XVI Sunday after Pentecost

The sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost is of semi-double rite and its liturgical colour, until Vespers this year, is green. This year it is also the third Sunday of September (and the Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity of the BVM - although one might be forgiven for failing to notice it). The Gospel pericopes from St. Luke tell of the LORD healing the man with dropsy on the Sabbath. The week ahead will see the observance of the September Ember Days.

At Vespers yesterday afternoon the antiphons and psalms of Saturday were sung. The Office hymn was Jam sol recedit igneus sung with the melody and Doxology of the Incarnation (Jesu, tibi...Qui natus es etc) and the antiphon on the Magnificat was Ne reminiscaris for the Saturday before the third Sunday of September. After the collect of the Sunday a commemoration was sung of the preceding Office of the Holy Name of Mary. The Suffrage of the Saints was omitted.  At Compline Te lucis was sung with the melody and Doxology of the Incarnation and the Dominical preces were omitted.

At Mattins the invitatory is Dominum qui fecit nos and the Office hymn isNocte surgentes. In the first nocturn the lessons are the Incipit of the Book of Tobias. In the second nocturn the lessons are from a sermon of St. Leo on fasting in the seventh month. In the third nocturn the lessons are from St. Ambrose, a homily on St. Lukes's Gospel. The Te Deum is sung. At Lauds the Office hymn is Ecce jam noctis. After the collect of the Sunday the Suffrage of the Saints is sung.

At Prime, Pss. 117, 118(i) & 118(ii), both Quicumque and the Dominical preces are sung.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is A cunctis, the third collect is chosen by the Dean or Rector of the place. The Creed is sung and the preface is of the Holy Trinity.

Prior to the reform of 1911-13 the Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity of the BVM was observed as the feast of the Holy Name of Mary. One Mass, but not the Conventual Mass, may be celebrated of the Holy Name of Mary in white vestments. The Mass Vutum tuum is sung with Gloria, the second collect of the Sunday, Creed, preface of the BVM and last Gospel of the Sunday.

After None there is a colour change to red and first Vespers of the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross are sung. The antiphons O magnum pietatis opus etc are sung, doubled, with Pss. 109, 110, 111, 112 & 116. The Office hymn is Vexilla regis. After the collect of the feast a commemoration of the Sunday is sung. The Suffrages are omitted as are the Dominical preces at Compline.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' today is the second Sunday in September and the antiphon on the Magnificat was In omnibus his for the Saturday before the second Sunday of September. At Vespers there were no commemorations and the hymns of Vespers and Compline had the ordinary Doxology. Mattins is cut down to a single nocturn, the first and second lesson are from the Book of Job. The Suffrage of the Saints and the Dominical preces have been abolished. At Prime Quicumque is sung but once a year. At Mass there is a single collect. Vespers are of the Sunday without any commemorations. The Ember Days are not observed this week but the week following.

Art: Jerome Nadal.