The Divine Office - Rev. E. J. Quigley
In the Office of Christmas Day the lessons are read without the title of
the book (Isaias) from which they are taken, because their author's name
was so often repeated during the Advent that each one knew their source,
or because at Christmas God speaks to us by His Son, rather than by His
prophet. In the first response the Gloria Patri is said, to thank God
for the great favour He has bestowed on us--His Son, the Christ. In the
third nocturn, _Alleluia_ is added to the antiphons, because the third
nocturn typifies the time of grace, in which we should express the joy
that is ours in the birth of the Saviour. In this nocturn, too, are
given three Gospel extracts, corresponding with the Gospels in the Mass
of Christmas. Matins are separated from Lauds by the first Mass because,
it is said at midnight, and Lauds is a day Office. At Prime the versicle
of the little response is _Qui natus est_.
_Rubrics_. Christmas is a primary double of the First Class. The third
of the new _Tres Tabellae_ (S.C.R., January, 1912) in the new Breviaries
gives the rules for concurrence of Vespers in the Octave of Christmas.
_Feast of St. Stephen_. The worship of St. Stephen may be said to be as
old as the Church herself, since St. Paul gave him the title of Martyr
of Christ (Acts XXII. 20). His name is to be found in the earliest
liturgical sources, e.g., the Arian martyrology belonging to about 360
and in all calendars, ancient and modern, excepting the Coptic. His
cultus received great impulse from the discovery of his relics at Kaphar
Gamala, on the shore of Lake Genesareth, and the wonderful miracles
wrought by them, A basilica in his honour was erected, in Rome in the
fourth century.
_St. John the Apostle_. The commemoration of St. John on the 27th
December was formerly united with that of St. James the Less. In time,
St. John's feast only was celebrated on this date, and such was the
case as early as the time of Bede.
_The Circumcision._ This festival was originally called _Octava Domini_,
and hence it may be inferred that it was not an independent festival and
passed unnoticed if it fell on a week day. Thus, in the _Homilarium_ of
Charlemagne (786) it is referred to by this name. But very shortly after
this, the name which we now use for the festival of the 1st January was
used in Rome, and spread through the Church. In the early days of
Christianity the first day of the civil year was given over to
rejoicings, dancing, feasting and rioting. And these abuses lingered in
France, though stripped of their pagan character, until the later middle
ages. A remnant of them is found in the so-called Feast of Fools, which
was held in churches, and which mocked several religious customs and
ceremonies. These feasts lasted till the middle of the fifteenth century.
_Epiphany_. The name is derived from a Greek verb employed to describe
the dawn, and the adjective derived from the Greek verb was applied in
classic Greek, to the appearances of the gods bringing help to men. In
Christian liturgy, the feast was instituted to celebrate the appearance,
the manifestation of Christ, to the Gentiles, in the persons of the
Magi. In later times, there were added to this commemoration of Christ's
manifestation to the Gentiles, two further commemorations of his
wonderful showings of His divine mission, viz., His manifestation in His
baptism in the Jordan, a manifestation to the Jews, and His miracle at
Cana, a showing forth to His friends and disciples. This feast is of
early origin. Suarez thinks it should be attributed to the Apostles (_De
Relig_. L.2. ch.5, n.9); and Benedict XIV. held that it was established
by the infant Church at Rome to draw off the Christians from the profane
and sinful revelry which marked the pagan feast of this date. However,
these statements are hardly accurate. "With regard to the antiquity and
spread of the feast, it was unknown in North Africa during the third
century, for Tertullian makes no reference to it; and even in the time
of St. Augustine, it was rejected by the Donatists as an oriental
novelty. In Origen's time, at least, it was not generally observed as a
festival in Alexandria, since he does not reckon it as such. For Rome,
evidence is wanting for the earliest times, but since the daughter
Church of Africa knew nothing--of the festival at first, it may be
inferred that originally it was not kept at Rome, but was introduced
there in course of time. In Spain it was a feast-day in 380, in Gaul in
361 ..." (Kellner, _op. cit._, p.172).
In the antiphons for the Magnificat and the Benedictus it may be noticed
that the three manifestations are given not in the same order. "This day
is the Church united to the Heavenly Spouse, for Christ, in the Jordan,
washes away her sins; the Magi run to the royal nuptials with their
gifts, and the guests of the feast are gladdened by the water changed
into wine" (Ant. of Benedictus). The Magi, seeing the star, said to
each other: "This is the sign of the King: let us go and seek him, and
offer him gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh" (Ant. of Magnificat, 1st
Vesp.), "We celebrate a festival adorned by three miracles: this day, a
star led the Magi to the manger; this day water was changed into wine at
the marriage feast; this day Christ vouchsafed to be baptised by John,
in the Jordan of our salvation" (Ant. of Magnificat, 2nd Vesp.). Now,
the baptism is the special event commemorated by the Easterns on this
feast, and on account of its connection with the baptism, this feast
has, amongst the Greeks, the secondary title of the feast of lights.
And, in Ireland (Synodus II., St. Patricii, can. 20), contrary to the
ancient custom of the Church, solemn baptism was administered on this
feast day. This subject of the baptism forms the only theme of the
ancient sermons bearing on this feast. On the other hand, the visit of
the Magi is the sole event commemorated by St. Augustine in his six
sermons delivered on this feast day. The third event, the marriage
feast, is of later commemoration; and Maximus of Turin doubted if they
all actually happened on the same day.
The Octave to the feast dates from the eighth century. It was customary
on this date, in the Eastern Church, to read publicly the epistola
festalis of the Patriarch of Alexandria arranging the date of Easter and
the practice was ordered by the fourth Council of Orleans in 541.
In Epiphany the invitatory is not said in the beginning of Matins, in
order, say the liturgists, not to repeat the inquiry made by Herod from
the scribes about the birthplace of Christ, an inquiry and invitation
inspired by hatred and anger. The invitatory is omitted, they tell us,
that we, like the Magi, may come to Christ, without other than a silent
invitation. Teachers of olden time used to urge those who were slow to
believe to imitate the Magi. But, the invitatory is not quite omitted.
It is read in the third nocturn, which typifies the law of grace, in
which the Apostles and their successors invite all to praise and worship
God. The psalms of the feast are taken from the psalms of each day of
the week, but chiefly from Friday's psalms, perhaps because the Magi's
visit was on that day.
SEPTUAGESIMA.
"During the age of the persecutions it was scarcely possible for
Christians to observe any other festival than Sunday, and so it is not
surprising that the two writers who have occasion to speak of the
institution of the festivals of the Church, mention only Easter and
Pentecost, both of which fall on a Sunday. To these Christmas was added
in the fourth century and Epiphany somewhat earlier. These chief
festivals, along with others soon added to their number, formed the
elements for the organisation of a festal system in the Church, as
centres round which the lesser festivals grouped themselves. The last
step of importance, however, in the development of the Church's year was
to connect these chief festivals with one another, so as to make them
parts of a whole. The Sundays afforded a convenient means for effecting
this. They were associated with the festal character of the nearest
feast and were connected with it as links in a chain. The way for this
development had been prepared by the season of preparation for Easter,
and the Sundays in the fifty days between Easter and Pentecost--
Quinquagesima--were marked with the festal character with which
antiquity invested the whole period. All that was needed was, first of
all, to connect Christmas, Easter and Pentecost; and, in the second
place, the institution of a season of preparation before Christmas. This
was accomplished between the sixth, and the eighth centuries.
"During the first six centuries the ordinary Sundays of the year had
neither liturgical position or character, since they were not even
enumerated. There was a sort of _commune dominicarum, i.e._, a number of
Masses existed from which one could be chosen at will for each Sunday.
To these Sundays, which were called simply _dominicae quotidianae_,
those after Epiphany and Pentecost belonged.
"They numbered altogether twenty-nine or thirty, according as the
calendar gave fifty-two or fifty-three Sundays in the year.... The
smaller number of these, six at most, come between Epiphany and
Septuagesima, but the larger, twenty-three to twenty-eight, between Whit
Sunday and Advent. The variation depends on the date of Easter. There is
no historical circumstance forthcoming to give these a specially festal
character. ..." (Kellner, _op. cit_., pp. 176, _et seq_.).
Septuagesima Sunday comes nine weeks before Easter. It cannot come
before the 18th January, nor after the 22nd February. It is the first
day of a period of mourning and penance, preparatory to the great
penitential period of Lent. On the Saturday preceding Septuagesima two
_alleluias_ are added to the Benedicamus and Deo Gratias, to intimate
that the period of rejoicing in the Saviour's birth has passed. Violet,
the penitential colour, is used at Mass, and the chapters in Genesis
recording the fall of Adam, warn man to think well, to humble himself
and to do penance. Every part of the Office, the lessons, antiphons and
hymns, bear the notes of mourning and penance.
LENT.
_Lent_.--The Teutonic word, _Lent_, originally meant the spring season.
It has come to mean the forty days preceding Easter. Scholars used to
maintain that this season of penance was of apostolic origin; but,
modern scholars noting the diversity of practice and the diversity of
duration in different churches and the Easter controversy, hold that it
is not of apostolic origin, and that it dates from the third century or
even from the fourth century. It is not mentioned in the Didascalia
(circa 250 A.D.), but was enjoined by St. Athanasius upon his flock
in 331.
EASTER AND PASCHAL TIME.
Easter is the chief festival of Christendom, the first and oldest of all
festivals, the basis on which the Church's year is built, the connecting
link with the festivals of the old covenant and the central point on
which depends the date of the other movable feasts. Some of the very
early Christian writers call it feast of feasts (festum festorum).
The English word Easter is from _Eastre_, the goddess of spring. In the
liturgy we never find the word _Pascha_, always the words _dominica
resurrectionsis_. Pascha has no connection with the Greek [Greek:
Pascho], but is the Aramaic form of _pesach_.
Some points regarding this festival are to be noted, its antiquity, its
connection with Jewish feasts and Christian feasts, its preparation,
character and duration.
_Antiquity_. No mention of this feast is in the _Didache_, in Justin's
Dialogue with Trypho, or in his apologies. But in the year 198 A.D. an
exchange of letters between Pope Victor, Bishop Narcissus of Jerusalem,
Polycrates of Ephesus, shows that the feast had been for years in
existence. Many references are found in Tertullian and writers of his
time to this festival.
_Connection of the Christian Festival with the Jewish_. "The connection
between the Christian and the Jewish feasts is both historical and
ideal--historical because our Lord's death happened on the 15th Nisan,
the first day of the Jewish feast; ideal, because what took place had
been prefigured in the Old Testament by types, of which itself was the
antitype. The Jewish rites and ceremonies (Exodus XII.) are referred to
in the prophecies of the Messias. Thus, Isaias calls Him the Lamb chosen
by God, who bears the iniquities of others. The Baptist called Jesus,
the Lamb of God. The Evangelist refers to the typical character of the
Passover rites, when he applies, 'a bone of it shall not be broken'
(Exod. XII. 46), to Christ on the Cross. Justin and Tertullian see in
the Christian sacrifice the fulfilment of the imperfect sacrifices of
the old law. Hence, there is no doubt that the Jewish Passover was
taken over into Christianity. Thereby its typical ceremonies found their
due fulfilment.
"To the real and historical connection between Easter and the Passover
is due the explanation of a striking peculiarity in the Church's year,
viz., the moveable feasts of which Easter is the starting point. Easter
falls on no fixed date, because the Jewish 15th Nisan, unlike the dates
of the Julian and Gregorian Calendars, varied year by year.
"The preparation for Easter was the Lenten fasts. The fare on fast days
consisted of water and soup made with flour; fruit and oil and bread
were also eaten. The catechumens also fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Among the faithful there were some who ate nothing from their repast on
Sunday until the following Saturday, e.g., for five days, and who all
the year round took only one meal a day. Others abstained in Lent from
all food for two consecutive days, but others fasted by taking nothing
to eat all day, until the evening" (Kellner, _op. cit._, p. 93).
The Easter celebrations were in the early ages chiefly noted for the
great and solemn ceremonies of baptism conferred on a large number of
catechumens, with solemn procession from the baptistry to the cathedral.
The Easter Octave celebrates by festivals the supper at Emmaus, the
appearance of our Lord (St. Luke xxiv.), His appearance by the sea (St.
John xxi. 1-14), His appearance to Magdalen (St. John xx. 11-18), His
appearance on the mountain (St. Matthew xxviii. 16-20), and His
appearance just after He had risen (St. John xx, 1-9),
THE ASCENSION.
This day was kept as a festival in very early times, although it is not
mentioned in the lists of Church festivals given by Tertullian (+220),
nor by Origen (185-254). St. Augustine (354-430) (Epist. ad Januarium,
54, c.l.) attributes the institution of this festival to an apostolic
ordinance or the injunction of a general council. But neither can be
proved. But the festival dates from the days of the early Church, and as
it was natural that the concluding act of our Saviour's life should be
remembered and honoured, the celebration of the feast of His Ascension
spread widely and rapidly. The feast was noted for the solemn
processions held, to imitate and to commemorate our Lord's leading of
the Apostles out of the city to the Mount of Olives.
WHIT SUNDAY.
Pentecost or Whit Sunday extends back to the early days of the Church.
From Tertullian, it is plain that the festival was well known and long
established. In the _Peregrinatio Silviae_, we read a detailed account
of how the feast was kept in Jerusalem at her visit (385-388). "On the
night before Whitsunday the vigil was celebrated in the church of the
Anastasis, at which the bishop, according to the usual custom in
Jerusalem on Sundays, read the Gospel of the Resurrection, and the
customary psalmody was performed. At dawn, all the people proceeded to
the principal church (Martyrium) where a sermon was preached and Mass
celebrated. About the third hour, when the psalmody was finished, the
people singing accompanied the bishop to Sion. There, the passage from
the Acts of the Apostles describing the descent of the Holy Ghost was
read, and a second Mass was celebrated; after which the psalmody was
resumed. Afterwards, the archdeacon invited the people to assemble in
the 'Eleona,' from whence a procession was made to the summit of the
Mount of Olives. Here, psalms and antiphons were sung, the Gospel was
read and the blessing given. After this, the people descended again into
the 'Eleona,' where Vespers were sung, and then, with the bishop at
their head, proceeded in a solemn procession, with singing, back to the
principal church, which was reached towards 8 p.m. At the city gate the
procession was met by torch bearers, who accompanied it to the
Martyrium. Here, as well as in the Anastasias, to which the people
proceeded in turn, and in the chapel of the Holy Cross, the usual
prayers, hymns and blessings took place, so that the festival did not
conclude until midnight." (Kellner, _op. cit._, pp. 112-113). In most
churches, the principal services were solemn baptism and processions. In
some places it was customary to scatter roses from the roof of the
church, to recall the miracle of Pentecost. In France, trumpets were
blown in church, in memory of the great wind which accompanied the Holy
Spirit's descent.
TRINITY SUNDAY.
The first Sunday after Pentecost, for centuries, was not called Trinity
Sunday. Pope Alexander II. (circa 1073) was questioned about a feast in
honour of the Holy Trinity and he replied that it was not the Roman
custom to set apart any particular day in honour of the Trinity, which
was honoured many times daily in the psalmody, by the _Gloria Patri_.
But an Office and Mass, dating from a hundred years earlier than this
Pope's time, were in use in the Netherlands and afterwards in England,
Germany and France; and in 1260 were spread far and wide. In 1334, Pope
John XXII. ordered uniformity and general observance of this feast on
the Sunday after Pentecost. The Office in our Breviaries dates from the
time of Pius V. It is beautiful and sublime in matter and in form.
Whether this is a new Office or a blending of some ancient offices, is a
matter of dispute. Baillet, _Les Vies des Saints_ (Tom ix. c. 2, 158)
thinks it a new Office. But Binterim, _Die Kirchichle Heortology_, Part
I., 265, and Baumer-Biron, _Histoire du Breviaire_, 298, take a
different view. The Roman rite follows the older form of enumeration,
second Sunday after Easter and so forth, and not first Sunday after
Trinity. The latter form of enumeration is adopted in the Anglican
church service books.
THE PROPER OF THE SAINTS.
_December. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception._ The discussion of
the question of this feast lasted for more than a thousand years. A
feast of the Conception was celebrated in the Eastern Church in the
early part of the eighth century and was celebrated on the 9th December
(Kellner, _Heortology_, p. 242, _et seq._). The feast was celebrated in
England before the Norman Conquest (1066) (Bishop, _On the Origins of
Feast of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary_, London, 1904).
But there is an earlier codex than those mentioned by Bishop, and from
it, it is argued that the feast is of Irish origin. In a metrical
calendar, which is reasonably referred to the time of Alfred the Great
(871-901), there is the line "Concipitur Virgo maria cognomine senio";
and this calendar exhibits, says Father Thurston, S.J., "most
unmistakable signs of the influence of an Irish character." It was
written, Dr. Whitely Stokes believed, by an Irishman in the ninth
century or thereabouts. The script appears to him to be "old Irish,
rather than Anglo-Saxon, and the large numbers of commemorations of
Irish saints and the accuracy with which the names are spelt, point to
an Irish origin." This calendar places the feast of our Lady's
Conception on the 2nd May. In the metrical calendar of Oengus, the feast
is assigned to the 3rd May, and in his _Leabhar Breac_, the scribe adds
the Latin note, "Feir mar Muire et reliqua, _i.e._, inceptio ejus ut
alii putant--sed in februo mense vel in Martio facta est illa, quae post
VII. menses nata est, ut innaratur--vel quae libet alia feria ejus."
Again, in the martyrology of Tallaght, from which Gorman, a later
martyrologist, says that Oengus, the Culdee, drew his materials, is
found under date May 3rd, a mention of the celebration of the Conception
of Mary. This evidence seems to show--although it is not perfectly
conclusive--that the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was
celebrated in the Irish Church in the ninth and tenth centuries, but not
on the 8th December (see Father Thurston, S.J., _The Month_, May and
June, 1904; Father Doncoeur, S.J., _Revue d'histoire ecclesiastique_,
Louvain, 1907, p. 278, et seq.; Baudot, _The Roman Breviary_, pp.
253-255; Kellner, _op. cit._).
It is to be regretted that even in the new Breviary the lessons for the
second nocturn of this feast are taken from the composition, _Cogitis
me_, falsely attributed to St. Jerome, and rejected by critics, from the
days of Baronius, as spurious (Baudot, _op. cit._, p. 236).
_February. The Purification._ Candlemas. According to the Gospel
narrative, Mary fulfilled the commands of the Law (Lev. XII. 2-8), and
on the fortieth day brought the prescribed offering to the Temple, where
she met Simeon and Anna.
The first reference found in Christian writers to this festival is found
in the famous _Peregrinatio Sylviae_, the diary of a Spanish lady who
visited Jerusalem about 385-388. She tells us that the day began with a
solemn procession, followed by a sermon on St. Luke II. 22 seqq., and a
Mass. It had not yet a name, but was called the fortieth day after the
Epiphany; and this naming shows that at Jerusalem the Epiphany was
regarded as the day of Christ's birth. The lady's words show that the
feast was not then observed in her own country. The feast was observed
in Rome in 542; and Pope Sergius I. (687-701) ordered a procession on
this festival. The opinion that is so often met with in pious books,
that this feast with its procession of candlebearers was established by
the Church to replace the riot and revels of the Pagan _Lupercalia_, is
now rejected by scholars. For, processions, with or without lights, were
so common amongst Pagans and Christians that any connection between
these two feasts is negligible.
_March. St. Joseph_. In the Western Church the cultus of St. Joseph is
not found in any calendar before the ninth century, although numerous
traces of the esteem and veneration paid to him by individuals are
found. The public cultus of St. Joseph was introduced by the private
devotions of great servants of God, such as St. Bernard, St. Gertrude,
St. Bridget of Sweden, John Gerson, St. Bernardine of Sienna, and other
Franciscan preachers. The spread of the devotion in several countries
led Pope Sixtus IV. (1471-1484) to introduce St. Joseph's feast, as a
simplex, having only one lesson. Clement XI. (1700-1721) changed it into
a feast of nine lessons. Two centuries previously the feast is found in
Breviaries under date 19th March.
_The Annunciation_. Devotion to the Mother of God was continued by the
apostles after the death of her Son. Fervent and widespread devotion is
traceable in the Church's early days, but the organising of our Lady's
feasts was a work of some time and difficulty. A great difficulty was
the fear of blasphemy from pagans, and of error amongst pagan converts,
so trained in myths and genealogies of the gods. Then the festivals
commemorating the facts of the life, death and resurrection were
primarily commemorative of the Redeemer and secondarily of His Mother.
Long before the institution of her feast, the cultus of Mary was almost
universal. The feast of the Annunciation falls on the 25th March with
us. Its date depends entirely on the date of Christmas, but the birth of
Christ was not always placed in calendars on the 25th December.
In early days the feasts of martyrs and other saints were not celebrated
in Lent, and hence this feast of the Blessed Virgin was set down in some
calendars as transferred, and was celebrated in Advent. In Spain, it was
celebrated eight days before Christmas. In the East, the feast was
generally celebrated on the 25th March, and gradually this date was
fixed, and was sanctioned by several councils in the eleventh century.
_May. The Finding of the Holy Cross_. The history of the finding of the
true cross by St. Helena is well known. The Alexandrine Chronicle gives
the day as the 14th September, 320. This September feast of the holy
cross is of earlier origin than the feast of May. The latter was
established to commemorate the act of the emperor in 629, when he
brought back to Jerusalem the true cross, from the Persian conquerors.
On 3rd May, he handed it over to the Patriarch Zacharias, and, strange
to say, this festival of May spread rapidly in the Western Church,
whilst in the East only one feast, (the September one), of the finding
of the cross was celebrated for centuries. In Milan, for instance, the
September feast was received in the eleventh century, whilst the May
feast was rooted in the Western Church very many years before that time.