Liturgy

cistercians of the strict observanceOCTOBER 1970

VOL 4 N0.3

L I T U R G Y Vol ume 4, Number 3 / October 1970

EDITOR I s PAGETHE BURIAL OF A MISSIONARY IN THE YOABOU REGION OF NORTH DAHOMEY 3

Pati ent REDOIS, Bi shop of Nati ti ngouA PIGMY FUNERAL CHANT 9MEETI NG OF THE CISTERCI AN LITURGY FOR CANADA 1 1REPORT OF THE FRANCOPHONE LITURGY COMMISSION. NOTRE-DAME DES GARDES,

[OCTOBER, 1 969 19RETURNS FROM THE OFFICE QUESTIONNAI RE OF THE FRANCOPHONE LITURGY COM

[MISSION FOR EUROPE, OCTOBER, 1 969 39TOWARDS A SPECIFIC OPENI NG FORMULA FOR THE PRAYER OF THE HOU RS 55

Pl aci de VERNETINTRODUCTORY MONITIONS FOR THE LORD'S PRAYER 71

Jean- Eudes DAVIDA CONFERENCE BY SISTER CHRISTIANE BECKER: PRAYING IN THE HERE AND

[NOW / PRAYING THE HERE AND NOW 79THE OFFICE IS A CELEBRATI ON 83

Si ster M .A. VERHEECKEENTRANCE INTO THE NOVITI ATE : THE EXPERIMENTAL RITE AT NEW MELL ERAY 87CONCELEBRATION IN COWL? 91

Eoi n de BHALDRAITH EA SECOND-CENTURY OD E ABOUT THE WORD OF GOD 99

LI'IURGY Bulletin serves to share with others whatever thoughts and ex periences may contribute ta.vards the developrent of a living liturgy for today.

Manuscripts should be fo:rwarded to:Fr.Chrysogonus Gethseroani AbbeyTrappist, Kentucky 40073 (U.S.A.)

Material for the next issue (probably January/February 1971) should bereceived, if possible, by late Decanber, 1970.

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EDITOR'S PAGE

Man pl ans, but i t's sti l l God who has the l ast word ...The· Mi nutes of the recent meeti ng of the Order' s Li turgy Commi ssion at Ros Crea,Irel and, i n early September, have yet to arri ve. I accordi ngl y haveto cl ose the present i ssue of Liturgy wi thout bei ng abl e to i ncl ude thi s report among the vari ous studi es and arti cl es whi ch make up a nonethel ess substanti al col l ecti on of materi al . Our contri butors pre sent qui te a spectrum: an early Chri sti an communi ty i n Syri a (2nd century! ); a bishop of our own times from North Dahomey; a tri be of Afri can pi gmi es; a pai r of Bel gi an nuns who fol l ow i n the great tradi ti on of thei r predecessors Lutgarde, Beatri x of Nazareth , and the tri o of ldas; an Iri sh monk wi th eyes focussed on the future as wel l as on the present ...As for the Ros Crea report, thi s wi l l be sent to al l i n terested parti es by separate mai l , as soon as the French text i s re cei ved and engl i shed.

There i s no dearth of reports i n thi s current i ssue. We have, fi rst of al l , the report from our Canadi an Commi ssion. Thei r ori entati on i s signi fi cant and rather characteri sti c, I'm happy to say, of the ori enta tion taken i n recent times by simi l ar work-groups, for whom the deep ex peri ence of prayer i n common i s central to the work bei ng done by the commi ssion i n question. A l i turgy commi ssi on concerned wi th the cel ebra tion of a truly l i vi ng l i turgy on the occasi on of thei r meeti ngs thi s i s a rel ati vely recent phenomenon i n some Orders and Congregati ons ...The report from the 1969 meeti ng of the speci al Commi ssi on for French speaki ng Europe i s especi al ly ri ch. Taken together wi th the q uesti onnai re returns, pp.39-53, we have an extremely hel pful and practi cal di rectoryfor anyone i nterested i n taki ng advantage of our present Zoi-cadre l egi s l ati on. Fr. Pl aci de of ctteaux, and Fr. Jean-Eudes of Bri cquebec, bothof whom have contri buted to past i ssues, deal wi th parti cul ar probl ems touchi ng on the Offi ce. (I owe an apol ogy to Fr. Pl aci de: I had

al ready typed hi s arti cl e, wi th i ts many Lati n prayer-texts , when I recei ved a copy of the same arti cl e, but wi th prayer-formul ae rendered i nto French. Si nce the transl ati on of Versi on I of hi s arti cl e had al ready been

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pri nted by the time I recei ved Versi on II , I was unabl e to i ntroduce the perti nent texts i n the mother-tongue .)

Further exampl es of cel ebrati ons i n the concrete are offered by Bi shop Redoi s 1 account of the death and buri al of the much l oved mi s sionary, Fr. Chazal , and by the New Me11eray experi mental rite for entrance i nto the novi ti ate . Materi al of thi s sort i s eagerly wel comed by the edi tor, and greatly appreci ated by al l readers. J udgi ng from comments heard and l etters recei ved, however, i t appears that arti cles deal i ng wi th the theol ogi cal foundati ons of l i turgy and com muni ty are no l ess enthusi asti cal ly recei ved. The two arti cl es bySr. Chri sti ane Becker and Sr. M.A. Verheecke are cases i n poi nt . And i t gi ves me consi derabl e pl easure to remark that Sr. Chri stiane's ar ti cl e, "Three Permanent Aspects of the Divi ne Offi ce", i n the l ast i ssue of Lit2£l'gy , was used at New Mel l eray to spark off an extremely rewardi ng communi ty di scussi on about the l i turgy.

A speci al vote of thanks i s due our Fr. Eoi n. It i s an embarras si ng fact that most of the materi al so far appeari ng i n thi s modest journal i s of an extremely non-controversi al nature . We mi ght get excited about this or that arti cl e, but almost never because our vi ew poi nt i s markedly di fferent from the Author' s. Fr. Eoi n 1 s contri buti on i n thi s i ssue rel i eves somethi ng of thi s monotony. Perhaps the ti tl e i s more restri cti ve than the actual content of hi s arti cl e mi ght suggest . Had I had time to exchange l etters wi th Fr. Eoi n, I shoul d have suggested i nstead of 11 Concel ebrati on i n Cowl ?", the sl i ghtly expanded form: 11 Concel ebrati on i n Cowl ? or Whither Concel ebrati on?11 At any rate, nu merous readers i n every communi ty wi l l appl aud Fr. Eoi n's contri buti on; at l east a few wi l l be found i n al most every communi ty to take excepti onto this or that detai l of the presentati on. But anyone and everyone shoul d fi nd i n thi s materi al a means of comi ng to a deeper appreci ati on orhffiatter at hand and the probl ems i nvol ved. I hope that Fr. Eoi n wi l l be a fre quent contri butor to future i ssues of thi s b l l eti n.

Chrysogonus Waddel l

Gethsemani Abbey

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THE BURIAL OF A MISSIONARYIN THE YOABOU REGION OF NORTH DAHOMEY

The death of Father Chazal, after 47 years in Africa -in Togo, in Nigeria, and in Dahaney -came as a surprise neither for him nor for us. Father's physical corxlition declined steadily, week by week , and he wait ed for death as for a friend.His great joy during his last nonths was to knCM for sure that he was finally going to die in the village where hehad retired, in the midst of his beloved i:x::ior of Cotiakou, quite close to Tanguieta.

After having founded his numerous missions, Father Chazal had re tired as a hennit in a small village in the bush country; and there he lived like Father de Foucauld.By his presence, his prayer, his devotion tavards our Lady, and his love, Father was able during the twelve years he was there to draw the whole village to the little chapel he had built with his own hands and had deicated to our Lady of the Assumption.Four times a year we used to go to him on pilgr.iroa.ge for the great feasts of our Lady, whether for the blessing of the seed for the new crops, or for the offering of the first fruits of the harvest.Every evening after cat echism, Father used to pray the rosary with tl1e children, but especially with the old men and 'WCiile11 - his "old scrap-iron", as he used to callthan. But arrong these pieces of "old iron", there were twenty whom he had baptized, and another six whan he was preparing for baptism.For a long time, Father Chazal had been adopted as the "senior" of the village.

Father Chazal wanted to die in the midst of his own; in fact, he him self had dug his own grave in his own garden, so as to be nore certain of being buried like a Yoabou, in his tata.

Father Chazal is the first missionary to die and be buried here in the diocese of Natitingou, where our oldest mission is

less than thirtyyears old.His burial marked a historic m:::ment in the history of the Churchin Daharey, for Father is the first priest and especially the first white

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man to be buried with the rites traditional in our oountry :arrl this is sarething which is very important for us! It means that this missiona ry, who had never gone through any initiation rite, is nevertheless ro foreigner, but one of our 0NI1 native sons -a Yoabou, a Sanba, a Bariba, a Pila••• It also ireans that the Church has christianized without :rrore a do the magnificent funeral rites of the Yoabou people.

When Father 's death was announced at the noon angelus, the great drum used to spread the news of saneone's death procla.i.rred the sad event to the whole village.There then followed an unbroken procession of old men and v.aneI1 to the chapel, where the body lay. All night long they prayed their beads, "N'ou dari Maria•••" -- that breviary of the I.XJOrwhich Father had taught them so well. The rosaries were intercalated by the wcm:m 's lairentations, repeated as refrains by thE: whole crowd :

For our sake you were with us night and day;it is right for us to stay with you this final night,

to sing and dance.

Here in our midst you gave us all you had;and we have only song and dance to give you in

return : God give you what we cannot give!

Old and rich in years, you ranained with us, and this was good;

remain with us even DCM,and rest in peace:

a young roan cx:xnes to take your place, and here he shall grow old,

even as you grew old.

The village seniors had fixed the burial for 4 P.M.The

whole vil.1-age was there; and when I say "the whole village", this is mt just a figure of speech. All the diocesan missionaries, fathers, sisters, African cler gy were gathered there aro'l.Illd the departed; and hDN many friends had

care fran every oorner of the country !The "Consul of Auvergne", as he had been

6Buria Z of a Missionary 5

called, or even the "Pope of Ataoora" , had been well kna.vri and much

loved. The ·Dahc::lrEy government was represented , as well as the neighboring department of Borgou. M:>nseigneur Gantin, Archbishop of Cotonou, was unable to cane; but he sent Bishop Durand to act as his

representative beside the bcxiy of his old friend, Father Olazal.

"I don 't want to be sent of f in a cof f in," Father had written in his last will and testam:mt. So, just as he had wanted , he was rolled in a white cloth, like a Yoabou. '!he traditional signs of nourning were observed with the nurrerous cloth drapes f astened to the trees and to Father ' s hut.

'!he religious cererrony took place outside; there were too many people present for it to take place indoors! The Yoabou songs, with their Yoabou rhythm, had been carp:>soo by Father Charnbe1.y, our f irst Af rican priest, who

brought a small group of singers fran his next-door parish.

In keeping with our custan, the cerarony began with the of f ering made to God of oxen. 'I\..o young men cane to present than to the Lord, while the drums beat and the cJ:OWd remained in silence. The oxen were twice led past the f ront of the chapel. '!hen they were ilmolated, and their meat was distributed to the poor and to the close friends of Father. Vesbnents f or the ooncelebrated Mass were white, the Yoabou nourning color.

Af ter the Mass, two of the village seniors brought a funeral bier which they themselves had f ashioned in such a way that it could be carried

on top of the heads of two men. With great gentleness they took Father 's body , and rolloo it in a ma.t made fran the banboo of the region. '!hen they oovered the mat with a cloth woven by the ware11 of the village, fran the cotton of the same region. (It should be roted that, here in our region , our people cango through initiation cererronies only if they are naked or clothed in gar rrents made in this sane place. ) The two elders bound the bcxiy securely to the bier; then they carried it on their heads to the front of the chapel. '!here they danced - three steps fo:rward, three steps backward, as if they were entering the chapel, and then going out again. In this way they of f

ered the body to God. Three young rnen beat the loud drums to set up the dance-

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rhythm; and while all this was going on, the crowd remained in deep, re oollected silence. The offering was beautiful, digni£ied, reverent.Then it was the turn of two young men to take the body in their turn, and of fer it to Gcx:1 with the same dance pattern.Mean.vhile, two elderly \V01E11 -

Christians, both of than -were doing a sober dance on either side of the body . (This was a rreans of "christianizing" the ritual offering of the body to Gcx:1 -a rite which the pagans call "Death's questioning".)

Upon. the carq>letion of this act of offering, a triumphal procession circled around Father 's house.Young men, taking turns carrying the body on their heads, twice went around the ta ta . Their pace was fast, and they sang:

Be happy and rejoice!You go now to rest with Gcx:1 forever.Deal with us kindly!

The drum went before the departed; the cr<JV.Jd foll.owed, singing and

thrc:Ming leaves on the body, as a sign of respect, affection, and resurrection.For the last tine the procession., passed in front of the chapel; the final offering of the body was made: three dance-steps toNards the tab-ernacle. In keeping with the custan, during the third circling arourd the tata , the young men carried the body into Father's garden, where the grave had been dug.Af ter a blessing and the singing of the Lord's Prayef, two elders who were responsible for burials in the village broke three jars of earth before the grave.In silence, they then lavered the body into the grave. I spare you the details of everything that was then said in praise of Father.

The body was next rovered with jar fragments; and, while the drums

beat, the young men began fillin:J in the grave.As a suprerre mark of respect for a great chief, sane wanen then did a dance over the grave, in order to taJlq?

dam the dirt, so that Father rould truly be at rest.

In our re:;ion, the burial of an elder always has a joyful character.

When an old man dies, singing and dancing on the day of his death is asign of great veneration for the departed .Our people say that, not to cele-

8BuriaZ of a Missionariy 7

brate the death of an old man is to consider him no better than

a dog. We f ind :Lt in oo way shocking, then, if the day of burial has about it sonething of the nature of a feast. If it is true that the day of deathis the dies nataZis, the true day of one's birth, are not we Yoabou :i;,:a:> ple right to rejoice on this day? M:xtrning will continue with the custan ary rites which take place during a I1Dnth and a year.

Have no doubt about it; this burial made a great impression on the

µ>p.ilation.Our people attach so much importance to the cult of the dead, that we can easily understand this.People of the region are still talking about this burial.Old people are wantin:J to be buried like Father Chazal, since they have, they say,

hemes:their Father 's hane and the church!The evenin:J of the burial, there were many who were saying, "Jesus istruly the One desired and longed for by our ancestors."

The irost beautiful lonily given by Father Chazal was his ONn

burial•••and this is a lonily which is still going on!

Trans., Gethsemani Abbey + Patient Redois Bishop of

Natitingou

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A PIGMY FUNERAL CHANT *

Soloist The animal runs swiftly!It passes by,it dies.

The great cold has cone.Chorus 'l'he great night cold has

cone,and all is dark.

The bird is on the wing, it flies past ,it dies.

The great cold has cone.The great night cold has cone,and all is dark.

The fish takes fright, it swims by ,it dies.

'l'he great cold has cone.The great night cold has cx:ne ,and all is dark.

Man eats,he sleeps,

he dies.The great cold has cone.The great night cold has a:me,

and all is dark.But the heavens are filled with radiant glory:the light of man 's eyes may dim and go out, but the star shines on.

The cold is here bela.v,the light is there on high.

The man has passed by,the shadc:M has passed by; the prisoner is free.

Khnwum, Khmrrurn,to you we cry!

Soloist The gates of Dan are closed.

Chorus Closed are the gates of Dan.

* The translation is based on the French version printed without indica tion of source or translator in La mart (Temoinages. Cahiers de Za Pi erre-qui-vire 41)Paris, 1953, pp.175-176.

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SoZoist The spirits of the dead flutter past in haste.They era.Yd together in m:>squito swanns dancing at the fall of night.

Chorus Dancing at the fall of nightSoZoist A swann of mosquitoes dancing at night fall!

Then the night deepens, the Sllll disappears,and all is dark, dark, dark.

Dancing m:>squitoes,dead leaves whirling

when the tornado roars and passes by !Chorus When the tornado roars and passes by !SoZoist They wait for Him who is to care.Chorus For Him who is to care.SoZoist For the One who will say:

You -care here;and you -go there!

Chorus For the One who will say:CCJre hereI gO there!

SoZoist And Khrrwum will be with His children.Choir With His children.AU And that -that will be the end.

TransZation, Gethsemani Abbey

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M E ET ING OF TH E C ISTERC IAN LITURGY COMMISS ION FOR CANADA

The Liturgy Carmission net at the nonastei:y of Notre-Dame du Lac, Jlllle 16 to 19. Those present were:

1. Ik:lm Marcel carl:otte {Prairies) 2.Dan Al:mand Veilleux {Mistassini)3.Fr.Clu:ysogonus Waddell {Gethsanani) 4.Fr.Francpis Labrie {calvaire)5.l"Vbther Anne-Marie Fitzgerald {Assanption) 6.!1:>ther Laetitia Yang {St-Ibmuald) 7.Fr.Rodrigue Gagnon {Rougaront)8 Fr.JaCXilleS Julien {Oka) 9.Fr.Claude Perron {Oka)

Sister Anne-Marie fell sick the first evening, and was mable to take part in our v.ork. We all missed her very much, and she was often in our thoughts and prayers.

The Conmission members wanted to make this meeting an experience of life and prayer as nruch as attempt to reflect and

study. The present re port describes each part as separate and distinct; but in actual fact, there was an uninterrupted canpenetration of one with the other. The themes dealt with durin;J the work-sessions were often enough the sane thanes which served to nourish our prayer.

I - EXPERIENCEThe basic idea behind this experience was the follaving:

Since we form a quite harogeneous small cx:mnllllity, let's try to

live a kind of prayer adapted to this type of cx:mnunity. In a general way, we left the greater part of our initiative to

spontaneity, improvisation.We wanted to lead each one to participate wholly acrording to his means. In thesarre way, our constant reference to the Holy Spirit :rreant to signify that only the Spirit can teach us how to pray.

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We lived this experience of prayer at our Mass, at our rrorning and evening offices, even at our work-sessions and at our i:reals .The nature of this effort led us to define certain options, which should now be explained .

The ver:y idea of praying in a particular group meant that we had

to have periods of prayer different fran those of the Ccmnunity of Oka. In celebrating our own offices on the margin of the cx::mmmity offices, we were conscious of doing sanething which could be ambiguous.In order to make our experience really meaningful, we celebrated as a small group daily Lauds ,

Vespers, and Mass.But to signify our presence and to mark our participation in the a:mnunity liturgy of the rronaster:y, we each day celebrated Sext in choir. On the last day of the session, we took part in Vespers and in the Cornnunity Mass, whidl was presided over by Ibm Annand.

The core of our prayer was our reading and rreditation on the Word.

At ever:y office, a scripture text was read -one picked according to the inpllse of the Spirit.In a spirit of faith and thanksgiving, each of us then tried to express what this text meant for us, here and now, as individuals and as a cx::mmmity. This exchange always took place in the presence of the Lord, at least in this sense:that there was never question of a discussion, but of prayer.At times we had to take note of our overly discursive tendancy.

This personal, yet cx:mnunal prayer always tended to expand into_ praise, and to take on dimensions cmniensurate with the needs of the world.As a rule, a few brief prayers, based on the Word, concluded our exdlange of thoughts.

The hymns and psalms were usually chosen in advance.Each psalm was interpreted according to its proper nodality, with the occasional accom paniment of guitar or flute.For the first no.ming, we kept the fonnal style of psa.lm:xly divided between 'b.o choirs; but this m:de of perfonn ance proved in1?racticable in a small group such as ours.

Canadian Litul'(J y Commission Report 13

Three tbres we celebrated Mass together.We arranged the large roan in the guest house in such a way as to create a setting adapted to our situation.Far the liturgy of the Word we were seated in a circleat one end of the roam. After the universal prayer, we grouped ourselvesaround a small table placed at the other end of the roan.On Wednesday noming, we had the experience of an improvised (though prepared} fonn of the eucharistic anai;i'lora.

The elarents which we especially wished to throw into relief are: the action of the Spirit, spontaneity in expression, and silent prayer.

This experience seerred to us to be of real worth.Each one was tru ly able to live a prayer which was the expression of his own concrete spiritual experience.In this way, the v..iork-sessions always beg'an with a period far prayer, according to the schema-type of our prayer:psalm, reading, silent prayer, collect.All this took place in close connection with the v..iork at hand, with the evolution of our groups, etc.•• Before and after our neals, one or the other said the blessing -praise for the bread, but also for the hbrd and for love. In this way, the wholegroup expressed itself in fonnulas which were original and proper to us. We are, however, less concerned with the technical aspect than with prayer at depth.

We think that the cannunities will be able to feel an

attraction towards a liturgical prayer which is simpler, nore "pneumatic".Our own experience let us glimpse the

possibilities and the pranises held for us by these fonnulas of spontaneous prayer, as well as their relationship with and relevance for a nore ample, fonnal liturgy .

II- IDRK-SFSSICNS

A. c.cmnunity

1At our first rooetin:J Tuesday norning, we launched into a theme which seemed to us decisive for the future of our liturgical life:thecxmnunity. D:m Annand gave a brief expose!', based on the book by Max De

lespesse, Cette communaute qu 'on appelle Eglise.1 Without recapitulating

1 ottawa, Centre Catholique, 1968, 143 pp.

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here the solid, substantial ideas of the Author, we have thought thatwe should at least note as particularly important the folla.ving points:

1. In order to grasp all the theological importance and the spiritual riches of the theme of cx:mnunity, we should situate this themein the context of ecclesiology. We are thro.vn back again to the mystecy of our ccmnun i o n in the Holy Spirit, in whan those wJ:x:> recognize Jesus as lord are gathered together as a Church.This means that, at a level deeper than that of external refonn, each m::nk and nun should be oonscious of his or her rranbership in the Church, and rrore precisely of one's insertion into that a:mrunion which constitutes the group of one's brothers and sis ters. The Ccmnission hopes that everything will be done to re alize a true corrmunity of life, since it is upon this oorrmunion that the vitality of ccmnunity prayer depends.

2. According to an idea dear to the Fathers of the Church, the litur gy itself resses and builds the ccmnunity. Understood in this way, the Word of God takes on a prinordial importance: it is the Word which oonverts each individual, the Word which gives rise to our assanbly. To becane a true member of the ccmmmity, each per son's heart must be changed, converted. 'I'he Bible recalls con stantly that it is the Word which has this pc:Mer to penetrate into the depths of our heart and to lead us to repentance (Heb 4:12). If each individual hears the Word, receives it, and changes his heart, he can then participate to the full in the

prayer in carm:m . At the same tinE it is the Word which gathers together the believ ers. By recalling to us the great events of salvation history, the Word invites believers to recognize themselves as a People redeaned, to give God thanks,

Canadian Liturgy Commission 1to pray for rren of the present day.

Here we understand the role and importance of the hanily.It is the hanily which should bring out the neaning of the Word proclairredhere and na.v, today.lv!.

eryooo, then, is invited to scrutinize the

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Word of God; and those especially who are responsible for the spreading of the Word are urged to carry out their ministry, so true is it that the hanily ronstitutes one of the principal means of building up the camrunity.

3. Finally, and alx:>ve all else, it is important to realize and re nenber always that this cx:mnunion in which we live and which we seek to perfect is the work of the Spirit in us. The first task of each one, then, is to

listen and try to understand what theSpirit is saying to the churches, and to sul:rnit one 's life day byday to the inspirations of this same Spirit.

B.RubricsLiturgists all agree that the ne.v rubrics (Ordo Missae,

rituals, etc••••) ought not to be read with the same mentality as the earlier ru brics. The role of the rubric is before all else directive.In this sense it signifies the order to be followed in a given celebration, so as to make as real as possible the mystery being celebrated .A rubric pre supposes a certain nurriber of cirCllltlStanCE s, apart fran whicli1 it no longer has any meaning or reason for existence.

We have to learn, then, ha.v to read the rubrics with discernment.

Not all rubrics have the same importance.In no case should the final de cision be orientated solely on the basis of the text of the rubric.Nor is the interpretation of a rubric the affair of just one single individu al. Since the liturgy is a oonmunity celebration, the concrete orienta tion has to be taken

with the good of all in mind.This is especiallyhue for the celebrants, who OUJht to enrourage before all else the expression of the prayer of the assembly.

c. Holy Week

Canadian Liturgy Commission 1For Holy Week, several trial experiments were made last year.We should like simply to undersrore the folla.ving points:

1. On I-bly Thursday, the Mand.atum has three possibilities:

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a- Mandab.Jrn in the cloisr, as usual. In this case, avoid a doublet for the reading of the St.John Gospel both in the cloister and in the Mass.

b- Mandatum in the church:1) The aboot washes the feet of all the monks .This is possi ble is smaller canmunities, or even in larger ones, when the arrangement of the place makes it possible to carry out the rite expeditely, and without too nruch hustle and bustle.

2) The abbot washes the feet of a feN "representative" nonks. It is also suggested that sane of the retreatants participati.pg in the liturgy have their feet washed, too.

2.Good Friday:The universal prayer raises a feN difficulties:too long,

perhaps too diffuse. We note the follo.ving possibilities:a- replace the kneeling for each nonition by a period

of silent prayer -standing;b- sinplify the nonitions, or even use just "Let us pray to

thelord";

c- group several requests under one and the sazre monition.

D..M:>nastic InitiationFran the very first we should e:nphasize the .importance of a

theologi cal understanding of ccmnittnent.Accordingly, the orientations proposedby the carmission presuppose certain doctrinal positions, which we should here at least sketch.

Basically, fran one's entering the rronastery until one's solann pro-: fession, the ccmnit'bren.t or engaganent is one single response to a single, unique call fran God. If the gift of self and the deeper understandingof the mystery of one's call are realized only by stages, it is no less.i mportant to insist strongly on the organic developnent and the unity of orientation.

Canadian Liturgy Commission 1Sam= canonical prescriptions effect a kind of "chopping up" of the monk 's effective ccmnittment.One may well wish for a better coordination of these

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juridical "steps" or stages. Be this as it may, whatever is purely juri dical or "danestic" should be treated as such, that is to say, at the ju ridical or "darestic" level.Thus, only the truly.significant stages - significant fran the

theological point of view -should be accorded a li turgical celebration.

In this sense, then, we propose a rite of welcane, to mark the matEntof one's e f f ect i v e entering into the carmmity; and a rite of solemn en gagarent or cx:mnittnent.These rites will be shaped up along the lines of those proposed by the Ordo Professionis Religiosorwn (Religiosarwn).

· E.'ll1e Sick and the Departed

The Crnm:i.ssion did a detailed examination of Fr.G&ard

Dubois'prp ject, which is to be discussed by the Order's Liturgy Comnission.

1- The s a c r ame n t o f t h e s i ck can be

administered : a- during Mass,b- or outside Mass, either in the infinnary or in church.

If the celebration takes place in the infinnary, note the

following suggestions:- procession:facultative- facultative emission of . incense and holy water;- the abbot wears cowl and stole.

The schema-type for the celebration includes the follc::Ming elanents:

- Liturgy of the W:>rd,- confession:the sick person oonfesses his faults .to the a::mwni-Pf. The carmunity accuses itself of its own failings tONards the sick m:mk .He should be left free to express himself in his own words, if he can, and there should be no recitation of any kind of formula in his name.

- the anointings:three -lips ( rd), breast (heart), hands

Canadian Liturgy Commission 1(action); other anointings can be made.

- prayer:nonition, short litany, final collect, blessing.

2- ViatictnnAt least a few nonks should acccmpany the abbot, so as to signify

the presence of the cx:mnunity.

1

- the abbot carries the Blessed Sacrament;- holy water and the confiteor are facultative;- Ccmrun.ion.

3- Fr.Ge'rard has proposed that, for certain liturgical days (Sun days, solenmities, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, Easter Week}, the l:x:xly ofa deceased IIDnk o o t be brought to church. The Ccmnission prefers to anit this limitation. The deceased was truly a nernber of the cammmity. As such, his presence expresses the paschal If!YStery .

4- F i nal oomrend a t i o n - IIDnition,- incensation (holy water facultative),- prayer.

5- For the p roc e s s i o n to the caretery, the chanting of psalns or their

omission is decided at the local level.6- In the cemetery :

Since the cemetery is already blessed, there is oo blessing of the

grave.

After the burial, no need to return to church in procession.

Fr.Ge'rard had added a certain nl.IIlber of details with regard to the suffrages for the departed approved provisionally by the General Chapter. The Ccmnission thinks that these details are urmecessary, since the official docurrent is sufficiently explicit.Anything added over and above is the con cern of each nonastery, and does not call for the inte:rvention of the Litur gy Coomission.

* * *This report makes oo claim to being cx:mplete. The only points

retained were those which were the object of a clear consensus on the part of the Ccmnission.The redactor of this report was Fr. Jacques Julien, nonk of Notre-Dame du Lac.

Canadian Liturgy Commission 1Trane., Gethsemani Abbey

3.

server for theFr. Dominigue

French Congregation, O.S.B.

Aiguebelle++

4. Br . Claude Bellefontaine + + +5. F r . Cl e m e nt Bellefontaine + +6. Mother Therese Belval +

1 19

REPORT OF THE FRANCOPHONE LITURGY COMMISSION NOTRE-DAME DES GARDES, OCTOBER, 1969

One of the objectives of the Francophone Liturgy Carrnission is to foster creativity with a view to.vards the shaping up of a liturgy which is nore living, better adapted to the needs of the various cx::mnunities and capable of givin:J expression to their spiritual experience.This cre ativity is called for at different levels of this shaping-up process,whether for the creation of texts and melodies, or for the

effort to bet ter grasp the inner dynarnis:n of the liturgical celebration and the speci fic role of its different elarents .

In this perspective, and in order to render our cx::mnunities the ser vice they expect frau this carmission, the ccmnission heads organized a tri-partite rooeting held to.vards the end of October, 1969, at the abbey

of Notre-Dane des Gardes.

This rooeting included :1- a "WOrkshop for the group concerned with texts: Oct. 25-26; 2- an exchange between musicians and authors:Oct. 27-28;3- the annual plenary session of··the Conmission:Oct.29-30.

The participants were the follo.vin:J (underlined names indicate members of the Francophone Ccmnission):

PARTICIPANTS Texts Texts- Plenarymusic session

1. Dom Emmanuel, Abbot of Bellefontaine,President of the Commission +

2. Dom H. de Ste-Marie, Abbot of Clervaux, ob-

3.

server for theFr. Dominigue

French Congregation, O.S.B.

Aiguebelle++

4. Br . Claude Bellefontaine + + +5. F r . Cl e m e nt Bellefontaine + +6. Mother Therese Belval +

2

PARTICIPANTS Texts TextsPlenary

mus ic session8. Fr . Jean-Eudes 9. Sr. Mari e -Pierre

Bricquebec Chambarand

++

++

++

10. Sr. Myriam Chambarand +11. Fr . Placide 12. Sr. Christiane

ctteaux

Clairefontaine + +++

13. Fr. Irenee En-Calcat +14. Fr. Marie-Bernard,

Fleury, observer for theFrench Subiaco Province +

15. Sr.Ancelle16. Sr. Franois17. Fr. J.

Gelineau18. Cesar Geoffray

19. Hother Pia20.Victor Martin21. F r . G e rard 22. Fr. Emmanuel

23. Fr. Jean-Marie24. Fr. Nivard 25. Fr. Eugene26. Fr. Tarcise

Les Gardes + +Les Gardes + +Paris + +Lyon +Laval +Paris + +Mont-des -Cats + +Orval + +Orval + +Port-du-Salut +Rochefort (St-Remy) +Rochefort (St-Rimy) +

27. Fr. Robert Gantoy, St-Andri, Bruges, observerfor the Belgian Congregation, O.S.B. + +

28. Fr. Maur 29. Fr. Marie

30. Sr. Emmanuel

Scourrnont Sept-Fons

Soleilmont

+ ++ + +

+ +31. Antoine Toulmonde Virton (Belgium) +32. Fr.

Paul Tournay + +

* * *irbis rep:>rts gives a brief survey of the work done at the

first two m=etings, as well as the synthesis-report for the plenary meeting.

Francophone Liturgy Corrunission Report 21

I.Vl)RKSHOP FOR TEXTS

The authors of the hymns, antiphons and prayers subjected to edito rial revision by this working ccmnission were for the rrost part present, and this made it possible to put the finishing touches to these texts.At the same tine an extensive technical infonra.tion was given, occasioned by the difficulties encountered and the m:xlifications proposed.

'l'he working ccmnission has thus finished a certain number of texts

for the Epiphany Office, as well as hymns for the various Day Hours. These texts have been sent to the musicians in the Order, and to those who in one way or another are in contact with the group "Chant et .Mona steres". An '?ttanpt will be

made to get the Epiphany material to our ccmnunities in time

for it to be used for January 4, 1970.

Besides the projects still being shaped up (cfr.the partial can

mission ich met at Clairefontaine, July, 1969), this Texts sectionhas proposed to carp::>se an Office for All Saints, 1970, and a collection of New Testament antiJ:iions based on the repertory proper to each nnnaste:ry and, so often as called for, reworked.

II. EXCHANGE BE"IWEEN MUSICIANS AND AUl'HOR3

Thanks to the much appreciated presence of Fr.Gelineau and of the c:x:xtpJSers cesar Geoffray, Victor Martin, and Antoine Toulrronde, the dia logue between the authors of texts and the musicians was able to be en riched by detailed technical infonra.tion dealing, arrong other things , with isorhythmic m:!ter, the rhythms of the musical phrase, the global rllythm of the whole piece.The exigencies of a work of art were rrore clearly per ceived; and particular en;>hasis was placed on the fact that poetry and music should lead one beyond the language they employ.Language, which be longs to a different order of things than that of discourse, does not have the same logical character

2proper to discourse. There is question, rather, of sanething uttered by way of suggestion, which provides for a margin of liberty in its interpretation.

2

The oornpositions set to music by sare of the Order's musicians present, and based an texts cx:mnunicate:l earlier by the Texts Section of the Ccmnission, were carm:mted ur:on and criticized.The various aspects of the difficulties to be overcare were more clearly grasped, and account of these difficulties will be taken in future efforts at canposition. Itwas noted that, apart fran those limits imr:osed on the musician by reason of the text, there are those limits v.111ich derive fran the poverty of rreans of perfonnance in our monasteries.

Whatever may be the future evolution of liturgical art -the style of which is still being searched for at the present time -only a rrore careful artistic culture will make it r:ossible for our carmunities to pro duce and to appreciate the music which fonns the texture of their prayer.

III. PLENARY SESSION OF THE CDMMISSIONP urp o s e .As defined by Dom Emnanuel Coutant, President of this

CCln mission, the precise purpose of this session was to pin-r:oint the studies and experin'Ents dealing with the Office, and

undertaken by French-speaking ccmrnmities, so as to facilitate the application of the loi-cadre by orien tating future and

further research; there was, however, no intention of im posing any one solution.

A questionnaire circulated arrong our monasteries by the secretary, Fr.

Gerard Dubois, served as the basis for the drawing up of the prograrrme . (The results of this questionnaire are given at the

end of this rer:ort.) The functionality and the position of the different elerrents of the Office were the objects a quite animated discussion.The synthesis-rer:ort of this discussion follows.

THE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF THE OFFICEA.T h e openin g of the O f fi ce

The opening or beginning of the Office has a two-fold function:1- to afford each individual the r:ossibility of entering into

a psycho logical attitude (to pass by degrees fran distraction to

2Francophone Liturgy Commission an entering intothe carmunity celebration of the mystery);

2- to knit the carrnunity together by a chant sung in ccmnon .

2

We are dealing ·with a cx:mnunication-structure of universal value. lm.y conversation has to ba:Jin by a gratuitous exchange of "Hello", "Good rrorning" •••by a dialogue ccrnr:osed of relatively insignificant remarks. In the same way, the Office, too, has to have a ba:J inning, a starting point.A a:lITIITllll1al "getting started" marked by a dialogue approach, :with out a precise notional content, seems to be opportune.

- A few psaversests treated in such a way as to be

experienced as a stimulus addressed by the singer to the assernbly: this is an excellent typ: of opening chant. An element of surprise, capable of arousing one's attention, is not to be neglected. In some rronasteries, the choice of versets or refrains is not decided in advance, but is left to the initia tive of the singer responsible for starting off the Office.

- The traditional invitatory -at least when the refrain has the

fonn of an invitation -also fulfills this opening function in an adequate manner, provided that it is not oonsidered as a kind of psalmody in which the psalm has to be respected in its textual integrity.The opening section of the Office, in point of fact, precedes the psalrncx:1y in the strict sense. Even if this initial section is ccm:i;:osed of elements fran the psalms, there is, at this point, no question of identifying the invitatory with the ibrd of God in the manner so essential to the actual psalrrody.The invitatory psalm has always been functional.One can cite the Rule of the Master,where Psalm 94 acoonpanies the entrance of the rronks into choir; and the Rule of St. Benedict, which prescribes a slower temp:> so as to allow for the arrival of late-caners.

- We note that the opening dlant (psalm-versets or invitatory psalms) does not attain to the full lyricism of the

'which is placed at the beginning of the Office, and which launches the celebration by making the assembly, through its oormon song, enter into the actualization of the mystery of the day or of the Hour.Under this aspect, the hyim rightly finds a place at the beginning of

2Francophone Liturgy Commission the Office, as is the case in alrrost the totality of our rronasteries for Vigils and for the Little Hours.In thenew lbnan Office, the same option has been made for Lauds and Vespers; and several nonasteries have adopted this practice.

24

Nevertheless, the hymn also retains all its value as a lyric rredi tation on the Word of Gc:x:1. Its place is then after the reading or the capitulwn. This obviously presupp:>ses hymn material of real imp::>rtance; and the Syrian tradition offers us the most representative type.

- The question of an opening troparion , which was on the progranme of this session, was not discuessed.The replies to the written question naire indicate that such a fonrula is used fran time to time in sane rron asteries in place of the h:ymn.

For the opening of the Office, as for the other parts of the Office, variety in the manner of beginning seems to be a good thing, not only fran cx:mnunity to ccmrru Iity, but within the same cx:mnrunity -especially to indicate the specific nature of the different Hours of the Office.Diversi ty of forms and a certain stability in essential structures should balance each other off, so as to lead to greater spontaneity of expression.

It seaus that the structure 'Which includes a psalm-verset (sa:-ietirnes repeated) with doxology plus an invitatory psalm plus a hynm, is much too "heavy": one should always be on the watch to avoid doublets.On the oontra ry, 'When the hynm is not at the beginning of the

Office, a single opening verse before the psalrnody is insufficient to allow the gradual "wanning up" needed for the Office to get off to a real start.

Prical infonnation:

- For opening chants canposed of psalm verses, see the Taize Office.

- For invitatory psalms, besides Psalm 94, there are those used by Schema B (Ps.133 at Vigils, Ps.116 or Ps.66 at Lauds) and Schema C (Ps.99, in certain places)•

- For invitatory refrains, the Texts section of the canmission en visages the publication of a technical note with numerous examples in a 1970 issue of Liturgie . This article will doubtless appear in a parallel English version in an early issue of Liturg y , 1971.

2Francophone Liturgy Commission B.Psalrnody

During the oourse of our exchange on the prob of Fren ch p s alm:x: l y

and the differ e n t f o nns o f psalrrody, the participants enjoyed the bene fit of a succinct exposeby Fr.Gelineau, who referred to his recentlypublished work, Psalmodier en fra:nc;ais.1 His rerrarks are extremely useful for our carmunities, and so it seaiis opportune to cite here those passages which best synthesize what Father said during the session:

We have to create a real psalnndy in French•••Psalm:xly remains, at the very heart of liturgical singing, a pr.imJrdial fonn of expression. The value of psalmody as used in Christian worship does not flow only from the inspired nature of the texts. It al so stems fran a par t i cu l ar w a y o f p r o c l aimi n g and celebratingthe Word.The psalm, of course, is mt the only rranent for setting up a oorrmunication by the Word in the assembly; nor is it the only fonn of ccmnunication of God's word. But alongside the word which is read, proclained, explained, turned into prayer, musical ly developed in song, etc., psa.l.rocxly is a specific rreans of man 's appropriating for himself God 's own language.Other fornis of word and song are ccmplem:mtary to psa.lrrody; but no other fonn of word or song can replace it (op.cit., p .3).

Value of e a ch fonn of psalm:xly.Al.rrost every fonn of psal.rrody is able to fulfill the function of prayer in the Office psa.lrrody.It helps, however, to be able to use a variety of these fonns with in the s Office, especially by using the fonn which, in this or that particular Office, will best bring out the original na ture of each psalm.Each of these fonns is a different approachto praying the psalms.The ...same psalm is revitalized so often aH

it is used with variable fonns of psalm:Jdy.

a- di r e ct p s allrody

Frqnoophone Liturgy Commission 2A psalmist {or several in succession, according to the poetic structure of the psalm) reads or psal.m:x:lizes the psalm-text.Every one listens.This is the fonn used by the first cenobites {Pachani-

1 = Eglise qui chante 98, Supplenent, Document 2, 1969, rue de Fleurus, Paris 6e.

26

an). It is extrarely "oontanplative". Indeed, freed franthe necessity of having to follCM a set text and pronounce it word by word, the spirit remains wholly "open", "available", so that it can savor this or that image and stop there, or let it self be carried along by the novanent of the prayer, or else lis ten to the echo within itself of each word heard. One remains open to the "happeninJ", to the "event" of the challenging Word; and this experience can unexpectedly take place even in the in stance of verses which have been repeated a hundred-fold, but which suddenly beaJrre new and intensely personal.This teachesus that all prayer is first of all "passivity", docility to the Spirit who prays in us.

b- re?ponsorial fo.rm in the strict senseThis fonn of psa.J.m:xiy reconciles at one and the sarre time passivity and activity. It keeps a part of the advant-.ages of the direct fonn to which one simply listens, since a psalmist says the strophes or series of verses.But to this it adds an activity on the part of the listener, since the one who "responds" or answers is taking anactive part in the psa1rrody . But instead of burdening the individu al with the oomplication of ever-changing texts, this fonn of psalm ooy reduces one's participation to a single refrain.'Ihus concen trating his exterior activity over a minimum area, which quickly becx:mas a reflex action, the individual keeps his spirit free to follCM the progress of the psalitr.But the fact that he remains ina certain state of tension and in good fonn thanks to the refrain, protects him fran a pure passivity. This minimum of external parti cipation helps maintain vigilance of heart.

Contrary to what one might think, this fonn of psalmody is not sim plistic.Easy fran a material point of view, it is

Frqnoophone Liturgy Commission 2spiritually de manding.It will be rrore fruitful for contemplative souls, who will taste the possibility it affords for an activity in passivity -

sorrething' they will much appreciate.others will find it boring, a bit childish.c- antiph o n al p s alm:r l y in_ the strict senseSama characteristics as the preceding, but with an additional ele rrent which enlivens the psalrrody.The two choirs alternate the re frain, and this helps maintain the active-passive aspect, thanks to the dialogue-play between the two groups.

It is significant that, for the rrorning and evening Offices, east ern usage resulting fran long experience has finally settled on this fonn of psalrrody. Under several aspects, this kind of psalrro dy can be considered as a stmmit and model for the praying of the psalms by a stable, cohesive c:x::nununibJ•••

d- forms of psay with refrainWe thus designate res.p:msorial or antiphonal fonns in the broad sense, with intercalary refrain (or short antiphon) sung between strophes (or versets). These fo.rms keep certain values of the foDTIS described above.They are easier, rroreover, for a congrega tion cartfX:>Sed of people from many different backgrounds, as a pa rish or other group assembled only for a particular occasion.But such forms entail a notable "heaviness" if there is question of singing an entire psalm in this way.They risk the appearance of being rather on the dismal side.But the effect is good so of ten as the psabn itself includs the refrain-text; the effect is also gc:xx.1 with the shorter psaJms•••

e- a l terna ps e lm:r l y

The assembly, divided into two choirs, alternates the verses (or the strophes, depending on the literary structure of the psalm), which are thus sung by the entire group.. Tr1is fonn of psa.J.m:x:ly gives each individual the possibility of "eating" the text, of

2Francophone Liturgy Commission

28

actively identifying oneself with the Word, of personally making one's own the poetic and lyric rrovement of the psalm.Thanks to the alternation between two choirs, this fonn of psa..lm:x1y never theless keeps an element of rep::>se {activity-passivity) and thep::>ssibility of listening interiorly sanething much to be prized. It effects an interplay of respiration and alternating rhythm whol ly in keeping with the vocal praying of the psalms.

This fonn of psal.rrody, which is alrrost unknavn among Eastern Chris tians, asserted itself in the Middle Ages in groups of Western Christians who were more given to action and singing. Groups of young people enjoy this kind of psal.rrody . It cannot be denied, hCM ever, that the exclusive use of this fonn risks introducing into the Office an activist character, a predcminance of the "rational"{especially when the vernacular is used, since the rapidity of ex ecution imposes a real burden on the spirit, which wants to grasp every rd), finally, at the extrent.l.imit, a ritualistic function ing.With this kind of psalroody, there is sometimes an absence of that relaxed atnosphere which is so helpful for a:mtanplation; andits tightly woven texture calls for anpty spaces, so to speak, throughwhich the Spirit's breath can pass.

f- o on t i no us fo nn {direct psa..lm:x1y by the entire group)

In this fonn of psal.rrody we find the same advantages as in the preceding , but reinforced by the fact that each individual says thewhole text.Its l.imitations are likewise the same as in the preceding, but in a rrore i.Jmejiate, direct manner.

This kind of psa..lm:x1y is excellent for short psalms of the invitato ry and hyim types, which launch the psa.J.rrody to follCM.After the effort required for singing a psalm in this manner, a choir will profit all the rrore by the

more relaxed fonns of psal.rrody (op. cit.,, pp. 109-112) .

2Francophone Liturgy Corronission

In the Benedictine and Cistercian corrmunities represented at this neeting, there are indications of an openness to these various fonns of psalrrody . '11he direct fonn is quite rare, at least for an entire psalm. Several rronasteries have tried it rrore or less successively for the his torical psalms, and for Psalm 77 in particular. The remark was made that we are here dealing with a .roetic reading rather than with a proclamation of the Word. The resp:msorial and antiphonal psalmJdy in the strict sense have been insufficiently exploited, chiefly because of the practical dif ficulties of perfonnance; but several camrunities are investigating this fo.rm of psalrrody. The altemating fo.rm between two choirs ranains the one rrost generally anployed (several monasteries are as yet unfamiliar withany other fo.rm).'Ihe advantage of alternating between schola and the rest of the cxmnunity was pointed out (it breaks the rronotony, and makes it pos sible for the cantors to keep up the pitch and rrovement); but account wasalso taken of the value of a sustained chant which fosters a state of prayer due to the alternation between two choirs, with music reduced to a very sim ple melodic fo:rmula.Sane ccmnunities habitually use this type of psaJ..m:x.ly for the Little Hours.This fo.rm seems to be also especially suitable for CCJnpline.

In view of the variety of psychological temperaments, it seems ju:li cious to make a ha:rm::>nious use of the different fonns, while at the same tine taking account of the concrete circumstances of performance, and also respecting the literary genre of the psalm in question.For the choice ofthe appropriate fo.rm of psalmody, several cantors referred to the practical

1directory in Pour chanter l 'Office.

One can DON also consult the appendix

chapter in Psalmodier en frangais, pp.117 ff., which gives detailed techni cal information.

The greater number of rronasteries which use psalm-distribution sch.arias

3

with a less ample anount of psa.lrocx1y have rediscovered the fundamental value of periods of s i l e n ce in the course of the psal.rrOOy, which is concluded in sane

1 MinEographed publication printed by the Abbaye de St-Andr, Bruges.

2Francophone Liturgy Corronission

instances by a psalter collect.The organ is sanetimes used to create an atrrosphere of prayer by brief preludes or interludes.A ffM attempts at using instrunents alternating with singing seem to open up newpaths of investigation which are of special interest for ccmnw1ities pro vided with stringed instrurrents.

The "cursing" psalms

The question was not treated at depth.It was simply noted that this is before all else a pastoral p.r:oblem, and that special account has to be taken of those assisting at the Office. It should also be noted that the problem does not conrern just the i.rrprecato:cy verses. It is a question, rather, of the way we app.r:opriate any psalm text, and this is a problem at the level of poetic expression in general.

The doxologies

Although the trinitarian conclusion is always valuable for explicitly turning the psalm into Christian prayer (perhaps it would be desirable to recover the ancient formula, "Glory be to the Father, th.r:ough the Son, in the Holy Spirit"), there are sone instances in which this doxology could well be suppressed:

- when the psalm itself ends with a doxology (e.g., Psalm 88) ;

- when the psalm is read by a psalmist;- after an i.rrprecato:cy psalm (?);- when a penitential psalm is followed by a psalm of praise, so as to give the whole of its praising density to the latter (orie rrona stery simply introduces a brief silence between the tvAJ psalms and suppresses the doxology).

The practice of interrupting the longer psalms with doxologies seans to be extremely artificial, exrept for Psalm 118,

which lends itself well to such breaks; but one can also leave rrorents of silence between these sections.

Except for the strict responsorial fonn, it is advisable for the exe cution of the doxology that the entire assanbly join in with the singing;

3

nor is this caTllIDn singing of the doxology to be excluded for psalm::>dy with refrains, in which the other strophes have been entrusted to a so loist.

The posture for these doxologies remains subject to discussion; the important thing is that the vocal action and the bodily posture be in harrrony.One here touches on the problem of bodily expression in the liturgy; and in this area, the psychological preparation of the corrmunity is a fundamental elenent.

T r a n s la t i o ns

The replies to the questionnaire show that the use of the Jerusalem Bible psalter is generalized; two m:masteries use the Pierre-qui-Vire trans lation, and another rronastery has a local translation based on the Jerusa lem Bible psalter and Dho:nne. A few ccmnunities have tried the psalms so far translated by the oorrmission for the Ectnnenical Psalter for the Liturgy (Psautier Liturgique Oecumenique).

Fr.Gelineau and Fr.Jean-Eudes David, member of this oorrmission, gave sare interesting details about the work of the translation canmission.Plans are being made for provisional fiches to alla.v experimentation with this translation in those rronasteries which wish to use it.Though one is well aware of the practical difficulties involved in using a provisional translation, and of the incx:mvenience for one's merrory and for making a text one's own prayer when several versions of the same psalm are used, such an experiment can be considered as a service to the Church, thanksto which the new text can be refincd in the crucible of choral

psalm:xly. C.Antiphons

In order to discern rrore clearly the role of antiphons in psalm::>dy,

it is important to distinguish the various types and to settle on a clear, precise tenninology.According to their content and

Francophone Liturgy Commission 3their form, we can classify antiphons as follows:

4

- Reprises: brief refrains integrated into responsorial psa.lrrody of the strict kind (e.g., Ps.135);

- Antip1ons for psalms with refrains :the refrain is repeated throughout the original psalm as part of the psalm (e.g., Psalm 45) ;

- Antiphon-settings: 1- psalrilic refrains (texts taken fran the psalm itself);

2- New Testarrent key-antiphons, intended to th.rov1 light on the Christian meaning of the psalm. (See the article by Fr.Jean-Eudes David, "New Testament Antiphons for the Psalms", in Liturgy, July 1970, pp.87-98.)

- Troparia:biblical or non-biblical texts which give a particular cx:mrentary - often festive -on the psalm or canticle they accom pany. :t;ecause of their poetic imagery, these troparia are, in gen eral, "open"; that is to say, ti1ey can be linked to several differ ent psalms, especially if ti1ese psalms are chosen in function of a theme.

It migl1t be useful to note that the psalm does not necessarily have to be bounded on eiti1er side "oy an antiphon.A rocment of silence or an in strumental interlude can also be

used to begin and end a period of psalnod.y. 'lhis remark is particularly true

for: psalnis chanted by the ·whole d1oir, psalms whici1 are read,canticles of t11e hymn type,fixed psal.rrody (Little Hours, Carpline)•

Lven if the practice of singing an antiphon or troparion before and af· ter the gospel canticle of Lauds or Vespers retains its value, we can also envisage the singing of these canticles without antiphon, possibly by using a more structured. or polyphonic musical setting of the texts.

Francophone Liturgy Commission 3Antiphons of one kind or another are anong the elenents which make it possible to bring out ti1e festive character proper to the Office. In virtue of their content, tiiey have, then, a specific role in the actualization of

4

the mystery being celebrated; and the latin antiphons saretilres fulfilled this role admirably. At the same tirre, it should be

remarked that, with the present rather limited repertory of antiphons in French, it is not always easy to find an equivalent. It is better in such cases to use the ordinary anti1l1ons taken fran the psalm text itself, them to maintain ahybrid fonn of the Offia= combining psalms in Frend1 with festive antiphonsin Latin. It should be noted, rroreover, that the hymn, the reading, and the liany suffice to specify the Office in function of the feast being celebra ted.

Another error to avoicJ. is that of accx::nipanying several psalms with apsalm refrain taken £ran the series, but not appropriate for all the psalms for whid1 it is used.Likewise to be avoided. is the use of a New Testament antiphon to open and close a series of psalms, 'When the antiphon is appropri ate to only one of the psalms; or a hagiographical antiphon suitable for none of them•••

D. Responsories or responses

The question is the follaving: Do we need responsories after readings?

l:lo.v should we do it in French?

It should be noted straightway that the tenn "response" or "responsory" seems too restrictive if we wish to envisage that i.rrqx>rtant element of the Office 'Which ronstitutes the reaction of the assembly to the Word of Gcxi (every liturgical reading being considered, at its own level, as the Wordof Gcxi) .

This reaction, this response, can be given under fonns quite different than the rather limited one of the short or solemn responsory. The nurrerous solutions proposed each have their own value; but the choice of this or that fonn of response has to be

detennined for each concrete case. Once again, there is no question of i.rrqx>sing a ge.11eral prescription.'We can, then, en visage the follaving:

Francophone Liturgy Corrunission 3

- the short responsory with a simple melody (here we have a possi ble way of retrieving versicle-texts, by using them under the

fonn of short responsories after the cap.ituZa);- prolix or solemn responsories, of a :rrore elaborate type, whetherbased on psalm texts or not;

- responsorial psalm (possibly with a New Testament refrain);

- the hymn treated as a rreditation song for the Word of God;- the acclamation or doxological hymn - especially suitable afterthe gospel (e.g., Arren.! - Te decet - Te Dewn in the French version).

All these fonns of response can follow the reading either imrediately or else after a silence, which is itself, :rroreover, often an adequate and sufficient fonn of response.The important thing is to use a sung response only when it follows naturally fran the reading.This is one spot in the liturgy which lends itself exceedingly well to improvisation. Sare ccmnu nities have already taken this direction: one of the cantors gives out a refrain which can be rrerorized instantly, and then improvises the versets. There are also camrunities which envisage a short hanily or dialogue re flections as an "inspired" response to the reading.In sare instances, an improvised prayer based on the pericope just heard would be in order.

If we leave the door wide open to iroprovisation, there is obviously a risk that unexpected reactions, even an occasional really ridiculous attanpt at improvised prayer, will slip through.But in that case, we should recall, with Fr.Gantoy, that a smile or a discreet chuckle is saretiroes a legiti mate and unmalicious way of participating in the liturgy.

E.T h e C o n c l u s i o n o f the O ff i ce

camrunities where the litany has been restored to Lauds and Vespers have to a considerable extent adopted the sarre

4structure (except for the position of the prayer proper to the day):

a- invitatory-m::mitionb- dialogue intentions-invocations (improvised intentions)

3Franaophone Liturgy Commission

c- collect for the dayd- lord 's Prayer with introductory formulae- (biblical blessing), Airen.

The collect for the day is saretirnes placed before the intentions, saretimes after the lord 's Prayer. There are those who think that this structure is too "heavy", and prefer Fr.Jounel's project.At the last General Chapter, the francophone group experimented with Fr.Jounel's proposal: the

collect follows the hynm, which is at the beginning of the Office as in the Mass.

There are also sore ccrrmunities which integrate the camanoration of our Lady under the fonn of an antiphon, either before the litany, or af ter the intentions.

Differences between the practice of our m::ma.steries derive chiefly fran the various fonns of the litany:

- stereotyped,- series repeated periodically (based, for instance, on the psalms),

- chosen fran a pre-existing repertory,- canposed by the litanist,- improvised by the litanist or cantor (often based on the reading) ,

- prayer intentions fonnulated by the abbot or hebdanadary,- intentions spontaneously fonnulated by manbers of the ccrrmunity.

All these litany-fonns take on the nature of petition, praise, or ex hortation, as the case may be; and they regroup the intercessions, the cx:xn maTorations, and the chapter prayers (fonnerly attached to Prilre) • Sare oarmunities want to have precise, concrete intentions; others prefer peti tions of a general kind.One might think that the Office lends itself better for local intentions than the universal prayer of the Mass.

In sane m:masteries, the intentions are sung as a rule; in other rrona steries, only fran time to time. The invocations or responses are alrrost always sung; but one rronastery simply follCMs the intentions with brief

4

:rocments of silent prayer.

3Franaophone Liturgy Commission

One cx:mnunity has an ample fonn of the litany for the midday Office; a number have the short litany at all the Hours, so as to integrate the versets for the departed and the absent brethren whim -were at the end of the fonrer Office.

There is a fear, however, that this involves a certain "heaviness", especially in the case of the Little Hours . It does not seem necessary to pray for the absent and the departed at every Hour; it suffices if this intention has its proper place in the general ensemble of the whole Office.

For the I.Drd 's Prayer, various degrees of "solemnity" are to be noted: 1- sung by all at Vespers and Lauds, with doxology,- recited by all at Vigils and the Little Hours, without doxology,

- recited by the hebdanadary at Carpline (or by the abbot, so as to carry

out St.Benedict's intention}•

2- sung by the abbot at Lauds and Vespers,- prayed in silence at the other Hours.

3- cx:mbinations and variants of the above two.

The final blessing is followed by an Amen, either sung or

not sung. All these elarents of conclusion, including the

prayer and the introductory nonition to the I.Drd 's Prayer, offer considerable possibilities for improvisation, or for the creation of texts to relate the prayer of the lo cal cx:mnunity more directly with the W:>rd of Cbd and with the "HappeningI:'. vent", that is to sey, with the mystery or the Hour being celebrated, world events, family events, etc••••

F.T The place of Marian devotion in the Office

With regard to the expression of our Marian devotion in the Office, the sane general current of thought is prevalent alrrost everywhere in the Order.On the one hand, the artificial dl.aracter of badly integrated Mari an CXlillTlE!IIDr ations is felt -especially in the case of the "abridged Of

4fice" which precedes or follows the Hours, and fonns a doublet.On the otherhand, there is a fear that every daily expression of Christian devotion to-

3Franoophone Liturgy Commission

wards the Mother of God is going to be suppressed.We are told that sare have an exaggerated enotional

attachment to certain fonns of Marian prayer; but this springs fran a laudable concern to maintain a virile Cistercian devotion towards the Virgin Mary, and it should carefully be distinguished fran just any sentimental devotion.

The new Ranan Office as contained in the provisional l:xx:>k , Prieres

du Temps present, makes no provision for Marian devotions for ferial days, but by way of contrast collects an impressive number of Marian elements for feasts of our Lady. But it does not seem that this solution uld be an especially gcxxl one for the Order of ct.teaux.We should prefer a rrorehabitual integration of the mystery of the Virgin with the mystery of Christ and the Church, so as to give the Office its full "incarnational" dimension. (Fr.Placide Vernet opportunely recalled that the carmarorationof our Lady, in the beginning of the Order, was strictly speaking a caman::r ration of the Incarnation.) The Eastern liturgy offers a typical orienta tion in this sense, that Mary is present throughout the whole liturgy.She appears in the doxologies, intercessions, numerous troparia, and readings. For us, we shall doubtless in the future follav this exarrple by emphasizing Mary 's place in the mystery of salvation through our choice of liturgical texts, and by rendering her present -at tins by a simple mention -atthe major points of articulation in the Office.

As of nav, a large number of rronasteries still keep the abridged Ma rian Office either before or after the Office.One of these ccmnunities conceives of this Marian antiphon and prayer, sung kneeling, as a prepara tion for the Office.In one abbey, where the Benedictus and Ma.gnificat an tiphons are not repeated after these canticles, there is a Marian troparion at the end of the Benedictus and Ma.gnificat; at the other Hours, a Marian acclamation follavs the opening verse (for instance, "Blessed be

5Jesus Christ, Son of the Virgin Mary!") . Other a:mnunities integrate the carmerro ration of our Lady in the litany, either under the fonn of an antiphon,or of a litany-intention. The Salve is fran time to time integrated with Conpline; and in one rronastery it is follaved by a series of acclamations

3Franoophone Liturgy Commission

addressed to the Virgin, with the subse:iuent suppression of the collect.

In any case, it is not desirable to have a camenoration of our Lady before the Office or at the errl. At times the Angelus can serve as this ccmrerroration; and the Angelus can also be rung 'While the comnunity leaves the church.

QUESTIONS NOT TREATED

The question of readings was considered too vast to be delved into.

It could well be the subject matter for an entire session•••Who presides at an Office -the abbot or the hebdana.dary?

This prob lem was scarcely touched.What about non-priests presiding in monasteries where there are priests present for the Office? (This is the practice in one Benedictine nonastery, which was offered a an example.}

Finally, the question of the r e c e p t i o n and t h e part i c i p a t i o n o f gu e s ts and o t h er faithful was on the progranne, but lack of t.i.rre precluded this discussion. So too the question of the arrangement of the place of cele b r a t i o n -a topic often touched upon when exper.i.rrents of various ccmnuni ties were described.One could note certain adaptations (often involving elements of sµ:mtaneity, intimacy} depended to a great extent on the manner of grouping the participants, the arrangement of the fonnal choir stalls, the size of the church, etc•••; in brief, the whole style of celebrationis conditioned by such factors.This is an important point which calls for further study; but this was not possible at this year's meeting.

Translation, Gethsemani Abbey

MonksAIGUEBELLE AI

NunsALTBRONN AL

BELLEFONTAINE DESERTLES DOMBES MELL ERAYEMONT DES CATS ORVALPORT DU SALUT ROCHEFORT

BF DE DO ME MO OR PO RO SC

BELVAL CHAMBARAND LES GARDES GRACE DIEU IGNY SOLEILMONT UBEXYLAVAL

BV CH GA GR IGsoUB LA

SEPT-FONS TAMIE TIMADEUC LA TRAPPE

SE TA TI TR

4

RETURNS FROM THE OFFICE QUESTIONNAIRE FRANCOPHONE LITURGY COMMISSION FOR EUROPE

OCTOBER, 1969

In order to prepare for the plenary meeting of the

Franoophone Liturgy Corrmission for Europe, held at Notre-Dane des Gardes, October 29-30, the oorrespondents of the camti.ssion were sent a questionnaire on October 2.

The Ccmni.ssion wanted to know the results of the various experiments which had been undertaken; it wanted, too, to ask the advice of the various carrnunities on several points -in particular, the psalter and the structure of the Office.The purpose of this was to enable the different nonasteries to

orientate their experimentation even more ef fectively.Twenty-three rronasteries sent in returns -14 of rronks, 9 of nuns.

The names of these rronasteries are indicated in the following pages by these abbreviations:

3

PSALTER

1. Is your camlunity, taken as a Whole, satisified or dissatisfied with the distribution of the psalms adopted by your nonastery (:rren which distribution of psalms you use)?

R. - Traditional Benedictine structure: 3 - DE, DO, IG- Schema A : 5 - BF, ME, SC, PO, LA

(BF, ME and SC have rrade changes in the sherna)- Schana B: 9 - AI HV, GA, M), OR, RO, TA, TI, TR (occasional changes)

- Schema C:6 - AL, CH, GR, SE, SO, UB

Is everyone satisfied?R. - In the first group (traditional O.S.B.structure):DE notes

that only a minority wants a change in favor of Scerra C.- In the case of Schana A, B, and C, the majority is always satisfied.

Why?R.- Schema A:distribution of psalms is close to that of St.Benedict (LA)

- Schana B:Offices are nore leisurely; helpful for prayer (BV) ; prayer is nore authentic (TR) , more contemplative (OR)

- Schaua C:the choice of therres is good (AL, 00, UB with reserves);no overloading (AL, SO), but CH is more nuanced: too "heavy" for Vigilsand Lauds; psaJms are too reduced to the sa:rre level .

2. Is there a desire for a more frequent or less frequent repetition of certain precise psalms? Which ones?

R. - The question is raised particularly with regard to Schaua B.In gen eral, requests are often rrade for a nore frequent repetition of Ps.50.HV w:>uld like the whole of Ps.118 every week;OR Pss. 50, 62, 85, 138 nore often; Pss. 108, 58, 82 less often. GA Pss.50, 92 nore often; Ps. 143 less often.Three monasteries using Schema. c nevertheless want a repetition of cer tain psalms : SE not clear; UB, 13 sisters; QI is ready to adopt a divisions of psalms over a two-week period.

3. "Cursing" psalms and verses?

4R.- Opinions differ very much. In general, the difficulty, when this is in

dicated, a:xres fran the presence of guests.Several nonasteries have already suppressed certain imprecations:AL,SE, SO, TA; others wish to do so, and are heading in that direction: FN, rn, GA, LA, OR; as well as 8 sisters at UB .

Franaophone Liturgy 4

Sane want to keep than : IG.Well sung, they are oot shocking (GR}; or, on the contrary, "when read, they just pass by" (ME, ID).It is also a question of interpreting them correctly (AL, who refersto an article by Sr.Jearme d 'Arc, o.P., in Vie spir•ituelle , July1960); at the sane ti.Ire, an intellectual sort of "transp::>stion", such as is required, is extranely irritating (CH).

Historical psalms?R. - Almost everyone wants to keep them; only OR mentions

wanting to use them less often.4.In Sdlema B, does the choice of the 3rd psalm after the reading at Lauds

and Vespers felt to be good?R. - Yes, the choice is good: 6 replies (OR finds Ps.113B a less

good choice). Cfr.Question 17, on the place of this psalm after the readinJ.

5. Are special psalms chosen for feasts?R. - Sdlema A:

VigilsLalrls

Yes, in general (choice based on Latin Office)PO, SC Fran tilre to time (Office BVM: Pss. 66, 92, 62, Cant.XII, Ps. 150)

Vespers BF (BVM Pss.121, 131, 147; Confessors Pss. 110, 111, 149); SC (on two occasions :adds Ps. 44 for Marian feasts); PO and IA Y.Ould like special psalms.

- Schema B:All make changes (ID, only at Friday Vespers)Vigils changes are quite habitual (rather free choice at l\'D ,

to hanronize with the feast)Lauds not mentioned mudl (the schema prop::>ses

Pss. 66, 144, 62, Cant.XIII, Ps. 150)Vespers mentioned often (called for on certain days,

notably on Friday; few indications as to choice)

Little Hours'fN

- SCl'lerna C:Changes quite generalized:AL all the Offices, even the Little Hours, Friday, and CH all Offices except the Little Hours

[Sat.GR Vigils and Lauds; one day's pss.are

scmeti.Ires transferred to another day, in order to keep the weekly schema.

SE Vigils, but only for the greater feasts SO sorneti.Ires at Vigils

5

UB Vigils and Lauds especially - Pss. 62, 92, 99, Daniel, Ps. 150. Ps.108 at Friday Sext could be replaced byPss. 18 and 23.

6. Which translation do you use? Are you satisfied with it? Are you plan ning an any changes?

R.- Jerusalem Bible psalter:19 nonasteries2 nonasteries have tried the 25 psalms of the Ecurrenical translation: TI and MO; M) was not very satisfied with the rhytlunic indications.

Franaophone Liturgy 4

No great enthusiasm, but no great impatience to change, either. People are waiting for the publication of the Ecumenical transla tion. TI, however, notes its overall dissatisfaction.

- Pierre-qui-Vire translation:2 ME, SE (SE notes that sare of the translations call for revision).

- IDCal translation:PO, for sane psalms; ro uses the Jerusalem Bible psalter, but corrected according to Dho:rme.

- "fN proposes the use of certainpsalms translated in La Bible et son message.

7. O l d and N ew T estarrent Ca n t i c l es HCM do you use them? Where in the Office?

R. - O l d T e s t ame n t ca n t i c l e s Schema A :At their usual place in Lauds . Schema B:

OR has a 3rd Nocturn "cursus"; see the Appendix to this report.IvD uses Ex 15 and the Song of Harmah for the Sunday 3rd

Nocturn, as well as others of the usual canticle.At Lauds, only the Benedicite for Sundays and feasts.

AI traditional usage for Lauds; "fN only rarely at Lauds.GA Canticles XII and XIII at Lauds; other canticles

will be used as soon as suitable rrelcxlies are found for them .

TI uses only Canticles XII and XIII.TA canticles at Lauds and at the 3rd Nocturn.TR takes the canticle as a Lauds reading, but is not

very satis fied with this.ID wants to replace the usual 3rd Nocturn canticles.

Schema C: In general, no change in the "cursus".- N ew T e s t am e n t c a n t i c l e s

Schema B provides for the Ranan Breviary's new canticle-series:4 nona steries use these canticles; but 4 have also opted for the reading al so provided as an alternative.Schema A uses these canticles fran time to time:

LA between the 2nd and 3rd psalms;PO instead of the 4th psalm;BF as capitula.

WJuld be appreciated at SE and GR (Schema C) as well as at DE for Lauds. N u n c d.irni t t i s :mentioned by 9 nonasteries; RO \\Ould like to have it.

What about the daily use of the Canticles of Zachary and our Lady?

R.- Benedictus and Magnificat: unan.ir.ously in favor of their retention; at CH, a slight reticence, perhaps, for the

5Benedictus.The question was raised: Would not the Beatitudes or the St.John Pro logue be a good choice fran time to time?

Franophone Liturgy 4

8.I)) you introd u c e a doxology to ma r k t h e p s a J m -divisions?R.- Schema A :Yes PO, BF (prefers not to have it for

Ps.118); No LA, ME, SC (except for Pss.143, 113, 118).

Sche:na B:No All, except TI (but this seems quite "questionable").

Used, however, with Ps.118 (TR, M:> , GA) ; with Ps.9(ID, BV).

Schema C:No, with the exception of Ps. 77 , which is divided into two sections (AL, SE; also SO, provisionally); and Ps. 118(AL, UB).

Several nona.steries introduce a period of silence or an interlude between the strophes of Ps. 118 (GR, FN•••).

+ + +

STRJCTURE OF THE OFFICE9. D e v o t i o n to OUr La.dy : What liturgical expression do you have of

the Marian devotion traditional in our Order? Have you kept the Marian antiphons be for the Office? Do you plan on any changes? If so, in what direction?

R.- 19 nonasteries keep the usual antiphons before the Office (BF only for the Little Hours; at Lauds and Vespers, a troparion after the New Testa nent canticle);.

- FN anits them on Saturdays of our Lady and on Marian feasts;- 3 make provisions for their integration into the Office: LA, TR, CH

(in general, before or after the litany; CH would like it to be at the beginning of Vigils);

- 3 or 4 nonasteries would like such an integration with the Office, butdo not knav how to go about it;

- 4 said nothing about such a possibility;- 5 wish to change nothing (00, UB, AL, GR - "all except l" -, SO unani-

- 'M: "the question is not yet mature". [nous.Note:At ID, all remain on their knees, tw:ned tcMards the altar as for the private preparation preceding the Office; this preparation continues, but in camon.The carmunity then rises for the beginning of the Office.

- AL:before the Office -meaning that one prays the Office "under the protection of our Lady".

- 3 nonasteries integrate the ccmnaroration with the Office:SC antiphon at the end of the !burs, but this is not wholly satisfactory.

6

GA before or after the litany, according to the !bur.OR Angelus before Vigils; at the other Hours, antiphon at the end of the prayer.

Franophone Liturgy 4

Ot h er r ema r k s :ID Marian readings for certain seasons (Advent) or other

periods (May'October) ;Clf A questionnaire shc:Ms that at the daily Office, the nuns

are thinking ab o u t Mru:y ' s i n te r c e s s i o n ; while on the Marian feasts, they c o n temp l a te t h e Vi r g i n .

10. Is ther e a n y desire for orientations with a view to the p:?Ssible re structuring of the Hours?

R.- The question was equivocal:- Sare understood it as meaning: Do you want a new structure? And for the rrost part, they answered No. FN would like greater flexibility and a simplification.

- As regards receiving any kind of orientation:one strong No.- Questions asked :

CH What is the proper diaracter of each Hour?GA What are all the p:?Ssibilities? How can we kncM if

what we are doing is all right?MO and BF p:?int out that the Office assembles hardly anyone except the fo:rner choir nonk.s:would not this derive fran the overly "cleri cal" nature of the Office, and the lack of a certain lyricism acces sible to all? It seems (at least at ID) that not enough of a distinc tion is made between the role of the schola and that of the ccmnuni ty; people have gotten used to everyone singing ev.Conclu sion:either it is too difficult (and too clericalOie!Se it istoo flat (lack of lyricism). Provide things in which everyone can participate (easy material) and interventions of a rrore lyrical na ture (teach then how to listen)•

11. Structure of Vigils.What is the structure of your Vigils? Two

or three Nocturns? Or a rrore unified Office? Do you have over and above this a Office made up of readings? At least fran time to time?

R.- 13 nonasteries keep the three nocturns for feasts.- Paschal 3rd Nocturn on Sunday: at least BF and CH (SC would like tohave it).

- Weekdays and feasts when there is work:ME and MO abridge the 3rd Noc turn (canticle, G:>spel, but neither reading nor Te Detml) ; TA, on the contrary, keeps the hcmily and the Te Delml, but not the G:>spel.

- For the weekday 2nd Nocturn, patristic readings :10 nonasteries (principally those Which use Schema B); 3 rronasteries have short readings;

6 OR :patristic reading for 1st Nocturn, scripture capitulwn for the 2nd Nocturn.

Francophone Liturgy 4

- Insertion of a pericxi for silent prayerMO A quarter-hour after the 1st Nocturn hymn {for the sake of those who do not take part in Vigils, but who are thus able to be part of the whole ccmnunity assembled after rising);TA A quarter-hour between the Nocturns .

Suggestions:BF Why not a single Nocturn? Regroup the psa.lros, and

have them follCMed by two readings linked by an intercalary respJnsory: sane structure as at the other Offices.

AL Is there a chance of having a prayer of intercession? (Note that the final versets of the sung Te Deum are an embryonic prayer of intercession.)

12. S tr u c t u r e o f t h e o t h er H o u rs . What is the structure of the other Hours? In particular, what about Conpline? And what about the Office which pre cedes Mass?

R. - Canpline:- Several insert the Salve into the Office (e.g.,

between the prayer and the blessing}:AL, LA, FN , TI, TR.

- OR project: in order to avoid doublets, after the psalmody hymn:Sunday, "Il se fait tard";

Saturday, "Sainte Lumiere", with the Nunc dimittis; weekdays, "Avant la fin" or sore other hymn;

capitulum :taken fran the Gospel {e.g., on Sunday, the pilgrims to Emnaus};short resfX)nsory, Lord 's Prayer, prayers (several ad Zibi tum) ;prayer for the departed and the absent; silent prayer {two or three minutes); Salve; Angelus; blessing; dismissal.

- Lauds and VespersMention is made of the hymn placed at t:ilres at the beginning, afterthe intrcxiuction {see also Questions 15, 16, 23 and 24).- F e ri al L a uds at MO:

Opening with Ps.1161st psalm {of a penitential stamp); seated, without

doxology, but with a pericxi for silence, followed by a psalter oollect;

2nd psalm with the antiphon for the day;Reading (see Appendix 2; choice based on the psalm which

follows in Schana B);

6

ResfX)nsorial psalm after a pericxi of silence;Hymn, verset, Song of Zachary;Litany (variable fonnulary, but with set intentions,

including cx::mrarorations and prayers for the departed and the absent);

Silence {the abrot can suggest ooncrete intentions); Prayer, Lord's Prayer with doxology, biblical blessing.

Francophone Liturgy 4

46

- GA places a troparion af ter the opening verse, and keeps the hymn in its traditional place.

- See Appendix 3 for the structure of the Of f ices at BF, with the indication of those elements which vary acoording to the f east.

Little Hours - Project at BV: Hymn, psalm::>dy (alternate choirs, without antiphon,

and with the doxology only at the end of the psalmJdy) , chapter , silence, f inal prayer (camrunity remains seated between the hynn and the f inal prayer) .

13. Opening versets. IO you want to have variety?R. - 5 responses Yes: LA, ME, BV, GA, TR

12 responses No: but this does not exclude the possibility for each typeof Hour having its awn proper opening fo.rmula.

14. Invitatory I Hymn. When the hymn is placerl at the beginning of the Of f ice, do you think that the invitato:ry psalm should be retained?

R. - 2 rronasteries think that the invitato:ry psalm is too much: 'fN, ID;

at TR, opinion is divided. The rest af f inn that the tv..o are mutually carplementary (each has its own proper function: BF , OR) .

The hymn is an application of the invitato:ry (SC) , develops it (AI ) , is rrorelyric (OR) ; it translates the mystery in our tenns , "assimilates it" , while the invitato:ry orientates us tc:Mards God under a particular as pect of his mystery (GA) •

- In Schema C, the invitato:ry introduces the psalms of Vigils or of theday; the hymn gives the thare of the f east or of the Hour (AL, CH) .

- Be sure that the f onn of the hymn is oot the same as that of the invitato:ry psalm, as is the case of sane of the French hymns (GA) .

- Schema B, at Lauds: TI suppresses Ps. 66 or 116 , which forms a doublet with the hynn.

15. Use of an opening troparion. Are you f amiliar with this practice?R. - Few answered: OR in place of the hynn;

GR and ID once in place of narrative-antiphons;ro envisages a project with troparia; GA and CH for f easts.

16. IO you use troparia elsewhere in the Of f i ce? R. - As an antiphon for the Bened.ictus or .Magnif icat: BF, GA, OR, TR;

(cf r. Marial troparion af ter the canticle: BF , Question 9.)

17. Schema B: At Lauds and Vespers, what arout the sequence between the reading and the f inal psalm?

- Acoording to TI and ID, satisf actory;'fN and GA: not suf f iciently related (see Appendix 2 f or the solution proposed by M)) ;

TR notes a dif f iculty: jubilati on seems awkward after a pericxi of silence. GA treats this psalm as a hynn , with the result that it forms a

doublet with the hymn.

4Froancophone Liturgy

18. Do you use a trinitarian doxology after each psalm?R. - OR, TA, TR and CH omit it for the psalms which conclude

the five books of the psalter and which have their avn doxology;GR likewise omits it for Pss.40, 71 and 88. GA anission for Pss. 113, 117, 38, 56, 136.MJ At the 1st psalm of Lauds; see Question 12.FN Sarreti.Jres replaces it with an organ interlude. Several omit it between Pss.41 and 42.BF asks the question of the principle to be followed; for instance, should the doxology follav a psalm such as Ps. 87? or a psalm read by a soloist?See also Question 8.

19.What do you think about antiphons for the Benedictus and

Magnificat? R.- 6 nonasteries want to keep than.Many stress the problems they raise:- that of their translation and of their reference to an out of date lectionary :AL, BV, UB, MO use the ferial day antiphons for Saturday.

- that of their reference to the canticle itself (FO)

MJ: just as the Mass Liturgy of the Word and Sunday Vigils culminate in the reading of the Gospel, so also Lauds and Vespers culminate in the Gospel canticle. A link with the Gospel for the day or the mys tery being celebrated is excellent, it seems. But it "WOuld be bet ter if the antiphon texts were based in part on the canticles them selves.Would not a phrase fran the Gospel in the fonn of an invita tory suffice fran time to time?GA also mentions that these antiphons give the mystery being cele brated its evangelical tone or color.BF: on ferial days, the antiphon serves as the key to the node; but on Sundays and feasts, a troparion advantageously replaces theshort resp:msory and the antiphon.Havever, care should be taken-to avoid the juxtap:>sition of a nunber of minor elem:mts.OR raises the problan of all antiphons, in particular narrative-an tiphons (cfr. the Vigils antiphons for the feasts of St.Benedict, St.Martin •••);the link with the psalm is not apparent;either make the antiphon an independent troparion, or else replace it with a read invitatory, which situates the psalm in the spirit of the day.

6SE fran tine to time uses the fonn of a read invitatory .BF and GA have experimented with texts of St.Bernard of Vigils of his feast, August 20.

4Froancophone Liturgy

20. V e r s e ts o r ve r si c l e s in t h e O ff i c e ?R.- All are suppressed at ME, SE, CH. FN would like to do the sane

(and already does so on certain days)•AI keeps than at Vigils and Compline ("their practical value seans dubious"); TA and TI only at Vigils and the Little Hours (except for Sext, TI); GA, OR, BF only for the Little Hours, under the fonn of a response to the little chapter (BF uses only 4 kinds of versets). Same is desired at ID; at TR, only for Vigils and the major Hours.ID uses versets fran Ps. 118 before the readirs.BF: "A study on their origin and function are needed if they are tobe retained."

21. Responsories: What do you do for the Vigils responsories? or for the short responsories which could be used for the Day Hours?

R. - Various usages:- Taize responsories used by IA, SC (short responsories);

BF, TA, TI, TR (long responsories);

- Responsories fran the Livre d'Heures by BF, ID, TI;- Gregorian responsories for feasts of senron by IA (2) ,

00.

- Orval translation, often read, by PO, SC , RO, AL , GR, DE;Sundays and feasts by SE;

- Local a:mpositions by CH , TI, TA, OR (on an easy pattern, allCMing improvisation); SE (ferial days and 3 lessons:refrain and verset fran psalms) ; ID uses as the verset the text of the responses fran the Ranan Mass lectionary .

- No responsories:CH, ME (provisionally); ID after the patristic or hagiographical reading during the week, or the Sunday hanily (Te Deum as at DE); FN , from time to time. The question has been raised at GA.

- FN wants to have a Vespers solann responsory.22. Litany:fo.nn? where placed in the Office?R.- See the remarks in the preceding report of the session at

Notre-Dame des Gard.es.23. Place of the prayer or oollect?R.- In general, as an embolism after the Lord's Prayer.

GA:before the IDrd's Prayer;MO, OR:before the Lord 's Prayer at Lauds and Vespers, but after the Lord's Prayer at the Little Hours;

7OR v.uuld like to place it after the opening verse and hymn as a rite of oonclusion for this section, similar to the oollect which closes the entrance rite of the Mass.

Franaophone Liturgy 4

BF :At Lauds and Vespers, before the litany (but plans to abridge them and place them after the Lord's Prayer.TR has followed the same evolution)•BF calls in question the need to have a prayer which fonns a doubletwith the Lord's Prayer.CH, SE, IA and TR question the need for a oollect at the Little Hours.

24. Necessary to have the Lord's Prayer at all the Hours?R.- 10 replies answer in the affirmative (with the exception of

Terce and Lauds,whenMassfollavsirrmediately,GA);- 4 negative replies; OR notes that there is no Lord's Prayer at festive Vigils in the traditional Office;

- Opinion divided at BF and SC.25. Integration of current events in the Office celebr a t i o n ? R. - M:Jst :rronasteries mention the litany as the place and means to allude

to current events.AL adds the possiliility of adapting the readings; on one occasion, af ter a visit fran a lay missionary fran Brazil, Psalm 71 was sung.ID: readings during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity;

anointing of the sick during an Office;Canpline expanded as a wake for a departed brother; Vespers and .Mass of burial.

CH has also integrated Compline and the wake for a deceased rum. OR proposes the special choice of readings and short resp:msories.TI is preparing a project far the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

7

APPENDIX 1 THIRD NOCTURN CANTICLE SERIES - ORVALOZd Testament New Testament

Advent Christmas Epiphany LentPalm Sunday, Holy Cross Eastertirre

Ascension Pentecost 'l'rinity Sunday Corpus Christi Sacred Heart Precious Blood Transfiguration Seven SorrcMs Holy Angels Christ the King All Saints Sundays

Apostles One MartyrSeveral MartyrsVirgins I Our Lady

Is 42:10-16Is 9:1-6Is 66:10-14Ex 36:24-28

Ex 15:1-18or Is 63:1-5

Dan 3:57-88Dan 3:57-88Prv 9:1-6, 10-12 Is 12:1-6

Lam 1:12-15

Dan 3:57-88

Ex 15:l-18 orDan 3:57-88Is 61:6-9Sir 14:20; 15:3-6Wis 3:1-6 or 3:7-9Sir 39:13-16 or Is 61:10-62:3

Phil 2:5-11

Rev 4:11; 5:9-10+12

Rev 11:17-18; 12:10b-12b Eph 1:3-10

Col 1:12-20

Rev 4:11; 5:9-lo+l2

APPENDIX 2 : LAUDS READINGS FOR SCHEMA B - 1-DNI'-DES-cATS

Texts are ahosen on the basis of the psaZm whiah foZZows and the nature of the Hour.

MJNDAY I - P s alm 1 1 0

Bar 5:1-9 Is 43:14-21

Franaophone Liturgy 4Gen 9:8-17 Os 11:1-9

The dawn of salvationThe prodigies of the New Exodus God's Covenant with manGod's love for his people

5

'lUESDAY I - P s alm 1 1 1 Ex 33:7-112 Chr 1:7-12Dt 34:1-12Gen 50:15-24WEDNESDAY I- P s a lm 1 1 2 Jdg 13·:2-7 Is 54:1-102 Kgs 4:8-17Jdg 6:11-23

Moses, friend of God Solaron asks for wisdan Death of MosesSalvation accx::xnpl ished through Joseph's drarra

Miraculous birth of Samson Messianic fecundity of Jerusalem Miraculous birth pranised by ElijahGod reveals himself and c:x::.rres to save his people

'l'.HURSDAY I - P s a lm 1 1 3 A Ex 14:19-31Ex 17:1-7Jos 3:1-6, 15-17 Wis 10:15-11:5FRIDAY I - Ps a lm 11 3 B Ex 32:7-14Dt 7:7-11Gen 32:23-31Jos 24:16-24SA'IURDAY I - Psalm 114

Passage through the Red Sea Water·gushes forth fran the Rock Passage through the JordanWisdom at \\Urk in the events of the Exodus

Moses' prayer after his people cxmnit idolatry God 's favor and electionJacob's ccmbatJoshua recalls the miracles of the Exodus, and the people renew the Covenant with the l.Drd

Dan 6:17-24 or 14:31-42 Deliverance of DanielEx 1:22-2:10 .M:>ses saved fran the waters2 Kgs 20:1-11 King Ezechiah healed1 Kgs 17:17-24 Resurrection of the son of the wida.v of ZarephathMJNDAY II - P s alm 1 1 5 1 Chr 15:25-16:3Ex 3:1-12Ex 24:1-111 Chr 29:9-18 or 20'l.UESDAY I- P s alm 1 4 5 1 Kgs 17:8-16Dt 10:12-222 Kgs 4:1-7Dt 8:1-6

Transfer of the ArkGod serrli Moses to frec his people, that they may v.Dr- Sinai Covenant roncluded [ship him David's prayer over the Tanple offering

Wido.v of Zarephath helpe1 by the l.Drd!vbses' appeal for fidelity to the l.Drd who savesGod takes care of the wido.vLesson of the desert, M:>ses' disrourse

WEOOESDAY II - P s alm 1 4 6 Is 42:1- 9

5Franophone Liturgy Questionnaire - Is 30:19-26Is 49:8-19Jer 23:1-8

Prophetic annunciation of the Christ Future prosperityGathering of the scattered exiles The true SherJi.erd gathers his flock

5

THURSDAY II - P s alm 1 4 7 Ex 16:9-18 Manna discovered in the rromingIs 55:1-11 God's efficacious 'IM:>rd feeds his people Jer 3110-14, 31-34 Abundance of messianic blessingsIs 25:6-lOa Messianic banquetMich 4:1-7 Messianic peace proclaimed FRIDAY II - P s alm 1 4 8 Prv 8:22-36 Wisdan the creator Sir 16:26-17:14 Man in creationIs 40:12-18, 25-31 God 's greatness Sir 1:1-20 M¥stery of WisdanSA'IURDAY II - P s alm 1 4 9 Zeph 3:11-18 or 20 Rannant of IsraelEx 17:8-16 l>bses stands on the rrountain top during the canbat Is 43:1-7God saves his people whan he loves above all else Jud 13:11-18 God saves his people through Judith

APPENDIX 3 - STRUClURE OF THE MAJOR lDURS - SOIEMA A: BELLEFONTAINE ProJECI'The sign + indicates a proper formuZa.IAUDS AND VESPERS Feria Ccmrem:>ration Feast Solamri.tyopeningHymn Antiphons Psalms

+ + +++

Reading (+silence) + +Resix>nse + +Troparion or ant. + +G:>spel canticle Marian troparionPrayer LitanyLord's Prayer Blessing

+ + ++ +

Francophone Liturgy Questionnaire - Appendix 53

VIGILSOpening verse and Ps. 3 Psalm 133lfylm

Psalm:xiy BlessingScripture reading, silence ResponsoryPsalm:xly BlessingPatristic reading

Silence

Prayer

Short litany I.Drd's Prayer

Cannenoration Feast Solenmity

Stmday (- - -Invitatory + Psalm

94- - - - -+ + + +

+ + 6 pss.+ ++ + ++ + ++ + 6 pss.+ +

+ hagiograph. + + Respons. Respons. Respons. Gospel

GospelTe decet Te Deum Ant.

+ + +

O.T.canticle Paschal GospelTe Deum

Conclusion Blessin:J Blessing Prayer

5

TOWARDS A SPECIFIC OPENING FORMULA FOR THE PRAYER OF THE HOURS

At the.Francophone Liturgy Comnission meeting at Notre-Dame des Gardes, OctdJer, 1969, we called attention to the

beginning of the Of- fice.We took note of the current use of Psalm 94 and Psalm 133 at Vi gils, and of Psalm 66 and Psalm 116 at Lauds (adding the precision, hOW' ever, that the use of Psalm 66 should exclude the "O God, cc.:are to my as sistance"}; we sCM, too, that other psalms could be used, such as Psalm 99.The question of the beginning of the Office was raised with regardto Vespers.

This gave me the chance to stress the importance of the ritual ac tion which aes the text , and which, together with the text, makes up the opening rite, so as to create the assembly.As examples, I cited the western practice of kneeling at the "WOrds fran Psalm 94, "Cane•••let us kneel before the God who made us;" or the East Syrian practice of raising the hands at verse 2a of Psalm 133, "Lift up your hands to the holy place." Others then added that, thanks to recent "simplifications", our bcxly is more and more absent fran our celebrations.

With regard to the structure of the Hours, which we did not have time to discuss , I should have liked to raise a problem connected with yet an other problem not discussed in detail-. the versicles.I refer to the specific case of the versicles after the Lauds and Vespers hymn -those humble and precious witnesses to specific psalms proper to the eveningand the rooming, Psalms 140 and 62. This question would have led in turn back to the question of the place of the hymn in these Hours (note Fr.Ge lineau's great reserve as regards their being shifted to the beginning of Lauds or Vespers}.I should then have been led to make a distinction be tween: a- the versicles at the end of the Noctums, b- the versicles which follOW' i.rrurediately after a little chapter, and c- the versicles after the Lauds and

5

Vespers hymn.

5

SECI'IOO CtIB: V E S P E R S

I - PSALM 140:A PS.AIM PIDPER 'IO THE EVENING OFFICEA - P s alm 1 4 0 and t h e O l d T e s tame n t

1- It should be rerrenbered that:a- Jewish \\Orship includes an evening sacrifice of .cattle, in

cense, and light;b- beginning especially with the Exile, the divine

pedagogy led the Chosen People fran the sacrifices (which, for all that, were not ab1'.'0C]ated) to the sacrifice of praise (which was no new thing) • This isnot the place to recall the importance of this sacrifice of praise, espe cially in the psalms; it would suffice to quote the whole of Psalm 49, with its characteristic verse:

Pay your sacrifice of thanksgiving to Godand rerxier him your votive offerings.

2- The question of sin and its relationship with the evening·sac rifice should also be discussed.

But above all else, we are dealing with a doctrinal theme aboutthe evening and the evening prayer:the day's activity and the night's re:EX>Se, light and darkness, faith and sin, Christ and Satan.All this per tains to the specific nature of the Hours, and has repercussions on the prayer-fo.rmulary: hynn, litany, oollect.However, we are here digressing fran the Old Testamant•••

3- All this is surrmarized, expressed explicitly or implicitly, in the 2nd verse of Psalm 140:

Let my prayer cane before you like incense,the raising of my hands like and evening oblation.

4- It should rooreover be remarked that this psalms expressed a prayer in the gesture which accanpanies it:the raising of my hands.

B - The Christian and liturgical use of Psalm 1401- The roost ancient krnwn Christian witness to a set

psalm for the evening prayer is in the Apostolic Constitutions; and the psalm in

5question is Psalm 140.1

Specific Opening Formula for the Prayer of the 5

2- We are all familiar with the result of this tradition in its western transposition:

a- Ps.140:2 used as a versicle after the Vespers hymn onSundays and weekdays (except·saturday) throughout

the year :V. Lord, let my prayer a:me before you.R. Like incense in your sight.b- The Christian transposition of this same verse as

the Satur day "per annum" (= Sunday Vespers I) versicle after the hymn:

V . May our evening prayer ascend to you, O Lord.R . And may your IIErcy descend upon us.

3- Between these two te:rms (the Apostolic Constitutions and recent western usage):

a- the Holy Rule, following an earlier Latin tradition, usesPsaJro 140 as a Vespers psalm in the section of the psalter reserved for this Hour;

b- the general latin tradition in the west has retained the use of light and incense for this lbur; the incensation begins after Ps.140:2, sung before the Magnificat. (I am not speaking about the Cistercians, though even in this case we find light being used in keeping with a custan very similar to that of St-:seru.gne de Dijon and the Ordines Romani; in this regard, our Easter custan for the paschal candle seems quite reasonable; 2

incense at Vespers appears in our Order only later, in the pontifical rite.)

c- oollections of prayers:- the African psalter oollect 3

- the Italian - or lbnan - psalter collect 3

- the psalter collect in the Breviarium Gothicum 3

- a Hispanic psalter oollect:Clamanrus ad te, JXlmine, propitius exaudi nos;

ascendat oratio nostra ad thronurn tuum, nostraque confessio deitatis tuae redoleat incensum, et elevatio manuum accepta in sacrificium ves pertinum; pone ori nostro custodiam, ne dilabetur in lingua ma ligna; sed

5

dona ut te labionnn meditatio indesinenter praedicet, et in fidis oordibus fidei gratiarn indubitanter insinuet; per quarn et peccatores fallaciarn respuant, et benedictionis oleum, a te conlatum, accipiant.4

Specific Opening Formula for the Prayer of the 5

- the final prayers of Ilispanic Vespers {here I give only those instances in which Psalm 140, and especially 140:2, are found a nnng the 73 nnming and evening prayers):

n.5 • • • suscipe vota fidelium, et poenitentiae dona rerredium; suscipe sacrificium vespertinum cum officio laudis, et restitue beneficium matutinum•••

n.11 •••aspice nos vultu rnitissinn, et nostras preces pro sa crificio accipe vespertino•••

n.18 Dirigatur oratio nostra, Danine, sicut incensun in oon spectu tuo • • •

n.27 Inm::>lantes tibi, Deus noster, vespertinam hostiam laud.is, oranrus ut inclines rniserioordiae tuae auran ad vota popu li supplicantis; fiat in oonspectu tuo oratio supplicum suavitatis incensum, elevatio manuum nostrarum sacrifici um vespertinum•••

n.39 Transacto diei lumine •••sacrificium tibi, Danine, vesper tinum subnixis enibus exhibentes, dinumeranrus intra ani mam peccata•••

- a Hispanic iZlatio for the Paschal Vigil takes up the there of the "evening sacrifice" in relation with the "nnming blessing" of the Hispanic tradition:

•••elevatisque in cruce manibus, et sacrificium vesper tinum pependit in ligno, et beneficium matutinum resur rexit a nnrtuis.•• 6

- an evening prayer fra:n the Ravenna Rotulus:n.13 Dirigatur, quaesunrus, D.::>rnine, in oonspectu tuo

nostrae petitionis oratio••• ?

4- Patristic docunents

I indicate only St.John Chrysostan's Hanily on Psalm 140.This is

how he begins:

A. llrost everyone knCMs the text of this canticle; these words have been repeated for centuries, because the psalm is a popular one in general use.As for the ideas expressed by the text -these are less well kn:Jwn . Is it not blameworthy negligence to be singing sarething every day and to have the words oonstantly on one's lips, but without taking the trouble to find out what the words really mean? •••This psalm is on your lips fra:n your earliest years; and you are still singing it in your old age, but without knCMing any-

6

thing :rrore about than the v.iords•••Now pay attention. I should not want you to think that our fathers assigned this psalm fordaily use as an evening psalm without having any reason for doing so; or that the only reason is because of the text, "Let the raising of my hands be like an evening oblation." •••No, thiswas not the decisive reason; rather, our fathers SCM in this psalm a saving remedy, a plea for pardon, as it were; a"l evenin sacrifice for the expiation of sins ccmnitted during the day•••

Isuggest that you read the entire hanily, because later on in the text we see that the words were accanpanied by the lifting up of the hands and we learn the meaning given to this gesture.

II. TOWARDS A SPECIFIC OPENING VESPERS FORMUIA

A - We have noted :1- the tradition of the Clnsen People with its rites

of bloody sacrifice, light, and incense; and the passage fran bloody sacrifice to sacrifice of praise.All this we find again in Psalm 140.

2- the Christian use of this psalm -an ancient usage which is still of value (even if reduced to the vestigial but important versicle after the hyrrm and before the .Ma.gnifcat, and to the incensation); this daily psalm was accanpanied by gestures:the lifting up of the hands and a prostration.

3- the Christian interpretation of the psalm as an evening prayer, both in prayer repertories and in patristic cc.mrentaries.

B - We have in mind a specific opening fonnula for Vespers.At the same t.i.Ire, the Lauds and Vespers versicles-not to be neglected at any price - are a problem for us, and we

also desire to have a serious restructurirqof these two Hours.

desireWe also note that in recent times, due to a praisE!'M'.:>r thy/to

simplifythe Office ceraronial, we have unfortunately ended up with a liturgy :rrore and :rrore bereft of our bodily participation -in

Specific Opening Formula for the Prayer of the 6spite of the fact that this is an elarent indispensable for the

prayer of an individual or of a carmunity.C - Is it possible:

1- to use this psalm, and specifically its 2nd verse and its inter pretation (weekday and saturday versicles) as the beginning of Vespers, in stead of Psalm 69?

6

2- to link a gesture with the chanting of this text? We still turn towards the altar and "stand in cerercony" at the beginning of lauds and Vespers. Could we not also add, or rather, restore, the lifting of our hands as the expression of prayer -a practice to which Eastern and Spanish Christians bear witness, and which is presupposed in particular by Psalms 62, 133, and 140?

3- if sare desire it, to use incense over and above the two can dles on Sundays and solannities? In this case, instead of using the Mass ritual for the incensation of the altar, we should substitute a censer to burn before the lDrd, with smoke that rises like candle flames.

4- Is there sufficient reason to save Psalm 140 at Vespers by shifting its place and using a verse of it to begin the Office? We have to admit that the Vespers and lauds versicle is a bit of a doublet with the short responsory after the little chapter, because of the basic verse/re sponse structure ccmnan to each.'VE know, too, that our Vespers is the result of a juxtaposilion of the monastic evening psalrrody and the parish evening Office.Accordingly, is it legitimate to change the tx=isition of the remains of Psalm 140?

PARI' rn·i:>: A SPECIF C OPENING FORMULA FOR LAUDS

I- The Status quaestionis.

The Holy Rule prescribes Psalm 66 to begin lauds on Sundays and

ordi nary days; to be sung without antiphon and straight through, but with a sarewhat slower tempo, "sine antiphona, in directum, subtrahendo m:x:lice."

There is, then, no question of the verse "O God, cane to my assistance", so that the specific beginning proper to the M:>ming Prayer is Psalm 66.M:>reover, the Holy Rule does not provide a doxology, as it does explicitly for Psalm 94 at Vigils.

In our own day, the tanptation has been to make Psalm 116 the dailyLauds invitatory -a temptation to which Schemas A and B have succumbed. Nevertheless, the m::>st ancient Lauds or morning

6Specific Opening FormuZa for the Prayer of the psalm for which we have evidence is Psalm 62.

6

We all know, noreover, that Lauds has a very special structure.The situation, then, calls for serious examination. It would be imprudent to play around with the beginnin;J of Lauds, and thus risk disorganizing the general structure, as well as the specific structure of this rrorning prayer.'As with the case of Vespers, I shall deal with the prayer fonm.ilae referring to Psalm 6?. Psalm 66, and Psalm 116 as used at Lauds; I shall also refer to the Fathers.

II - The use of Esalros 62, 66 and 116 for "matins" or rrornin;J prayer

A - P s alm 6 2 1- Like Psalm 140 at Vespers, it is mentioned by the

ApostoZio Constitutions (Zoo. ait.) for norning use .2- When St.John duysostan carments on Psalm 140 (Zoo.

ait.), he finds no better arguxrent than the example &\e rrorning Psalm 62:

The psalm sung in the rrorning presents the sane characteristics, I might sey in passing.This.psalm irrleed arouses in us the love of God, lifts up our soul, and .after having inflamed it, so tospeak, inundates it with joy and a pure love which make it possible to draw near to God.Let us quote the first text and stu::ly what it teaches:" O God, you are my God, for you I long fran early dawn; for you my soul is thirstj.ng." These words reveal a heart burning with pure love.Where the love of God reigns, there is no roan for evil; where the thought of God is present, there is no place for sin•••My ardor burns to oonterrplate your glory which is resplendent over all the earth•••

Note, too, along the s lines, for the beginnin;J of the

rrorniJ:B prayer, St.Basil's c:x:mrenta.ry on Psalm 50, used daily at the beginning

of 11mati'

s 11 • 9

3- We are familiar with the constant Roman practice which haslasted up to the present day:Psalm 62 at Lauds. This is no accident.'As

an exarrq;>le all can grasp, think of Lauds of the Dead or the Paschal Tridu-

6Specific Opening FormuZa for the Prayer of the urn.

4- The Hispanic rronastic Hour "post Nocturnes", between Vigils and Morning Preyer, and celebrated at the same time

as the "laudes matu tinae" of the Ibly Rule, had kept the

following as the opening verse:I muse on you in the rrorning,for you have been my help (Psalm 62:7b).

1

6

This verse was sung once, then repeated; then came the doxology with a third repetition (same structure as for the Hispanic verse, 111.ord, open my lips•••" at the beginning of the Noctu.ms)•

5- The Cistercian tradition, retained till the middle of the 17th century, treated Psalm 62 in much the same way as Psalm 140 at Ves pers.DurinJ half of the year, the Lauds versicle after the hymn was:

V. In the rrorningImuse on you.R . For you have been my help.

B - P s alm 6 6 1- We are familiar with the Ranan tradition, which links

Psalm 66 with Psalm 62 at "matins".

2- We are also familiar with the Benedictine tradition described

above, page 60. C - P s a lm 11 6

1- Th:>ugh Psalms 148-150 appear as a universal and constant prac tice for the celebration at the end of the night or the beginning of the day, we should nevertheless rote that, in the Syrian rites, the use of Psalm 116 is rrore constant, and that one never finds Psalms 148-150 with Psalm116 appearinJ i.m:rediately afterwards.Depending, then, on the overlapping oftraditions, we find either the series 133, 118 (vv.169-176) 116; or else (112), 148, 149; 150, 116.11

2- This daily use of Psalm 116 after the laudes of the I-t::>rni.n:J Prayer was also practiced in the western latin and Ranan

tradition• .This is attested by the farrous letter of the Ranan deacon John to Senarius,written before the end of the 5th centu:ry. 12 This text, which is usuallyoverlooked, is nevertheless extrEITEly irrportant, especially for us, who have a tradition deriving fran the Holy Rule.

The Author explains to his correspondent-critic that, besides the one same faith and institutions received fran the

6Specific Opening FormuZa for the Prayer of the Fathers, each Church keeps the customs handed down in its own tradition.The exarrple under discussion is the Alleluia, which the

Ranans sing only until Pentecost (cfr.Holy Rule).The Author flCM

explains:Whether the Alleluia is sung only until Pentecost, as is the case with us, or whether it is sung elsewhere all year long, the Church sings God 's praise. But we, out of reverence for the Pasch, reserve the Alleluia for Easter time, so that with even

6

greater joy, and with minds made ne.N, so to speak, wemay sing God's praise with all our heart. And so Alleluia ireans in translation "Praise the IDrd." Let the voices of the people resound day after day, then, as they sing the Alleluia, or its equivalent, when they sing: "Praise the IDrd fran the heavens, praise him from the heights" (Ps 148:1); or again, "Praise him, all his angels" (ibid., 2aJ , or "Praise the Lord, all you nations" (Ps 116:1a). So it happens that always, so often as God is praised by a faithful heart, Alleluia is being sung.

III. Tradition and PsaJlTls 62, 66 and 116 as Christian

Prayer A - Latin prayer-fonnulae for Psalm 621-Psalter collect1 African series:

In terra deserta propter nostra scelera, tu nosti, Dcmine, quid sitiens desideret anima nostra; reple nos, Deus, tarrquam adipe et pinguedine, tuae indulgentiae donis, ut semper in te sit rreditatio cordis nostri. 142- T h e Ranan c o l l e c t

Ad te diluculo vigilantibus, lurren largire perpetuum, Aucter lucis aeterne; ut te labia nostra laudent, te vita benedicat, te rreditatio matutina glorificet. 15

3- The Hispapic collects:16- Sitientes in te, Danine, anima et caro multipliciter nostra, atque ad videndam virtutem tuam et gloriam tuam, ita dirigatur voto, hoc canitetur obsequio; tu igitur, Danine, cuius miseri cordia irelior est super vita , da profectum fidei, ut qui ad te· diluculo consurgirous, lucis tuae gratia fulgeamus .- In matutinis rredit:arnur in te, quia te illurninante suscepto rem nostrum, qui pro nobis haro natus es, confitemur , et in ve larrento alarum tuarum cruce tua protecti, laudanrus;

dona igitur nobis, ut qui munera tua in sacro reysterio praedicamus, te in surrmo munere perfruamur.- Danine, ad quern vigilat de luce anima nostra: dona ut sempcr a tenebris properemus ad lucem; quatenus caligo depereat mentis, et plenitude tuae:in nobis pe:rrnaneat lucis.- In matutinis, sancte Danine, rreditamur in te, quia matutinum sensibus nostris facit ireditatio sancta principium; siquidan tu es aeternus ac perpetuus dies, et dum cogitaris illuminas, et dum adoraris inradias. 1?

6Spec:ifia Opening FormuZa for the PPayer of the

turn.cs:4- The beginning of the Hispanic nonastic Of f ice "Post noc-

• • •In primis :imp:)Iles hunc versµ:n: Versus. In matutinis meditabor in te, D::rnine, quia f actus es adiutor rreus. In matutinis .• •Gloria et honor Patri et Filio et Spiritui sanc to. In matutinis. 18

5- The Hispanic anti phons for Psalm 62 :

- Deus, Deus rreus, ad te de luce vigilo; sitivit in te ani ma rrea, quam multipliciter et caro rrea (with the collect "Si tientes" ) .- In matutinis meditabor in te, quia f actus es susceptor me

us , Dcmine (with the collect "In matutinis meditanrur" ) •

6- The f inal prayer of Hispanic MJming Prayer , which devel- ops the preceding:

In matutinis, sancte Danine, rreditanrur in te, quia riiatutinum sensibus nostris f acit sarper meditatio sancta principium;tu siquidern es aeternus ac perpetuus dies, et dum cogitaris illuminas , et dum exoraris inradias; discute ergo tenebras occultas, qui discutis manif estas, et solve erroris caligi nan, qui solvis noctis tar"pora; ut adhaereat post te anima nostra, atque labiis exultationis laudare suf f iciat, et dum ad te de luce vigilat, praemium perpetuae lucis adquirat.

7- The Cisterc i an l a uds vers i c l e: V • . In matutinis rreditabor in te.R. Quia fuisti adiutor rreus.

The nost f requent therte, then , is the "meditatio cordis matutina". Next oc:::rces the theme of light and illumination. And, :in the last place,

the thart of waiting, expressed in tenns of keeping watdl and of thirsting.B - I.a.tin prayer-formulae f or Psalm 66

1- Collect f ran the Af ri can series

Fae nos, Danine, salutare tuum (in salutari tuo) , qui sanctis annibus f actus est via, in rostra cognoscere terra; qui spi ritus eius :imbre canpluti fructif icemus spiritualiter tibi. 19

2- The Ranan collect Illumina , Danine, vultum tuum super nos: et misericordiarn no bis uberem benedictionarque largire nobis perpetuam; ut con f itentes tibi in tirrore sancto, f ructum iustitiae reportare rrerearnur.

Another collect: Misericors Deus, miserere robis: et lumine vultus tw. nos illumina; ut in te laetari , tibique conf iteri, et a te in perpetuo rrereamur benedici. 20

6

3- The Hispani c col l ects - Inlumi na, Domi ne vul tum tuum super nos, et mi serere

nostri ; ut tuo l umi ne nostro sensui radi ante, vi am tuam cognoscere eti n genti bus sal utati s tui magni tudi nem enarrare possi mus; si c que ti bi si t pl aci ta popul orum confessi o, ut gradi entes in vi i s tui s, ad l aeti ti am pertrahantur et gaudi um; ac si c i nfi de l i tati s cal i gi nem fidei spl endor perl ustret, ut benedi cti o o ri s tui i ntima nostra mul ti pl i ci grati arum suavi tate fecundet;ut semper i n l uci s tuae maneamus, et i n tuae benedi cti oni s sua vi tate crescamus.- Inl umi na super nos vul tum tuum, Domi ne, et mi serere

nostri ; et dum in terra vi am tuam agnosci mus, i psi tibi vi am nostrorum cordi um praeparemus; quam pl aci do di gnatus i ngressu sancti fi ces, i pseque dum gradi eri s, fac notum i n genti bus sal utare tu um; ut dum omni a ad te trahi s, cuncti s terrae fini bus donum tui amori s i nsi nues.- Inl umi na, Domi ne, vul tum tuum super nos, et benedi ctionem

tuam uberti m nostri s i nfunde pectori bus; quo corda nostra, l u cis tuae hi l ari tate perfusa, tuam in terri s val eant agnoscere vi am, et i n omni bus genti bus si ngul ari fidei sacrae l aetentur noti ti a.- Confi teantur ti bi omnes popul i , Deus, tua qui redempti

sunt praemi a; et quorum erant ob i nfi del i tatem impl enda suppl i cia, gaudeant tua gratui ta sal vari se grati a.- Cognoscentes i n terra vi am tuam, Domi ne, i n om ni bus

genti bus salutare tuum Christum Domi num, et vi am esse confi temur et pa tri m; per quern i n di rectum gradimur, et ad quern profecto pl e nissi mo perveni mus; dona i g i tur ut i psum habeamus i n munere, qui factus est i n sal ute. 21

4- The Hi spani c anti phons for Psalm 66 - Inl umi na, Domi ne, vul tum super nos et miserere nobis, ut

co gnoscamus i n terra vi am tuam (wi th the l i st of the 11 Inl umi na 11 coll ects} .- Inl umi na, Domi ne, vul tum tuum super nos (wi th the 3rd of

the11 Inl umi na 11 col l ects).5- The fi nal pra yers of the Hi spani c Morni ng Prayer - Ingredi entes nos ad vul tum tuum, Domi ne, matuti num ti bi

sol vi mus holocaustum; ut sicut sol ori ens totum mundum i nl umi nat, ita ful geant i n te corda nostra; i n medi a Ierusal em, resera nobi s tuae cl ari tati s pi etatem, ut l i berati a cul pa omni um del ictorum pervenire mereamur ad il l am partem regni cael orum . 22- Vari ant of 1 st 11 Inlumi na11 coll ect. 23

6Specifia Opening Formula for the Prayer of the

The accent falls by preference first of all on the illumination given by the l.Drd; fran this enlightenment c::x::mes kno.vledge of salvation and universal "confessio" or praise.

C - P r - f o nnu l a e f or P s alm 11 6 1- T h e c o l l e ct f r an t h e A f r i can s e r i e s · Qnnes gentes et populi tibi laudes offerant Deo et Patri; corrobora super nos quaesumus, misericordiam tuam, et veritas illa, quae est tibi consubstantialis et coaeterna, in aeternum cord.a possideat nostra.24

2- T h e Ranan c o l l e c t annipotens daninator, qui ab ormium gentiurn ore

laudaris: precarrrur ut dilates veritate tua rnentan nostram, et confinnes super nos misericordiam tuam.25

3- The Hispanic collects- Confi.nretur super nos misericordia tua, Dcmi.ne, et perficia tur veritas tua, quae manet in aeternum; ut sicut laudatur de votione fideliurn, ita a:mlaudetur laudatione populorum.- Confi.rma super nos miserioordiam tuam, IX:mi.ne, ut cum

annibus gentibus te praesenti laud.emus in saeculo; tuaque veritate sal vati, tecum senper maneanrus in regnum aeternurn.- Te laudant, Domine, omnes gentes; confirma super nos miseri cordiam tuam, qua credentes foves, et veritatem tuam, qua incre dulos usquequaque disperdis.26

Because of· its brevity, only a single thane obtrudes itself.Neverthe less, it should be noted that, besides the strengthening of the love of the. Lord, his praise extends fran Christians to all peoples.

N.C onclusion:Tc:Mardsa specific opening fornrula for LaudsThe prayer-for:mulae stress the specific natures of our

"laudes", which are first of all and specifically rroming songs of praise.Our practiceof using "Lauds" to designate the whole (M:n:ning Lauds) should not make us forget the rr o rning n a t u r e of this praise.

First, there has to be a "meditatio", an illumination; at the otherend, praise extends fran us Christians (Israel) to all peoples.

In view of the traditional place of PsaJm 116 at the end of "matins" and "lauds", and with all due respect to the reason for this psalm being used as an invitatory in

7Schanas A and B; and also in view of the unique

6Specifia Opening Formula for the Prayer of the

}X)Sition enjoyed by Psalm 62 in the Byzantine tradition, where the MJrning Office receives its name "Orthros" (= Vigilia, Watch ) fran this vecy psalm, it seems to me preferable:

1- to reserve for the beginning of the MJrning Office either Psalm 66 or one of the nore meaningful verses of Psalm 62;

2- to reserve Psalm 116 for the end of the "laudes" psalms.

My pro:i;osal, then, is the following:1- Psalm 66 ought not to be preceded by the verse, "O God,

cane to my assistance", since Psalm 66 is itself the beginning of the MJrning Office. If a refrain is used with it, the text ought to enphasize the illumination fran which springs our praise of God.

2- The recent custan of using Psalm 116 for the beginning ought toyield to the use of one or two verses taken fran Psalm 62.Besides verse 2a, other verses lend themselves well to our pur:i;ose; e.g., verses 2b, or 4, or 5.This last is especially tempting, since it parallels Psalms 133 and 140 by providing a gesture to acCXITipany its recitation:

I will bless you all my life,ill your nane I will lift up my hands .

3- At the end of Lauds ' psalm:xly, after the psalm of praise, add Psalm 116; on Sundays and feasts, the series Psalms 148-150 oould be used as an ideal, scm:.what nore ample fonn.

In surrmary:

- Sundays and feasts:Psalm 66 with suitable refrain; Psalm 62 in its entirety; at the end of the series, Psalms 148-150.

- Ordinary days:One or two suitable verses fran Psalm 62; then Psalm 50 (or an equivalent); at the end of the series, Psalm 148+116, or Psalm 149+116.

Tra:nsZation, Gethsemani Abbey Placide VERNEI'

citeaux

7

NOTES

1 ApostoZio Constitutions, Bk. II, cited by J•.Mateos, S.J., in "Le vi gile cathedrale chez F.grie", in OrientaZia Christiana Periodioa 27 (1961), p.297.

2 B.Griesser, S;O.Cist., "Consuetudines danus Cisterciensis", in Ana- leota S.O.Cist., III (1947), p.141, nn 10 and 11:

In vigilia nativitatis IXmini ad vesperas duas candelas ad rnaius altare incendimus ibidem usque post ca:npletorium stantes diei se quentis.

Similiter in epifl1.ania, in purificatione, in annuntiatione, in vigiliis pascae, ascensionis et penteoostes, trinitatis, assum ptionis, nativitatis beatae Marie virginis, Dedicationis eccle siae et amium sanctorum.

This example oonfinn.s Fr.Nivard's affinnation with regard to the Cis stercian Mass rite:not all the Cistercian custan.s were oodified in the Consuetudines.

3 Text based on French translation by P.Verbraken, Oraisons sur les 150 psaumes, L.O., 42 pp., nn.322-323.

4 Working edition, J.Pinell, O.S.B., Collectae psalrcorum, mimeographed for the Pontifical Institute of Liturgy, Sant'Anselno, Rane, 1966,p.90.The text follows J.P.Gilson, The Mozarabio Psalter, London, 1905.

5 J.Pinell, O.S.B., Le orazione vespertine e mattutine ispaniohe, II -I Testi (pro manuscripto), lbmae, 1968.

6 A.Hfulggi and I.Pahl, Prex Euoharistioa, Fri.bourg, 1968, p.504.7 L.M:>hlberg1 O.S.B. (editor), Sacramentarium Veronense,

Ranae, 1956, n.1344, p.174.8 Translation based on French text by Joly, "Hane1.ie sur le

psaume 140", in Oeuvres completes de Saint Jean Chrysostome, VIII, Paris. 1867, p.375.

9 Letter 207, in PG 32: 763.

10 J.Pinell, O.S.B.,"Las mras vigiliares del Officio rronacal hispanioo",!vbntserrat, 1966, p.138.

11 J.Mateos, S.J., "Les matines chaldeennes,maronites et syriennes", in Orientalia Christiana 26 (1960), pp.51-73.

12 PL 59:406.13 Op. oit.

14 Ed. Verbraken, p.148; ed. Pinell, P• 103.15 fl:l. Verbraken, p.148; ed. Pinell, P·128.

"

Specific Opening Formula for the Prayer of th Hours - 6

16 Ed.Pinell, p.40.17 Cf. ed. Verbraken, P·148.18 Ed . in Pinell,"Las horas vigiliares•••", p.138.19 Ed.Verbraken, p.156; ed.Pinell, p. 103.20 Ed .Verbraken.21 Ed. Pinell, pp.42-43.22 Ed .Pinell, p. 32, n.59. 23 Ibid., p. 33, n. 60.24 Ed .Verbraken, p.257; ed. Pinell, p.III.

25 Ed .Verbraken, p.257; ed. Pinell, P·135.26 Ed .Pinell, p.72.

7

INTRODUCTORY MONITIONS FOR THE LORD'S PRAY ER

In the Mass of the Latin rite and in several other liturgies, the Lord's Prayer is introduced by a monition. Recently the sane practice has becane rather widespread for the Office, especially for Lauds and Vespers, where the l.Drd's Prayer, whether recited or sung, is preceded by a brief monition or introductory fonnula.

In the Mass, this monition has been - up to the present -non variable. But for the Office, the need for greater variety was felt fran the very beginning. 1 The advantage of this preamble is not reduced, inpoint of fact, to its functional value as an invitatory. For these few words make it possible for the one presiding to support this prayer with the fundamental, unchangeable realities of Christian life, and to situate it "in more direct relationship with the Word of God and with the E.'ventand daily happenings". 2

This monition should be, by rights, t h e improvised fonnula par excel lence.

It is a fact, however, that not everyone who presides is equally capable of improvisation.It might not be useless to c::are to their aid. They will find in the following pa.ges a few reflections about the possi bilities afforded by this literary genre, as well as examples to which they can refer.

After our few remarks about the f onn of this monition, we shall pre sent certain of the elerrents which can be used to canpose a monition-text.

I - AN INTROUJCTIONThe introductory character of this monition should be

explicit.The text can be couched as an invitation to prayer, with exhortative fonns such as "I.et us pray" or "I.et us say" or "I.et us sing". But nothing obligesus to limit ourselves to these fonns. The Missal fonnulae are in the in-

7

dicative: "We dare to say", "i pray with confidence". We can go still further and give this introduction the fo.rm of an initial prayer, so that the rronition becx:xnes an

invocation.It can be addressed to Christ, and be base::l, for example, on the disciples' request in Luke 11:1

1 1Drd Jesus, teach us h.oN to pray.Or else one can address the Father straight way:

2 Make us worthy, IDrd, to dare with trust and confidence tocall you by the naroo of Father.4

The function obviously dete.rmines the fo.rms. And since the

rronition simply fo.rms a transition to the lord's Prayer, it should be s h o rt and discreet.

But style and presentation can nevertherless vary, even if, in every instance, the essential is a brief introduction to the cx•:nmon recitationof the prayer.In other words, it is a question of facilitating this recitation or chant, and of making it possible to have a real unanimity . The link behieen rronition and prayer should be srrooth.Stereotype formulae have their place. But one should avoid, in every instance, texts which are overly elliptical. One of the collections I drew upon has, arrongother excellent formulae, the following text:3 Lord, we know not h.oN to pray as we ought;

make us attentive to the voice of your Holy Spirit.The oontent of this invocation, base::l on Rom 8: 26 is beyond

criticism - obviously!But in my opinion, the text as here redacted lacks that minute transitional elanent which facilitates the passage frcm manition to prayer.The formula could, for instance, be carpleted along the lines ofRom 8: 15 - • • •make us attentive to the voice of your

Spirit, who makes us say, as sons of yours: OUr Father•••

II - AN INTIDOOCTION TO THE "OUR FATliliH"

The prayer to which the rronition introduces us is the Lord 's Prayer.The character of the rronition, then, is dete.rmine::l on

the basis of the prayer which follows. By "prayer" I here rcean

7the concrete act of

Introductory Monitions for the Lord 's 7

the Christian carmunity as it repeats, here and nc:M, in the liturgy, and

in these particular circumstances, the words of the "Our Father".Even a minimum of reflection suffices to make it clear that this prayer, asprayed in the Office, is one of inoorrparable density; and a summary ana lysis will suffice to indicate nurrerous possibilities for variety offered to the one who presides.

The rronition can take acrount of the global characteristics of this prayer : its origin, its source in us, the dignity of those who are allowed to utter it, the dispositions required to do so, the exigencies entailed by our proclaiming it.The rronition can also take into account the ron crete circumstances of the celebration, or of the life of the ccmnunity.

In the French Missal, each of the two fonnulae there proposed make mention of the origin of the Lord's Prayer. It is the prayer received fran the Savior, and prayed "acrording to his ccmnandrrent".Likewise at the Office, the rronition rould well recall the fact that we were taught this prayer by Christ, and could express our joy at repeating it, in union with him, and with his own words.Along these lines are two other very sirrple fonnulae:4 In union with our Lord, let us say

together the. prayer which he himself has taught us.

5 Taught by the v.ords of our I.Drd Jesus,let us sing with confidence: Our Father•••

One can even envisage the recitation of this prayer in the

"today" of the liturgy, as the here-and-nc:M actualization of what was taught us by the I.Drd . Example 1 above is in this perspective.The following rrore ample fonnula brings out this idea:6 My brothers, the love of Christ urges us;

we can remain faithful only if we live in prayer: let us learn in the school of the Lordhow we ought to love, how we ought to pray.5

7

Only the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of adopted sons, can make us truly enter into this prayer of Christ:"Abba, your will be done!" Itis the Spirit who is the s ou r ce in us of this prayer. The monition will often reawaken our realization of this mystery.Example 3, in its full fonn,.page 72, just before Section II, is an excellent example of a moni tion of this type. Here is another fonnula also based on Rom 8:16 -7 May the Spirit of God and our spirit be

as one, so that together we may say the prayer of sons.

The m:mtion of the Spirit quite easily gives rise to trinitarian fonnulae such as the following one, where we find the Eastern schema:8 Enlightened by the Spirit

who a::mes to us fran the Father through the Son,we sing with wonder :

'lb recognize in us the presence of the Spirit is at the same time to recognize o ur n ew n a t ure as sons of God. This dignity deserves to be re called.It can be linked nore or less explicitly with baptism:9 The passion of Christ has made of us new beings

to whan has been given the grace to pray as sons of God.Let us say this prayer in faith and hope.

Or one can evoke our responsability as a priestly people:10 Christ has made us a royal priesthood far his God

and Father; let us repeat, then, in the name of all men : OUr Father•••

Several of the above qoc>ted texts mention the feelings and disposi tions of those reciting the OUr Father. Here we cannot call attention to all the possibilities in detail. But we can at least make note of what is beyond all doubt the basic attitude of the man who speaks to God as to his Father:a consciousness of his boldness -"We dare to say!" Divine bold ness; this is the parrhe sia given us by the Spirit, the joyful confidence and assurance of those who know that God has loved us first, and without our having deserved it, and who are accordingly grateful for the ineffable gratuitous nature of this freely given gift.The following monition,

Introductory Monitions for the Lord 's 7based on a gospel text (Jn 20:17), deals with this initiative of Godexplicitly:

7Introductory Monitions for the Lord 's

11 My brothers, after his resurrection, Jesus said to Mary Magdalene, "I ascend to my Father and to your Father!" ls it not an extraordinary thing, to be called in thisway sons of God? Strengthened by these words of Christ, wedare to say: Our Father•••

This boldness can even be the object of a prayer:12 Grant us, O Lord, God of heaven, to call ui;on you

with joy and oonfidence, so that we may dare to sing: Our Father••• (cfr.Fonnula 2, above)

But this boldness can also be quietly affimEd as a gift of the Spirit:13 With the assurance given us by the Holy Spirit, we dare to

sing:Our Father•••

Yet another fonnula is grounded in the paraclesis of the risen Christ:

14 At every m:::m:mt the only Son stands before God, making intercession on our behalf.Let us therefore say with oonfidence: Our Father•.•

If we join with each other in proclaiming ourselves sons of God, and in calling God "our Father", we must necessarily reoognize our brotherhood in Christ. This is a new rronition-therne :15 Gathered together in a single body by one baptism,

and follo.ving one only Lord in one same faith, we have but one Father,above all, anong all, and with all.And so we, with all who share the faith, nr::M say: Our

Father•••This thane of unity anong brothers, and the oonnected

thanes - mutual love, pardon for wrongs done -can be exploited in various ways. Grace can be asked for as a prerequisite for the true and since recita tion of the Lord's Prayer:16 IDrd, grant us the grace of pardoning the wrongs of

others,so that we may say with pure and upright hearts:Our Father•••

17 Lord Jesus, restore in us and anong us the bonds of love, so that we may in all truth say: Our Father•••

18 O God our Father, you have sent your only Son to bring

7

us your ccmnand of love and pardon. Grant that we may, with sincere hearts, repeat his prayer: Our Father.••

19 Lord Jesus Christ, our source of unity, send ui;on us your Spirit of love, so that we may say: Our Father•••

7Introductory Monitions for the Lord 's

We might also remember that the Lord's Prayer is a sacramental, arrl that, prayed with faith, it gives us grace and can not only uproot the "thorns of scandal" in keeping with Saint Benedict's wish, ? but can also render us :rrore fraternal by making us more conscious of our cx::mron adoption as sans.These perspectives result in monitions like the follc:Ming:20 With one heart and with a single voice, let us sing

the prayer which makes us brothers: OUr Father•••21 So that God may grant us to attain to unity in the midst of

our diversity, let us say the prayer his Son has taught us : Our F;:tther•••

22 The :rrore we truly becare sons of God, the rrore we beCXITI.e brothers of one another; and so we sing now with a single voice: OUr Father•••• 8

OUr C"9ncern for sincerity and truth, expressed in a number of the preceding.texts, obviously implies a cx:mnitment:23 It is not those who say, "I.Drd, Lord!", who enter

into the Kingdon of heaven. Let us purify our hearts, then, and pray: OUr Father•••

Saint Benedict speaks explicitly about this carmitrrent and obliga tion to pray with purity of heart. 9 The :rronition could very well stress this exigency of the Lord 's Prayer:24 My brothers, conscious of our duty imposed upon us

by this prayer our Lord has given us, we say with him: Our Father•••

25 My brothers, let us bring to mind again the exigencies ofthe Lord 's Prayer, 'Which we are about to pray: Our

Father•••Each and every one of the petitions in the I.Drd's Prayer

has its exigencies. Simply to call upon God as Father implies by itself a whole prc:XJrarrme of life. It would be easy to connect with this therre every thing required by the other elarents in this prayer:26 Jesus has asked us to be perfect, even as our Father in

heavenis perfect.Let us repeat, then, what he has taught us, and say:OUr Father•••

27 My brothers, let us be merciful, even as our Father in

7heaven is irerciful. And since our weakness often makes us poor and petty, let us pray to God our Father, saying: OUr Father•••

7Introductory Monitions for the Lord 's

In spite of the schanatic nature of these fE'!JY notes, we

can get an idea fran the preceding pages of the great possibilities for this brief nonition.At the sane time , we remained at the level of general use, and nost of the exarrples proposed suggested nothing of a particular celebra tion, a special Hour of the Office, a particular liturgical season, or special circumstances.As we have said, however, it wuuld be

ideal if the prayer were "actual" for the circumstances here and nav.

Impossible, by definition, to give examples, without at the sane tirne proposing the analysis of concrete situations! It suffices here to point out the danger of prolixity -a constant temptation when the one presiding wants to make the prayer actual and relevant to the special circumstances of the celebration.We must recall, and with insistence, the need for brevity pointed out at the beginning of this article.A no nition ought not to be confused with a hcmily!

I should like to conclude by drawing attention to a point which, like the preceding one, touches on the overall balance and

hanrony of the cele bration. In many cx:mnunities, the Lord 's Prayer (with its doxology) is followed by a biblical blessing as the conclusion of the Office.10 It

be to the -the and the hanronize with each other to a certain extent.LikE'!JYise to be carefully avoided is the pure and simple repetition of the sane or similar texts,or the juxtaposition of overly disparate elarents. An attempt must bemade to maintain a unity of style.

Finally, I should like to risk one last suggestion, valid for every element in the liturgy still under study: it saretimes takes a prudent fraternal correction to keep those responsible for a celebration from slipping into routine!

Translation, Gethsemani Abbey Jean-Eu.des David

8

Bricxiuebec

8Introductory Monitions for the Lord 's

NOTES1 This variety, need.less to say, is likewise much to be desired

far the celebration of the Eucharist.lt>reover, by offering 0\0 fonnulae in the Frendl. version, the Rauan Missal admits the principle of variety.

2 Cfr.the report of the Francophone Liturgy Comnission, translated in this issue of Liturgy.

3 It seans rroreover desirable that each one presiding -and even those with a gift for improvisation -have a reasonable number of fonnulae of hand for errergency use on off days.Such fonnulae remain nonetheless simple examples, subject to change and gloss. This is why I do not furnish a list of rronitions independentof the text of my ex};X)se .To facilitate references, each fo:rrnul.a is preceded by a number.Sare of the texts (nn.4, 8, 20, 21 and 22) have been extracted fran Le Livre de l 'Unite, a collection of ecurrenical prayers edited by Ph. Rouillard, Paris {Cerf], 1957) . The other texts cane fran Bellefontaine, Briexjuebec and Clairefontaine, or else from the series proposed by Fr.Bernard Christel of N.-D.des lbrnbes, to whan I a.Ne a particular expression of thanks.

4 A remark here seans opportune. It holds good for all prayers in general.The assembly should be able to see clearly from the vei:y be:Jinning which of the Divine Persons is being addressed.It is always a bit ir ritatillg' for the hearer to arrive at the end of the prayer and realize that he had been prayillg' to the wrong Person!

5 This text was carq::osed for use when only the presiding celebrant says the Lord 's Prayer.

6 Confidence is based an still other rrotives, such as the fatherly soli-: citude of the God whan we invoke.The 0\0 folla.Ning rronitions are based on Mt 6:8 and 10:19 -

My brothers, even before we ask, our Father kIXJWS what we need. Let us pray, then, in all simplicity: Our Father•••Our Father in heaven, mo is good and kind, takes care even of the birds of the air and the fla.Ners of the field.Let us sing, then, in peace and with confidence: Our Father•••

7 Holy Rule 13:12-148 The folla.Ning rronition, based on another there, inspired by Jn

15:8,also refers to this sacramental value of the Lord's Prayer:

8It is the glory of the Father that we bear much fruit.But we have need. of the sap of life which he alone can give.Let us once nore say, then: OUr Father•••

9 Loe. cit. supra.10 Cfr."Benaiictions doxologiques" presented by Fr. Robert

Gantoy, O.S.B., in Liturgie et Monasteres: Chronique III, St-Andre, Bruges, s.d., pp. 67-89.

7

A CONFERENCE BY SISTER CHRISTIANE BECKER

The following remarks were meant simply to stimulate thought on the part of a group of religious working with the liturgy. These few poin ts of orientation are less a personal contribution than the fruit of a per sonal exchange of thought between several persons. I have here repeatedthe main ideas of a conference-colloquy on the loi-cadre, given at Clair fontaine by Dom Francois-Xavier Hanin, who has kindly allowed me to make use of this material. It will also be easy to recognize a phrase or two from Dom Armand Veilleux 's report on the loi-cadre, given at the General Chapter, as well as from my own article, Three Permanent Aspects of the Divine Office, which appeared in the July, 19?0 issue of Liturgy, pp .69-?1.

PRAYING IN THE HERE AND NOW IPRAYING THE HERE AND NOW

are having this :rreeting so as to be able to reflect in cx::rcm:m on the best means of improving the spiritual quality of our celebrations. This norning I should like to orientate our exchange of thoughts with the follc::Ming brief formula as our starting-point:

Prayirq in the here and nc::M,praying the here and ncM.

For, though it is quite true that the liturgy ought to lead the be liever to the threshold of the Beyond, it is no less true that the point of departure is the roncrete situation of the ecclesial cxmnunity -the livirq history vtlich the ccmmmity is living thorugh at the present time, a history inserted into the

history of the vtlole human race in the here and now.

To the extent that the celebration of prayer in cx::mnon realizes this passage fran the human roncrete condition to vtlat lies in the Beyond, to that extent it prolongs and actualizes the mystery of the Word made flesh.

To evoke the Beyond in a prayer which would remain only on the margin of our everyday life, means, in practice, a refusal to accept the Incarna tion.Conversely, to bring forth our human situation in all its totality, but to remain · .innerged therein, is to fail to recognize in all its fulness the Pasch, the Transitus of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

8

"I carre fran the Father and have c:x::xre into the world; again, I amleaving the world and goirq to the Father" (Jn 16:28). This text

sums up the paschal mystery; and it is in the light of this text

that we should examine our life as Christians.

7

Our prayer in camon should obviously be based on what we are experi encing here and now, on the ooncrete history of our camn.mity and of our\\Orld. But we should make this history our CMn only in the light of the Word, in the light of the revelation of our Father's gratuitous love, a l6ve ch intervenes in human history in order to save us!

Today's happenings and events should be brought into relationship with the Event par exaeZZenae -Jesus Christ, risen fran the dead !

But hcM can we find, within the limited setting of an Office, the liturgical expression of human life transfigured in Jesus Christ? This is the first question we offer for reflection.

Yes, the present time, the "here and now", is indeed the history of today's hmian race; and each cx:mnunity of Christians recognizes its real and intimate solidarity with the mole human race. The here and nav be longs to us. But the present time, the "here and now", also belongs to Q:>d .It is his "today" as well as ours; and his "today" IOOanS the love that loves us first, the

gratuitous love of the Father, the love which is eternally present, and which is manifested in Jesus Cllrist, and, in a special way, in the pa.schal Event.

P r C! [ in;I the h e r e and now, the p r e s e n t time, neans, then, to sing about this love, to interiorize the paschal mystery by our medi.tation on the psalms; it means to react to the V«:>rd of Q.x1 by cries of joy and anguish; it means to beo:Jne more and more oonscious that we are Q:>d's children, and beoare so through our celebration of the IDrd's Prayer:OUr Father••• Praying the here and nON, prayin3 one's life, living one's prayer -this ireans experiencin3 the \\Under and amazement of those witnesses of Christwhan we hear in the New Testa:rrent canticles: Zachary, Simaon, Mary, Peter ,Paul, John -tlx:>se nen and that W::lnan, the Mother of God, who indeed lived in the past, but mo, having entered into the full light of the Kingdan,

are now present to us, in order to orientate us towards the future of theChurch, and mo already fonn with us the one People of Q:>d:

8"People of God, witness to God's pranise, we p:roclaim Jesus Christin the present day of nen of our CMil time" (antiphon used at Orvai and

CZairfontaine; the Advent version replaces proclaim with await.l.

Praying in the Here and Now I Praying the Here and Now 81

'!he Virgin Mary and the apostles, who have received the Holy Spirit, are "witnesses" par exceUence of this historic Event:Jesus Christ, putto death, then raiserl frcm the dead by the Glory of the Father. But this key-Event of history, this tuming point of salvation history, has a pro longation, and tends tcMards a future perfect fulfillment.

At the present time, \Ve are living a single m:::mmt in the history of the Glorious Caning of Christ Jesus.What \Ve have to do is to discover the signs of this Coming, so that we can be oot just spectators of the events, but witnesses to the lt¥Stery of Christ which is unfolding before us.

Ccmmmity prayer is one of privileged m:::mmts for our becaning con scious of this, for our perceiving in faith the reality and presence of Christ as he is today, here and nav:Jesus Christ, who is here, and who intervenes in our concrete history .in order to reveal to us the Father 's gratuitous love.

'!he Office itself, which our lbly Rule calls "the work of. God", is

a sign of this love of the Father, for it is Cod who takes the initiative in this "work".It is his Spirit who canes to help us in our weakness, be cause \<Ve do not k.ncM how to pray.It is the strength and po.ver of the ris en Christ_ which acts in us to gather us together, and to make our ccmnunity prayer a s i gn o f o ur un i ty in him, a sigI'l. of the Church, whose ultimate vo cation is to gather together all nen for the praise of the Glory of God.

In our life as Christians, the celebration of the Office is an important reality, because it "welds the oormrunity together":first of all, by inserting us nore intimately into the Church universal; but also by mani festing through us the lt¥Stery of the Church.

'Ibis oomnunity pray, indeed, renders expressly visible an essential feature of all Christian prayer:the unity of the believer with Christ and with his Church, with all those in whan

the Spirit of Christ is praying .

8"If \Ve do not say 'll¥ Father ', but 'our Father', or 'give ne ' , but 'giveus', this is because the Master of unity did oot will that prayer should be merely one's private, own affair•••" (St. Cyprian).

8

Prayer of the Church -such is the Office, but only to the extent that it expresses the paschal reystery as lived, experienced, and expressed in the concrete life of a cx:mmunity of believers.This prayer is living and real to the degree that it wells forth from the spiritual experienceof the local carmunity.

In oonclusion,Iprop::>se the following U..U questions as a rreans of evaluating the quality of our camrunity prayer:

1- {X)es our c:ormu.urity prayer appear as a sign of the Father's love?2- D::>es our camrunity prayer appear as a sign of our tmity in

Christ and in his Church?

Translation, Gethsemani Abbey Christiane Beqker

Clairfontain

e

8

THE OFFICE IS A CELEBRATION *To speak of celebration in the context of the Office is to

take ac count of one of its essential dimensions:its cx:mnunity dirrension.Like every other fonn of liturgy, the Office is, indeed, a manifestation of the Church, of that Church which is itself the revelation of the

ste.ry of the Covenant between God and his people, realized in its fullness in Christ, who is given to us by the Father, so that, through him, we may enter into full cx:mnunion with God.

'As a result, what we live and experience in the Office is sanething that has its origins in a reality deeper than our own being.Each cele bration recalls "God 's loving plan for us in Christ"; but each celebration also actualizes this plan, and will continue to do so till the end of time.

Time in its totality is recapitulated in this celebration:in the liturgical "today", we make the anamnesis of Christ's pasch, until he

s.This initiative of God, who seeks to enter into carmunion

with IlEil, is linked up with the birth of a people; for holiness is not a feat of maste.ry on the part of an individual, but one's insertion into a people 'Vban "God has acx;Illired for his awn praise."

This people of God which is visible and can be seen by all, is the local ccmnunity -the concrete, tiny cell belon:;ing to the structure of the whole Church. We have not chosen ourselves. The one and the same call which has gathered us together is a reality which lies beyond our affinities, our spiritual qualities, our hopes and expectations. It is because God convokes us today, here and nCM, that we are asseTibled to pray together.It is precisely in this call that the fundamental reason for our a:ming together is to be found -much nore so than in reasonsof the spiritual or social order.

In the Office, then, we find a concentration of life for the

8a:mnuni.. ty:for the Office expresses its unity in Christ.On the basis of our life

* Note: These few nefleations are the result of reading various articles, but more especially of verbals exchanges with my sisters and with others.I wish to single out Sister Christiane Beaker for special mention and thanks.

8

together in love, the Office builds us up as a ccmnunity in this same love; it marks a high point in our being together and in a relationship with Christ; a rranent of leisure together in God's presence, and for his sake; a rranent of listening, but also of "VvUnder; a nanent which signifies a life which is one long

celebration, because everything that happens iswelccm:rl as a "VvDrd spoken and adressed to us by the Father in Jesus Christ,who is our peace and our joy.

Celebration, then , always presupposes a gathering, be it ever so small -tv.u persons are enough; but this assembly must be a real one, and visibly so; nor should it be confused with a mere brotherly together ness, since a genuine cx:mnunion in the liturgy is situated at the level of faith.

Comnunion between persons is the result of the personal cx::mnitment of each ("personal" and 11cx:mnunity 11

: tv.u notions which are not in opposition, but which call forth and elicit the other); it is also our resI,X>nse to what our I.Drd asks of us as 'lrJe seek to enter into relationship with him .A ccmmmion between persons, then, is a condition sine qua non for a prayer ful, praying Office.

Thomas Merton describes this involveirent with the liturgy in te.rms of play:

There is .IIU.lch oope for liturgical renewal if it can sanehcMbe carried out in a spirit of play . Play is not flippant or inconsequential. It is a very serious and very necessary ac tivity. It is in play that the human heart is at once open, engaged, joyous, serious and self-forgetful.

-Seasons of Celebration, pp.247-248.

Taking part in the play of celebration will rreanentering into

it and participating with a recollected spirit -in the etyrrological sense of the tenn "recollected", as in the literal and correct translation of Psalm 85, verse llc:Recollect my heart, that it may adore your Name .In other "VvDrds, a reoollected heart is one that is

8vigilant, attentive to the essential reality of the Office.This attitude doubtless depends

on the way 'lrJe work, the way we live•••Preparing our heart for prayer will

The Office Is a 8

mean "making our leisure pass into action" and "being at leisure in the midst of action"; life will thus lead us to prayer, and prayer will lead us to life.

Pl.;i.ying the gane of celebration together presupposes a structure, a coordination of elercents, meaningful rhytlnns; but it also presupposesspontaneity, creativity, an action shared in by all, but with individual roles. It might be well to recall, too, that the ccmnunity as a wholehas a role, just as the reader and the psalmist has each his own role; andtnat "celebratin3" silence and listening are activities just as inportant as reading or singing together.

Playing the same gane together•••this neans giving ourselves to each other, listening, welcaning Christ who cx:mes to us through the one who is readin:1 or singing.Indeed, the WJrds, the gestures, the postures, the si lence are not simply conditions which are necessary for celebration; rather, they contain and re-present the liturgical Mystery : we are sunm:>ned toenter into the concelebration of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who in- tegrate us into their ccmnunion.

Question for personal reflection: How can we improve our celebrations? How can they better express the essential reality -our cx::mnunion with the Fa ther, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit?

Translation, Gethsemani Abbey Sister M .A.Verheecke Saint-Andre,

I.Duvain

87

ENTRANCE INTO THE NOVITIATETHE EXPERIMENTAL RITE AT NEW MELLERAY

This simple rite, based on the new Ronan and Cistercian Rituals, is in oorporated into our celebration of Midday Prayer. w= welmre the noviceinto our midst precisely as a a::mnunity devoted to prayer.

When the AngeZus is rung, we gather in the Corronunity Room . The postuZant sits next to the Abbot .Readi ng: Prol ogue (abbrevi ated) of the Rul e of St. Benedi ct. Si l enceStand for the singing of:

Psa l m 8 3 HON lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, God of hots.

My soul is longing and yearning,is yearning for the oourts of the Lord.

My heart and my soul ring out their joyto God, the living God.

The sparrow herself finds a hane,and the swallCM a nest for her brood;

·she lays her young by your altars, ID.rd of msts, my king and my God.

They are happy, who dwell in your house, forever singing your praise.

They are happy, whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the roads to Zion.

As they go through the Bitter Valley, they make it a place of springs;

Guitar accompaniment

the autumn rain rovers it with blessings.They walk with ever-growing strength, they will see the God of gods in Zion.

Q Lo.rd God Of OOSts I hear my prayer I

give ear, o God of Jamb.

Turn your eyes, O God, our shield, look on the face of your anointed.

One day within your oourtsis better than a thousand elsewhere.

The threshold. of the house of GodI prefer to the dwellings of the wicked.

8

Sit for:

For the Lord is a rampart, a shield; he will give us his favor and glo.r:y.

The IDrd will not refuse any gocxito those who walk without blame.Lord, God of hosts,happy the man wh::> trusts in you!

GIVE praise to the Father Almighty,to his Son, Jesus Christ the Lord,

'Ib the Spirit who dwells in our hearts, both DCM and forever.Amen.

Readi ng: Ranans 8:26-30 Chosen to becx:ne true images of his Son.The postulant then stands before the Abbot, who asks him these or similar words:

Brother N ., in response to the Word of God , what do ask of the Lord and of this conmunity?

The postulant responds in these or similar words:I ask to live here as your brother in the Iord's se:rvive.

The Abbot may give a brief exhortation, concluding with:We welcxnie you as our brother in this our life of prayer, and we thank God for stirring up this vocation in your heart.Let us pray to him no,..r .and bless his .

Rising, all respond:Blessed be the God and Father of our IDrd Jesus Christ.

The postulant kneels before him as the Abbot prays:Lord Jesus Christ, anong those wham the Father has given you, you never cease to call disciples to follow you in the nonastic life. We pray no,..r for our brother, N .You have led him to us by your Spirit, and have given him the desire to cx:mnit himself to the life of a nonk : grant him the grace to ranain faithful.We have welcared him with joy. You ask us to help him remain attentive to your voice, to help him follow humbly along the paths of m:mastic life. Help us, we pray, and keep us faith ful to this mission.Even no,..r we give you ·thanks for the vocation you have raised in his heart, and in ours. Lead us together towards the Father:for you live and reign with him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,God, forever and ever.R. Amen.

8

At the end of the prayer the Abbot embraoes the new novioe as we sing:

Guitar aooorrrpanimen tBLEST ARE THE PURE IN HEART

J J J 3 J . J I r r J1- Bles t are the pure in heart ,2- The Lord,who lef t the throne 3- Still to the low- ly soul 4- Lord, we thy pres-ence seek ;

For they shall see Our life and peace He doth him- self May ours this b less-

r r J I r r J1- our God; The se - cret of the Lord is theirs ,2- to bring, To dwell in low- li - ness with nen , 3- im- part , And for his dwell-ing and his throne 4- ing be: 0 give

the pure and low- ly heart ,

J J J J I . I1- Their soul is · Olrist 's2- Their pat- tern and 3- Se- lects the pure 4- A tern- ple meet

a- bode . their King: in heart.f or thee.

After the hymn we go to dinner. Later in the da.y, the wardrobe-keeper wiZZ give the novioe his white habit.

New .Melleray Liturgy Ccmni.ssion

8

9

CONCELEBRATION IN COWL?

The new Ordo Missae is generally regarded as being rather rigid and inflexible.There are sare sections in the Institutio Generalis Missalis Romanae, however, which show quite and anount of flexibility.For instance, such novelties as timber patens and glass chalices are nON perfectly in or der. A certain liberty is also alla.ved with regard to vestments. I would like to examine the regulations for the alb.

The general principles concerning vestments are given in n.297. In the body of Christ the rranbers have different functions. Vestments are a sign of the different ministries and thus should be a sign of the function or duty proper to each. N .298 deals with the alb and must be quoted in full:

The vestment canm::m to all ministers is the alb, tied at the waist, if necessary, with a cincture . An amice may be worn under the alb. A surplice may replace the alb, except when a chasuble, dalmatic, or tunic is worn, or when a stole is used instead of a chasuble or dalmatic.

Here the alb is stated to be the vestment comron to ministers of every rank. Chapter III lists these various ministries. They include all frcm the celebrant to the lector, the psalmist and even the doorkeeper. The vestment proper to all these is the alb. Hc:Mever, they all may wear the surplice instead of the alb except for the folla.ving cases:

- the (principal) celebrant;- concelebrants (whether they wear the chasuble or just stole);

- the deacon if he wears at least the stole, and the subdeacon if he wears the tunicle.

Another important point to note is that arnice and cincture are no longer obligatory. This presurres that sare redesigning of the alb may be necessary. NN .304-305, in good scholastic fashion, deal with the matter and fonn of the vestments. The Holy See will pennit changes in the fonn, that is, the shape or design. This, of course, would only refer to major changes; as for minor changes, the principle holds good: parum pro nihiforeputatur. As regards the matter or the material, wide liberty is

9given - alm:>st any natural or artificial material will do.

9

My question is: Does our cowl fit into these regulations?I maintain that it does. Firstly, it is white, which is

probably necessary for an alb (alba)! It has a hood, just like an arnice . It has no cincture, but this is no longer necessary. It differs fran the tradi tional design of the alb in its large sleeves, but this is certain!y a minor difference. And

there is no difficulty as regards material. Thus it seems to rre that it fulfills all the legal requiranents. I believe that in many of our houses ncM albs are made just like cowls (with hood attached and no need for cincture); and they differ only in the kind of sleeve they have. It is sure an unnecessary duplication.

HON'ever, I am not stressing this because I am keen on celebrating in cowl and chasuble, though this is possible. I am interested in the concel ebrants, and I strongly suggest that it would be far better for them (a part fran the principal celebrant) to wear cowl and stole.

It may be the proper approach to this question would be the histori cal one. It would perhaps be possible to prove that the alb is really a fonn of choir dress. Certainly it is significant how the Ordo Missae pre scribes it for all kinds of people who perfonn any function at Mass andhow it is interchangeable with the surplice, which is the basic choir dress of the Ranan rite. We could argue then that it would be appropriate for us to retain our particular choir dress.

But I think there are much deeper reasons for urging this practice.At this point in tine, I w::>uld say that concelebration has

reached a certain crisis. This is not to underestimate the tranendous advantages it.has brought us. Principally because of it our eucharistic practice in rronasteries has e volved rapidly. The pennission to concelebrate has produced the great ad vance of having only one Mass for the cornnunity. As Saint Ignatius of Anti och says, "Make certain, therefore, that you all observe one camon Eucha rist, for there is but one Body of our Lord Jesus CHrist and but one cup of

union with his blood•••This will ensure that all your doings are in full ac cord with the will of God." 1 Every priest may rDN receive the Body of the

9Lord at the conventual Mass.The Ord.a Missae has extended this even further

9

by allc:min:J priests who must say Mass elsewhere for pastoral reasons tocarmunicate at the oonventual Mass (N.78).

Yet even our present practice of concelebration is open to criticism.

For example, in a note in Monastia Studie s recently (Vol.7, p.161), Dan

.Adalbert de Vogtloutlines the premises on which our present practice rests. Perhaps the main one is "that each priest must say 'his'.rvlass dai ly." These premises, he says, were "utterly un.kn.cMn to primitive tradi tion." It is hard to see hCM nn.lch further our present practice will evolve, but evolve it certainly will.

I will nt::J.N refer briefly to scree theological and historical studies which call our practice into question. The first is by

Hendrik .rvJanders.2

He argues very cogently for what he calls "silent ooncelebration." Hefinds that our rite with the oollective consecration depends on an outrroded thoology. Because of this rite, "in the middle of a period in which the liturgy was going to be declericalized, there arose a tendency tCM'ards clericalization of ooncelebration." 3 He also insists on the "oneness of the principal celebrant" and, quoting Daneels, says it is "the nonn for eucharisticcelebration which adequately reflects the nature of the Eucharist." 4

Fi nally he ooncludes that silent concelebration "does not require the same CXlllJ?licated procedure prescribed•••for the rite with the collective oonsecration." 5

Another article with a bearing on our subject is that of Dan R. Gregoire,

"La cx:mnunion des Moines-pretres a la Messe d 'apres les

ooutumiers medievaux" 6

He examines the practice of monk-priests ccmnunicating at Mass acoording to the rronastic rule-books of the middle ages. He proves that as private Masses became more ccmron, the number of priests a:mnunicating at the oonventual Mass becaire less. The earliest

9Conae Zebration in

doetnnents he studies are those of the Ordines Romani which are of monastic origin. There he finds that "one priest celebrated a 'public Mass'; the other priests and ministers who assisted at it received ccmnunion under both species." 7

w= should add here that the practice of the Irish monasteries at the sai:re period was almJst exactly the same. "When several priests were present, one

1

was selected for the office (of celebrant), and he might invite another to break the oonsecrated bread with him ." Further, the Bangor Antifhonary (7th century) preserves the ancient eucharistic hymn "Sancti venite" which carries the rubric quando sacerdotes corronunicarent. 9 Thus we can gather that thepriests received oamrunion together at a different time fran the laity and

presumably before them.

An article by Dan Eloi Dekkers, "Limites de la oonlration," lO

CCIIEs to much the sane oonclusion as Gregoire. He has a long list of criti cisms of our present set-up:it is a transposition of private Masses rather than a true concelebration; it over-emphasizes the role of the priest and of the institution narrative; and perhaps v.urst of all, "the abolition of the caste system in m::masteries (the distinction between "choir" and "lay")is foiled by the emergence, in a striking manner, of a new- caste distinction (nonk-priests and rronk-non-priests)." 11 Dekker 's nxxiel v.uuld be Ordo Roma-nus I; that is to say, the priests v.uuld just a:mnunicate at a Mass said by one of them. Naturally they v.uuld have the first places and carrnunicate first. They v.uuld help at the fraction and

at the distribution of holy com munion as necessary. This, he says, is the true sacramental ooncelebration,all the richer because it is a sign of the unity of the wh:>le Church rather than just of the priesthood. 12

I feel that this rrodel will greatly influence us in the near future. Whether or not the evolution will follow m::>re primitive rrodels still, re-mains to be seen. For instance, de Vogfte has recently redisoovered the eucha ristic practice of the Rule of the Master. 13 I expect this is going to haveoonsiderable effect on our practice eventually, but we must wait and see.The question needs much rrore study . Briefly, those nonks went to the parish church for Sunday Mass, and on weekdays the abbot distributed camn.mion under both species just before the midday rreal. What the m:>nks of St.Benedict's nona. stery did is not so

9Conae Zebration in clear. There was some evolution by canparison with the Rule of the Master, but there is little to prove that the practice was verydifferent.14

1

It seems then, that the matter will oontinue to evolve. But festina Zente is good advice here. One sound principle in liturgical refonn is that the new fonns smuld in sane way grCM organically fran the old (Con stitution on the Liturgy, n.23).For all the criticism of our present rite, it did achieve an easy and rather natural change over fran the manyprivate Masses to a single oonventual .Mass. It allCMed every priest to com municate at the one .Mass while still observing the unwritten law- of saying "his" Mass ever:y day. Another exarrple of slCM organic change is the manner of speaking the canon together. When ooncelebration started first in Latin, little heed was paid to the rubric 'Which warned that "their voice (the oon celebrants') should not predaninate over the voice of the principal cele brant." Unfortunately the same thing continued 'When English was pennitted. This was a pity, for the ICEL (=International carmittee on English in the Liturgy) gave very clear warning in their first translation of the Ronan canon. They said, "This directive (quoted above) is even rrore significant · now for the English canon•••only the voice of the presiding celebrant should be heard and it should be clear and distinct; the ooncelebrants should take the greatest pains not to let their voices predominate or obscure the clearspeaking of the text by the•••presiding celebrant." 15 However, this hasnow bea:::ne law- in the Ordo Missae. N .170 of the General

Instruction states:The parts said by the ooncelebrants together are to be recitedin a low voice and in such a way that the voice of the celebrant is clearly heard by all the people, 'Who should be able to under stand the texts easily.

Many liturgists v.ould have preferred that silent ooncelebration be pennitted rather than enoourage this arrangerrent . But the Ordo Missae was wise, I think. After people have got accustaned to this kind of submissa voae con celebration they will rrore easily see the need to advance further to silent ooncelebration.

9Conaelebration in Cow On these sane lines I suggest that the change to ooncelebration

in cowl and stole v.ould be opi;x>rtune at this m::ment. After all I have said, it is easy to see 'What advantages this v.ould have. Firstly, it v.ould set in re lief the role of the one president of the Eucharist, since he alone v.ould

1

be wearing the chasuble. According to Manders this is the nonn which ade quately reflects the nature of the Eucharist. As a consequence of th.is, the role of the concelebrants v.ould appear as being quite different. We remember th.at one of the governing principles of the Institutio GeneraZfson vestnents was th.at they should indicate the different duty of each mini ster. Their function would be evidently subordinate to that of the presiding celebrant. The use of the stole would distinguish th.an fran others, if in deed such a distinction were to be desired. But above all th.is arrangement 'WOuld emphasize the fundamental tmity of priest and non-priest. It v.ould appear th.at their carm::m

dignity as Christians and their cornron vocation as rronks were basic. This v.ould go a long way to raroving the clericalization of concelebration which v.orried Manders, and would also help to rarove thenew caste systan of which Dekkers so justifiably a::roplained . 16

Thus my conclusion is: our CCMl fulfills all the legal requirements of an alb; and for the concelebrants to vest in a:::iwl and stole would be a "step in the right direction."

F.oin de Bhaldraithe

Bolton funastery

NOTES

1 "Letter to the Philadelphians," 4. M. Staniforth. (trans.), EarZy Chris- tian Writers. The ApostoZic Fathers, Penguin, 1968, p.112.

2 H.Manders, "Concelebration," ConciZium. Liturgy, pp.69-77.3 Art. Cit.I

p.71. 4 Art . cit., p.73. 5

Art . cit.'p.74.6 R. Gregoire, "La cx:mnunion des Moines-pretres 'a la Messe d'apres

lescoutumiers mea.ievaux, in Sacris Erudiri 18 (1967-1968}, pp.524-549.

8 J. Ryan, Irish Monasticism, I.Dndon 1931, p.347, quoting fran the Adam

9Conaelebration in Cow $ nan vita S. CoZumbae (written about 680 A.D.}7 Art. cit.; cf. p.526.9 Ibid., p. 351.10 E.Dekkers, "Limites de la concelebration," in Eucharistie et vie

con ventueZZe (•Liturgie et monasteres 3 J , pp.75-84.Cf. short account of th.is lecture by Damian Snyth in "Orval Liturgical mngress," Liturgy o.c.s.o., 2/2 (1967), pp .93-94.

1

11 Smyth, art. ait., p.93.12 Dekkers, art. ait., p.84.13 A. de Voglle, "Scholies sur la regle du

Mattre:L'E'ucharistie," in Re vue d'Asaetique et de Mystique 44 (1968), pp.122-127.

14 Cf.A.de vogM, "Problems of the .Monastic Conventual Mass'II in The Downside Review, October 1969, pp.327-330.

15 The International Conmittee on English in the Liturgy, The Roman Canon in E'fl,gZish Translation, IDndon 1968.Cf.p.11.

16 The question would then arise as to where should people stand during the eucharistic prayer. It would be in line with all this that everybody stand in the same place, whether in choir, with the priests in the first ranks, or whether all would gather round the altar. In this latter case it would be better if non-concelebrants did not kneel during the conse cration (as the General Instruction advises, n.21) but made the sarrel:x:Ms as the concelebrants make .

ConaeZebration in 9

99

A SECO ND-C ENTURY ODE ABOUT THE WO RD OF GOD

During the past decade, liturgists have been more than ever preoccupi ed with one of the key aspects of ce lebration: the liturgy as the context in which the word of God is actualized, realized, fulfilled. Indeed, it is dif ficult to find an issue of this periodical which does not have at least one article dealing with this fundamental reality of liturgy. In the presen t is sue, the contributions of Sr. Christiane Becker, Praying in the Here andNow / Praying the Here and Now, pp. ?9-82, and of Sr. M.A. Verheecke, The Office Is a Celebration, pp. 83-85, are typical cases in poin t.

It is in the light of this rich theology that the following translation of a 2nd century Syriac ode is offered. Some future issue of Liturgy might possibly include a brief article about the collection of odes from which this sing le example has been excerpted. The Odes of Solorron have attracted numerous editors and commentators since their relatively recent discovery. Scholarsare at odds on many particulars of interpretation; but agreement is now gen eral that we are dealing with a 2nd century compilation, originally written in Syriac, and connected in some way with the Church 's rites of initiation. The accusation of gnostic elements once levelled against some of these texts is no longer tal<.en seriously. A number of these incredibly beautiful odes are already being used in some of our American communities, chiefly for the Sunday Resurrec tion Office.

The following translation is tal<.en from the excellent edition by J.H. Bernard, The Odes of Solorron, Cambridge 1912, pp .?5-?6, where the text is substantially the one by Dr. Rendel Harris, discoverer and early editor of these beautiful texts.

O DE X I I

He hat h fi l l ed me wi th words of truth; that I may speak the same;

and l i ke the fl ow of waters fl ows trut h from my mout h, a nd my l i ps shew forth Hi s frui t.

And He has caused Hi s knowl edge to abou nd i n me, beca use the mo ut h of the Lord i s the true Word, a nd the door of Hi s l i g ht;

and the Most Hi gh hath g i ven i t to Hi s worl ds, whi ch are the i nterpreters of Hi s own bea uty,

and the repeaters of Hi s pra i se,a nd the confessors of Hi s cou nsel ,

and the heral ds of Hi s thoug ht,and the chasteners of Hi s servants.

For the swi ftness of the Word cannot be ex pressed,and accord i ng to i ts swi ftness so i s i ts sharpness; a nd i ts course knows no l i mi t.

Ne ver dot h i t fai l , but i t stands sure,and i t knows not descent nor the way of i t.

For as i ts work is, so i s its expectati on:for i t i s l i ght and the dawni ng of

thought; and by i t the worl ds tal k one to the other;

and i n the Word there were those that were si l ent; and from i t came l ove and concord;

and they spake one to the other whatever was thei rs; and they were penetrated by the Word;

and they knew Him who made them, because they were i n concord;

for the mouth of the Most Hi gh spake to them; and Hi s expl anati on ran by means of i t;

for the dwel l i ng pl ace of the Word i s man; and i ts truth i s l ove .

Bl essed are they who by means thereof have understood everythi ng , and have known the Lord i n His truth.

Hal l el ujah!