L I T U R G Y Vol ume 7, Number 1 / February 1973

EDITOR'S PAGE l

WE'RE LOOKI NG FOR CELEBRANTS 3

Paul HOUIX

A LETTER ABOUT THE PENTECOST OCTAVE 1 3Paul HOUIX

SICUT PSALLIT ECCLESIA ROMANA, or THE SOURCES OF THE OFFICEIN THE RULE OF SAINT BENEDICT 1 7

Ni vard RONDEAU

THE LITURGY OF THE HOURS: AN ASSESSMENT FROM BETHLEHEM ABBEY 25S.en LOUGHLINA CIRCULAR LETTER TO THE MEMBERS OF THE LITURGY COMMISSION

FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE LITURGY COMMISSION 45

G rard DUBOIS

DOCUMENTS FROM THE INTER-ORDER LITURGY COMM ISSION:INTRODUCTORY NOTE 57

Chrysogonus WADDELLA REPORT ON THE PROGRESS OF THE WORK OF THE LITURGICAL COM

Dom Rembert WEAKLAND11 PRAENOTANDA II PROJ ECTSAMPLE SCHEMATA FOR DISTRIBUTION OF PSALMS EXAMPLES OF AN 11 0RDINARIUM LITURGIAE HORARUM 11

[MISSIO N 59

616369

LITURGY bulletin serves to share with others whatever thoughts and ex periences may contrioute towards the development of a living liturgy for today.Manuscripts should be forwarded to:

Fr. Chrysogonus Gethsemani AbbeyTrappist, Kentucky 40073(U.S.A.)

Material for the next issue (June, 1973) should be received no later than mid-May.

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EDITOR'S PAG E

It's shortly after First Vespers of the 6th Sunday of the Year, and I've just returned to my Trailer-Hermitage with the text of the Magnificat antiphon Pinging in my eaPs: 110 purchased people, declare the wonderful deeds of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, alleluia !11 I 've been WoPking aU day on the current issue of this J5ulletin,and I 'm mortally tired. I 've J°ust pu t the Bruno Walter recording of Mozart's G minor Symphony (the 40thJ on the record player , and have typed the Tableof Contents page to the accompaniment of this second last symphony written thpee years before Mozart 's death, but never heard performed during the com poser 's Ufetime. And n(J)) I'm trying to analyze what's wrong about the cur rent issue. So far as I can see, there's a reasonably substantial batch of material, and not very much which isn 't really relevant in a period of litur gical reform and renewal. Perhaps that's the problem: relevancy to the exclu sion of pure praise and song. I dare say it's the effect of the Magnificat antiphon plus Mozart, but it seems to me that a liturgy bulletin issuingfrom a contemplative milieu should have at least a few pages of each issue shot through with lyrical pra.ise and thanksgiving for the Mystery of Christ: which is what the liturgy is about. So now I 'll use the Editor's Page of this current issue to share with you an extraordinarily beautiful transla tion of an extraordinarily beautiful passage from the Cistercian Al"an of Lille's Hymn to the Virgin, in his Ailticlaudianus, Lib.V, vv.471-515. The gifted translator is Dr. John Trout, whom I first had the joy of meetingat a swarm of mediaevalists held at Western Michigan University last May.Later, John visited Gethsemani briefly, and examined two of our Alan of Lille incunabula; and not long afterwards, he sent me the lovely lines which follow:

Oh Virgin:

ALAN OF LILI.E' S HYMN 'ID THE VIR3IN

outshining the angels , Birth-giving yet virtuous, Maiden -mother ,In whan motherhood and virtue, No longer enanies,Close their conflict with the kiss of

ace. Nature is still , logic retreats,Rl'letoric withers , reason \\Onders . She is the daughter, oh miracle, Who conceived the Son ;Virgin claiming a mother 's honor . In her wa:nb the AlmightyPrepared a dwellingWhere His Son \\Ove a ganrent, Donned our dress ,Wrapped himself in the toga of our salvation .Oh Virgin:Sea-star, safe harbor, path of life;

Judge of justice, love's farthest bound;Fount of honor, mother of mercy , home of virtue; Walled garden , hidden spring,

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Flavering olive, redolent cedar, Blossan:ing twig, sweet paradise; Cellar of God's wine, heaven 's nectar; Rose thomless, grace guiltless, Stream without boundary,Light streaming through clouds;Hope of the hopeless, healer of the guilty, Guardian of the good;Hc::rre of the exile, path of the wanderer, Light to the blind, rest for the weary, Refuge of the broken.Oh Virgin:Undoing the folly of our first rrother, Redea:ning fault through virtue; Ingathering the dispersed,Restoring the stolen, reclaiming the lost, Recalling the exile, forgiving the fugitive; For infamy giving honor, for guilt grace, For vice virtue, for hatred love,?or sadness a smile;Joy in the sad twilight,Life lighting death's shadcM, World s golden age returning.R:>se redeems thorn,Supple graft softens gnarled root, Daughter bears rrothersTo neN life;Innocent absolves sinner, Virgin restores the violated; The rrodest defends the brazen,The blessed succors the hapless, The humble raises up the proud; Mary 1I10ther of Eve.

Translator:Dr.Jclm TroutDepartnent of History Hanover College Hanover Indiana

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WE'RE LOOKING FOR CELEBRANTS

Harvey Cox invites us, in one of his fairous books, to invent new rites.

We virtually have to reverse "the oonventional notion of what a ritual is:we should see it not as a oontent to which people rrnlst canply, but as a

1structure within which they can pulsate and pirouette in unprescribed

ways."

I don't intend to hurt the feelings of any of the :rronks or nuns or of anyone else who hai;:pens to read these pages; but neither d:> I have any in tention of being silent about the fact that one of the purposes of this lit urgy bulletin is to he lp in the formation of celebrants . This isn't an easy job when, on the one hand,we take into acoount the rubricist mentalitywhich has held sway in our :rronasteries for so many years; while, on the oth er hand, we realize the vital necessity of making every m:::mk and mm aware of the fact that, in the celebration of the liturgy, each and every person is a celebrant in the strict sense of the word: every one of us, each in his own way, is a participant in the liturgy, and shares the responsibility for our liturgical celebrations.

Here and there people are still asking questions. Thus, in the

oourse of the liturgy session held recent!y at Belval, France, members of the French Regional Liturgy Q:Dmission had occasion to note that "the suitability ofpart-singing is still being called into question; there are sane who, in thename of the exigencies of sobriety and simplicity, have no hesitation in af finning that polyphony is not m::mastic.'' 2

In the report of the meeting, this remark gave rise to a profound obser vation which I should like to make use of in my attempt to sketch the portrait of the ideal celebrant: "It might well be asked whether, in at least sane in stances -and the following remark ought not be made too general -this sort of opposition to part-singing doesn't stem, in point of fact, fran the diffi culty such peoE>le have in relating to others."

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We need to be reminded in season and out of season that the liturgy involves nothing less than an ensemble of :rieZationships. The liturgy,

of oourse, is nore than this; but it 's at least this m.ich -so that, without a relationship between persons, there is no liturgy. The nore serious ,ref lective liturgical refonns (and oontraxy to what sane critics claim, such refonns do exist)will never attain their goal until every member of our camnmities feels himself called to be a celebrant in the full sense of the"WOrd, called to enter into a relationship with his brothers and sisters in the f aith.

We inmediately go on to say , of oourse, that, in a celebration, not every one is supposed to be doing everything. Each person has his own particular role to p lay. And so we '11begin by speaking of the person whan we designate, for better or for worse, as "the celebrant" , that is to sey , the priest whocelebrates the Eucharist. The remarks made with regard to him are applicable -mutatis mutandis -- to every other m:.mber of the assanbly, and nore particular- ly to every person called upon to carry out sane special function in the cele bration (reader , soloist . • . ) •

We 're looking for celebrants! We ''re looking f or men who knCM how to enter into a relationship with an assembly of persons; who know hOW" to make a given assanbly enter into a relationship with God, who know hOW" to make the members of the assanbly enter into a relationship with each other. We 're going to have to make a f inn resolution to do all we possibly can to form such

men. Mean while, our f irst task is to reaf f inn sane basic truths. This is the purpose of the follCMing remarks, which are no nore than simple ref lections resulting f rcm JI¥ CMil personal experience. I intend simply to describe the kind of celebrantI JI¥Self 'WOUld like to be.

THE CELEBRANT IN HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

If we take as our starting point this relationship with God, aren' t we going to f alsify the problem at its very root? Isn't every celebrant, every president of a liturgical celebration, f irst of all established in his rela tionship with the assembly? Obviously, the celebrant has to be sure , f irst of all, that he's in oontact with his brothers and sisters, because its together with them, and not as an isolated individual, that he 's supposed to go to

God.Insof ar as he presides over the assanbly -and this, of oourse, is a presiden-

We're Looking for Celebrants 5

tial role of sei:vice:and if we have to be reminded of this fact, it means that we 've lost the meaning of the liturgy the

priest has to feel that he's in perfect camrunion with the manbers of the assembly. This cx:mnunion extends not only to the level of faith, but also to that of human feelings and sentiments. There isn't a celebrant who can't admit hCM difficult he fonnd it on occasion when he had to preside over an assembly in which he knew no one. This is a point to which we '11 return later, after we '11 have spoken about what's rrore essential.

United to his brothers and sisters in the faith, the celebrant has been chosen by God, and confirrred by the Church, in order to signify in an express ive, efficacious manner, that oovenant or alliance which God establishes with his people in the here-and-nCM of the liturgical celebration.This s that ever:y liturgical assembly is carrying on a pennanent dialogue, one which is actualized whether at the level of the rites or at t.".1e level of the "WOrd. The liturgical refonn extends its exigencies to embrace these two levels of rite and word. Let's oonsider at greater length the level of w o r d, which finds its full expression in the celebration of the Eucharist, nnder the fonn of a thanksgiving. We 'll give pride of place to this particular fonn of the word,in order to avoid spreading ourselves over too vast an area, and since thanks-

i giving seems to me to be the fonn of prayer par exoeUenae.

Defenders of a healthy liberty for free improvisation such as has been

stifled for too long a time often quote the farrous text of Saint Justin as an argument in support of their position: "Bread is brought in, along withwater and wine.The one presiding makes his prayers rise heavenwards, and

all the people reply with the acclamation "Anen".3 Saint Justin elsewhere writes that ''they bring to the one presiding over the assembly of brethren sarra bread, a cup of water and of diluted wine•••He takes it•••Then he makesa long euaPtarist (i.e., thanksgiving) for all the goods we have received ." 4

Will we ever one day hear a celebrant rendering thanks to God "for

as long as he has strength to do so"? What a eucharistic blessing that must have been! One "WOnders if any congregation nowadays wculd have the oourage to listen to such celebrants! Still, we have to admit that the willingness to do so would be a sign of a genuine renewal in the celebration of the Eucharist, if we take

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"Eucharist" in the deepest meaning of the tenn. NCMadays , when everyone is talking about a charismatic renewal, we have every right to ask ourselvesf rcm tine to time just What we 've done with the thanksgiving-euaharist. If , in Saint Justin 's day, a celebrant was able to offer thanks for ''as long ashe had strength to do so'' , or was able to "make a long eudlarist" , this proves beyond any doubt that the celebrant knew how to of fer thanks. We have onlyto read the epistles of Saint Paul to becare rnore aware of the irrq;iortance given to praise, to blessing, to thanksgiving. Do we nCMadays still knc:M

how to of fer thanks? Are we "eucharistic men"? This is an irrq;iortant question , even an urgent one. It 's absolutely necessary for us to f ind again the mean ing of "blessing" , so as to restore to our celebrations their original festive character; so as to find again the meaning of what a f east really is. · Cele brants have to knCM what it means when they say the words : "We do well always

and everywhere to give you thanks." We of ten have occasion to make really a stonishing statements; and this line fran the preface-text is without anydoubt one of the most astonishing. Every President for a celebration of the Eucharist , who has ever had occasion to say or sing these very clear words beside the cof f in of a loved one, kncMs and experiences in his heart of f

lesh that this blessing takes us outside ourselves and transposes us to the sunmi.t of the attitude of the believer , of the man of f aith. It 's the man of faithwho kn.CMs the answer to the question being asked so insistently in our own day: "Just what are we celebrating? The life of man? or the Mystery of Christ?" Ev er since God appeared on earth in Jesus Christ, it has been irrq;iossible for usto make a separation between our life airl our f aith. Only the Mystery of Christ -his cross and resurrection -can thrCM full light on man 's life; because man 's life f inds its ultimate meaning in the Pasch of the IDrd, and the Church has

as her chief mission on earth the task of sacramentalizing the salvation which has been given, which has been of fered to men in .Jesus Christ. So it 's not a ques tion of leaving our life behind us at the church entrance; man 's lif e, thereal life of men of today, has to be taken up in and through Christ in his func tion as Mediator , and actualized under the foi:m of signs in our liturgical cele brations. And so what rnore "totalizing" rranent in life can we celebrate than that when a cx:mrunity of men f inds itself f ace to face with the drama of death? The

celebrant 's ministry consists in his taking this "f act of life" which death is,and, through his blessing, lif ting it and inserting it into the broad sweep of

We 're Looking f or Ce lebrants 7

salvation history. A fact of human experience, with all its burden of mis ery and apparent m.llnportance , nevertheless becanes the oa::asion for making the liberating word of thanksgiving ascend to the Father: "We do well al

ways and everywhere to give you thanks .• • 11 At every m:ment in the course

oftune, at every m:::ment in the mad, passionate course of hunan history, and inevery tiny parcel of earth in a world which has knCMn so IIUlch division and separation, it will always be right and good to give thanks to God .Is

this a teyStical evasion? or is it a paradox of f aith?

Shouldn 1t we begin by making the nenbers of the assembly more aware of

the teyStery which we 're all living together? Indeed, what rceaning is there

to a thanksgiving totally exp=o..rienced by the one who is presiding over the

assembly, but who is out of touch so f ar as the members of the assembly areconcemed? The celebrant, of course , who is acting in the name of his breth ren, ought always to be sure that he 's really in contact with the assembly: this is the purpose of the initial dialogue which begins the preface. Never theless, we repeat, it 's important f irst and forarost that the one presidingbe fully cx:>nscious of his mis:;ion. If he cx:>ntents himself with simply carry ing out the rubrics to perf ection (and this species of celebrant isn 't totally extinct even nowadays ) , - he will doubtless carry out the rites with a deep

concern for· perf ection, and with a deep faith; and he will quite certainly have carried out a valid "cerem:my". At the same ti.me , he will be rm'lilingthe risk of having f ailed in what is most essential : the presence of a leader,

of a :man who is conscious of acting in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ; a man who proclaims the marvels wrought by God in the course of human history.

If it happens in too many so-called Christian assemblies that the singing

ofthe "Holy, Holy" is only a lifeless nn.u:mur, of fering a strange rontrast withwhat the new Ordo Missae says it ought to be -an aa::lamation - , isn 't this of ten because the priest himself has merely :rm.:nnbled the preface, with out being really concemed about "praising the Father and giving him thanksfor the wo:r:k of salvation or for some special aspect of it in keeping with

the day, feast, or season"? 5

We 're looking for celebrants! We 're looking for believers! That is to say , for men who try to realize sanething of what the General Instruction

8

to the Ranan Missal says with regard to the priest: "He stands at the head of the assanbly as the one presiding in the nane of Christ • • •At

the Eucharist he should serve God and the people with dignity arrl humili ty. By his actions and by his proclamation of the word he should impress

upon the faithful the living presence of Christ." 6 We 're looking for celebrants! We' re looking for men who are deeply concerned about being

a ''living presence of Christ"; this pre-supposes that they're first of all simply a living presence: present, but also alive and living; living, but also present!

If they really are living and alive, they 'll be f ree to carry out the

ritual actions, which they 'll see as "structures within which they can pul sate and pirouette as they like" . Unfortunately, a whole generation of priests (and we can 't say that this generation died out at Vatican II) has

received a type of formation which hardly prepared them "to pulsate and pi rouette" ; they were taU3'ht hCM to perfonn rites, they were taught which rubrics had to be observed (and we have to admit that there were sorre mas ters of cererronies whose imagination didn 't step short of providing a

"spiri tual", if not pious, explanation for every least point of

detail) ; but itmight be that such priests weren 't always taught h.av to celebrate. Obviously ,this in no way calls into question the holy, recollected manner in which such priests ''say" their Mass; and it 's remarkable that a good nmnber of them

were able to give up ''saying" their Mass, and are quite happy at the present time to be "celebrating'' Mass. However , experience proves that the recent Mass re fonn runs the risk of placing us all in an agonizing situation. This refonnis detaching us f ran a sanewhat dusty type of rubricism, and inviting us,

even obliging us, to be f ully ourselves within the context of quite broad struc tures. Now, it's never easy to be oneself in f ront of an assembly which is looking at you, and for which you have to proclaim the mighty deeds of God.

If \\le 1re to ef f ect such a conversion, it 's quite clear that we have to have recourse to the best neans to ensure that men who apparently are poorly prepared can little by little beccrre really good celebrants. At tines all it takes is a well understood brotherly correction to transfonn a regretablenoie of ccmport:IrEnt, or to improve a sanewhat ilrq;>erf ect attitude. In this area as in many others, we're such bad judges of ourselves that we might risk

•

We're Looking for Celebrants 9

being quite mistaken about the impact (or non-impact) of our style of cele bration. In our cx:mnunities, f raternal correction ought not to halt at the entrance to the church -though , of course, this doesn 't mean to suggest that we should criticize a celebration while it 's. actually taking place, or even af ter the celebrant and ministers have returned to the sacristy!

But this kind of fraternal correction will never do away with the

need each celebrant has of doing all he can to celebrate in all truth. Why do we f ind it so dif f icult to be genuine in the liturgy? We 've chosen as ourparticular point of consideration the prayer of thanksgiving; but it 's quite clear that this concern for truth has to extend to every form of prayer . The GeneraZ Instruction says that "Texts should be said in a clear, loud voice, whether by the priest or by the ministers or by everyone. The tone of voice should correspond to the nature of the text , such as a reading, a prayer, an instruction, an acclamation, or a song; the tone also depends on the fo:rmof celebration and the solennity of the assembly." 7 This ties in with whatwe were saying above : one has to be a living presence. New, every living be ing adapts itself to each new situation. It 's quite regrettable, then , to hear a supplication pronounced with the same tone of voice used for an acclamation • • •All you have to do is to listen to children speaking to their parents, or, even better, speaking arcong themselves, to realize hew perfectly they im plement this prescription of the new Missal! A child is genuine, true. Ifwe 're going to becane celebrants, perhaps we quite simply have to becare chil dren! We have to live in the presence of our Father , and be utterly transpa rent to the very depths of our being. Mloever agrees to live in this manner knows what it neans to cry out one 's suf f ering or to shout out one t s joy; he knows hc::w to ''pulsate and pirouette'' because he's genuine, true in

the pres ence Of God.

We 're a long way f xan the old rubrics which enclosed the celebrant ina k;t.nd of clamp or vise, and which, by imposing on the body a mnnber of dif ferent postures, cla.llred to be freeing the spirit, so as to make it nore at tentive to the thrice-holy action. '!he position of the anns and the fore-anns , as well as the position of the thumb and of the index f inger , were def inedin detail, so that it was possible to have a clear idea of what the perfect celebrant was supposed to look like 1 a man who never looked at the

assembly

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(this was explicitly forbidden -though we shall have to return to this question) , a man who adopted this or that posture because it had been pre- scribed in detail. We recognize the fact that a good many priests did in- / deed give the impression of bein;r "living presences of Christ" . But is that all it takes for a celebrant such as is called for by the liturgical refonn begun by Vatican II? The Eucharist neans sanething dif ferent fran nerely carrying out a holy action with the maximum of piety and reoollection, but without taking into account the f aithf ul who might happen to be present. Is that what it ne.ans to celebrate? Celebration has been def ined as "a litur gical assembly's visible expression of invisible realities lived and experienced in the Church 's f aith." 8 The priest who presides at the Eucharist isn'tcarrying out a purely personal action; he's celebrating for an assembly of believing brethren; the prayer he pronounces isn 't just his CMn; it's the prayer of the Church which is actualized here and now in this.or that litur gical assembly. Prayer , accordingly, doesn 't belong to the priest as if it were his CMn private possession; he 's supposed to express the prayer of hisbrethren, and they in turn should be able to recx:>gnize themselves in his prayer.

H9re we ought to speak about the content of the prayer. Since the litur gical assembly ought to be capable of making the priest 's prayer its CMn ,

does n't this mean that the priest should renounce all perscnal improvisation onhis part? Shouldn t t he avoid imposing on his brethren his CMn ideas , translatedin overly personal te:rms? For their part , however , the f aithf ul ought to be o pen to the celebrant ts way of doing things.If he has to be open and has to listen to his brethren, these, in turn , have the duty of accepting the priest as he is, with his personal way of being and of acting. This is a subject we should doubtless retum to. But even at this point of our developrent, we 're in a position to af f irm that the celebrant such as we 're looking for is in noway a ·"super-celebrant" . He ts not going to be a supennan, but just an ordina ry m::>rtal, with all the faults, perllaps even pet ideas, of an ordinary man. A bove all else, hc:Mever , he '11be a man who is fully conscious of his responsi bility: that of leading an assembly to its neeting with God. The God whan we SeIVe is the God of liberty, and not of constraint. The celebrant, accordingly, · has to bear witness to this liberty, both in his gestures and in his "WOrds.

rf the celebrant isn't free before the f ace of God , hCM can he be f ree

in the presence of his brethren? If he 's always going to be asking what rubric

We're Looking for Celebrants 11

•he should be following, will he give the appearance of being the celebrant

of the mighty deeds of God , of being the witness before his brethren of God 's gift to men? The way in which we pronamce the texts shows that all too of ten we 're m:m-who-are- saying-fo:rmulas rather than rren-at-prayer. When welook for celebrants, we 're looking for nothing else but men who know how to speak a text, but who also know how to tum a text into prayer. Before en visaging the possibility of improvisation , let 's begin f irst of all by try

ing to :make a text convey what it ought to oonvey. It happened one day that, at the end of the parish Mass, sane of the faithf ul asked the priest for the text of the Eucharistic Prayer which he had used. The priest had spoken

the text so well that the faithful thought they must be listening to an ori ginal version of the Eucharistic Prayer; whereas, in actual f act , the priest had simply prayed the standard Seoond Eucharistic Prayer.

We 're looking for celebrants! When a priest is ordained, the Church prays in the consecrato:ry prayer that "the example of their life, oonfonnedto the gospel, may invite their brethren to turn towards God." If celebrants are to be living examples of this sort, if they 're to to lead their brethrento turn to God, it's necessa:ry that they themselves appear as men turned towards God; and where can they better appear as Godward-turned than in the liturgy?We 're too of ten turned in the direction of the missal, in the direction of the fonnula which has to be said, in the direction of the rubric to be obse:rved.We 'll have to deal with the priest's relationship to the assembly in a later

article, since it seerred needf ul, in this present article, to treat f irst of all of the priest 's relationship with God. In reaction against a certain type

of celebrant apparently too discamate and radically cut of f f rom the assembly, we nm the risk at the present tine of reducing his role to that of

a group leader who is well versed in group dynamics, and is f ully attentive to eve:ry thing that 's happening. Now, in the General Instruction to the Missal, weread that the priest "presides over the assembly in the name of Christ" .

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This means that the priest isn 't any kind of president of just any assembly 1 He 's taking the place of the lord Jesus Christ who is oonstituted at one and the sarre tirre "for the Father" and "for men'' . The priest, then, has no rcx:m

for choice: he too must appear turned towards God in Jesus Christ, yet also turned to.vards his brethren.

12

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A man turned to the Father, singing his thanksgiving for the salva- tion given in the Pasch of Jesus Christ -this is the celebrant for whan

we 're looking. This is as much as to say that we 're looking for men ani mated by the Spirit. It 's the Spirit, the Spirit of liberty, \\ho will teach them how to "pulsate and pirouette'' . In particular, let 's not be

af raid when we see such a man taken f i:cm the midst of the assembly in

order to be ordained; the Spirit of love will give him the grace of going to his brethren as a brother whan the Church has consecrated ''to preside over the assan bly in the name of Christ" , that is to say, to be the se:rvant of his brethren.

TransZation, Gethsernani Abbey Paul HCXJIX Timadeuc

N O T E S

1 Ha.rvey Cox, The Feast of Fool. A TheoZogical Essay on Festivity and Fantasy, cambridge (Massachusetts) 1969 , p. 81.

2 Liturgie 16 , p. 19.

3 Justin, First ApoZogy, ch.67. 4 Ibid., ch.65.5 General Instruction to the Missal, n.55a. 6 Ibid., n.60 .7 Ibid., n. 18.8 Joseph Gelineau, "Les lenents de l'of f ioe et leur celE:furation'' , in ceze

brer Z 'offiae divin, Paris 1967 , pp.45-46.9 GeneraZ Instruction to the Missal, n. 10 . 10 Ibid., n.60 .

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A LETTER ABOUT THE PENTECOST OCTAVE

Among the various changes intPoduced into the calendar, one of those most surpising foP the litUPgicaZ piety of some was the suppPession of the Pentecost Octave. The Peply which we pPint below was addPessed toa nun, and is based on the pPinciples opePative in the calendar Peforrn. rtts clear that ouP celebPation of the Office ought to take accountof this oPientation, and that gPeateP emphasis should be accopded theidea of Eastep as a pePiod of 50 days. HePe again, the refonn -which is oveP and done with -calls foP an on-going renewal on OUP part .•.

Dear Sister,You aren't the only one to raise questions about the

suppression of the Penteoost Octave . This is why I'm writing you "publicly". There's an excellent reply to your question in the official cx::mnentary which ac carpanies the

Ranan CaZendaPium, and it's on this that I'm going to base JI'\Y

answer.

The suppression of this Octave is the direct fruit of a redisoovery of the profound meaning of Easter Time. "The 50 days between the Sun.day of the Resurrection and Penteoost Sunday are celebrated in joy and exultation, as if they were a single feast day , or better, "a great sunday'' (GenePaZ CalendaP NoY'ms, n.22). So Easter Time begins with the Paschal Vigil, and ends with Penteoost Smday. This is wh.y the whole of tradition celebrated this period as if it were a single day which ended with Penteoost. Thiswas well thrown into relief by the Gelasian Sacrarnentary 's preface for theMass of the Vigil of Penteoost: "•••qui sacramentum paschal e consurnnans •••"This last word, 'oonsumnans", expresses the idea of fulfilt, plenitude :the sacrarcent C = JI'\YStery ) of the Pasch of Christ finds its

perfection, constmnation, at Penteoost, with the gift of the Spirit.

NCM we find this sane idea again in two texts of the new Missal. The first one is in the prayer which begins the Saturday evening Mass or Vigil Mass of Penteoost: o God, almighty and eternal, it was your will that thePaschal Myste?:y should find its full acoornplishment on the day of Penteoost."

14

This prayer , too, canes f rcm the Gelasian Sacraxrentacy; and the latintext makes it possible for us to f ind the full meaning of the phrase:

Deus, qui paschale sacraxrentum quinquaginta dierum voluisti mysterio c o n t in e r i • . •

The Paschal sacrament is "contained" in the Mystery of t."1.e SO days.There"s nothing that needs to be added; and here, too, we f ind the idea of plenitude, fulf illment.

The second text is in the pref ace for Pentecost: "Today you gave the Holy Spirit • • •and so you brought the Paschal Mystery to its c o m p 1 e - t i o n" , that is to say, to the tenn or finish of this mystery.Here, a gain, we f ind the idea of plenitude, of totality; and this is reinforced by the underlying latin tenn "consunmans'' : the gif t of the Spirit is the

9-oa.1, the tenn, the consurrmation of this Mystei:y.

These texts enable us to discover the real meaning of Easter Time , of these SO days whidt fm:m, in point of fact, "a single f east day" . Histoi:y shCMs us that the Pentecost Octave began to be celebrated when the Solemni ty of Pentecost started to be thought of as only the anniversary day of the

descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles; and this, by the same taken, rreant a toning down, even a forgetting of the vital link which botmd Pente cost Sunday with Easter Time. NCM there 's a vei:y close connection betweenthe gif t of the Spirit and the Resurrection-Ascension of our lord.The Spir it is the f ruit of tle Paschal Mystei:y which f inds its full revelation onthe day of Pentecost. This is why the pref ace for Pentecost uses the same formula as the pref ace for Easter Sunday: "Quapropter, profusis paschalibus gaudiis • • • " ''Therefore, the faithf ul are radiant with the joy of E a s - t e r • • • "

So we have to rediscover the fundamental tmity within this pericxl of the great Fif ty Days. This means that, during the weekdays between Ascension and the Saturday before Pentecost (inclusively) , we should be preparing

for the caning of the Holy Spirit. The Church is truly waiting and expect ing the gif t of the Spirit, and she opens herself to the Spirit by means

of prayer. The week preceding Pentecost ought, then , to be an ardent waiting

A Letter about the Pentecost Octave 15

for the Holy Spirit, so that the T O D A Y {'hodie") of the Pentecost Mass can take on its full meaning. The liturgy isn't just a pious a:m rrenoration of past events:it's the sacramental actualization of these events. "The lI!YSteries of redelll?tion ••• are in sane way made present at all times•••" { Liturg y Constitution, n.102 )• The Church celebrates Pen tecost because the Risen Lord sends her the Spirit as pranised. And so we have to wait in expectation, like the apostles gathered around Mary.

If,in times past, we continued to chant "cane, Holy Spirit" -Veni, CreatorSpiri tus -during the Penteoost Octave, was it perhaps because we weren 'treally so sure that we had received the Holy Spirit on Penteoost Sunday? The Church isn't acting out a canedy when she says: T O D A Y you gave the Holy Spirit • • • and so you bring the Paschal Mystery to its a:mple tion." If the faithful, and the Presidents of Eucharistic assemblies in particular, are convinced that, like the apostles, they have

been filled with the Holy Spirit, it will be easy for them to express their joy and gratitude. And so the Mass on the Monday after Pentecx:>st will not fail to be marked by a breath of scmething new, since every Christian will have been seized upon by the Spirit "who renews the face of the earth."

Trans lation, Gethsemani Abbe y Paul Ha.JIX Timadeuc

17

SICUT PSALLIT ECCLESIA ROMANA OR

THE SOURCES OF THE OFFICE IN THE RULE OF SAINT BENEDICT

Sicut psa Uit Ecclesia roma:na. "According to the custan of the Ranan

1church":

this is the only tirre Saint Benedict makes mention of the Ro-

man church in his Rule; and it's only a reference to a particular arrange ment, or, more precisely, to a particular choice of texts -the canticles for Lauds. These canticles are to

be those which "the Ranan church chants".

But this is also the sign of a certain dependence. Saint Gregory tells us that Saint Benedict first lived at Rone; so he must have been familiar with Ranan liturgical practice; and among these practices werethe Offices carried out in the great basilicas by the monks of the city. So it would have been nonnal for Saint Benedict to be dependent in their regard . But he also depended on other sources. Indeed, when he left Rane , he found other usages, those of a monastic tradition. It's a matter of historical fact that the order of his Office also depends on that of theRu le of the Master , and that, as regards a gcx:rl many points, he's in con tact with others, such as Saint Caesarius of Arles, or

even Cassian . 2

But these various points of dependence didn 't keep Benedict fran working with a a:msiderable amount of liberty; and he often gave ample evidence of being quite original. M::>I"e?Ver, a literal dependence is quite rare; the instance of the choice of the Ranan

canticles is perhaps the one and only example, and this is doubtless why we here have the only explicit reference

a point of Ranan usage.

The sources of the Benedictine Office have already been the object of numerous studies; and the purpose of this present very unpretentious ar ticle is simply to recall, on the occasion of this reference to the Ranan canticle-series, their conclusions.

18

For a long time past it had been noted that there were many parallels

between the old Ranan Of f ice (that is to say, the Ronan Of f ice as it was before the refonn of Saint Pius X) and the Benedictine Of f ice. This ab se:rvation led to the conclusion that the Ranan Of f ice must have derivedf rcm the Benedictine one; but this conclusion had· to be reversed thanks

to the studies by M:Jr. Callewaert, 3 who has been f ollowed by all the historians of liturgy.

When Benedict knew them, the Ranan usages were certainly far f rom

being unifonn; they were still in a state of f lux, and were constantly evolving. Nevertheless , distribution _of psalms analogous to that of the pre-Pius

X Ronan Of f ice was doubtless already used in certain of the basilicas ,

and Benedict must have taken his CMn cursus f ran one of these. BUt this he didn 't do without introducing n'Odif ications.

And so we can attribute to Benedict , and with a quasi-certitude, a shif t ing around of the f irst psalms used f or the recitation of the psalter.

We know that Benedict began the psalter at Monday Prime instead of at Sunday Vigils. So

Sunday Vigils begin with Psalm 20 , whereas the ancient tradi tion -

followed not only at Rane , but also at Byzantium -was to begin SUnday

Vigils with Psa1m 1.

The distribution of Psalms 1 to 19 at Prime (except for Psalms 3, 4 and

5) , is, then, a novelty. The Ranan Of f ice began Prime of each day with

the f irst part of Psalm 118 , and the rest of this psalm was spread over

the other Hours of the day. Benedict begins Psalm 118 only with Sunday

Prime, and he spreads it overdays. He then leaves it aside for the

remaining week.days, where he replaces it with the Gradual Psalms -Psa1ms

119 to 127 -, which he repeats eve:ry day. In doing this, he reduces

the

psa.lm:xly of Vespers , where these psa1ms had previously been included. Ves pers nON have only four , instead of f ive (originally, there were allrost

surely six Vespers psa1ms) . It 's quite clear that Benedict wanted to make

the Of f ice shorter; but we can also discern a desire to introduce a bitrrore variety.

This concern for greater variety is especially striking in the case of

lauds , the Morning Of fice. In the Ranan Of f ice, lauds eve:ry day

included

'

Sicut PsaZZit EccZesia Romana 19

Psalms 50 , 62 and 66; next , a variable psalm, then the canticle and the"Iaudate-psalms 1

(i.e., Psalms 148-150) . Benedict shif ts Psalm 66 to thevery beginning, before Psalm 50 , where it serves as an introduction tothe Of f ice (he thus gives it the same role assigned to Psalm 3 at the be ginning of Vigils) . Psalm 62 he restricts to Sunday, even though previous ly it had been the traditional morning prayer for daily use. This enables

him to use two dif f erent variable psalms, rather than one, for each weekday. 'Ihus , he 's able to add to the Ranan series Psalms 35, 56 , 63, 87 , and 75;

perhaps a.J... Psalm 117 on Sunday, in the place of Psalm 92 .

For Vigils, Benedict maintains the same number of psalms f ran day today -tw'elve, even on Sunday. Here he links up with Cassian, whan he might be using as a basis for his own practice. It would, hc:Mever , be

moreaccurate to speak of sections of psalms , since here, too, Benedict introduces an innovation by dividing certain psalms which he thought too long -justas he divided the canticle f ran Deuteronaey at Saturday Lauds. He did the same thing at Vespers, apparently without being very worried about the inner unity of the psalm. Inthis way Psalm 144 was said in part on Friday , and in part on Saturday.

It 's possible that he took his introduction to Vigils f ran the Rule of the Master: a verset (thrice repeated) , and Psalm 94; but, as we 've already seen, he inserted Psalm 3 into the fonnulary. We have to admit , howeve:r ; that we don 't really know how Vigils began in the early Ranan Of f ice; in f act , wedon 't even know if there was an introducto:ry section. For weekday Vigils, Benedict doubtless borrowed his three readings with their responsories ·from

the Ranan Off ice; but he departs f:ran the Ranan usage by placing the readingsand responsories in between the two sections of the psalroody , instead of af ter all the psal.Irody, thus making it possible to have a pause between thetwo sections of the psalm:xly. The second part of this psal.Irody is ccmposed of psalms with aUeZuia; and here he ties in with the Ru le of the Master, or at least with the same tradition followed by the Master. Fran this sarreRule he retains also a short reading , but with only a single verset, whereas

the Master has a responso:ry and two short readings. Benedict, too, has

two short readings, but only in the sunmer cycle , where he leaves aside the

20

three Ranan readings, and replaces them with a short reading followed by a resp:>nse. 'Ihis adaptation to the season with its shorter nights is proper to Pen.edict.

He shows himself rrore original with regard to SUnday Vigils. TheRanan Of f ice had only nine readings with nmresponsories , whereas Benedict has twelve readings with twelve responsories. Another distinctive feature is the Third Noctum for the same day. Like the Ranan Of f ice, Saint Bene dict 's Sunday Vigils are longer than on weekdays; but instead of adding other psalms, as was done at Rane, Benedict adds three biblical canticles, as was done at Milan. These canticles are followed by a solerrm chantingof the gospel by the abbot. Here Benedict links up with Arles, where agospel of the resurrection was read; 5 though , in the case of Benedict, we

can 't be certain that the gospel intended was really a gospel of the resur rection. There 's a similar contact in the case of the Te decet 7,aus , whichis not of Roman origin, and wasn 't even kn.am in Rare; but we do f ind it at Arles (its ultimate source was Byzantium) . With this ensenble of canti cles, gospels , hymns , Benedict appears as a witness (though many times rerroved) of the Sunday Vigil Service celebrated at Jerusalem. 6

For the day Hours, i.e. , Terce, Sext , and None, Benedict also has three psalms .-- Gradual: Psalms , as we 've already seen. But he shortens the con clusion to these Of f ices. Instead of a responsory such as we f ind in the Master or in the Ranan Of f ice, Benedict simply has

a verset followed by the Lord t s Prayer, which alnost certainly served as the collect for the Of f ice.

'As. regards the Lord 's Prayer, we knew that Benedict prescribes that, at Lauds and Vespers, it be said aloud by the Superior , "so as to be heard by everyone" . Here the initiative for this innovation canes from Benedict himself ; and, rroreover, he gives us the reason for it. 7

Finally, we have to point out an in;x:>rtant element introduced by Benedict at all the Hours of the Of fice, fran Vigils through Conpline: the hymn ·-oramb;r:>osianum, as he calls it in the case of Vigils, Lauds , and Vespers. This might be a hint at a Milanese origin. At the same time , we find hymns being used in nonastic circles around Provence (at rins) , or, at least , at Arles.

Sieut Psallit Ecclesia Romana 21

We know that, contrary to this practice, the Ranan. church accepted hymns in its Office only much later, at a distance of several centuries.

Though we're relatively well infonned about the essential features of the Benedictine Office -Saint Benedict took considerable pains in the redaction of the chapters about the Office in his Rule -this isn't true when it canes to the ancient Ral1an Office, for which our docurrentation re mains quite fragrrenta:ry. Nevertheless, we do have enough infonnation at hand to justify a carparison.

It can't be questioned that the Benedictine Office is kin to that of the Ranan basilicas, and that it even depends on the Ra:nan

Office to a certain extent; but we've also seen that the Benedictine Office differs considera bly fran its Ranan

counterpart, just as it differs fra:n the Office as de scribed in the Rule of the Master (and this in spite of the fact that the Rule of saint Benedict depends on the Rute of the Master). In

fact, as DanAdalbert de Vogtle has written,"few areas of observance have been so pro foundly re-worked by Benedict as is the case with the Divine Office." 8 Moreover, we've seen hCM Benedict wasn't bound to two only sources, and that he was also tributary to other traditions; hence, his contacts with Arles or Milan.

So Saint Benedict was attentive to tradition; but he wasn't afraid - to

re-work it, or even to introduce innovations. Far fran aligning himself with a pre-existing Office -even that of Rane -he

created an Office such a,s was suitable for his ONil ccmnunity. The monasticism of Saint Benedict, whether in the solitude of the Anio Valley, or on the peak of Monte Cassino, is quite different fran the monasticism of the w:ban type, characteristicof those camiunities which were entrusted with the celebration of the Officein the great Ranan basilicas. Benedict takes into account other necessities - in particular, that of work. The Benedictine monastery has a different type

of recruitment, and especially a different type of vocation. The Office of Saint Benedict corresponds to the conditions imposed by

this different situ ation, and is the fruit of a long, long experience. Moreover, this experi ence is not simply the experience of Saint Benedict; it's also, and doubtless every bit as much, the experience of his ccmnunity. Before putting it down

.

22

in writing tc:Mards , as we knc:M, the end of his life, Benedict had experi enced the Of fice in cx:mnunity, and with his a mmmity. Hence, too, its limitation: what was suitable for Saint Benedict 's rronaste:ry wasn 't ne cessarily as suitable for other monasteries. Moreover, he himself was well aware of this when he said, with regard to the distribution of psalms, "But we strongly rec:::c:mrend, if this arrangerrent of psalms be displeasing to any one, that he arrange than othei:wise, as shall seem better to him." l O This sentence isn t. t just a simple stylistic expression , and we 're justif ied in thinking that the principle enunciated is applicable in other areas as well.

Nevertheless, it 's clear that the authority enjoyed by Saint Benedict 's arrangement of the Of f ice remained considerable t.hrotghout the oourse of many centuries. HcMever, monastic tradition has shown itself no less free than Benedict, either by lengthening the Of f ice -as in the case of Bene dict of Aniane or of Cluny ---· or by prtlning it. . • In fact , each rronastictradition has had its CMil Of f ice in which it expressed itself .

Citeaux, too, had its CMil Of f ice: in keeping with the intention to effect a radical return to Benedictine si.rrplicity, it not only suppressed the accretions of the cluni ac tradition, but also called into question the Of f ice as received up to thatperiod. Texts and melodies were revised; and , 0 at f irst, only those hymns were accepted which were oonsidered as genuinely ambrosian. later on, this attitude was to be less intransigent; though, even in the case of the refoi::mbegun by Saint Pius V, the Cistercian brevia:ry remained quite dif ferent f ran

,.the rronastic breviru::y which was prCJTIUlgated at that tine.

Nowadays , too, Cistercian rronasticism is in possession of its CMil proper characteristics which rrore or less dif ferentiate it f rom other fonns of rronasticism; Carthusian , Carna.ldolese, Benedictine of various kinds. • • This diversity is generally mistm.derstood by those who see us only fran without, and who, having no personal experience of non.astic life, think of it as ofa single nnuld; so that, according to such a mentality , we all ought to have a single Of fice. Now, we all know how, even in one and the sarce Order, ech monaste:ry has its CMil proper personality which sets it apart f ran all others. This is, nnreover, a sign of vitality for each rronasteiy. In

point of fact,it 's rrore at the level of the local cxmnunity that nnnastic life is lived, thQil

Siaut Psallit Ecclesia Romana 23

at the level of the Order as a whole.

In our rn:masteries which have issued forth fran c1teaux -and these rronasteries have now spread to the four oorners of the globe -the situ ation is quite diverse; much rrore so than in the 12th century :differences of oountry, of mentality, of life-style, of work. • • The General Chapter understood this fact, and m:xlified a centuries-old law by authorizing a certain kind of pluralism in our usages. Since that time , each rronastery has found itself with a greater responsibility for the shaping up of itsavn Office; and this has been a source of great spiritual profit for ever:y one concerned. And it's here that ·Saint Benedict rema.ins for all ·of us,and rrore than ever before, a nod.el to be followed: not only by

reason of his fidelity to tradition, but by reason of his oonsiderable liberty as re gards the same.

Translation, Gethsemani Abbey Nivard RONDEAULa Coudre

N O T E S

1 Rule 13, 10: 11But on the other days let there be a canticle fran the prophets, each an its own day, acoording to the custcm of the Ronan church (''sicut psallit Ecclesia ranana11

) .

Translation by Abbot Justin Mc<:ann.

2 For Saint Caesarius, cf . The Rule for Virgins, cc.68-69; for Cassian,

The Monastic Institutions.3 c.Callewaert, Sacris Erudiri, Steenbrugge 1940; followed by

O.Hei.rning,A.Baumstark, P.Salm:>n• • • For a canparative study with the old RananOffice and with that of the Rule of the Master, as well as those ofSaint Caesarius and of Cassian, see A.de Vogile, La Rgle de Saint Benoi.t,T.I, pp .101-104; and T.V, pp .383-554.

4 Besides the authors indicated in the preceding Note, see J.Gaillard, "Ie dimanche dans la le de saint Benoit11

, in supplement de la Vie Spiritu elle, 4 (1948), pp .469-488.

5 Rule for Virgins 69:"Each Sunday at Vigils, the gospel is read; and al ways, for the first reading, an account of the resurrection is read; the next Sunday, a different acoount, and so also for the third and fourth Sundays.

6 See J.Gaillard, art. cit.; but especially J.Mateos, 11La vigile cathedrale chez Etherie", in OrientaZia Christiana 27, pp .281-312.

24

7 RuZe 13, 12-14: "The purpose of this is the remJVal of those thomsof scandal, or mutual offence, which are wont to arise in cxmnunities•••" .

8 Op.oit., T.V, p.383.9 Saint Benedict is a oonterrporary of Saint Caesarius (470-543), and so it's a bit unlikely that he knew the RuZe for

Virgins. But Saint caesarius represents an older tradition, that of r.&-ins; and rins, in tum, is related to other traditions. • • On the other hand, Saint Bene dict is certain to have read Cassian ts Institutions.

10 RuZe 18, 22.

25

THE LITURGY OF THE HOURS

AN ASSESSMENT FROM BETHLEHEM ABBEY

The ideas which follow in this article emerged during sane prepara- tion for the Liturgy Study Week held in November , 1972, at Mount Melleray. This preparation consisted of a list of reading to be worked through , and, in the light of this reading , an assessment of the situation in one's o.vn. nnnaste:i:y. However , for purposes of publication, I have abstracted sarewhat fran this situation, and have presented Iey" conclusions on a rrore general level. Nevertheless, they are the result of an experience in a living liturgy.

The Mount Melleray Study Week was an attanpt to study at depth the four

main elerents of the Divine Office psalms, readings, hymns , and prayers.

However, many problens which arise in these particular areas have their root at a level which is rrore fundamental. That is, they result f ran a certain understanding , or lack of understanding, of the liturgy itself .

To deal with problems at the particular level, then , it may be necessary to return to this nore general level. For this reason I propose to

devote the first part of this paper to

considerations of a general nature; andthen, in the second part , to the individual elements.

PARI' I

OONSIDERATIONS OF A GENERAL NATURE

It is impossible for one man to give an adequate assessment of sare thing like the liturgy. This would require a :EXJWer of spiritual disce:m rnent which few possess. It is possible, nevertheless, to make a tentative assessment by basing oneself on remarks heard in public or in private, onthe reaction to certain attempts to renew the liturgy, and so on • • • This paper claims to be no rrore than this. It is the view of one man only.

26

There is nothing so practical as a good theory; and , indeed, it is on the theoretical level that we f ind the problem which has the roost serious repercussions on our practice. This is the lack , widespread in the Order , of a thorough understanding of the theological sub-structure of the liturgy, and in particular, of the Liturgy of the Hours. This lack may take the fonn of no understanding at all, through an inadequate fonnationor mere lack of interest; or it may appear , irore dangerously, as an under

standing which is theologically unacceptable. It would be worthwhile, then, to try to clarify what actually is this theological sub-structure of the liturgy.

Theological Understanding . of the Liturgy

The underlying ground of the liturgy, as f or all Olristian realities,

is the Incarnation of the Seoond Person of the Blessed Trinity. 1

The ele ments of this reality have been clarif ied in the Church since the Councilsof EJ;ilesus and Chalcedon: 2 Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man, one

with men in virtue of his human nature, one with God in virtue of his divine nature, yet uniting both natures hypostatically in the Person of the rd.Were it othe:cwise, man could not have been redeaned in the way that God

willed. 3

Such is the teaching of Scripture as inte:rpreted by the Church. The Church has not only the task of inte:rpreting the mystery , but also of ensuring that its salvif ic reality is extended throughout all ages and in all places. In f act , the Church is itself the living extension of the Incarnation in time. It is only in the Church that man can receive salvation.

4

At the heart of the Church's being is the Eucharist , in which the redenp

tive act of Calvary is made present to us , and in which we respond with a prayer of thanksgiving. This act of redemption and praise is also the sum mit of the liturgy: towards it all the other sacraments converge, and a round it the Hours of the Of f ice are engaged in an intrinsic relationship.The entire liturgy therefore expresses the essence of the Church's life and being, which is to be the instrurent by which Christ 's salvation is made a

vailable to rren. 5 If we wish to answer the question whether a fo:cm of de

votion is liturgical or not , we should look to see if it is truly an express ion of the Church 's essential being. In other words , we enquire whether

The Liturgy of the Hours 27

this devotion contains within itself those characteristics which serveto express the meaning of the Church itself .

Our understanding of the liturgy, then, will be dependent on our under standing of the Incarnation. By this I mean our understanding of the various elements of the Incar.na;te Word, and of the relation between these elements. Every heresy has been an atterrpt to explain these realities insuch a way that man 's redenption became impossible.

6Arianism attarpted

to explain the mystery by postulating a subordinationism in which·. the lo

gos was a creation of the Father , and therefore in which Christ was not di

vine. Monophysitism divested Christ of his human nature by arguing that

this was swallCMed up in the divine as a cxmsequence of the taking possess

ion of it by the Logos. And so on • • • If Christ had not been Son of God ,

and equal to the Father, he would not have possessed the power to lif t us into a relation of sonship with the Father. If he had not been truly man , then our human nature would still remain without a connection with the divine such as might have elevated it to sonship. Chalcedon and Ephesus safe guarded these truths \IDder the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who is always

guiding his Church.

It is possible, h r, without falling into fonnal heresy, to explain the Incarnation in such· a way that the explanation would be untrue to the fullness of the meaning of the !ncaznation. While accepting the def initions of Chalcedan and Ephesus, an argunent could f ail by explaining each element in such a way as not to correspond to the reality of that element. Thus, a certain understanding of human nature according to a particular philosophi cal system could also lead to a misunderstanding of Christ 's human nature , and therefore of the Incarnation. 'Ihis would consequently lead to a dis torted cxmcept of ihe liturgy. An exarrple of this can be found in the neo

Platanic understanding of man possessed by sane of the early Christian writers such as Evagrius. Since the essence of this philosophy was to escape f ranthe world of men and things, it eventually led to an individualism

7 which

had disasterous ef fects on spirituality and an the lIDderstanding of Christ

himself . This naturally would have a profound ef fect on the liturgy. Another consequence of such systems is an unbalanced view of God. The God

of the Jansenists was to be ;found in places even where Jansenism ha,d been

28

rrost f iercely attacked. One such place was the La Trappe of de Ranre.It follows , then, that our theolCXJical understanding of the liturgy

must be based on the understanding of man and God that corresponds rrostclosely with the reality. In the epoch of history in which we are at present living, an understanding of man has grown up which is dif f erent frcm any that has gone before. This is so because it is man himself who is at

the center of history, 8 who, in fact, creates it. 'Ibis epoch of history , with its new image of man, is characterized by "a new humanism, one inwhich man is defined f irst of all by his responsibility towards his brothersand tOwa:ras history". 9 The nost striking feature of this rrodem understand

ing of man is that he is a "being-in-the--world" , the "world'' being both the physical cosm:>s an.a the \'JOrld of persons. This is based on the f act thatthere is a necessary relation between man and his world. His involvement in the world is prior to his oonsent to being involved (a f act which makes all the rrore urgent the necessity of rronks to explain exactly the meaningof their "separation frcm the world") . By his body, which he must feed andclothe, and through which he reveals himself to others , he is necessarily carried into the eoonanic, political , and social af f airs of the human race. His body is the point of his insertion into the world. In order to be

fully himself he must enter into his ON11 epoch of history , sharing its joys andsuf ferings , and making his a-Jn peculiar oontribution to those levels of itslife to which it is in his a-Jn capacity to contribute. This is what is meant by having a "responsibility towards his brothers and tc:Mards history."

This does not mean , of course, that it is only in the twentieth century that man is a "being-in-the-world". It simply means that only in this pres ent age have we fully recognized and accepted the fact, and have atten;>tedto explore scientif ically its repercussions at every level, especially thelevel of inter-personal relationships. In f act, if this is a basic structure of man ts being, then Jesus Christ himself , who lived on earth as man twenty centuries ago, possessed it. Therefore it must be given an intimate placein the mystery of tie Incarnation, and consequently in the liturgy. In the theological sub-structure of our liturgy, then, man as a "being-in-the-world" , def ined by his responsibility towards his brothers and tc:Mards history, oon-

O

The Liturg y of the Hours 29

stitutes as ftmdamental element. It is this sort of man who is saved, and who joins with Christ in offering a perfect sacrifice of praise.

The historical elerrent by which our liturgy should be

characterized is provided by the word of God in Scripture, and by the texts fran Christian tradition: "Revelation itself takes place in and through his tory , in so far as God speaks through events. In a reciprocal way, hisword properly so called, the prophecies, the teachings of Jesus, the writings of the New Testarrent, all have the purpose of giving us an understanding ofthis history• • • By this celebration Cof the liturgy)which is rooted in thepast(which does not thrON us back into the past, but which makes the pastpresent today ) , the Church lives, grows, discovers, and becanes aware ofher present situation while rroving forwards to her future ." 1

Since the

readings frcm Christian tradition are rreant to be closely connected with:the biblical readings, 11 it follCMS that these too should share this his torical perspective. This means also that in sane way there should be an explicit awareness of the events taking place nON at this manent in the world. Without going as far as reading newspapers in the liturgy, this could be done in various ways -

texts fran contarporary writers, the prayer of the faith ful, the collects, the hynns.

But it is especially with regard to our responsibility towards our broth ers that the concept of liturgy which has been handed dav:n, in our recent tradition, at least, must be largely rejected. The chief failing of this concept was in its primary feature which might be called "abstractionism".The nonk withdrew fran society in o:r:d.er to be "alone with God", seekingunion with him by means of personal prayer (this is a consequence of the in dividualism rrentioned earlier). "Seculars" had to be avoided at all costs, and by no means could they participate in

the liturgy except, of course, at a discreet distance and behind a curtain or screen. In the liturgy, as in evezyday life, one's relation with the other brethren was "hidden with Christ''. In practice this means that one simply "stood beside them", butif they were not there it did not really matter -one still met them "at the heart of Christ". This is perhaps why so many find the liturgy of our nonasteries so cold and uninviting. Another consequence of ''abstractionism"

30

was that the rronk was isolated f ran society at large, not only physicallyand on the level of stru.ctu.res, which is defensible, but also psychological- 1y, which is indefensible. To be psychologically isolated f ran society is

to lose a sense of histo:ry and time such as would distort what we have seen

to be the tru.e nature of man. 12

Continual Prayer

The above is concerned by and la:rge with the relation between liturgy and life itself in its profoundest dimensions. The problem becnmes clear

er when we examine the notion of oontinual prayer which provides the link between liturgy and life, and both of these concepts will be detennined by

the rreaning we give the fomer. This notion in turn depends on what we rrean by prayer. One possible way of explaining the phenarenon of prayer is to say that it is a bringing of God into the foref ront of · the consciousness. At least this is implicit in many traditional explanations. To think o;f God in this way is to run the risk of debasing the very mystel:y of God. What we bring to the foref :ront of our consciousness is an act of advertence to a tiring, an object which can be oonceptua.lly circumscribed. But God is not

an object in this sense, nor can he be conceptually circumscribed. The problem of adverting to God is connected with the materialistic aspect of our thinking, that is, with the f act that our understanding is a question

of insight into the sensible data 3aur thinking is closely tied up withspace, and in our oonceptualization of our experience of personal contact , we necessarily bring in the notion of sarething locally realized. But God is the God of reyste:ry who transcends all time and space, although he re veals himself through them. This revelation, nevertheless, takes the f6rm of a manipulation of than which leaves us. at times bewildered. 'lhis is why the bnage:ry of the psalms can be so diff icult for us men of the scien tif ic age who are used .to exact rreasurenent of both time and space.

It is

better to think of God as being present on the "horizon" in the sense given

to that worn by Karl Rahner. "Saint Patrick's Breastplate" , too, has thisidea of going beyond nonre.l spatial relations , at least with regard to people: "Christ before rre, Christ behind rre , Christ a1Jove me, etc." Dl the

31

Letter to the Hebrews we are told that we a r e God 's house, not that•:1e ans i n it , or that our physic-31 f r;:inle con.stitnt0c; i 's walls . b1Jt that1r1 r: arc t:l1e

11ouse._1 1 m.ut1e d .f £·. cu '-:f i.n grasp1.n9

t•·.r;c: :'i..c,..c.:t asai..11 tXlTes

fran the spatial metaphor used: we can imagine being in a building, but not being one.

God, then, is not an object; or , at least, he should not be, cnnpeting

with other objects for our attention. Of course, it is possible to advert explicitly to God , and in this act it may be necessary to objectify him.Af3 we said above, God reveals lllinself by means of objects. But we must beaware of the inadequacy of this attempt. It follCMS fran this that prayer is not merely a matter of excluding everything f ran our minds but him.The latter seems to be the concept of prayer contained in De Vogfl 's article on prayer in the Ru Ze of Saint Benedict . 15 Here it is a question of

bringing God explicitly to the foref ront of the oonsciousness no matter

what the occupation in which the person is involved , whether working or eating or walking. This is achieved by continual ref lection on God 's ·word which is read out as much as possible. The ultimate aim in all this is

that the individual person be united in prayer (understood as an explicit oonsciousness of him) to God. The Divine Of f ice is a crutch meant to sup port this, and has little rrore than a stirnulato:r:y nature. There is no es sential dif ference between the time at the Of f ice and the time

outside it. They are simply dif ferent modes of the sane spiritual f lux.In fact , in

this concept of prayer , time cea'3es to have any mea". linlJ , with the result

that it is really irrelevant at what time any particular 11Hour 11 is said.

We have here an exanq:ile of what might be called a "nonophysitic sacrali zation" in which the secular is swallc:::Med up by the sacred to such a degree that it loses its rightf ul autorx:nw, and thus eve:r:ything becx:xnes a :religious service. This is why the rronks of the East oould spend all day

making bas kets, only to destroy them at evening.

A further developrent crure in the Middle Ages when the two orders, the secular and the sacred, becarce totally distinct. This was a consequenceof the increasing "dualistic sacralization" which :resulted in a sharp

dis tinction between clergy and laity. 16 Evidence of this irovement can

be al....

32

ready seen in the Rule of Saint Benediat. 17 Thus we had the grcMth of the Cluniac liturgy, and, in the Cistercians, the appearance of two class es of religious, the choir-nonk.s and the lay-brothers.

The notion of man as a being-in-the-world necessarily transforms ourooncept of rontinual prayer. It .is nav recognized that a dualism such as was prevalent in the Middle ]l,ges is out.18 The material world and the\.\Urld of people are necessarily connected w;tth our prayer. In fact,what seen to be the most secular and profane occupations becane

themselves ·prayers in virtue of the fact that the Incarnate WJrd has passed through all sµieres of existence.19 It is precisely in these tasks that we canfind God revealing h;i:mself directly to us. This cannot be understood ifwe, cbntinue to think of God as one object anong others. Rather, each thingof his creation is diaphonous 20 with his presence, and possesses an "i ronic 'or sacrarrental value. It is this type of thinking which has led to

the developnent of lay spirituality (and a consequent identity crisis for religious life); especially to a spirituality of the universal call, to ho liness. Now every situation, however "secular", even marriage, is regard ed as being not merely the rontext within which, and despite which, a laymanmay becc:ire perfect, but also that fran which and because of which he doesso. 21

Continual prayer, th.en, in this context, is characterized by

what might be called a ''humanistic secula;rization". The liturgy, acrording to this roncept, is seen to have a relation to life such that it is the supreme means of sanctifying and

offering to God all secular reality, but without destroying the autonany of this reality as the ancients tended to do. W:!

seem therefore to have cxnipleted a dialectic: rronophysitic sacralization destroys the autonany and reality of the secular; dualistic sacralization destroys the necessary connection

between the sacred and the secular, and therefore be liturgy and life; Christian humanistic secularizationpostulates this necessary connection while maintaining the autonany of both.

Thus the ;first and the last, while being superficially similar in,.that theybring prayer into secular occupations, are in fact quite opposite -a wam- ing to all who \.\Uuld rettlnl to the "Golden Age" of rronasticisn.

The Liturgy of the Hours 33

S u b j e cti v i s m a n d O b j e c t i v i t y

However, the nodern tmderstanding of man is not without its deficien cies. One of these is the tendency towards subjectivism and anarchy whichhas becane acute because of the influence of certain philosophical rnovenents. 22 In rronastic life it usually takes the fonn of individuals who feel constrained by the danands imposed on them by cxmnun.ity structures. The liturgy is f0tU1d to be especially irksane, since it is here that the very depths of one's tersonhood and therefore of one's freedan is involved . Consequently, sane simply opt out. The liturgy does not satisfy their need of personal spontaneity and creativity. They "get nothing out of it.''

It is interesting to note that shared prayer has had a great appeal to

sare of this cast of mind, although this is not to suggest that all who

are shared prayer entlrusia,sts are in the same category. In fact, many who attend shared prayer sessions find that it helps them to

enter rrore deeply into the rrore structured liturgy . Shared prayer is remarkably similar to the ;form of the Office outlined in De

VogU s article, consisting as it does of long periods of silence -during which the prayer really reaches its peak - interspersed by brief vocal outpourings. Throughout the exer cise the errq:_:>h asis is on freedan, spontaneity, listening to God 's word, and silence. It may be that, although we cannot fully accept the ancients' c:x:mcept of the Divine Office, such features of it as these may help to make our CM1 rronastic Office rrore tmiversal, and therefore rrore alive.

Nevertheless, there is a certain objectivity in the liturgy, and this must be maintained . 23 Certain features of God's word and plan of salvation, as well as man 's own nature, will never change in their essence. It is the value of tradition that it enshrines such values, mereas history, the neans, so to speak, of clothing them, is essentially in process of change. This is why it is good to have sane basic structure to our Office which will enable

both values to be expressed . The present loi-cadre is useful in providing such a structure .

CO-ordinationOne of the difficulties experienced by the "subjectivists" is

the fact that there are so many elerrents to be assimilated. Such assimilation can

34

take place only if there is sare fo:rm of co-oJ:tlination between the va rious elenents. 'lhis is a principle of pedagogy, an.a one marvels that it is present in the Bible itself , which, although canposed of a greatnumber of disparate elements , yet remains a ve:ry cnherent unity. In the liturgy, such oo-ordination would take place if the time f actor of the

Of f ice were taken into ac OOlll'lt: all elements should be related to the

time of day in which the Of f ice is said, to the liturgical season , tothe day of the week, etc. The psalm-schema should be constructed in such a way that each psalm relates to the others acoording to a def inite therre. The prayers, too, should in sane way "cnllect" together and sum up the various other elements. The biblical readings and the readings fran Christiantradition should bear sare connection with each other, and both should referin sane way to contar;x:>rary historical events.

Conclusion to the First Part

It is the nature of a living organism to relate to the environment in which it finds itself in such a way that it absorbs into its own systan whatever can enrich its CMil life. When o:rganisms f ail to relate in sucha way, they simply pass out of existence. The Church, and its of f icial prayer the litl.l.rgy, in their human aspects, are no exception, for God re spects his own laws; and just as in the Incarnation, the divine naturedid not destroy the human , so, too, those human elements of the Church must develop according to their own laws. The tradition of the Church, there fore, should no longer be conceived as a closed system hermetically sealed of f fran whatever is outside itself , but as an "axis" -imperfect , yet noving through histo:ry towards its f inal perfection; accepting for its own good, and yet fulf illing, whatever it f inds good outside itself . Only in this way will it have any meaning for the men of the present day.

It would not be too exaggerated to say that pluralism has in many cases degenerated into an isolated individualism, both on the level of persons and on that of camnmities. Such an individualism may be a oonsequence of the type of closed-in tradition which characterized nost religious Orders until Vatican Council II. This situation made them unprepared to accept the m:>re mature understanding that Vatican II was to bring. At the present

The Liturgy of the Hours 35

time there is need for the diff erent monasteries to aid one another in their renewal of the liturgy. The riost important area where oo-operation can take place is that of fo:ona.tion. Many in our ccmnunities lack a tru.e appreciation of the rcore profound dimensions of the liturgy. A panel oftrained men travelling around the m::masteries lecturing on this level is the only way of tack.ling the problem n<M. Only an expert f ran outside the

nnnastery can hore to impart sane appreciation of the full meaning of the

l1•.turgy. 24

P R T IITHE FOUR ELEMENTS OF THE LIWRGY OF THE HOORS

Now that we have had a glance at sare problans of a general nature, it is tine to cane to the dif ferent elements of the Of f ice itself . When the lei-cadre was f irst allc:Med and we were given the opportunity to restruc ture our Of fice so thl.t it would express the canmunity's spirit, we de-cided to put it into ef fect by aiming at a ccmnunity consensus on all points. In practice, this meant tcying to accxnodate everyone's point of view.

We used the sa1:00 zrethod as was used at the voting in the Second Vatican Council. First of all the dif ferent view-points were gathered by

means of a question naire. On the basis of this, certain struxtures \Vere drawn up and again voted on, after which ;further nOOi.f ications were carried out. However, the entire experiment proved to be rather dif f icult , and was only partially suc cessful.

Pr¥rS

In this matter we are malting use of the f reedom which allows us to cx:Jn pose our CMn prayers at the Little !fours. At present this is conf ined to the hebdanada:ry who is always a priest_,. although there is a strong desireon the part of sare to extend :tt to non-priests.The freedan is f airly wide ly used, and sone f ine cx::mpositions are produced. The f act that a man takes

the trouble to canpose a prayer or to get one that is dif ferent is an indi cation of a great sincerity of heart.

Nevertheless, these would be much

richer if there were sane sort of guidelines given for their canposition.

36.

SUC."h guidelines have been mrked out over the course of the

centuries and are clearly to be seen in tradition. 25

The prayer was

nonnally the function of the priest or deaoon 26 who acted as the authentic spokesmanof the ccmnunity before God. Prayers were either of thanksgiving or peti tion, and expressed sentiments of a universal nature. "Only great all-em bracing intentions are fo:rmulated" (Jungrnann) . They present in sane fashion the eoonany of salvation, showing God 's almighty power in contrast to man 's

helplessness. Another irrportant feature of prayers is their trinitarian

character: they are aciflressed to God the Father , through the Son , in the unity of the Holy Spirit. It is well knCMil that the West, since it was less af fected by Arianism, maintained this trinitarian character rrore than

the East. in the Ran.an tradition, prayers were noted for their succinctness which gave them a certain beauty.

The collect or concluding prayer is the prayer of the priest properly so called. The turn of the people cares with the "preces" or bidding

prayers. 2?

It is in these prayers that there can be a certain arrount ofinfonnality and f reed.an. In Pethlehem Abbey the prayer of the f aithful is said at Lauds. This was decided on af ter experimentation at other parts of the liturgy. At these parts, participation by the brethren was rather dif f icult, but at Lauds was found to be easier. At present a gocx:l number of the camrunity take advantage of these prayers , and all sorts of intentions

are put forward. In the Genera l Instruction on. th,:: I..:i u1Y'm1 oft he HouPs , nention is made of "prayers of invocation" at

Lauds , and of ''prayers of intercession'' at Vespers, each of which has its CMI1 character. W So f ar we have not used these.

al , lY. )th priest and non-priest, can exe..rcize his f reedcm in a creative and even spontaneous f ashion , it follows that the approach to the prayers is a good guide to the vitali.ty of the liturgy of a house.

Psalms

Of all the elements in our Of f ice this is the xrost satisf actory· When oonfronted with. tre possibility of using a schema of psalms dif f erent f ra:n

The Liturgy of the Hours 37

that of Saint Benedict, and being given a choice of three arrangerrents , we decided to experiment with them all. Each scherta was given a nonth t s trial, during the course of which its nerits and demerits were discussed.

Our CMn Fr. Patrick set out to ca:npose his C1Nfl, and this becarre Schema n.29

What were felt to be the good points of the schema.ta were incorporated into this one. This too was discussed, suc:jgestions for improvement weremade, and eventual y , after m:xlif icatian in which evexyane s desires were taken into account, the ccmnunity decided by a t'NO-thirds majority to ac cept it as truly expressing their spirit. In this distribution of the psalter special eTiphasis was laid on the classes of psalms , and also onthe day on which the psalm is said: resurrection thane an Sunday; cruci fixion on Friday; etc. Another irrportant feature is the structure of Lauds , which follows Saint Benedict t s light/darkness thane.

Whatever distribution of psalms is accepted, I think it irrportant that it have a structure which is easily discernible as Christian . This might

sound like a truism, but history reveals that it is possible for the Old Testament spirituality to becane predaninant in the Church. 30 While the

undoubted rich.es of fu.e psalms are evident to most , it must be admitted that they have their limitations; they are expressions of the prayer of the O 1d Testanent, and never mention Christ explicitly. For this reason, unless there is a conscious ef fort to refer them to Christ , there is a possibility that the ef fect they produce will be something less thanChristian. For exanple, certain aspects of God 's justice as they ai;pea.rin the psalms (e.g. , the imprecatory psalms) could·be misunderstood if they are not balanced by the fullness of the revelation of Christ. This is not to suggest a God vengeance in the Old Testament , and a God of love in the New Testament. It is simply a recognition of the f act that there was a developrent in man 's understanding of God. This developnent took place accordingly as God revealed himself to the degree that men were capableof receiving him. The Old Testam:mt understanding of God , while very profound, is nevertheless imperfect; whereas in the New Testament we havethe fullness of this revelation. One wonders whether the f ierce puritanism which has at times characterized rronasticism has been caused by

an excess-

38

ive and unbalanced errphasis on the psalms.

The Bible is one, and because of th.is unity, its dif f erent parts must

exist in an intrinsic relation to one another. The best way of ''christian izing" the psalms is to present them in such a way that the relation between than and the Christian realities of the New Testament can be clearly seen, the emrhasis being on ''clearly". 31 .Antiphons, titles, and psalm cnllects can also achieve this in various ways. Arranging the psalms in therres can also help, especially where there are New Testarrent canticles to sup plement the psalms. Ultimately, harever , it will depend on the structureof the entire Of f ice where each element assists in bringing out the mean ing of every other: the cnntinuous reading of the Bible presents the mys tery of salvation in its entirety; the texts f rom Christian tradition bring out nore fully the meaning of this by way of direct or indirect

a::mnentary on the biblical books; in the psalms we meditate on this mystery and re spond to it at the sarne time in song; in the prayer we of fer special pe titions and p;rayers of thanksgiving before God, as a result of our entryinto the mystery.

Another important question which arose in the cx:xmrunity was that of the

cursing psalms. Much discussion took place as to whether these should be dropped. Eventually, by a large majority , it was voted that they be re tained. We Itnlst be aware here of f alling into excessive literalism. Those who f ail to make these the prayers of a Christian are not succeeding in penetrating into this inner world or spiritual universe 32 which possesses, as

we said above, a unity which is indestructible. The cursing psalms repre sent particular ":rrarents" in the developnen.t of this one reality, and ex press values which are perennial y valid, but in a way that was suited to the rroral condition of those who canposed them. Such values would, for ex anple, be the fact that God purl.shes sinners , or that he is to be belovedabove all tlrings "-a sentiment which was expressed in true Hebraic fonnby saying that one hates God s enemies with a perfect hate (Psa im 138} • Such meanings would have to be brought out in sane way in a schema.

!fYrollSIf the psalms are the rrost satisf actory part of our Of f ice, the hy:rnns

are the least. The hynns we are using at present are , f or the nost part ,

The Liturg y of the Hours 39

translations of those of tre old monastic Off ice. These might have hada certain beauty in Latin , and that language may even have concealed sane of their grosser defects with regard to content; but in their presentfo:rm they are at times hideous. Th.e sane criteria which guided the

choice of readings f ran Christian tradition in the Litu:r>gia Horarwrz 33

could wellbe applied here. F'or e.x(fTtple, one of the negative criteria is that there should not be an explicitly dualist anthropology. In the Vespe.rs Hymn for the Ccmron of One Martyr we f ind: "The world with specious cheats disguised

he soon discovered and despised • . • Or at Lauds of the sarre Of f ice: "Fran us the bonds of earth rerrove through God the Son• s redeeming love." Most people of tcxlay either recoil in horror or simply laugh at this. Neverthe less, it is not so easy to f ind substitutes for these hynms. We have been

using Praise the Lord in order to vary the hynms a little, and there are plans to make nore extensive use of it. But even here the selection is rather limited, since this was designed to meet the needs of a parish rather than those of a nonastic cxmnunity reciting the Of fice daily.

Since the hymns are e ssentially the contributions of the Church to the

Divine Of f ice, 34 it is in these that one could apply ve:cy ef fectively

what was said in the f irst part of this paper about the Of f ice being an express ion of the Church of the present day. The texts f ran the Bible, be they readings or psalms , are essentially part of a f ixed tradition which cannotbe changed. The hymns, on the other hand , are closely connected with history,

and especially with the epoch of hist.bey through which the Church is rroving.They should therefore be c:x::nq;iosed according to those insights into man andGod which are nost characteristic of this period. In our era they should take into account man 's nature as a "being-in- rld" , someone who is in trinsically related to his fellow--men no matter what their religion orrace. There should be an attenpt to pro:luce a spirit of openness, univer sality, carmunion with others , humanness. out are expressions such as "He

was with us only in body, f or in his thoughts and deepest longings he al

ready lived in that eternal haneland." The hymns also provide an.

excellent opportunity for ecumenical ef forts , another f eature of the nodem Church.There has been a nore creative tradition of hymn-writing on the

Protestant side than on the Catholic, and the use of those of their hymns which are

40

acceptable to catholic theology wculd be an excellent means of rapprochem:mt .

There should be an attarpt on the part of the houses of each region to produce a hymnal which -v.uuld be suitable for a nonastic CXJmUnity.The hymnal should have two cycles and a miscellaneous section so that

there will be plenty of vari'ety. Budding cxxnposers should be encouraged, for it is they who will really express the spirit of the Church today.

Since this spirit is one of openness to other traditions, however, thesetoo should be included.

Readin$fS

In a snall house the dif f iculties in this area stem mainly ;Eran tw::>sources: limitations in persoruiel and in material resources. Tastes va ry, and fEM have a taste that is so catholic that it can please everybody. The result is that there is a tendency for those who choose the readings to play around the sane therres . . those which appeal to them. In order

to counteract this, we have four men who take turns in choosing them. Sare success has been achieved in this way, although texts on "prayer" ,

''the contenplative life", and one or two other suitably "monastic" therceshave been preda:ninant. Partly to blane is the other limitation , the lack of material with which to work. Because we have so few good translationsof ancient authors , nodems such as Congar, Rahner , Merton, have stolen the show. Such writers are highly appreciated, but there is also a desire on the part of at least sare to have more patristic readings. Besides the lack

of good translations, there is another dif f iculty here: we have no one suf f iciently versed in patristics to be able to make a suitable choice oftexts and authors. All these f actors scrietiJnes make it a little dif f icult to apply the principle of co-ordination :rrentioned above. It is in the

readings more than anywhere else that this co-ordination needs to take place.

In the drawing up of the lectionary of the new Liturgia Hora:r'um, emphasis was laid on the f act that the readings should say sarething to the man ofthe present day. In other words , it should be related to the epoch of histo

ry through 'Which the Church is passing ncM . 35It is by rreans of the read

ings, therefore, that we can ef fectively put into practice what was suggest ed at the beginning of t his paper: that our liturgy should be involved in

The Liturgy of the Hours 41

sane way in the world in which we live. For this reason, too, mode1:n living authors should be incluci.ed, for it is ttese 'Who have entered rrost deeply into the problems of our time, and who can therefore speak to us with an authority that someone fran another epoch would not possess.This does not contradict what was said about the value of ancient authors. In volverrent in the world is not purey passive -it also involves a judg ment. What the

readings, biblical and othei:wise, present to us is the en tire history of salvation which is objective and independent of historical detenninations. This mystery presents to each generation the challenge of a criterion of absolute truth. This is why we can never dispense with ei ther the biblical :readings or those authors who, in the course of the cen turies, have drawn out the implications of what is contained in these read ings.

I believe that the best course o;f action for us would be simply to ac cept the lectionary oi the new Liturgia Hora.rum. Using the options pro vided for in it, a supplementary lectionary could be drawn up for the re gion. But

instead of simply picking texts at rand.an as one meets them in private 7,.ectio divina, and distributing them around the houses (a work which is, of course, highly appreciated), the choice of this regional lectionary should be made in a professional manner. The same principles, adapted to a :rronastic context, that guided the choice of the lectionary of theLiturgia Hora 'PUlll , should also guide its choice. Errphasis should be on the

•ronastic authors, especially Cistercian; but nevertheless, there should bea spirit of universality and openness.

CONCUJSIONThe Church, as it progresses through history, does not follcm

the per fectly linear progression of a straight-line graph, nor even the sm:x>th contours of a perfect sine wave, such as is implicit in a materialistic dialectic of history. Rather, it moves amid great difficulties and per secutions, because it is not only the heavenly Jerusalem, already at peace with God through Christ,

but also the Church of sinners, still imperfect and still taking into its boson those 'Who retain the capacity to corrupt

42

her. For this reason , the liturgy will also be imperfect and in need of constant renewal. This is one of the reasons why the Holy Spirit has been sen'!: by the Father.

But because of a certain "ex opere operato'' mentality, many rconks feel that there is no need to be continually meddling with the liturgy. We should be able to settle down and ''say our prayers'' without all this changing of pages, new structures , long readings imposing one man 's spiri tuality on the rest, etc., etc. This attitude is the rcost dangerous threat there is to a really prayerf ul liturgy , i.e. , a liturgy which is the means of Christ 's avn salvif ic lif e shining forth into our

hearts, and being ra diated by us in turn into the universal Church . It is true that an individual can meet Christ in the liturgy, provided he has the right dis:posi

tions. But the liturgy will not yield its full riches unless there is a cono:rted ef fort by the w h o 1 e c o rn rn u n i t y to actively co

operate in trying to achieve this ef fect. This means , for a start, that

they should have an enthusiasm for all that concerns the liturgy. Only this will give them the eagerness to ac:qllt'lint themselves with the :rreaning of the liturgy . This is turn will help them to accept in an intelligent

fashion the experiments that are being carried out in order that this rrean ing will beccne even clearer. And if this effort brings us further into the Passion of Christ , and if we feel the burden of men 's sinfulness even nore , then we should take courage at the thought contained. in the

Portugese proverb that God writes .straight with crooked lines.

Sei:in LOUGHLINBethlehem

N O T E S

1 General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours n.3; Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy n.5.

2 Karl Adam, in The Christ of Faith, outlines the developnent of this.

3 This was a primary consiCleration in the Church 's rejection of the early heresies; see K. Adam, op. cit., p.46 f f ; cf . Decree on the Church 's Missionary Activity n.3, where footnote 9 gives references to the Fa thers and includes: ''St. Augustine proves that the Holy Spirit did not redeem us fran this f aGt , that he did not beex>me incarnate." (On the Agony of Christ 22, 24 in PL 40, 302).

The Liturgy of the Hours 43

4 Lumen Gentium 8: "They (i.e. , the visible and invisible aspects of the Church) form one interlocked reality which is ccmprised of a divine and a human elerrent. For this reason , by an excellent analogy , this reality is catpa.red to the Ir!YStery of the incarnate w:>rd. Just as the assuned nature inseparably united to the divine Word se:rves him as a living in strument of salvatian , so in a similar way, does the c:nrrmunal structure of the Church serve Christ ts Spirit, who vivif ies it by way of buildingup the body."

5 General JnS:truction on the Liturmr of the Hours [= GII.Ji ] , n.9 : "Prayer (in this context , liturgical prayer) expresses the ver:y essence of the Church as a camrunity."

6 See Note 3.7 Saint Bernard, who was inf luenced by Origen, who was in tum inf luenced

by Evagrius , contains in his doctrine a certain individualism, as de Lu bac remarks in CathoUcisme, p.99 . One the same page , Note 3, he quotes Fr. Mersch as noting in Bernard the disappearance of the doctrine of the Mystical Body. Indeed, Bernard ts treatlrent of I Jn 1 :4 seans to pointto t.lU.s conclusion. See E.Gilson, La theoZogie mystique de Saint Ber nard, pp.36-38.

8 Gaudium et spes 4. This, of course, does not rrean that we are witness ing the birth of a new species of man, simply that there are new insights into his nature and new develoµnents of his powers and control of the world.

9 Thid., 55.10 RogUet , Commentary on the General InstY'Uction on the Liturgy of the Hours,

n.3.11 GIIR 55.12 I think it is Fr. Ail.be Luddy who, in one of his books , speaks of the

solexm rreasures of the gregorian chant giving that aspect of living in eternity -in other words , outside time and histo:ry.

13 Cf . Bernard Lone:rgan , Verbum, Word and Idea in Aquinas, p.14 . 14 3:615 A. de Vogtie , "Prayer in the Rule of Saint Benedict" , in Monastic Studies 1,

pp. 113-140 .16 Meslin, Concilium, 7/5 (Sept. 1969 ) , p. 14 f f .

17 A. de Vogil , art. cit., p.120 an the clericalizing inf luence. It is in teresting to note that Congar in his article in the sarre volume of Con- ciZium mentioned .irmediately above in the preceding Note, mentions , pp. 28-31, an -:>ld Testament spirituality as being a cause of sacralization, and in the Rule one can f ind traces of such Old Testament tendencies,e.g. , the parallel between God and the mighty of this rld on the ques tion of reverence at prayer (Ch.20 ) , and in the degrees of hunility (Ch. 7) , especially the f irst and twelf th degrees.

44

18 Ga:udium et spes 34: ''Far fran thinking that v.orks produced by man 's CMI1 talent and energy are in oppostion to God's pc:Mer • • • Christians are convinced that the triurrphs of the hunan race are a sign of God 's greatness and the flowering of his a.in. mysterious design ."

19 Teilhard de Charoin, The Divine Milieu; Ga:udium et spes 32: "He (the very W::>rd made flesh) sanctified these hunan ties, especially family ones, fran which social relationships arise.'' See also n.38.

20 Teilbard de Charo.in, op.cit.21 Karl Rahn.er, in the collection edited by M:Jr .Hu:}7ghe, Religious

Orders'ni the Modern W'orZd, p.50 of the study "The Theology of the

ReligiousLife".

22 C.Vaggagini, The Theological Dimensions of the Liturgy, p.102. 23 Ibid., p.104.24 This has happened on sane occasions when the cx:mrunity, finnly

set a gainst some innovation (e.g., the loi-cadre) was canpletely swung around to an acceptance of it by an expert fran outside.

25 A good account can be seen in J. Jungmann, Public Worship, pp .49-52. 26 See also GILH 197.27 Jungmann, op.cit., p.49. 28 GILH 179-193.29 An account of this is given by Fr.Ea.trick in Liturgy O.C.S.O.,

5/2 (July 1971}.30 Congar, op.cit. The references to Scripture given by

Gongar do not in clude many to the psalms.31 Cf . Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy 21: ". • .both texts and

rites should be drawn up so that they express m o r e c 1 e a r 1 y the holy things they signify. Christian people, as far as possible, should be at>le to understand them with ease and to take part in than fully, and as befits a ccmnunity ."

32 Cf.Louis Bouyer, Meaning of the Monastic Life, p.170: "The Bible is a v.orld, a cosrros of unlimited riches with a living unity. It is a v.orld of spiritual meanings, a new creation, interior to the first creation and renewing that creation's significance."

33 La Maison-Dieu 105 (1971), pp .124-125.34 GILlI 173: ''In the Office, the hymns are the principal poetic

part can posed by the Church."35 See the remarks made at the beginning of this article.

45

A CIRCULAR LETTERFROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE LITURGY COMMISSION TO THE MEMBERS OF THE LITURGY COMMISSION

Dear Father ,

Mont-des-cats January 23, 1973

• • • In a letter dated NoveIPber 16 , 1972 , Dan Weakland, Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Conf ederation, told me about his plan to meet at Rane with the two Abbots f.,eneral of the two Cistercian Observances , and withthe Prusidents of the three respective Liturgy Ccmnissions (O.S.B. , o.cist., o.c.s.o.) . The purpose of the IYEeting was to discuss the situation andto. -study the possibility of reaching sane sort of agreement as regardsthe general lines of our collaboration in things liturgical.

In point of f act , the ones who actually were able to attend the meeting

were, besides the Abbot Primate, Dan Bernard Kaul (President of the Litur gy_ carroission of the Comnon ObseIVance) , Dan Heru::y Ashworth (Secretary of the Liturgy canmission of the Benedictine Conf ederation) , and myself . (Fa ther Guido, fran the Camron Observance Generalate, attended a single ses sion.)

We tried to draf t a preliminary t e x t which might se:rve as a point

of departure for our a:::nm:>n study and research. It wasn 1t meant, of course, to be a def initive text, but only a f irst draf t such as might serve

to elicit a_ response or reaction. In this way we were able to avoid remaining sirrply at tlte level of an exchange of ideas ,- and managed to cxmcretize

- our collaboration by shaping up a preliminary text in a.::nnon.

The general lines of this project are as follc:MS : There "V.Ould be :

1 - Different ''specimens" or exanples of Of f ices based on the various schemata for the distribution of the psalms.Accordingly, there would be no question of- simply indicating the number of each psalm, as had been done in

all the psalm-distribution schemata in circulation till nCM;

- no of printing canplete "breviaries'' based on the various sche mata (besides, this would involve too much work} ;

46

Rather , we 'd have a kind of table of references indicating the structure and cx::mposition of each Hour -a bit analogous to the Or>do Cantus Missae recently edited by the Holy See.

E X A M P L EIbminica, ad II VESPERAS

V. Deus, in adiutorium. Gloria Patri. Sicut erat. Hymnus : Eligendus iuxta ternpus quo of f icium celebratur. Psalm:xlia

Ps. 109. Ant. Dixit Daninus Danino meo: Sede a dextris meis.Ps. 110 . Ant. Fidelia a:nnia mandata eius; conf innata in saecu-

lum saeculi.

Ps. 112 . Ant. Sit nanen Danini benedictum in saecula. canticum de N. T. Apoc. 19 , 1-7 ut in Of ficio Ranano. canticum Magnif icat. Ant. propria.Preces conclusivae.

2 - A series of P r a e n o t a n d a would give the basic

prin ciples for the celebration of the Divine Of f ice. These "'°uld be sarething of a ''directory" showing ho.v the various schemata which follow should be irrplemented.

What we tried to do at our Decanber meeting was to sketch a draf t of these Praenotanda. You t 11 f ind the text at the conclusion of this report.

Here I t ll give a brief c::amientary on the text of these proposed Prae notanda.

a- OUr point of reference ran.a.ins the Rule of Saint Benedict, though we provide for adaptations to be ma.de on the basis of a certain degree of pluralism: the need for adaptation isn 1t experienced eve:rywhere in the

same uniform manner (n. 4} •

We didn 't want to propose the either/or choice betweenThe Rule of Saint Benedict OR the Institutio Liturgiae HorarurnI= IGLH ] , because:

aa.- For monks , the two documents are of unequal "weight" : The Rule, with its 14 centuries of tradition, remains our basic legisla tion; the IGLH is a docunent which goes into things in great detail (there will doubtless be a certain degree of variety in actual practice} , and whidt refers more directly to the canc crete circumstances of the present day.

A Circular Letter 47

bb- There can be no question of our simply adopting the IGLH: the text itself of the letter sent us f:ran the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, July 8, 1971, tells us : "A simple aligning of yourselves with the prayer of clergy with a pastoral charge, such as is presented in the Liturgia Horarum of the Ranan Rite, would deprive the Church's spirituality of the characteristic note given it by the rronastic Orders."

This holds good independently of any "privilege" touching on the rronastic or Cistercian rite.

b- It remains no less true that we have to take account of the text of

forthe GI.JI. Scire of its prescriptions call scrre precisions on our part,nn.24 and 31 in particular.Nn.1 and 3 refer to these in our CMn

Prae notanda project.- N.24 of the GI.JI fails to distinguish sufficiently, acoording to sane, between the situation of monks and that of canons. Canons are cle;rics in the se:rvice of the local Church (diocese or prela ture nullius); the m:mastic cxmnunity doesn't really constitutea ''particular Church" in the strict sense, although it"s situated in a particular territory; but itts especially important to reoog nize the fact that the participation of the lay members oontributes just as much as the participation of the clerics to the liturgical prayer of the cx:mnunity , that is to say, to the a:mnuniif s visageas the Praying Church; this fact has not always been reCX)9Ilized, even in farily recent documents.

- N .31 of the IGHL deals with thechora,l obligation to the Office, and refers to particular legislation. we have to be clear as to whatour CMn "particular legislation" is. N .5 of our draft takes this partly into acoount, and with regard to a single particular point; but it would be a good idea to mention that the participation of each menber of the o:mnunity (apart fran the priests) can be de termined by the abbot, particularly in the context of the unifica tion of our ccmnunities (cf.the decree Cum monachorum, even though the fonnulation of this decree failed to meet the expectations of the General Chapter}•We also insist on the sung nature of the a:mnunity prayer (see alson.6):and it's this point which justifies a nunber of desirable adaptations.

c- N .2 of our draft is in reply to a different problem:What is it that gives our prayer its liturgical character? There are two exaggera- tions to be avoided:

- one would oonsist of saying that eve.i:ything ought to be regulated

by the hierarchy,even in the least detail; but this w:iuld go oon-

48

tracy to history (and, in particular, to the history of the organization of the Office), and would suppress at the very root ever:y possibility of local adaptations and of a ccmnuni- ty 's being able to express itself. Indeed, if the principle were to be followed through to the end, its application wouldresult in the suppression of the Holy Rule's liturgical prescrip tions, since the Rule isn't a document fran the Holy See.

- The other exaggeration would claim that absolutely everything has to spring fran the initiative of the local a::mnunity, under pain of failing to be the prayer of that particular ccmmmity .

d- Organization of the liturgical day: n.5.We ought to recall that, acoording to the ver:y tenor of

the letter of Jilly a, 1971, the particular legislation of each Order will have to give ;further precision to sane of the no:ons of the general legislationco.r:mon to the three Orders in question. Different options can indeed be taken. The "CCllTOC>Il base'' which the three ''branches of the monastic fami ly" should estal:>lish, will acoordingly include the broad spectrum of these various options. This, however, doesn't nean that each Order ought to recognize each and every option as being suitable for itself.

Thus, our avJ1 General Chapter has maintained the three Little Hours, though these can be celebrated outside choir. In the Benedictine Confedera tion, a different solution applies, in view of the fact that a great manyof their nnnasteries have an active apostolate (parishes, oolleges.• •):in sane instances, the cx::romunity is able to gather for prayer in ccmoon onlyonce between Latrls and Vespers.

So also our Statute on Unity and Plm:alism presupposes indirectly that Vigils are celebrated before dawn; but this isn't the c:arm::m practice arrong Benedictines. OUr c:x::nmon text

provides for all these different situations.

The sane is true further on in the project, with regard to the possi bili.ty of dividing the series of Vigils psalms over a two-week period in certain of the schemata, or of having a different grouping of the psalms assigned to the Little Hours: this p::>ssibility concerns only those who

a;re enga,ged in the active apostolate.

A Circula:r' Letter 49

e- Since we don 't refer directly to the IGLH, it was necessary to mention certain points of this document which it would be easy for us to implement; for instance, at the end of n.5., the case of tw'.) juxta posed Offices, or of an Office and the Mass; and, in n.7, the periods of silence during the Office.

f- We knCM that there are two cursus of biblical readings in the new Ranan Office; one canprises a two-year cycle, and the other -the only one to be edited in the Liturgia Hora.rum -is only a one-year cycle. We reccmnend the "b.D-year cycle (n.9).

. AP regards patristic readings, we provide for an arrangement simi lar to that of the loi-cadre, though we're also preparing a Supplement to the readings of the Liturgia Horarum for those who prefer to makeuse of sanething stable and fixed.

g- N.11 is important in the case of the Office celebrated in the roother tcngue. This prescription links up with what was provided by the IGLH for responsories (n.49} and for hyrrns(n.178), though it extends the pertinent princple to other instances.

h"':'. Distribution of psalms:N.8 and "examples"•

..... and above the schana of the Benedictine Rule (local adapta tions will have to be made so as to rela,ssify, for instance, the psalms of l?r.i:Jre in those :rronasteries where Prime is no longer celebrated), there are two other s e r i e s of examples or spec.:iJrens, according as the psalms are distributed over a one-week or a two-week period:

- The f ir s tseries would be comprised of the two schemata whichare roost used by the Benedictines (Fr.Fuglister's schema) or bythe Cistercians (Schema "C");

A special no:rm would provide for yet other distributions of the psalms over a one-week period, so as to safeguard the very text of Ch. 18 of the Rule, 'Whidl provides for other arrangements of the 150 p.:;alros .

- The s e c o n d series would be comprised of:1- Our Schema "A". It follows the Benedictine

arrangement based on numerical sequence rather closely. It was put in circula tion by the Benedictines last January, 1971, and has the ad vantage of making it possible to sing Vespers without too much violence being done to the gregorian antiphonar:y.This is of special interest to a number of Benedictine nunneries, arrong others.

50

2 - Yet another schema structured more logically. The exact choice of the schema has yet to be made. It will probably be either a schema drawn up by Dan Pinell (monk of Montser rat), or else our O.Nl1 Schema "B'' . These two schemata re semble each other a great deal.

(At any rate, it1 s morally certain that, even if Dan

Pinell's schema is chosen to serve as an example, the monasteries of our own Or der will be able to go on using Schema "B". This follows f:ran the re sponse given by Cardinal Tabera to our Abbot General, in a letter dated November 20, 1972: "If, at the rranent the Sacred Congregation approves(the work done by the inter-order Ccmnission), the Cistercians of the Strict Observance have particular reasons for not accepting the results of the work done in ccmm::m , we shall examine this request with all pos sible attention and understanding." Mgr .Bugnini himself confirmed this attitude in an interview he granted Dan Vincent, our Procurator General, and myself, last December 14, at the Sacred Congregation for Divine Wor ship.)

3- Sane indications will be added to the series of examples or spec.linens of Offices listed above, along the lines of those given by the Sacred Congregation last August 6, 1972 (Noti tiae 76 [1972], pp.254-258), so that the 4-week Ranan distri bution of psaJms can be used within a 2-week period. This arranganent might have its advantages -for instance, in the event of the publication of translations in the mother-tohgue. Fr . Guido(who is now- at Rane for liturgical studies) has been working on this question, and will supply the above indications needed for adapting the Ranan schema to a two-week monasticcur sus .

This system of "specimens" or examples, and of "Praenotanda" makes it possible at one and the same time:

- to have sanething precise to serve as a guide sudl as certain monasteries, as well as the Sacred Congregation for Divine Wor ship (which has made it knowr:i,. it appears, that it would like there to be a "monastic breviary") think would be useful;

- to assure that the legislation have the flexibility it needs. This exigency was also expressed by the Sacred Congregation in its letter of last July 8: "• • • so that all the a::mnunities, each according to its own physiognany and the nature of its ex terior work, can be

in accord as regards a ccmnon base."

A Circular Letter 51

This f lexibility is required not only because of the diversity between nonasteries spread over the whole earth, and because of thedif f erent tendencies and op:ions apparent within the Benedictine tradi tion with its many centuries of histo:ry and experience -a diversif ica tion so great that the result has been autononous Orders -but also be cause of the exigencies of a o:mnunity celebration s u n g in the vernacular.

IDRK PROORAMME

We still have to draw up the various sample Of f ices (antiphons have

to be found -f ran the presently available sources, as much as possible, etc. ) • This 'WOrk is planned for the f irst several weeks in March , at Rane (Sant •Anselm:>) . Since I myself can 't be CMay fran my m:maste:r:y for so long a period, because of my various responsibilities

within the a:mmunity, r •ve proposed for this task our Vice-president, Fr. Chrysogonus

Waddell. CI presume his new abbot will agree! ) Also, if necessary Fr. Placide Vernet (Citeaux) . I myself will probably go to Rane tc::Mards the 19th or 20th, when the 'WOrk is to be discussed with the Abbot Primate.

After suf f icient discussion at the level of the Liturgy Camri.ssions of the various Orders , the project will be presented for discussion by the abbots. (For our own Order , this would involve the

regional abbatial conferences , the Septanber , 1973 meeting of our Consilium Generale, andthe General Chapter of 1974 . For the Benedictines, there is, besides the meeting of the various Presidents of the dif f erent Congregations , the

Congress of Abbots, which is to take place in Septanber , 1973. The cannon Obse:rvance has its Def inito:ry and, I believe , the General Chapter of 1974.) res probably going to be dif f icult to make all these variousa u t o n o m o u s deliberations cane to a consensus with regard to an identical revised text

OI'HER QUESTIONS

Texts for the Monastic Proper :I gave Dan Hen:ry Ashworth the references to the M i s s a 1 r e a d

in g s for the Monastic Proper prepared by Fr. Chrysogonus in Decerrber ,

52

1970, and sent to the manbers of the General Chapter with a view to the Chapter of 1971.

But we also have to prepare the "prayers" for the proper Saints.In practice, Dan Hency Ashworth is handling this, along with Dan A.Dumas - at least as regards those saints in the General M:mastic Calendar. But wetll also have to present (together with the Ccmnon ObseJ:Vance) the texts for the Cistercian saints (based on the calendar supplene:nt approved July 31, 1972). May we ask Fr.Chrysogonus to centralize our suggestions, and do whatever is necessary, in oollaboration with Dan Bernard Kaul, Presi dent of the Liturgy Carmission for the Camon Observance? Many thanks .

(signed} fr.Ge'ra.r:d Dubois

53

11 PRAENOTANDA 11 PROJECT

1. Although rronastic cx:mnunities are not, in the strict sense, par ticular churches, and are not carp:>sed solely of clerics, their prayer has always held an .llnportant place in the life of the Church, and contributes to the "building up and increasing of the whole Jl1YS tical &Jdy of Christ and the good of the particular Churches'(IGLH n.24).

2. The Church has recognized herself in the prayer arranged by the monastic rules, and, by means of the hierarchy, keeps watch to see that this prayer always preserves its value as an expression of the Christian Jl1YSte:ry, while at the same time it answers to the particu lar needs of each rom:nunity . (Bee, for instance, the Rules of Saint Caesarius o;f Arles, of Aurelianus, of Saint Benedict.)

3. These rronastic rules and the later legislation insist on the choral, sung nature of this prayer; but at the same time, they recngnizethe abbot1s function to detennine the manner in which each memberof the cxmnunity enters into this prayer and takes part in it.(Cf. Ch. 50 of the Holy Rule; the decree Cum monaahorum issued for the c.istercians of the Strict Observance, by the Sacred Congregation for Religious, December 27, 1965.)

OffiANIZATION OF THE OFFICE4. The prayer of the Hours is organized according to the

prescriptions of the Rule of Saint Benedict, which have nourished throughout the centuries, and can still nourish, the liturgical life of :rronks.Nev ertheless, the possibility of making adaptations is recognized, so as to answer to the needs of the present day -needs which are dif ferently experienca:lin different regions.

5. The rronastic Coornunity gathers to consecrate, by its prayer, the day and human activity (IGLH, nn.10 and 11). This takes place through the celebration of the

traditional Hours . Nevertheless, Prime canbe anitted; and, for pastoral reasons, one only of the three Little

54

Hours can be chosen (cf . IGLH, nn. 76-77} . The Little Hours canbe celebrated outside choir , but in cxmnon. If Vigils are antici pated the evening before, Cqnpline can be said in private (cf. IGlli, n.84) .

If an Hour of the Of fice is celebrated oonjointly with another , or with the Mass, the prescriptions given in the IGLH, nn. 93-99 , can be follCMed.

6. Since "Lauds as rooming prayer and Vespers as evening prayer arethe two hinges on which the daily Of f ice tums" (Constitution on theSacred Liturgy, n.89} it is f itting that they be sung.

7. "The purpose of silence is to allow the voice of the Holy Spirit tobe heard nore full in our hearts, and to unite our personal prayer irore closely with th. word of God and the public voice of the Church. In introducing silence we must use prudence; periods of silence may

be inserted in dif ferent ways : af ter the psalm, once its antipronhas been repeated, as was generally the custan, and especially if there is a psalm-prayer af ter the silence; af ter the reading whether long or short; either before or af ter the responsory" (IGLII, n. 202} .

8. The distribution of the psalms can be made acrording to the Rule of Saint Benedict , or according to the arrangements described in the specim:m of the nonastic Liturgy of the Hours (appended beloW) , with

those local adaptations which are necessary.

9. The two-year cycle of biblical readings for the Liturgy of the Hours according to the Ranan Rite will be follCMed , if this proves opportune. · (Cf . IGIJI, nn.145-146) .

10 . A Supplerrent of patristic readings has been prepared for use in nona steries. Moreover, the abbot can, with the advice of his cx:mmmity, choose other texts, though folloong the nonns laid down by the Holy See {cf . Notitiae 66 , p.289; and 76 , p.249) .

11. For the celebration of the Of f ice in the vernacular , the sung

elements of the Of f ice can be adapted according to the nature of the language.

Praenotanda F>Pojeat 55

SPEClMEN OF THE MONASTIC LI'IURGY OF THE IDURS

A.According to a distribution of the 150 psalms over a week-long period (Dan Fftglister's schena and Schena "C" of the o.c.s.o.)

- Vigils can be divided over a two-week period, and the cycle of the Little Hours, for pastoral reasons, over a period of two or three weeks•

. - Any other week-long distribution of psalms can be used (Rule, Ch.18).

B.According to a distribution of the 150 psalms over a two-week period

(Sche!na "A'' of the o.c.s.o., distributed in the Benedictine Confederation in January, 1972; Dan Pinell's Schana, or else Schema "B" of the o.c.s.o.)

Note:For this last mentioned schema, it might be added:Those who, for pastoral reasons, celebrate only one or two of the Little Hours, alternate at this or these Hours the various se ries of Gradual Psalms : 119-121; 122-124; 125-127; 128-130;131-132.

- Indications for the distribution of the psalms in the Liturgy ofthe Hours for the Ran.an Rite over a two-week period.

57

DOCUMENTSFROM THE INTER-ORDER LITURGY COMMISSION

In the several dozen pages which follow, the reader ought not to sunnise that my typewriter (electric} has broken down in the

preparation of the material for the current issue of Li turgy . Rather , it was simply a question of reproducing the following items in the fo:rm in "Mrich theywere received f ran Rare via Father Gerard Dubois, President of our Order 'sLiturgy Ccmnission. Most of the dossier which follCMS should be studied only af ter the reader has f amiliarized himself or herself with the con tents of the preceding circular letter.

The dossier contains the following items :1- A Report on the Progress of the Work of the Liturgical

Canmission. This is a letter fran Dan Rerrbert Weakland, Abbot Primate of the Benedic tine Confederation. Though dated December , the report was circulated on ly in February . Indeed , I received my own copy only in

this morning 's mail. The reader will see that Fr . GE:trard ' s circular is considerably more detailed and informative; but Dan Rembert 's report includes a f f!il details not included in Fr. Gerard's.

2-The 1 a t i n text of the ''Praenotanda" Project. The English translation which appeared in the preceding pages was based on Fr . Gerard 's French version , which in turn was based (apparently) on the following

latin text. In the interests of accuracy, it might be a good idea if the "editio typica'' is included in the f ile of material connected with the present pro ject.

3- of the schemata mentioned in Fr . ard ' s circular letter , and at the end of the Praenotanda. The f irst of these (Schema II) corresponds to our Cistercian Schena "A"; the second (Schema III) , to our Cistercian Schema "B'' • I caught several typing errors in the latter Schema , and I

dare say there are a number of other errors I failed to catch. Caveat lector !Finally, a fourth Schema is added, or rather , a simple set of directives

for adapting the Ranan psalm distribution to a bK>-week nonastic cursus.

58

Like myself , the reader might justif iably be puzzled by the absenceof a Table with the psalms distributed according to Scheroa I (Dan Fll glister 's Schana} . For sane reason, it wasn ' t included in the material sent me.

4- An O R D I N A R Y for the Liturgy of the Hours (f acultative) , with samples given corresponding to the f irst three Schemata. Unfortunate ly, the material is in latin; but this is a quasi-necessity by reason

of the f act that all the references are to existing latin liturgical books. Thus the abbreviation LH = Li turgia Hor>aPZan --the recently printed Ranan Rite "breviary" in four volumes; while Brev - = the latest edition ofthe m:mastic breviary printed for the Benedictine Confederation.

59

Rome, december 1972

A REPORT ON THE PROGRESS OF THE WORK OF THE

LITURGICAL CO:MMISSION

Dear Father A bbot,

A meeting was held at s. Anselmo on 1 3th and 14th December 1972 between Father Abbot Primate, Dom Rembert Weakland

o.s.B . AbbotBernard Kaul, o.c.o., Prior Gerard Dubois, o.c.s.o. and Dom Henry Ashworth, O .S.B. , Secretary to the Liturgical commission.

The object of this meeting was to discuss the Points of agreement concerning the present liturgical needs of the Benedic tines, the Cistercians of the corrunon Observance, and the Cistercians of the Reformed Observance, and to assess the possibilities and procedures of further collaboration in liturgical matters.

It is a matter of considerable satisfaction to record the friendly atmosphere in which this meeting too.k place, and to report the agreement reached on the following points .

A. The Mass

1. For a11 Sollemnities, Feasts and other Saints Days common to the three Observances, proper prayers and lessons will be provided, as also a Preface for the Feasts of St Benedict.

2. Sollemnities, Feasts and Saints Days proper to each Observance will be provided by their own liturgical Commissions .

B. The Office

1. It was unarrimously agreed that all who wish to follow the Monastic Liturgy of the Rule of St Benedict, as presented in the Monastic Breviary, are free to do so.

2. It was also unanimously agreed that the work on the Lcctionary of the Office should be continued.

3. A full session of the Commission was given to working out the principles according to which full collaboration could be successfully continued. These principles are set out in a Praenotanda given in Appendix to the enclosed documents .

60

4. The decision was taken to produce three booklets with three different possible psalter distributions: one with the entire psalter in one week; two others with the psalter distributed in two weeks; A fourth version will be an adaptation of the Roman Breviary with a psalter distribution in two weeks . The full distribution will be indicated and an example of one full day given for schemata I and III so that you ean see what the final result will look like.

In order that the work of the Commission be done quickly and efficiently, we ask that you consult your experts or liturgical commissions.

5 . At t end of the meeting i t was fu11ther decided that a Mixed Commission would meet at s. Anselmo on Mardl .1st1973, in order to draw up the various Psalter Schemes in £ull.1 In view of thetime element involved in such work, it would greatly assist the Commission if all comments, suggestions and emendations could be sent to the Secretariat here at s. Anselmo not later thtm March 1st1973.

Yours

s'incerely

K er. &&Rembert G. Weakland, OSB

Abbot Primate

Doawnents from the Inter-Order Liturgy Commission 61

P R A E N 0 T A N D A

(consiiii gratia proposita)

Etsi communitates monasticae "Ecclesiae particulares" scnsu pro prio non sunt, nee a solis clericis constituuntur, oratio ab eis persoluta in vita Ecclesiae magni momenti est "ad

.aedificationemet incrementum totius mystici Corporis Christi et in bonum Ecclesia- rum particularium" (I.G.L.H. n .24). .

In oratione a Regulis monasterialibus ordinata Ecclesia vocem suam agnoscit et per auctoritatem hierarchicam continue invigilat, ut haec oratio, dum exigentiis peculiaribus singularum communitatumrespondet, semper Mysterii christiani exprimendi praestantiam servet.(conferantur Regulae s. Caesarii Arelatensis, Aureliani, s.Benedicti) .

Hae Regulae monasteriales et legiferae dispositiones subsequentes statuunt quidem hanc orationem in choro cantando persolvendam esse, Abbati tamen curam conferunt determinandi modum quo singuli communitatis sodales partem in ea habeant. (Cf. Regula s. Benedicti, cap. SO. Decretum "Cum monachorum" s. congr . pro Religiosis d.d. 27 dee. 1965 pro o.c.s .o. ) .

De ordinando Officio.

Liturgia Horarum ordinatur secundum Regulae s. Benedicti pcepta, quae vitam orationis monachorum saeculis transactis aluerunt, eamque hodie adhuc animare queunt. Nihilominus facultas agnoscitur aptandi haec praecepta condicionibus nostri temporis, quae variae in diversis regionibus habentur et percipiuntur.

Communitas monastica eo fine adunatur, ut oratione sua dies totaque operositas humana sanctificentu r (I.G.L.H. nn. 10 et 1 1 ), quod celebratione Horarum usu traditarum absolvitur. Attamen Hora Prima omitti potest et, suadente sive ratione pastorali, sivc pecu liari circumstantia, ex tribus Horis Minoribus, Tertia, Sexta et Nona, unam seligere licet diei tempori magis congruentem (I.G.L.H. nn . 76-77).Horae Minores extra chorum peragi valent, in communi tamen celebrentur. Si Vigiliae sero anticipantur, completorium pri vatim recitari poterit (I.G.L.H. n . 84). Si Hora quaedam Officii cum alia Hora vel cum Missa co.niungitur, observantur ea quae in I.G.L.H. nn . 92-99 praescribuntur.

62

Cum "Laudes, ut preces matutinae, et Vesperae, ut preces vesper tinae, ex venerabili universae Ecclesiae traditione duplex cardoOfficii cotidiani" habeandae sint (Constitutio de s . Liturgia, n.89),has Horas cantu celebrare decet .

"Pro opportunitate et prudentia, ad plenam vocis Spiritus Sancti in cordibus resonantiam assequendam, et ad orationem personalem arctius cum verbo Dei ac publica Ecclesiae voce coniungendam, spatium silentii interponi licet aut post singulos psalmos, repetita sua antiphona, secundum morem maiorum, et praecipue si, post silentium, additur oratio psalmica, aut post lcctiones, sive breves, sive longiores, et quidem sive ante sive post responsorium" (I.G.L.H. )n.202).

Psalmorum distributio fieri potest vel secundum ordinem in Regulas. Benedicti descriptum, vel secundum ordinem quern exhibet infrascrip tum "Specimen Liturgiae Monasticae Horarum", additis pro opportunitate locorum aptationibus.

Cursus biennalis lectionum biblicarum pro Liturgia Horarum ritus Romani stabilitus observetur, si opportunum videtur (I.G.L.H. nn .1 45- 146).

Supplementum lectionum Patrum et Scriptorum ecclesiasticorum pro usu monasteriorµm paratu:r:. Insuper tamen Abbas, assentiente communitate, alios textus seligere valet observando normas a Sancta Sede editas.

In celebratione quae lingua.:ve.rnacula peragitur, cantus Officii ingenio linguae aptentur.

SPECI:tv'IE N LITURGIAE MONAST ICAE HORARUM

A. Schema r0: Horae 5, cum Psalterio per umam hebdomadamdistributo. -

B. Schema rr0: cum Psalterio per duas hcbdomadas distributo (secundum ordinem numericum)

c. Schema III0 Psalterium integrum (ordo non numericus) per duas hebdomadas distributum.

3 133 1 33 133 133 133 133 133 133 1 33 133 133 1339420 1 2 30A 36A 47 58 6 8A 7 2A 80 81 100 10221 7 8 30B 36B 48 59 6 8B 7 2B 82 86 1 0 31 10Ll- 1122 9 10 32 36.C fi-9 60 6 9 7 3A 83 88 103E 104 I

Laude$ 6 6 1 16 1 16 . 1 16 1 16 1 16.

1 16 116 116 1 16 1 16 116• 6 2 50 50 6 6 50 50 31 31 50 50 37

117 5 35 41/42 56 61\- 6 3 87 89 53 7 5 91

11

I

.

n

I

i l

.

SCHEMA II

(Ordo strict8 numericus, aliqui Psalmi per duas hebdomad s distributi sunt) .

I, =======- -=D=

o=

m=

i=

ni=

ca=:--r==

F=

e=

r=

.=

I=

I======

F=

(=

:r=

?=

I=

I=

I=====

F=

e=

r=

.=

I=

VJ--

==F==

e=

r=

.v=======F=e=r=.V==

I ==-=--

S-

a-

bb--

.--=r,

I II

<;\:);::!

Cll

......<;\:)

l 1a I I a 1a I I a 1a I I a 1 a I l a 1a I I a . .1a li a 1 a I I a

III

I hebd hebd hcbd hebd hebd hebd hebd hebd hebd hebd hebe hebd hebe hebI M

1

<;\:)

I

1 Vigiliaa1

!I

If t-t.lI 23 11 12 33 39 51 6 1 7 1 7 3B 84 9 2 103C 10 II 26 16 14 34A -3 52 6 5 7 4 7 7A 85 97 106A 101:AJlI 27 1 s 1 5 34B 44 sL1 67A 76 77B 93 98 106r 105a1I 28 1 9 17 38 45 55 67B 7 8 77C 9 5 99 106C 105dtI 29 2 5 24 .:::-o 46 57 . 70 7 9 7 7D 96 101 108 105tjl! III ll

i.CllCll()

I 115 11;::s

I 37 III 142 'Ij C ant . C( ant C ant C ant C an t C ant c an t C ant C an t Can t C an t 1., ant le an t l1

II148

I I+. I I+

I I I

I I I

h 1

I I I I I I I I I I !I

148 148 48 48 148 148 II

.! =-=== -1 50 1 I 149-1 50 - = --------------- = - JIII 11II C t C . . . II11 + an . I = an tica quac nunc can tantur in Hieme

I'+C an tan tica

nunc can tan tur in Aest ate IOw'I

r

II

II

II

II

i:I

I

I

SCHEMA II , oont. °'II ==s===:i.----- - - - - - -- - -----------II ' jiII IIII Te:r'l tia 118/ 1 19/ 1 19II 1-4 12-1 5 1 20 tota hebdomad<J.II

- 121 l,II - III

sextr 118/ 118/ 1 221·

It 5-7 1-1 8 1 23 tota hebdomadaII 1 24 I!II IIIt - IIII!I Nona 1 18/ 1 1 8/ 1 2 5I 8-11 19-22 1 26 tota hcbdomada I!- 1 27 II .. . - II

Vc si>erae 109 1 11 114 129 1 29 1 35 134 138A 138A 141 141 145w • - 1 10 1 13A 115 130 1 31 136 136 138B 138B 144A 143A 146 I

1 12 1 13E 128 131 132 1 37 137 140 1 39 144B 1L"i-3B 147Canticc:i de N.T.

I1 Cor.1,.P l_,e. t. 4 I 90 90 90 90 90 90I 90 II Cant. N'unc Dimittis I

-----::;a:--- ------------------ -

- - -----·--··----------------I

Hebdom II 28 36 A 55 106 A 25 1 2 829 36 B 69 1 06 B 48 16 1 30 51 70 60 78 54 4

433 1 0 7481 73 A 8 21 41

108 ti1 08 B 45

C)Schema III l::::l

§Psalterium integrum per duas hebdomadas

di!:;tributum ti)

C)2§

VIGILIAE - Dominica - Feria 2 - Feria 3 - Feria 4 - Feria 5 - Feria 6 - Sabbato ;:s'

Invit. 94 1 33 1 33 1 33 1 33 1 33 1 33Psalmodia I

Hebdom I: 1 7 1 3 43 A 77 A 57 3 11 7 34 43 B 7'], B 58 7 711 7 53 61 77 c 59 1 5 7 9 t'"1.24 1 4 76 1 1 9 A 88 A 8426 105 A 1 38 A 41 - 42 9 B 88 B 8627 105 B 1 38 B 1 43 88 c 1 02

------ -- ------ ------- ------ -- ------ ---------- -- -------- ------ ---- -- -- ---------· .ti)

ti) .§

6 5 A 104 A

73 B 4765 B 1 04 B 93 80 144 1 39 84

m01

Hebdom I: 66 1 16 116 1 16

1 16 1 16 1 1650 49 72 1

01100 6 37

SCHEMA III, cont .

LAUDES: In Sollemnitatibus: 66,1 44, 62,Canticum, 1 50

Dominica - Feria 2 - Feria 3 - Feria 4 - Feria 5 - Feria 6 - Sabbato

°°''

1 11 5 83 63 87 75 1 42Cantica vel lectio ex Vetere Testamento

1 50 1 1 5 1 45 146 1 47 1 48 1 49

Hebdom II 66 1 16 1 16 1 1 6 1 16 1 16 1 1650 102 38 85 31 62 39

1 1 7 35 56 64 89 91 142Canticum vel lectio ex Vetere Testamento

1 50 1 1 5 145 1 46 1 47

1L:-8 1 49

VESPERAE: Dominica - Feria 2 - Feria 3 - Feria 4 - Feria 5 - Feria 6 - Sabbato Hcbdom: I - II I - II I - II I - II I - II I - II

109 1 8 19 67A -103A 45 -1 351 36 ·-32 21A -68A 44 -222 47 20 67B -103B 1 34-143 1 40 -40 21 B -68B 1 37-71

Cantica vel lectio ex Novo Testamento46 95 96 97 98 92 99 23

Ad Tertiam: 1 1 1-4 1 1 9 1 1 9 11_9 1 19 (I) 1 19 1 29II 1 20 1 20 1 20 1 1 20 1

1 1 - 7 1 22 1 28 1 22 1 28 1 22 1 II 123 1 29 1 23 129 123 1

SCHEMA III, oont .

HORAE - Dominica - Feria 2 - Feria 3 - Feria 4 - Feria 5 - Feria 6 - Sabbatc MINORES I

1 1 8,1 2 - 1 5 1 21 1 21 1 21 1 21 1 21 1 21

--- ---- -- -- ---- ------- --- --- ---- ---- -·---- -- --- --- -- -- --- ---- -- --- -- ------ --

Ad Sextam: I

t:J()

tj-0)

<:"+

<:"+"'SI

1 1 8,16-1 8 1

241 30

1 24 1 30

1 24 130 "'St-tI:".

Ad Nonam:

I 1 251 1 8 , 8-11

126II 1 271 1 8,19 -22

131 A131 B1 32

1 25126127

131 A131 B 132

1 251 26127

131 A1 31 s1 32

I:".Cr.CJ)

Ad Completorium: Psalmi L\- et 90

Nota huic schemati addenda: Ii qui suadente sive ratione

pastorali, sive peculiari circumstantia, unam tantum Horam Minorem,

vel duas Horas pcragunt, hac Hora, vel his Horis alternatim trinos

psalmos ex iis qui Graduales vocantur recitent, id est: 1 1 9-1 21 i 1

22-1 24; 1 25-1 27; 1 28-1 30;

1 31-1 32.

I:".()

O'I-..J

I

68

c. Schema IV: in structuram Liturgiae Horarum aptatio (cf Notitiae

76, 2 AD OFFICIUM LECTIONIS

Per hebdomadam: sex psalmi dici possunt, hoc modo:3 psalmi hebdomadae primae (vel secundae), quos sequitur lectio biblica diei cum suo responsorio;3 psalmi eiusdem diei hc.= bdomadae tertiae (vel quartae), quos sequitur lectio patristica dici cum suo rcsponsorio.

IN DOMINICIS ET FESTIS dici possunt sex psalmi et tria cantica vigiliae protractae, modo supra descripto, sci licet:3 psalmi, lectio biblica cum suo responsorio;3 psalmi, lectio patristica cum suo responsorio; 3 cantica, evangelium, Tc Deum.

AD HORAS DIURNAS

Ii qui cotidie tres Horas minores celebrant, loco psalmodiae complcmentaris, diebus dominicis cxceptis, psalmos adhibcrc possunt, qui scquuntur:

Ad Tertiam: psalmos hebdomadae currentis ad Horam mc;diam;

Ad Sextam: psalmos hebdomadae praecedentis ad Horam mediam:

Ad N o nam: psalmos subscquentis hebdomadae ad Horm mediam .

D. Quaestionem distributionis psalmorum per plus quam duas hebdo rnadas Commissio adhuc non tractavit, quia magna diversitas viget inter schemata in Confoederatione Benedictina modo adhibita. Ad bane quacstionem solvendam ulteriores consultationes necessariae suntnovaque studia, ut etiam obscrvari possint exceptiones secw1dum loco rum exigentias rcquisitae.

Ij

l

69ORDINARIUM LITURGIAE HORARUM

TEMPORE PER ANNUM

PERSOLVENDAE

IUXTA RITUM MONASTICUM

pro opportunitate

SCHEMii. I

5 Horae, cum Psalterio per unam hebdomadam distribute .

DOMINICA

AD I VESPERAS

1. . v/. Deus in adiutorium. Gloria Patri. Sicut erat. Alleluia

2 . Hyrnnus: Lucis creator optime ..• (Brev. Monast. p ( 225 )

vel:

Deus creator omnium (LH Vol . 3, p. 545)

3. Psalmodia

Ant 1 : Benedicite gentes, Deum nostrum, qui posuit animam nostram ad vitam, alleluia

Psalmus 65

Hymnus ad sacrificium gratiarum actionis

De resurrectione Domini et conversione gentium Hesechius

Iubilate Dco, omnis terra, psalmum dicite gloriae nominis eius.•..(LH .vol 3, 921 ; Brev. Mon (107)

Ant 2: Tribuit Dominus victoriam Christo suo.

Psalmus 19

Oratio pro regis victoria

70

Quicumque invocaverit nomen Domini, salvus erit(Act 2,21 )

Exaudiat te Dominus in die tribulationis••• (LH vol 3, p. 598;

Brev . Mon. ( 21 )

Ant. 3: Cantabimus et psallemus virtutes tuas

Psalmus 20

Gratiarum actio pro regis victoria

Accepit vitam, ut resurgeret, et longitudinem dierum in saeculum saeculi (s. Irenaeus)Domine, in virtute tua laetabitur rex •• .. (LH Vol 3, 598-599; Brev . Mon . (25)

Ant. 4: In conspectu angelorum psallam tibi Deus meus

Psalmus 1 37

Gratiarum actio

Reges terrae afferent gloriam suam et honorem in civitatem sanctam (cf Apoc 21 ,24)

Confitebor tibi, Domine, in toto corde meo • •• (LH Vol 3, 967; Brev . Monast. (236)

4. LECTIO BREVIS: Rom 1 1 ,33 - 36 (LH Vol 3, p. 548; Brev

.Monast (247) In Officio dominicali et feriali

per annum,lectio brevis indicatur in Psalterio currente.

In sollemnitatibus et festis, lectio brevis habetur in Proprio vel in communi.

In memoriis Sanctorum, lectio brevis, nisi adsit propria, sumitur ad libitum aut e comm.uni aut e feria.

Doauments from the Inter-Order Liturgy Commission 71

LECTIO LONGIOR. Ad libitum vero lectio longior eligi potest ad normam n. 46 Institutio generalis .

5. RESPONSIO AD VERBUM DEI

Post lectionem vel homiliam, pro opportunitate spatium aliquod silentii servari potest.

Praeterea praebetur cantus responsorialis seu RESPONSORIUM BREVE, quod eodem loco invenitur quo lectio brevis .

Responsorium breve: Quam magnificata sunt •• • (LH Vol 3, 548; Brev. Monast (247)

6. ANTIPHONA AD CANTICUM EVANGELICUM ut in Proprio de Tempore

7. CANTICUM EVANGELICUM: Magnificat anima mea Dominum •..

8. PRECES SEU INTERCESSIONES pr'o opportuni tate (LH Vol 3, 538)

VEL: Expleto Cantico Evangelico ac repitita Antiphona statim dicitur:

Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison.

9. Post praedidas preces ORATIO DOMINICA dicitur, praemissa pro op portunitate brevi monitione sicut in AppendiceLH (Vol 3, 1630) indicatur:

PATER NOSTER, QUI ES IN CAELIS • •••

10. ORATIO CONCLUSIVA.

Post Pater noster dicitur immediate, et sineOremus:

Oratio conclusiva.

72

1 1 . CONCLUSIO HORAE

Dominus vobiscum

R/- Et cum spiritu

tuo V/- BENEDICAMUS

DOMINO R/- DEO

GRATIAS

V/- DIVINUM AUXILIUM MANEAT SEMPER NOBISCUM

R/- ET CUM FRATRIBUS NOSTRIS ABSENTIBUS. AMEN.

In recitatione a solo sic concluditur:

DOMINUS NOS BENEDICAT, ET AB OMNI MALO

DEFENDAT, ET AD VITAM PERDUCAT AETERNAM, CUM

FRATRIBUS NOSTRIS ABSENTIBUS

R/- AMEN.

Doawnents from the Inter-Order Liturgy Commission 73

DOMINICA

AD VIGILIAS

1. AD INVITATORIUM:

V/- Domine, labia mea aperies

R/- Et os meum annuntiabit laudem tuam

2. ANTIPHONA AD INVITATORIUM:

Adoremus Dominum, qui fecit nos, alleluia(Brev. Monast. p. 23)

Alia: Venite, exultemus Domino, iubilemus Deo salutari nostro, alleluia (LH Vol 3, 549)

Alia: Populus Domini et oves pascuae eius,venite, adorcmus eum, alleluia (LH Vol 3,671 )

3. Psalnru.s 80

Sollemnis renovatio foederis

Videte, ne forte sit in aliquo vestrum cor malum incredulitatis (Hebr. 3, 1 2)

Exsultemus Deo, adiutori nostro • • •• •• (LH Vol 3, 7 50 ; Brev. Monast. (1 36)

4. HYMNUS CONGRUUS: 1. Primo dierum omnium (Brev .Monast. (23)

2. Nocte surgentes (B,re. Monast. (24)

3. Dies aetasque ceteris: Quando Officium dicitur diurno tempore (LH Vol 3, 550 )

4. M diae noctis tempus est (LH Vol 3, 671 )

5. Salve dies, dierum gloria: Quando Officium dicitur diurno tempore (LH Vol

3, 672-673)6. Ad preces nostras deitatis aures: Quando Officium dicitur diurno tempore

(LH Vol 3 953 - 954 )

74

5. PSALMODIA IN I NOCTURNO

ANTIPHONA: Virgam potentiae suae emittet Dominusex Sion et regnabit in aeternum, alleluia

Psalmus 109

Messias rex et

sacerdos

Oportet illum regnare, donec ponat omnes inimicos sub pedibus eius (1 cor 1 5, 25)

Dixit Dominus Domino meo: Sede a dextris meis ••• (LH Vol. 3, 562; Brev. Monast (223)

ANTIPHONA :Diligam te, Domine, virtus mea

Psalmus 17

Gratiarum actio pro salute et victoria

In illa hora factus est terraernotus rnagnus(Apoc 1 1

,13} Diligam te, Domine, fortitudo mea .•..(LH Vol 3, 603-606; 620 - 622; Brev. Monast.(16-20)

ANTIPHONA 3: Ego constitui Regem meum super Sion

Psalmus 2

Messias rex et victor

Convenerunt vere adversus puerum tuum Iesum, quern unxisti (Act 4, 27 )

Quare frenuerunt gentes,et populi meditati sunt inania.... (LH Vol 3, 552; Brev. Monast. (3)

6. VERSUS

'

Ante lectiones dicitur versus, qui orationem l1

convertat a psalmodia ad auditionem verbi Dei 1

PomAments from the Inter-Order Liturgy Corronission 75

7. LECTIO BIBLICA

Duplex habetur lectio. Prior est lectio biblica cum suo responsorio, prouti Officium occurrens requirit.

Altera lectio est ex operibus Patrum vel Scriptorum ecclesiasticorum; vel est lectio hagiographica in celebrationibus Sanctorum, sive sint sollernnitatibus sive festa, sive memoriae.

In Sollernnitatibus autem et Festis, et omnibus Dominicis tertia lectio habetur pro opportunitate.

8. RESPONSORIUM

9. IN II NOCTURNO

Antiphona 4: Speciosus forma prae filiis hominum, diffusa est gratia in labiis tuis

Psalmus 44

Regis nuptiae

Ecce Sponsus venit; exite obviam ei (Mt 25,6)

Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum, ...(LH vol 3 702 - 703; Brev. Monast (74)

Antiphona 5: Factus est Dominus refugium pauperi in tribulatione

Psalmus 9

Gratiarum

actio

Iterum venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos

Confitebor tibi, Domine, in toto corde meo; narrabo ornnia mirabilia tua ..(LH Vol 3, 569-570; 585-587; Brev. Monast. (7)

76

Antiphona 6: Posui te in lucem gentium, ut sis salus mea usque ad extremum terrae

Psalmus 71

Regis Messiae potestas

Apertis thesauris suis, obtulerunt ei munera: aurum, tus et myrrham (Mt 2,1 1 )

Deus, iudicium tuum regi da, et iustitiam tuam filio regis.

1O . VERSUS:

1 1. LECTIO PATRISTICA vel HAGICGRAPHICA

1 2. RESPONSORIUM

13 . IN III Ncx;TURNO

Pro opportunitate sub congruenti antiphona dicuntur tria cantica,

14. VERSUS subiungitur prouti Officium occurrens

requirit. 1 5. HOMILIA e Lectionario Monastico vel ab

Abbate habita. 16 .RESPONSORIUM

1 7. ymnus:TE DEUM

1 8 . EVANGELIUJ. R/- AMEN

1 9. TE DECET LAUS

20. OREMUS:

Doauments from the Inter-Order Liturgy Commission 77

21 . ORATIO CONCLUSIVA

22. BENEDICAMUS DOMINO

DEO GRATIAS

IN III NOCTURNO

Alia structura pro opportunitate

1 3. Cantica ex Vetere Testamento cum una Antiphona prouti Officium occurrens requirit

14 . Ver s us subiungitur prouti Officium occurrens requ.irit.

1 5 . Deinde HYMNUS: TE DEUM

16 . EVANGELIUM

17 . R/- AMEN

1 8. TE DECET LAUS

1 9. LECTIO 3 vel Homilia ab Abbate

habita 2o. RESPONSORIUN

21 . CONCLUSIO HORAE

OIIBMUS (Sacrum silentium)

ORATIO CONCLUSIVA

22. BENEDICAMUS DOMINO

R/- DEO GRATIAS.

78

DOMINICA

AD LAUDES

1 • V/- Deus, in adiutorium meum intende

R/- Domine, ad adiuvandum me festina .

2. HYMNUS

Gloria Patri. Sicut erat. Alleluia

dicitur congruus

3. PSALMODIA

Ant 1 : Mirabilis in altis Dominus,

alleluia Psalmus92

Magnificentia Domini creatoris

Regnavit Dominus Deus noster omnipotens; gaudeamus et exsultemus et demus gloriam ei (Apoc 1 9, 6-7)

Dominus regnavit, decorem indutus est ... (LH Vol 3, 800; Brev. Monast. (52)

Ant 2: Tu, Domine, protector meus et exaltans caput meum

Psalmus 3

Dominus protector meus

Dormivit et somnum coepit et resurrexit, quoniam Dominus suscepit eum. (s. Irenaeus).

Domine, quid multiplicati sunt qui tribulant me? (LH Vol 3, 553; Brcv. Monast (22)

Ant 3: Clamavi ad te, et sanasti me, Domine; in aeternum confitebor tibi

Doauments from the Inter-Order Litury 9ol1]111 Sqion 79

Psalmus 29

Gratiarum actio pro liberatione a morte

Christus post resurrectionem gloriosarn Patri gratias agit (Cassiodorus)

Exaltabo te, Domine, quoniarn extraxisti me, nee delectasti inimicos meos super me.(LH Vol 3, 632-633; Brev . Monast. (33)

Ant 4: Deo nostro iucunda sit laudatio

Psalmus 1.46

Domini potentia et bonitas

Te Dcm laudamus, te Dominum

confitemur Laudate nominum,guoniam bonum est psallere Deo nostro (LH Vol 3, 995; Brev. Monast. (246);

Ant 5: Lauda, Ierusalem, quia per te omnes congregabuntur ad Dominum

Psalmus 1 47

Instauratio Ierusalem

Veni, et ostendarn tibi sponsam, uxorem Agni (Apoc 21 ,9)

Lauda, Ierusalem, Dominum(LH Vol 3, 1 01 2; Brev. Monast. (247)

4. LECTIO BREVIS: In Officio dominicali et feriali per annum,lectio brevis indicatur in Psalterio currente.

In sollemnitatibus et festis, lectio brevis habetur in Proprio vel in Communi.

In memoriis Sanctorum, lectio brevis, nisi adsit propria, sumitur ad libitum aut e Communi aut a feria.

80

LECTIO LONGIOR Ad libitum vero, lectio longioreligi potest ad normam n. 46Institutionis generalis.

5. RESPONSIO AD VERBUM DEI

Post lectionem vel homiliam, pro opportunitate spatium aliquod silentii servari potest.

Praeterea praebetur cantus responsorialis seu responsorium breve, quod eodem loco invenitur quo lectio brevis.

6. CANTICUM EVANGELICUM CUM ANTIPHONA

Dicitur cum antiphona conveniente sequens canticum evangelicurn .

In Officio domin1cali per annum, antiphona ad Benedictus sumitur e Proprio; in Officio vero feriali, e Psalterio. In celebrationeautem Sanctorum, nisi adsit propria, sumitur e Communi.

De Messia eiusque praecursore Bcncdictus Dominus Deus Israel.(LH vol 3, 529; Brev . Monast. (57)

7. PRECES AD DIEM OPUSQUE DOMINO CONSECRA.NDUM

Absoluto cantico, fiunt prcces, pro opportunitate. In Officio dominicali et feriali per annum,preces inveniuntur in Psalterio

In sollemnitatibus et festis, prcces habentur in Proprio vel in Communi

In memoriis Sanctorum, preces sumuntur, ad libitum, aut e Communi aut e feria, nisi propria adsint.

VEL : expleto Cantico Evangelico ac repetita Antiphona statirn dicitur:

Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison .

Poauments from the Inter-Order Liturgy Commission 81

9. Post praedicta s preces Oratio Dominica dicitur, praemissa pro opportunitate brevi monitione sicut in Appendi ce LH(Vol 3, 1630) indicatur:

PATER NOSTER, QUI ES IN CA.ELIS ..•

10. ORATIO CONCLUSIVA

Post Pater noster dicitur immediate, et sine Oremus: Oratio conclusiva .

R/- AMEN11 . CONCLUSIO HORAE

Deinde, si praeest sacerdos vel diaconus:

Do""li:r,,,s vobiscum

R/- Et cum spiritu

tuo V/- BENEDICAMUS

DOMINO R/- DEO

GRATIAS

V/- DIVINUM AUXILIUM MA.NEAT SEMPER VOBISCUM

R/- ET CUM FRATRIBUS NOSTRIS ABSENTIBUS.

AMEN

VEL PRO OPPORTUNITATE:

Dominus vobiscum

R/- Et cum spiritu tuo •BENEDICAT VOS OMNIPOTENS DEUS, PATER, ET FILIUS,ET SPIRITUS SANCTUS

R/- AMEN

In recitatione a solo sic concluditur:

Dominus nos Benedicat, et ab orrmi malo defendat,et ad vitam perducat aeternam, cum fratribus nostris abscntibus.

R/- J\ N .

•

82

AD HORAM MEDIAM

AD TERTIAM, SEXTAM, et NONAM seu ad HOR!M MEDIAM

1 . v/- Deus, in adiutorium mcum intende,

R/- Domine, ad adiuvandum me festina.

Gloria Patri, Sicut erat,

Alleluia

2 . HYMNUS Deinde dicitur hymnus conguus

AD TERTIAM

Nunc, sancte, nobis, Spiritus,

vel: Certum tenentes ordinem ...(LH Vol 3,

532) AD SEXTAM

Rector potens, verax Deus,

vel:Dicamus laudes Domino ... (LH Vol 3,

533) AD NONAM

Rerum, Deus, tenax vigor,

vel: Ternis horarum terminis.. (LH Vol 3 , 534 )

3 . PSALMODIA

Ant. 1 : Bencdictus qui venit in nomine Domini,

alleluia Psalmus 1 1 7

vox iubilationis et salutis

Hie est lapis qui reprobatus est a vobis aedifican tibus qui factus est in caput anguli (Act 4, 1 1 )

Document0. from the Inter-Order Liturgy Commission 83

confitemini Domino, quoniara bonus,quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius. Dicat nunc Israel ..•(LH Vol 3, 677 - 678; Brev . Monast. (51 )

Ant. 2: Confitemini Domino, quoniam in aeternum misericordia eius.

Psalmus 1 35

Hymnus paschalis

Domini res gestas narrare, laudare est (Cassiodorus)

confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus, quoniam in aeternum misericordia eius(LH Vol 3, 948 - 950; Brev. Monast. (1 80)

4. LECTIO BREVIS:

Post psalmodiam fit lectio brevis.

In Officio dominicali et feriali per annum lectio brevis sumitur e Psaltcrio currente.

In sollemnitatibus vero et festis, lectio brevis invenitur in Proprio vel in communi.

In Memoriis Sanctorum, lectio brevis, nisi adsit propria, sumitur ad libitum aut e communi aut e feria.

LECTIO LONGIOR

Ad libitum vero lectio longior eligi potest ad normam n. L\-6 Institutio generalis LH e Lectionario Monastico.

5. ORA.TIO CONCLUSIVA

Postea dicitur oratio, cui praemittitur invitatio:OREMUS

Et respondetur: AMEN.

6. Deinde additur acclamatio:

BENEDICAMUS DOMINO

R/- DEO GRATIAS.

84

DOMINICA AD II VESPERAS

1. v/- Deus, in adiutorium. Gloria Patri, Sicut erat. Alleluia

2. HYMNUS: Lucis creator optimc

3 . PSALMODIA

Ant 1 . A solis ortu usque ad occasum, laudabile nomen Domini

Psalmus 1 1 2

Laudabile nomen Domini

Deposuit potentes de sede, et exaltavit humiles (Le 1 ,52)

Laudate, puGri Domini, laudatc nomen Domini .. (LH Vol 3, 792; Brev. Monast. (225)

Ant 2: A facie Domini mota est terra, alleluia

Psalmus 1 1 3 A

Israel ex Aegypto liberatur

Cognoscite etiam vos exiisse ab Acgypto, qui huic sacculo renuntiastis (S. Augustinus)

In exitu Israel de Aegypto,(LH Vol 3, 563; Brev. Monast. (227)

Ant 3: Deus noster in caelo; omnia quaecumque voluit fecit, alleluia

Psalmus 1 1 3 B

Laus veri Dei

conversi cstis ad Deum a simulacris, servireDea vivo et vero (I Thcss 1 ,9)

Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam.••(LH Vol 3, 685-686; Brev. Monast. (227)

iI

J

.Docwnents from the Inter-Order Liturgy Commission 85

Ant 4: Domine;, libera animam meam de morte, pedes meos a lapsu

Psalmus 114

Gratiarum actio

Per multas tribulationes oportet nos intrare in regnum Dei (Act 14, 21 )

Dilexi, quoniam exaudit Dominus vocem deprecationis meae ..( LH Vol 3, 7 7 5 ; Brev. Monast. ( 228 )

Ant 4: Calicem salutaris accipiam, et nomen Domini invocabo

Psalnru.s 115

Gratiarum actio in templo

Per ipsum (Christum) offerimus hostiam laudis scmper Deo (Hebr 13 , 1 5 )

Credidi, etiam cum locutus sum: ego humiliatus sum nimis ....(LH Vol 3, 792-793; Brev. Monast. (228)

4. LECTIO BREVIS: 2 cor 1 , 4

vel:

LECTIO LONGIOR ad libitum eligi potest ad normam n. 46 Institu tionis generalis

5. RESPONSIO AD VERBUM DEI:

Post lectionem vel homiliam, pro opportunitate spatium aliquod silentii serva.re potest.

vel:

RESPONSORIUM BREVE

86

6. ANTIPHONA AD CANTICUM EVANGELICUM:

7 . PRECES SEU INTERCESSIONES pro opportunitate (LH Vol 3 , 56 5 )

vel: Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison.

8. PATER NOSTER

9. ORATIO CONCLUSIVA dicitur immediate, et sine Orcmus

10. CONCLUSIO HORAE

Dorninus vobiscum

R/- Et cum spiritu

tuo BENEDICAMUS DOMINO

R/. DEO GP'"ATIAS

V/- DIVINUM AUXILIUM M..\NEAT SEMPER

NOBISCUM R/- ET CUM FRATRIBUS NOSTRIS

ABSENTIBUSAMEN

In rccitatione a solo, sic concluditur:

DOMINUS NOS BENEDICAT, ET AB OMNI :MALO DEFENDAT ET AD VITAM PERDUCAT AETERNAM CUM FRATRIBUS NOSTRIS ..: BSENTIBUS. AMEN.

Doawnenta from the Inter-Order Liturgy Commission 87

AD COMPLETORIUM

1 . PRAEPARATI O HORAE

Fieri potest pro opportunitate lectio spiritualis.

Deindc, vcl si lectio non habetur, absolute dicitur

v/- Converte nos Deus, salutaris noster R/- Et averte iram tuam a nobis.

Postea laudabiliter fit conscientiae discussio, quae in cclebratione communi inseri potest in actum paenitentialcm, iuxta formulas in Missa adhibitas.

2 . HYMNUS :

3 . PSALMODIA :

Tc lucis ante terminum (LH Vol 3, 538; Brev• .Monast. (252 )

vel

Christe,. qui splendor ct.dies (LH Vol 3, 538)

Tres psalmi dicuntur sine

antiphona Psalmus 4

Gratiarum actio

Admirabilem fecit Dominus, quern sscitavit a mor tuis (s. Augustinus)

Invocantem exaudi me, Deus iustitiae meae (LH Vol 3, 891 ; Brev. Monast. (250) )

Psalmus 90

In protectione Altissimi

Ecce dedi vobis potestatem calcandi supra serpentes et scorpiones (Le 1 0, 19)

Qui habitat in protectione Altissimi( LH Vol 3, 894; Brev .Monast. ( 251 )

88

Psalmus 1 33

Vespertina oratio in templo

Laudem dicite Deo nostro, omnes servi eius et qui timetis eum, pusilli et magni (Apoc 1 9,5)

Ecce benedicite Dominum, omnes servi Domini (LH Vol 3, 892; Brev . Monast. 251 )

4. LECTIO BREVIS: (sumenda pro opportunitate de Liturgia Horarwn)

5. VERSUS: Custodi nos, Domine, ut pupillam

oculi. R/- Sub umbra alarum tuarum

protege nos .

VEL pro opportunitate

5. RESPONSORIUM BREVE (LH Vol 3, pp 892-893)

R/- In manus tuae, Domine, dommendo spiritum meum.In manus.

R/- Redemisti nos, Domine Deus veritatis . commendo spiritum meum Gloria Patri. In manus tuas, Domine, conunendo spiritum meum .

Antiphona : Salva nos, Domine, vigilantes, custodi nos dormientes, ut vigilemus cum Christo et requiescamus in pace .

CANTICUM EVANGELICUM

Christus lumen Gentium et gloria Israel

Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace ;

quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum.

quod parastiante f aciem omnium populorum:

lumen ad revelationem gentium et gloriam plebis tuae Israel .

Antiphona: Salva nos, Domine ••• ut supra.

PoCJUTrJen ts from the Inter-Order Liturgy Corronission 89

6. Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie

eleison . Pater noster.

Post Pater noster dicitur inunediate et sine Oremus

1. ORATIO CONCLUSIVA: Visita, quaesumus, Domine • • • (LH Vol 3 , 893 ;

Brev . Monast. (252)vel: Visita, nos, quaesumus, Domine, hac

nocte ••• (LH Vol 3, 893 )

8. Deinde dicitur, etiam a solo, benedictio:

Noctem quietam et finem perfectum concedat nobis Dominus omnipotens.

R/- AMEN

9. Sequitur una ex antiphonis de beata Maria Virgine: SINE ALIIS ADDITIONIBUS vel ORATIONIBUS.(LH Vol 3, 540; Brev. Monast. (253 - 254)

=====================================================================SCHEMA III : Psalterium integrum per duas

hebdomadas distributum.

FERIA V HEBDOMADAE I

AD VIGILIAS

1 . Ad Invitatorium:

v/- Domine, labia mea aperies

R/- Et os meum ann-Llntiabit laudem tuam

2. Antiphona ad Invitatorium:

Venite, adoremus Dominum, quia ipse est Deus noster

3. Psalmus Invitatorius :

90

Psalmus 1 33

Vespertina oratio in

templo

Laudem dicite Deo nostro, omnes servi eius et qui timetis eum, pusilli et magni (Apoc 19,5)

Ecce, benedicite Dominum omnes servi eius••• (LH Vol 3, 1 036; Mon. Brev. (251 )

4. Hymnus Congruus

5. PSALMODIA IN I NOCTURNO

Ant. 1 :

Psalmus 57

Si vere utique iustitiam loquimini (Brev. Monast. (94)LH Omit. )

Ant 2: Ab insurgentibus in me protege me Deus meus

Psalmus 58

Adver sus insurgentes oratio

Hae voces Salvatoris pietatem erga Patrem suum omnes edoceant (Eusebius caesariensis)

Eripe me de inimicis meis Deus meus(LH Vol 3, 771 ; Brev. Monast. (95) )

Ant 3: Beatus homo, qui corripitur a Deo: ipse vulnerat et medetur

Psalmus 59

Post calamitatem oratio

In mundo pressurarn habetis, sed confidite; Ego vici mundum (roan 16, 33 )

Deus reppulisti nos, destruxisti nos; (LH Vol 3, 772; Brev. Monast. (1 06) )

91

6 . VE.RSUS

7. ECTIO BIBLICA

8 c RESPONSORI UM

a_,

L· ... . , " T' : ·' c::rt t:: ·::J[t I1:.-..:-: r,;;.;:.:J:i\l..Tr pa1Jper:!i1: tr·ihn1c:·.:. i.or...e

Psa1mus 9 A

G1'atiaru.m actio pro •rictoria

It ri.1m ven turus est i.uuica:.L•e ·r.rJ.-.ros et mo:rtuos

confite bor tibi, Domine, in toto corde meo ••narrabo o:mnia mirabilia tua•.(l.!E Vol 3, 56 9 ; Brev. Mon2"s t . ( 7 ) )

Ant. 5: Iudicabit Dominus in iustitia pauperes

Psalrnu3 9 B

Gratiarum actio

Beati paupe1es, quL:, vestrum est regnum Dei ( Le 6 , 20 )

Ut quid., Domine, s::as a lnnge, abscond.is te in opportu.nitatibus•. .(LH Vol 3, 585-587; Brev. Monast. (10-1 1 )

i-\.nt 6 : Misericordia mea et refugium meum : in ipso speravi

Psalmus 143

Pro victoria et pace

Manus eius edoctae sunt ad bellUJ11, cum saeculumvincit: Ego enim:, ait, vici mundum (S.Hilarius)

Benedictus Dominus, praesidium meum, qui docet manus meas ad proelium ...(LH Vol 3, 1 001 - 1 002; Brev. Monast. (242-243)

92

1o. VERSUS

1 1. LECTIO PATRISTICA vel HAGIOGRAPHICA

1 2. RESPONSORIUM

1 3. ORATIO CONCLUSIVA:

orationi praemittitur invitatio:OREMUS:

14. R/- AMEN

1 5. BENEDICAMUS DOMINO

Rf- DEO GRATIAS

FERIA V HEBROMA.DAE II

AD LAUDES

1 . v/- Deus, in adiutorium meum

intende, R/- Domine, ad adiuvandum me festina. Gloria

Patri, Sicut erat, alleluia

2. H'Yl'.INUS CONGRUUS

3. PSALMODIA:

Ant 1 : veritas Domini manet in aeternum

Psalmus 116

Laus miserentis Domini

Dico••• gentes super misericordia honorare Deus (Rom 1 5,8 .9)

Laudate Dominum omnes gentes collaudate eum omnes populi(LH Vol 3, 908; Brev. Monast (229)

DQ.OUJTJ ent s from the Inter-Order Liturg 'JI Corrunission 93

Ant 2: Beatus vir, cui non imputavit Dominus peccatum .

Psalmus 31

Beatus cui remissa est iniquitas

David dicit beatitudinem hominis, cui Deus accepto fert iustitiam sine operibus (Rom 4,6)

Beatus cui remissa est iniquitas, et obtectum est peccatum • ••(LH Vol 3, 633-634; Brev. Monast. (36)

Ant 3: Repleti sumus mane misericordia tua,

Domine Psalmus 89

Sit splendor Domini super nos

Unus dies apud Dominum sicut mille anni, et mille anni sicut dies unus ( 2 PGtr . 3 , 8 )

Domine, refugium factus es nobis a generatione in generationem .•.(LH Vol 3, 939 - 941 Brev . Monast. (144 )

Sequitur CANTICA ex Vetere Testamento seu Lectio

Deinde

Ant 4: Lauda Deum tuum, Sion, qui emittit eloquium suum terrae

Psalmus 147

Instauratio Jerusalem

Veni, et ostendam tibi sponsam, uxorem Agni (Apoc 21 , 9 )

Lauda, Ierusalem, Dominum ••(LH Vol 3, 1 01 2; Brev . Monast. (247)

4. LECTIO

BREVIS

vel

LECTIO LONGIOR

94

5. RESPONSIO AD VERBUM DEI

6. CANTICUM EVANGELIUM CUM ANTIPHONA

7 . PRECES AD DIEM OPUSQUE DOMINO

CONSECRANDUM vel LITANIAE

PATER NOSTER

8. ORA.TIO CONCLUSIVA sine Oremus

9. DEMISSIO* * *FERIA V AD HORAM MEDIAM (Hebdomada I)

1 . V/- Deus in adiutorium . Gloria Patri. Sicut erat. Alleluia

2 . HYNUS congruus ut in Ordinario

3. PSALMODIA AD TERTIAM

Ant 1 : Clamavi, et Dominus exaudivit

me Psalmus 1 1 9

Desiderium pacis

In tribulatione patientes, orationi instantGs (Rom 1 2, 1 2)

Ad Dominum cum tribularer clamavi, et exaudivit me(LH Vol 3, 945-946; Brev. Monast. (21 4)

Ant 2: Auxilium meum a Domino, qui fecit caelum. et terram

Psalmus 1 20

custos populi

Non esurient neque siticnt amplius, nee cadet super illos sol neque ullus aestas (Apoc. 7, 16)

D9cuments from the Inter-Order Liturgy Commission 95

Levabo oculos meos in montes(LH Vol 3, 775-776; Brev . Monast. (214)

Ar t 3: l<.09ate quae ad pacem sunt Ieru.sc\lem

Ci vi t as .sancta Ierusalem

Accessistis ad Sion montem et civitatem Dei viventi s1 Ierusalem caelestem (Hebr, 1 2, 22)

Laetatus sujn in \30 qu'Jd dixerunt mi!".i.i (LH Vol 3, 91 5; Brcv. Monast. (21 4)

4. LECTT.0

BREVIS 5. V/-R/-

6. ORATIO CONCLUSIVA. -)(- -)( :<-

AD SEXTAM

1. Deus in adiutorium. Gloria Patri. Sicut erat. Alleluia.

2. Hymnus congruus etc ut supra .

3. PSALMODIA

Ant 1 : oculi nostri semper ad Dominum, donec misereatu r nostri.

Psalmus 1 22

Dominus fiducia populi

Duo caeci•.• clamaverunt: Domine, miserere nostri, Fili, David (Mt 20, 30).

Ad te levavi oculos meos, gui habitas in caelis •••(LH Vol 3, 826; Brev. Monast. (21 7)

96

Ant 2: Adiutorium nostrum in nomine Domini, qui fecit caelum et terram.

Psalmus 1 23

Adiutorium nostrum in nomine Domini

Dixit Dominus Paulo: Noli timere • • • propter quod ego sum tecum (Act 1 8, 9-10)

Nisi quia Dominus erat in nobis••••(LH Vol. 3, 827; Brev .Monast. (217)

Ant 3: Dominus in circuitu populi sui

Psalmus 1 24

Dominus custos populi sui

Pax super Israel Dei (Gal 6,

16)

Qui confidunt in Domino, sicut mons Sion: non commovebitur, in aeternum manet(LH Vol 3, 844; Brev .Monast. (21 7)

4. LECTIO BREVIS

5 . v/R/-

6. ORATIO CONCLUSIVA * * *AD NONAM

1. Deus in adiutorium .Gloria Patri. Sicut erat. Alleluia

2. Hynmus congruus etc . ut supra

3. PSALMODIA

Ant 1 : Qui seminant in lacrimis, in exsultatione metent.

..Vocuments from the Inter-Order Liturgy Commission 97

Psalmus 1 25

Gaudium et spes in Deo

Sicut socii passionum estis, sic eritis et consolationis ( 2 cor 1 , 7 )

In convertendo Dominus captivitatem Sion H Vol 3, 861 ; Brev. Monast. (220) )

Ant. 2: Dominus aedificet nobis domum et custodiat civitatem

Psalmus 1 26

Vanus labor sine Domino

Dei aedificatio estis ( 1 Cor 3 , 9 )

Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum(LH Vol 3, 862; Brev . Monast. (220)

4. LECTIO BREVIS

5. v/R/-

6. ORATIO CONCLUSIVA

* * *AD VESPERAS

FERIA V

HEBDOMADA I

1 . Deus in adiutorium. Gloria Patri. Sicut erat.

Alleluia 2• Hymnus congruus•

3. Psalmodia

98

Ant 1 . Si oblitus fucro tui, Ierusalem, oblivioni detur dextera mea .

Psalmus 1 36

Super flumina Babylonis

Hane corporalem populi captivitatem referre in exemplum spiritalis captivitatis oportet (S. Hilarius)

Super flumina Babylonis• • •(LH Vol 3, 966; Brev. Monast. (236)

Ant 2: Dirigatur, Domine, oratio mes sicut incensum in cosp2ctu tuo

Psalmus 1 40

In periculis oratio

Et ascendit fumus incensorum de orationibus sanctorum de manu angeli coram Deo (Apoc. 8, 4 )

Domine clarnavi ad te, ad me fcstina .• . (LH Vol, 546; Brev . Monast (240) )

Sequitur CANTICA seu LECTIO de NOVO TESTAMENTO

Ant. 3. Exaltate Dominura Deum nostrum, et adorate ad montem sanctura eius

Psalmus 98

Sanctus Dominus Deus noster

Tu es super cherubim, qui malum statum terrac conunutasti, cum ad nostram similitudinem factus es (s. Athana ius)

Dominus regnavi t, conunoveantur populi(LH Vol 3, 872; Brev . Monast (1 59-160)

3.

PSALMODIA:

A

D

V

E

S

P

E

R

A

S

F

E

R

I

A

V

HEBDOMADA II

Ant 1

: Rectos decet collaudatio

Documents from the Inter-Order Liturgy Corrurzission 99

Psalmus 32

Laus Domini providen.tis

Omnia per ipsum facta sunt (roan 1 , 3 )

Exsultate, iusti, in Domino(LH Vol 3, 591-592; Brev . Monast. (60)

Ant 2: Sana, Domine, animam meam, quia peccavi tibi

Psalmus 40

Infirmi oratio

Unus ex vobis tradet me, qui manducat mecum (Mc 1 4, 1 8)

Beatus qui intellegit de egeno •••(LH Vol 3, 651 ; Brev. Monast (71 ) )

Sequitur CANTICA vel LECTIO de NOVO TESTAMENTO

Ant 3: Exaltate Dominum ••• ut supra

Psalmus 98

ut supra

4. LECTIO BREVIS

5 . RESPONSORIUM BREVE

6. ANTIPHONA AD CANTICUM EVANGELICUM. ut in Proprio de Tempore

7 . CANTICUM EVANGELICUM

8. PRECES vel LITANIAE

9. ORATIO CONCLUSIVA

1 0.CONCLUSIO HORIS

100

AD COMPLETORIUM

Quotidie dicuntur sequentes

psalmi Psalmus 4

Gratiarum actio

Admirabilem fecit Dominus, quern suscitavit a mortuis( s . Augustinus)Invocantem exaudi me, Deus iustitiae meae; (LH Vol 3, 1035; Brev . Monast.(250)

Psalmus 90

In protectione Altis simi

Ecce dedi vobis potestatem calcandi supra serpentes et scorpiones (Le 1 0, 19)

Qui habitat

in'protectione Altissimi

(LH Vol 3, 1038 i Brev. Monast. (251 )