The Divine Office - Edward J. Quigley (popular ebook readers .txt) 📗

this day.
      May He in love retain us still,
      From tones of strife and words of ill,
      And wrap around and close our eyes
      To earth's absorbing vanities.
      May wrath and thoughts that gender shame
      Ne'er in our breasts abide.
      And painful abstinences tame
      Of wanton flesh, the pride" (Hymn at Prime).

Rubrics. The Office of Prime begins in choir with the silent recitation of Pater Noster, Ave, Credo. Then, if in choir (aloud) Deus in adjutorium. … Domine ad adjirvandum. … Gloria Patri…. Alleluia, or Laus tibi…. Then the hymn fam lucis is said. The antiphon for the day is said as far as the asterisk (*), then the Psalms of the day's Office as arranged in the new Pian Psaltery, according to the day of the week, except on some special feasts, when the Psalms at Prime are the Sunday psalms. When the ordo recitandi marks an Office as officium solemne (an excepted feast), the psalms at Lauds and Hours are the Sunday psalms; and at Prime the psalm Deus in nomine tuo (Psalm 53) takes the place of Psalm Confitemini (Psalm 117). At Prime, and at the small Hours, Terce, Sext, None, only one antiphon is said. It is said in full at the end of the last Psalm in each Hour.

The Capitulum, the little Responsory, Christe, Fili Dei vivi … is then said. In this responsory the versicle Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris is sometimes changed, e.g., in paschal time it is, Qui surrexisti a mortuis.

The manner of reciting this responsory is sometimes not correctly understood, owing, perhaps, to its printed form in some Breviaries. The normal method is to repeat the whole response, then say the versicle, and then the second portion of the response; then the Gloria Patri el Filio et Spiritui Sancto, without the Sicut erat, is said, and the response repeated. The versicle Exsurge and the response Et libera are then said. This is the method of recitation in all the small Hours and at Compline.

After this responsory, if the Office be of double rite or be an Office within an octave, or on the vigil of Epiphany or on Friday or Saturday after Ascension, or on a Sunday on which a double is commemorated, or an octave is celebrated, or on a semi-double feast within an octave, Dominus vobiscum, Et cum spiritu tuo, and the prayer Dominus Deus omnipotens is said. But if the Office be not any of these mentioned just now, the responsory is followed by the Preces.

Preces (Title XXXIV.) In the Breviary there are two sets of preces, the Preces Dominicales for Sunday and the Preces Feriales for ferial Offices. These ferial preces of Prime differ from the ferial preces of Lauds, and are said in Prime when the ferial preces are said in Lauds, That is, on the ferias of Advent, Lent, Passiontide, Ember days and Vigils. The ferial preces of Lauds are found in the Breviary, immediately after the second set of Psalms for ferial Lauds and after the short responsory in the psalm arrangements for the days of the week. (See Lauds, supra, p. 188.)

These prayers were introduced at a very early stage of Christian liturgy. St. Isidore writes that they come from Greek liturgy and the opening words Kyrie eleison seem to indicate remnants of an old litany. Formerly they were read oftener during the liturgical year than we now are called on to repeat them. They are sometimes referred to as the preces flebiles, tearful prayers, because they are said in times of penance, and are formed to excite tears. In choir recitation they are said kneeling. When the preces or the preces feriales are said the sign of the cross is made from the forehead to the breast, at the words Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini. Then the Confiteor is said.

The Confiteor was from an early date a prayer said privately as a preparation for Mass. It is found in several forms; Confiteor Deo, beatae Mariae, omnibus sanctis et vobis (Sarum Missal), but since the time of St. Pius V. (1566-1572) our present form alone was followed and allowed (S. R. C., 13th February, 1666). If the Office be recited privately or with one or two companions, the confiteor is said once only and simultaneously in the preces, and the words vobis fratribus and vos fratres, which priests say in the opening prayer of Mass are omitted. It should be remarked, too, that the Misereatur and Indulgentiam have not in this location vestri, vestris, vos, but nostri, nostris, nos. Sometimes errors in this part of the recitation of the Office are unnoticed, and this pronoun error makes the formula meaningless.

After the Indulgentiam come the concluding versicles of the preces, Dignare … sine peccato … miserere … miserere … Fiat … Quemadmodum … Domine … Et … Dominus vobiscum, Et cum spiritu tuo, and the prayer Domine Deus Omnipotens … Amen. … Dominus vobiscum, Et cum spiritu tuo. … Benedicamus Domino, Deo gratias. If the Office be said in choir, the martyrology is read at this part of Prime. The reading of the martyrology is not of obligation in private recitation of the Office; but the reading of it was highly recommended, even in private recitation, by Pope Gregory XIII. (14th January, 1584; see his words in the beginning of the Martyrology).

Then are said, Pretiosa … mors … sancta Maria … Deus in adjutorium… Domine ad adjuvandum (both the latter being repeated thrice) … Gloria Patri … Sicut erat … Kyrie eleison … Christe eleison … Kyrie eleison … Pater Noster (silently) until words "Et ne nos" … Sed libera … Respice … Et sit … Gloria Patri … Sicut erat … Oremus, Dirigere et … Amen, Jube Domine … Dies et actus … Amen.

The short lesson which, on all feasts, is the same as the chapter which is said at None will be found in the proper or common, under that Hour, The new Psalter and new rubrics made no change in this matter. Hence, for example, on the feast of SS. Peter and Paul the short lesson at end of Prime is taken from None of the feast, "Et Petrus ad se reversus"; the short lesson for Prime on the feast of St. Aloysius is "Lex Dei ejus" and not the short lesson printed in the Psalter under the day's Office.

On all Sundays and week days it varies according to the season. Thus—

1. From the 14th January until the first Saturday in Lent, from Monday to Wednesday in Trinity week, from the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi until the Saturday before Advent, the short lesson is "Dominus autem" (II. Thess. iii.),

2. From the first Sunday of Advent until the 23rd December inclusive it is "Domine miserere" (Isaias xxxiii,).

3. From the first Sunday of Lent until the Saturday before Passion Sunday inclusive it is "Quaerite Dominum" (Isaias iv.).

4. From Passion Sunday until Wednesday in Holy Week it is "Faciem meam" (Isaias, 1.),

5. From Easter Sunday to the Vigil of Ascension inclusive, the short lesson is "Si consurrexists" (Coloss. iii.).

At the end of the short lesson the words "Tu autem Domine, miserere
nobis; Deo gratias" are added, and after these words are said
"Adjutorium nostrum … Qui fecit … Benedicite Deus" and the Blessing,
"Dominus nos benedicat … requiescant in pace, Amen." Then Pater
Noster is said silently, unless another Hour is to follow immediately.

TEXTS AND INTENTIONS FOR PIOUS RECITATION OF PRIME.

1. "Herod and his army set him at nought" (St. Luke, c. 25).

2. "Not this man, but Barrabas. Crucify Him."

3. "I find no cause in Him. I will chastise Him and let Him go" (St. Luke).

4. "But Jesus he delivered up to their will" (St. Luke, c. 23).

5. "Shall I crucify your King?," (St. John, 19).

General Intentions. The Pope and his intentions; the propagation of the Faith; the priesthood; the Catholic laity; Catholic Missions in the East; Catholic Europe.

Personal Intentions. The spirit of meekness and humility; greater devotion to the Eucharist; greater love of the Blessed Virgin; the priestly vows.

Special Intentions. For our friends; for the sick and sorrowful; for the Church in Scotland; for our enemies; for the priesthood of America.

CHAPTER III. TERCE, SEXT, NONE (TITLE XVI.). TERCE.

Etymology. The word Terce comes from the Latin word tertia (hora), third. Because this little Hour was said at the third hour of the Roman day, that is, about 9 o'clock in the forenoon,

Structure. It consists of Pater Noster, Ave, Deus in adjutorium, Gloria Patri … Sicut erat … Amen, Alleluia, Hymn, opening words of the antiphon, the three psalms, antiphon in full, capitulum, response, Dominus vobiscum, Et cum spiritu tuo, Oremus, collect, Dominus vobiscum, Et cum spiritu tuo, Benedicamus … Deo gratias, Fidelium animae…. Amen. And Pater Noster is said silently if another Hour is not begun immediately.

Terce is called the golden Hour, hora aurea, because at this time of the day, the third Hour, the Holy Ghost, who is typified by gold, descended on the apostles. It is called sometimes the sacred Hour (hora sacra) because in conventional churches it is recited immediately before Holy Mass. It is the most solemn of all the small Hours.

Antiquity. The custom of praying at these three hours, terce, sext and none, is very ancient. It was in use amongst the devout Jews, and the early converts to Christianity retained the practice. The Apostolic Constitutions contain the words "Preces etiam vestras facite hora tertia."

Why does the Church wish us to pray at the third hour?

The question is asked by liturgists of olden times. Their replies are:—

1. to remind us of the hour when our Saviour was condemned (St. Mark, c. 15).

2. to remind us of the hour at which the Holy Ghost descended on the Church.

3. as the Church's hymn tells us that at this hour of the day when men are engrossed in worldly affairs, they especially need God's help,

     "Come, Holy Ghost, Who ever One,
      Reignest with Father and with Son.
      It is the hour, our souls possess
      With Thy full flood of holiness.
      Let flesh and heart and lips and mind
      Sound forth our witness to mankind.
      And love light up our mortal frame
      Till others catch the living flame,
      Now to the Father, to the Son,
      And to the Spirit, Three in One,
      Be praise and thanks and glory given,
      By men on earth, by saints in heaven. Amen."

      (Translation by Cardinal Newman of St. Ambrose's
        hymn, Nunc sancte).

TEXTS AND INTENTIONS FOR PIOUS RECITATION OF TERCE.

1. "Therefore, Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him."

2. "And the soldiers plaiting a crown of thorns put it on His head; and they put on Him a purple garment."

3. "And they came to Him and said, 'Hail, King of the Jews,' and they gave Him blows" (St. John).

4. "Jesus, therefore, came forth bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment, and he (Pilate) sayeth to them 'Behold the Man!'"

General Intentions. The Pope's Intentions; the conversion of heretics; the conversion of the Jews.

Personal Intentions. Devotion to the Holy Ghost; devotion to the Passion.

Special Intentions. Vocations in America and Australia; for the Irish people throughout the world; for the souls of our deceased penitents.

SEXT.

Etymology. The word Sext comes from the Latin word sexta, (hora), the sixth hour, because the little Hour should be said at what was the sixth hour of the Roman day, about mid-day with us.

Structure. The structure of this hour is similar to that given in Terce above, the hymn, antiphon, psalms, little chapter and responses differing, but the order and form being similar in both.

Antiquity. The Psalmist wrote, "Vespere et mane et meridie narrabo et annuntiabo, et exaudiet vocem meam" (Ps. 54). This practice of devout Jews was maintained by the early Christians and in the Acts of the Apostles we read, "Ascendit Petrus in superiora ut oraret circam horam sextam" (Acts x, 9). At this hour, the Christians met for public, joint prayer.

Why does the Church wish us to pray at the sixth hour of the day?

1. Because at this hour Christ instructed the Samaritan woman, the type of the Gentiles; and He promised to give the living water, springing up unto life everlasting, which was His blood, poured out on Calvary at the sixth hour.

2. Because at this sixth hour Christ was raised on the cross for our salvation and it is right and just, daily, to remember Him and His great love for us. Besides, it is to realise His words "And if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to myself" (St. John xii. 32). And the Church, in the opening words