September 18: St. John Massias, C., O.P., III Class

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the feast of Saint John Massias, a lay brother of the Order of Preachers.  The feast is III Class, and the ordinary office is prayed according to the rubrics.

September 15: The Seven Sorrows of the B.V.M.

Stemus iuxta crucem cum María Matre Iesu, * Cuius ánima dolóris gládius pertransívit.

Let us stand by the cross with Mary the mother of Jesus, * The sword of sorrow has pierced her soul.

Thus begins Matins for today's feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The feast is II Class, so the Semi-Festive office is prayed according to the rubrics.  I've heard it said that May is the month of Mary, but for me it is September.  This month contains four (4) Marian feasts:

- September 8: Nativity of the B.V.M. (II Class)
- September 12: The Most Holy Name of Mary (III Class)
- September 15:  The Seven Sorrows of the B.V.M. (II Class)
- September 24:  B.V.M. of Ransom (Comm.)

In the Dominican breviary, the feast is II Class as in the Roman, but it contains propers for praying the office as a I Class feast as well.  Thus we have the magnificent responsory at Vespers, which is a solemn acknowledgement of our culpability in causing the suffering of both our Lord and our Lady by our sins:

A Personal Plea For Prayers

When I started this blog in April 2013, I never intended to make it a vehicle for anything other than spreading the word about, and celebrating, the beauty of the traditional Office of the Order of Preachers.  The furthest thing from my mind was to make it a blog about me.  I am still holding to this principle, but I am making an exception to the latter, in that this post has to do with me.

In July, my wife of 12 years filed for divorce.  This was not entirely a surprise, as she has been estranged from me (and to a large extent our two children) for over a year now, but it was still a shock to hear those ugly words and have a process server serve me with an Action for Divorce in front of our home.  The grief and stress, brought on by the struggles of raising an Autistic child took their toll on her, and she fell away from the Faith a few years ago.  In this spiritually defenseless state, she fell prey to a “spiritual advisor” (read spiritual predator) who introduced her to the New Age.  The rest is history.  She rapidly lost her closest friends, as the poisonous doctrines that she consumed turned the once loving and devoted family woman into a sophomoric narcissist, who has no need of anyone since “everything I need for happiness is within me.”

September 12: The Most Holy Name of Mary, III Class

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Office, we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary.  I truly love this feast, and I look forward to its return each year.  Like the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, it is a feast that is rich in devotion to our Blessed Lady.  It is also steeped in the glorious history of Christendom.  

The feast was announced in the Martyrology during Pretiosa yesterday:

The feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Sovereign Pontiff, Innocent XI, commanded this feast to be celebrated because of the brilliant victory obtained over the Turks at Vienna in Austria by the help of the Blessed Virgin.

September 10: Blessed Alphonsus Navarrete, O.P., and Companions, Mm., III Class

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we celebrate the feast of Blessed Alfonso Navarrete and Companions.  The feast is III Class, so the ordinary office is prayed according to the rubrics.  A commemoration is made of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, Confessor.  The lesson at Matins describes the heroic virtue of these martyrs of Japan.  The Dominicans made up a large contingent of those who were killed.  Also represented were the Franciscans, Jesuits, and Augustinians.

From “Short Lives of the Dominican Saints” (London, Kegan Paul, Trench, and Trübner & Co., Ltd., 1901):

2016 Calendar Update

I am just about finished with the 2016 Breviarium S.O.P. calendar.  In addition to the ongoing process of fixing spelling errors and minor rubrical errors, the 2016 edition will contain some new features.

The days for attending Mass, for those who wish to observe the traditional 15 Tuesday's devotion to St. Dominic will be marked on the calendar.  In addition, since a General Chapter will be held in Bologna, Italy to mark the 8th Centenary of the Order, I have included the traditional "Prayers for a General Chapter", which are prayed for one (1) month before the opening of the Chapter.  In addition to the prayers (in Latin and English), I have placed reminders in the calendar itself, so that the reader will know when to pray these prayers.

Making the calendar is a rather fun project, and I do it over the period of a year...working on it here and there when I have time.  Each year, I learn something new about the rubrics for the Breviary.  In some ways though, it is a bit sad to see which feasts will not be celebrated in the coming year.  In 2016, we won't be praying the beautiful office of St. Pius V, one of the four (4) Dominican popes, who looms large in the liturgical history of the Church.  His feast occurs on the same day as the Ascension of Our Lord.  Also, the feast of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces occurs on a Sunday, and so will not be celebrated.  On the other hand, skipping these feasts for one year makes their celebration in 2017 that much more enjoyable.

September 5: Anniversary of the Associates and Benefactors of our Order

Today, in the 1962 Dominican Rite Calendar, we commemorate the Anniversary of the Deceased Associates and Benefactors of our Order.  The commemoration is made at Pretiosa as follows:

The Anniversary of the deceased friends and benefactors of our Order.