Sunday 22 June 2014

Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi


Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi, the Second Sunday after Pentecost, is of semi-double rite. The liturgical colour is white.

At Vespers yesterday afternoon the antiphons and psalms were as on the feast of Corpus Christi. The antiphons Sacerdos in aeternum etc, not doubled, were sung with psalms 109, 110, 115, 127 & 147. The chapter was of the Sunday, the hymn and the following versicle & response were of the feast. The antiphon on the Magnificat and collect were of the Sunday followed by commemorations of the Octave, of St. Paulinus and of St. Aloysius Gonzaga. At Compline Te lucis was sung with the melody and Doxology of the Incarnation, Jesu tibi sit gloria, Qui natus es de Virgine, Cum Patre et almo Spiritu, In sempiterna saecula.

At Mattins the invitatory is Christum Regem adoremus dominantem Gentibus: Qui se manducantibus dat spiritus pinguedinem. The Office hymn is Sacris solemnis. The antiphons and psalms are as on the feast of Corpus Christi. The lessons are proper to the Sunday. In the first nocturn they are taken from the First Book of Kings. In the second nocturn they are taken from a sermon of St. Chrysostom to the people of Antioch and the homily in the third nocturn is from St. Gregory on St. Luke's Gospel. The Te Deum is sung. At Lauds the antiphons are those sung on the feast of Corpus Christi, Sapientia etc. The chapter is of the Sunday, the hymn as on the feast. The antiphon on the Benedictus and collect are of the Sunday. After the collect of the Sunday commemorations are sung of the Octave of Corpus Christi and of St. Paulinus.

At the Little Hours the hymns are sung to the same tone as on the feast of the Nativity of the LORD (there of course being a deep link between the Incarnation and Corpus Christi) with the Doxology Jesu tibi sit gloria etc. At Prime the festal psalms are sung (Pss. 53, 118i & 118ii), the versicle in the short responsory is Qui natus es for the feast and Octave, the short lesson is Filioli mei, of the Sunday.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of the Octave, the third collect of St. Paulinus. The Creed is sung and the preface is that of the Nativity.

In Collegiate and Cathedral Churches a Mass of the feast is sung after None with Gloria, second collect of the Sunday, the Sequence Lauda Sion, Creed, preface of the Nativity and last Gospel of the Sunday. After this a Procession is made as on the feast.

At Vespers the antiphons and psalms are as at Second Vespers of the feast. The chapter is of the Sunday, the hymn, versicle & response of the feast and the antiphon on the Magnificat and collect of the Sunday. After the collect of the Sunday commemorations are sung of the Octave of Corpus Christi and of St. Paulinus.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi has been abolished. The Second Sunday after Pentecost is celebrated as a 'green' Sunday. Mattins is stripped down to one nocturn of three lessons with the invitatory and antiphons of the Sunday. There are no commemorations at either Vespers, Lauds or Mass. The hymn tones are not those of the Nativity, the Doxology has gone, the versicle at Prime is Qui sedes. The Octave of Corpus Christi has been abolished.

3 comments:

Nic said...

Do please remind me when None is said on Sundays.
At a certain large church in the North West that was sadly not collegiate I was able to assist at a late morning mass that was described as an 'external solemnity' of Thursday's feast. Strangely it was celebrated without the commemoration of the Sunday. I believe the priest had said another mass that day. I don't know what he said then. Still they did sing the whole sequence Lauda Sion which was clearly not an easy task.

Rubricarius said...

Nothing wrong with having an External Solemnity, very traditional in fact, but it would have a commemoration of the Sunday. In 1962ville Sunday and Corpus Christi are both considered 'feasts of the Lord' and are therefore - so they say - the same and the other is not commemorated.

None would be sung either before Vespers or after Sext.

Nic said...

Thank you for this response. Sorry but I simply do not understand the concept of the external solemnity. It seems to allow one to alter certain aspects of the calendar at will.

And so the time of the second mass would be?