The Office of Compline will be chanted at Mater Ecclesiae on Wednesday, June 30 following the evening Mass. Because the Feast of the Most Precious Blood begins with First Vespers that same evening, Compline that evening will take the Sunday antiphon and psalms in place of the Wednesday arrangement. The Hymn Te lucis will be sung in the Tone for Solemn Feasts and the Salve Regina in the Solemn Tone.
If utilizing the Compline booklet on this website, please have available pages 1-4, 22-24, 5, 12-15, and 20-21.
Also, Fr. Pasley, our chaplain, would like to start a system whereby the men and women sit on opposite sides of the aisle and alternate between themselves rather than mixed voices on either side. The men, therefore, should sit on the Epistle side (right) so they can sing in unison with Fr. Pasley, and the women should sit on the Gospel side (left) opposite to Father. This division only concerns the parts which alternate; everyone makes the responses such as Amen and Deo gratias in unison.
Vespers in the Solemn form (i.e. with servers and incense) followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament begin at 1:30 pm at Mater Ecclesiae on Sunday, June 13. Vespers are of the Third Sunday after Pentecost, which utilize the Ordinary Sunday arrangement for Vespers in the Vespers booklet (pages 226-239), with the proper Magnificat Antiphon and Collect for the Sunday as given on pages 242-244. The Hymn Lucis Creator will be sung in the first tone (since three options exist) starting on page 233.
If utilizing a Liber Usualis, please note that Vespers are not sung according to the instructions given (i.e. Vespers during the Octave of the Sacred Heart) because even in the 1962 editions of the Liber, the old rubrics concerning the former Octave of the Sacred Heart were never excised. Rather, Vespers are taken entirely from the Ordinary for Sunday Vespers up to and including the Chapter, Hymn, & Versicle, with the proper Magnificat Antiphon and Collect for the Third Sunday after Pentecost.
The Ordo page has been updated for all public Office services during the summer months.
Vespers will continue to be celebrated during the summer according to our once a month frequency. However, there are some planned deviations from the normally scheduled third Sunday of the month time. Please note these changes:
1. In June, Vespers will be celebrated on Sunday, June 13 instead of June 20. The time will be 1:30pm and the Vespers will be the Second Vespers of the Third Sunday after Pentecost. It is not yet clear whether these will be Solemn Vespers or Sung Vespers, so please check back here in the interim.
2. In July, Vespers are tentatively set for the third Sunday of that month – i.e. July 18 – and will be the Second Vespers of the 8th. Sunday after Pentecost.
3.In August, Solemn First Vespers of the Assumption of Our Lady (possibly with coped assistants) will be celebrated on Saturday, August 14 @ 6:00pm. These First Vespers will include the Commemoration of the First Vespers of the 12th. Sunday after Pentecost per the rubrics. No other public Vespers are set for the month of August. More information will follow ove r the following months.
Here is wishing all of you, fellow Confraternity members, a happy and holy Pentecost Sunday! May the Holy Ghost enflame us with ever more ardent devotion and zeal for the noble work we do to promote the Divine Office.
A joyous day and Octave to you all.
For this Octave, second only to Easter in importance, we will have Compline twice, on Tuesday and Wednesday evening. Compline is identical each night of the Octave - i.e. Sunday psalms, Pentecost Tone for the Te lucis, and the Solemn Tone Regina coeli.
In caritate Sancti Spiritus,
John
Second Vespers of the Sunday after the Ascension of Our Lord will be chanted on Sunday, May 16 @ 1:30 pm. Vespers will be sung but not solemnized, and no Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament will follow after Vespers for this particular Sunday.
Please take note of the following to assist in your participation therein:
1. If utilizing the Vesperal booklet linked on this website, please print out pages 167-172,201,195-198,202-203 and 176.
2. If utilizing a Liber Usualis or similar chant book, please note that Vespers for this particular Sunday no longer utilizes the five antiphons/psalms from the Feast of the Ascension (that was changed following the suppression of the former Octave of the Ascension in 1955/1956). Rather, the Triple Alleluia Antiphon with the five Sunday Psalms (all sung in Tone 7c2) as during the other Sundays in Eastertide is now prescribed also for the Sunday after the Ascension. The Chapter and everything which follows remains the same as in the the Liber Usualis. Oftentimes, the old rubrics were not expunged in their respective places in the Liber leading to confusion about matters such as these.
This note is a reminder that Compline is still sung on Tuesday evenings at 8:05 pm at Mater Ecclesiae, and this will continue until Tuesday, June 8 inclusive. Currently and also continuing during the summer, Compline takes place once a month, on the fourth Wednesday of the month following the evening Mass. If by chance there is no evening Mass on the appointed Wednesday, Compline will be rescheduled to another Wednesday. The next Wednesday Compline is scheduled for May 26. The longer term scheduling of Compline (and other Offices) after the summer is under review and any suggestions are highly sought and welcome at this time.
Next Tuesday, May 11 is the Feast of Sts. Philip & James, Apostles. This feast is ranked Second Class; as such, Compline for that evening takes on the Sunday psalms (Ps. 4, 90, & 133) instead of the Tuesday psalms (Ps. 11, 12, & 15) and the Regina Coeli is sung in the Solemn Tone instead of the Simple Tone. Everything else remains the same as that of days during Paschaltide.
On this coming Sunday, the Office of Vespers will be celebrated in the Solemn Form at Mater Ecclesiae, that is, with a Celebrant vested in Cope, servers, lit candles, and incense.
If utilizing the Vesperal linked to this website, you will need the following pages to sing the Second Vespers of the Second Sunday after Easter: 167 – 176 and 181 – 183. Psalm translations may be found on pages 510-516.