The Divine Office - Rev. E. J. Quigley
The lovers of everything classic and pagan were pained and exasperated
at the venerable simplicity, the lack of prosody, the vagueness and
crudity of the wording of the liturgical hymns. In 1531, Wimpheling, a
priest of the diocese of Spire, produced a work, _Himni de tempore et de
sanctis_ ... _secundum legem carminis diligenter emendati_. Leo X.,
yielding to his own taste and the wishes of the learned innovators who
were ardent students of pagan antiquity, commissioned Ferreri to compose
a new hymnal for liturgical use. His book was allowed for liturgical
use, but was not prescribed. It omitted all the old hymns sanctioned by
the Church for centuries, and sung with fervour by thousands down the
ages. "There are found in the work of Ferreri," wrote Dom Gueranger,
"all the images and all the allusions to pagan beliefs and usages which
we find in Horace. Sometimes, it is only fair to say, his hymns are
beautiful and simple ... but they follow generally and too servilely the
pagan models ... but they are the work of strong and clear inspiration,
which under the mask of classic diction shows itself in every part."
(_Inst. Liturg._ t. I., p. 370.) During the reign of Pope Paul III. new
hymnals were issued, but the Breviary hymns were not removed. St. Pius
V. in his reform of the Breviary did not touch the Breviary hymns.
Clement VIII. in his reform added new hymns but did not remove nor
retouch the old ones. This work remained for Pope Urban VIII.
(1623-1644).
Urban VIII., Maffeo Barberini, was a poet of no mean rank. Before his
election to the papacy, he was a recognised lover of classical
literature and an adept in following classic themes and classic forms.
Our Breviaries contain some few of his compositions and they show
correctness of form, poetic merit, and piety. They are the hymns,
_Martinae celebri, Tu natale solum_ (January 20); _Nullis te genitor,
Regali solio fortis_ (April 13). His great desire was the correction of
the Breviary hymns. This work of correction was not beyond the personal
power of the Pope himself, if we judge him by his hymns. His views are
expressed in the Bull _Divinam Psalmodiam_, issued to promulgate the
corrected hymns. It found a place in all copies of the Roman Breviary in
the last century. To carry out the corrections outlined by the Pope,
four Jesuits were appointed, and whether the result of the corrections
is the Pope's or the Jesuits' is a highly and hotly disputed point.
First of all, the task set to the Jesuits was a very difficult one, and
one demanding much prudence as well as learning. It may seem to us that
to begin the correction, mutilation and reconstruction of the works and
words of men so great in church history and liturgy as Prudentius,
Sedulius, St. Ambrose, St. Paulinus, was a work of rashness, a sort of
sacrilege, attempting to remodel the glowing piety of their poems to the
pattern of Horace's verse. But the Jesuits had got their commands and
they were bound to obey. They were chosen on account of their classical
scholarship, which was kept sharp by their daily teaching in college,
and they were specially bound by a vow of loyal obedience to Papal
orders. "It is only fair to give them the credit that out of respect for
the wishes of Urban VIII, they treated these ancient compositions with
extreme reserve and, while they made some impressions clearer, they
maintained the primitive unction in a large number of passages" (Baudot,
_op. cit._, p. 185).
They corrected more than nine hundred false quantities found scattered
through the Breviary, 58 in the psalter per hebdomadam, 359 in the
proper de Tempore, 283 in the proper of Saints, and 252 in the common of
Saints. They changed the opening words of more than thirty hymns. Some
hymns were untouched--e.g., the three hymns of the Blessed Sacrament,
the _Ave Maris Stella_, which is rhythmic prose, not verse, and the hymn
of the Angels, which was sufficiently perfect. The metre of three hymns,
_Tibi Christe splendor Patris_, and the _Urbs Jerusalem_ and _Angularis
fundamentum_ were changed.
The Jesuits have been censured very bitterly for their work of
correction. Perhaps they merited some censure, but surely they did not
merit the censures heaped on them by hostile critics like Thiers, Henri
Valois, and the Franciscan, Cavalli. They answered their critics
splendidly and triumphantly by the works of Father Arevalo, S.J. But the
wordy war lasts to the present day. Students who wish to see the
unrevised and the revised hymnal of Urban VIII. may consult Daniel's
_Thesaurus hymnologicus_ for examples. Other examples are given in
Monsignor Battifol's work, and others in Dom Baudot's. If the reader
read in the Breviary, the hymn _Te lucis ante terminum_, he may note a
difference in that, the revised form, and this, the unrevised:--
Te lucis ante terminum,
Rerum Creator poscimus,
Ut solita clementia
Sis praesul ad custodiam.
Praesta pater omnipotens
Per Jesum Christum Dominum
Qui tecum in perpetuum regnat
Cum Sancto Spiritu
Again, see Lauds for Passion Sunday, _Lustra sex_, second verse,
unrevised reads:--
Hic acetum fel arundo
Sputa clavi lancea
Mite corpus perforator
Sanguis unda profluit
Terra, pontus, astra, mundus
Quo lavantur flumine.
_Iste Confessor_, unrevised reads:--
Iste confessor domini sacratus
Festa plebs cujus celebrat per orbem
Hodie laetus meruit secreta
Scandere coeli.
Qui Pius, prudens humilis judicus,
Sobrius, castus fuit et quietus
Vita dum praesens vegetavit ejus
Corporis artus.
The imitation of Breviary hymns has for centuries formed a notable part
of sacred Latin poetry. A great amount of Latin poetry dealing with
sacred themes finds no place in Missal or Breviary. Every nation has
ancient Latin hymns, generally modelled on the then existing liturgical
models; and these hymns are found in national hymnals and in works
dealing with Christian antiquities, but they find no place in modern
liturgy. Thus the Latin poetry of the ancient Irish Church is formed for
private and not choral use. The oldest purely rhythmical Latin hymn is
that of St. Sechnall (1448), "Audite omnes amantes Deum, sancta merita."
But neither it, nor any other of the old Latin hymns by Irish writers,
finds place in the Breviary. Collections of Latin hymns by Irish writers
of early Christian Ireland are to be found in Todd's _Book of Hymns of
the Ancient Irish Church_ (Dublin, 1885-1891); the _Irish Liber
Hymnorum_ (London, 1898), the _Antiphonary of Bangor_ (Warren's Edition,
London, 1893).
One of the most difficult works for a scholar to attempt and to carry
out to his satisfaction is the translation of prose or poetry into
another language. The work of translating the Latin of the Roman
Breviary into English was attempted and completed years ago. The work
was great and creditable, but not renowned as a feat of translation. The
hymns of the Breviary have been translated by several authors in every
country of Christendom, and with different degrees of success. The study
of the Breviary hymns is a highly interesting one, and when it is
supported by the different efforts of different translators, it yields
new delights, and new beauties are discovered in verses which are
sometimes said too rapidly for earnest thought and attention. In the
list of books given in the bibliography below, there are given the names
of books of translated hymns. Any one of them is of great interest.
NOTE B.
PARTICULAR EXAMEN ON THE RECITATION OF THE DIVINE OFFICE.
I. How preparation for saying the Hours is to be made:--
(a) Have we before commencing to recite the Breviary made a fervent act
of faith in the presence of God and in the sovereign majesty of Him to
Whom we are going to speak?
Have we endeavoured to purify our hearts by an act of contrition, in
order that we may escape the terrible reproach which God addresses to
the sinner--"to the sinner God hath said, 'Why dost thou declare my
justices and take away covenant in thy mouth?'" (Psalm 49, v.16)?
Have we taken particular care to clear off from our souls everything
which can distract us, and above all others these things to which we are
attracted and to which our minds may return during our prayer?
"Ante debes facere quod ait propheta: scopebam spiritum meum donec
incalescat spiritus tuus ex devota meditatione et affectum et
desiderium concipiat" (D. Gerhard Zutp. de spir. Ascen.). "Studeat
oratione devota et recollectione animi interna divinum praevenire
officium" (St. Bona. spec, di., p.2, c.7).
Have we recollected ourselves and remained silent for a time,
particularly when passing from study or from a secular business, in
order to banish vain or worldly thoughts, and to make ourselves ready to
receive the Holy Ghost?
Have we united ourselves to Jesus Christ, Who is the perfect praise of
God, the Father? Have we united ourselves in spirit to the Church, in
whose name we are going to praise God? "In unione orationum ac meritorum
Christi Jesu gratiam ad officium debite persolvendum petat" (St.
Bona. _ibid_.)
Have we begged the Holy Ghost by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin
and the saints, whose offices we read, that we may be allowed to join
our praises to those which they give God?
Have we always formed intentions general and particular, not forgetting
to form intentions embracing the intentions of Christ and His Church?
Have we adopted some pious thought prior to our reading, so that
distractions may be excluded and fervour fostered during our recitation?
Have we chosen suitable time and place to pray?
Have we taken pains to mark the places in the Breviary and looked over
the rubrics? Has not negligence in these matters caused innumerable
distractions?
II. Dispositions which we should have in saying the Office:--
Let us find out with what dispositions we recite the Divine Office, and
if we say it in the manner in which the Church wishes it to be said,
digne, attente, ac devote. (Orat. rec. ante offic.).
1. Have we considered well that God is present and that we speak to Him?
Do we look on ourselves as instruments which need to be animated with
God's holy spirit in order to bless His holy name? Have we said the
Office with all the respect and all the veneration which His almighty
majesty calls for? Cum timore et humilitate, tanquam Deo visibiliter
presente, psallant (S. Bona, spec, discip., p. 1, c. 15).
2. In order to say it attentively have we taken great pains to put away
all kinds of distractions?
"Munda cor meum ab omnibus vanis perversis et alienis cogitationibus"
(_ibid._).
Have we rejected even good thoughts which were unsuitable for the time
of recitation, and above all have we banished idle or indifferent ones?
Have we tried, following the example of the saints, to excite in
ourselves the different sentiments expressed by the Psalms, or to dwell
on some perfection of God, or on some mystery of our Lord, or on some
virtue of the saint whose office we read? Have we piously dwelt on
these, or on some other subject proper to the Church's season or
according to our needs?
"Si orat psalmus, orate; si gemit, gemite; si gratulatur, gaudete; si
timet, timete" (St. Aug. in Ps. 30).
In order to say the Office devoutly, have we said it with love, having
our hearts and souls fully alive to the advantages and the excellence
and the beauties of the Divine Office?
Have we said it with fervour, abandoning ourselves to a good emotion, to
holy affections, and to joyous transports, which the Holy Ghost usually
works in fervent souls? Have we done this work with joy, taking a
peculiar pleasure in this holy labour, recognising the great honour it
is to be a partaker in the songs of praise offered to God by the
heavenly company, whose hosts are filled with His glory?
III. How we must keep watch over ourselves in reading the Office:--
Let us examine ourselves to find out if in reading the Breviary we keep
the rules of good recitation, as laid down by the saints--Distincte,
integre, continue, reverenter, ordinate (St. Bonav., spec. discip. p.
1, c. 16).
1. _Distincte_, Do we recite distinctly, observing the ordinary pause at
the middle and at the end of each verse, not hurrying the one on the
other? Do we articulate every word, not adopting a careless or too
speedy pronunciation?
"Non in gutture vel inter dentes, seu deglutiendo et syncopando
dictiones vel verba" (Con. Basil, sess. 22).
2. _Integre_. Do we say the Office in its entirety, being scrupulously
careful not to omit the smallest part, and taking great care that a part
that we should wish or try to say by heart shall not slip out of our
recitation altogether or be mutilated?
"Integre, ut de dicendis nihil omittant" (St. Bona., spec, discip.,
p. 1).
3. Continue. Do we say our Hours without interruption? Do we love this
holy exercise? Or do we easily interrupt our prayer on any trifling
pretext, and on the first opportunity?
"Interruptiones in eo non fiant, nisi urgente necessitate" (_ibid_.).
4. _Ordinate_. Do we say our Office with order, that is, order both in
substance (not substituting one Office for another) and in manner,
according to the rubrics arranging the several hours?
"_Ordinate in substantia, tempore et modo_" (St. Bona. spec., _ibid_.).
5. Have we said our Hours piously, with all the modesty and all the
reverence which so holy an action demands? With becoming attitude, not
lying prone, not crossing our legs; without saluting or speaking to
those passing by?
"In officio curando magnopere reverentia et honestas, cum ubique sit
eadem cui tune loquimur et adstamus Deitas et majestas" (_ibid_.). (From
_Examens Particulers sur l'Office Divin_, par M. Tronson).
NOTE C.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Priests are provided in their text-books of College days with reliable
guides dealing directly and indirectly with liturgy. Hence, some of the
books quoted here may already be favourites with many readers; but,
perhaps, some books in the list may be brought to the notice of
students of liturgy for the first time, and may be useful in introducing
priests and church students to easy, pleasant paths in liturgical
studies. The prices quoted may be useful to book-buyers,
1. Dom Gueranger, _The Liturgical Year_ (1895, Duffy, Dublin, 16 vols.
£3 9s.)--This work is a favourite with all lovers of liturgy, It studies
and comments on the Church's liturgy day by day, week by week. It gives
readers of the Missal and the Breviary a new interest and an additional
fervour in their daily prayers. It is a standard work and holds its own
wonderfully against all competitors.
2. _Cours De Liturgie Romaine Le Breviare_, L'abbe Bernard, Sulpician
(Paris. 1887, 2 vols, 7 francs). This is a text-book written with great
care, showing fine scholarship and deep piety. It is the work of a
skilled teacher.
3. _Le Breviare Romain, Commente_ par L'abbe Maugere. Paris. 1887, 6
francs.--A very concise and useful work, which I have used often in
compiling my book.
4. The articles in the _Catholic Encyclopedia_, on the Breviary and
liturgy generally.
5. Duchesne, _Christian Worship_ (London. 1904. 10s.). Very readable and
serviceable to students of early Church history.
6. Battifol, _History of the Roman Breviary_. (London, 1912. 15s.)
7. Biron-Baumer, _Histoire du Breviaire_. (Paris. 2 vols. 11 francs.)
8. Baudot, _The Roman Breviary_ (London. Cath. Truth Society. Price
4s.6d.)
Monsignor Battifol's book is well and favourably known. It is in
English, and has had a large circulation. It received searching and
severe criticism from Dom Baumer, the author of _Geschichte des
Breviers_. Baumer's work (translated into French by Biron) is a work
showing wonderful industry, learning and critical acumen. The great
German Benedictine was aided in several parts of his work by Mr. E.
Bishop, the English liturgiologist, who intended to translate the work
into English. Dom Baudot's book gives in concise form the results of the
labours of Battifol and Baumer. The book is readable, accurate, and is
excellent value for the price.
9. _The Calendar_. The introductory matter given in the Breviary
suffices for the wants of the ordinary student of liturgy. But those who
wish for an exhaustive study of times and seasons may safely read
_Kalendarium Manuale_, Pars I. _Festa immobilia_, Editio secunda; price
9 lire; and Pars. II. _Festa Mobilia_, price 13 lire, by Rev. N. Nilles,
S.J. Calendar study is highly interesting, and the articles in the
_Catholic Encyclopedia_ and Father Thurston's articles in the _Month_ on
Calendar affairs are always instructive.
_The New Psalter_ (Myers and Burton. London. 1915. 3s.6d.) is a very
useful and practical help to the understanding and application of the
new rubrics. I have quoted several times from its pages,
_Heortology_, a History of Christian Festivals from their Origin to the
Present Day, by Dr. Kellner, Professor of Catholic Theology in Bonn, is
a translation of a text-book written for German students preparing to
pass Government examinations. It is a fine book, and if a student of
liturgy knew its contents well he would have no poor knowledge of this
and, incidentally, of other questions of liturgy. Gueranger, Duchesne
and Kellner constitute the beginnings of a student's liturgical library
(London, Keegan, Paul. 1908. Price 10s. 6d.). An excellent little volume
by Father McKee, dealing with the same subject, is published by Catholic
Truth Society, London, 2s, 6d. It is introductory and elementary.
10. Thousands of works on the Psalms have been published. But any priest
or student who studies Steenkiste's work on the Psalms learns nearly all
that is needed to recite his psalms digne, attente ac devote. His work
is a mine of useful, pious, and, in the main, accurate comment on the
inspired text. Breviary students studying this commentary need little
else to help them to admire, to understand and to use their psalmody in
a prayerful manner. Steenkiste, _Liber Psalmorum_ (3 vols, Bruges. 1886.
Price 15s.).
_The New Psalter of the Roman Breviary_, by Fillon, S.S. (London,
Herder. 1915. Price 6s.).
Father Fillon was consultor to the Biblical Commission. His notes are
short and useful to those who, having studied the psalms, can recall
their meaning by a few brief hints. Its comments are too brief, but it
gives the Latin text, English translation, notes on psalms and newly
added canticles, and is arranged in the order in which they stand in the
Pian psaltery.
_Sing Ye to the Lord_, by Rev. R. Eaton (London, Catholic Truth
Society. 2 vols. 4s. each).
In these books the leading idea or ideas of the Psalms are taken up, and
beautiful explanations and spiritual readings given. The books are
delightful reading, and give Breviary readers, old and young, fresh
thoughts on psalms which through familiarity and constant repetition may
have lost some of their pious meaning and prayerfulness.
Books of Scripture commentary by non-Catholic writers should be read
with caution, and often ecclesiastical permission for their perusal must
be sought. Neale and Littledale's _Commentary on the Psalms_ (6 vols.
London. 1867) is a compilation by two Anglican scholars, from the
commentators of the Middle Ages. The wonderful piety of these men of
old, saints and scholars, their beautiful comments, their glowing
fervour, and above all their knowledge and love of the Bible text,
surprise us all. Sometimes, of course, these mediaevalists run into
far-fetched, outlandish comments, but the compilers give always the
comments of the Masters, St. Thomas, St. Bede, etc.
Very many metrical arrangements of the Psalms by non-Catholic authors
exist in English. Most of these metrical efforts are very poor,
unreliable in giving the sense, and awkward and ungainly in poetic
forms. An interesting book is Prothero's _Psalms in Human Life_. The
author was a Protestant, hence his numbering of the Psalms may at first
sight be confusing,
Sermons fresh and beautiful, full of unction, and full of texts, sublime
and practical, are to be found in the Psalms. A work, little known in
our islands, is Monsignor Doublet's fine work, _Psaumes etudies en vue
de la Predication_ (3 vols. 8th Edition. 12s.).
A charming booklet, dealing chiefly with the Psalms as prayers, is
Rolland Gosselin's _Prieres et Meditations bibliques_ (Paris. 1917.
Bauchesne. 3s.).
_10. Hymns._ Immense labour has been devoted to the study of Latin
sacred poetry. The _Analecta Hymnica_ in 60 huge volumes testifies to
the learning and zeal of its Jesuit authors. Ordinary mortals content
themselves with lesser works, such as Pimont's _Hymnes du Breviare
Romain_ (Paris Poussielgne. 2 vols, 12-1/2 francs), or with _La Poesie
du Breviaire, Les Hymns_, by l'abbe C. Albin. Price 6 francs. The
opinions and judgments in neither book are infallible; and some of
Pimont's findings have been roughly criticised and sometimes rejected.
But both books give good, sound knowledge of Breviary hymns and thus
help to make their recitation a pious and a rational exercise, not a
mechanical, soulless labour.
Translation of poetry has ever been a study and a pastime. Every cleric
is familiar with the prose translations which aided his boyhood's
labours in rendering the poetry of Horace and Euripides into modern
speech. But prose efforts are one thing, and poetical efforts are
another, and just as many have laboured to present Virgil and Homer in
modern language, in metre, in rhyme, in rhythm; so, many poets and
verse-makers, in different ages and in different climes, have laboured
to turn into modern poetic form and into their own national tongue the
poems of the Breviary. The Breviary hymns have met with several good,
kind, translating poets; but very often they have been rudely handled by
well-meaning verse builders. Passing over in charitable silence the
indifferent efforts of those people, it may interest some students of
the Breviary to read the efforts of well-known authors to translate the
liturgy, its anthems, responses, collects, hymns, into good English.
(1) _The Day Hours of the Church_.--A translation of the Horae Diurnae,
with the psalms, etc., arranged according to the reform of Pope Pius X.
This is a good book, giving in parallel columns on the same page, Latin
and English translations. It includes the very best hymn translations by
Catholic authors, John Dryden, Cardinal Newman, Father Caswall, etc.
(Burns & Gates. 8s.). This book is intended for the use of the laity,
and, owing to the strict regulations issued for the printing of the new
Roman Breviary, this book may not lawfully be used to replace the
Breviarium Romanum. But, as it is a complete translation of the little
Hours of the Church, it is a very useful aid to the attentive and devout
recitation of the Hours. A look at its pages before each hour's
recitation, or a glance to see the meaning of some verse of psalm or
hymn will repay anyone. It is a wonderfully careful production, has a
beautiful _format_, and is good value at the price marked.
(2) _Annus Sanctus_, by Orby Shipley (Burns & Oates. 1884). This book
contains the work of many Catholic translators, and their translations
of Breviary hymns vary in merit. It contains a good introduction, the
translations attributed to Dryden, and it gives some things which are
always interesting, the efforts of several minds, poets and
verse-makers, to render the same Latin hymn into English verse. It
includes verses from several Irishmen.
(3) _Hymns from the Roman Breviary_, translated (Catholic Truth Society,
London. Price 1s. 6d). A good selection from Catholic and non-Catholic
translators. The translations of Dr. Neale, Anglican--held to be
superior in fidelity and in poetic form to that of any English
translator--are given in this booklet. Neale's _Collected Hymns_ (Hodder
& Stoughton, 6s.) are useful for translators and composers of vernacular
hymns. But his work is, I think, over-rated.
(4) Other translations of Breviary hymns are found in the collections of
hymns used in Anglican churches: _Hymns, Ancient and Modern; The English
Hymnal; The Hymner from the Sarum Breviary_ (Plain-song and Mediaeval
Society, London); _Songs of Sion_, by Woodward, etc.
For advanced study of liturgy, Dom Cabrol's _Dictionaire D'Archeologie
Chrietienne Et Liturgie_ (Paris: Letouzey et Ane) is indispensable. Its
study delights and consoles those who possess it.