Tuesday 6 October 2009

A Study day in Breviary reform...


This morning I made my way down to Blackfen for a Study Day of the Society of St Catherine of Siena on the St Pius X reforms of the Roman Breviary 1911-1913. Rubricarius of the St Lawrence Press delivered a most fascinating lecture (you can download it on his blog) on the subject, going through the Hours of the Divine Office and making various comparisons between different Uses (such as the Monastic Breviary), even different Rites such as the Byzantine Rite, and going through the various reasons for reform and how this relates to the modern Breviary and to the greater liturgical history of the Church. It was most interesting and edifying. One thing made everyone giggle - he said that if you imagined everyday in Lent as a ferial day, at the end of the week you'd have recited over 400 Psalms (the ferial offices being notoriously long) under the pre-1911 rubrics!

After the talk we had a short service of Benediction with a prayer for priests. I have only served Benediction on my own once before, and it was rather tricky having to juggle the offices of MC and Thurifer, but apparently my serving didn't appear too outrageous! Then we had a delicious lunch in the large hall - we are all most grateful to the ladies who volunteered. After coffee and a nice chat, we returned to the church for pre-1911 Solemn Vespers for the Feast of St Bruno. We had the appropriate commemorations too, since we are within the Octave of Rosary Sunday! By this time Jonathan, who kindly took the day off work, had come to the rescue and we both divided the offices of Acolytes, Thurifer and Master of Ceremonies between us. It was truly splendid, and a first for the parish as we agreed afterwards - the church having been built in the '30s!

I love to attend sung Offices, particularly Vespers. Alas, though, that they occur so rarely (I have served Vespers only a handful of times in my life) - I can't see why; the practicalities for a properly ordered sung Vespers are not insurmountable. I'd personally rather attend a Sung Vespers than a Low Mass. What a boon for the Church it would be if there were more sung Office and less Low Masses!

St Bruno, pray for us.

6 comments:

  1. Patricius,

    I am glad you found the talk interesting. I enjoyed delivering it.

    The hypothetical week in Lent, without any feasts, would have so many psalms because in addition to the Office of the day there would be the Little Office of the BVM every day (except Sunday), the Office of the Dead on Monday, the Gradual Psalms on Wednesday and the Penitential Psalms on Friday.

    I will work out again the exact number. I know it is actually more than in the Byzantine rite where, in Lent, the Psalter is basically said twice in each week.

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  2. I have re-calculated the exact number of psalms, potentially, sung in a week of Lent assuming that no feasts occurred (which would have been the case with Pius V's spartan calendar) and counting the canticle before the Laudate psalms also as a psalm.

    The answer is 443 psalms in the week!

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  3. No one can compare the Holy Mass in whatever form to sung vespers. The mass is salvific - vespers is not!

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  4. I wonder how much of an effect the introduction of evening Masses had on the public recitation of Vespers, especially on Sundays and feast days? In most parishes, including ours, one will find an evening Mass celebrated instead. Of course, Vespers was always tradtionally considered to be the evening sacrifice.

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  5. Hestor, nevertheless, Solemn Vespers is superior Liturgy. The Divine Office is just as much a part of the Church's Liturgy as the Mass, and in my opinion, there is too much Mass (mostly Low Mass in Old Rite circles) and not enough Office.

    Paul Knight, I am against the celebration of Mass in the evening. Ideally, Mass ought to be sung after Terce. In a typical parish, sung Vespers ought to happen on at least one Sunday of the month - the practicalities are not insurmountable. And High Mass ought to be the focus of the week - I would rather a weekly High Mass than daily Low Mass. Low Mass is boring...

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  6. I would agree with you Patricius, though I will admit that through laziness I will sometimes attend the Sunday evening Mass. I agree with you cancerning low Mass aswell - high Mass is the Mass proper to public celebration (daily low mass really only being a scholastic innovation, which I remember you posting about some time ago).

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