November 3rd - XXIII Sunday after Pentecost

The twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost is of semi-double rite and its liturgical colour is white being the Sunday within the Octave of All Saints. This year it is the first Sunday of November. The Gospel pericopes from St. Matthew contain the passages where the LORD heals a woman with an issue of blood and raises Jairus' daughter from the dead.

At Vespers yesterday afternoon the antiphons Vidi turba magnum etc were sung, not doubled, with Pss. 109, 110, 111, 112 & 116. From the chapter, O Altitudo, the Office was of the Sunday and the Office hymn was O lux beata Trinitas. The antiphon on the Magnificat was Vidi, Dominum for the Saturday before the first Sunday of November. After the collect of the Sunday a commemoration was sung of the Octave of All Saints. The Suffrages were omitted as were the Dominical preces at Compline.

At Mattins the invitatory is Adoremus Dominum and the Office hymn is Primo dierum omnium. In the first nocturn (Pss. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14) the lessons are the Incipit of Book of Ezechiel. These are longer than those found in the post-Clementine editions. The first lesson continues with half of the text of the modern second lesson Et in medio ejus... until ..quasi aspectus aeris candentis. The second lesson begins Et manus hominis.. and continues until ..nec revertebantur cum ambularent - the end of the modern third lesson. The third lesson begins Et similitudo animalium... until ..spiritus enim vitae erat in rotis, vv. 13-19. In the second nocturn (Pss. 15, 16 & 17) the lessons are from the Exposition of St. Gregory on Ezechiel the Prophet. These are the same as those found in the modern editions except that the sixth lesson is a sentence longer. In the third nocturn (Pss. 18, 19 & 20) the homily is from St. Jerome on St. Matthew's Gospel. The seventh lesson contains the text of both the modern seventh and eighth lessons. The eighth lesson consists of all of the text found in the modern ninth lesson and additional text absent from the modern books. The text of the ninth lesson is entirely absent from the later editions of the Breviary. The Te Deum is sung.

At Lauds, Pss. 92, 99, 62-66, Benedicite 148-49-150, the Office hymn is Aeterne. After the collect of the Sunday a commemoration of the Octave is sung. The Suffrages are omitted.

At Prime, Pss. 53, 117, 118(i) & 118(ii), Quicumque is sung but the Dominical preces are omitted.

Mass is sung after Terce. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of the Octave. Being a Sunday within an Octave there is no the third collect today. The Creed and the common preface are sung.

Vespers are of the Sunday with Pss. 109, 110, 111, 112 & 113. The Office hymn is Lucis creator. After the collect of the Sunday commemorations are sung of the Octave and of SS Vitalis and Agricola. The Suffrages are omitted as are the Dominical preces at Compline.

Art: Jerome Nadal