XXIV Sunday after Pentecost

The twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost is of semi-double rite and its liturgical colour is green. This year it is the first Sunday of November and the Sunday within the Octave of All Saints. As this year the number of Sundays after Pentecost is greater than twenty-four, twenty-seven in fact, the texts for the twenty-fourth Sunday found in the Breviary and Missal are used on the last Sunday after Pentecost. For the three Sundays before that some of the texts of the Sundays that were not celebrated after the Epiphany are used. So today some of the texts from the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany are used with other texts from the twenty-third Sunday.

At Vespers yesterday afternoon the antiphons and psalms of Saturday were sung. The Office hymn was Jam sol recedit igneus. The antiphon on the Magnificat was Vidi Dominum for the Saturday before the first Sunday in November. After the collect of the Sunday (taken from the propers for the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany) a commemoration was sung of the Octave of All Saints. The Suffrage of the Saints was omitted due to the Octave as were the Dominical preces at Compline.

At Mattins the invitatory is Adoremus Dominum etc and the Office hymn is Primo die. In the first nocturn the lessons are the Incipit of the Book of the Prophet Ezechiel. In the second nocturn the lessons are from St. Gregory's Exposition on the Prophet Ezechiel. In the third nocturn (from the propers for the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany) the homily is from St. Jerome on St. Matthew's Gospel. The Te Deum is sung. At Lauds the Office hymn is Aeterne rerum Conditor. After the collect of the Sunday a commemoration is sung of the Octave of All Saints.

At Prime (Pss. 117, 118i & 118ii) both Quicumque and the Dominical preces are omitted due to the Octave.

Mass is sung after Terce. The introit, gradual, Alleluia verse, offertory and communion texts are those of the twenty-third Sunday. The rest of the texts are those of the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of the Octave. There is no third collect being a Sunday within an Octave. The Creed is sung and the preface is of the Blessed Trinity.

In places where the External Solemnity of All Saints is observed the Mass Gaudeamus is sung in white vestments. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of the Sunday, the Creed is sung, the preface is of the Blessed Trinity and the last Gospel is of the Sunday.

Vespers are of the Sunday. The Office hymn is Lucis creator. After the collect of the Sunday commemorations are sung of the following feast of St. Charles Borromeo, of the Octave of All Saints and of SS Vitalis and Agricola.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' there are no commemorations at Vespers. Mattins is cut down to one nocturn of three lessons. At Lauds there are no commemorations. At Mass there is only one collect. Vespers are of the Sunday without any commemorations. The Octave of All Saints has been abolished.

All Souls

All Souls' Day is of Double rank. Since 1917 it has a standing almost like that of a primary Double of the First Class of the Universal Church. Only if it falls on a Sunday is it transferred to the following Monday. The day gained an independent Office after the 1911-13 reform. Prior to then Vespers, Mattins and Lauds of the Dead was sung in addition to the Office of the second day within the Octave of All Saints (as indeed was the Office of the Dead sung on the Mondays of Lent and Advent and certain other days). The reforms of Pius X gave the day its own Office with the creation of Little Hours of the Dead and some adjustments to the lessons of Mattins. The day excludes the occurrence of any other Office.

At Mattins the invitatory and psalms are those used for Mattins of the Dead. The invitatory is Regem cui omnia vivunt, * Venite adoremus. In the first nocturn the antiphons Dirige etc (hence the English term Dirge) are sung with psalms 5, 6 & 7. As at Vespers yesterday Requiem aeternam is sung in place of Gloria Patri at the end of each psalm. The lessons are taken from the Book of Job. The first lesson, Parce mihi, is the first lesson from the Office of the Dead but the second and third lessons are now proper to the day in their current arrangement. Homo natus de muliere etc, the second lesson (the fifth lesson before 1911), is highly poignant being familiar as a Funeral Sentence in the Book of Common Prayer, its source being the Sarum Office. In the second nocturn the antiphons In loco pascuae etc are sung with psalms 22, 24 & 26. The lessons in the second nocturn are new and taken form the book of St. Augustine on the care for the Dead. In the third nocturn the antiphons Complaceat etc are sung with psalms 39, 40 and 41. The lessons are from the First Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians (pre-1911 these too were taken from the Book of Job). At Lauds the antiphons Exsultabunt etc are sung with psalms 50, 64, 62, Ego dixi and 150. After the antiphon on the Benedictus has been sung at the end of the canticle the choir kneels, as at Vespers yesterday, and a Pater noster is said followed by a series of versicles and their responses and the collect Fidelium.

The Hours have a special form. At Prime the Office begins after the silent recitation of the Pater, Ave and Credo with psalms 87, 27 & 31 without antiphons. Although the Miserere is sung at Lauds the displaced psalm is not transferred to Prime as on other days. At the reading of the Martyrology a special preamble is read, Hac die Commemoratio Omnium Fidelium Defunctorum..., before the announcement of the next day Tertio Nonas Novembris.etc. The psalms are sung either to the tone in directum or to a tone introduced with the Office of All Souls Day. Terce follows a similar, simplified, form and has psalms 37i, 37ii & 55. Sext has psalms 69, 84 & 85 and None psalm 101 divided into three sections. The Office of the day ends with None.

In the Universal Church three Masses may be celebrated by every priest on this day. This practice was first observed in Spain with an indult from Benedict XIV and extended to the Universal Church by Benedict XV in 1915 after the carnage of the First World War. The accepted practice of Collegiate churches is for the first Mass to be celebrated after Lauds, the second after Prime and the third after None. In all three Masses the sequence Dies irae is sung and the preface of the Dead is sung. Common practice is to have the Absolution of the Dead at a catafalque after the principal Mass.

Vespers see a colour change to green and the antiphons and psalms of Saturday are sung. The Office hymn is Jam sol recedit igneus. The antiphon on the Magnificat is Vidi, Dominum for the Saturday before the first Sunday of November. After the collect of the Sunday a commemoration is sung of the Octave of All Saints. At Compline the Dominical preces are omitted due to the Octave.

In 'the liturgical books of 1962' the sequence Dies irae may be omitted in the second and third Masses when they are not sung. The last Gospel is omitted when the Absolution takes place. Vespers of the Dead, which are usually sung in the afternoon of All Souls' day are omitted this year. Vespers are 'green', as in the traditional rite, but with any commemorations.

All Saints

The feast of All Saints is a Double of the First Class with an Octave. The universal celebration of this feast developed from the dedication of the Pantheon to St. Mary and the Martyrs. This dedication took place on May 13th, 610. In some places, and the in Byzantine East to this day, a celebration of All Saints took place after Trinity Sunday. The celebration of the feast spread and Gregory IV transferred the feast and dedication to November 1st in 835. Louis the Pious spread the celebration throughout his empire and the feast entered the Universal Calendar. Sixtus IV gave the feast an Octave in the fifteenth century. The liturgical colour for the feast, and its octave, is white.

At Mattins the invitatory is proper to the feast and octave, Regem regum Dominum venite adoremus, Quia ipse est corona Sanctorum omnium, and the Office hymn is Placare, Christe, servulis. In the first nocturn the antiphons Novit Dominus etc are sung with psalms 1, 4 & 8. The lessons are taken from the book of the Apocalypse. In the second nocturn the antiphons Domine, qui operati etc are sung with psalms 14, 23 & 31 and the lessons are taken from a sermon of the Venerable Bede. In the third nocturn the antiphons Timete Dominum etc are sung with psalms 33, 60 & 96. The homily on St. Matthew's Gospel is from St. Augustine. The Te Deum is sung. At Lauds the antiphons Vidi turbam magnam etc are sung with the Sunday psalms (Pss. 99, 92, 62, Benedicite & 148) and the Office hymn is Salutis aeterne dator.

At Prime the antiphon Vidi turbam magnum is sung with the festal psalms (Pss. 53, 118i & 118ii), the lectio brevis is proper to the feast, Benedictio et claritas,. At the other Hours the same antiphons from Lauds are sung with the Dominical psalms.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Gloria and Creed are sung.

At second Vespers the antiphons Vidi turbam magnam etc are sung with psalms 109, 110, 111, 112 & 115. After Benedicamus Domino the verse Fidelium is omitted and the choir sits as the festive white is removed and is exchanged for the black of mourning. Vespers of the Dead are then sung in choir. These begin with the antiphon Placebo Domino in regione vivorum. Psalms 114, 119, 120, 129 and 127 are sung. Requiem aeternam etc is sung at the end of each psalm in place of Gloria Patri etc. After the psalms there is a versicle and response but no hymn. After the antiphon on the Magnificat the choir kneels for a Pater noster, some versicles and the collect. Following the 1911-13 reform Compline takes a special form, created in the 1911-13 reform, 'Compline of the Dead' with psalms 122, 141 and 142.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' at Prime the lectio brevis is of the season and at the Little Hours the antiphons are doubled. Vespers of All Saints are sung but not Vespers of the Dead as they, rather strangely, get treated as Vespers of All Soul's Day. Sunday Compline is sung. The Octave (and the Vigil) have been abolished.

Vigil of All Saints

The Vigil of All Saints is of simple rite and its liturgical colour is violet. As with all simple rite Vigils the Office runs from Mattins to None.

At Mattins the inivitatory, hymn, antiphons, psalms, versicle and response are from the Psalter for Thursday. The lessons in the nocturn are a homily of St. Ambrose from the Common of Several Martyrs. The responsories are from the Thursday of the fifth week of October. The Te Deum is not sung. The second scheme of Lauds for Thursday is sung. After the antiphon on the Benedictus has been repeated the ferial preces are sung, with the choir kneeling. After the collect of the Vigil the Suffrage of the Saints is omitted.

At Prime the psalm displaced from Lauds by the Miserere is added to the psalmody of the day: Pss. 22, 71i, 71ii & 97. Both the Dominical and ferial preces are sung, the choir kneeling. At the other Hours the short series of ferial preces are sung, again with the choir kneeling, before the collect of the Vigil.

Mass is sung after None. Following the normal rules for Vigils four candles are placed on the altar, in contrast with two on ordinary ferial days. The deacon and sub-deacon wear violet dalmatic and tunicle, not folded chasubles. The ferial tone is used for the orations and for the preface and Pater noster. There is no Gloria. The second collect is of the Holy Ghost, Deus,qui corda, the third collect Ecclesiae. As it is a 'kneeling day' the choir kneels for the prayers and from the Sanctus until Pax Domini. As the Gloria is not sung the dismissal is Benedicamus Domino.

Vespers are first Vespers of the feast of All Saints with a corresponding colour change to festive white. The Office is proper and the antiphons Vidi turbam magnam etc are sung, doubled, with Pss. 109, 110, 111, 112 and 116. The Office hymn is Placare, Christe, servulis. At Compline the Dominical psalms are sung.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the Vigil of All Saints has been abolished. Today is kept as a IV class ferial 'green' day. Mass is of Pentecost XXIII, there is a single collect. Although the Gloria is not sungIte, missa est is the dismissal.

Christ the King

The feast of Christ the King is a Double of the First Class. The liturgical colour of the feast is white. This year it is also the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost and the fifth Sunday of October. The Vigil for the feast of the Apostles SS Simon and Jude was anticipated yesterday, Saturday.

At Vespers yesterday afternoon the antiphons Pacificus etc were sung with psalms 109, 110, 111, 112 & 116. The Office hymn was Te saeculorum Principem. After the collect of the feast a commemoration was sung of the Sunday with the antiphon Tua est potentia for the Saturday before the fifth Sunday of October and the collect for the twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost. At Compline the Dominical psalms were sung and Te lucis was sung with the Doxology Jesu tibi sit gloria, Qui sceptra mundi temperas, Cum Patre et almo Spiritu, In sempiterna saecula.

At Mattins the invitatory is Jesum Christum, Regem regum Venite adoremus. In the first nocturn the lessons are taken from St. Paul's Epistle to the Colossians. In the second nocturn the lessons are taken from Pius XI's encyclical Quas primas. In the third nocturn the homily on St. John's Gospel is taken from the writings of St. Augustine. The ninth lesson is the homily appointed for the twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost, from St. Hiliary on St. Matthew. (The reading of the Gospel and first lesson suffice to fulfill the obligation). The Te Deum is sung. At Lauds the antiphons Suscitabit etc are sung with the Sunday psalms. The Office hymn is Vexilla Christus inclyta. After the collect of the feast a commemoration is sung of the Sunday.

At Prime and the Hours the antiphons Suscitabit etc are sung with the festal psalms (at Prime Pss. 53, 118i & 118ii). The Doxology Jesu tibi sit gloria etc is sung with the hymns of the Hours. At Prime the versicle in the short responsory is Qui primatum in omnibus tenes and the lectio brevis In ipso.

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

At Vespers all is sung as yesterday at first Vespers except the versicle & response and the antiphon on the Magnificat which are proper to second Vespers. After the collect of the feast a commemoration is sung of the following feast of the Apostles SS Simon and Jude and of the Sunday.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' the Vigil of SS Simon and Jude has been abolished. At Vespers there was no commemoration of the Sunday. There is no proper Doxology for Te lucis. At Mattins in the third nocturn, the third psalm (Ps. 88) gets stripped of over half its verses. Verses Tu vero repulisti... to Benedictus Dominus in aeternam, fiat, fiat, 39 - 53, are omitted. The former eighth lesson is split into two to provide an eighth and ninth lesson as the homily of the Sunday is omitted as a ninth lesson as the ninth lesson is not of the Sunday. At Lauds there is no commemoration sung of the Sunday. At Prime and the Hours the Doxology for the feast is omitted. At Prime the lectio brevis is of the season. At Mass there is no commemoration of the Sunday and the last Gospel is In principio. At Vespers there is no commemoration of SS Simon and Jude or of the Sunday.

Coming soon

Ordo MMXIV will be available soon. Please watch this space!

XXII Sunday after Pentecost

The twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost is of semi-double rite. This year it is the fourth Sunday of October and is also Mission Sunday. The liturgical colour is green. The Gospel pericopes from St. Matthew contain the account of the Pharisees trying to trap the LORD over tribute to Caesar and the LORD's rebuttal of "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God those things that are God's." Mission Sunday was instigated by a decree of the SRC in 1926 as a day set aside for special prayer for missionary work at the request of the Superior General Council of the Pontifical Work of the Propagation of the Faith.

At Vespers yesterday afternoon the psalms of Saturday were sung. The Office hymn was Refulsit sol. The antiphon on the Magnificat was Exaudiat Dominus for the Saturday before the fourth Sunday of October. After the collect of the Sunday commemorations were sung of the preceding Office of St. Peter of Alcantara and of St. John Cantius. The Suffrage of the Saints was omitted as were the Dominical preces at Compline due to the occurring double feasts.

At Mattins the invitatory is Adoremus Dominum and the Office hymn is Primo die. In the first nocturn the lessons are the Incipit of the Second Book of the Machabees. In the second nocturn the lessons are from the writings of St. Chrysostom on the Forty-third psalm. In the third nocturn the homily is from St. Hiliary on St. Matthew's Gospel. The Te Deum is sung. At Lauds the Office hymn is Aeterne rerum Conditor. After the collect of the Sunday, a commemoration is sung of St. John Cantius. The Suffrage is omitted.

At Prime (Pss. 117, 118i & 118ii) both Quicumque and the Dominical preces are omitted due to the occurring double feast.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of St. John Cantius, the third collect is taken from the Votive Mass for the Propagation of the Faith, Deus, qui omnes homines. The Creed is sung and the preface is of the Blessed Trinity.

Vespers are of the Sunday. The Office hymn is Lucis creator. After the collect of the Sunday commemorations are sung of the following feast of St. Hilarion, of St. John Cantius and of SS Ursula and Companions. The Suffrage is omitted due to the concurrent double feasts as are the Dominical preces at Compline.

In the 'liturgical books of 1962' at Vespers the antiphon on the Magnificat was also Exaudiat Dominus as the third Sunday of October, and its entire week, are cast aside this year. There were no commemorations at Vespers. Mattins is cut down to a single nocturn of three lessons. At Lauds there are no commemorations. There are never Dominical preces at Prime or Compline regardless of the occurrence of Offices. At Mass there is only one collect, the collect for the Propagation of the Faith being sung under one conclusion with the collect of the Sunday. Vespers are of the Sunday without any commemorations.

Art: Jerome Nadal