (as per full version page 1);
• Antiphons, chapter and versicle for the season (MD 170, 173ff) or feast (see Ordo);
• Closing prayers as at MD 154 (from Kyrie);
• Collect of the week (from the Sunday) or day (see Ordo).
Monday None
• Starts MD 176 (as per full version MD 1);
• Antiphons, chapter and versicle for the season (MD177, 180ff) or feast (see Ordo);
• Closing prayers as at MD 154 (from Kyrie);
• Collect of the week (from the Sunday) or day (see Ordo).
Monday Vespers
Note: on some feasts and seasons, the antiphons, psalms, chapter, hymn etc are specific to the day – if so the Ordo will provide a page reference.
• Starts MD 211 (opening prayer as on MD 1);
• Antiphons for the season (MD 212) or day (see Ordo);
• Text of the Magnificat MD 209-10;
• Concluding prayers MD 210-11 (from Kyrie);
• Collect of the Sunday (or feast) - see Ordo.
Monday Compline
• Starts MD 257;
• Choose the Marian antiphon to conclude according to the season; throughout the year it is Salve Regina, MD 268.
Monday Matins
Not found in the Diurnal, refer to the Monastic Breviary.
Monday Lauds
Note: on some feasts, the antiphons, chapter, hymn etc are specific to the feast and the festal psalms (under Sunday in the psalter) may be used – if so the page reference will be provided in the Ordo.
• Starts MD 58;
• Select either the ferial (MD 65) or the festal (MD 66) canticle depending on season or class of day;
• Collect of the previous Sunday or feast, see Ordo; if there is a commemoration (memorial), the relevant texts are said immediately after the collect of the day.
Monday Prime
• Starts MD 1;
• Select antiphon for the season (MD 2-3) or feast (first antiphon of Lauds if not otherwise specified).
Monday Terce
• Starts MD 163 (as per full version, MD 1);
• Antiphons, chapter and versicle for the season (MD 163, 166ff) or feast (see Ordo);
• Closing prayers as at MD 154 (from Kyrie);
• Collect of the week (from the Sunday) or day (see Ordo).
Monday Sext
• Starts MD 169 (as per full version page 1);
• Antiphons, chapter and versicle for the season (MD 170, 173ff) or feast (see Ordo);
• Closing prayers as at MD 154 (from Kyrie);
• Collect of the week (from the Sunday) or day (see Ordo).
Monday None
• Starts MD 176 (as per full version MD 1);
• Antiphons, chapter and versicle for the season (MD177, 180ff) or feast (see Ordo);
• Closing prayers as at MD 154 (from Kyrie);
• Collect of the week (from the Sunday) or day (see Ordo).
Monday Vespers
Note: on some feasts and seasons, the antiphons, psalms, chapter, hymn etc are specific to the day – if so the Ordo will provide a page reference.
• Starts MD 211 (opening prayer as on MD 1);
• Antiphons for the season (MD 212) or day (see Ordo);
• Text of the Magnificat MD 209-10;
• Concluding prayers MD 210-11 (from Kyrie);
• Collect of the Sunday (or feast) - see Ordo.
Monday Compline
• Starts MD 257;
• Choose the Marian antiphon to conclude according to the season; throughout the year it is Salve Regina, MD 268.
Monday 30 August – SS Felix and Adauctus, Martyrs, Memorial
The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that these saints were martyrs at Rome, 303, under Diocletian and Maximian.
Their Acts, first published in Ado's Martyrology, relate as follows: Felix, a Roman priest, and brother of another priest, also named Felix, being ordered to offer sacrifice to the gods, was brought by the prefect Dracus to the temples of Serapis, Mercury, and Diana. But at the prayer of the saint the idols fell shattered to the ground. He was then led to execution. On the way an unknown person joined him, professed himself a Christian, and also received the crown of martyrdom. The Christians gave him the name Adauctus (added).
Their veneration, however, is very old; they are commemorated in the Sacramentary of Gregory the Great and in the ancient martyrologies.
Their church in Rome, built over their graves, in the cemetery of Commodilla, on the Via Ostiensis, near the basilica of St. Paul, and has been lost and rediscovered more than once, most recently again unearthed in 1905.
Leo IV, about 850, is said to have given their relics to Irmengard, wife of Lothair I; she placed them in the abbey of canonesses at Eschau in Alsace. They were brought to the church of St. Stephen in Vienna in 1361. The heads are claimed by Anjou and Cologne. According to the "Chronicle of Andechs", Henry, the last count, received the relics from Honorius III and brought them to the Abbey of Andechs.
The picture (above) is The Glorification of St Felix and St Adauctus by Carlo Innocenzo Carlone.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Liturgical status of the Traditional Benedictine Office*** updated
Checking where people are coming from to find this blog, I stumbled across a thread on Catholic Answers which raised an issue I've seen a few times recently under various guises, namely whether we can be 'doing liturgy' when we say the traditional Benedictine Office.
The Office can be said either as a devotion or as liturgy. As a devotion, there is no issue about approved versions, rubrics etc - essentially it is a matter of do as you like (within reason of course)!
As I think there is a bit of misinformation out there, however, let me reiterate a few points here. Firstly, lay people can, in principle, say the Office liturgically, regardless of whether a cleric or religious is present when they do so.
Secondly, contrary to some claims, the traditional Benedictine Office, with its traditional calendar, using rubrics and calendar approved in 1962 (and very similar to, but not identical with, the 1962 Extraordinary Form calendar and rubrics), continues to be officially approved, and is used by quite a few monasteries. The Farnborough edition of the Diurnal follows that approved form.
It is true that in 1979 the Benedictine Confederation approved a series of revised options for the Office. However, from 1984 onwards a number of monasteries received explicit permission through the Ecclesia Dei Commission of the Holy See to retain the traditional Office, Mass and calendar (in line with the permissions for the use of the traditional mass more broadly).
In 2007, with the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, the permission to use the traditional forms of the Mass and Office for the Roman Rite was generalized to all clergy wish to use it. The Ecclesia Dei Commission has indicated that this also extends to the rites and uses of religious orders. Accordingly, there can be no doubt that the traditional Benedictine Office as set out in the 1962 Monastic Breviary is approved for liturgical purposes.
There are though a few issues that do need to be considered in relation to the Diurnal.
First, while the Latin clearly has ecclesiastical approval, it is not clear whether or not the particular English translation included has approval for liturgical purposes. An edition of the Diurnal from 1963 using the same text did obtain an Imprimateur, but I haven't seen the detail of its terms, and the English may have intended to be used for study purposes only. Moreover, the Instruction Universae Ecclesiae specifies in relation to the Roman Breviary that it must be said in Latin.
Secondly, the Farnborough edition of the Diurnal lacks an official attestation that it is published in accordance with an approved edition (CL 826).
Whether either of these issues is sufficient to render the saying of the Office from the text in English devotional rather than liturgical is perhaps still debatable. But in the light of Universae Ecclesiae, the safest approach is to say the Office in Latin, and use the English as an aid to understanding.
The Office can be said either as a devotion or as liturgy. As a devotion, there is no issue about approved versions, rubrics etc - essentially it is a matter of do as you like (within reason of course)!
As I think there is a bit of misinformation out there, however, let me reiterate a few points here. Firstly, lay people can, in principle, say the Office liturgically, regardless of whether a cleric or religious is present when they do so.
Secondly, contrary to some claims, the traditional Benedictine Office, with its traditional calendar, using rubrics and calendar approved in 1962 (and very similar to, but not identical with, the 1962 Extraordinary Form calendar and rubrics), continues to be officially approved, and is used by quite a few monasteries. The Farnborough edition of the Diurnal follows that approved form.
It is true that in 1979 the Benedictine Confederation approved a series of revised options for the Office. However, from 1984 onwards a number of monasteries received explicit permission through the Ecclesia Dei Commission of the Holy See to retain the traditional Office, Mass and calendar (in line with the permissions for the use of the traditional mass more broadly).
In 2007, with the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, the permission to use the traditional forms of the Mass and Office for the Roman Rite was generalized to all clergy wish to use it. The Ecclesia Dei Commission has indicated that this also extends to the rites and uses of religious orders. Accordingly, there can be no doubt that the traditional Benedictine Office as set out in the 1962 Monastic Breviary is approved for liturgical purposes.
There are though a few issues that do need to be considered in relation to the Diurnal.
First, while the Latin clearly has ecclesiastical approval, it is not clear whether or not the particular English translation included has approval for liturgical purposes. An edition of the Diurnal from 1963 using the same text did obtain an Imprimateur, but I haven't seen the detail of its terms, and the English may have intended to be used for study purposes only. Moreover, the Instruction Universae Ecclesiae specifies in relation to the Roman Breviary that it must be said in Latin.
Secondly, the Farnborough edition of the Diurnal lacks an official attestation that it is published in accordance with an approved edition (CL 826).
Whether either of these issues is sufficient to render the saying of the Office from the text in English devotional rather than liturgical is perhaps still debatable. But in the light of Universae Ecclesiae, the safest approach is to say the Office in Latin, and use the English as an aid to understanding.
Quick reference cards for the daily Office - Sunday
There seems to be some interest in more of a cheat sheet for page numbers of the Office in the Farnborough Monastic Diurnal, so I'm going to have a go at providing something that may be of use. If you have suggestions on alternative formats or content, do let me know and I'll see whether or not I can oblige!
Please note that this is not a substitute for working through my How to say the Office series - you really do need to become familiar with the structure of each hour and how the Office works to say the traditional Office correctly. But once you have worked through that, having a cheat sheet at your side may be helpful (note also that this material now also appears in the summary section on each hour in the series).
Secondly, note that you still need to consult the Ordo for the relevant month.
Thirdly, the simplest way to print this is to copy it into a word document, and convert all text to black.
The Office on Sunday
Sunday Matins
Not found in the Diurnal, refer to the Monastic Breviary.
Sunday Lauds (at first light)
• Starts MD 37;
• Choose the appropriate psalm schema – for most Sundays during the year it is schema 1: Psalms 50, 117, (jump over 92, 99), 62, then canticle, Psalms 148-150;
• Choose the correct antiphons (including the number of them) as this varies by season (during the year is included in the Diurnal in the Sunday section);
• The hymn varies by liturgical season and time of year – for most of time after Pentecost it is Ecce Iam Noctis, MD 55 (skip over Aeterne rerum);
• The antiphon for the Benedictus is specific to the particular Sunday, check the Ordo for the correct page number;
• The collect (prayer) is specific to the particular Sunday, check the Ordo for the page reference.
Sunday Prime (early morning)
• Starts MD 146;
• Concluding prayers MD 8;
• Note that the ‘Capitular Office’ said in monasteries (including the reading of the Rule and the Martyrology) is not included in the Diurnal.
Sunday Terce (mid-morning)
• Opening prayers MD 151;
• Hymn Nunc Sancte MD 151;
• Select antiphon (said before and after psalms) for the season, MD 151-152 or feast (see Ordo);
• Psalms MD 152-154;
• Chapter and versicle of season, MD 154ff or feast (see Ordo);
• Closing prayers as at MD 154 (from Kyrie);
• With collect for the particular Sunday, see the Ordo.
Sunday Sext (noon)
• Starts MD 155;
• Use collect set for the particular Sunday, see the Ordo.
Sunday None (mid-afternoon)
• Starts MD 159;
• Use collect set for the particular Sunday, see the Ordo.
Sunday Vespers (evening)
• Starts MD 203 (opening prayer as on MD 1);
• Antiphons for the season or day (see ordo);
• Antiphon for the Magnificat (MD 209) is particular to the day, for the correct page number see the Ordo;
• Concluding prayers MD 210-11 with collect of the Sunday (or feast) - see Ordo.
Sunday Compline (before bed)
• Starts MD 257;
• Choose the appropriate Marian antiphon to conclude the hour (during the year, Salve Regina, MD 268).
Please note that this is not a substitute for working through my How to say the Office series - you really do need to become familiar with the structure of each hour and how the Office works to say the traditional Office correctly. But once you have worked through that, having a cheat sheet at your side may be helpful (note also that this material now also appears in the summary section on each hour in the series).
Secondly, note that you still need to consult the Ordo for the relevant month.
Thirdly, the simplest way to print this is to copy it into a word document, and convert all text to black.
The Office on Sunday
Sunday Matins
Not found in the Diurnal, refer to the Monastic Breviary.
Sunday Lauds (at first light)
• Starts MD 37;
• Choose the appropriate psalm schema – for most Sundays during the year it is schema 1: Psalms 50, 117, (jump over 92, 99), 62, then canticle, Psalms 148-150;
• Choose the correct antiphons (including the number of them) as this varies by season (during the year is included in the Diurnal in the Sunday section);
• The hymn varies by liturgical season and time of year – for most of time after Pentecost it is Ecce Iam Noctis, MD 55 (skip over Aeterne rerum);
• The antiphon for the Benedictus is specific to the particular Sunday, check the Ordo for the correct page number;
• The collect (prayer) is specific to the particular Sunday, check the Ordo for the page reference.
Sunday Prime (early morning)
• Starts MD 146;
• Concluding prayers MD 8;
• Note that the ‘Capitular Office’ said in monasteries (including the reading of the Rule and the Martyrology) is not included in the Diurnal.
Sunday Terce (mid-morning)
• Opening prayers MD 151;
• Hymn Nunc Sancte MD 151;
• Select antiphon (said before and after psalms) for the season, MD 151-152 or feast (see Ordo);
• Psalms MD 152-154;
• Chapter and versicle of season, MD 154ff or feast (see Ordo);
• Closing prayers as at MD 154 (from Kyrie);
• With collect for the particular Sunday, see the Ordo.
Sunday Sext (noon)
• Starts MD 155;
• Use collect set for the particular Sunday, see the Ordo.
Sunday None (mid-afternoon)
• Starts MD 159;
• Use collect set for the particular Sunday, see the Ordo.
Sunday Vespers (evening)
• Starts MD 203 (opening prayer as on MD 1);
• Antiphons for the season or day (see ordo);
• Antiphon for the Magnificat (MD 209) is particular to the day, for the correct page number see the Ordo;
• Concluding prayers MD 210-11 with collect of the Sunday (or feast) - see Ordo.
Sunday Compline (before bed)
• Starts MD 257;
• Choose the appropriate Marian antiphon to conclude the hour (during the year, Salve Regina, MD 268).
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Why pray in Latin?
One of the perennial debates around the Office is what language you should use to pray in.
A debate on this topic appears to have been cut off elsewhere I can only assume in the interests of protecting perceived fiefdoms by virtue of leaving some misinformation in place. That's unfortunate, but I don't want to get into all of that here. Instead, some brief comments on the more important underlying issue around the use of Latin from my perspective.
1. Prayer in any language is better than none!
First, note that the most important thing is to pray - what language you use is a secondary issue. Prayer, as we all know, can take a wide variety of forms. We often use set forms (the Mass, the Divine Office, particular prayers) to help us. Sometimes the content might be what we are focusing on. Sometimes it is more the general intent behind the prayer.
In the case of the Divine Office, it is not necessary to be deeply conscious of the meaning of each word or phrase each time you say it (whether in your native language or some other). Far more important is the intent of praising and worshipping God.
2. When it comes to liturgical prayer, the important thing is to follow the approved rubrics
There are two broad types of prayer - liturgical (such as the Mass) and devotional (the rosary, meditation, etc). The Office can be said either as a devotion or as liturgy. If it is said devotionally, you have a fair amount of freedom as to how you say it. However, the Church strictly regulates the liturgy in order to protect its integrity. That includes the Divine Office (aka Liturgy of the Hours, etc).
In the Catholic Church, Latin is the official, normative language of the liturgy. Translations of the Latin have to be approved for liturgical use (not just study use) by the proper authorities.
3. Praying in Latin has advantages when it comes to liturgy
Since Vatican II, the use of the vernacular has been permissible for both the Mass and the Office. Sacrosanctum Concilium clearly intended the use of the vernacular to be rather limited, particularly when it came to the Office, and Popes from Paul VI onwards have stressed the desirability of preserving the tradition; instead, use of English has become the norm.
But use of the Latin is worth considering for a number of reasons. A number of religions use 'sacred languages' (Jews use Hebrew; Muslims, Arabic for example) in order to help create the sense of 'sacred space and time' - to help us focus on the sense of God's otherness to us. The use of 'hieratic' language reminds us that we are worshipping, not just chatting amongst friends. That's important in a world that is reluctant to kneel before its God. And in the Western Church, the Latin of the Vulgate achieved that position by virtue of being a neutral language that transcended individual cultures.
In the Western tradition, use of Latin as a universal language of the Church was regarded as a counter to the chaos of Babel, a practical means of continuing the gift of understanding engendered at that first Pentecost.
By using the Latin text, you are using the same words St Benedict would have sung in his monastery, and the same texts that generations of monks, nuns and oblates have used down the centuries until our own. You are entering into a tradition.
And by learning at least a smattering of Latin, you will find it easier to understand the great spiritual works of the West (including the Benedictine Rule) which assume the use of the Latin Vulgate as their starting point.
4. You don't have to be a great Latinist
The best way to learn a language is actually by immersion in it! Start using it, and with a bit of effort and few aids, you will gradually pick up a lot by osmosis.
The translation contained in the Monastic Diurnal is a very useful starting point for getting the sense of the text, even as you say the Latin. And there are some excellent resources around to help you gain a greater understanding of it, such as the very good Simplicissimus course specifically geared at helping people learn enough Latin to follow the Mass and Office.
You might also want to consider the suggestions outlined at my post on this subject in my how to learn the Office series.
5. Translation is one thing, understanding is another
It is also important to keep in mind that just understanding the literal meaning of a text is not enough. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (paras 115-119) stresses that Scriptural texts (including the psalms, chapter verses, many of the antiphons etc in the Office) has both a literal and a spiritual sense, and that the spiritual includes the allegorical, moral and anagogical meanings of the text. There is real value in looking at commentaries and treating the Office as a source of 'lectio' to penetrate its deeper meanings.
6. Do pray the Office!
Finally, by way of a summary, on an email list I was once a member of, a monk said that when they were novices they were taught about a hierarchy of 'attentions' for the Office, which I've adapted a little here. When thinking about the Office we should pay:
(1) Attention to the WORDS -- getting the rubrics right, so that we say the correct texts at the correct time; using the appropriate body postures; and saying or singing the words correctly;
(2) Attention to the SENSE -- focusing on the "what " we were saying, the translation of the words;
(3) Attention on GOD -- not worrying about words or sense but simply praying before the Divine Majesty.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Are we praying liturgically? ***updated
A topic that regularly comes up is, are we - and religious - praying liturgically when we say the Divine Office?
A degree of confusion arises on this, I suspect, because of some uncritical reading of pre-Vaticna II liturgical textbooks that don't take into account either Pius XII's Mediator Dei or the subsequent developments on this front reflected in the 1983 Code of Canon Law.
Yes, we are praying liturgically!
In my view it is absolutely clear cut that nuns, lay brothers and sisters pray the Office liturgically and always have. It is also clear, in my view, that laypeople can indeed perform liturgy, whether leading approved services in the absence of a priest, when baptising or when saying the Office.
After all, when we 'assist at mass' (ie attend) we are indeed participating liturgically within our proper sphere of action.
By virtue of our baptism, all Christians can pray liturgically in principle. As the Catechism of Trent says:
In the Mass, for example, while the people genuinely participate in the sacrifice by joining their intentions to those of the ministerial priest, they offer it differently to the priest at the altar standing in persona Christi, without whom the true sacrifice of the Mass is not possible.
In some cases, such as the Mass, ordination as a priest is a requirement to lead the liturgy. In other cases though, the Church can make decisions about who can lead and play active liturgical roles, and these decisions can change over time for pastoral reasons.
In the case of the Divine Office, between the Council of Trent and Vatican II, the laity were not able to participate in the Divine Office unless they attended it when said by a religious or cleric. The delegation to say the Office was restricted in order to protect the integrity of the liturgy from the danger of heresy.
This changed, however, with Vatican II, and the current Code of Canon Law explicitly extends the previous provisions delegating clerics and religious to say the Office to the laity, but on the basis that it is optional for them, not an obligation.
The Catechism
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
“1174 The mystery of Christ, his Incarnation and Passover, which we celebrate in the Eucharist especially at the Sunday assembly, permeates and transfigures the time of each day, through the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, “the divine office.” This celebration, faithful to the apostolic exhortations to “pray constantly,” is “so devised that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praise of God.” In this “public prayer of the Church,” the faithful (clergy, religious, and lay people) exercise the royal priesthood of the baptized. Celebrated in “the form approved” by the Church, the Liturgy of the Hours “is truly the voice of the Bride herself addressed to her Bridegroom. It is the very prayer which Christ himself together with his Body addresses to the Father.
1175 The Liturgy of the Hours is intended to become the prayer of the whole People of God. In it Christ himself “continues his priestly work through his Church.” His members participate according to their own place in the Church and the circumstances of their lives: priests devoted to the pastoral ministry, because they are called to remain diligent in prayer and the service of the word; religious, by the charism of their consecrated lives; all the faithful as much as possible: “Pastors of souls should see to it that the principal hours, especially Vespers, are celebrated in common in church on Sundays and on the more solemn feasts. The laity, too, are encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the priests, or among themselves, or even individually.”
It is worth though, looking briefly at what lies behind the Catechism's statements.
What is liturgy
Anyone wishing to understand what is and isn't liturgy, and just why the Church regulates it, should go immediately and read Pius XII's Mediator Dei.
Most of the time of course it is crystal clear what is liturgy and what isn't - because it takes place in a Church, led by a priest, following set forms approved by the Church.
But there are cases where the distinction is not always clear, and the Office in particular has been a somewhat blurred line from the time that private recitation of the Office was permitted for priests in the middle ages. A wide variety of Offices have sprung up with varying degrees of formal approval. And the situation is further complicated by the fact that just who the Church has formally delegated to say the Office has changed over history.
Let me make a few key points to help clarify the situation.
Church law on liturgy
The Code of Canon Law (cl 834.1) defines liturgy as "the exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ" which brings a complete worship "offered to God by the head and members of the mystical body of Christ." Canon 835 sets out the hierarchy of the sanctifying office of the Church, carried out in a special way through the liturgy, starting with bishops, then covering priests, deacons, and "the other members of Christs faithful...each in his or her own way actively sharing in liturgical celebrations..."
The inclusion of the "members of the mystical body" makes it clear that we are talking here about the priesthood of all the faithful, not just the ordained priesthood. This is confirmed by Canon 835&6, which explains that Christian worship is exercised by the common priesthood of the faithful.
The sub-paragraph 2 of cl 834 makes it even clearer: "This worship takes place when it is offered in the name of the Church, by persons lawfully deputed and through actions approved by ecclesiastical authority."
That laypeople can be so deputed (subject of course to other theological constraints such as on sacraments requiring ordained clergy to confect them) is confirmed by Cl 230.3 ("Where the needs of the Church require and ministers are not available, lay people can...preside over liturgical prayers...").
So what makes liturgy liturgy is not who says it, but whether or not the Church has deputed them to say it, and whether or not they follow the forms approved by the Church.
So who is deputed by the Church to say the Office?
With the Council of Trent a distinction arose between saying the Office liturgically and devotionally (that hadn't previously been articulated and) that stayed in place until Vatican II. Between Trent and Vatican II it is reasonably clear that the Church delegated the saying of the Office liturgically to religious (including communities of women alone) and priests. The laity participated when they attended an official celebration of the Office, but were only saying the Office 'devotionally' if they said it privately, whether alone or in a group.
Vatican II changed that. In the documents of the Council itself (see for example SC 83-100), and more particularly in a series of subsequent liturgical laws, it effectively abolished the idea of liturgical/devotional distinction based on who was saying the Office by delegating all of Christ's faithful to say it.
The ideal situation of course is to attend the Office at a monastery or Church under the leadership of clerics or religious.
But where this is not possible or practical, as the General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours points out, "Lay groups gathering for prayer, apostolic work, or any other reason are encouraged to fulfill the Church’s duty, by celebrating part of the liturgy of the hours."
Canon 1174 says much the same thing more plainly. First it reaffirms the primary delegation, which is based on who is obliged to say the Office (viz religious and priests), not clerical status.
But in the next sub-paragraph it invites all of Christ's faithful to take part in the liturgy of the hours. The various standard commentaries on the Code all confirm that this means that the faithful are now duly delegated to say the Office even when praying alone. Beal, Corrigen and Green, A New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, 2000, for example says:
And the laity are indeed duly deputed to say the Office as part of the official prayer of the Church.
Approved actions
There is however a second necessary component to something being liturgy, viz whether the forms used are approved by the Church.
There are many people who opt for a devotional Office either in order to say an older version of the Office or in order to adopt their own personal preferences as to which parts of it they like. The former practice, though in my view undesirable, I think can be justified on the basis that what was once approved is unlikely to be dangerous. I have severe doubts about the latter approach though, in view of Pope Pius XII's warnings on this subject:
"The Church has further used her right of control over liturgical observance to protect the purity of divine worship against abuse from dangerous and imprudent innovations introduced by private individuals and particular churches. Thus it came about -- during the 16th century, when usages and customs of this sort had become increasingly prevalent and exaggerated, and when private initiative in matters liturgical threatened to compromise the integrity of faith and devotion, to the great advantage of heretics and further spread of their errors -- that in the year 1588, Our predecessor Sixtus V of immortal memory established the Sacred Congregation of Rites, charged with the defense of the legitimate rites of the Church and with the prohibition of any spurious innovation.[48]"
The Benedictine Office according to the 1962 rubrics clearly has been approved for liturgical use, at least in Latin, as confirmed by the Instruction Universae Ecclesiae.
By contrast, a number of modern Offices, such as the Benedictine Daily Prayer, are explicitly devotional, not liturgical.
Does it really matter whether or not it is liturgical prayer?
Mediator Dei says yes: "Unquestionably, liturgical prayer, being the public supplication of the illustrious Spouse of Jesus Christ, is superior in excellence to private prayers."
Pope Pius XII goes on to say however that "But this superior worth does not at all imply contrast or incompatibility between these two kinds of prayer. For both merge harmoniously in the single spirit which animates them, "Christ is all and in all."[38] Both tend to the same objective: until Christ be formed in us.[39]"
You may also be interested in reading my related post on the liturgical status of the 1962 Office.
Last updated 3.11.17
A degree of confusion arises on this, I suspect, because of some uncritical reading of pre-Vaticna II liturgical textbooks that don't take into account either Pius XII's Mediator Dei or the subsequent developments on this front reflected in the 1983 Code of Canon Law.
Yes, we are praying liturgically!
In my view it is absolutely clear cut that nuns, lay brothers and sisters pray the Office liturgically and always have. It is also clear, in my view, that laypeople can indeed perform liturgy, whether leading approved services in the absence of a priest, when baptising or when saying the Office.
After all, when we 'assist at mass' (ie attend) we are indeed participating liturgically within our proper sphere of action.
By virtue of our baptism, all Christians can pray liturgically in principle. As the Catechism of Trent says:
...all the faithful are said to be priests, once they have been washed in the saving waters of baptism. (On Holy Orders)However, the degree and way we in which we participate in any particular form of the liturgy differs depending on our 'rank, office, and actual participation' (Sacrosanctum Concilium 26).
In the Mass, for example, while the people genuinely participate in the sacrifice by joining their intentions to those of the ministerial priest, they offer it differently to the priest at the altar standing in persona Christi, without whom the true sacrifice of the Mass is not possible.
In some cases, such as the Mass, ordination as a priest is a requirement to lead the liturgy. In other cases though, the Church can make decisions about who can lead and play active liturgical roles, and these decisions can change over time for pastoral reasons.
In the case of the Divine Office, between the Council of Trent and Vatican II, the laity were not able to participate in the Divine Office unless they attended it when said by a religious or cleric. The delegation to say the Office was restricted in order to protect the integrity of the liturgy from the danger of heresy.
This changed, however, with Vatican II, and the current Code of Canon Law explicitly extends the previous provisions delegating clerics and religious to say the Office to the laity, but on the basis that it is optional for them, not an obligation.
The Catechism
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
“1174 The mystery of Christ, his Incarnation and Passover, which we celebrate in the Eucharist especially at the Sunday assembly, permeates and transfigures the time of each day, through the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, “the divine office.” This celebration, faithful to the apostolic exhortations to “pray constantly,” is “so devised that the whole course of the day and night is made holy by the praise of God.” In this “public prayer of the Church,” the faithful (clergy, religious, and lay people) exercise the royal priesthood of the baptized. Celebrated in “the form approved” by the Church, the Liturgy of the Hours “is truly the voice of the Bride herself addressed to her Bridegroom. It is the very prayer which Christ himself together with his Body addresses to the Father.
1175 The Liturgy of the Hours is intended to become the prayer of the whole People of God. In it Christ himself “continues his priestly work through his Church.” His members participate according to their own place in the Church and the circumstances of their lives: priests devoted to the pastoral ministry, because they are called to remain diligent in prayer and the service of the word; religious, by the charism of their consecrated lives; all the faithful as much as possible: “Pastors of souls should see to it that the principal hours, especially Vespers, are celebrated in common in church on Sundays and on the more solemn feasts. The laity, too, are encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the priests, or among themselves, or even individually.”
It is worth though, looking briefly at what lies behind the Catechism's statements.
What is liturgy
Anyone wishing to understand what is and isn't liturgy, and just why the Church regulates it, should go immediately and read Pius XII's Mediator Dei.
Most of the time of course it is crystal clear what is liturgy and what isn't - because it takes place in a Church, led by a priest, following set forms approved by the Church.
But there are cases where the distinction is not always clear, and the Office in particular has been a somewhat blurred line from the time that private recitation of the Office was permitted for priests in the middle ages. A wide variety of Offices have sprung up with varying degrees of formal approval. And the situation is further complicated by the fact that just who the Church has formally delegated to say the Office has changed over history.
Let me make a few key points to help clarify the situation.
Church law on liturgy
The Code of Canon Law (cl 834.1) defines liturgy as "the exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ" which brings a complete worship "offered to God by the head and members of the mystical body of Christ." Canon 835 sets out the hierarchy of the sanctifying office of the Church, carried out in a special way through the liturgy, starting with bishops, then covering priests, deacons, and "the other members of Christs faithful...each in his or her own way actively sharing in liturgical celebrations..."
The inclusion of the "members of the mystical body" makes it clear that we are talking here about the priesthood of all the faithful, not just the ordained priesthood. This is confirmed by Canon 835&6, which explains that Christian worship is exercised by the common priesthood of the faithful.
The sub-paragraph 2 of cl 834 makes it even clearer: "This worship takes place when it is offered in the name of the Church, by persons lawfully deputed and through actions approved by ecclesiastical authority."
That laypeople can be so deputed (subject of course to other theological constraints such as on sacraments requiring ordained clergy to confect them) is confirmed by Cl 230.3 ("Where the needs of the Church require and ministers are not available, lay people can...preside over liturgical prayers...").
So what makes liturgy liturgy is not who says it, but whether or not the Church has deputed them to say it, and whether or not they follow the forms approved by the Church.
So who is deputed by the Church to say the Office?
With the Council of Trent a distinction arose between saying the Office liturgically and devotionally (that hadn't previously been articulated and) that stayed in place until Vatican II. Between Trent and Vatican II it is reasonably clear that the Church delegated the saying of the Office liturgically to religious (including communities of women alone) and priests. The laity participated when they attended an official celebration of the Office, but were only saying the Office 'devotionally' if they said it privately, whether alone or in a group.
Vatican II changed that. In the documents of the Council itself (see for example SC 83-100), and more particularly in a series of subsequent liturgical laws, it effectively abolished the idea of liturgical/devotional distinction based on who was saying the Office by delegating all of Christ's faithful to say it.
The ideal situation of course is to attend the Office at a monastery or Church under the leadership of clerics or religious.
But where this is not possible or practical, as the General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours points out, "Lay groups gathering for prayer, apostolic work, or any other reason are encouraged to fulfill the Church’s duty, by celebrating part of the liturgy of the hours."
Canon 1174 says much the same thing more plainly. First it reaffirms the primary delegation, which is based on who is obliged to say the Office (viz religious and priests), not clerical status.
But in the next sub-paragraph it invites all of Christ's faithful to take part in the liturgy of the hours. The various standard commentaries on the Code all confirm that this means that the faithful are now duly delegated to say the Office even when praying alone. Beal, Corrigen and Green, A New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, 2000, for example says:
The liturgy of the hours is the prayer of the whole Church, and all the faithful are deputed to celebrate this liturgy. (pg 1406)Similarly, Caparros and Thorn's Code of Canon Law Annotated (2004) says:
Paragraph 2 [of Canon 1174] is addressed to the rest of the faithful and invites them to take part in the liturgy of the hours, since it is an action of the Church as a whole and of each faithful according to their participation in the priesthood of Christ (cf SC 95-100).In short there is no requirement that a priest or deacon be present in order to make something 'liturgy'.
And the laity are indeed duly deputed to say the Office as part of the official prayer of the Church.
Approved actions
There is however a second necessary component to something being liturgy, viz whether the forms used are approved by the Church.
There are many people who opt for a devotional Office either in order to say an older version of the Office or in order to adopt their own personal preferences as to which parts of it they like. The former practice, though in my view undesirable, I think can be justified on the basis that what was once approved is unlikely to be dangerous. I have severe doubts about the latter approach though, in view of Pope Pius XII's warnings on this subject:
"The Church has further used her right of control over liturgical observance to protect the purity of divine worship against abuse from dangerous and imprudent innovations introduced by private individuals and particular churches. Thus it came about -- during the 16th century, when usages and customs of this sort had become increasingly prevalent and exaggerated, and when private initiative in matters liturgical threatened to compromise the integrity of faith and devotion, to the great advantage of heretics and further spread of their errors -- that in the year 1588, Our predecessor Sixtus V of immortal memory established the Sacred Congregation of Rites, charged with the defense of the legitimate rites of the Church and with the prohibition of any spurious innovation.[48]"
The Benedictine Office according to the 1962 rubrics clearly has been approved for liturgical use, at least in Latin, as confirmed by the Instruction Universae Ecclesiae.
By contrast, a number of modern Offices, such as the Benedictine Daily Prayer, are explicitly devotional, not liturgical.
Does it really matter whether or not it is liturgical prayer?
Mediator Dei says yes: "Unquestionably, liturgical prayer, being the public supplication of the illustrious Spouse of Jesus Christ, is superior in excellence to private prayers."
Pope Pius XII goes on to say however that "But this superior worth does not at all imply contrast or incompatibility between these two kinds of prayer. For both merge harmoniously in the single spirit which animates them, "Christ is all and in all."[38] Both tend to the same objective: until Christ be formed in us.[39]"
You may also be interested in reading my related post on the liturgical status of the 1962 Office.
Last updated 3.11.17
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