The feast of St. Sylvester I Pope and Confessor is of double rite and its liturgical colour is white. The texts for the Office are taken largely from the Common of Confessor-bishops. Today is also the Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity and within the Octaves of St. Stephen, St. John and the Holy Innocents.
At Vespers yesterday afternoon the antiphons of the Nativity of the LORD, Tecum principium etc, were sung, doubled, with Pss. 109, 110, 111, 129 & 131. From the chapter, Ecce sacerdos magnus, the Office was of the feast of St. Sylvester. The Office hymn was Iste Confessor. After the collect of the feast commemorations were sung of the Sunday within the Octave, of the Octave of the Nativity, of the Octave of St. Stephen, of the Octave of St. John and of the Octave of the Holy Innocents. The Suffrages were omitted. At Compline Te lucis was sung with the Doxology and melody of the Incarnation, Gloria tibi...Qui natus etc. The Dominical preces were omitted.
At Mattins the invitatory is Regem Confessorum Dominum, Venite adoremus and the Office hymn is Iste Confessor. In the first nocturn the antiphons Beatus vir etc are sung, doubled, with Pss. 1, 2 & 3. The lessons are from the second chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. The first lesson consists of the text of both the first and second lessons in the post-Clementine editions of the Breviary. The second lesson begins Tribulatio et angustia.. (as the modern third lesson) but continues beyond v.13 to the end of v. 16, ...secundum evangelium meum, per Jesum Christum. The third lesson, entirely absent from the post-Clement editions, consists of vv. 17 - 25. In the second nocturn the antiphons Invocantem etc are sung with Pss. 4, 5 & 8. The lessons are hagiographical. These show textual variations to those found in later editions (e.g. Arius is declared damned in the Tridentine Breviary, condemned in later revisions of these lessons). In the third nocturn the antiphons Domine etc are sung with Pss. 14, 20 & 23. The homily is Sint lumbi from the Common of Confessor non-Pontiffs with the responsories of Confessor-Pontiffs. These are the same as those found in the modern editions except before the ninth lesson the additional words Unde et protinus subditur are found in the 1568 edition. However today the eighth and ninth lessons are read together to form an extended eighth lesson of the feast. The ninth lesson is them formed from the three lessons appointed for the Sunday, a homily from St. Augustine's writings on the second chapter of St. Luke's Gospel. These are marginally longer than those found in the later editions. The Te Deum is sung.
At Lauds the antiphons Ecce sacerdos magnus etc are sung, doubled, with psalms 92, 99, 62-66, Benedicite & 148-149-150. The Office hymn is Jesu, Redemptor omnium and it is sung with the Doxology of the Incarnation. After the collect of the feast commemorations are sung of the Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity, of the Octave of the Nativity, of the Octave of St. Stephen, of the Octave of St. John and of the Octave of the Holy Innocents. The Suffrages were omitted.
At the Hours the hymns have the Doxology of the Incarnation. The antiphons from Lauds are sung in the usual order. At Prime (Pss. 53, 118i. 118ii) the lectio brevis is Fungi sacerdotio.
Mass is sung after Terce. The formulary is Sacerdotes tui etc. The Gloria is sung, the second collect is of the Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity, the third collect is of the Octave of the Nativity, the fourth collect is of the Octave of St. Stephen, the fifth collect is of the Octave of St. John and the sixth collect is of the Octave of the Holy Innocents. The Creed is sung and the preface and communicantes in the Canon are of the Nativity.
Vespers are first Vespers of the Circumcision. The antiphons O admirabile commercium etc are sung, doubled, with Pss. 109, 112, 121, 126 & 147. The Office hymn is Christe Redemptor omnium. There are no commemorations nor Sufrages. At Compline the Domincial preces are omitted.
The icon is from the All Merciful Saviour Mission's selection of icons of Western Saints.
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Rubricarius,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your informative blog. Are you aware of anyone speaking out against any of the modern reforms of the Liturgy at the time - e.g. in the early twentieth century against Pius X's reform of the Breviary or in the 1950s against the destruction of Holy Week? I know there were works later, but did anyone protest at the time or did extreme ultra-Montanism prevent this? A scholarly refutation would be of particular interest.
In Domino,
Thomas