St. Joachim, Father of the BVM

The feast of St. Joachim, father of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Double of the Second Class and its liturgical colour is white. This year the feast falls on both its current date of celebration, August 16th, and on its former day of celebration the Sunday within the Octave of the Assumption. Today is also the XI Sunday after Pentecost and third Sunday of August which is commemorated at Vespers, Mattins, Lauds and Mass. Although the day within the Octave is not commemorated hymns of Iambic metre still take the Marian Doxology and tone and Qui natus es is sung at Prime in the short responsory. Following the reforms of 1911-13 the Octave of St. Lawrence is mostly latent.

In pre-Trent times the feast was sometimes celebrated on the 20th March. The feast was suppressed by Pius V in the Tridentine Missal and Breviary and re-instated by Gregory XIII in 1584. In 1623 the feast gained a proper Office and was transferred to the Sunday within the Octave of the Assumption by Clement XII in 1738. Leo XIII raised the feast to a double of the second class in 1879. The 1948 Pian Commission discussed joining the feast with that of St. Anne, which indeed happened in due course (c.f. Memoria sulla riforma liturgica, ## 108, 178).

Yesterday afternoon second Vespers of the feast of the Assumption were sung. The antiphons Assumpta est Maria etc were sung, doubled, with the psalms from the Common of the BVM (Pss. 109, 112, 121, 126 & 147). The Office hymn was Ave maris stella. The antiphon on the Magnificat was Hodie Maria Virgo caelos ascendit: gaudete, quia cum Christo regnat in aeternum. After the collect of the feast, the sublime Famulorum tuorum, commemorations were sung of St. Joachim and of the XI Sunday after Pentecost (the antiphon on the Magnifcat being Omnis sapientia for the Saturday before the third Sunday of August). At Compline the Sunday psalms were sung and Te lucis is sung with the proper Doxology and tone.

At Mattins the invitatory is Regem Confessorum Dominum, Venite adoremus and the Office hymn is Iste Confessor. In the first nocturn the antiphons Beatus vir etc are sung, doubled, with Pss. 1, 2 & 3. The lessons in the first nocturn are taken from the Common of Confessor non-Pontiffs, Beatus vir, etcwith their responsories. In the second nocturn the antiphons Invocantem etc are sung, doubled, with Pss. 4, 5 & 8 and the lessons are proper to the feast. The fourth lesson is from the Discourse on the Praises of the Virgin by St. Epiphanius, the fifth and six lessons from a Discourse on the Birth of the Virgin by St. John Damascene. In the third nocturn the antiphons Domine etc are sung, doubled, with Pss. 14, 20 & 23. The lessons, from the Common, are again from St. John Damascene. The ninth lesson is of the Sunday. The Te Deum is sung. At Lauds the antiphons Domine, quinque talenta etc are sung, doubled, with Pss. 92, 99, 62, Benedicite & 148. After the collect of the feast a commemoration of the Sunday is sung.

At the Hours the antiphons of Lauds are used in the usual order. At Prime (Pss. 53, 118i & 118ii) Qui natus es is sung as the verse in the responsory because of the Octave and the lectio brevis is Justum deduxit.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Gloria is sung, the second collect of the Sunday, the Creed is sung, the preface is that of Sunday and the last Gospel is also of the Sunday.

At Vespers the antiphons Domine, quinque talenta are sung, doubled, with Pss. 109, 110, 111, 112 & 116. The Office hymn is Iste, Confessor. After the collect of the feast commemorations are sung of the following feast of St. Hyacinth and of the Sunday.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the XI Sunday after Pentecost takes precedence over the feast of St. Joachim. The Octaves of the Assumption and of St. Lawrence have been abolished. At Vespers yesterday there was no commemoration of St. Joachim. At Compline the ordinary Doxology was sung. Mattins is cut down to a single nocturn. At Lauds a commemoration of St. Joachim is sung. At Low and Conventual Masses a commemoration is made of St. Joachim. At Vespers there are no commemorations.