Sunday 13 June 2010

Sunday within the Octave of the Sacred Heart


Sunday within the Octave of the Sacred Heart, the third Sunday after Pentecost, is of semi-double rite. The structure of the Office is as last Sunday and again the liturgical colour is white. The Gospel pericopes from St. Luke have the parable of the shepherd going after one sheep missing from his hundred strong flock.

At Vespers yesterday afternoon the antiphons and psalms of the feast of the Sacred Heart Suavi jugo tuo etc are sung. The antiphons are not doubled. The chapter is proper to the Sunday, the hymn as on the feast of the Sacred Heart. Commemorations were sung of St. John of St. Facundo, St. Anthony of Padua and the Octave of the Sacred Heart. At Compline Te lucis was sung with the Doxology Jesu tibi sit gloria, Qui Corde fundis gratiam, Cum Patre et almo Spiritu, In sempiterna gloria.

At Mattins the invitatory, hymn, antiphons and psalms are as on the feast of the Sacred Heart but the antiphons are not doubled. In the first nocturn the lessons are a continuation of the First Book of the Kings. The responses are of the Octave. In the second nocturn the lessons are from the Encyclical of Pius XI in 1928 that, inter alia, gave the feast an Octave. In the third nocturn the homily is from St. Gregory on St. Lukes Gospel. At Lauds the antiphons Unus militum etc are sung, as on the feast, with the Dominical psalms. Commemorations are sung of St. Anthony of Padua and the Octave.

At the Hours the hymns have the Doxology Jesu tibi sit gloria etc. The antiphons from Lauds are sung. At Prime the feastal psalms are sung (Pss. 53, 118i & 118ii). In the short responsory the versicle Qui Corde fundis gratiam is sung. The lectio brevis is of the Sunday, Deus autem.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of St. Anthony, the third collect of the Octave. The Creed is sung, the preface is of the Sacred Heart.

At Vespers the antiphons and psalms of the feast are sung. The chapter is of the Sunday, the hymn of the feast. Commemorations are sung of the following feast of St. Basil, St. Anthony and the Octave.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the Octave has gone, having been abolished by Pius XII in 1955. It is an interesting example of discontinuity in successive pontificates. In 1928 Pius XI had instituted a privileged third order Octave for the feast (the last Octave to be created) but his immediate successor removed it along with most of the other Octaves barely a quarter century later. So in the 1962 books today returns to being a green Sunday. At Vespers there are no commemorations. Mattins is stripped down to one nocturn of three lessons. Lauds has no commemorations. Mass has one collect etc.

3 comments:

Patrick Sheridan said...

For once I agree with Pius XII on the treatment of this Octave. I would treat today as a green Sunday, second Collect of St Anthony, third A Cunctis with the Preface of the Trinity rather than celebrate a triumph of strange popular piety over Tradition...

Fr. Durham said...

Dear Rubricarius,

Thank you for your hard work in providing excellent rubrical notes. A confrere rang yesterday to tell me that he thought that yesterday's entry in the Ordo was incorrect. He thought that it should have been the Double feast with the appropriate commemorations, and not an Octave day in a privileged III class octave. The rubrics of the Breviary would seem to indicate this; however, I thought that I would write to have your interpretation. In any event, this Ordo is a precious resource and I hope that you are able to continue your work for many years to come. God bless!

Rubricarius said...

Dear Fr. Durham,

Your confrere was indeed correct. For some reason I had treated St. John of St. Facundo as a semi-double. Double feasts are celebrated in a third order Octave.

I missed the error as did the two people who kindly proof read.

Mea culpa.