Within the Octave of the Assumption

The fourth day within the Octave of the Assumption is of semi-double rite. It is the only day now within the Octave to be celebrated as such due to the inclusion of double feasts of saints who had a particular devotion to the BVM. The feast of St. Joachim was celebrated on Tuesday and is a Double of the Second Class. The Octave is not commemorated but its occurrence can be noted with the Doxology at the hymns of the Hours, the versicle at Prime and the Creed and preface of the Assumption at Mass. Yesterday was the feast of St. Hyacinth, a double, with a commemoration sung of the Octave at Lauds, Vespers and Mass, there was also a commemoration of the Octave Day of St. Lawrence. Tomorrow is the feast of St. John Eudes followed by the feast of St. Bernard on Saturday. Again, a commemoration of the Octave is sung in Vespers, Lauds and Mass in the celebrations of these double feasts.

The Office is as on the Feast itself, but the antiphons and psalms come from the Psalter for Thursday. All hymns of Iambic metre are sung with the Doxology and tone of the Incarnation.

At Mattins in the first nocturn the lessons are taken as on the feast from the Canticle of Canticles with its exquisite poetry and symbolic language. The responsories of the feast are sung. A section of the third lesson illustrates the beauty of the texts:

Favus distillans labia tua, sponsa, mel et lac sub lingua tua; et odor vestimentorum tuorum sicut odor thuris. Hortus conclusus soror mea sponsa, hortus conclusus, fons signatus. Emissiones tuae paradisus malorum punicorum cum pomorum fructibus, cypri cum nardo.

Thy lips, my spouse, are as a dropping honey comb, honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments, as the smell of frankincense. My sister, my spouse, is like a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up. Thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruits of the orchard. Cypress with spikenard. (Translation by the nuns of Stanbrook Abbey)

In the second nocturn the lessons are taken from the Second Discourse of St. John Damascene on the Dormition of the Mother of God and are again beautiful and rich in their didactic content:

An ancient tradition has been handed down to us, that, at the time of the glorious falling-asleep of the blessed Virgin, all the Apostles, who were wandering throughout the world preaching salvation to the Gentiles, were caught up aloft in the twinkling of an eye, and met together in Jerusalem. And when they were all there, a vision of Angels appeared to them, and the chant of the heavenly powers was heard; and so with divine glory she gave up her soul into the hands of God. But her body, which bore God in an effable manner, being lifted up amid the hymns of Angels and Apostles was laid in a tomb in Gethsemane. There for three whole days the angelic song was heard. (Lesson IV)

But after three days, the chant of the Angels ceased, and the Apostles who were present (for Thomas, the only one who had been absent, came after the third day, and wished to adore the body which had borne God) opened the tomb; but they could by no means find her sacred body in any part of it. But when they only found those garments in which she had been buried, and were filled with indescribable fragrance which emanated from them, they closed the tomb. Amazed at this wonderful mystery they could only think that he, who had been pleased to take flesh from the Virgin Mary, to be made man, and to be born though he was God the Word, and the Lord of glory, he who had preserved her virginity without stain after childbirth, should also have been pleased to honour her pure body after her death, keeping it incorrupt, and translating it into Heaven before the general resurrection. (Lesson V)

In the sixth lesson St. John lists those present who had seen the body of the Virgin, including in addition to the Apostles, Timothy bishop of Ephesus (recipient of the Pauline Epistles), Dionysisus the Areopagite and Hierotheus. In the third nocturn the lessons are from the 27th Sermon of St. Augustine on the Words of the Lord. The ninth lesson is for St. Agapitus the Martyr. The Te Deum is sung.

At Lauds a commemoration of St. Agapitus is sung. At Prime Qui natus es is sung in the short responsory, the lectio brevis is In plateis as on the feast.

Mass is sung after Terce. In Mass, of the Octave, again the magnificent texts Gaudeamus etc are sung. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of St. Agapitus, the third collect Deus, qui corda. The Creed is sung, the preface is of the BVM. [Note the error in the Ordo today - alas the consequence of 'cut & paste' - Ordo 2012 has just been double-checked!]

Vespers are of the following feast of St. John Eudes with a commemoration of the Octave.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' of course the Octave has been done away with. No proper Doxology is sung at the hymns, no Qui natus es etc at Prime and neither Creed nor preface of the Assumption at Mass. The feast of St. Joachim remains a feast of nine lessons as a 'II class feast', the feasts of St. John Eudes and St. Bernard become 'III class' feasts of three lessons. Today St. Agapitus is commemorated in the 'IV class' feria and at private Masses.

The Assumption of the Mother of God

Gaudeamus omnes in Domino , diem festum celebrantes sub honore beate Mariae Virginis: de cujus Assumptione gaudent Angeli et collaudant Filium Dei. (Introit)

The great feast of the Assumption is a Double of the First Class with Octave. The feast also appears as the Dormition of the Mother of God in some earlier MSS and is known by that name in the East to this day. The liturgical colour of the feast is white.

At Mattins the invitatory, Venite, adoremus Regem regum, Cujus hodie ad aethereum Virgo Mater assumpta est in caelum, is proper to the feast. The hymn is Quem terra, pontus, sidera. In the first nocturn the antiphons Exaltata est etc are sung with psalms 8, 18 & 23. The lessons in the first nocturn, since the time of Pius V, are taken from the Incipit of the Canticle of Canticles, are particularly rich with vibrant, sensual, imagery:

Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth: for thy breasts are better than wine, smelling sweet of the best ointments. Thy name is as oil poured out: therefore young maidens have loved thee. Draw me: we will run after thee to the odour of thy ointments. The king hath brought me into his storerooms: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, remembering thy breasts more than wine: the righteous love thee. I am black but beautiful, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Cedar, as the curtains of Solomon.(1st lesson)

In the second nocturn the antiphons Specie tua etc are sung with psalms 44, 45 & 86. The lessons are from St. John Damascene's second discourse on the Dormition of the Virgin and again both exquisite and highly appropriate to the day:

"This day the holy and animated ark of the living God, she who conceived in her womb her Creator rests in the temple of the Lord, which was not made with hands. And her ancestor David leaps, and with him the Angels lead the dance, the Archangels make celebration, the Virtues ascribe glory, the Principalities exult, the Powers rejoice together, the Dominations are joyful, the Thrones keep holiday, the Cherubim utter praise, the Seraphim proclaim her glory. This day the Eden of the new Adam receives the living Paradise, wherein the condemnation was made void, wherein the tree of life was planted, wherein our nakedness was covered." (4th lesson)

In the third nocturn the antiphons Gaude, Maria virgo etc are sung with psalms 95, 96 & 97. The homily on the Gospel fragment is from St. Augustine's 27th Sermon on the Words of the Lord. The Te Deum is sung. At Lauds the antiphons Assumpta est Maria etc are sung with psalms 92, 99, 62, Benedicite and 148. The hymn O gloriosa virginum. The collect of the feast is one of the most sublime ever written:

Famulorum tuorum, quaesumus, Domine, delictis ignosce: ut, qui tibi placere de actibus nostris non valemus; Genitricis Filii tui, Domini nostri, intercessione salvemur.

Forgive, O Lord, we beseech thee, the sins of thy servants: that we who by our own deeds are unable to please thee, may be saved by the intercession of the Mother of thy Son our Lord.

At Prime and the Hours the hymns are sung with the proper Doxology and tone. In the short responsory Qui natus es de Virgine is sung, both today and throughout the Octave, and the lectio brevis is In plateis.

Mass is celebrated after Terce. The Rituale gives a Blessing of Herbs for this day which takes place immediately before Mass with Psalm 64, a series of versicles and responses, three collects, whose florid style, reminiscent of those for the Blessing of Palms, suggests a Gallican origin. The Mass formulary, Gaudeamus, is a particularly beautiful set of texts. The Gloria is sung. The Epistle is a sublime cento from the Book of Wisdom that also forms the chapters at the Office. The gradual Propter veritatem is very ancient. The Credo is sung and the preface is of the BVM, Et te in Assumptione.

In the afternoon at second Vespers all is as at first Vespers except the antiphon on the Magnificat which today is Hodie Maria Virgo caelos ascendit: gaudete, quia cum Christo regnat in aeternum. After the collect a commemoration is sung of the following feast of St. Joachim, father of the BVM. At Compline the Sunday psalms are sung and Te lucis is sung with the proper Doxology and tone.

Perhaps the most famous polyphonic setting of Ave Maris stella is that by Monteverdi from his 1610 Vespers of the Blessed Virgin:

The 'the liturgical books of 1962' have seen considerable revision of the once beautiful feast with changes both in 1960 and, previously, with the introduction of novel texts in the 1950s. Vespers gets a new chapter, hymn and collect. The new collect was once admirably described by the erudite Fr. John Hunwicke as "a modern composition which I would describe as a dollop of dogma followed by a platitude". At Mattins in the first nocturn the first lesson is taken from Genesis and then, curiously, the second and third from the former Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. In the second nocturn the magnificent writings of St. Damascene are shortened by the inclusion of a sixth lesson from Pius XII's verbiage. The third nocturn has a homily of St. Peter Canisus on the new gospel pericope introduced in 1950. At Lauds there is a new chapter, a pedestrian and ugly hymn replacing O gloriosa virginum, and new collect. At Prime the lectio brevis is Dominus autem dirigat, of the season. At Prime and the Hours the tone of the hymns is that for greater feasts, not the Incarnation and the special Doxology is omitted. The 1950 mass is again banal and ugly compared with the ancient texts. At Vespers there is no commemoration of St. Joachim. The Octave was abolished in 1955.

Icon: The Dormition by Theophanus the Greek, 14th century.

IX Sunday after Pentecost

The ninth Sunday after Pentecost is of semi-double rite. This year it is also the third Sunday of August. Its liturgical colour is green. The Gospel pericopes from St. Luke contain the account of the LORD casting out the money lenders in the temple.

At Vespers yesterday afternoon the liturgical colour changed from the violet of the anticipated Vigil to the green of the Sunday. The antiphons and psalms of Saturday were sung. The antiphon on the Magnificat was Omnis sapientia for the Saturday before the third Sunday of August. After the collect of the Sunday a commemoration was sung of St. Eusebius followed by the Suffrage of the Saints. At Compline the Dominical preces were sung standing (unlike the ferial preces sung earlier in the day for the Vigil which were sung whilst kneeling.

At Mattins the invitatory and hymn are as sung on previous 'green' Sundays. In the first nocturn the lessons are the Incipit of the Book of Wisdom. In the second nocturn the lessons are taken the Book of Offices by St. Ambrose of Milan. In the third nocturn the homily on St. Luke's Gospel is from St. Gregory. The Te Deum is sung. At Lauds a commemoration is sung of St. Eusebius followed by the Suffrage of the Saints.

At Prime psalms 117, 118i & 118ii are sung Quicumque is sung as are the Dominical preces.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of St Eusebius, the third collect is A cunctis. The Creed is sung and the preface is of the Blessed Trinity.

Vespers are first Vespers of the Assumption with a colour change to white. The antiphons Assumpta est Maria etc are sung with psalms 109, 112, 121, 126 & 147. The chapter is from the feast In omnibus requiem and the Office hymn the hauntingly beautiful Ave, maris stella the first verse of which is sung kneeling. After the collect of the feast a commemoration is sung of the Sunday. At Compline Te lucis is sung to the tone of feasts of the BVM and with the Doxology Jesu, tibi sit gloria etc.

Below, from YouTube, a recording of Hans Leo Hassler's setting of the sublime Ave, maris stella.

In the 'ancient use' 'liturgical books of 1962' Vigils cannot be anticipated and so the Saturday become a 'IV class' celebration of the BVM on Saturday with no preparatory theme. At Vespers the antiphon on the Magnificat is Ego in altissimis and there is no commemoration of St. Eusebius or Suffrage. At Compline there are no Dominical preces. Mattins is stripped down to one nocturn and of three lessons and occurring scripture is the Incipiunt of the Proverbs of Solomon. There is no commemoration of St. Eusebius at Lauds or Suffrage. At Prime Quicumque is not sung nor are the preces. At Mass there is only one collect. At Vespers the novel chapter, hymn and collect afflict the Office.

Art: Jerome Nadal

The anticipated Vigil of the Assumption

The Vigil of the Assumption is of simple rite. As the feast falls on Monday this year, the Vigil is anticipated on the Saturday. Traditionally it has been a day of fasting and abstinence in the West (in many Eastern rites a far stricter fast of preparation takes place from the beginning of August). However, such fasting, in the West, never applied to anticipated Vigils. The liturgical colour of the day is violet.

At Mattins everything is taken from the ferial psalter except the lessons. The three lessons in the nocturn on St. Luke's Gospel are from a homily of St. Chrysostom. At Lauds the Second Scheme of psalms is sung (Pss. 50, 91, 63, Audite, caeli & 150), the ferial preces are sung, with the choir kneeling, followed by a commemoration of SS Hippolytus & Cassian and then the Suffrage of the Saints in the form used for feasts of the BVM. At Prime and the Hours ferial preces are sung. These too are sung whilst kneeling. At Prime the fourth psalm is added, as is the case when the Second Scheme of Lauds is sung, and the chapter is the ferial Pacem.

Mass is sung after None. Violet vestments are worn, the ministers wearing dalmatic and tunicle not folded chasubles. The Mass is proper, Vultum tuum, the Gloria is not sung. The second collect is of SS Hipplytus and Cassian, the third collect Deus, qui corda - of the Holy Ghost. As it is a 'kneeling day' all in choir kneel for the orations and from the Sanctus to the response after Pax Domini. As is the rule when the Gloria is not sung Benedicamus Domino is chanted as the dismissal by the deacon facing the altar rather than Ite, missa est.

In the afternoon there is a colour change to green and Vespers of Saturday are sung. The antiphon on the Magnificat is Omnis sapientia for the Saturday before the third Sunday of August. A commemoration is sung of St. Eusebius followed by the Suffrage of the Saints. At Compline the Dominical preces are sung.

In the ancient use 'liturgical books of 1962' as usual much has been lost. Common Vigils are not anticipated so this year the Vigil of the Assumption is omitted entirely. The day becomes a IV class BVM on Saturday. At Vespers the antiphon on the Magnificat is Ego in altissimis - as sung last week in the old rite - the Suffrage is omitted as are the preces at Compline.

Our Patron - St. Lawrence the Deacon

The feast of St. Lawrence is a Double of the Second Class in the Universal Kalendar and, amongst many other things, Patron of the Saint Lawrence Press. St. Lawrence's body is interred in the basilica of St. Lawrence-without-the-Walls in Rome. St. Lawrence was the first of the seven Roman deacons and known for his generosity to the poor. He was martyred in 258 according to tradition on a grid iron and asked his tormentors to turn him over as his flesh was roasted on the one side. The liturgical colour of the feast is red. St. Lawrence is listed in the Communicantes.

The Saint Lawrence Press came into being when the English branch of the SSPX stopped publishing the Ordo in 1983, a decade after it had been instigated by Fr. Peter Morgan and Mr. John Tyson. St. Lawrence was chosen as patron as he was a munificent deacon and whose feast had both a Vigil and an Octave.

Celebration of the feast began yesterday (with a Vigil by way of preparation) with first Vespers. The antiphons Laurentius ingressus est martyr etc were sung with psalms from the Common of Apostles, Pss. 109, 110, 111, 112 & 116. The chapter, antiphon on the Magnificat and collect were proper, the rest of the Office from the Common of Martyrs. A commemoration was sung of the preceding Office of St. John Mary Vianney.

At Mattins the invitatory Beatus Laurentius, Christi Martyr, triumphat coronatus in caelis: Venite, adoremus Dominum. The antiphons Quo progredis etc are sung in the first nocturn with psalms 1, 2 & 3. The lessons in the first nocturn are from the Book of Eccesiasticus. In the second nocturn the antiphons Beatus Laurentius etc are sung with psalms 4, 5 & 8. The lessons are from a sermon of St. Leo on St. Lawrence. In the third nocturn the antiphons Strinxerunt etc are sung 14, 16 & 20. The lessons in the third nocturn are from a sermon of St. Augustine on St. John's Gospel. The Te Deum is sung.At Lauds the antiphons Laurentius ingressus est martyr etc are sung with Dominical psalms.

At Prime and the Hours the antiphons from Lauds, Laurentius etc., are sung with the festal psalms. At Prime the Dominical preces are omitted and the lectio brevis is Potens est autem. At the Hours the Dominical psalms are sung.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Gloria is sung and the Common Preface is sung.

At second Vespers the antiphons Laurentius etc are again sung, at this Office with psalms 109, 110, 111, 112 * 115. The V&R are proper to the feast. At Compline the Dominical preces are omitted.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the feast loses first Vespers. At the Hours the ferial psalms are sung, at Prime the lectio brevis is of the season.

Icon: Orthodox Church of America.

VIII Sunday after Pentecost

The eighth Sunday after Pentecost is of semi-double rite. This year it is also the second Sunday of August. The liturgical colour from Mattins onwards is green. The Gospel pericopes from St. Luke contain the parable about the unjust steward.

Vespers yesterday afternoon were second Vespers of the feast of the Transfiguration. The antiphons Assumpsit Jesus etc were sung with psalms 109, 110, 111, 112 & 116. After the collect of the feast commemorations were sung of the Sunday (the antiphon being Ego in altissimis for the Saturday before the Second Sunday of August) and of St. Cajetan. At Compline the Dominical psalms were sung and the Doxology Jesu tibi sit gloria, Qui te revelas parvulis etc was sung at conclusion of Te lucis.

At Mattins there are the usual three nocturns. The invitatory and hymn are as sung on previous 'green' Sundays. In the first nocturn the lessons are the Incipit of the Book of Ecclesiastes. In the second nocturn the lessons are taken from a sermon of St. Chrysostom against those who keep concubines. In the third nocturn the homily on St. Luke's Gospel is from St. Jerome. The Te Deum is sung. At Lauds commemorations are sung of St. Cajetan and St. Donatus. The Suffrage of the Saints is omitted because of the occurring double feast.

At Prime psalms 117, 118i & 118ii are sung, Quicumque is omitted as are the Dominical preces because of the double feast.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of St Cajetan, the third collect is of St. Donatus. The Creed is sung and the preface is of the Blessed Trinity.

Vespers are of the Sunday with commemorations sung of the following feast of SS Cyriacus, Largus & Smaragdus and St. Cajetan. The Suffrage of the Saints is omitted at Vespers and the Dominical preces not sung at Compline because of the occurring double feast of St. Cajetan.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' second Vespers of the Transfiguration does not have a commemoration of the Sunday. The Doxology for the feast of the Transfiguration in not sung at Compline. The Sunday is the first Sunday in August and occurring scripture is the Incipiunt of Proverbs of Solomon - which were read last Sunday in the Traditional rite. Mattins is cut down to one nocturn of three lessons. There are no commemorations or Suffrage at Lauds. Mass has a single collect. At Vespers there are no commemorations.

Art: Jerome Nadal

The Dedication of St. Mary of the Snows

This feast of the Dedication of St. Mary of the Snows is of greater-double rite and commemorates the dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major or Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Popular tradition has it that a miraculous fall of snow delineated the original ground plan of the church that was dedicated during the pontificate of Liberius. The feast appears in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum. In the late Middle Ages it appears in Radolfo di Rivo's Liber de officis Ecclesiasticis as a feast particular to the Diocese of Rome. Pius V made it a double feast in the 1568 Breviary and Clement VIII raised it to a greater double thirty or so years later.

The feast began with Vespers yesterday afternoon. The antiphons Dum esset Rex etc were sung with the psalms of first Vespers from the Common of feasts of the BVM. The Office hymn is Ave, maris stella. A commemoration was sung of the preceding Office of St. Dominic. At Compline Te lucis was sung to the melody of hymns in honour of the Incarnation with the Doxology Jesu tibi sit gloria, Qui natus es de Virgine etc.

At Mattins the Office is again taken from the Common with the exception of the lessons in the second nocturn. In the first nocturn the lessons are Ego sapientia from the Proverbs of Solomon. In the second nocturn the lessons are proper to the feast and found in the Breviary on August 5th. In the third nocturn the lessons for the homily on St. Luke's Gospel are again from the Common, taken from the writings of the Venerable Bede. At Lauds the antiphons Dum esset Rex etc are sung with the Dominical psalms.

At the Little Hours the psalms are festal, the hymns have the melody and Doxology of the Incarnation. At Prime the versicle in the short responsory is Qui natus es and the short lesson In plateis.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Mass formularly is Salve, sancta Parens. The Gloria is sung, the Creed is sung and in the preface of the BVM Et te in Festivitate is inserted.

Vespers are first Vespers of the following feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, with a commemoration of the feast of the Dedication of St. Mary of the Snows.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the feast of St. Mary of the Snows has been reduced to a III class feast with one nocturn of three lessons. There is no first Vespers and no commemoration of the feast at Vespers of St. Dominic. At Mattins the antiphons and psalms are from the ferial psalter and the first and second lesson are from the Friday of the seventh week after Pentecost (not the Friday of the first week of August which would be occurring scripture in the Traditional rite). At the Hours the hymns are sung to the ordinary tone and there is no Doxology in honour of the Incarnation. At Prime and the Hours the ferial psalter is used. At Mass the Creed is omitted. Despite being a II class the Transfiguration does not have first Vespers so Vespers today are Vespers of the Dedication of St. Mary of the Snows, with the ferial psalms, without a commemoration of the Transfiguration.

Art: Masolino di Panicale: Fondazione della basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore