A Private Association of Catholic Faithful for Praying the Divine Office

The Confraternity of St. Benedict calls the readers’ attention to the discussion going on over at Rorate Caeli concerning the 100th. Anniversay of St. Pius X’s monumental liturgical reforms commissioned under Divino Afflatu. Divino Afflatu was and continues to be a significant piece of liturgical history and legislation especially for those of us who pray the Divine Office according to any Roman edition dated 1911-1968. Rorate also has an excellent and informative article written by Fr. Anthony Cekada (the CSB does not endorse his sedevacantist views but admires his love for the Divine Office and his seemingly endless knowledge of matters liturgical).

Mater Ecclesiae will be celebrating its annual 40 Hours’ Devotion of the Blessed Sacrament beginning with the Opening Mass on Friday, September 23, 2011 @ 7:30pm. Following the Mass will be a Procession/Litany of the Saints to open the Adoration period proper. Following the opening ceremonies, the Office of Compline will be chanted as written in the Liber Usualis and on our website here. Compline will be that of the Ember Friday observing the following:

Antiphon & Psalms of Friday, “Te lucis” hymn in the Ferial Tone, all except the Officiant kneel at the Collect, simple “Salve, Regina”.

At 6am on Saturday, September 24, the Offices of Matins & Lauds will be prayed recto tono and without ceremony. These together should take approximately an hour to pray. Again, the Office will be that of the Ember Day taking note of the following:

At Matins – Invitatory & Hymn from the Ferial Office per annum for Saturdays, 9 Antiphons & Psalms of Saturday, 3 Lessons from the Proper for the Ember Day, No “Te Deum” but a third Responsory

At Lauds – 5 Antiphons & Psalms from the Second Schema of Lauds for Saturday, Chapter/Hymn/Versicle from the Ferial Office per annum, Proper Benedictus Antiphon from Ember Saturday, Ferial Preces prayed kneeling after the Benedictus, kneel for the Collect, Commemoration of Our Lady of Ransom (Sept. 24) also prayed kneeling.

Resources for Compline are available on this website. John Rotondi has two Breviaries to loan out for Matins & Lauds, but if attendance will be greater, resource sheets will be distributed. If anyone else has a 1962 Breviary in Latin with the Vulgate Psalms (not the Pius XII Psalter), please let us know. More on this to follow.

I call to the membership’s attention an error on the 2011 Ordo and Liturgical Calendar issued by the FSSP concerning the observance of the Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord which the FSSP had originally marked as being transferred to Saturday, July 2 this year. This is an error; July 2 remains the 2nd. class Feast of the Visitation of the B.V.M.

Normally, the Precious Blood is celebrated on July 1 and is ranked First Class. However, because of the late date of Easter this year, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (also First Class) falls on July 1 (Friday after the 2nd. Sunday after Pentecost). The Sacred Heart, being a moveable feast, takes precedence. Section 95 of the Rubricae Generales issued on 25 July, 1960 states that whenever two feasts of the same Divine Person, Saint or Blesssed occur on the same day, the superior feast is celebrated while the other is omitted entirely. Since both feasts in question celebrate the Second Person of the Trinity, this rubric applies and the Feast of the Most Precious Blood is omitted this year rather than being transferred to another day according to the rubric in section 96 of the same instruction.

Priests retain the option of celebrating a 4th. class Votive Mass of the Precious Blood on Monday, July 4 which is a 4th. class Feria. However, there is no provision in the 1962 Breviarium to observe a Votive Office; therefore, the Office of the Most Precious Blood is omitted this year and the Office is of the Feria on July 4 regardless of the option to celebrate a Votive Mass of the former that day.

 The full schedule of Holy Week ceremonies at the Mater Ecclesiae may be found at its website www.materecclesiae.org

As a reminder for the CSB, the following Offices will be prayed publicly at Mater Ecclesiae:

Maundy Thursday

9 am – Tenebrae (Matins & Lauds) chanted in full

Around 9:45pm - Compline recto tono following the Stripping of the Altars (N.B. Compline is prayed in the main chapel not at the Altar of Repose)

Good Friday

 9am – Tenebrae (Matins & Lauds) chanted in full

7:30pm – Compline recto tono – following Stations of the Cross

Holy Saturday

9am – Tenebrae (Matins & Lauds) chanted in full

Around 11pm – Solemn Lauds (shortened version) of Easter after Communion at the Mass of the Easter Vigil

Please note that resource materials for all of the above services are available on this website. If you haven’t already, you should download the Tenebrae and Compline files and save them to your PC first for printing and faster retrieval in the future. 

Also note that the following pertaining to congregational singing at Tenebrae:

1. Only sing if you are able to read chant notation and pronounce Latin in a suitable manner. Suitable does not mean professional but simply the ability to carry a tune and keep in unison with the schola. Consider following the chant notes quietly from your Liber or program in order to gain familiarity with it for future years.

2. The congregation is normally welcome to sing all antiphons, psalms, canticles and short responses; the Lessons and Responsories are chanted only by the schola cantorum and/or individual cantors; please do not chant the Responsories from the pews!

3. Psalms verses are alternated between the two sides of the chapel. If you sit on the Epistle (right) side, you sing with the Celebrant and the cantors on that side; if you sit on the Gospel (left) side, you sing with the cantors on that side. Ergo, if you sit on the Gospel side, do not sing the same psalm verses with Fr. Pasley who is opposite to you.

4. If you sing, please sit in the front pews and try to distribute yourselves evenly so that not all congregrants are singing grouped on one side.