St. Linus - Ember Friday

Today the feast of St. Linus. The feast is of semi-double rite and its liturgical colour is red. Today is also the Ember Friday in September.

At Mattins the lessons in the first nocturn are A mileto from the Common with the responsories also taken from the same. In the second nocturn the fourth lesson is hagiographical and the fifth and sixth lessons are are taken from an Exposition on Psalm 118 by St. Ambrose. In the third nocturn the homily is from St. Gregory the Great on St. Luke's Gospel. The ninth lesson is of the Ember Friday and is also a homily from St. Gregory. (Its three lessons may be read as one but the first suffices). The Te Deum is sung. At Lauds, after the collect of the feast, commemorations are sung of the Ember Friday and St. Thecla followed by the Suffrage.

At Prime the Dominical preces are sung (whilst standing) and the lectio brevis is Justus cor suum etc.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of the Ember Friday, the third collect of St. Thecla. The last Gospel is that of the Ember Friday. Private Masses may be of the Ember Friday (the Ember Friday Masses do not have additional OT lessons unlike those of Wednesday and Saturday). The Mass is proper and celebrated in violet vestments, the ministers wearing folded chasubles. The feasts of St. Linus and St. Thecla are commemorated, Benedicamus Domino is sung as the dismissal.

In Cathedral and Collegiate Churches two Masses are celebrated. The Mass of the feast takes place after Terce with the second collect of St. Thecla and the third collect A cunctis. The last Gospel is In principio. The Mass of the Ember Friday, with the ministers wearing folded chasubles, is sung after None with the second collect A cunctis the third at the choice of the Dean and Benedicamus Domino as the dismissal.

Vespers are first Vespers of the feast of Our Lady of Ransom. The antiphons and psalms are from the Common of the BVM. After the collect of the feast a commemoration is sung of St. Linus. At Compline the Dominical psalms are sung and Te lucis is sung with the Doxology Jesu tibi sit gloria and its melody.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the Ember Friday takes precedence over the now III class feast of St. Linus. Mattins consists of one nocturn. At Lauds the second schema of psalms is sung. The ferial preces are sung (kneeling). A commemoration is sung of St. Linus. At the Hours the ferial preces are not sung. Mass of the Ember Friday is sung after Terce, the ministers wearing violet dalmatic and tunicle. (In said Masses a commemoration is made of St. Linus). The dismissal is Ite, missa est. Vespers are of the Ember Day (a novelty introduced into the 1961 Breviary as the Office of an Ember Day traditionally ran from Mattins to None) the ferial preces are sung (kneeling). There are no commemorations.