Disclaimer

This programlet is my own work, and does not represent any official order, neither the view or opinion of any group. I tried to follow my sources, but naturaly the more I work on this project the more mistakes I make. Such a project can be done only by teamwork. I keep doing this in the hope, that a team will pick up the idea, and will use their computers in entirety to help worship God.

Historical versions of the Divinum Officium

The divinum Officium was the official prayer of The Roman Catholic Church for at least 1500 years, until 1971 when a significantly changed prayer The Liturgy of Hours was defined. Partly as a device for myself to pray the Office easily, partly as historical document, to visualize the changes in the last hundred or so years, this project shows how the daily office was collected from basically the same psalms, lections, hymns, verses and responsories in three different version:

  • The version, ordained after the Tridentinum, by pope St. Pius V, which except for the ever increasing number of feasts in the Proprium Sanctorum was unchanged until the early 20th Century. This Tridentine version was based on the centuries without printed books, and thus the majority of the psalms were prayed in the mattins, lauds and vespers, the little hours recited every day the same psalm 118, which they learned by heart, and could pray without books. This repetition meant that the Sunday Matutinum contained 18 psalms, the weekday mattins 12 psalms each day. Also the lauds and vespers were significantly longer due to the lengthy preceses and suffragia

  • The version ordered by the Divino Afflatu encyclical of St. Pius X., was the Official version between 1911 and 1960, and what divided the psalms into a week without significant repetions (9 psalms for each mattins, 5-5 for the major hours, 3 for each minor hours different daily), and shortened significantly the preceses and suffragia, thus shortening the prayer time by about 20%.

  • The version Reducing to simpified form 1955 and the version ordered by the Motu Proprio Rubricarum Instructum 1960, of John XXIII. furter shortened the prayer time by and additional 5% and 15% respectively.

This project is using the 1888 Breviarium text (see Credits ) and tries to form it into the different rubrics. Restricted by the copyrights of the newer versions only the offices in the original 1888 text are used, so some offices from the original are skipped in the later versions, some are relocated but no new offices are added.

I myself pray daily the Divino Afflatu version, but the main point of this project is that the Rubrics published in 1955 or 1960 made not more extensive changes than the changes in 1911 by the Divino Afflatu.

Implemented 1955 only changes:
  • First Vespers only for Sundays and 1st and 2nd class feasts
  • Simplex feasts are commemorated in Laudes and Vespera only, no reading in Mattins
  • Former semiduplex feasts are considered simplex, commemorating lesson in Mattins
Implemented 1956-1960 changes:
  • Pater noster, Ave Maria at the beginning and end of the horas, (also Credo for beginning of Mattins and Prime, and end of Compline) is omitted,
  • Preces feriales only in ember days (except Pentecost week) and Wednesdays Fridays of Advent Lent time
  • Suffragium, Preces dominicales deleted
  • Athanasium Creed (Quicumque) only in Trinity Sunday
  • Maria's Antiphone at the end of Lauds deleted
  • Vigils only for: Nativity, Pentecost; Ascension, Midsummer day, St Peter & Paul, St Laurence, Assumption,
  • Octaves only for Christmas, Easter and Pentecost
Implemented 1960 only changes:
  • Antiphones are always double
  • Doxologies for hymns are never changed
  • Lectio brevis in Prim is not changing for the saints only for the season
  • Psalm 50 in holy triduum prayers deleted
  • Rank only 1st to 4th class
    • 4th class commemoratio only,
    • 3rd class (former semiduplex, duplex and some duplex majus) 3 lectiones only
    • 2nd class (with some former duplex majus) 9 lections but for horas antiphones and psalms from the weekday
    • 1st class: unchanged
  • First week of month (from August to November) always starts in the month, instead of the closest Sunday to Kalendas
  • Some additional Kalendar changes are implemented


Implemented Tridentine (pre Divino Afflatu) changes:
  • Festive offices are indentical with the Divino Afflatu version, except that regardless of the rank of the Fest (semiduplex or above) always the commune and/or Sunday psalm/lectio set is used
  • In feriale offices:
    • Matutinum Sunday 18 psalms, weekdays 12 psalms with antiphones according to the day of week Lauds and Vespers have their set of psalms and antiphones according to the day of week;
    • no Laudes II is for Advent and Lent, in every ferial office the first psalm of Lauds Ps50 Little hours have the same psalm set all over the week, antiphone chasnges according to the day of week; Prime has an added 4th psalm except for Saturday
    • For preces feriales Psalm 129 is added at to the Lauds, Psalm 50 to Vespers
    • Suffragium is expanded with commemoratio to Cruce (in feriis; that is first), St Joseph, St Peter & Paul, Pro peace


Click here for recitation times of the different versions.

Additional variations in the standalone version:
  • regular : regular version according to the rules

  • Seasonal : Hymns, Short readings and Short responses for minor horas are taken from the proprium de tempora, except for 1st and 2nd class feasts days; also the Preces Dominicales and the Suffrages are included with the same exception in case of Tridentine or Divinu Afflatu versions. This is how I like to recite the office.

  • Season : Alwasy the Proprium de tempora is selected. This was optional in 1955 rules for Advent and Lent except for 1st and Second class feasts days

  • Saint : Always the office from the proprium sanctorum is selected, if there is one, regardless of the precedence. this is for test reason only.

  • Commune : The office is taken entirely from the Commune sanctorum, if there is office for saint for the day. This is for test reasons only.


laszlo kiss
l dot kiss at sbcglobal dot net

T.A.D.M.N.
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