June 2023

Notes on the Office for June. 

From 1 Vespers of Trinity Sunday, the Office returns to the 'throughout the year' texts for the Ordinary of the Office.

If you would like more detailed notes, you can purchase the full ordo through Lulu in hardcopy or PDF form.

You can also find notes on how to say the Benedictine Office according to the 1962 calendar and rubrics here.

June 2023

Thursday 1 June – Pentecost Thursday, Class I 

Canticle antiphons and collect, MD 405*/AM 529-30. 

Friday 2 June – Ember Friday of Pentecost, Class I 

Canticle antiphons and collect, MD 405-6*/AM 530-1. 

Saturday 3 June – Ember Saturday of Pentecost, Class I 

Lauds to None: As for Pentecost Sunday, with festal psalms at Lauds and Vespers, except the Benedictus antiphon and collect, MD 406-7*/AM 531; 1 Vespers of the Most Holy Trinity: Sunday psalms with antiphons, chapter, responsory, hymn, versicle, Magnificat antiphon and collect of the feast, MD 407*/AM 532 ff (no commemoration of the Sunday); Compline: Marian Antiphon Salve Regina, MD 268-9/AM 176 or 180, henceforward. 

Sunday 4 June – Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, Class I

MD 409*/AM 535 ff (no commemoration of the Sunday). 

Monday 5 June – St Boniface, Class III 

MD [152]/AM 914. 

Tuesday 6 June – St Norbert, Class III 

MD [152]/AM 915. 

Wednesday 7 June – Class IV 

Collect of the First Sunday after Pentecost, MD 418*/AM 535; 1 Vespers of Corpus Christi, MD 419*/AM 543 ff. 

Thursday 8 June – Corpus Christi, Class I [Previously: with a Privileged Octave of the second order] 

MD 427*/AM 550 ff. 

Friday 9 June – Class IV; SS Primus and Felician, Memorial [**In some places, St Columba] 

For the commemoration at Lauds, MD [153]/AM 915. 

Saturday 10 June – Class IV; Saturday of Our Lady [EF: St Margaret of Scotland, Class III] 

1 Vespers of the Second Sunday after Pentecost, MD 432*/AM 556-7. 

Sunday 11 June – Second Sunday after Pentecost (Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi), Class II

 MD 461-2*/AM 557-8. 

Monday 12 June – Class IV [EF: St John of Facundo; SS Basilides, Cyrinus, Nabor and Nazarius, Memorial]

All as in the psalter for throughout the year with collect MD 462*/AM 557. 

Tuesday 13 June – Class IV; St Anthony of Padua, Memorial [EF: Class III] 

For the commemoration at Lauds, MD [154]/AM 916. 

Wednesday 14 June – St Basil the Great, Class III 

MD [155]/AM 917. 

Thursday 15 June – Class IV; St Vitus, Memorial [EF/Gower: also SS Modestus and Crescentia, Memorial] 

For the commemoration at Lauds, MD [155]/AM 917; 1 Vespers of the Sacred Heart, MD 432*/AM 560 ff. 

Friday 16 June – Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Class I [Previously: with a Privileged Octave of the third order] 

MD 439*/AM 565 ff. 

Saturday 17 June – Class IV; Saturday of Our Lady [EF: St Gregory Barbarigo, Class III] 

1 Vespers of the Third Sunday after Pentecost, MD 445*/AM 571. 

Sunday 18 June – Third Sunday after Pentecost (Sunday within the Octave of the Sacred Heart of Jesus), Class II

MD 462-3*/AM 571 ff. 

Monday 19 June – Class IV; St Gervase and Protase, Memorial [EF: St Juliana Falcionieri, Class III] 

All as in the psalter for time throughout the year with collect, MD 463*/AM 572; for the commemorations at Lauds, MD [157]/AM 918. 

Tuesday 20 June – Class IV [EF: St Silverius, Memorial] 

Wednesday 21 June – Class IV; St Aloysius Gonzaga, Memorial [EF: Class III] 

For the commemoration at Lauds, MD [157-8]/AM 918. 

Thursday 22 June – Class IV [EF/Gower: St Paulinus, Memorial; in England and Wales, SS John Fisher and Thomas More] 

Friday 23 June – Vigil of the Nativity of St John the Baptist, Class II 

MD [158]/AM 919; 1 Vespers of the Nativity of St John the Baptist, MD [159]/AM 920 ff. 

Saturday 24 June – Nativity of St John the Baptist, Class I [Previously: with a Common Octave] 

MD [161]/AM 924 ff; 2 Vespers of the feast with commemoration of the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, MD 445*/AM 575-6 & 593. 

Sunday 25 June – Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Class II

 MD 463-4*/AM 593. 

Monday 26 June – Class IV; SS John and Paul, Memorial [EF: Class III] 

For the commemoration at Lauds, MD [166]/AM 929. 

Tuesday 27 June – Class IV 

Wednesday 28 June – Vigil of SS Peter and Paul, Class II 

MD [166-7]/AM 930; 1 Vespers of SS Peter and Paul, MD [167]/AM 931 ff. 

Thursday 29 June – SS Peter and Paul, Class I [Previously: with a Common Octave] 

MD [169]/AM 934 ff. 

Friday 30 June – Commemoration of St Paul, Class III 

MD [173]/AM 941 ff.

 

The feast of the finding of Holy Cross (May 3)

 

St Helena finding the true cross, Italian MSS c825, Source: Wikicommons.

 For those who use the traditional Benedictine Office and follow one of the monasteries that have revived this feast, I've put together the texts for both Matins and the day hours of the feast of Finding of Holy Cross arranged as for the Benedictine Office, and you can find them over at my Lectio Divina Notes Blog.

The feasts of the sign of the Cross

This feast was suppressed in the 1962 Benedictine and General Roman calendars, but is being revived in many places.  

Most of the texts are the same as for the feast of the Exaltation of Holy Cross (September 14), save for the addition of alleluias because of the season.  

But there are a few differences, reflecting the fact that while both celebrate the sign of the Cross (rather than the Passion per se), they celebrate two different events.  

The feast of the Exaltation of Holy Cross celebrates the recovery of the true Cross in AD 629 by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, after it had fallen into the hands of the Persian Emperor Chosroes II in the AD 614 Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem.

The feast of the finding of Holy Cross on May 3, by contrast, celebrates its initial recovery by St Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine the Great, in 327.

The finding of Holy Cross

The Matins (Nocturn II) readings describing the events celebrated in the feast of the finding of Holy Cross read as follows:

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. 

When 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.

May 2023

The Ordo notes for May for the Benedictine Office according to the 1962  monastic calendar and rubrics are set out below.

Note that you can obtain more detailed notes by purchasing the full Ordo from Lulu.

You can also find detailed instructions on how to say the Benedictine Office using the Monastic Diurnal published by St Michael's Abbey Press (or the Antiphonale Monasticum or Breviarium Monasticum) here.

The Office this month

Texts of the season

The season is currently Eastertide, and the Ordinary texts for the season are set out in the 'of time section of your Office book.  After the feast of the Ascension on May 18 the Ordinary changes to those for Ascensiontide.

May 1 and the feast of St Joseph

May 1 is designated as the feast of St Joseph the Worker in the 1962 calendar, however as this feast now looks very outdated, many monasteries have adopted the option to say instead the Office of the former Solemnity of St Joseph (previously said on the Wednesday of the second week after the Octave of Easter).  

The texts for the Solemnity of St Joseph can be found at page [130] and following in the Monastic Diurnal; page 883 in the Antiphonale; and page 992 and following in the new Nocturnale Monasticum.

The former Solemnity also had an octave, with three patristic readings each day at Matins.

May 3: Finding of Holy Cross

A number of monasteries have also revived the Feast of the finding of Holy Cross, on May 3, for which see page 896 of the Antiphonale and 998 in the Nocturnale.

The texts for the day hours are the same as for the feast of the Exaltation of Holy Cross on September 14, which can be found at page [265] and following in the Monastic Diurnal, with the exception of the canticle antiphons and collect (which you can find on Divinum Officium).

May 6: St John before the Lateran Gate

The feast of St Joh is another secondary feast suppressed in the 1962 calendar, but being revived in a number of places.  The necessary texts and chants for it can be found in the Antiphonale from page 904.

Octave of the Ascension

The most important twentieth century calendar change affecting this period was the suppression of the Octave of the Ascension.  

The texts previously used are mostly preserved as the 'Ordinary of Ascensiontide' however where the former Octave is celebrated, on weekdays up until Wednesday: at Matins, there are three Patristic readings of the Octave; and at Lauds to Vespers, all is as for the feast. 

On the Friday after the Octave, the Office is said as for the Sunday within the Octave (ie as per the ‘Office in Ascensiontide’ 1962 rubrics) unless displaced by a Class I or II feast (in which case the Octave is commemorated).

MAY 2023

Monday 1 May – St Joseph the Worker, Class I [Previously: SS Philip and James] 

MD [126] ff or MD [133] ff. 

Tuesday 2 May – St Athanasius, Class III 

MD [138]/AM 896. 

Wednesday 3 May – Class IV; SS Alexander, Eventius and Theodolus, Memorial [Previously: Finding of Holy Cross] 

Canticle antiphons, MD 366*/AM 491; collect, MD 362*/AM 488; for the commemoration at Lauds, MD [138-9]/AM 902.

Thursday 4 May – Class IV; St Monica, Memorial [EF: Class III] 

Canticle antiphons, MD 366*/AM 492; for the commemoration at Lauds, MD [139-40]/AM 903. 

Friday 5 May – Class IV; St Pius V, Memorial [EF: Class III] 

Canticle antiphons, MD 366-7*/AM 492&489; for the commemoration at Lauds, MD [140]/AM 903. 

Saturday 6 May – Class IV; Saturday of Our Lady [Previously: St John before the Latin Gate; Canada: St François de Laval, Class III]

Office of Our Lady in Eastertide, MD (135)/AM 718-9; 1 Vespers of the Fourth Sunday in Eastertide, MD 367*/AM 493 ff. 

Sunday 7 May – Fourth Sunday after Easter, Class II

MD 368*/AM 493 ff. 

Monday 8 May – Class IV 

Ordinary of Eastertide, MD 346*/AM 466 ff; canticle antiphons for Lauds and Vespers, MD 370*/AM 495-6; collect, MD 368*/AM 494. 

Tuesday 9 May – St Gregory Nazianzen, Class III 

MD [141]/AM 905. 

Wednesday 10 May – Class IV; SS Gordian and Epimachis, Memorial [EF: St Antonius, Class III] 

Canticle antiphons, MD 371*/AM 497. 

Thursday 11 May – SS Philip and James, Class II [Benedictine Confederation: SS Odo, Maiolus, Odilo, Hugh and Blessed Peter the Venerable, Memorial] 

MD [142]/AM 893 ff. 

Friday 12 May – Class IV; SS Nereus, Archilleus and Pancras, Memorial [EF: Class III] 

Canticle antiphons, MD 371-2*/AM 498/495; for the commemoration at Lauds, MD [146]/AM 905. 

Saturday 13 May – Class IV; Our Lady on Saturday; St Robert Bellarmine, Memorial [EF: Class III; Previously: Commemoration of Martyrs and Other Saints whose relics are in churches of the Benedictine Order] 

Office of Our Lady in Eastertide, MD (135)/AM 718-9; for the commemoration at Lauds, MD [147]/AM 909; 1 Vespers of the Fifth Sunday after Easter, MD 372*/AM 499 ff. 

Sunday 14 May – Fifth Sunday after Easter, Class II

MD 373*/AM 499 ff. 

Monday 15 May – Class IV; Rogation Day [EF: St John Baptist de la Salle, Class III; Benedictine Confederation: St Pacomius, Optional Memorial] 

Ordinary of Eastertide, MD 346*/AM 466 ff; canticle antiphons for Lauds and Vespers (Monday in the fifth week after Easter), MD 375*/AM 501-2; collect, MD 373-4*/AM 500. 

Tuesday 16 May – Class IV; Rogation Day [EF: St Ubald, Class III] 

Canticle antiphons, MD 375-6*/AM 503. 

Wednesday 17 May – Vigil of the Ascension, Class II; Rogation Day [EF: St Pascal Baylon, Memorial] 

MD 376*/AM 503-4; 1 Vespers of the Ascension, MD 376*/AM 505 ff. 

Thursday 18 May – The Ascension of Our Lord, Class I [Previously: with a Privileged Octave of the third order] 

MD 379*/AM 508 ff. 

Friday 19 May – Class IV; St Peter Celestine, Memorial [EF: Class III; Benedictine Confederation, St Celestine, Optional Memorial; **In some places: St Dunstan, Class III] 

MD 383*/AM 509 ff; for the commemoration at Lauds, MD [148-9]/AM 911. 

In some monasteries: Vespers of Our Lady on Saturday. 

Saturday 20 May – Class IV; Saturday of Our Lady [EF: St Bernardine of Siena, Class III; Gower: Our Lady, Queen of the Apostles, Class I] 

Office of Our Lady on Saturday, MD (130-1)/AM 714; 1 Vespers of the Sunday after the Ascension, MD 388-9*/AM 513-4. 

Sunday 21 May – Sunday after the Ascension (Sunday within the Octave of the Ascension), Class II

 MD 389*/AM 513 ff. 

Monday 22 May – Class IV 

Ordinary of the Ascension, MD 383*/AM 509 ff with collect, MD 386*/AM 514. 

Tuesday 23 May – Class IV 

Wednesday 24 May – Class IV [In Australia and New Zealand and other places: **Our Lady Help of Christians, Class I] 

Thursday 25 May – St Gregory VII, Class III [Previously: Octave Day of the Ascension] 

MD [149]/AM 912. 

Friday 26 May – St Augustine OSB, Class III [EF: St Philip Neri, Class III] 

MD [150]/AM 913. 

Saturday 27 May – Vigil of the Pentecost, Class I 

MD 386*/AM 514; 1 Vespers of Pentecost, MD 393*/AM 517 ff. 

Sunday 28 May – Pentecost Sunday, Class I with Class I Octave

 MD 396*/AM 520 ff. 

Monday 29 May – Pentecost Monday, Class I [OF: Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church] 

Lauds to Vespers: As for Pentecost Sunday, with festal psalms at Lauds and Vespers, except the canticle antiphons and collect, MD 403*/AM 525-6; at Terce, hymn Veni Creator. 

Tuesday 30 May – Pentecost Tuesday, Class I 

Canticle antiphons and collect, MD 403-4*/AM 527. 

Wednesday 31 May – Ember Wednesday of Pentecost, Class I 

Canticle antiphons and collect, MD 404-5*/AM 528.

 

St Mellitus (d. 624) and the early cult of St Benedict

April 24 is the feast of St Mellitus, first bishop of London, and third Archbishop of Canterbury, on whom I've written previously.  

Although (probably) not a Benedictine himself, he has some particular interest from a Benedictine perspective for his promotion of the cult of St Benedict in the 'Chronicon Melliti', a version of the Chronicle compiled by Isidore of Seville (d 636).

St Mellitus

St Mellitus was part of the group of clergy sent by St Gregory the Great to augment the mission to Anglo-Saxon England in 601.  

He was initially appointed as bishop of London, but regime change there lead to his exile to Merovingian Gaul, and although he eventually returned to England, he did not return to London, but instead worked in the kingdom of Kent, where he eventually succeeded Archbishop Lawrence as Archbishop of Canterbury.  

He is best known, though, as the recipient of a letter from St Gregory the Great on missionary strategy that was preserved in St Bede's Ecclesiastical History. 

According to St Bede, St Mellitus was of noble birth.  A papal register described him as an abbot of Frankia; various letters describe him as an abbot, but modern historians have suggested that this designation may have been just a courtesy title, conferred to make him the leader of the missionary group. 

He was credited with one miracle in his life time, diverting a fire, and thus saving the Church building at Canterbury in 623.  His cult was established early but was only ever local.  Nonetheless, his feast is still celebrated on this date in a number of English dioceses.

The Chronicle

St Mellitus' particular interest from a Benedictine perspective though, lies in the edits and additions he made to Isidore of Seville's Chronicle, in particular, his addition of entries on St Gregory the Great and St Benedict to its lists of illustrious people.

The (on the face of it convincing) identification of bishop Mellitus as the author of the edits to Isidore's chronicle is fairly recent, coming in a paper by Luciano Cuppo (originally given at a 2010 conference, and since published in John S. Ott and Trpimir Vedriš, eds., Saintly Bishops and Bishops' Saints. (Series Colloquia 2.) Zagreb: Hagiotheca, 2012). 

And that means that the comments made in it on St Benedict must date from between 615 (when the first edition of Isidore's Chronicle was completed) and St Mellitus' death in 624.

Accordingly, assuming the attribution is correct, the references to St Benedict in the Chronicle provide some of the earliest attestations to the importance of St Benedict outside of St Gregory's Dialogues, and are all the more important because they are clearly independent of St Gregory's work.

St Benedict as the illustrious father of monks

This particular edition of the Chronicle, according to Cuppo, provides two references to St Benedict. 

The first gives the date of his death as 526, a much earlier than the traditional date of c542, and incompatible with the timing of several of incidents recorded in St Gregory's Life of the saint. 

Cuppo is inclined to give Mellitus more weight than Gregory's account, but given recent work supporting the historicity of St Gregory's work, although attractive from some perspectives (it would settle the question of the priority of the Rule over that of the Master for one thing!) I'm inclined to disagree: for one thing, Gregory clearly cites his sources and clearly made deep inquiries about St Benedict's life and teaching.

The far more important and significant reference though is 'at that same time [565 - 578] Abbot Benedict, father of monks, was held in high esteem throughout Campania, Apulia, and the Roman province [ie Provence].'

Cuppo doesn't go into this, but St Gregory's Life mentions one other Italian foundation (Terracina) and also provides a possible link to Provence in the form of the friendship between St Benedict and Abbot Servandus, whose monastery had been founded by the then Governor of Provence, Liberius, who had in turn been saved by a miracle effected by St Caesarius of Arles (for more on this monastery Elizabeth Fentress et al, Walls and Memory. The Abbey of San Sabastiano at Alatri..., Brepols 2005).

Have we come full circle yet?

It has often been claimed, over the last several decades, that Benedictine monasticism was essentially a Carolingian invention.   

Benedictine monasticism, so the revisionist storyline went, essentially died with St Benedict; St Gregory was not a Benedictine, but rather, assuming he wrote the Life at all (which they doubted), concerned with promoting homegrown saints and a particular type of spirituality rather than the Benedictine Rule as such.

But the evidence for something closer to the older, more traditional account (though perhaps a more nuanced one) of the spread of Benedictinism is steadily accumulating, and every little piece helps add to the picture. 

April 2023

 The Office in April this year starts with Holy Week, and takes in Eastertide. 

APRIL 2023

 Saturday 1 April – Saturday in Passion Week, Class III 

Matins to None: Ordinary of Passiontide, MD 240*/AM 382 ff; Benedictus antiphon and collect, MD 252*/AM 398; 1 Vespers of Palm Sunday, MD 252* ff/AM 399. 

Sunday 2 April – Second Passion Sunday or Palm Sunday, Class I

 MD 255*/AM 399 ff. 

Monday 3 April – Monday in Holy Week, Class I 

Antiphons lor Lauds to None, MD 260*/AM 404 ff; Ordinary of Passiontide, MD 240*/AM 385 ff; canticle antiphons and collects, MD 261-2*/AM 407. 

Tuesday 4 April – Tuesday in Holy Week, Class I 

MD 262*/AM 407 ff; Ordinary of Passiontide, MD 240*/AM 384 ff. 

Wednesday 5 April – Wednesday in Holy Week, Class I 

MD 263*/AM 409 ff; Ordinary of Passiontide, MD 240*/AM 384 ff. 

Thursday 6 April – Maundy Thursday, Class I 

MD 265*/AM 413 ff. 

Friday 7 April – Good Friday, Class I 

MD 309*/AM 438 ff. 

Saturday 8 April – Holy Saturday, Class I 

MD 318*/AM 445 ff. 

Sunday 9 April –– Easter Sunday, Class I with a Class I Octave

 MD 328*/AM 453 ff; at Compline, Regina Caeli, MD 267-8/AM 176 or 179-80, henceforward. 

Monday 10 April – Monday in the Octave of Easter, Class I 

Lauds to Vespers: All as for Easter Sunday (with festal psalms at Lauds and Vespers), except for the canticle antiphons and collect, MD 335*/AM 460-1. 

Tuesday 11 April – Tuesday in Octave of Easter, Class I 

Canticle antiphons and collect, MD 336*/AM 462. 

Wednesday 12 April – Wednesday in the Octave of Easter, Class I 

Canticle antiphons, and collect, MD 336-7*/AM 462-3. 

Thursday 13 April – Thursday in the Octave of Easter, Class I 

Canticle antiphons and collect, MD 337*/AM 463-4. 

Friday 14 April – Friday in the Octave of Easter, Class I 

Canticle antiphons and collect, MD 337-8*/AM 464-5. 

Saturday 15 April – White Saturday in the Octave of Easter, Class I 

Lauds to None: All as for Easter Sunday (with festal psalms at Lauds and Vespers), except for the Benedictus antiphon and collect, MD 338*/AM 465; 1 Vespers of Low Sunday, MD 339*/AM 473 ff. 

Sunday 16 April – White/Low Sunday (Octave Day of Easter), Class I

 MD 341*/AM 474 ff. 

Monday 17 April – Class IV [EF: St Anacletus, Memorial; Canada: St Kateri Tekakwitha, Class III] 

Ordinary of Eastertide, MD 346*/AM 466 ff; canticle antiphons for Lauds and Vespers, MD 352*/AM 477-8; collect (of White Sunday), MD 344*/AM 475. 

Tuesday 18 April – Class IV 

Canticle antiphons, MD 352*/AM 478. 

Wednesday 19 April – Class IV 

Canticle antiphons, MD 352-3*/AM 479. 

Thursday 20 April – Class IV 

Canticle antiphons for Lauds and Vespers, MD 353*/AM 479-80. 

Friday 21 April – St Anselm, Class III 

MD [110]/AM 870. 

Saturday 22 April – Class IV; Saturday of Our Lady [EF: SS Soter and Cajus, Class III] 

MD (130-1)/AM 714; responsory, versicle and Benedictus antiphon of the Office of Our Lady in Eastertide, MD (135)/AM 718-9; 1 Vespers of the Second Sunday after Easter, MD 354* ff/AM 481. 

Sunday 23 April – Second Sunday after (the Octave of) Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday), Class II

 MD 356*/AM 481 ff. 

Monday 24 April – Class IV [EF: St Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Class III] 

Ordinary of Eastertide, MD 346*/AM 466 ff; canticle antiphons, MD 360*/AM 483-4; collect (of Sunday), MD 358*/AM 482. 

Tuesday 25 April – The Greater Litanies and St Mark, Class II [Australia: ANZAC Day] 

MD [113]/AM 873. 

Wednesday 26 April – Class IV; St Cletus, Memorial [EF: SS Cletus and Marcellinus, Class III; Australia: St Mark, Class II] 

For the commemoration at Lauds, MD [113-4]/AM 873. 

Thursday 27 April – Class IV; St Peter Canisius, Memorial [EF: Class III] 

For the commemoration at Lauds, MD [114-5]/AM 873. 

Friday 28 April – Class IV [Gower: St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, Class II; EF: St Paul of the Cross; Oceania: St Peter Chanel, Class III]

 Saturday 29 April – SS Odo, Majolus, Odilo and Hugh, Class III [EF: St Peter of Verona, Class III] 

MD [115]/AM 877 ff; 1 Vespers of the Third Sunday in Eastertide: One antiphon of Eastertide, with chapter, responsory, hymn, versicle, Magnificat antiphon (as for Sunday Lauds) and collect, MD 362*/AM 487 ff. 

Sunday 30 April – Third Sunday after Easter, Class II

 MD 363*/AM 487 ff; 1 Vespers of St Joseph, MD [123] ff OR MD [130]/AM 883 with a commemoration of the Third Sunday after Easter, MD 365*&363*/AM 488-9.

Feast of St Gregory the Great OSB

 

Today is the feast of St Gregory the Great, a key Benedictine saint, but this year the feast is not celebrated on its proper date due to the Lent Sunday.

1962 rubrics - the case for change

I mentioned last week that one of the 1962 changes that I think bears overturning is the changes made to the treatment of feasts below the highest level, that is those classified as Class II in the 1962 rubrics. 

There were two key changes - first the suppression of 1 Vespers of the feast, a rule change most trad monasteries now (rightly in my view) ignore; the second though, is the transfer rules.  Previously, if such a feast clashed with a Sunday it would have been transferred to the next available date, or at least had a commemoration at Lauds and Vespers.  Under 1962 rules though, Class II feasts are either reduced to a commemoration (for ordinary Sundays) or, as this year when it comes up against a Class I Sunday, not marked in the Office at all.

In the case of St Gregory, it seems to me that there a simple option - make the feast first class; he is, after all, effectively the second founder of the Benedictine Order by virtue of his Life of St Benedict..

But there is a more general issue here that needs to be addressed, either by changing the rubrics to allow commemorations in conjunction with Class I feasts/Sundays, or by allowing the transfer of Class II feasts.

If the feast is transferred...

For those who are following older rubrics, some notes on how to say the feast on Monday:

Matins: Three Nocturns: Invitatory, antiphons and psalms of a Confessor Pope; hymn (LR 434), readings and responsories of the feast.

Lauds: Festal psalms with antiphons, chapter, responsory, hymn, versicle, Benedictus antiphon and collect of the feast, MD [77]/AM 832 ff with a commemoration of the Lent day.

Prime: antiphon 1 of Lauds, MD [77]/AM 832.

Terce to None: antiphon, chapter, versicle and collect of the feast, MD [79]/AM 834 ff; 

Vespers: antiphons of Lauds (omitting the fourth), psalms of 2 Vespers of the Common of a Confessor Bishop, MD (68) ff, chapter, responsory, hymn, versicle, Magnificat antiphon and collect of the feast, MD [81] ff/AM 835 with a commemoration of the Lent day.

Week of March 5: Marking the optional feasts

I noted in a post last week that the feasts of saints previously reduced to a commemoration in Lent can now be celebrated, if desired, as Class III.

Accordingly, here today some short notes to assist those who wish to take up the option.

SS Perpetua and Felicity

The first of these feasts this year, is that of SS Perpetua and Felicity, on March 6.

St Perpetua (born in 181) was a 22-year old married noble, and a nursing mother. She was martyred along with St Felicity, an expectant mother, and her slave, at Carthage in the Roman province of Africa, and five other catechumens.

They are particularly fascinating saints because of the survival of St Perpetua's own account of the persecutions she and her fellow Christians suffered in the year 203.  The book was widely read amongst the early Christians and deserves to be better known today.

The Matins readings

I should note that it is a little unclear to me whether the reading should be the Scriptural readings of the feast, or the Patristic Lent day, but since the general pattern for Class III feasts is to use two Scriptural readings, I have opted for those of the Common, along with the responsories from it, as set out here.

And for those concerned about the cuts to the readings in the Roman Office, the (third) Matin readings for the feast in the Benedictine Office is, as far as I can see, identical in the 1930 and 1963 Benedictine breviaries, though much shorter than the pre 1962 Roman set of three readings.  The feast did not appear at all in earlier Benedictine breviaries as far as I can see.

The rubrics for the feast

The Ordo notes for the feast for Monday 6 March: SS Perpetua and Felicitas, [Optional] Class III/Memorial

As a Memorial:  

For the commemoration at Lauds, Benedictus antiphon of the Lent day, versicle of Lent, and collect of the day, MD [74]/AM 828. 

As Class III: 

Matins: Two nocturns with invitatory of the feast; hymn from Common of Holy Women (non Virginum); readings 1 and 2 of the Common (combine readings 1&2, and 3&4 and omit the responsory between them), reading 3 of the feast with responsory Veni electa mea (Common of a female martyr); chapter for female martyrs; and collect of the feast. 

Lauds and Vespers: Psalms and antiphons of the day; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle from Common for Holy Women (Benedictus and Magnificat antiphon for several martyrs), MD (99) ff; collect of the feast, MD [74]; with a commemoration of the Lent day (Canticle, antiphon and collect of Monday in the second week of Lent). 

 Prime: Antiphon from the Common Holy Women (Dum esset Rex). 

Terce to None: Antiphon, chapter and versicle from the Common, collect of the feast.

St Thomas Aquinas

Tuesday 7 March: St Thomas Aquinas, Memorial/Class III

 As a memorial:

For the commemoration at Lauds, Benedictus antiphon of the Lent day, versicle of Lent, and collect of the day, MD [75]/AM 828-9.

As Class III:

Matins: Two nocturns with invitatory and hymn from Common of Confessors; readings 1 and 2 of the Lent day (combine readings 2&3 and omit the responsory between them), reading 3 of the feast with responsoires of the Common (1&2 of Nocturn I, no 3 for a doctor, In medio); chapter for confessors; and collect of the feast.

Lauds and Vespers: Psalms and antiphons of the day; chapter, responsory, hymn and versicle from Common of Confessors; collect of the feast; with a commemoration of the Lent day (canticle, antiphon and collect of Tuesday in the Second week of Lent).

 Prime: Antiphon from the Common.

Terce to None: Antiphon, chapter and versicle from the Common, collect of the feast.

St Frances of Rome OSB

The third feast normally reduced to a commemoration by virtue of Lent is that of the Benedictine saint, St Frances of Rome, on March 9.  

The Matins texts for the feast for the Benedictine Office can be found on the Lectio Divina Notes blog.

For Lauds and Vespers, the psalms and antiphons are of the day, the rest from the Common of a Holy Woman; for Prime to None, also take the antiphon from the Common, as well as the chapter and versicle at Terce to None, with the collect of the feast as given in the Diurnal or Antiphonale.