The Divine Office Part 13

"The 'Benedictus' corresponds with the _Magnificat_ of Vespers. Both are sung with the same solemnity and are of the same importance; they form as it were the culminating point of their respective Hours, and for feast days the altar is incensed while they are chanted.

"The 'Benedictus' or Canticle of Zachary recalls the Precursor's mission of proclaiming the Messiah and the new alliance. It is altogether appropriate to the Office of daybreak, as ushering in the dawn of a new era. The closing verse speaks of the light which the announcement of the Messiah shed upon the nations 'sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death'" (Dom Cabrol, Introduction to _Day Hours of the Church_).

"This Canticle of Zachary (St. Luke i. 68-79) naturally falls into two parts. The first (verses 68 to 75, 'Benedictus Dominus ... diebus nostris') is a song of thanksgiving for the fulfilment of the Messianic hopes of the Jews, to which is given a Christian sentiment. The power, which was of old in the family of David for the defence of the nation, is being restored, and in a higher and more spiritual sense. The Jews mourning under the Roman yoke prayed for deliverance through the house of David. The 'deliverance,' a powerful salvation ('cornu salutis n.o.bis') was at hand so that the Jews were seeing the fulfilment of G.o.d's promise made to Abraham, and this deliverance, this salvation was such that 'we may serve Him without fear in holiness and justice, all our days' (St. Luke i. 75).

"The second part of the canticle (verses 76-80, 'Et tu puer ... ad dirigendos pedes nostros') is an address by Zachary to his own son, who was to take an important part in the scheme of the powerful salvation and deliverance by the Messiah. This canticle is known as the canticle of joyous hope, hence its use at funerals at the moment of interment, when words of thanksgiving for the Redemption are specially in place as an expression of Christian hope" (_Catholic Encyclopedia_, art.

"Benedictus").

_Oratio_ (t.i.tle x.x.x.). The word _oratio_ has various meanings. In the liturgy it is translated by the word "collect." The word "collect" means either that the priest who celebrates Ma.s.s collects in a short form the needs, the thanksgivings and the praises of the people, to offer them up to G.o.d; or most probably "the original meaning seems to have been this: it was used for the service held at a certain church on the days when there was a station held somewhere else. The people gathered together and became a collection at the first church; after certain prayers had been said they went in procession to the station church. Just before they started, the celebrant said a prayer, the _oratio ad collectam_ (_ad collectionem populi_), the name would then be the same as _oratio super populum_, a t.i.tle that still remains in our Missal, in Lent, for instance, after the Post-Communion. This prayer, the collect, would be repeated at the beginning of Ma.s.s at the station itself. Later writers find other meanings for the name. Innocent III. says that in this prayer the priest collects all the prayers of the faithful" (_De Sacr. Altar.

Mystic_. ii., 2). See also Benedict XIV. (_De SS. Missae Sacr_. ii., 5,--Dr. A. Fortescue, _Cath. Encyl_., art. "collect").

_Antiquity of collects_. No one can say with certainty who the composers of the collects were. All admit the antiquity of these compositions. In the fourth century certain collects were believed to come from apostolic times; indeed, the collects read in the Ma.s.s on Good Friday, for Gentiles, Jews, heretics, schismatics, catechumens and infidels bear intrinsic notes of their antiquity. Other liturgical collects show that they were composed in the days of persecution. Others show their ages by their accurate expression of Catholic doctrine against, and their supplications for, heretics, Manicheans, Sabbelians, Arians, Pelagians and Nestorians. St, Jerome in his Life of St. Hilarion (291-371) writes, "Sacras Scriptures memoriter tenens, post orationes et psalmos quasi Deo praesente recitabat." It is said that St. Gelasius (d.

496), St. Ambrose (d. 397), St, Gregory the Great (d. 604) composed collects and corrected existing ones. The authorship and the period of composition of many of the Breviary collects are matters of doubt and difficulty. Even the date of the introduction of collects into the Divine Office is doubtful. In the early Christian Church there seems to have been one and only one prayer, the _Pater Noster_, in liturgical use. St. Benedict laid it down in his rule that there should be none other. It is generally held by students of liturgy that the collects were originally used in Ma.s.s only and were introduced into the Office at a time much later than their introduction into the Ma.s.s books.

In the Ma.s.ses for Holy Week we see the collects in their oldest existing form. The rite of the Ma.s.s has been shortened at all other seasons, and there remains now only the greeting, _Oremus_, and the collect itself.

The _Oremus_ did not refer immediately to the collect, but rather to the silent prayer that went before it. This also explains the shortness of the older collects. They are not the prayer itself, but its conclusion.

One short sentence summed up the pet.i.tions of the people. It is only since the original meaning of the collect has been forgotten that it has become itself a long pet.i.tion with various references and clauses (compare the collects for the Sundays after Pentecost with those of modern feasts)--(_Cath. Encyl._, art. "Collects").

The following examples which are not extreme, may help to make clear and emphatic the matter of the shortness of the old and the length of the new collects.

"Protector in te sperantium, Deus, sine quo nihil est validum, nihil est sanctum: multiplica super nos misericordiam tuam; ut te rectore, te duce, sic transeamus per bona temporalia, ut non amittamus aeterna.

Per Dominum."

_Translation_--"O G.o.d, the Protector of all that hope in Thee, without Whom nothing is sure, nothing is holy, bountifully bestow on us, Thy mercy, that Thou being our ruler and our guide, we may so pa.s.s through temporal blessings that we lose not the eternal. Through our Lord ..."

(Collect for third Sunday after Pentecost.)

"Omnipotens et misericors Deus qui beatam Joannam Franciscam tuo amore succensam admirabili spiritus fort.i.tudine per omnes vitae semitas in via perfectionis donasti, quique per illam ill.u.s.trare Ecclesiam tuam nova prole voluisti: ejus meritis et precibus concede ut qui infirmitatis nostrae conscii de tua virtute confidimus coelestis gratiae auxilio, cuncta n.o.bis adversantia vicamus. Per Dominum ..."

_Translation_-"Almighty and merciful G.o.d Who inflaming blessed Jane Frances with love, didst endow her with a marvellous fort.i.tude of spirit to pursue the way of perfection In all the paths of life, and wast pleased through her to enrich Thy Church with a new offspring, grant by her merits and intercession that we, who, knowing our own weakness, trust in Thy strength, may by the help of Thy heavenly grace overcome all things that oppose us. Through our Lord" (Collect of St. Jane Frances Fremiot De Chantal, August 21).

_Rubrics_. In Vespers and Lauds the collect is said after the antiphons of the _Magnificat_ and _Benedictus_, unless the _Preces_ (q.v.) are to be said in these hours. Then the _Preces_ are said after the antiphons, and the collects follow after them immediately. The collect of a ferial Office is found in Office of the previous Sunday, except in ferias of Lent and Rogation days which have special and proper collects.

At Prime and the other Hours the collect is said after the little respond, unless the _Preces_ be recited. They precede the collect. At Compline the collect is said after the antiphon _Salva nos_ if the _Preces_ be not recited.

At Prime and Compline the collects of the Psalter are never changed except during the last three days of Holy Week. In this triduum, in all hours up to and including None on Holy Sat.u.r.day the collect is said after the Psalm _Miserere_.

Before reciting the collect in the Office, everyone in deacon's orders or in priesthood says _Dominus vobisc.u.m, Et c.u.m spiritu tuo_, and this is said even if the Office be said privately. All others reciting the Office say _Domine exaudi orationem meam. Et clamor meus ad te veniat_.

Then the word _Oremus_ is prefixed to the recitation of the collect, and at the end, _Amen_ is said. If there be only one collect, the _Dominus vobisc.u.m_ or the _Domine exaudi_ with the responses _Et c.u.m spiritu tuo; Et clamor meus ad te veniat_ is repeated after the _Amen_. But if there be more than one collect, before each is said its corresponding antiphon and versicle and also the word, _Oremus_. After the last collect is said, the _Dominus vobisc.u.m_ and _Et c.u.m spiritu tuo_ are repeated. Then we add _Benedicamus Domino; Deo Gratias, Fidelium animae_.... This latter verse is not a constant sequel to the _Benedicamus_, as we see in Prime, where the verse _Pretiosa_ succeeds it; and again in Compline it is succeeded by _Benedicat et custodiet_. The concluding words of the prayers or collects vary. If the prayer is addressed to G.o.d the Father, the concluding words are _Per Dominum_ (see the collects given above).

If the prayer be addressed to G.o.d the Son, the concluding words are _Qui vivis et regnas_--e.g., Deus qui in tuae caritatis exemplum ad fidelium redemptionem .... Qui vivis et regnas (Collect for St. Peter Nolasco's feast, 3ist January). If in the beginning of the prayer mention is made of G.o.d the Son, the ending should be _Per eundem, e.g.,_ Domine Deus noster? qui, beatae Brigittae per Filium tuurn unigenitum secreta coelestia revelasti; ... Per eundem Dominum (collect for feast, 8th October). But if the mention of G.o.d the Son is made near the end of the collect, the ending is _Qui tec.u.m vivit et regnal, e.g._, "Famulorum tuorum, quaesumus, Domine.... Genitricis Filii tui Domini nostri intercessione salvemur: Qui tec.u.m vivit et regnat" (collect of a.s.sumption, 15th August). If the name of the Holy Ghost occur in the prayer, the conclusion is, _In unitate ejusdem Spiritus sancti, e.g._, "Deus, qui hodierna die corda ... in eodem spiritu recta ... _in imitate ejusdem Spiritus_" (collect: for Pentecost Sunday).

The following lines, giving the rules for terminations, are well known and are useful, as a help to the memory:--

_Per Dominum_ dicas, si Patrem quilibet oras Si Christum memores, _Per eundem_, dicere debes Si loqueris Christo, _Qui vivis_ scire memento; _Qui tec.u.m_, si sit collectae finisin ipso Si Flamen memores _ejusdem_ die prope finem

When there are several collects an ending or conclusion is added to the first and last only. _Dominus vobisc.u.m_ is said before the first collect only, but each collect is preceded by the word _Oremus_, unless in the Office for the Dead.

_Explanation of the Rubric_. Where a feast is transferred either occasionally or always and its collect contains words such as _Hanc diem, hodiernom diem_, it is not allowed to change the wording, without permission of the Congregation of Rites (S.R.C., 7th September, 1916).

If the collect of a commemoration be of the same form as the prayer of the feast, the former is taken from the common of saints, in proper place.

_Dominus vobisc.u.m_. This salutation is of great antiquity. It was the greeting of Booz to his harvestmen (Ruth, ii. 4). The prophet used the selfsame salutation to Azas. And the Angel Gabriel expressed the same idea, _Dominns tec.u.m_, to the Blessed Virgin. It was blessed and honoured by our Lord Himself, when to His apostles he said "Ecce ego vobisc.u.m sum omnibus diebus" (St. Matt. 28. 20). This beautiful salutation pa.s.sed into Church liturgy at an early date, probably in apostolic times. Its use in liturgy was mentioned at the Council of Braga (563), and it is found in the Sacramentarium Gelasianum (sixth century). These words are called the divine salutation. They mean that the priest who utters them is at peace with all clergy and people and thus wishes G.o.d to remain with them--the highest and holiest of wishes.

For the presence of G.o.d, Who is the source of every good and the author of every best gift, is a certain pledge of divine protection and of that peace and consolation which the world cannot give. This formula is used even in private recitation of the Office, as the priest prays in union with and in the name of the Church.

The words _Et c.u.m spiritu tuo_ add a new and further significance to the salutation; for it is the spirit, the human soul, that prays, and when the spirit prays in the name of the Church for her children, its work is a work of high spiritual order, demanding the use of all the soul's powers,

_Oremus._ This exhortation is of very great antiquity, and in this form is found in the liturgies of St. James and of St. Mark. In those days it was said by the priest in a loud voice. The priest, the mediator, following the example of the great Mediator, Christ, calls others to join with him in prayer. St. Augustine tells us, that sometimes after p.r.o.nouncing the word _Oremus_, the priest paused for a while and the people prayed in silence, and then the priest "collected" the united prayers of the congregation and offered them to G.o.d, hence the name _collect_ (St. Augustine, Epistle 107), (_cf._ Probst., _Abendl Messe_, p. 126).

_Invocation and Conclusion_. Prayer is addressed generally to G.o.d the Father. This practice is in accordance with the example and doctrine of Christ, "Father, I give Thee thanks" (St. John, xi, 41); "Amen, amen, I say to you; if you ask the Father anything in My name, he will give it to you" (St. John, xvi. 23). "And He taught us to say 'Our Father.'" In the early ages of the Church, seldom was prayer addressed to G.o.d, the Son. Innocent III. tells us that the reason for the practice was a fear that such prayer might lead the catechumens, the Jews or the Pagans converted to Christianity, to allege or to believe that Christians worshipped several G.o.ds. However, with the advent of the early heresies, it became necessary to formulate prayers witnessing the divinity of Christ and His equality in all things to the Father and the Holy Ghost.

In some of the great prayers of the liturgy, the three Persons of the Holy Trinity are named to show their equality and unity of nature and substance. Nearly all the prayers of this kind are the products of the Church during the storms of early heresy against the divinity, nature or personality of Christ.

The conclusions of the prayers generally contain the words _Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum_, because all graces come through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Who pleads, as Mediator between G.o.d and Man, as He Himself has said, "No man cometh to the Father but by Me" (St.

John, xiv. 6).

Hence, in every collect, we may distinguish five parts: the invocation, the motive, the pet.i.tion, the purpose, the conclusion.

(1) The Invocation takes some form such as _Deus, Domine_.

(2) The motive is commonly introduced by the relative _qui_; e.g., Deus, _qui corda fidelium sancti spiritus ill.u.s.tratione docuisti_.

(3) The pet.i.tion, the body or centre or substance of the prayer, is always noted for the solemn simplicity of language, which marks liturgical prayer, e.g., _Multiplica_ super nos misericordiam tuam.

(4) The purpose is an enforcement of the pet.i.tion. It has reference, generally, to the need of the pet.i.tions and is marked usually with the word _ut_. "Multiplica super nos misericordiam tuam, _ut_ quae, n.o.bis agendis praecipis, te miserante adimplere possimus" (prayer for feast of St. Patrick).

(5) The _conclusion_ varies, e.g., "Per Dominum nostrum," "Per eundem Dominum," etc.

"Those who pay intelligent attention to the liturgical chant at High Ma.s.s, and in particular to the chant of the celebrant, will be able to discover for themselves that the intonations used in the singing of the collect and the Post-Communion serve, as a rule, to mark off two at least of the main divisions indicated. Two inflections, a greater and a lesser, occur in the body of the prayer, the greater for the most part coming at the close of the 'motive,' while the lessor concludes the 'pet.i.tion' and produces the purpose of the prayer. When the prayers are correctly printed, as in the authentic 'Missale Romanum,' the place of the inflexions is indicated by a colon, 'punctum princ.i.p.als,' and a semicolon, 'semi-punctum,' respectively. These steps, it will he observed, indicate, not precisely 'breaks in the sense' (as Haberl incorrectly says) but rather the logical divisions of the sentence, which is not quite the same thing" (Father Lucas, S.J., _Holy Ma.s.s_, chap, vi.).

The question is often asked, why _Dominus vobisc.u.m_ is said after the collect, or prayer. Writers on liturgy reply that it is so placed because Christ frequently used the salutation _Pax vobis_, and the priest in public prayer holds the place of Christ, and as he, the priest, used this formula of salvation before the collect to obtain the spirit of prayer and the grace of G.o.d, he repeats it so that these gifts may be retained.

In the collects, the fatherland of the saints is rarely found, because the saints' true home and fatherland is heaven, where they were born again to life eternal, and their fatherland is not this valley of exile where they spent their temporal life. Nor are their surnames given in the collects (see the collect of St. Jane Frances Fremiot de Chantel given on p. 180). But it is not infrequent in the collects to find certain appellations characterising a saint or noting some special prerogative or wonderful gift of grace. The Church's collects record the wonderful gifts of St. John Chrysostom ("the golden-mouthed"), St. Peter Chrysologus ("qui ob auream ejus eloquentiam Chrysologi cognomen adeptus est") (_Rom. Brev_.). Sometimes the nation or earthly home of a saint is given in a collect to distinguish one saint from another. This is seen in the case of saints bearing the name of Mary, which if used absolutely or unqualifiedly refers to the Mother of G.o.d. See the collects for St.

Mary Magdalen, St. Mary of Egypt, etc.

The collect or prayer is placed at the end of the Hours to collect or gather up the fruits of all the prayers that precede; to beg from G.o.d that His grace may follow our actions as it precedes them; that the prayer may be a shield and buckler against all temptations which may be encountered. The prayers at Prime and at Compline never vary, to remind us, the old writers tell us, that all our acts should be invariably referred to G.o.d. In the early ages of the Church, all public prayers, both in Ma.s.s and in Office were offered up by both priests and people with outstretched arms. This practice is observed still, in a certain way, in Ma.s.s.

_Benedicamus_ is the prayer to thank G.o.d for all His graces.

_Fidelium animae_. This prayer is said after every Hour, unless where the hour is said in choir and followed immediately by Ma.s.s. It Is omitted, too, before the Litany.

De Precibus (t.i.tle x.x.xIV.). These are prayers which are said at some of canonical Hours, before the collect or oratio. They commence with Kyrie eleison or Pater Noster. They consist of versicles and responses and these differ from other versicles and responses, which are generally historic, e.g., In omnem terram exivit sonus eorum, Amavit eum Dominus et laudavit eum. But the versicles and responses of the _preces_ are always a call to G.o.d or an exhortation to praise G.o.d (e.g., Fiat misericordia tua, Domine), super nos, Quemadmodum speravimus in te (see Prime, infra, page 193). These prayers are of great antiquity, mention of them being found in the works of Amalare (ninth century).

They are said in some Offices in Vespers, Compline, Lauds, Prime and Little Hours. Before the reform of the Breviary by Pope Pius X,, the Preces at Vespers contained six short prayers and the Psalm, Miserere.

In the new Breviary nine short prayers are given in the Preces--the six former prayers being retained and three new ones, Pro Papa; Pro antist.i.te; Pro benefactoribus, being added. The Miserere is omitted. The same additions were made in Lauds and the Psalm, De Profundis omitted.

In Prime and the Little Hours, the preces are unchanged standing in the new Breviary as in the old.

_Rubrics_. The Preces are recited in the Office of--

(1) Prime and Compline on certain days;