This is the official video of the Vespers according to the Use of Sarum, celebrated at St Patrick's Catholic Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Candlemas Eve: February 1, 2020. Over 700 came to attend this unique celebration of Evening Prayer according to the Use of Salisbury: the local adaptation of the Roman Rite used throughout most of England from the Norman Conquest until the Reformation introduced the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549. Relics of St Thomas Becket and St Edward the Confessor were set upon the high altar for this liturgy, organized by the Durandus Institute for Sacred Liturgy & Music.
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
This is the official video of the Vespers according to the Use of Sarum, celebrated at St Patrick's Catholic Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Candlemas Eve: February 1, 2020. Over 700 came to attend this unique celebration of Evening Prayer according to the Use of Salisbury: the local adaptation of the Roman Rite used throughout most of England from the Norman Conquest until the Reformation introduced the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549. Relics of St Thomas Becket and St Edward the Confessor were set upon the high altar for this liturgy, organized by the Durandus Institute for Sacred Liturgy & Music.
Sunday, February 9, 2020
- Spiritual renewal in the Church
- Sanctification of souls
- Healing of families and individuals
- Reversion of fallen-away Catholics
- Conversion of sinners who are far from God
Now that Septuagesima has started, let us prepare for the holy season of Lent and decide what we will do for fasting, what we will do for alms, and what we will do for penance. For our almsgiving, the Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel are certainly worth the support.
Today is the feastday of St. Cyril of Alexandria which includes a Commemoration of St. Apollonia. St. Apollonia was a virgin of Alexandria who died for Christ during the bloody persecution of the faithful in 249 AD.
The following is taken from the Roman Martyrology: "At Alexandria, in the reign of Decius, the birthday of St. Apollonia, virgin, who had all her teeth broken out by the persecutors; then, having constructed and lighted a pyre, they threatened to burn her alive unless she uttered with them certain impious words. Deliberating a while within herself, she suddenly slipped from their grasp and prompted by the greater fire of the Holy Ghost with her, she rushed voluntarily into the fire which they had prepared. Those responsible for her death were struck with terror at the sight of a woman who was more willing to die than they to kill her."
This account was preserved in a letter from Fabius, Bishop of Antioch, in what is now Syria. She is the patron saint of dentists.
Collect:
O God, one of the marvelous examples of Your power was granting the victory of martyrdom even to delicate womanhood. May the example of the blessed virgin martyr Apollonia, whose birthday we celebrate today, draw us closer to You.
Thursday, February 6, 2020
"He loves, He hopes, He waits. If He came down on our altars on certain days only, some sinner, on being moved to repentance, might have to look for Him, and not finding Him, might have to wait. Our Lord prefers to wait Himself for the sinner for years rather than keep him waiting one instant”
(St. Julian Peter Eymard)
If anyone is interested in the traditional Dominican Little Office in Latin and English, I ordered a copy for only $18 of it in spiral bound form. The SSPX-SO (Resistance) Traditional Dominican Tertiaries affiliated with the Domincans in Arville France have it for sale. The text for this Office was published in 1940 by the Sisters of St. Dominic in Racine, Wisconsin.
If anyone would like to order it, I'll share with you the email address. I don't know if they want their email posted publicly so please just message me for it by commenting below with your email address.
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If anyone would like to order it, I'll share with you the email address. I don't know if they want their email posted publicly so please just message me for it by commenting below with your email address.
Today is the feastday of St. Titus with a commemoration of St. Dorothy in the Office and at Mass.
St. Dorothy was a virgin of Caesarea in Cappadocia, who was condemned to be beheaded toward the end of the third century. Before her execution, she had the happiness of winning for Christ two apostates who had been ordered to pervert her.
Catholic Tradition writes the following:
Dorothy was a virgin Martyred at Caesarea in Cappadocia in about A.D. 313, during the persecution of the Christians by Roman Emperor Diocletian. She had refused to marry or to worship idols and was, therefore, sentenced to death. As she was on her way to her execution, a young scribe or lawyer named Theophilus jeered at her and taunted her for her piety. According to her legend, he called out, "Send me some of the fruits and flowers from that garden you speak of, where you are going to your bridegroom." She responded, "Thy request is granted." As she knelt at the executioner's block, she prayed for Theophilus's wish to happen, and as she did, an Angel appeared before her with a basket of three apples and three roses. After she died, the basket was delivered to Theophilus, some say by the Angel and some by a child. He was immediately converted and was himself executed. St. Dorothy is always represented with the basket of roses; sometimes there are also apples.Collect:
O Lord, pardon our sins through the intercession of the blessed virgin martyr Dorothy, who pleased You by her purity and her faith. Through Our Lord . . .
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Simeon was very old…tradition saying that all his hairs were white as the feathers of a swan. And yet he quickly entered the temple with a spring in his step. It was as if he had shaken off old age and that he was once again in the Springtime of youth. Of all the little ones being brought to the temple by their parents, Simeon’s eyes immediately noted the Child Jesus and he reverently approached the Holy Family.
Simeon then falls on his knees and adores the Divine Child in Mary's arms. There is no doubt that Our Lady had also been moved by the Holy Ghost, for she willingly gave the Divine Infant into the arms of the joyful Simeon. The old man then prayed to God to release him from this life…Nunc Dimittis Servum Tuum, Domine…Now thou dost dismiss O Lord according to thy word in peace; because my eyes have seen Thy salvation.
St. Simeon, pray for us!
Monday, February 3, 2020
O glorious Saint Blasé, who by thy martyrdom has left to the Church a precious witness to the faith, obtain for us the grace to preserve within ourselves this divine gift, and to defend, without human respect, both by word and example, the truth of that same faith, which is so wickedly attacked and slandered in these our times. Thou who didst miraculously cure a little child when it was at the point of death by reason of an affliction of the throat, grant us thy powerful protection in like misfortunes; and, above all, obtain for us the grace of Christian mortification together with a faithful observance of the precepts of the Church, which may keep us from offending Almighty God. Amen.
An indulgence of 300 days. Source: The Raccolta
As I mentioned before in my posts How to Live A Liturgical Life and On The Inseparability of the Mass and the Divine Office, it is necessary for lay Catholics to rediscover the Divine Office. And it's equally, if not even more important, for priests to begin laying aside the modern Liturgy of the Hours (LOTH) and replace it with a Breviary that conforms to Catholic Tradition. Though of course the same can be said for them ceasing attending/celebrating the Novus Ordo and returning to the Tridentine Mass.
The Hymn Translations
I previously used a 1962 Breviary for Lauds, Vespers, and Compline only in English from Collegeville that I picked up second-hand at Loomes Books in Minnesota. It was a nice book but it did not have the other hours and it had no Latin in it. The hymn translation in English in that one volume was, however, much better than the one in Baronius. Those hymns sounded like hymns. The Baronius Breviary offers more of a literal translation of the hymn so it does not sound like a hymn. Sometimes I still pick up the Collegeville English Breviary off the bookshelf to read the hymn translations in there instead.
The translations in the Baronius Breviary are taken from Fr. Joseph Connelly's "Hymns of the Roman Liturgy". They are literal and not intended for recitation. The online site Divinum Officium by contrast borrows from the Marques of Bute's English translation of the Breviary, which incorporated a lot of earlier translations made in the 19th century by some John Mason Neale and Father Edward Caswall.
The Rubrics of 1962 vs. Divino Afflatu
I prefer the 1954 Office with its multiple commemorations, additional readings, and preservation of Octaves. Sadly, Baronius does not make Latin/English breviaries using the Divino Afflatu rubrics. So sometimes I still use Divinum Officium's website when I want to see the full readings for Matins under DA. The 1962 Breviary chopped a lot of those down. And some of the previous feasts ranked as "simple" feasts were downgraded to only commemorations in 1962 so there is no reading at all at Matins. One such instance is St. Blase. We honor him by the Blessing of Throats which is an important custom but there is no reading for him in this Breviary. Or take for instance the obliteration to nearly all of the Octave that used to be in place. These are not found in the rubrics in the Baronius Press Breviary. And as occurred with the calendar, the breviary lost the Vigil of the Immaculate Conception, the Vigil of All Saint (Halloween), and the Vigils of the Apostles which are sorely needed today to help us re-ignite our connection to the Liturgical Year.
Book Binding / Quality
Overall, the quality of the book and binding is great. The Latin and English is side and side making it easy to read in either language. I have found very few typos or issues. There is nothing distracting in the text. While some do not like the short sentences on the theme of each Psalm, I like them as they aid in my prayers. The paper feels good - not too thin or too thick. The ribbons work nicely too.
Conclusion / Recommendation
While not the pre-1955 calendar that I prefer to keep, it is still a good Breviary with excellent production. I don't mind carrying a bigger book rather than having to carry a smaller book during the day for the Little Hours and a separate one for other hours at home at night. I prefer one volume with everything so the only other book I need is the Martyrology, which I read during Prime. As someone without appropriate Latin training, I need the English for the psalms
Is this Breviary perfect? No. Is the 1962 Calendar perfect? No. But is it a great Breviary that is well worth the $400 investment? Absolutely.
Saturday, February 1, 2020
Sign up to receive a daily reading from the monumental "Liturgical Year" work of Dom Gueranger. Definitely worth a daily read. I've subscribed now for several weeks and find the meditations a wonderful addition to my morning after Matins and Lauds.
I first learned about this initiative through the FSSP's online article that was shared on social media which states in part:
“The prayer of the Church is, therefore, the most pleasing to the ear and heart of God, and therefore the most efficacious of all prayers.” So states the Benedictine abbot Dom Prosper Guéranger in the preface to his monumental work The Liturgical Year, a fifteen volume series that guides the reader through every day of the Church’s calendar by means of readings, meditations, prayers and commentary. Dom Guéranger, originally a diocesan priest, became instrumental in restoring monastic life in France after the French Revolution through his revitalization of the abandoned Solesmes Abbey and founding of the French Benedictine Congregation in the 1830s. His Liturgical Year is a goldmine of insights that assist the faithful soul in better praying and understanding the Mass, and St. Francis de Sales Parish, our apostolate in Atlanta, Georgia, has begun a digital delivery service that brings Dom Guéranger’s readings right to your inbox. We recently talked to Fr. James Smith, FSSP, assistant pastor at St. Francis, to learn more.To sign up, simply visit the FSSP Atlanta Website, enter your email address, and choose the liturgical year option. The meditations follow the pre-1955 Office so you'll receive great meditations for commemorations and feastdays even neglected by the 1962 Missal.
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