Brush up your rubrics - what changes and what doesn't on major feasts

One of the things that can trip people up when saying the office is which parts of the Office do and don't change on feast days.

Levels of days

The first thing you need to know is that in the 1963 calendar used in the Ordo on this blog there are basically four levels of days - Class I (class one), Class II (class two), Class III (class three) and Class IV (class four).

Class IV means an ordinary day, with no feasts on it, so the Office is said as set out in the psalter section of the Diurnal, using any texts appropriate for the day/season/time of year.

Days that are Class III or higher will displace some or all of the normal day of the week/season texts used.  Which texts are affected and used instead depends on the hour of the Office being said, and the level of the feast.

Days vs feasts

A key distinction to be aware of is between 'days' (ferias) and feasts.  This coming Friday and Saturday for example, are Ember Days and are Class II, however only the collect (at the day hours other than Prime and Compline) and NT canticle antiphons change.

By contrast, on a second class feast like that of St Matthew on Wednesday, many more of the texts will change at some of the hours.

Chant tones vs texts

The other thing to note is that if you are listening to a podcast of the Office, or attending it in person in a monastery, it might all sound different even when the texts are actually mostly not changed.

At Prime, for example, the only text that changes on a feast is the antiphon.  However, where it is sung using Gregorian chant (rather than just recto tono, or on one note), a different hymn tune will normally be used to reflect the level of the feast, and the psalm tone used will reflect the antiphon for the feast.

What changes and what doesn't on Class I&II feasts?

The table below summarises whether or not the relevant part of the Office changes on a Class I or II feast.  In general:

• the opening and closing prayers (other than the collect) do not change (but the opening prayers might have a more elaborate chant tone);
• Compline is not affected by feasts (except that the solemn tone for the Marian antiphon might be used);
• at Prime, the only thing that changes is the antiphon for the psalms.

Affected by Class I&II feasts?	Matins	Lauds	Prime	Terce, Sext & None	Vespers	Compline
Opening prayers	No
Hymn	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Antiphon(s)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not applicable
Psalms	Yes	Some	No	No	Yes	No
OT canticle(s)	Yes	Yes (optional festal)	na	na	na	na
Chapter	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Versicle	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Responsory	Yes	Yes	No	na	Yes	na
Antiphon for NT canticle	na	Yes	na	na	Yes	na
NT canticle	Yes	No	na	na	No	na
Reading(s)	Yes	na	na	na	na	No
Collect	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Closing prayers other than collect	No

Hope this helps a bit, but do ask if you have any questions, or let me know if I've made a mistake!

September 22: St Maurice and Companions

Saint Maurice was the leader of the Roman Theban Legion in the 3rd century,  massacred at Agaunum, about 287, by order of Maximian Herculius.   The legion was composed entirely of Christians.  There are two versions of the legend:  according to one, the legion refused orders to harass innocent Christians.  According to the other, the soldiers refused orders to sacrifice to the pagan gods. Either way, every tenth was then killed. Another order to sacrifice and another refusal caused a second decimation and then a general massacre.

September 21: Feast of St Matthew, Apostle, Class II

From Pope Benedict XVI's August 30 2006 General Audience:
 
"Continuing the series of portraits of the Twelve Apostles that we began a few weeks ago, let us reflect today on Matthew. To tell the truth, it is almost impossible to paint a complete picture of him because the information we have of him is scarce and fragmentary. What we can do, however, is to outline not so much his biography as, rather, the profile of him that the Gospel conveys.

In the meantime, he always appears in the lists of the Twelve chosen by Jesus (cf. Mt 10: 3; Mk 3: 18; Lk 6: 15; Acts 1: 13).

His name in Hebrew means "gift of God". The first canonical Gospel, which goes under his name, presents him to us in the list of the Twelve, labelled very precisely: "the tax collector" (Mt 10: 3).

Thus, Matthew is identified with the man sitting at the tax office whom Jesus calls to follow him: "As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me'. And he rose and followed him" (Mt 9: 9). Mark (cf. 2: 13-17) and Luke (cf. 5: 27-30), also tell of the calling of the man sitting at the tax office, but they call him "Levi".

To imagine the scene described in Mt 9: 9, it suffices to recall Caravaggio's magnificent canvas, kept here in Rome at the Church of St Louis of the French.

A further biographical detail emerges from the Gospels: in the passage that immediately precedes the account of the call, a miracle that Jesus worked at Capernaum is mentioned (cf. Mt 9: 1-8; Mk 2: 1-12) and the proximity to the Sea of Galilee, that is, the Lake of Tiberias (cf. Mk 2: 13-14).

It is possible to deduce from this that Matthew exercised the function of tax collector at Capernaum, which was exactly located "by the sea" (Mt 4: 13), where Jesus was a permanent guest at Peter's house.

On the basis of these simple observations that result from the Gospel, we can advance a pair of thoughts.

The first is that Jesus welcomes into the group of his close friends a man who, according to the concepts in vogue in Israel at that time, was regarded as a public sinner.

Matthew, in fact, not only handled money deemed impure because of its provenance from people foreign to the People of God, but he also collaborated with an alien and despicably greedy authority whose tributes moreover, could be arbitrarily determined.

This is why the Gospels several times link "tax collectors and sinners" (Mt 9: 10; Lk 15: 1), as well as "tax collectors and prostitutes" (Mt 21: 31).

Furthermore, they see publicans as an example of miserliness (cf. Mt 5: 46: they only like those who like them), and mention one of them, Zacchaeus, as "a chief tax collector, and rich" (Lk 19: 2), whereas popular opinion associated them with "extortioners, the unjust, adulterers" (Lk 18: 11).

A first fact strikes one based on these references: Jesus does not exclude anyone from his friendship. Indeed, precisely while he is at table in the home of Matthew-Levi, in response to those who expressed shock at the fact that he associated with people who had so little to recommend them, he made the important statement: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mk 2: 17).

The good news of the Gospel consists precisely in this: offering God's grace to the sinner!

Elsewhere, with the famous words of the Pharisee and the publican who went up to the Temple to pray, Jesus actually indicates an anonymous tax collector as an appreciated example of humble trust in divine mercy: while the Pharisee is boasting of his own moral perfection, the "tax collector... would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!'".

And Jesus comments: "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Lk 18: 13-14).

Thus, in the figure of Matthew, the Gospels present to us a true and proper paradox: those who seem to be the farthest from holiness can even become a model of the acceptance of God's mercy and offer a glimpse of its marvellous effects in their own lives.

St John Chrysostom makes an important point in this regard: he notes that only in the account of certain calls is the work of those concerned mentioned. Peter, Andrew, James and John are called while they are fishing, while Matthew, while he is collecting tithes.

These are unimportant jobs, Chrysostom comments, "because there is nothing more despicable than the tax collector, and nothing more common than fishing" (In Matth. Hom.: PL 57, 363). Jesus' call, therefore, also reaches people of a low social class while they go about their ordinary work.

Another reflection prompted by the Gospel narrative is that Matthew responds instantly to Jesus' call: "he rose and followed him". The brevity of the sentence clearly highlights Matthew's readiness in responding to the call. For him it meant leaving everything, especially what guaranteed him a reliable source of income, even if it was often unfair and dishonourable. Evidently, Matthew understood that familiarity with Jesus did not permit him to pursue activities of which God disapproved.

The application to the present day is easy to see: it is not permissible today either to be attached to things that are incompatible with the following of Jesus, as is the case with riches dishonestly achieved.

Jesus once said, mincing no words: "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me" (Mt 19: 21).

This is exactly what Matthew did: he rose and followed him! In this "he rose", it is legitimate to read detachment from a sinful situation and at the same time, a conscious attachment to a new, upright life in communion with Jesus.

Lastly, let us remember that the tradition of the ancient Church agrees in attributing to Matthew the paternity of the First Gospel. This had already begun with Bishop Papias of Hierapolis in Frisia, in about the year 130.

He writes: "Matthew set down the words (of the Lord) in the Hebrew tongue and everyone interpreted them as best he could" (in Eusebius of Cesarea, Hist. Eccl. III, 39, 16).

Eusebius, the historian, adds this piece of information: "When Matthew, who had first preached among the Jews, decided also to reach out to other peoples, he wrote down the Gospel he preached in his mother tongue; thus, he sought to put in writing, for those whom he was leaving, what they would be losing with his departure" (ibid., III, 24, 6).

The Gospel of Matthew written in Hebrew or Aramaic is no longer extant, but in the Greek Gospel that we possess we still continue to hear, in a certain way, the persuasive voice of the publican Matthew, who, having become an Apostle, continues to proclaim God's saving mercy to us. And let us listen to St Matthew's message, meditating upon it ever anew also to learn to stand up and follow Jesus with determination."

Rebuilding at Norcia: deep roots

Picture: EPA from Metro 

The latest update from the monastery of Norcia in Italy, devastated by the recent earthquakes, includes a video called deep roots, which the monastery's Sub-prior, Fr Benedict, explains as follows:

The title "Deep Roots" comes from the beloved Catholic author J. R. R. Tolkien. We include his poem in full here that it might inspire each of you to watch the video, read the document and to give whatever you can, help in any way you can, so that the monastic presence in Norcia may grow stronger, the roots deeper.

Here is the poem:

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king."

- J. R. R. Tolkien -

Do have a listen, and do what you can to help them materially and through your prayers.  And please keep all the residents there in your prayers as the region continues to experience strong aftershocks.





You can also find more information about their campaign and plans here.

September 17: St Hildegarde OSB, Memorial/Solemnity

St Hildegarde (1098 – 1179), nun, mystic, writer and composer, was declared a doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, and he devoted two General Audiences to her.  Here is an extract from the first:

"St Hildegard of Bingen, who lived in Germany in the 12th century. She was born in 1098, probably at Bermersheim, Rhineland, not far from Alzey, and died in 1179 at the age of 81, in spite of having always been in poor health.

Hildegard belonged to a large noble family and her parents dedicated her to God from birth for his service. At the age of eight she was offered for the religious state (in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, chapter 59), and, to ensure that she received an appropriate human and Christian formation, she was entrusted to the care of the consecrated widow Uda of Gölklheim and then to Jutta of Spanheim who had taken the veil at the Benedictine Monastery of St Disibodenberg.

A small cloistered women's monastery was developing there that followed the Rule of St Benedict. Hildegard was clothed by Bishop Otto of Bamberg and in 1136, upon the death of Mother Jutta who had become the community magistra (Prioress), the sisters chose Hildegard to succeed her. She fulfilled this office making the most of her gifts as a woman of culture and of lofty spirituality, capable of dealing competently with the organizational aspects of cloistered life.

A few years later, partly because of the increasing number of young women who were knocking at the monastery door, Hildegard broke away from the dominating male monastery of St Disibodenburg with her community, taking it to Bingen, calling it after St Rupert and here she spent the rest of her days.

Her manner of exercising the ministry of authority is an example for every religious community: she inspired holy emulation in the practice of good to such an extent that, as time was to tell, both the mother and her daughters competed in mutual esteem and in serving each other.

During the years when she was superior of the Monastery of St Disibodenberg, Hildegard began to dictate the mystical visions that she had been receiving for some time to the monk Volmar, her spiritual director, and to Richardis di Strade, her secretary, a sister of whom she was very fond...."

St Cyprian of Carthage, memorial, September 16

St Cyprian is an important saint for Benedictines, because St Benedict's Rule frequently alludes to his writings.  His feast is celebrated on the same day as that of his friend Pope Cornelius, who was martyred in exile from Rome in 253 AD.

From the General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI on 6 June 2007:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In the series of our catecheses on the great figures of the ancient Church, today we come to an excellent African Bishop of the third century, St Cyprian, "the first Bishop in Africa to obtain the crown of martyrdom".

His fame, Pontius the Deacon his first biographer attests, is also linked to his literary corpus and pastoral activity during the 13 years between his conversion and his martyrdom (cf. Life and Passion of St Cyprian, 19, 1; 1, 1).

Cyprian was born in Carthage into a rich pagan family. After a dissipated youth, he converted to Christianity at the age of 35.

He himself often told of his spiritual journey, "When I was still lying in darkness and gloomy night", he wrote a few months after his Baptism, "I used to regard it as extremely difficult and demanding to do what God's mercy was suggesting to me. "I myself was held in bonds by the innumerable errors of my previous life, from which I did not believe I could possibly be delivered, so I was disposed to acquiesce in my clinging vices and to indulge my sins....

"But after that, by the help of the water of new birth, the stain of my former life was washed away, and a light from above, serene and pure, was infused into my reconciled heart... a second birth restored me to a new man. Then, in a wondrous manner every doubt began to fade.... I clearly understood that what had first lived within me, enslaved by the vices of the flesh, was earthly and that what, instead, the Holy Spirit had wrought within me was divine and heavenly" (Ad Donatum, 3-4).

Immediately after his conversion, despite envy and resistance, Cyprian was chosen for the priestly office and raised to the dignity of Bishop. In the brief period of his episcopacy he had to face the first two persecutions sanctioned by imperial decree: that of Decius (250) and that of Valerian (257-258).

After the particularly harsh persecution of Decius, the Bishop had to work strenuously to restore order to the Christian community. Indeed, many of the faithful had abjured or at any rate had not behaved correctly when put to the test. They were the so-called lapsi - that is, the "fallen" - who ardently desired to be readmitted to the community.

The debate on their readmission actually divided the Christians of Carthage into laxists and rigorists. These difficulties were compounded by a serious epidemic of the plague which swept through Africa and gave rise to anguished theological questions both within the community and in the confrontation with pagans. Lastly, the controversy between St Cyprian and Stephen, Bishop of Rome, concerning the validity of Baptism administered to pagans by heretical Christians, must not be forgotten.

In these truly difficult circumstances, Cyprian revealed his choice gifts of government: he was severe but not inflexible with the lapsi, granting them the possibility of forgiveness after exemplary repentance. Before Rome, he staunchly defended the healthy traditions of the African Church; he was deeply human and steeped with the most authentic Gospel spirit when he urged Christians to offer brotherly assistance to pagans during the plague; he knew how to maintain the proper balance when reminding the faithful - excessively afraid of losing their lives and their earthly possessions - that true life and true goods are not those of this world; he was implacable in combating corrupt morality and the sins that devastated moral life, especially avarice.

"Thus he spent his days", Pontius the Deacon tells at this point, "when at the bidding of the proconsul, the officer with his soldiers all of a sudden came unexpectedly upon him in his grounds" (Life and Passion of St Cyprian, 15, 1).

On that day, the holy Bishop was arrested and after being questioned briefly, courageously faced martyrdom in the midst of his people.

The numerous treatises and letters that Cyprian wrote were always connected with his pastoral ministry. Little inclined to theological speculation, he wrote above all for the edification of the community and to encourage the good conduct of the faithful.

Indeed, the Church was easily his favourite subject. Cyprian distinguished between the visible, hierarchical Church and the invisible mystical Church but forcefully affirmed that the Church is one, founded on Peter.

He never wearied of repeating that "if a man deserts the Chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, does he think that he is in the Church?" (cf. De unit. [On the unity of the Catholic Church], 4).

Cyprian knew well that "outside the Church there is no salvation", and said so in strong words (Epistles 4, 4 and 73, 21); and he knew that "no one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as mother" (De unit., 6). An indispensable characteristic of the Church is unity, symbolized by Christ's seamless garment (ibid., 7): Cyprian said, this unity is founded on Peter (ibid., 4), and finds its perfect fulfilment in the Eucharist (Epistle 63, 13).

"God is one and Christ is one", Cyprian cautioned, "and his Church is one, and the faith is one, and the Christian people is joined into a substantial unity of body by the cement of concord. Unity cannot be severed. And what is one by its nature cannot be separated" (De unit., 23).

We have spoken of his thought on the Church but, lastly, let us not forget Cyprian's teaching on prayer. I am particularly fond of his treatise on the "Our Father", which has been a great help to me in understanding and reciting the Lord's Prayer better.

Cyprian teaches that it is precisely in the Lord's Prayer that the proper way to pray is presented to Christians. And he stresses that this prayer is in the plural in order that "the person who prays it might not pray for himself alone. Our prayer", he wrote, "is public and common; and when we pray, we pray not for one, but for the whole people, because we the whole people, are one (De Dom. orat. [Treatise on the Lord's Prayer], 8).

Thus, personal and liturgical prayer seem to be strongly bound. Their unity stems from the fact that they respond to the same Word of God. The Christian does not say "my Father" but "our Father", even in the secrecy of a closed room, because he knows that in every place, on every occasion, he is a member of one and the same Body.

"Therefore let us pray, beloved Brethren", the Bishop of Carthage wrote, "as God our Teacher has taught us. It is a trusting and intimate prayer to beseech God with his own word, to raise to his ears the prayer of Christ. Let the Father acknowledge the words of his Son when we pray, and let him also who dwells within our breast himself dwell in our voice....

"But let our speech and petition when we pray be under discipline, observing quietness and modesty. Let us consider that we are standing in God's sight. We must please the divine eyes both with the position of the body and with the measure of voice....

"Moreover, when we meet together with the brethren in one place, and celebrate divine sacrifices with God's priest, we ought to be mindful of modesty and discipline - not to throw abroad our prayers indiscriminately, with unsubdued voices, nor to cast to God with tumultuous wordiness a petition that ought to be commended to God by modesty; for God is the hearer, not of the voice, but of the heart (non vocis sed cordis auditor est)" (3-4). Today too, these words still apply and help us to celebrate the Holy Liturgy well.

Ultimately, Cyprian placed himself at the root of that fruitful theological and spiritual tradition which sees the "heart" as the privileged place for prayer.

Indeed, in accordance with the Bible and the Fathers, the heart is the intimate depths of man, the place in which God dwells. In it occurs the encounter in which God speaks to man, and man listens to God; man speaks to God and God listens to man. All this happens through one divine Word. In this very sense - re-echoing Cyprian - Smaragdus, Abbot of St Michael on the Meuse in the early years of the ninth century, attests that prayer "is the work of the heart, not of the lips, because God does not look at the words but at the heart of the person praying" (Diadema monachorum [Diadem of the monks], 1).

Dear friends, let us make our own this receptive heart and "understanding mind" of which the Bible (cf. I Kgs 3: 9) and the Fathers speak. How great is our need for it! Only then will we be able to experience fully that God is our Father and that the Church, the holy Bride of Christ, is truly our Mother.

September 15: Feast of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady

Though this feast has medieval origins, it wasn't added to the universal calendar until 1814, and wasn't moved to this day until 1913.

Traditionally, the seven sorrows are:

•at the prophecy of Simeon;

•at the flight into Egypt;

•having lost the Holy Child at Jerusalem;

•meeting Jesus on his way to Calvary;

•standing at the foot of the Cross;

•Jesus being taken from the Cross;

•at the burial of Christ.
 
At today's Mass, the sequence is the famous Stabat Mater:
 

September 14: Exaltation of Holy Cross, Class II

Once upon a time there were two feasts in the calendar associated with the recovery of the true Cross.

The first, on May 3, celebrated St Helena's finding of the Cross in Jerusalem in 326.

The second, on September 14, celebrated the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulcre nine years later, and the placement of a portion of the Cross there for veneration by the faithful on this day.

In the 1962 calendar, the two were combined.

There is a nice Benedictine connection to the veneration of the true Cross in the saints invocation of the Cross in many of the miracles that he worked.  And this is carried forward today in the indult that allows the medal of St Benedict to be used in place of a fragment of the true cross in the blessing of St Maurus for the sick.

Traditionally, the Spring/Autumn (depending on which hemisphere you live in) Ember Days occur in the calendar week after September 14, and it is for this reason presumably that St Benedict uses the date as the changeover from the summer to the winter meal schedule in his Rule (ch 41).

It is also of course the anniversary of the coming into effect of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum by which Pope Benedict XVI freed access to the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.

The Vespers hymn is Vexilla Regis Prodeunt.

September 9: St Gorgonius, Martyr, Memorial

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, St Gorgonius  was martyred in 304 at Nicomedia with S Dorotheus and others during the persecution of Diocletian:

"Gorgonius held a high position in the household of the emperor, and had often been entrusted with matters of the greatest importance.

At the breaking out of the persecution he was consequently among the first to be charged, and, remaining constant in the profession of the Faith, was with his companions, Dorotheus, Peter and several others, subjected to the most frightful torments and finally strangled.

Diocletian, determined that their bodies should not receive the extraordinary honours which the early Christians were wont to pay the relics of the martyrs (honours so great as to occasion the charge of idolatry), ordered them to be thrown into the sea. The Christians nevertheless obtained possession of them, and later the body of Gorgonius was carried to Rome, whence in the eighth century it was translated by St. Chrodegang, Bishop of Metz, and enshrined in the monastery of Gorze. Many French churches obtained portions of the saint's body from Gorze, but in the general pillage of the French Revolution, most of these relics were lost. Our chief sources of information regarding these martyrs are Lactantius and Eusebius."

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

This is one of only three birthdays celebrated in the liturgical year: those of Our Lady, Our Lord, and St John the Baptist.

The useful Fisheaters website offers a translation of the (non-canonical) Gospel of the Nativity of Mary, that was translated from the Hebrew by St Jerome.  The sections relevant to today's feast are as follows:

"Chapter I


The blessed and glorious ever-virgin Mary, sprung from the royal stock and family of David, born in the city of Nazareth, was brought up at Jerusalem in the temple of the Lord. Her father was named Joachim, and her mother Anna. Her father's house was from Galilee and the city of Nazareth, but her mother's family from Bethlehem. Their life was guileless and right before the Lord, and irreproachable and pious before men. For they divided all their substance into three parts. One part they spent upon the temple and the temple servants; another they distributed to strangers and the poor; the third they reserved, for themselves and the necessities of their family. Thus, dear to God, kind to men, for about twenty years they lived in their own house, a chaste married life, without having any children. Nevertheless they vowed that, should the Lord happen to give them offspring, they would deliver it to the service of the Lord; on which account also they used to visit the temple of the Lord at each of the feasts during the year.

Chapter II

And it came to pass that the festival of the dedication was at hand; wherefore also Joachim went up to Jerusalem with some men of his own tribe. Now at that time Issachar was high priest there. And when he saw Joachim with his offering among his other fellow-citizens, he despised him, and spurned his gifts, asking why he, who had no offspring, presumed to stand among those who had; saying that his gifts could not by any means be acceptable to God, since He had deemed him unworthy of off-spring: for the Scripture said, Cursed is every one who has not begot a male or a female in Israel. He said, therefore, that he ought first to be freed from this curse by the begetting of children; and then, and then only, that be should come into the presence of the Lord with his offerings. And Joachim, covered with shame from this reproach that was thrown in his teeth, retired to the shepherds, who were in their pastures with their flocks; nor would he return home, test perchance he might be branded with the same reproach by those of his own tribe, who were there at the time, and had heard this from the priest.

Chapter III

Now, when he had been there for some time, on a certain day when he was alone, an angel of the Lord stood by him in a great light. And when he was disturbed at his appearance, the angel who had appeared to him restrained his fear, saying: Fear not, Joachim, nor be disturbed by my appearance; for I am the angel of the Lord, sent by Him to thee to tell thee that thy prayers have been heard, and that thy charitable deeds have gone up into His presence. For He hath seen thy shame, and hath heard the reproach of unfruitfulness which has been unjustly brought against thee. For God is the avenger of sin, not of nature: and, therefore, when He shuts up the womb of any one, He does so that He may miraculously open it again; so that that which is born may be acknowledged to be not of lust, but of the gift of God. For was it not the case that the first mother of your nation-Sarah-was barren up to her eightieth year? And, nevertheless, in extreme old age she brought forth Isaac, to whom the promise was renewed of the blessing of all nations. Rachel also, so favoured of the Lord, and so beloved by holy Jacob, was long barren; and yet she brought forth Joseph, who was not only the lord of Egypt, but the deliverer of many nations who were ready to perish of hunger. Who among the judges was either stronger than Samson, or more holy than Samuel? And yet the mothers of both were barren. If, therefore, the reasonableness of my words does not persuade thee, believe in fact that conceptions very late in life, and births in the case of women that have been barren, are usually attended with something wonderful. Accordingly thy wife Anna will bring forth a daughter to thee, and thou shall call her name Mary: she shall be, as you have vowed, consecrated to the Lord from her infancy, and she shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from her mother's womb. She shall neither eat nor drink any unclean thing, nor shall she spend her life among the crowds of the people without, but in the temple of the Lord, that it may not be possible either to say, or so much as to suspect, any evil concerning her. Therefore, when she has grown up, just as she herself shall be miraculously born of a barren woman, so in an incomparable manner she, a virgin, shall bring forth the Son of the Most High, who shall be called Jesus, and who, according to the etymology of His name, shall be the Saviour of all nations. And this shall be the sign to thee of those things which I announce: When thou shalt come to the Golden gate in Jerusalem, thou shalt there meet Anna thy wife, who, lately anxious from the delay of thy return, will then rejoice at the sight of thee. Having thus spoken, the angel departed from him.

Chapter IV

Thereafter he appeared to Anna his wife, saying: Fear not, Anna, nor think that it is a phantom which thou seest. For I am that angel who has presented your prayers and alms before God; and now have I been sent to you to announce to you that thou shalt bring forth a daughter, who shall be called Mary, and who shall be blessed above all women. She, full of the favour of the Lord even from her birth, shall remain three years in her father's house until she be weaned. Thereafter, being delivered to the service of the Lord, she shall not depart from the temple until she reach the years of discretion. There, in fine, serving God day and night in fastings and prayers, she shall abstain from every unclean thing; she shall never know man, but alone, without example, immaculate, uncorrupted, without intercourse with man, she, a virgin, shall bring forth a son; she, His hand-maiden, shall bring forth the Lord-both in grace, and in name, and in work, the Saviour of the world. Wherefore arise, and go up to Jerusalem; and when thou shalt come to the gate which, because it is plated with gold, is called Golden, there, for a sign, thou shalt meet thy husband, for whose safety thou hast been anxious. And when these things shall have so happened, know that what I announce shall without doubt be fulfilled.

Chapter V

Therefore, as the angel had commanded, both of them setting out from the place where they were, went up to Jerusalem; and when they had come to the place pointed out by the angel's prophecy, there they met each other. Then, rejoicing at seeing each other, and secure in the certainty of the promised offspring, they gave the thanks due to the Lord, who exalteth the humble. And so, having worshipped the Lord, they returned home, and awaited in certainty and in gladness the divine promise. Anna therefore conceived, and brought forth a daughter; and according to the command of the angel, her parents called her name Mary."

Brush up your rubrics: collects

This post is just a reminder of rules around the way collects, the prayer used as part of the concluding section of the hours (aka the collect).

(1)  Where collect occurs

The collect is part of the concluding section of each of the day hours.  The table below show where it fits in the standard closing of each hour.

  

LATIN	ENGLISH
Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison	Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy
Pater noster…	Our Father…
Domine, exaudi orationem meam Et clamor meus ad te veniat	O Lord hear my prayer And let my prayer come unto Thee
Oremus	Let us pray
INSERT  COLLECT HERE
[Sometimes at Lauds and/or Vespers: commemoration]
Domine, exaudi orationem meam Et clamor meus ad te veniat	O Lord hear my prayer And let my prayer come unto Thee
Benedicamus Domino Deo Gratias	Let us bless the Lord Thanks be to God
Fidelium animae… [omitted at Compline and replaced with blessing]	May the souls of the faithful departed……

(2) Where to find the collect

At Prime and Compline the collect is the same each day at those hours (a few very special days such as All Souls and the Sacred Triduum aside), and can be found in the psalter section of your Office book.

On fourth class Saturdays (Class IV), the collect for Matins, Lauds and Terce to None is from the Office of Our Lady on Saturday (note some monasteries also retain the older custom of starting the Office of Our Lady on Saturday at Friday Vespers).

At all the other hours, the collect will be of the week (the relevant Sunday of the year), day or feast, and so will normally be found in either the Proper of the Season or Proper of Saints (or Common if there isn't a proper prayer) section of the Diurnal.  

For most of the year the 'default' collect, used on days that are not feasts from Saturday Vespers (I Vespers of Sunday) to Friday Vespers is that of the Sunday of the year, and it is the same prayer that is said at (the EF) Mass.  During the more intensive times of the liturgical year, there may a collect (or even two) for each day of the week.

Page numbers for the collects to be used each week can be found in the Ordo.

The table below summarises the source of the collect for each hour.

HOUR	SOURCE OF COLLECT
Matins, Lauds, Terce-None	Sunday - Friday (or Saturday if Class III without a proper prayer): Of the Sunday (ie the week), day or feast Class IV Saturdays: Of the Office of Our Lady
Prime	Collect of Prime, Monastic Diurnal  (MD) and Antiphonale Monasticum (AM) pg 8 (Domine Deus omnipotens...)
Vespers	Sunday-Friday: Of the Sunday (ie the week), day or feast Saturdays: Of the coming Sunday
Compline	Collect of Compline, MD 264, AM 173 (Visita quaesumus Domine)

(3) The conclusions to the collects

Most of the time Office books do not write out the full conclusions to the collects, they just provide a few key words to remind you to use it, such as PER DOMINUM NOSTRUM, or THROUGH OUR LORD.

There are several different conclusions to the collects, indicated by slightly different key words.  You can find them written out in full in the Diurnal on page xxix.

Hope this helps...

Do let me know if anything is not clear, or you think I've made a mistake.

St Raymund Nonnatus (EF), Aug 31

St Raymond being nourished by angels
Eugenio Caxes

From the martyrology:

"At Cardona, in Spain, St. Raymond Nonnatus, Cardinal and confessor, of the Order of Mercedarians, renowned for holiness of life and miracles."

The wikipedia notes that:

"According to Mercedarian tradition, he was born at Portell (today part of Sant Ramon), in the Diocese of Urgell, and became a member of the Mercedarian Order, founded to ransom Christian captives from the Moors of North Africa. He was ordained a priest in 1222 and later became master-general of the order. He traveled to North Africa and is said to have surrendered himself as a hostage when his money ran out.

He suffered in captivity. A legend states that the Moors bored a hole through his lips with a hot iron, and padlocked his mouth to prevent him from preaching. He was ransomed by his order and in 1239 returned to Spain. He died at Cardona, sixty miles from Barcelona, either on August 26 or on August 31, 1240. Many miracles were attributed to him before and after his death."

August 30: SS Felix and Audauctus, Memorial

Saints Felix and Adauctus (d. 303 AD) were Christian martyrs who are believed to have lived during the reigns of Diocletian and Maximian.  Felix, a Roman priest, and brother of another priest, also named Felix, being ordered to offer sacrifice to the gods. 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 (the Latin word for "added"). They were both beheaded.

Beheading of St John the Baptist (Aug 29)

In one of those cutesy euphemisms, this feast has been renamed the 'Passion of John the Baptist' in the Ordinary Form.

The martyrology describes it thus:

"The beheading of St. John the Baptist, who was put to death by Herod about the feast of Easter. However, the solemn commemoration takes place today, when his venerable head was found for the second time. It was afterwards solemnly carried to Rome, where it is kept in the church of St. Silvester, near Campo Marzio, and honored by the people with the greatest devotion."

This saint has a particular significance for Benedictines, as when he moved to Monte Cassino, St Benedict built a chapel in honour of St John the Baptist where previously had stood an altar to Apollo.

In many respects St John represents the two sides of the Benedictine charism - in his ascetic life in the desert, he points to the contemplative dimension; in his work preparing the way for Our Lord by calling the people to repentance, the active dimension.

August 29: The beheading of St. John the Baptist

Today is one of the feast days of one of the most important saints in the calendar, St John the Baptist.

In one of those cutesy euphemisms, this feast has been renamed the 'Passion of John the Baptist' in the Ordinary Form.

The martyrology, however, describes it thus:

"The beheading of St. John the Baptist, who was put to death by Herod about the feast of Easter. However, the solemn commemoration takes place today, when his venerable head was found for the second time. It was afterwards solemnly carried to Rome, where it is kept in the church of St. Silvester, near Campo Marzio, and honored by the people with the greatest devotion." 

This saint has a particular significance for Benedictines, as when he moved to Monte Cassino, St Benedict built a chapel in honour of St John the Baptist where previously had stood an altar to Apollo.

In many respects St John represents the two sides of the Benedictine charism - in his ascetic life in the desert, he points to the contemplative dimension; in his work preparing the way for Our Lord by calling the people to repentance, the active dimension.

The Vespers hymn for the feast is Deus tuorum militum sors.

August 28: Feast of St Augustine, Bishop, Confessor and Doctor

St. Augustine of Hippo is not of course a Benedictine saint. Still, he was an important influence on St. Benedict and the Western monastic tradition in general.

St Augustine's monastic rules are amongst the earliest surviving monastic rules of the Western Church, and reflect the moderation that St. Benedict was to make central to his Rule. He is also a champion of the combination of learning with faith, another Benedictine quality.

There are many quotes from St. Augustine in the Rule, but one of the most interesting areas of St. Augustine's theological influence in the Rule is in the Tools of Good Works (Chapter Four). The injunction "To attribute to God, and not to self, whatever good one sees in oneself, but to recognize always that the evil is one's own doing, and to impute it to oneself," reflects St. Augustine's anti-Pelagian approach over the position being advocated at the time by the Eastern-influenced monks of Lerins, and finally resolved at the contemporary Council of Orange in 529.

St Joseph Calasanctius (EF)/St Monica (OF), Aug 27

From the martyrology:

"At Rome, the demise of St. Joseph, confessor, illustrious by the innocence of his life and miracles, who, to instruct youth in piety and letters, founded the Order of the Poor Clerks Regular of the pious Schools of the Mother of God."

In the Extraordinary Form, St Monica's feast is on May 4, however it was moved, in 1970, to the day before the feast of the son, St Augustine, she converted by her tears, prayers and admonitions.

Saints feasts for September

September 1

St Giles (EF only)

September 2

September 3

Pope St Pius X, Class III
Pope Pius X - martyrology entry
Pope Benedict VI on St Pius X

September 4

St Marcellus (from the martyrology)

September 5

St Laurence Justinian (EF only)

September 6

St Zachary (from the martyrology)

September 7

Pope St Hadrian III (martyrology)

September 8

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Class II

September 9

St Gorgonius, martyr, memorial

September 10

St Nicholas of Tolentino (EF only); St Pulcheria

September 11

SS Protus and Hyacinth, Martyrs, memorial
St Theodora (desert mother)

September 14

Exaltation of Holy Cross, Class II

September 15

Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, Class III

September 16

SS Cornelius, Pope and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs, memorial

September 17

St Hildegarde OSB, Doctor of the Church memorial 

September 18

St Joseph of Cupertino (EF only)

September 19

St Januarius (OF only)

September 20

St Eustace and companions (EF); SS Andrew Tae-gon, Paul Chon Ha-sang and companions

September 21

St Matthew, Class II

September 22

St Maurice and companions, memorial

September 23

Pope St Linus, memorial

September 24

Our Lady of Ransom (EF only)

September 27

SS Cosmas and Damian, memorial

September 28

St Wenceslaus (EF/OF); St Lawrence Ruiz and companions (OF)

September 29

Dedication of St Michael the Archangel, Class I
SS Michael, Raphael and Gabriel (OF)

September 30

St Jerome, Class III

Please pray for the people of Italy and the monks of Norcia

Many will have already heard of the devastating earthquake that hit Italy yesterday.

The death toll is now estimated at over 120 people.

The monks of Norcia were not injured in the earthquake or its many aftershocks, but it seems their monastery and the basilica they serve has suffered some serious structural damage, forcing a temporary move to Rome.

You can help with prayers and donations - for help for the monks, go here.